Have any other HN posters increased their use of cash recently? (Or already pay for things in cash when possible)
I originally did it for privacy reasons:
1.) No one can judge me for what I buy.
(Ex: OP goes to bars too often. No new liver for him!)
2.) I don't generate a giant list of establishments I frequent.
Ex: I want to harass OP - looks like his favorite cafe is at $ADDRESS.
But I had an interesting side effect - looking at cold hard cash makes me less frivolous with it. The money I make from my frugality exceeds what I'd get from credit card rewards.
I often see articles about societies going "cashless" on HN, and I thought it would be interesting to hear from HN users who are going in the opposite direction.
The problem with cash, for me, was that I'd run out of it too quickly.
That changed when I started focusing on saving 60% of take home pay, cooking almost all meals at home, stopped going to bars/cafes/coffee shops, comparison shopping of groceries (shifting to costco), etc.
Now I don't worry about small effects like CC cash-back or accidental frugality, because hitting over 60% savings is an overwhelming effect.