Some Americans return to cash to curb spending

Yet the consumer sector actually realizes less benefit in payments by cash.

Payments by cash are actually being penalized in our current system.

However, debit cards and to a much greater extent credit cards are not efficient ways to manage spending.

Cash is tangible and allows greater control over finances as the article clearly shows

I would swipe my card, and I would just kind of cross my fingers and hope that it wouldn't be declined."

Not a very mature approach for someone getting a university education.

In Japan cash is still king and budgeting is still very important. Many Japanese will have their salary withdrawn in cash and then put into their relevant locations/accounts for spending or saving.

I have not used a credit card since I relocated to Japan and that was in 2000.

Cash is best to measure your spending.

Cash is king ,when the ATM is down, people should have 2000 dollars stash away for an emergency

This has been happening in the UK as well. Parents are finding it easier to teach kids financial responsibility using the tangible nature of cash. Money has a physical component again. It is there until you spend it, and then it is gone. Having it is comforting, so you hang on to it. Folk are rediscovering the importance of the physicality of money in gifting, saving and spending it. I don't think shops should be allowed to refuse cash, excluding some customers. It's called legal tender for a reason. I really like the universal acceptance of cash in Japan, operating alongside Suica. Hybrid systems allow more flexibility and choice.

always surprises me, after years and years of hearing it, when shops ask people how many payments the customer would like to spread the purchase over.... when they're spending just a few thousand yen (or less!).

could always keep the credit card, and also keep control of your mind.... works for me....

But, Jason Howell, a wealth management professor at American University warned that "2023 is probably the worst time to keep your cash in your house" because it earns no interest and depreciates.

He is right but it is because the wealth managers of oligarchs and their political influence have made it the case.

Creating ideal conditions for oligarchs but a late stage capitalist hell for everyone else.

https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2023/02/targeting-wealth-managers-would-cripple-russias-oligarchs

Finally they’ve cordoned onto the tech, the psychology, and the difference between cash and the digital. One you can actually touch and have an emotion too and apply a brake , the other….. it’s just too fast, too convenient, and is more detached from the emotion. I guess that’s why CCs, and Americans have so much debt.

Americans carry more personal credit card debt than anyone.

Yes, using cash will keep your freedom and privacy..."yours".

Not your bank= not your money, same as crypto : not your keys = not your crypto.

I would never give up cash, once the grid goes down, that's it, with this political climate, the government can just shut you down with a flick of a switch, no thank you.

Americans carry more personal credit card debt than anyone.

With Canada and the UK taking 2nd and 3rd place

https://balancingeverything.com/credit-card-debt-statistics/

"Moreover, with a national average credit card debt of $5,331, the USA is far ahead of many other leading economies. Germany, China, Canada, and the UK are among the countries whose average credit card balance is under the $5,000 threshold."

"Next come Canada ($4,154), the UK ($3,245), and Japan ($2,900)."

wallaceToday  11:40 am JST

"Moreover, with a national average credit card debt of $5,331, the USA is far ahead of many other leading economies. Germany, China, Canada, and the UK are among the countries whose average credit card balance is under the $5,000 threshold."

My US cars, houses, land, are much much more than what the average person owns in the UK and Japan.

My US credit card debt runs between $15-20k a month. Japan credit card I pay off in full monthly. This month it is about JPY480,000.

These are good things. The ability to handle debt in US makes it easier to access loans and funding for business ventures. Same in Japan.

"Moreover, with a national average credit card debt of $5,331, the USA is far ahead of many other leading economies. Germany, China, Canada, and the UK are among the countries whose average credit card balance is under the $5,000 threshold."

But still holding 2nd and 3rd place when it comes to amassing credit debt.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/04/uk-credit-card-borrowing-soars-to-highest-monthly-level-since-2004

https://financialpost.com/executive/executive-summary/credit-card-debt-inflation-equifax

Going backwards..

Always the best way to do it, cash in envelopes that are labeled with what that money is to be spent for.

Not your bank= not your money, same as crypto : not your keys = not your crypto.

100%

CPTOMO

Still many places in Japan don't take credit cards.

You claim your total credit card debt, (and it is only debt when you don't make the monthly payments are $24,000 per month or $288,000 pa. ¥37 million.

Truth is in the eye of the beholder then.

I only use cash. If they dont accept cash then I do not shop there. Cash is king and never goes offline.

only gold and bit coin for me.

I like my money to make money.

I have a credit card, just so i can use their concierge to make reservations for me.

Yes, surely a nice and helpful retro technique, and I have envelopes too, but the problem is that the other retro technique of beforehand getting those bills for putting them into envelopes doesn’t work so well anymore, especially during a hyper inflation. In fact it doesn’t work at all with empty envelopes. lol

A cashless society means you can’t hide your money for retirement ect. Too much money in the bank they’ll cut some of your pension back in Aus.

quote: 2023 is probably the worst time to keep your cash in your house because it earns no interest.

Irrelevant. Interest is a scam. If you have enough cash to earn a decent amount of interest, you don't need the interest. If you don't have a lot of cash, the interest is so low that you wouldn't notice it.

In Japan, some businesses operate only on a Cash basis... the reason is obvious - they don't report full takings to the Government.

For individuals in Japan, unless you maintain a certain fixed balance in your Bank account, cash withdrawals cost you money. Free-ATM withdrawals are rapidly disappearing - withdrawing 10 US$ will cost you 3 US$, as an example, in some cases....

So when you get paid, you withdraw you salary, keep it at home, and use it throughout the week/month - you know how much you can spend, because that's what you have in your Wallet. It's that simple.

On the downside, we are starting to see a rise in thefts - and when you're living a lifestyle that follows the above, things can become really though thereafter.

This isn't really a new strategy. Dave Ramsey has been suggesting this strategy for decades now.

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/envelope-system-explained

You have to spend if you want to make money.

I have not used a credit card since I relocated to Japan and that was in 2000.

Cash is best to measure your spending.

No it is not. Credit card data can be downloaded to financial software. It's easy as pie.