No Wallets or Purses Necessary

January 16, 2023

As a woman I am used to lugging around my purse and my handbag wherever I go. It is a natural extension of who I am. No thought required. However, as of late I am realizing that I might be part of the minority and not the majority.

Reason being, on one of my sister days out at the mall, I realize that all my sister had was a wristlet purse that was big enough to hold her phone if that. Naturally, with one eyebrow raise I asked her, “where is your purse?”, because my sister tends to want to spend my money which was not happening. Her response, “I do not need a purse I will just use my phone.”

Now, I am only in my thirties, so I do not consider myself old but the confusions that was going on in my head, and the look that was express on my face let me seem like I was from the dark ages. Of course, she went onto to explain that she uses google pay and other payment applications. Apps that I have never used or think to use and trust me after shopping with my sister I am glad I do not use.

Now, please do not get me wrong I am not saying these apps or bad. It is convenient and who does not want one less thing to worry about. But is Convenience robbing you of your paycheck and because it is convenient does it mean it is wise?

For our trip to the mall, we decided that our spending limit was $400. Armed with my cash in my purse, I was very aware of how much I was spending and how much money I had left as we walked from store to store. Thus, keeping me on track and helping in my purchase decision making. My sister on the other hand kept tapping away. As I got closer to an empty purse, I asked my sister how much money she had left, and she said don’t worry I still have money left.

Upon returning home, I asked her to calculate the total money spent on our trip. As she added away, I could tell from her facial expressions that she went over her budget. More specifically she went over by $200.

As individuals, we spend a lot of time online daily. Whether it be for work or to shop and with features such as auto fill to which a lot of us has added our credit card information it has gotten so much easier to mindlessly spend. We are no longer feeling the pain of money leaving our hands making us less conscious of how much we are spending until we see the monthly statement and even then, some of us do not review our monthly statements.

As we work to rebuild our financial lives and strengthen our financial money management skills, we must be mindful of various traps that can prevent us from reaching our financial goals. Making things a little challenging could give us the pause we need to think twice about a purchase. Is it a need or a want, can we do without it and if not, what is the tradeoff. Are you delaying getting that house or going on vacation with this purchase.

I know the idea of entering your card information over, and over every time you make a transaction can seem daunting, but it can be rewarding. The inconvenience of having to take your card out every time you buy something can cause you to pause and ask yourself is this necessary, do I really need this. Or it may help you realize how often you make purchases thereby causing you to create positive new financial habits.