Comments on: Will You Have a Cash-only Yuletide?

By: CathyG

CathyG — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:45:23 +0000

This is the second all cash Christmas for us. Most of our presents were bought at big sales throughout the year for cash so we have very little left to purchase. I doubt we’ll spend even $150 more. Credit card companies are the scum of the earth and I feel no need to support them.

By: Grace

Grace — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:42:42 +0000

The increased use of cash this holiday season will undoubtedly have people looking for sources of “extra cash.” By using money that is not part of their usual budget, people can take strain off of their financial situation, which would typically be worsened by the holiday season. Whether it’s cash, credit, or “extra cash,” retailers will need people to spend in the coming weeks in order to recuperate from the overwhelming losses in recent months.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:55:34 +0000

I charge the gifts to my credit card (for the cash back and the extended warranties). Then I pay my bill in full.

It’s sort of the best of both worlds.

By: Yana

Yana — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:01:25 +0000

We haven’t used credit in several years, and don’t intend to. Most of our purchases are made with a debit card. I can’t think of a good reason to use credit, but if there were one, Yuletide wouldn’t be it. If there were no-interest credit cards, that wouldn’t make it desirable either, as pledging future earnings for current expenses sits entirely wrong with me.

I went to the dentist over a year ago, and had $600 or so worth of work done, but I also needed several caps at $700 apiece. My teeth are not worth that price to me, and the dentist said he was working on getting “Care Credit”. I have no interest in that. If something is too expensive or not worth paying for all at once, it is not worth having, as far as I’m concerned. I have no caps, and I would highly prefer working around it than paying ridiculous sums of money.

By: KC

KC — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:30:21 +0000

I’ll do what I always do – use my credit card. I get rewards and I pay it off monthly. I’ve learned to control my wants for things that aren’t so important – it takes time, but it can happen. Other things in life become more important and you are willing to curb your wants to pay for the things you need (like tires, healthier food, a better/safer home). I guess I could use cash, but I don’t really spend any less by using it. I won’t use debit because its tied to my checking account and I don’t want anyone draining the account.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:20:37 +0000

This is what we did for Christmas. There was an extra paycheck in October (we get paid weekly). We cashed our checks and put the money at home. When we see things we want, we purchase them on our credit card (a rewards card) and then deposit the cash into our checking account. Then I “hold” the money for when the credit card bill comes in. It makes for a very interesting looking check register (I still use a manual one!) but so far, it works for us. Except when my husband sees our checking account balance of $3,000 and I tell him, “No, honey, we really only have $200 in there!” I use our credit card for almost everything but always have the money in there to pay it off every month.

By: That One Caveman

That One Caveman — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:20:07 +0000

I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. We’re going cash-only as a way to impose a hard-limit budget. We’ve already pulled out the money we’ll use for buying gifts. That money sits on our counter in an envelope awaiting our store trips to be spent. If we buy anything online (which I’m sure we will), the equivalent amount of cash will be removed from that envelope and set aside to pay on our credit card bill.

It’s an echo of the envelope budgeting system and it’s working well so far. There’s no better way to maintain a strict budget than cash-on-hand.

By: Eden

Eden — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:54:41 +0000

This will be my 2nd cash only Christmas, last year being my first. Now that I am finally getting my financial life in order, it seems crazy to think of doing it any other way.

By the way, I’m also spending a lot less this year. I’m making arrangements with friends and family to skip gifts this year. I’m planning to spend only about 25% of what I did last year.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:28:12 +0000

We probably won’t have an ALL cash holiday season — but it will be pretty close. I think there will be about $150 that we will put on the credit card for online shopping that doesn’t take our cash third party payment provider and for stuff we can’t find in town.