County Council delays vote on requiring businesses to take cash

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. While I do have a credit card and a debit card,

virtually all of my day-to-day purchases are in cash. I find that I can control my cash spending far better than I can control my credit card spending. Here's how I do it. At the beginning of each week I go to my bank and take out a specific sum of cash. When I get home, I put most of it into several envelopes that are labelled: Entertainment, Cat, Health and Well Being, Clothing, Christmas Club, and Miscellaneous. The rest stays in my wallet and used for groceries and other spending. My gas I put on credit card.

At the end of the week, if there's any cash left in my wallet, that money goes into another envelope I call super-miscellaneous. Essentially, if I don't have money in the Clothes envelope, I won't be buying any clothes. But money can be moved from one category to another, such as if I want to go out to lunch with a friend, I can take money from entertainment, miscellaneous, or super miscellaneous as needed.

Like so many people, I am on a limited, if adequate, income. This envelope system, which I've used for some 15 years now, is incredibly useful. I am able to transfer money each month from my checking account to my savings accounts. I have two. One is designated for big ticket items, the other for more ordinary stuff, like a brief trip somewhere.

I suppose it helps that I grew up relatively poor, and at several other times in my life had very little money. I'm okay living on not very much.

And yeah, all of my bills say that thing about being legal tender for all debts, public and private. I will not patronize a business that won't take my cash.