A Delhi woman quit using UPI for her daily expenses for over two months, and said the experiment changed the way she looked at spending money.

Sadaf, a content creator from Delhi, shared the video on her Instagram account where she spoke about using cash for most of her daily spending for over two months and explained how the change affected her spending habits.

In the video, Sadaf said she was in the third month of using cash instead of UPI for most of her purchases. She explained that the biggest difference she noticed was becoming more aware of where her money was going.

UPI payments, she said, often made small expenses feel insignificant because multiple transactions could happen within seconds without people noticing the total amount spent.

She gave the example of buying coffee, snacks and making online purchases, saying that several small payments could quickly add up to around Rs 1,000 without feeling like a major expense.

She compared this with using cash, saying that physically handing over a Rs 500 note made her more conscious of spending because she could immediately see how much money was leaving her wallet and how much remained.

Sadaf said this awareness helped her reduce impulse purchases and made budgeting easier, as she no longer needed to constantly check her banking apps to track her balance.

However, she admitted that completely moving away from UPI was not practical. She pointed out situations where cash could become inconvenient, such as when she had to pay an amount like Rs 470 but only had a Rs 500 note, while the shopkeeper might not have enough change.

Because of this, she said she had adopted a middle ground by keeping around 80 per cent of her money in cash and 20 per cent available through UPI for situations where digital payments were necessary.

While she acknowledged that carrying change and adjusting to cash payments could be inconvenient, Sadaf said the experiment had changed the way she viewed spending and that she did not plan to return to using UPI for all her expenses.

Watch the video here:

Her video received mixed reactions online, with several users agreeing that cash made them more mindful about spending. Some shared that they had also noticed their money disappeared faster when using digital payments, while cash left a more visible reminder of their expenses.

Others pointed out that completely relying on cash had become difficult as many services and businesses increasingly preferred digital payments. One user mentioned that even some places that accepted cash now encouraged customers to use UPI instead.

Another commenter explained that digital payments reduced the “pain of payment," making it easier for people to underestimate how much they had actually spent compared to their real expenses.

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