If You’re Cheating on a Diet, You’re More Likely to Pay in Cash to Hide the Paper Trail?
Remember when you’d open your wallet . . . see $8 . . . and wonder, “Where did all my money go?”
These days, one big benefit of credit card apps and digital wallets is that you ALWAYS have an updated ledger of where your money was spent. But are there times when you DO want to “forget” where your money went?
A new study out of Notre Dame found that people are more likely to pay in CASH for transactions that are HARDER TO JUSTIFY. Maybe you’re grabbing a pack of cigarettes or a case of beer when you’re trying to cut back . . . or you’re at the donut shop, cheating on your diet.
Paying in cash keeps the transaction hidden from your usual account tracking . . . and makes it easier for you to forget about. If it’s something that you can easily justify, like a salad or some deodorant, then sure, put it on the books!
The researchers looked at more than 100,000 transactions, and they say this pattern proved to be true across different price ranges . . . so it isn’t just people buying a donut in cash because it’s cheap.
