

How To Rid Debt By Becoming a Cash Money Superstar - eastsidegringo
http://tracksuitceo.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/how-to-rid-debt-by-becoming-a-cash-money-superstar/
Because of my entrepreneurial obsession I had accrued a lot of debt and was still not earning enough to stop the credit card cycle. I decided to take drastic measures.  I made the transformation from a typical American Consumer into a Cash Money Superstar. I actually switched everything I did to a cash transaction and to really get myself psyched about using cash only, I closed my checking account!

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gibsonf1
I lived in Japan for about a year and a half, and virtually the entire country
is cash only. They also have a huge saving s rate. I think I never handled
money better than when it was all in cash during my stay in Japan - so the
article here makes a very good point. When you physically see the money you
can really appreciate what you've got and the value of it.

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staunch
I live in Tokyo and don't think it's very different from the US. The ATMs have
amazing transfer features, like looking up a friend's account to send him
money. I pay for a lot of things, like rent, through cashless transfers at an
ATM. I pay cash at the convenience store for my utilities, which I paid by
check in the US.

It's well known that many older Japanese people keep huge sums of cash savings
in their houses. There are occasionally almost comical stories in the
newspaper about houses getting broken into and the thieves walking out with
obscene amounts of money.

I'm a huge fan of cash in general. I do value seeing my money and hate the
idea of all my transactions being logged. I totally agree with the premise of
the article, I've been doing this for years.

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gibsonf1
Just curious: why are you in Tokyo?

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staunch
I worked here for extended periods over the past few years and came to love
the lifestyle and people. I'm far from a Japanophile, but I had to try living
here.

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tracksuitceo
Thanks for the lively discussion! I get better comments on ycombinator than I
do on my own blog! You're all Cash Money Superstars.

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mynameishere
Whenever I have cash I have a slightly panicky feeling that it is gradually
falling in value (which, of course, it is) and that buying something is the
only way of preventing this process. So, I don't keep cash.

