It is June 2017 and though I have written some prior blogs on this subject I had some of my blogs erased so here I go running down how my family has managed to live in a cash world since February of 2014.
Since some of my blogs got erased I will run down what made us decide to live in a cash world and how does it affect our lives, and what issues it creates, and what we have had to change to live in the cash world.
WHAT DOES LIVING IN A CASH WORLD MEAN?
My family has not always lived in what I call a cash world. Living in a cash world means we have no credit cards, no loans, we own our vehicles, house, we pay all our bills with cash, We do not use credit or credit cards.
We do use DEBIT CARDS!
After moving to Reno from Oregon in 2014 my family made a choice we took our savings and we paid everything off. We than quit using credit cards, had no loans or payments on vehicles or our home. YES it was a big task!
Some Changes we had to make:
Because we own a business we can not expect others to live in a cash world so we had to add a way to accept credit cards we did this through PAYPAL and a company called SQUARE.
However we still do not have any type of credit cards!
DEBIT CARD:
Some people would argue using your debit card is not considered cash. However we disagree over the years we have found using the card is much easier than going to the bank or caring cash around. Believe it or not some places and bill companies do not even take cash payments. Paying bills or shopping, getting gas and everyday life is just much simpler with a debit card. It is directly liked to our checking account the money is taken directly and we do not allow overdrafts or credit lines on our account.
So it pretty much is cash and in today's world is just plain needed!
CREDIT SCORES AND CREDIT ISSUES:
We do keep track of our credit scores still and I usually check them at least every 6 months just to make sure there is no funny business going on. Once you stop using credit, or having no loans or owing your own place it is a good idea to keep track of Credit and Credit Scores just for the simple fact of Identity Theft and other issues. There are companies out there that can help I like CREDIT KARMA they seem to be a good fit for me. You can check on all three major credit companies and make sure your not a victim of ID theft.
That is all I use it for.
If your having issues with credit reports going directly to the three major companies that do credit reports is a great way to start they are EQUIFAX, TRANSUNION, and EXPERIAN.
SECURED CREDIT CARDS:
Feel you need credit or want to build credit consider a SECURED CARD. Some banks offer this or you can get them in many stores these days. It is a card where you make a cash deposit and than use it just like a regular card only you will know it is secured. We do not use these because I found many charge to many fees. However if you want to build credit score or just feel the need to have a credit card going this way limits you to using it only up to the deposited amount. I do not consider this CASH LIVING however because you will pay the bank or card company payments and be charged fees for the card.
We do not use or do this with my family.
SAVINGS:
One thing over the years we have found saving money in a cash world seems harder. Maybe it is because your watching your money much more but we have opened a second account and put money there and we did not take a card with it. Putting some money in a stock account, IRA or some savings account on the side is a good idea for a day when you will need it. We usually place an amount every time we have extra money even if it is a small amount it will eventually add up.
Living in a cash world is harder when you have an issue an expensive car repair or home repair, or a family emergency that it is a good idea to have an account you build a savings with.
Well I hope we have shown you all you can live in a CASH WORLD in 2017
You can email me theoutlawmtomsik@yahoo.com with any questions or comments!