For those who follow YMOYL, what one point grabbed your attention first?

[ToomuchStuff]

I do not understand this sentence?

And for me, what's the different cost if I pay cash or use my CC? i have no additional cost with it as I pay it off EVERY month without fail.

Learn about the fees that a store pays, including the percentages, the machine/software cost, the phone line cost, the additional costs associated with CC fraud, etc. that gets passed onto the consumer in the forms of higher pricing, etc. Do you ever use cash and ask for cash discounts?
Also the things listed in another post here (CC companies use as a tool that spending with plastic consumers buy additionally more then they would with cash).

If your buying more because of plastic (no matter if you pay it off every month), then that money back is really just money that you may not have spent in the first place. (free loan?)

[Gardnr]

Learn about the fees that a store pays, including the percentages, the machine/software cost, the phone line cost, the additional costs associated with CC fraud, etc. that gets passed onto the consumer in the forms of higher pricing, etc. Do you ever use cash and ask for cash discounts?
Also the things listed in another post here (CC companies use as a tool that spending with plastic consumers buy additionally more then they would with cash).

If your buying more because of plastic (no matter if you pay it off every month), then that money back is really just money that you may not have spent in the first place. (free loan?)

I well know all those fees. They won't go away if I use cash. So yes, I will take advantage of all rewards available as well as all the purchase protections it offers.

I don't buy more because I use plastic. We have excellent control of spending mindfully.

You are quite unlikely to believe me and I'm not going to argue about it. I left this group years ago for the ranting at me how I had no idea what I was doing and that I most certainly WAS spending more because I use a CC.

[Teacher Terry]

Many people use mostly use CC’s and don’t spend more money. We use CC’s for big purchases, debit cards for small and some cash. People should do whatever works best for them. There is no one right way.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well I think such influences would be subconscious, and I don't think I'm smarter than my subconscious. No doubt the experiments have been done as psyche experiments and maybe as experimental economics. I'm going to talk myself into spending less on credit cards soon - probably, it's a fairly small part of my spending.

[Teacher Terry]

G lives on 35% of their income so they know what they are doing whether you choose to believe it or not doesn’t matter.

[Gardenarian]

I try to shop locally and use cash when I do. I asked if I could get a discount on my electric bike if I paid cash, and they gave me $100 off. Gas here is always cheaper if you pay cash. Most people at the Farmer's market will take credit, but I use cash - it helps them a bit, and it keeps me from buying $18 jars of jam. No question, it's harder for me to buy luxuries with cash than credit.

Been a long time since I read YMOYL. I think what stuck with me was right there in the title.

[Gardnr]

There is no discount here for gas if paid by cash. Other than immediate consumables (food, gas, utilities, you know-the usual daily living stuff) I really don't spend money because I need nothing and have no want list.

Oh, we're going on an out-of-state vacation later this month......so I guess that's a want. We'll pay everything by CC and pay it off when the bill comes. Just can't seem to find a way to buy a plane ticket online with cash ya know? Or book a VRBO with cash ya know? Or book a rental car with cash-ya know?

I paid cash for my Mercedes 3 years ago. Does it help you to think I understand my money between saving for that AND living on 35% of my income?

I won't argue the point. It's obvious some of you know me better than I know myself and that I have no idea what i'm doing. I'm done here-not going down this rabbit hole again.

[Tammy]

I’m silently agreeing with you Gardnr.

[catherine]

I think there are people like Gardnr (many on this forum, I'm sure) and then there are people who are like the many people who seek help from the Dave Ramsey school of thought that all debt is evil and that all credit cards should be cut up.

I think both Gardnr and TooMuchStuff are right. Gardnr is obviously responsible and mindful and using credit cards in such as way that the CARDS are the servant, not the master of the spending.

But TooMuchStuff has a point. For people not as mindful, disciplined and frugal, credit cards can be a huge trap. I do believe that MANY (I would even say MOST) people spend more with CCs than they would if they were cash-only. I know that credit card companies make a fortune in interest and fees (their raison d'être) and SOMEONE is paying them for these "free" micro-loans.

DR counsels people who fall prey to the CC traps to use only debit or cash (his own website will not accept CC for purchases), and to not give a fig about credit scores, and to train yourself to build up savings to make reliance on CCs a non-issue.

Some people can do a scratch-off now and then and some people gamble life savings. Some people can have a drink and others can't stop at just one. Some people can use credit cards in such a way that if everyone were like them, credit card companies would go out of business, and others enable credit card companies to thrive. You have to know yourself.

[iris lilies]

I am like Gardnr, I buy everything using credit cards. I never pay interest. I dont think credit cards are evil, but I know that interest is The Enemy. I have never paid a dime of interest in the 30 years we’ve been married.


My dentist gives us a 10% discount if you pay cash or by check, so we do that. Our dental bills are quite low usually around $350 annually.