I've been thinking of trying a little expirement, starting January 1:

Pull $100 in 20's in cash out my checking account, and see if I can get by with using only this cash for all of 2005.

The remainder of the time I'll use my check card, checks, or online banking.

I believe that this pretty much matches my expenditures of cash over the past 4 years or so, but I'd like to quantify it - see if my experiment works.

Anyone out there think they could use less in a year?

Truthfully, I think that the only time that I MUST use cash is the 4 or 5 times a year I use it at a parking deck at the hospital or the airport.

Our movie theaters only accept cash so I have to use it for that. Plus vending machines. I'm actually doing the opposite this year. I find it too easy to write a check or use the debit card so I'm taking out cash each paycheck. I think about what I buy more when I'm using cash.

I like the idea of pulling out $xx per week and limiting myself to that much for the week (or two week period) to see if I could spend less knowing I have only what is in my pocket available to spend.

Good luck original poster, let us know how it goes.

I tend to use credit for most purchases (never revolving), but can't justify it for small items. Even so, I go through about $100 a week in cash. I wouldn't try to pay the babysitter with anything else. My wife will use the credit card for everything, and those three page bills with a bunch of $1.00 - $5.00 charges drive me nuts.