It is a known flaw of the human mind that easy payment methods, like credit cards and electronic debits, don't register as painful financial transactions as strongly as counting out and handing over those funny bits of green paper. Because of this using a credit card, without resort to some involved mental gymnastics, almost always means you spend more than you might if you used cash.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/the-high-cost-of-easy-payments/

Keeping the spending of money both inconvenient and uncomfortable saves you money. Saving just a few dollars a day can mean the difference between staying square and afloat, and being at he tender mercies of banks and bill collectors.

That's why they invented credit cards and debit cards. They're not 'real money'.

Sue

Something I read years ago: "The best way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket." I have come to believe there is wisdom in this.

One useful place for plastic is in PSKs, especially if immersion is a possibility. Otherwise, amen.

Money is cotton. It can be washed and dried and ironed. Yes, it will eventually rot if constantly exposed to moisture, but if you've got it in your pocket, you don't need the (closed) bank or the (no power) ATM.

When the local grocery store was without power for a week after a windstorm (and it did stay open), they operated on cash and handheld calculators. The generator produced only lights.

As Lt. Gen. Honoré said after Katrina: "You need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, not the best-case scenario". Unfortunately, most people, businesses and governments prepare for the best-case scenario, and if that's not the kind they get hit by, they've got a world of problems.

Sue

many people consider cash, checks, credit and debit cards to be equivalent. I some ways they are. But the human brain can much more accurately and easily calibrate cost/benefit ratios with cash.