Cash Makes Spending Real, and That Is Exactly Why It Matters
Jun 11, 2025
By Frane Maroevic, Director General, International Currency Association
There is something honest about handing over real money. You feel it leave your hand. You watch your wallet get lighter.
You know, without needing to check an app, that you have spent something real.
That kind of awareness is fading fast.
Digital payments are built for ease. Tap, swipe, click—spend without thinking. It is so quick you barely notice. Which is exactly why some big retailers now prefer cashless stores. It is good for business when people do not feel the money leaving.
But for the millions who live paycheck to paycheck, cash is not an inconvenience. It is a lifeline.
As Kate Osborne, a Member of Parliament in the UK, put it: “When you are trying to budget, particularly if you are on a low income, cash is a simple way of doing it.” She is right.
It is a fundamental right that people should be able to use cash as a legal tender. When you are trying to budget, particularly if you are on a low income, cash is a simple way of doing it.
Cash makes the invisible visible. It sets clear limits. It helps you stay tethered to reality, not spiral into debt with a few thoughtless taps.
That’s also why cash stuffing—a budgeting trend gaining traction on TikTok—is resonating with so many. It’s not a gimmick; it’s a modern name for an old idea: divide your spending into categories, withdraw physical cash, and stuff each amount into labelled envelopes.
You can’t spend what’s not in the envelope. It’s visual, tactile, and disciplined.
For people trying to control their finances, especially amid rising costs, this method is a return to something grounded—an everyday ritual of keeping yourself accountable. It’s also an act of defiance against systems that profit from our detachment from money.
The right to use cash is not nostalgia. It is about choice. It is about dignity. It is about keeping the power of money in our hands, not locked behind systems we do not control.
There are plenty of ways to pay in today’s world. But when we lose cash, we lose more than a payment method. We lose something human, something grounded, something honest.
Keep your spending real. Use cash regularly to make sure it always works—for you, and for everyone else.