The idea that credit cards make you spend more does not apply if you have financial discipline.
And, as I mentioned, you’re going to be in an extremely small minority (possibly the only one) with this opinion on this forum. Have you seen what you’re missing yet:
perhaps, i’m rich enough, whether you choose to believe it or not. i still think every time you buy something, you’ll already factor (“i’m getting x% cash back, so i’ll take it”)
I’ve found this to be true among people with poor spending habits. So I’ll agree that the idea of cashback on a CC purchase CAN be damaging for some people. I’d be surprised if that applies to anyone here. You could negotiate a cash discount. I pay suppliers with a check sometimes for a 2.75% discount.
“The idea that credit cards make you spend more does not apply if you have financial discipline.”
Unfortunately, this is not entirely true. A number of studies of consumer behavior with rewards cards were done a few years ago. They found that, in general, even the people who believed they were very financially disciplined and never spent on unnecessary items actually spent more than they would have paying only with cash.
It’s because in the back (or front) of your mind is always the thought that you are getting a reward for spending, not matter how disciplined you think you might be.
I use rewards cards extensively and I am sure they are saving me money but I am also certain I occasionally spend unnecessarily because of the rewards. The rewards I have received are quite large and probably have more than made-up for the unnecessary spending, but it’s still something there.
Probably the main reason I benefit is that I am able to place necessary spending like health insurance, auto and renters insurance, cable, internet, phone, cellphone and other bills on a rewards card (currently 3%). Amex occasionally gives 10% back on some of these things so I am getting 10% back on my cable bill for a few months right now. I also get 6% back on groceries (including prescriptions) from the Amex card.
Correct; I read one of those studies. People that use credit cards, especially for small purchases(coffee, fast food etc.) spend more than their counterparts using cash.
You must be generalizing. Even if most card users spend more with cards than if they used cash, doesn’t mean all card users do.
Do these studies consider debit cards also or only credit cards? Because I’ve read that any plastic card may increase spending vs cash, not specifically credit cards or reward credit cards.
The studies I’m referring to were with credit cards. Debit cards, of course, have a natural limit. You cannot spend more than you have at a moment in time. You may spend more than with cash but you know you cannot spend more than you have.
As expected, the studies showed people spend more using credit cards than they do with cash and the most interesting part of the study was that even the people who claimed they were financially disciplined also spent more when they used cards instead of cash, although they themselves believed they did not – until confronted with the evidence.
The credit card companies, banks, and merchants know this which is why they relentlessly push credit cards.
You’ve got to stop generalizing though. Perhaps there’s a difference between being actually financially disciplined, and only thinking that you’re financially disciplined.
Most of my purchases are non-negotiable. I don’t negotiate travel bookings or utility bills based on payment method. I don’t think too much about the price of the groceries I usually buy. I calculate the restaurant tip based on the price of the meal, not my payment method. I also don’t make impulse buys. On a rare occasion when I have a chance to negotiate, I’ll settle on the final price before asking for an additional cash discount if they want cash instead of CC.
The only “spent more” I’ll conditionally agree with is at a gas station. Many stations have separate prices for cash and CC payment, and the cash price is ~2-3% lower. In this case I quickly calculate the difference in my head, and if it’s less than what I get back in CC rewards (4-5%), I’ll use the card. So even though it looks like I spent more on CC than I would have with cash, I’m actually spending less. Plus I sometimes buy discounted GCs which get the cash price at the pump, so it’s even better than that.
If I had no credit card and only $100 cash in my wallet when I went grocery shopping, then yes, I’d probably spend more time picking and choosing the groceries. But I would probably end up coming to the grocery store more often and probably still spending just as much money on groceries as I would with a card, but I’d also spend more gas and time going there more often.
There were a number of people in these studies who insisted they were very disciplined and never made impulse buys.
Going to the restaurant is an impulse because one can eat more cheaply at home. Unless one always chooses the least expensive restaurant and the least expensive items and never what you feel like eating, it is an impulse.
Not thinking much about the price of groceries one buys is the classic sign of an impulse buyer.
The point I’m trying to make is that my decisions about food are not at all based on or tied to the payment method – in fact I don’t always pay with a card. I don’t choose a restaurant because I am getting 0, 2, or 5% back on my credit card, or because one restaurant gives me idine rewards and another doesn’t – I choose the food that I feel like having. I don’t think about what payment methods they accept.
Maybe I don’t know the definition of “impulse buy”, I always think it describes last-minute purchases, like from the isles near the checkout register. I never make those. Going to a restaurant or eating at home involves a thought process (and a discussion with my wife). Grocery shopping involves a thought process to make a shopping list. We have a list for each grocery store we shop at based on what they sell and who has the lowest price for the stuff they all sell. But once at the store, I won’t change my mind about buying something on the list if the price is a little different. And it again has nothing to do with my payment method.
dude’s not arguing the point, he’s just desperate to beat you at something. “i… i… i… i… “
i would move on, just my .02 
you got a fortunate wife, you’re a keeper 
back in the glory days of couponing I was bad when DH went with me grocery shopping. He would put items in the cart which were not on sale which I didn’t “think” we needed at the time and can wait till a sale comes up for it; I put them back when he wasn’t looking…my bad!!! I realized how wrong that was so now I don’t just remove item but I tell him it might go on sale sometime later and if it’s alright can we buy it later? If he agrees, then great but if not, I just let him have it. When it comes to buying steaks, I have told him there is the grocery store that put them on markdowns at night so it’s best to buy them there instead of just grabbing what he sees now. This is a principle we teach our kids ~ instant vs delayed gratification and the advantages of the latter. But I digress…let’s go back to main topic.
We’re also one of those where our spending money is not based on the payment method we use, although we’re not saying we haven’t overspent at any time. Whatever payment method it is, we put careful thought on our purchases prior to swiping/dipping our CCs.
People are very bad at self assessment, and especially so in areas where they are not experts. Here at FWF, we are financial experts.
As an example, there was some survey where they asked people to assess their driving skill and something like 80% ranked themselves as better than average! But it gets better - they then asked people who were in the hospital being treated for injuries from a car accident where they were at fault, and 60% of them still said they were better than average!
LOL…
That may work in a situation like you speak of. However, when my mother passed away, she had money in her credit union where she also had a credit card with a balance. The credit union immediately froze her bank account that contained several thousand dollars.
I wonder if this could have been avoided if she had a POD/TOD on the account. It’s my understanding that upon the death of the account holder, the funds legally belong to the named beneficiaries. No creditor can make a claim against those funds. They’re not part of the estate.
Care to expand on this? Without any explanation, the questions I would ask are: “Why should the banks help you when you were the one that got scammed (I assume not by the banks)?” Were you scammed because you had a credit card? Could you have been scammed if you didn’t have a credit card?
Depending on your answers to these questions, your reasoning for not having credit cards anymore may not be logical.
it’s as simple as impulsively buying the 7 dollar meal at Wendy’s instead of the $4 meal. You don’t see the money leaving your hands; you’re just swiping a card so it’s easy to not worry about it and justify it. The studies looked at all of this. If you disagree, switch to 100% cash for 1 month and see if you still disagree after the month.
I see the money leaving my hands, because I’ve been tracking every penny for over a decade. Let’s drop this discussion as there’s no point and it is off-topic.
I think you proved that to be incorrect when you said you go out to eat and don’t focus on the price or go to the grocery store and don’t think too much about the price of the groceries. If you were handing over cash instead of plastic, you would be thinking about those things and that’s what the studies looked at. Of course you’re not wanting to continue this discussion because you don’t want to believe there’s any truth to it…