Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
(I had to separate the quotes because the quoting feature was messing up who said what.)
The nature of most of those articles/papers that I’ve seen seem to indicate that there is a statistical correlation between the paying with a credit card and increased spending – association not causation (see ice cream and drowning – you can check that one in “the googles” as you put it). In other words people’s make a (likely theorized subconscious) decision is to spend more since a plastic card is not a tangible dollar bill. That’s what I would call a “need to control one’s spending”.
You can say it’s how the mind operates, I would say it’s how
some people’s mind operate and it’s a behavior that can be unconditioned if someone operates that way.
As an aside, gas stations in NJ are all full service and there is often a discount for cash versus credit, where the attendee will swipe a cash card and collect from you at your car window, no need to go inside - the consumer should do the math.
You can do your own experiment to see if you spend less with cash. I've done it. I spend less. And I don't buy much junk in the first place. Avg what you've spent in local stores for the last few months and get that much cash out and test it for a couple months.
No I'll pass. The variability in spending month over month is enough to throw off any analysis over a couple of months (ie car insurance payments made twice a year, auto parts purchase now that the weather is warm here, etc.). Plus exclusively only using cash would mean no AAP coupon codes when I buy those parts, or buying stuff on Amazon would be impossible and a few items would need to be purchased at local speciality stores for around twice the cost. No need to burn money (cash back and discounts) on an experiment.
I understand you wouldn't want to prove yourself wrong so excuses must be made. I thought I was pretty clear with "in local stores." That means trips to Lowes, Walmart, Best Buy etc. Of course you'd use AAP coupon codes for things you know you need at AAP. And you can shop on Amazon. The results are so apparent you don't need scientific experiments. You'll be dragging less stuff home.
Not quite - just like AAP, I'd buy online and pick up in store at Home Depot, Walmart, etc. and pick up the additional cash back through sites like Ebates or Fat Wallet. I have no need to waste my time wandering around a brick and mortar and then going to another to compare prices when I can do that online and pick up in store, or cross check with Amazon and buy there.
If it works for you that's great, glad it helped you reign in what you were spending with plastic, but my local spending consists of groceries not junk I found at the most recent store I walked past.
