Mr. Fuchs says: You saw the light because of a cute pair of shorts?

Mrs. Fuchs says: Precisely.  After that traumatic experience at the sale rack, I was talking to my friend, who told me that she and her husband, both lawyers, don’t use credit cards.  They have four kids, which means it's one kid harder for them to get to the bank than us. 

Mr. Fuchs says: So cash is out? 

Mrs. Fuchs says: Right.  But so are credit cards.  They are trial lawyers, who are only paid their 30% when they resolve a case.  As a result, their income lurches and credit cards can lay siege to their lives.  If they go into debt, who knows when they can pay it off? 

Mr. Fuchs says: So, uh, they can’t use cash.  Or credit cards.  What do they do, barter violin lessons for frivolous lawsuits?

Mrs. Fuchs says: Don’t be silly.  No, they take a middle ground—they use debit cards.  They don’t have to plan bank runs and carry large amounts of cash, but they also can’t spend more than they make. 

Mr. Fuchs says: But you don’t feel that same pain of paying cash.

Mrs. Fuchs says: True. In an ideal world, we would use all cash.  But if you have three or four kids—or a life complicated in some other way—you don’t live in an ideal world.  And this route might be easier to maintain.  Plus, my friend and her husband monitor their bank balance online every day.  Watching it drain? Lots of visceral pain to be had there.  It holds their spending in check, she said.  If we do the same, I think it may work where the all cash plan failed.  

Mr. Fuchs says: Well, alright then.  Let’s give this new one a go.  After all, like many successful plans, this one starts off with an essential thought.

Mrs. Fuchs says: What’s that?

Mr. Fuchs says: It can’t go any worse than the last plan.