Daily Tip: Weekly Cash Day

Ditching credit cards and debit cards removes a major revenue stream from the banks. They take a slice out of every transaction, even if you never carry a balance and have to pay interest. It can be incredibly difficult to keep up the organization and planning necessary to give up cards altogether though. You can take smaller, but still useful steps though, like keeping a small stash of cash in your house and making a point of taking it with you one day a week. So commit to making every Friday, or Saturday, or whatever day works for you card free.

If the one day a week structure doesn't work for you then you can take different approaches to reducing how much big bank tax you pay. If you like to go out dancing and to the bars and you've gotten in the habit of opening a tab keep a stash of bar cash in your apartment and take it with you when you go to the bars. The bartender will thank you for giving cash tips, because they don't have to report it all, and you don't have to worry about closing your tab when you're 5 drinks into the night.

You can also keep a stash of cash in your wallet so when you hit restaurants you can leave cash tips, even if you pay the bill with card. Again the waiters will love you because they don't have to report all of their cash tips, but they do have to report all of their credit card tips and you're helping the business because they aren't paying the credit card fees on income they aren't making.

If doing anything systematic like that still doesn't work for you then just make a point of patronizing that little shop down the road where everything is dirt cheap but they only take cash. There are two near me, one is a little Vietnamese bakery that is absolutely out of this world, where everything is half what it would be anywhere else, and the other is a neighborhood bar and grill with the most outstanding drink and dinner specials I've ever had in such a fun little hole in the wall. While I have to hit up an ATM before I go to either establishment, it's worth it, and as long as I stick to my bank's ATMs no one is making any secondary profit off the transaction.

Please post comments about little ways you can think of to work cash back into your every day spending cycles, without making huge changes to your lifestyle.