Cash-Only Report Week And A Wrap-Up

Our last week of our cash-only challenge ends today!  This last week is actually 10 days long since that's the way the days fell this month but I am happy to report that we paid cash for everything this month (except today, more explanation later) and I dutifully recorded every single transaction we made.  Here's the daily recap:

• August 22: $5 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink)
• August 23: $22 gas, $44 Black Bear Diner (took a friend for brunch), $18 Great Clips (haircut for hubby), $15.87 Albertsons (food)
• August 24: $5 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink), $13.28 Seafood City (food), $5.24 Valerios (bakery), $12.57 Goodwill (coffee pot, clothes)
• August 25: $5 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink)
  
• August 26: .50 copy, $33.98 Albertsons (food)
• August 27: $5 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink)
• August 28: No spend
• August 29: $7.23 Dollar Tree (gifts), $5 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink)
• August 30: No spend
• August 31: $4.88 McDonalds (breakfast), $6.72 Seafood City (food), $6.59 Goodwill (clothes), $2.71 Dollar Tree (freezer baskets), $22.24 99 Cent Store (food), $57.48 Sam’s Club (food, PI stuff), $4.09 Valerios (bakery), $4.86 Baskin Robbins (coffee drink), $37.60 Office Depot (mailing)
  

We blew our budget out of the water this week!  At $344.84, we spent way more than anticipated.  In the coffee drink department, I think I need an intervention!  Our expenses were also higher than normal because we have been cleaning out the garage and we made up a couple of boxes to send to the kids in the US which we mailed today, and we are also putting together a box to send to the son and his family in the Philippines (so we are buying a lot of food and other stuff to send to them).

In total, we spent $675.75 this month which is still about $400 less than we usually spend each month so I guess spending cash does make us more aware of how much we are spending.  As for today, since it was the last day of the month and we were pretty much out of cash, we just used the credit card which hubby was more than happy to do (he said using cash was more of a hassle; he said it would be better to just use the card AND use some self-control so we spend less!).

Overall, I was happy to see a zero balance on the credit card all month and it was a nice feeling to know that our spending wasn't being tracked by all of the AI algorithms that are then sent to marketers to make us want to buy even more stuff.  

Next month we will go back to our usual spending habits--with a cash-back credit card--but I will make it a point to check on our spending weekly just to see if we can still keep our expenses low.  Overall, this was a fun little experiment!