It has long been known that the average consumer will spend more if they pay with a credit card. That's not just more on the item or within the month but then they pay more when the interest rate is added.

Does this happen to you? What makes you spend more if you have that card in your hand?

I prefer cash or a debit card. I don't really spend more regardless of my method. I tend to be aware of the amount I have and don't like to be over budget,

I really destest having to pay more in interest charges so I am not likely to have that spend now, pay later mindset.

Tho we seldom use cc, when we do we pay no interest...pay up immediately. I don't think we buy more if using a cc but do think the masses may.

I kind-of have the opposite problem. If I have cash, it slips through my fingers. I have no idea where it goes. 

When I use a credit card (and we pay it off every month), I have a trail of my purchases. I can upload into Mint and see exactly how I'm spending in each category, and track my spending that way. 

I know I could write down my cash purchases in a notebook or something, if we decided to take that route. But I like being able to have the purchases automatically tracked. (And we get cash back on the credit cards.)

We have noticed recently that there are some restaurants locally that give a 10% discount if we pay cash. So that's one instance where we'll be sure to do that.

MamaJ:

I kind-of have the opposite problem. If I have cash, it slips through my fingers. I have no idea where it goes. 

That's my husband's problem. The only upside to it is that he can't spend anymore once that's done.

 I don't use credit for anything anymore.  I buy everything cash or debit.  I have to be extra careful because when the money is gone, its gone.  

I use to spend credit card money like it was real.  It was real, a real mess!

So i have to stick to me budget!

When I just got my credit card, what drove me to spend more was the fact that I could pay for it in installment. But then, when I checked my credit reports and my credit card statements, I noticed that the interest was just too high, which convinced me to stop using it. So now, I only use cash. I am better at budgeting with it and it prevents me from buying unnecessary items because, I would then need to pay in full. I only use my credit card for emergency purposes.

 We use credit cards all the time but pay them off in full every month. Mostly they are used for online purchases but occasionally local stuff if it was a planned purchase anyway. Then we put the amount into our monthly budgeting spreadsheet and that automatically calculates how much discretionary income we have for the rest of the month.

 

 When we have spent the discretionary income, then spending stops for non-budgeted items.

 

 Admittedly it helps that I'm married to a budget analyst.