$$ Cold Hard Cash $$

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. ¹¹ As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?

Ecclesiastes 5:10 - 11

When I see & feel the cold hard cash I'm spending (as opposed to swiping the plastic) I tend to be much more frugal. Toward that end, my husband & I have agreed not to use our debit card (& we rarely use a credit card) for daily non-essentials & instead set aside a certain amount of CASH each week to spend on "extras" - things we don't REALLY need ...eating out, home decor, entertainment, "toys", etc. Whatever we don't spend we can carry over to save up for something bigger/special/unexpected...etc. The bank/ATM will likely become our first stop after church on Sunday evenings - as it was last night - to get the cash for the week.

And - I've decided to save my loose change by collecting it in a Rainy Day Fund jar that Strike painted for me a while back ... in the past I've been amazed at how quickly it adds up!

Normally I rarely use cash - so this will be different for me...challenging - but already I'm kind of enjoying it & I do find myself thinking/feeling differently about spending & the way I feel (stingy!) means saving is likely to come more naturally :)