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On Monday I began my trek into the all cash world. I must say that I have been doing well so far. I definitely feel a little bit more pain when I slide that cold hard cash across the counter than when I simply swiped my debit card. When you use your debit card you don’t see the money coming out, but with cash you definitely do. As you may remember, I decided to take out $120 each week. Whatever is left over I put back in.

Here is how I have fared.

• $1 for a banana for lunch.
• $16 for a haircut kit
• $7 for an extension cord

I feel good about these purchases because they were all justified.  I forgot to bring my banana to work for lunch, so I bought a replacement one. It actually cost me $.55, but I don’t consider coins to be money, so I just round up. I am going to keep all of my coin in a jar and then bring it into the counter every so often. I just need a jar. Right now it is sitting on my desk.

I think that the haircut kit was extremely justified. If you go to Hair Masters a cut will run you $15-$17 plus a few bucks for tip. Even after all that I am still not completely happy with it. It probably doesn’t help that I have a 50/50 chance of getting someone who uses English as their primary language. Maybe it is just me, but I find slight discomfort in not knowing whether or not my hairdresser actually knows what I want. Typically I just hope for the best. So the haircut kit cost the same amount that a haircut from a professional would have cost. The kit has already paid for itself! What a deal! I’m definitely not a pro, but it turned out only a half notch below what Hair Masters would have given me. Throw a little gel in there, and you won’t be able to tell the difference.

The extension cord was a necessary purchase because for some reason we do not have any outlets in the bathroom. I cut my hair in the bathroom, so I needed a place to plug the clippers in. The extension cord solved this problem nicely.

I’ve spent $24 so far so that leaves me with $96 for the weekend. The goal is to not spend it all. We shall see.

Cash Management cash, money management, Savings, spending

Today is May 15th, and most coin collecting enthusiasts should recognize today as the day that the latest edition of the Presidential Dollar Coin Series gets released to the public. We have actually had these coins sitting in our vault for a week or so now, but we were not allowed to give them out to the public until the 15th. Let the feeding frenzy begin! This is the sixth coin in the Presidential Series that began in 2007.

It may be interesting to note that John Quincy Adams was the son of the second President, John Adams. Quincy Adams only served one term in office, but later went to serve nine terms in the US House of Representatives. He and Andrew Johnson are the only two Presidents to have done this.

On May 19th, 1828, Quincy Adams set forth a Coinage Legislation that provided the following according to the US Mint:

• directs the location of the United States Mint to remain in Philadelphia indefinitely;
• establishes a standard weight for the Mint’s use;
• makes provisions for payment for the testing of silver bullion brought to the Mint for coinage;
• authorizes employment of clerks at the Mint; and
• authorizes the Director of the Mint to assay bullion not intended for coinage and to issue certificates of fineness at the owners’ expense.

You can read the Act in its’ original form here.

Believe it or not, the US Mint has a presidential dollar coin screensaver. You can download this here. The download comes in .zip format from the US Mint website so you know that it is safe.

Currency Currency, dollar coin, presidential coin, us mint