Larger Bills Get Less Action
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What is it with “Benjamins” that make them so lovely to keep and so hard to let go? Is it natural instinct to be more reckless with a $100 bill than five $20 bills? Although those with six-figure incomes may have been conditioned not to think so, it still happens to them to some extent.
Quite similar to the concept behind the Infomercial Copycat method of debt reduction, we are more comfortable with parting ways with smaller amounts of money than larger amounts.
The Mind and Money
From an emotional shopper’s perspective, handing over $20 bills to five different stores means that I get to experience that thrill of shopping five times. Also, I feel more je ne sais quoi when handing 5 bills versus just a single bill.
Or, if I went to an arcade with just a $5 bill, I probably wouldn’t play a single game. With five singles on the other hand, I would pick up that plastic gun and start shooting away at some zombies – and then end up refilling the credits until I depleted my five dollars.
Our conservative minds tell us that we prefer to detach ourselves from substance or pursue a desirable experience one step at a time – not in one fell swoop. And because
Big Bills Can Be a Hassle
There are times when small stores refuse to accept bills that are larger than a certain amount. Reasons for that may range from possible counterfeits to simply because they don’t have the change for you.
Some people don’t like change or to do the math involved. “Argh! So many bills! Am I getting the correct amount of change?”
Instead of dealing with these troublesome situations, we choose to avoid them by carrying the bills that we know will get more action.
Helps Control Spending
Carrying large bills may deter us from spending but it is also important to note that what we consider large or small is mostly based on comparison. Having just ten $100 bills will mean that I will have to depart with at least one “Benjamin”. I need to have smaller denominations to actually realize that those $100 bills are LARGE.
I won’t toss a quarter into a fountain but I’d have a blast bombing the fountain with 25 pennies. So if I carried quarters instead of pennies and $5 bills instead of singles, I would have the power to resist the temptation of throwing money into a fountain or blowing of zombie heads.
(Photo credit: Tetsumo)
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