Can Credit Cards Make You Fat?
Credit cards can cause financial woes and add stress to our lives, but can they also make us fat? That's the claim made in a recent Bankrate article, and it's certainly an interesting thought to ponder.
What's the connection between fat and plastic? The article says that credit cards make it easier than ever to adopt a fast food lifestyle, and points to two startling trends:
- More fast food chains are now accepting credit cards
- Customers who use credit cards have been shown to spend 30% more than cash customers
The Cost of Convenience
So, are credit cards really causing us to super-size our waistlines? I think so. While we are ultimately responsible for deciding what we put into our mouths, there’s no denying that credit cards make it easier for us to give into temptation. Craving a big ice coffee? Debating between picking up dinner and cooking at home? A swipe of the credit card can take care of both.
And let’s not forget the convenience of a cash-less transaction. Just a few short years ago, cash was the sole currency at fast food restaurants. That meant you had to either have cash on hand or want your food enough to first make a trip to the ATM or bank. Hassle? Yes, but also a chance to think through your actions. Nowadays we’re halfway through our value meal before we realize what we’ve done (to both our bodies and our bank accounts)—and by then there’s nothing to do but feel guilty and hope that we won’t give into our next fast food craving. Personally, I prefer my meals without the side of guilt.
Now, am I suggesting that we shouldn't use credit cards at fast food restaurants? Not necessarily. I think we just need to stop and question our actions before we hand over that card. Fast food may have gotten faster, but that doesn't mean our decision making process has kept pace. Slow down long enough to consider the consequence of your purchase. Then, go ahead and order that burger if you decide it's the right choice.
So, those are my thoughts on this issue; what are yours? Can credit cards make you fat? Do you visit fast food restaurants more now that you can use your card? Weigh in with your thoughts.
I don’t doubt that it’s true, the fact that it could become easier to be tempted to use a credit card if you have one on you to “splurge” on fast food if you’re in a hurry, tired, etc. It could become a bad habit because it is so easy. I don’t have the problem because the idea of buying food with a credit card is just taboo to me. I keep a jar of change in my glove compartment and the most I’ll give a fastfood place is 2 bucks from their dollar menu. Even that can become a bad habit.
I believe money and weight are related. For every 1 lb. I lost I gained $1,000.00. Of course it is all in perspective rate of pay, how many lbs. do you have to lose comfortably. I just want to say, I believe it could be anxiety related, control, related,self esteem related…but there is a definite connection for some people. Is it not true that when the stock market goes down or crashes, that some people jump off bridges, murder their wives, offspring or just plain commit suicide? Think about the connection and try it yourself…provided you have both a couple lbs. and a couple pennies…
I believe it. I use my debit/cc at fast food restaurants for breakfast and lunch now. It’s becoming a hard habit to break. I don’t carry cash that much, so if they didn’t accept cc’s I probably wouldn’t go. And most of the healthy options you can’t eat with one hand in your car which is why I am opting for fast food in the first place.
don’t think i’ve ever used my credit or ATM cards for purchases under $15… but going out to sit-down dinners with ex-husband and maybe another used to cost me anywhere from $50-120 every WEEK.
the problem might be the lifestyle of fast & “painless”, that leads to both a fast food mentality, and over-extended credit. i’m debt-free now, and LOVE it!
OH ABSOLUTELY TRUE!! I don’t usually carry cash and that would prevent me from eating out- but I have my debit card and I’ll stop and get “something quick” – usually with my kids in the car I’ll spend $14 – instead of going home and making a sandwich. Debit cards are evil.
I believe this! Since fast food restaurants have started accepting Credit/Debit cards, it’s not a problem when the kids say they want burgers and fries as we’re passing by the place. Where I may be limited by the amount of cash in my purse, I usually DO spend more when I have my debit card.
There is no doubt that we eat more fast food now that credit cards are accepted. We never have cash on us and would usually eat more expensively on credit. It hasn’t changed that we eat out, it is just in less expensive places now sometimes. I don’t blame the fast food joints, or my credit cards (of which get paid in full every month). I am the one with the choice and making the decision.
This closely aligns with something Suze Ormon wrote in her 1990 book, The Courage to Be Rich. One of her clients began to gain a lot of weight when she went into debt to keep her business afloat and did not tell her husband about it. Suze doesn’t claim to know for sure what caused the weight gain – the debt, the secret, or something else entirely. But it’s an interesting ancedote to this article.
One of the reasons people buy 30% more with credit cards is that the feel like deadbeats when they charge small amounts. Fro some reason a $13 credit purchase appears more reasonable than a $10 credit purchase.
Guilty! I totally use credit cards to buy fast food – all the time. It’s so easy, I don’t even think about it or look at the receipt sometimes. I get breakfast at McDonalds, lunch at Subway and dinner at Taco Bell (on my bad days). If I had to pay cash all the time, I’d go home and cook, but I’m so short on time and work so far from home that fast food is the only answer I have at this time. It gets me in trouble too – cause I don’t realize just how much I consume due to the credit cards. I’m not sure how to stop.
I never use a credit card for fast food. I might use one for a nice steak dinner but never for fast food. What makes you fat is eating the stuff in the first place, we all know they are not the best places to eat for a healthful meal.
At 72 years of age, I am debt free where my credit cards are concerned. When I use a card (usually online), I consider it cash paid and immediately send a check to the credit card company.
