A recent study showed that people spend up to 20 percent less when they use cash instead of cards, so Good Morning America wanted to test the study's accuracy by introducing its own credit card challenge. The Farhat family of Arlington, TX, is going cold turkey with their addiction to plastic in response to the challenge — quite the undertaking for a family that relies on nine credit cards.

The Farhats manage to pay off their balances each month but admit they're spending more than they'd like. They were recruited by Gail Cunningham from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling to participate in the challenge, and she says: "It is by design that the lenders have distanced us from our hard-earned cash. It makes spending easier. It has a sense of unreality about it."

Rather than store their cards in a secret location until the month's end, Gail opted for more dramatic strategies like making the Farhats mow over one of their cards with a lawnmower. I'll be interested to see whether or not the challenge forces them to spend less money. Could you go a month without using any credit? Do you think it would help limit your spending?

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