A Delhi woman has caught social media’s attention after avoiding UPI and relying on cash to make day-to-day payments. In a viral Instagram post, the user named Sadaf detailed that she had been UPI-free for more than two months and experienced a change in her spending habits. She said spending hard cash for transactions made her more aware of where her money was going, which wasn’t the case with UPI.
“It’s been over two months now, and I’m in month three of quitting UPI for almost all my daily spending and using mostly cash instead,” said Sadaf.
“The biggest difference is that I’m way more conscious of my spending now. UPI makes it so easy to make five small payments, and it doesn’t feel like much. For example, I get three coffees, one snack, and suddenly I have spent a thousand rupees without even realising it.”
Sadaf said cash worked differently and every time she handed over the money, she felt it, which also put a stop to her impulse spending.
“Cash doesn’t work like that. Every time I hand over a Rs 500 note now, I feel the money leaving my wallet. I know how much I spent, how much is left with me and that alone has almost completely stopped my impulse spending,” she said.
“The second benefit is that it’s much easier to keep track of my budget. I don’t have to check an app constantly because I know what’s left. I can literally see it in my wallet.”
Check The Viral Clip Here:
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However, she highlighted that the downside of not using UPI was that most shopkeepers had stopped carrying cash, which made transactions difficult.
“My bill is Rs 470, and I only have a Rs 500 note. The shopkeeper does not have Rs 80 in cash, nor do I. That’s where I still have to use UPI, so I don’t think going 100 per cent cash is practical.”
She said she had been keeping approximately 80 per cent of her money in cash and 20 per cent in UPI for situations where the shopkeeper may not have the change.
“Overall I am not going back to using UPI full time. This experiment has genuinely changed the way I spend money and for now I am sticking with mostly cash. Let’s see how it goes over the next few months.”