At this point we still do have the option and the right to demand transactions in untraceable cash. Physical money is an empowering choice. It confers a bargaining power and a range of options not available to debit money. Imagine traveling in rural areas and trying to buy food directly from producers without having cash. A cashless society essentially means that all transactions must be conducted with corporations and established companies. The only alternative would be some rude form of barter, or begging.
Back to the program:
Step 4: After identifying all of your unavoidable expenditures and knowing how much money you have to live on, the first thing to do is to immediately withdraw all of the cash available. You must leave enough money in your account to cover automatic payments within the pay period to your next salary. (Overdraft fees will ruin your plan.)
Shop at discount stores (even Walmart). This is no time to be making ethical statements. The object is your financial survival, not a statement of ethics.
Start thinking in very rational terms, driving twenty miles to save $5 is not rational. Buying food in two-week lots does not cost more and it saves on trips to the store. The same is true for gasoline; driving with a full tank costs exactly the same as bumping on fumes, and it is much better for your car.
It may be emotionally better to treat this program like a game rather than an ordeal to survive. The people who have money left at the end of the month are the winners. There is no limit on the number of entries. This is a learning exercise; success will take practice.
The real object of this "Game" is to learn how not to be poor. If your objective is to get rich, then start loan sharking and be the person who is charging other people huge penalties on their small debts.
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