Economic troubles today have caused many of us to cut back on credit card use. There are many advantages to paying with cash that you might not have realized:

Some retailers offer a 10%-15% discount when you pay with cash.

These discounts are usually given on big products but don’t neglect asking for a discount on purchases totaling more than $100; you might get it.

Cash purchases cost less because there is no interest paid on the purchase every month until it is paid off.

This is a sizable savings when you consider all the items bought on credit and the length of time over which you pay the balances.

Parting with cash is harder to do than pulling out the plastic.

Cash is real money, we all understand that. Using it allows us to know we are trading our hard-earned wealth for an item. Often the item we want to purchase does not seem so desirable when we have to part with real money for it.

Paying with cash means you spend less money on impulse purchases.

Studies have shown that it is the smaller purchases that get us in trouble building up those credit card balances even more so than large ticket items. This makes a big difference on the bottom line of your financial balance sheet.

You will be more conscious of value and quality in your cash purchase.

All in all, you will have an entirely new attitude toward shopping when money is exchanged instead of using plastic for your purchases. You’ll spend less money, buy better quality products and you will find, not only do you have more money at the end of the month, but you have a newly found sense of pride at your ability to handle money.