DAY FIFTY | Excellence In Personal Finance

DAY FIFTY | EXCELLENCE IN PERSONAL FINANCES

Ross Buttenshaw is the director of ‘Christians Against Poverty’ (CAP). Ross will contribute a weekly article helping us Excel in our finances. You can find out more about CAP by visiting www.capaust.org

Rediscover cash
Today I want to introduce you to an old friend of mine – Cash! In this modern age cash has become a second rate form of payment and is often usually only used for small purchases like buying the newspaper or getting some milk when you’ve run out. But I’m leading the charge in the “get back to cash” movement.

Now I know what you’re thinking – “He’s living in the 60’s!” – Well I love my internet banking, direct debits, periodical payments, eft-pos and all the rest but here is the truth. Banks make a lot of money out of you, their customer, not really knowing how much money you have in your account. Have you ever gone to the ATM and stuck your card in, just hoping there was enough, not really sure what was in your account, looking over your shoulder hoping no one would see you walk away without the cash – At CAP we call this the SAS raid on the cash machine.

When I teach people how to budget the number one key is to start using cash for all your weekly budget needs. Commonly that’s things like food, petrol, leisure, travel, maybe more depending on your needs. There’s many great things about using cash so I’ve listed a few:-

• Using cash gives value to your purchases. It hurts more when you hand over your hard earned cash and this makes you value it more.
• You know exactly how much you have to spend. It’s so much easier to make the cash in your pocket last the week.
• Take your cash out once a week and make it last – when it runs out it’s gone, and as long as you stay disciplined it’s easy

So the challenge today is to start using cash for all your weekly needs. Take it out once a week and make it last until the same time next week and if you simply do this then you cannot fail. Give it a go!

Ross Buttenshaw – National Director
Christians Against Poverty www.capaust.org

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