I know that I should not pay until the item has come, but I rarely do not get something that I havev ordered, so I am ahead of the game when the item arrives. I pay cash for everything (in the form of a check sometimes, of course). My late husband taught me the value of cash paid on time every time! It took a lot of years to get to this point, but it makes retirement really enjoyable.
I post a printout of what I have ordered online on the refrigerator, and if the item has not come in 7-10 days, I call and ask why not? I love cooking from scratch and love to eat my own cooking–always have and always will and am maybe five pounds over what I should be. but with ten acres and two dogs, I stay pretty darn healthy. I take vitamin C and calcium every day. Luckily, I do not have to take any RX drugs (good genes, I guess).
Now that I have caught my breath from that serious reality check, I have to say unequivocally YES. I love McDonald’s coffee and drive through 4-5 times per week. About 2 months ago I realized hey accept the check/debit cards and viola now I need sausage or hash browns to go with the coffee. I have recently stopped driving through even for the coffee. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Now I know that I must make the choice to not use the card and just get the coffee with the cash allotted. Thanks for the wake up call.
I have only 1 credit card. That is plenty- in case I need to rent a car. Or if I do not want to carry cash to buy a big tiicket item. But to use a credit car to “buy” fast food. Nuh uh! That is not even stupid!
I DO use a card at the Supermarket, but avoid fast food all together.(I know the consequenses) I also spend more than I used to when I paid with cash. That monthly bill is a shocker!
I work for a credit card company and we rely on the fact that people spend more with credit. Retailers actually complain about credit cards b/c they have to pay more for those transactions, however, they know, that without accepting credit cards, their sales would be significantly less!
With the advent of online shopping and ordering, credit cards also inhibits some physical activities people used to do earlier. Maybe, another possible cause for getting fat by using credit cards…
Yes, I agree that using credit cards for fast food is a destructive habit leading to overweight bodies and underweight bank balances. I have a food/household cash amount each payday and do all my purchasing from it. I play a game with myself to see if I can save money and not use the whole amount. I put any savings into a safe place for something special. We just went on vacation and I had $400.00 extra saved.
The point I wish to make is that I have observed that every “convenience” has a price that is not on the tag. All the time-saving, labor-saving gadgets I own have weakened me. I have a machine to mix up a cake for me or mash potatoes for me; if I did it myself my arms would be stronger. For a long time I’ve almost worshipped the idea of “convenience”, as if being convenient was the most important thing. I am waking up to the idea that I would rather be able to do things for myself!
Yes I do believe using credit cards can make me fat, not just from use in fast food restaurants, but also from all the things I buy with credit instead of doing them for myself.
Yes, I think so, but only if you don’t control your spending and eating habits. But that may be because I used eftpos instead and at least attempt to eat healthier food where possible. It comes down to discipline and self control, really – choosing to eat healthier, not using the credit card for such a small thing, etc. And a lack of self control always causes bad habits, and bad habits in eating and the like just help to make one fatter.
I know of one thing that I practice and I tell my sons to follow. What is on the table will be eaten. I call this table rights. If there are nuts even if you are not hungry you will take few and munch these. Now that was not necessary but it was readily available. No demand, no supply curve. Just pop corns or nut lying down. Similarly when we have the card emotional as we are we tend to use these for the perfume, Bras, shoes cosmetics, Shirt you have you don’t have in the cupboard but don’t wear and buy because there is tag “SALE”.
Now if this is not frugal buying I think it is excessive purchase not wanted.
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Oh please! Credit cards don’t MAKE you get fat. Overeating and lack of exercise make you fat. Ya know, organic grocery stores and gyms accept credit cards, too.
Excuses, excuses… now we blame the credit cards? Why not, we blame them for everything else, like lack of self discipline, indebtedness, bankruptcy. Why if it wasn’t for credit cards, we’d all be slim, disciplined and free of debt.
Neither of the “trends” listed are startling. And neither prove a causal relationship between credit cards and weight gain.
In econometrics, this is what we describe as “omitted variable bias”, where relevant factors are left out of a regression, thus displaying end results that aren’t true.
Just a few examples:
People generally don’t use credit cards for purchases under $5; thus it would appear that using credit cards make you pay more, but rather, it’s simply that when the purchase amount is higher, one is more likely to use a credit card.
Credit cards are used as a currency, just like cash, or in some cases, checks. Businesses that don’t take all available currencies will lose revenue; just as in the middle ages when gold and silver were used, it wouldn’t make sense not to accept silver. This has no correlation to weight.
In the bigger picture, the relevant question is: do credit cards change people’s spending habits and lifestyle choices. The answer is likely yes, but how does one pinpoint their effect, relative to other effects such as increased working hours, nutritional make-up of fast food over time, the rise of a suburban America which drives more, costs of fast food price and time spent ordering food relative to substitute goods such as fixing dinner at home, etc.
The point is, the model presented does not control for all correlated variables, and thus, should be taken with a grain of salt. While common sense often holds true–i.e. having the convenience of fast food and credit cards would lead to more fast food consumption and thus weight gain–attempting to prove this via so simple and unreliable a model can lead people to false conclusions: i.e. maybe if i get rid of my credit card (even though one would then substitute by carrying more cash), I can lose weight. Or by rephrasing the logic of the statement another way, do you think that if you eat only at fast food places that do not take credit (let’s say a greasy burger joint), relative to one that does take credit card (say, Subway), that you will necessarily lose weight?
There are lies, “darn” lies, and statistics. Always consider models, assumptions, and omitted correlated items before believing any statistics.