David Delisle, author of The Golden Quest and personal finance expert, decided to conduct a simple but revealing experiment: he stopped using credit cards for a month and focused on paying with cash. His goal was to see how this change would affect his spending habits and his ability to save. The results, as he shared with Best Life, were surprising and allowed him to double the amount of money he saved.

The experiment was not without its challenges, especially given the convenience of credit cards. Delisle acknowledged that paying with cash was ‘a headache’ because of the inconvenience of handling notes and coins. However, he noted that this minor discomfort turned out to be key in transforming his relationship with money. As he explained, ‘the act of counting notes and receiving change made purchases less automatic and more reflexive’. In addition**, watching the physical money disappear from her wallet provided a visual impact that card transactions did not.

The exclusive use of cash allowed her to evaluate each purchase more carefully. ‘That pause to think about whether I really wanted something or whether it was worth counting the notes made me stop most of my unnecessary spending,’ she explained. Among the biggest changes, Delisle noticed a drastic reduction in spending on things like coffee, fast food and clothing, categories where her purchases used to be impulse purchases. ‘I realised that I was buying a lot of things out of habit and not because I really wanted them,’ she said.

Delisle demonstrated through this personal experience that small changes, such as substituting cash for cards, can have a significant impact on financial habits. Despite the benefits, Delisle pointed out that it is not always possible to do without credit cards altogether, especially for automatic expenses such as digital subscriptions or streaming services.

However, he advocated incorporating the use of cash wherever possible as a tool to encourage greater financial awareness. ‘Just getting started is the hardest part,’ he recommended for those who want to try a similar challenge. ‘After a few days, it becomes a habit and you start to see your spending change.’

Source: El Confidencial