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?
Marc by Marc Jacobs
Milly
Superdrug
I don't have a credit card since my almost-ex husband blew my credit. So I guess this isn't a concern for me... I'm constantly shocked by how often my friends use credit cards, though. I don't think I've seen either of them use cash or a debit card in the last 4-5 months.
1I am terrible with cash. When I have it, I just want to get rid of it basically. It seems much much much more easier to spend to me! If i have some $1 bills in my purse, then I can easily get a soda or lemonade or candy bar or bag of chips or something that I would never ever purchase with a debit card.
I guess the only difference would be that you don't carry your bank account in cash around with you. So if you went to buy clothes, you actually would have a set limit amount to spend regardless of how big the sale was.
For the little things though, I am awful with cash.
2I could go forever without a credit card.
I'm glad I paid off all my department stores credit card and now I just have one major one that will be paid off next month.
3The only cards I use are my debt cards. I do not use credit cards ---I am poor now and can't afford to shop which means for me if I can't afford it there is no need to charge it.
4I couldn't do it! I have to buy things like groceries with the credit card just because I don't feel comfortable carrying around that much cash. I feel a little silly whipping out a credit card for a coffee or something, but being able to look at how much I spend where on my credit card statements really makes me think about my spending, and I'm very good about fixing it. I never carry a balance, but one month I saw that I had spent like $100 on Pinkberry (it was a hot month!) and since then I've paid more attention to the fact that a $5 treat is still real money!
I mean, I guess if I used cash all the time I probably wouldn't have run into that problem to begin with, but I like being forced to keep track of my spending.
5I don't think avoiding credit cards for a month would affect my spending habits much. It would just mean less credit card reward points, and some research to figure out how to pay things that traditionally go on credit cards such as online purchases, gym membership, ez-pass, etc.
6i use my card for everything. i agree with tidalwave, when i have cash i just have the urge to spend it all. i rarely have cash on me. store credit cards are kinda bad news though. i currently owe victoria's secret a lot of money.
7I love using my cards because I improve my credit rating and rack up cash bonuses at the end of the year. But it would be interesting to try to go cold turkey without them.
8We have a credit card, but we just paid it off, along with all our other debt. Now we use cash only for everything - and I consider my debit card to be cash.
9I'm trying to pay off debt so credit cards have been off-limits for me for a while. That doesn't mean that sometimes I have to painfully resort to them. I hate it when that happens but that's life. As long as I keep paying off that balance.
10I don't even have a credit card ... and the one I might have from GAP is the one I don't use at all.
11I rely on my check card to watch my spending.
I could go without and have in the past, yet I only use one right now for the rewards, paid in full each time I make a purchase (when I get home I make an online bill payment).
The biggest problem I have with the statements/studies that say you spend more is that I feel that the participants in these studies end up spending less not just because they are using cash but because they are focused on what they are buying, perhaps for the first time. Having to track what you are doing might make people think twice, whether they use a card or cash.
I spend the same amount either way cause I only by things I budget and plan for and have the cash on hand for, but I use my card responsibly for the rewards it gives me.
12I don't even have a credit card, luckily haven't needed one.
13I'm paying off my credit cards as well...so they're off limits at the moment. I haven't used them for months
My debit card I treat as cash as well...since I don't carry a lot of cash on me.
14I use my debit card for day to day purchases, and our Amex only for things we get rebates on such as gas and eating out. I rarely carry cash, sometimes I can have $20 in my wallet for a whole month. I check my balance daily as I get paid on a weekly basis, meaning I have to balance all my bills out carefully with the little amount I get! We also use Quicken to track what we spend our money on, which would be a lot harder if it was all cash.
15Although I remember one colleague from years ago who would track every SINGLE purchase she made on her PDA, even a candy bar. She had a little spreadsheet set up and would monitor it constantly. She was a little too careful I think!
I pay off my credit card every month, so I use it for convenience and the rewards. I probably would spend less because it would be a hassle carrying around enough cash. Imagine carrying around $70 for gas, $50 for some groceries, and more for when you go out shopping for something specific.
16Definitely
17I just paid off my credit card. I mostly just use my debit card. Like the some of the above posters, if I have cash around, I am more inclined to spend it. That's why I love having my debit card. I have gotten money stolen from me way too many times, and it's not because I'm careless.
18I am trying to pay off my credit cards and get rid of a few of them right now. I mostly use my check card anyway, but I have noticed my credit cards becoming a crutch. Its a great time to try to stop using them so much!
19i could since i have gone without for the last 8 years since i messed up my credit
but now
that it's getting back to the point where it's like i have no credit except for my car loan i think i should probably get one so i can rebuild my history in a good way.
20I only use credit cards for really large purchases, like airplane tickets. So that is easy enough to avoid.
As for debit cards, I would be soooo screwed. I never keep more than $10-15 on hand, and that's just my weekly lunch money for work since the cafeteria doesn't do plastic.
21The only plastic im addicted to is my debit, since im unemployed ive slowed that down to until i can find a new job. I wont be getting a credit card until things are super steady.
22Credit Card? Yes. Debit Card? No.
23I could live without my MasterCard, but we use it for most of our purchases because we get rebates. Plus, it's way more secure to use credit cards to buy things online and to buy gasoline and whatnot. We don't carry a balance on our card, so we basically only use it because of the convenience, rebates, and safety factors.
24I currently use my debit card about 70% of the time, cash about 25% of the time, and credit about 5% of the time. I'm working on paying off my credit cards, so I only keep one in my wallet for emergencies. I keep the rest of them hidden.
25On my heavy savings plan- I have stopped using my credit cards all together and pay for everything in cash. I have an alloted amount of cash per week that I take out every sunday, and when its gone- its gone!
26Oh and when I hid my credit cards- I forgot where i hid them. So now they are REALLY gone! haha
27I've gone without for a year now. It's freakin' hard!!! When we don't make sure to use our cash budget we always run out of cash way before payday, but instead of using credit we sell things or work more to get the money from somewhere - and work harder on our budget than if we fell back on credit.
A year ago I probably would've died of miserableness if somebody had suggested taking my credit cards away for a month without any kind of goal to pay things off and keep the cash flowing in the meantime.
28debit all the way. we are trying to get rid of our current credit card balances....
29I haven't used my credit card in months.
Trying to pay it off,
altho thats becoming more difficult since I'm buying a house... but it's still a better step from using it as much as I used to.
30a few years ago i would have said no way - cause i wasn't making enough money to even afford any food and i HAD to use my credit cards. now i don't use them if there's any way around it. i actually haven't used a credit card in the LONGEST time - i have an American Express but i don't consider that to be a 'credit card' since i have to pay it in full each month. i use my debit card or cash which is really the same thing all the time, and that's probably the best way for me to be financially responsible.
31I could definitely go a month without using my credit cards.. infact, I've gone two years! I use cash or my debit card for online purcahses and online bill payment. I stick to a budget, and, like Sundrops said, if I dont have the money, I work more to earn the extra money. It definitely gives me a sense of pride and I dont take the things I earn for granted like I used to when I purchased with my credit card.
I saw the movie Maxed Out and it REALLY helped me say goodbye to my credit cards. If you're on the fence, watch this movie!! It made me a true believer in NEVER wanting to owe these people. The debtor IS SLAVE to the Lendor! And the Lendors are the Devil!
32Never owned a credit card, and don't plan to. Cash and debit over here.
33As I live an hour from a mall I do use my credit cards often but always pay them off in full at the end of the month. We also have a credit card just for gas, we get 5% on all gas purchases. Day to day things we either use cash or debit.
34I don't have a credit card... my husband does, but we use it for emergencies only.
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