A Stash of Cash

I never, ever used to carry cash. My reasoning was that I might lose it. My purse might get stolen. I might spend more if the money was readily available. It was too much trouble to get to the ATM. My handy debit card, credit card, and checkbook became the only way that I ever paid for anything, and our society made it very easy for that to work.

That would soon change.

Last week I took out several hundred dollars at the ATM. Cash. All mine. Okay, not really all mine. This cash had to pay for every Walmart purchase, all the groceries, the boys' haircuts, my Joico hair product at the salon, Owen's school lunches, Arden's prescription, stamps, and anything else that I needed for the next two weeks.

Suddenly, the stash of cash didn't look like it would last very long.

The reason behind this experiment that I've embarked on (and dragged Stuart into, as well!) is that I am trying to be more frugal and stretch our budget. With gas costs, food increases, and the costs of adding a third child, we are really stretching our budget pretty thin these days. I added up how much Arden has added to our monthly budget, and it is an extra $950 per month! Good thing I didn't know that when I was thinking of having baby #3, or I might have changed my mind! That includes her formula, baby food, baby cereal, a month's worth of diapers and wipes, monthly prescription, two days per week of childcare while I work, and the new car payment which came as a result of needing a car that would seat three kids in carseats. She costs more each month than our mortgage!

Anyway, each month I have been frustrated when I have a budget on paper, but it gets completely ruined when the credit card bill arrives. We never, ever carry a balance and have no credit card debt (thankfully), but the bill has gotten bigger and bigger each month and harder to pay. Afterwards, there was no money left for savings. I knew this had to change. We had to make the money we earned stretch further.

I would scrutinize the credit card bill, sure that there was a $500 error somehow that was causing the balance to be so high. Unfortunately, there weren't any big charges on it. Just pages and pages of small ones that added up to more than $500 over what I'd budgeted. Who knew that we charged things at Walmart over 10 times each month? The small charges of $4 and $5 for books, coffee, McDonalds, etc. ended up adding up to $258!

I recently saw an inspirational news clip on Yahoo about this family that decided to use cash completely for one month, as studies have shown that people spend 25-30% LESS when they have to pay with cash (opposite of my theory that I would spend more!). I looked up the Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey that Stuart had heard speak last year, and then I dusted off his book The Total Money Makeover that we'd never read . . . and I read it. In one day. Then, I ordered Dave Ramsey's super, duper "deluxe" envelope system wallet to organize my cash and record my expenditures (it just looked cool and made this whole frugal thing seem more stylish, and it was on sale 1/2 off!)

Luckily, we are ahead of most Americans since we have no credit card debit, but I was determined to have no unexpected, large credit card bill arrive in a one inch thick envelope every month. I've decided not to go 100% cash on everything, and I'm still paying for our set monthly bills electronically, and we are still using our credit card for gasoline at the pump (I can't imagine taking three young children into the gas station to pay cash every time I had to fill up!). However, all the areas where we typically overspend such as "miscellaneous," "food," or "household" expenses get paid with cash. When we run out, we run out. I'm trying to live more aware of how every dollar is spent, but I'm not at the extreme point where I'm making my own deodorant or granola!

I've actually gotten on http://allrecipes.com/ to search for ingredients that I had on hand to match with existing recipes, so we can eat the food already in our cabinets. Stuart and I rolled about ten rolls of quarters the other night. I returned a couple unused things at Walmart that were never opened, and I used the money for food. I bought my first large grocery shopping at Walmart this week and paid cash. I think they thought I was a drug dealer as I counted out my twenty dollar bills in a large pile!

I'm excited about the challenge. I think it is making me spend more consciously and not just slap down the credit card when the checking account gets low. Hopefully, next month there will be the reward of the nice, thin credit card envelope arriving in the mail . . . with only gas charges on it. Then, I'll feel like it's worth it!