Financial Advice for those wanting to be an O/O

As I said, I think pretty highly of Ramsey, and I actually use mostly cash for personal purchases. Part of that is the benefit of getting a discount here and there for cash, part of it is ease of budgeting (when it's gone, it's gone, can't overspend if you're spending cash), part is that I'm not about to hand my card (any card) to a server to abscond with for five minutes to do who knows what with, part of it is I don't want Target to lose my card information, part of it is that I really don't want the "cloud" to know how much I spend on liquor, ammo and guns. I have an open credit card with a ridiculous credit line, but I never use it. But, I've also have not gone over my personal budget since my divorce 11 years ago (no, that's not a coincidence, lol). Still, the data is very clear: people spend more money if they use a credit card than if they use cash. Very few people, if any, escape that -- and it doesn't matter that you pay it off every month. You've still impulsed more even if you pay it off.

All that said, a LOT of my business purchases are made via a credit card, and my employees carry a company credit card. The cash back is nice (ok, really nice), but the extra layer of separation between my bank account and the card account is the main reason. It's nice to just get a statement, match it up with the receipts, reconcile it and just make one payment a month. I justi fy it by saying that business spending is not subject to impulse spending, but of course it is, at least to some extent. But people look at me funny at the shop when I start counting out 100's to pay for the transmission rebuild and they won't take a check.....

 

Oh how true this is!!! Lol. We just got back from vacation two weeks ago. We took 1000 in cash, to be used for restaurant tips, mini golf and whatever else where cash was more convenient. But meals, and any bigger expenses (I went on a fishing trip while on vacation) went on the credit card. Didn't think twice about swiping the card for whatever reason. I had enough money in the bank to max that credit card out and pay it off when I got home. So I wasn't worried.

But, man when I got home and started looking at the receipts, and realized just how much we spent with the credit card versus the cash ....my head was spinning. But at least we had a great trip. The bills are paid, and we barely noticed the financial dent. Just waiting to see how much cash back I'll get lol