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‘I stopped using UPI for 3 months’: Delhi woman reveals how cash changed her spending habits
A Delhi woman’s three-month cash experiment highlights how moving away from UPI changed her budgeting habits.
A Delhi woman’s decision to step away from UPI payments for three months has made her rethink the way she spends money.
In a video shared on Instagram, user Sadaf explained why she switched back to using cash for most of her daily expenses and how the change affected her spending habits.
Calling it her “biggest achievement in the last 6 months”, she said using physical money made her more aware of every purchase and helped her control unnecessary spending.
Why did she switch from UPI to cash?
Sharing her experience, Sadaf said she was in the third month of avoiding UPI for most daily payments and relying mainly on cash instead.
“The biggest difference is that I’m way more conscious of my spending now. UPI mein kya hota ki it’s so easy to make 5 small payments, and it doesn’t feel like much. Suddenly I spend ₹1,000 without even realising it,” she said.
According to her, cash created a stronger connection with spending because she could physically see the money leaving her wallet.
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“Every time I hand over a ₹500 note, I feel the money leaving my wallet. I know how much I spend, how much is left with me. That alone has almost stopped my impulse spending,” she explained.
She added that using cash also made budgeting easier because she could immediately track how much money was available instead of repeatedly checking an app.
However, she admitted that completely giving up UPI was not practical. Situations like not having exact change or shopkeepers being unable to return money often forced her to use digital payments.
She said she now follows an 80:20 approach, keeping around 80 per cent of her spending money in cash and using UPI for situations where cash is inconvenient.
Check out the full video below:
Internet shares mixed reactions
The video led to a discussion among users, with many sharing their own experiences of using cash and digital payments.
One user commented, “But shopkeepers or malls don’t return small change.”
Another wrote, “I keep change.”
Sharing a similar experience, someone said, “Dec 2025 I challenged myself and quit UPI online. Unfortunately, no one has change anymore and vendors are not even ready to give ₹10 in change.”
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Some users said they had reduced their UPI usage for different reasons. One person wrote, “I stopped using it because of the wave of account freezes that were all over the news a couple of months ago.”
Others agreed with Sadaf’s observation about cash making people more mindful. One user said, “I have started doing this because my money disappears from my account, but stays in my purse.”
However, many also pointed out the convenience of digital payments. One user commented, “But UPI is very convenient, no? I never use cash.”
