Financial Tip: Pay Cash

Pay Cash - it’s an old idea but there are few better in finance management. Tens of millions of people in the industrialized world have amassed crippling financial debts in the process of accumulating material goods that clutter their lives, or services long forgotten. Most of us have at least created a degree of financial stress through the same process. Although some have become truly addicted to consumerism (a real problem similar to alcohol or drug addiction), the main culprit for most seems to be the too easy availability of credit. The solution...pay cash.

Paying cash doesn’t necessarily mean paying with paper and coin, but it means paying for goods and services with money that one actually has. By avoiding buying on credit you reap two immediate benefits: you won’t go into debt or increase your debt; and you’ll tend to wait to make significant purchases and will likely make better choices for yourself because of it. Paying cash also tends to eliminate a lot of impulse buying.

Tips:

• If you use ATM or debit cards, make sure you’re not paying monthly fees for those services because these fees can really add up. If you are, think about using paper and coin or credit cards.
• If you opt to use a credit card (singular), think of it as a convenience card and keep your balance at “0” by paying off the entire amount due each month. That means never purchasing anything on a card that you don’t already have the money in the bank for.
• If you’ve had problems paying off credit cards in the past, take a credit break until you’ve paid your debts off. Live with paying cash, literally, for a few months and then obtain a credit card with a $500.00 limit. If you pay off the card fully each month for 6 months, you could have your limit increased a little if need be. Do not permit the issuing institution to up your limit beyond what you can normally pay off in an average month.

  

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