For me it's not "OMG I should've moved sooner" but more "OMG, I don't think I can ever move back now that I'm used to it". :)

For me, it's both.

But for most people, they don't have that degree of impulse control, or even just plain forget they are on a budget, or can't remember mentally how much they have left to spend in a category and overspend, so carrying only the cash you have to spend can be really helpful.

Yes, studies have shown that on average people spend about 15% less overall when they use cash.

Except for the grad school loans, I always paid off my cc every month so I never cut them up as people like Dave Ramsey suggest. And now I use them all the time for car rental, online stuff, things I want purchase protection for, etc. But I do want to get back to a complete cash system for restaurants and entertainment because I do think I spent more wisely when I was doing that. For me, points or miles or whatever will never be better than more of my cash staying in the bank.

I don't know, but I do know that from now on I will describe anything inexplicable as "probably just a coyote with mange."

I don't know, but I do know that from now on I will describe anything inexplicable as "probably just a coyote with mange."

On a related topic, I have lunch with my former boss today. Then, vacation! (Well, I'm on vacation now, but today I actually go somewhere.)

Yeah, didn't some researchers think that most chupacabra are foxes or coyotes with mange?

It depends on who you're counting as a researcher. A cryptozoologist is going to have a different answer than a biologist or wildlife expert.

studies have shown that on average people spend about 15% less overall when they use cash

Is there any difference between people who carry credit card debt and those who pay it off? I never carry debt. My card is a way to get reward points, and nothing more. Also, is there a distinction between the amount of spending one does if one has a debit card, as opposed to a credit card? For some reason I do groceries and gas on my debit card, and everything else on my credit card. Cash is for taxi rides and purchases under ten dollars.

Timelies all!

Hucking fot here, as others have mentioned. Waiting for Gary to get home so we can load up the car and drive to Pittsburgh....where it's not much cooler. Ah, well.

I think the whole thing is the actual pulling of cash out of your wallet and physically seeing what you are spending and what you have left. So credit/debit/paying off might not matter so much.

Again, this is the average person. And the average person can be quite stupid, especially when it comes to finances.

I record every single thing I spend money on. Ultimately, I know exactly where I am at all times during the month regardless of form of payment. But I also worked with smart people who didn't realize our company was automatically taking out 3% for the 401K. So I'm pretty sure not every one does.

I record every single thing I spend money on.

So, do you keep a record of all your cash transactions, too? Because I record every time money comes out of my account; I use my credit card like a debit and enter it into Quicken so the money is "gone" and I can pay off the bill at the end of the month. But with cash, I just enter an ATM withdrawal into Quicken, so the money coming out of my account is noted. After that, I don't record what I spend the cash on. But I very rarely spend cash any more.

Wisconsin had a bald raccoon that looked like a chupacabra.

A Bosley Hair Restoration commercial just came on and Olivia piped up, "We should call that number for Daddy!" I almost choked on my Diet Coke.

mr.flea will be unemployed in 4 weeks, so we need to re-do our budget and enforce it hard core. The hardest thing for me I think is going to be stuff for the kids. We have savings for the purpose - this is a planned layoff - but we don't know how soon he'll get a job and we can;t run through all of our savings because it's very likely we'll need to move when he does get a job.

flea, whatever happened with the other company that offered him a job? Any more word from them or IBM?