Skip to main content

Paper or Plastic

Most of you know that I am a major fan of Dave Ramsey and just about everything he stands for. I spent many an afternoon working from home while his program played in the background. In fact, I would still be listening in the afternoons had my local radio station not shuffled their lineup. I do, however, still catch a little bit here and there. Sometimes I even catch a segment on YouTube. And, that’s exactly what happened the other day when one of the stories I came across made my jaw hit the floor.

Now, I know you’re waiting with baited breath, but I must totally switch gears here and share another short story first.

I got the same start in the workforce that about 20% of America did–McDonalds. It was 1984. I was 16. Minimum wage was $3.35 an hour (REALLY dating myself, here). And the only payment we accepted was CASH. I remember hearing that in the not-to-distant future we would carry around plastic cards (like a credit card) that would automatically deduct what we spent from our bank accounts. I could hardly believe it. You can imagine my surprise when debit cards became a main source of monetary exchange in the early 90s.

“Nice stories, Meagan, but what does one have to do with another?” I’m getting to it. Hang in there with me.

The Dave Ramsey segment shares a video from a social media site. The woman in the video purchased something from a store with cash. Because she used cash, the cashier told her it was like getting it “free because cash is not real money.” WHAT?!?

Now, I understand that maybe using a debit card is going to FEEL different than using cash. In fact, statistics show that people will spend 83% MORE with a card than they will with cash. Why? Because it doesn’t FEEL the same. Yes, we are living in a digital world and e-currency is the primary form of trade, but this does NOT mean that cash has no value, nor is it FREE.

In fact, using cash and only cash can be a great way to save money AND teach good money habits to your children. Make sure your kids understand cash–different denominations, where it comes from, how it’s used. Assuming children only need to understand electronic money would be a great disservice.

How does one teach that? That’s coming next week. Stay tuned. It’s a doozy!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One More–Christmas Experiences Part II

Christmas is just a week away. Hopefully you’ve checked everything off your to-do list and can spend some quality time “experiencing” Christmas gifts with your family. Because, after all, your loved ones will be far more touched by how you made them feel than they will be with what you gave them. This week, I want to share with you my sister, Carey’s, family Christmas experience. “One Christmas, when my boys, now 18, 23 and 28, were little, we gave them an experience that is still talked about now. And it’s something so easily replicated that any family can do it, and it’s not too late to do it for Christmas (even ON Christmas) this year. We drove around our neighborhood and looked at all the homes decorated for the holiday. We took note of the addresses as we numbered them. We talked about what made each ornamented yards stand out. And at the end of the night, we voted for our favorite. I had my sons help me make some of our favorite holiday desserts and, in addition to taking p...
Post a Comment
Read more

More Financial Help

As part of the Discovery Family Coalition, we work with many agencies whose purposes are to help families in a myriad of areas. One of those areas is finances (that I get to chat with you about every week–yay!). And right now, families need all the financial help they can get, mine included. One of our fellow coalition partners, the Utah Department of Health & Human Services Child & Family Services, also does what it can to get help, including financial help, to families who need it. I happen to be on an email list, and this week I got an email with this information: “The Connect toCollect(C2C) program is focused on increasing low-income Utahans' receipt of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by educating individuals about this federal program and linking them to high quality, free tax preparation." What is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)? It's a tax credit that  helps low- to moderate-income workers and families get a tax break. If you qualify, you can us...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Marshmallow Experiment

In 1972, Stanford did a study about delayed gratification with children. It involved giant marshmallows and testing their patience.  You can see a short YouTube video about the study here . Basically, the kids who could sit alone with a giant marshmallow without eating it for a certain length of time were rewarded with a second giant marshmallow. Fun, huh? Some kids could be patient and reap the rewards; some could not. I was a small child when the study was conducted, and I wonder which side I might have been on. I HAVE learned to be pretty patient as an adult. One of the areas in which I’ve seen improvement is in finances. I have become a good money manager–I could be paid once annually and budget so that I won’t run out before year’s end, including having enough money to pay my own quarterly taxes–self-employed people do that. Speaking of taxes, I try not to overpay so that I qualify for a “refund,” because the government does not practice The Marshmallow Experiment. Huh? ...
Post a Comment
Read more