Cash Versus Credit

644 Words2 Pages

“When you use cash instead of plastic, you spend twelve to eighteen percent less because spending cash hurts” (“Dangers of Debt”). The issue of cash versus credit has become a big issue in society today. One may see benefits in using cash, while another may see benefits in using credit. However, the statistics are in favor of using cash, not credit. Using cash is a better decision than using credit, because cash is harder to let go of than credit, credit makes one go into more debt, and credit has risks and fees.
“56% of teens agree that it is easier to buy things with a credit card than cash” (“Dangers of Debt”). A piece of plastic does not mean to anyone. It is a lot easier to let go of money when it is in the form of a card that you swipe, than if it is in the form of paper money that one actually has to let go of. “Researchers studying the neurological impact of big purchases hooked up an MRI to participants and watched their brainwave activity. They found that when people spend cash it neurologically registers as pain” (“Dangers of Debt”). One can actually feel and see the cash when they spend it; that is something that one will not see or feel with a credit card.
“Americans owe $850.9 billion in credit card debt per household in 2013” (). Debt is among one of the most prominent reasons that using cash is wiser than using credit. Many people will spend money on their credit cards thinking that they will pay it off at the end of the month, but, in reality, that rarely happens. The credit card companies trick their customers into believing they will get rewards, but the interest that has to be paid on credit spending completely overruns the rewards that are promised. “The average family owes $8,000 dollars in ...

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...itionally, another advantage of credit is the rewards that some credit card companies offer. Most major companies offer cash back, frequent flier miles, and other rewards programs. Those rewards are something that one will not find in using cash. However, cash has more advantages than credit does, so it is the better option.
Credit may have some advantages over cash, but cash has more advantages. Credit has fees, debt, and no emotions to go along with it. One is more emotionally attached to cash. The debt one can go into using credit is unreal. The way that credit card companies make their money is with the unnecessary fees they tack onto using credit. One should think twice before getting drawn in by the hounding credit card companies; they are not a multibillion dollar industry for no reason. “When you pay with cash you “feel” the money leaving you” ().

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