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Been using cash for a long time for gas, errands, etc. Now I plan to use cash for groceries...been spending too much and overbuying items. Just too easy with the card.
Hoping if I use cash I'll be a lot more careful about what purchases...stick to my grocery list and not make spur of the moment choices.
Anyone do this and if so, do you find yourself skipping the impulsive buys??
I'll be interested to read others' responses to this question. I've been using only my credit card for groceries, because I get cash back. But now I'm wondering if I'd save more money by using cash and thus preventing impulse buys.
I wonder too about the logistics of paying cash for groceries. How do you plan your grocery list without knowing ahead of time how much things cost? Do you do your shopping with a calculator in hand, adding the price of each item as you put it in the cart?
As for impulse buys, if I can talk myself out of it then I don't buy it....but that has nothing to do with whether I have cash on me or not.
If I want it and CAN'T talk myself out of it -- (and believe me that's a crazy internal head conversation) -- I'm buying it.
I have literally stood looking at the cheesecake for five minutes with the good angel in one ear and the bad angel in the other.
I work hard for the little I have, life is short...and if I have the money, I'm just not going to delay my gratification but so much. Mourners are not going to say at my funeral...."selhars, she was so good and she always wanted that cheesecake but would never buy it." Forget that!
If I can talk myself out of even half of impulse buys, I'm good with that. Some things you just have to forgive yourself for.
Both. What keeps spending down to necessities is sticking to a grocery budget in general, not shopping while hungry or in a hurry, and only shopping off a grocery list kept on the fridge as things run out.
I always pay for groceries with my Capital One Visa because I get cash back. Of course, I pay the credit card off in full every month, no exceptions. (When I get home from the grocery store I move funds from my budget item "misc. expenses this pay period" to "Capital One Visa" so I don't forget.)
BUT this past week I went to my local grocery store (Hannaford, which I generally really like) and saw a hand-printed sign on the door: "Cash only today, sorry!" I thought it was a joke or mistake or SOMETHING because I'd never heard of such a thing. Turns out their debit/credit card machines were simply not working.
The problem is, I usually have <$20 cash on me because I almost never have to USE it. Luckily by then it was past 7 a.m. and another local grocery store (Market Basket) was open so I went there instead. But I was pretty bummed as I know Hannaford very well (i.e. I know exactly what I need and where it is in the store) and I don't know Market Basket nearly as well since I shop there only a few times a year.
But OP, I have never had a problem with "impulse buys" at the grocery store due to using a credit card instead of cash. I assume it's because I "transfer" the money as soon as I get home so for me it's just the same as using cash.
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I almost never have cash on me ...
