Without looking, what is in your pocket? How much money are you carrying with you? How many credit and debit cards? OK, you can go check now. I’ll wait. Did your guess come close to what was actually there?Don’t worry, I’m not trying to mug you. I’m just wondering how tight we all really keep track of our money? [My guess was off by the way.]
I think what we carry with us in cash and cards can be a big source of financial budget leaks. A couple of bucks here, ten bucks there and it slowly disappears. Personally I like to always have some cash to pay for smaller items while I carry a couple of credits cards for larger purchases. I also have my ATM/debit card for when I need to take out more and also for purchases. I’ll admit I don’t always know how much cash I have. I usually know about how much but there are times when I’m caught off guard and only have a few bucks on me.
Keeping track of credit and debit expenses is relatively easy. You can check your statement or look online. Cash transactions aren’t as written in stone, so to speak. There are weekends where my money disappears and it’s tough to trace my expenses back. I know I’m not losing the money, it’s being spent; I’m just not keeping track of it all.
One thing I find is that I’m more apt to spend when I have more in my pocket. I have to watch this. From now on I’m making a concerted effort to always know how much cash I’m carrying. I need to know where the money in my pocket is going! I’m going to jot down my small expenses as they are made to keep better track (we have notepads in the house and car and I keep a small notebook in my bag).
How do you keep track of the money you are carrying? Does cash leak out of your pockets for you too? Let me know!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This was easy for me. I do not carry cash EVER so that answer was $0.
I only carry one credit card because I use it for everything.
Cash does not leak out from my pockets because I do not carry any with me. The only time I use cash is on the weekends when I feed the laundry quarters.
That’s certainly one way to do it! I’ve heard of people doing this and I think it’s getting easier to not carry cash but I still find there are times when I need cash. I have substituted my debit card and tried using that more often. At least then I see the immediate effect on my account.