Man, that story hits hard. I've still got all my books in the same beat up long boxes from high school, and yes my handwriting is on half those boards too. Some kid at a con last year told me my boxes were "quaint" and asked if I was worried about spine ticks, like buddy, I survived the 90s, those books have seen worse. The boxes are the collection, not just the storage.

Sounds like your cousin is comparing apples to oranges a bit. The app is what caught that $200 in zombie subscriptions, and no envelope of cash is ever going to flag a recurring charge you forgot to cancel. Where apps fall short is the daily swipe, since it's easy to tap past your budget when the money is invisible. So the real answer is probably both: keep the app for hunting down leaks, then use cash for the day to day stuff where you tend to overspend.