How often do you use CASH?

[SPOCKED]

Debit card only. My wallet (which I still wonder why I even bother carrying around) hasn't had money in it for longer than I can remember. Crisp new bills (with the giant heads and numbers) still seem unfamiliar to me.

 

[RoJoHen]

When I was a bartender, I used cash almost exclusively because I always had a lot of it on hand. Now that I don't bartend anymore, I use my debit card. I really prefer cash, though.

 

[Holdfast]

In the states, I always used plastic... Move to a cash-based economy, and dammit if I don't usually have about 200 to 300 "dollars" worth of yen on my person at all times.

The funny thing is, the USA is actually quite cash-based compared to the UK, partly because all the tipping you guys do makes it sensible to carry to a few low-denomination bills around.

I generally use plastic everywhere, but occasionally use cash in coffee shops if the amount is small or I feel like letting them avoid the processing fee. Most of the time, though, out comes the credit card. I keep a cash reserve in my wallet, but it's fairly low. When I was younger, I used to carry round lots more cash, but there was never really any advantage to doing so.

I didn't mind the cash system in Japan all that much, but what I never really got used to was the little money basket thing for giving and receving payment rather than handing it directly. I suppose if I was there longer, it would have become second nature, but even at the end of a couple of months, it still kept catching me out.

 

[JoeZhang]

I generally use plastic everywhere, but occasionally use cash in coffee shops if the amount is small or I feel like letting them avoid the processing fee.

Not got a contactless card yet? I think all the major chains take them now and the banks are now issuing them as standard. You'll also see it on more and more phones, I have one with contactless payment built in as part of a trial.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I generally use plastic everywhere, but occasionally use cash in coffee shops if the amount is small or I feel like letting them avoid the processing fee.

Not got a contactless card yet? I think all the major chains take them now and the banks are now issuing them as standard. You'll also see it on more and more phones, I have one with contactless payment built in as part of a trial.

You can even get an RFID payment chip implanted under your skin now.

 

[JoeZhang]

I generally use plastic everywhere, but occasionally use cash in coffee shops if the amount is small or I feel like letting them avoid the processing fee.

Not got a contactless card yet? I think all the major chains take them now and the banks are now issuing them as standard. You'll also see it on more and more phones, I have one with contactless payment built in as part of a trial.

You can even get an RFID payment chip implanted under your skin now.

In fifty years if people don't consider it perfectly normal to have payment implants I'll be surprised - I'll stick to one in my phone or watch for the moment.

 

[Holdfast]

I generally use plastic everywhere, but occasionally use cash in coffee shops if the amount is small or I feel like letting them avoid the processing fee.

Not got a contactless card yet? I think all the major chains take them now and the banks are now issuing them as standard. You'll also see it on more and more phones, I have one with contactless payment built in as part of a trial.

I do have one (card, not phone), as it happens. But my favourite coffee shop is a local independent one, so has no contactless payment system.

Does that payment system bypass the fee, anyway?

 

[B.J.]

I live in Japan. NOBODY uses credit cards, EVERYONE uses paper cash, and carries around LOTS of it.

I have to admit, this surprises me about Japan. I would have though it was the other way around.

In the states, I always used plastic... Move to a cash-based economy, and dammit if I don't usually have about 200 to 300 "dollars" worth of yen on my person at all times.

The funny thing is, the USA is actually quite cash-based compared to the UK, partly because all the tipping you guys do makes it sensible to carry to a few low-denomination bills around.

I hardly ever have any cash on me, and tips are taken care of when you sign the receipt. Of course, I'm only talking about tips at a restaurant, which is the only kind I encounter.

 

[propita]

I carry cash, but rarely use it. I use credit so I can track purchases (Hubby and I are kinda anal about that), and pay the cards off every month, no matter how high.

Cash is good for small purchases, under $5. I refuse to have debit cards, and have returned them for atm-only cards.

 

[SmoothieX]

I only use it when they don't take debit cards or I'm spending $1.50 on a soda or something cheap.

 

[JoeZhang]

Does that payment system bypass the fee, anyway?

There is no fee, it's the same as paying with cash.

 

[Theodore Jay Miller]

Mixed. I carry about $100 to $200 in cash, and use that for smaller purchases, up to $20 or $30. And I have a credit card and debit card, and use those for larger purchases, or for those where I want a record, e.g. medicines, for the tax deduction.

 

[An Officer]

I loose track of what I've spent when I pay by card, so I pay cash whenever possible, and try to limit how much I'm carrying each day, to curb impulse buying. There was a time (during my first job) I paid everything by debit card, but found I was running out of money several days before my next payment, which was a disconcerting way to live, to say the least.

I also foresee a time when this will be more difficult to achieve with such ease, and I'm not looking forward to it. The idea that my electronic funds could be frozen/faulty seems unwise for someone who wants to be as independent and free as possible. If it were up to me, I'd still be paying in gold coins, with my life savings in solid matter buried somewhere of my choosing. Take that economic crisis.

 

[ares93]

Besides, Hungarian money is neat. It looks like Monopoly money.

Why you little...! *grinding teeth*

 

[auntiehill]

I use my check-card as a credit card as hubby wants to keep track of all our purchases, or now I use the Amazon credit card more often, and accrue points. I hardly ever use cash, unless making a small purchase---like at Subway.

We pay our card off in full every month, and as we're both usually very practical, we don't spend that much.

 

[propita]

Auntie, I'd say you were a part of my family....except that, aside from me, my family sucks at handling their money.

 

[Starbreaker]

The only time I use cash is when I need to buy something out of a vending machine that doesn't take cards.

 

[kirsten187]

I use cash to buy The Big Issue and stuff from a local bakery but I usually use my debit card and, occasionally, my credit card.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I use my credit card for most purchases and then pay the entire balance off before the end of the month. That way I get points, but I don't have to pay any interest. For small purchases, I'll use cash, or occasionally debit. On payday, I'll take about $20 out of the ATM, and that's the only cash I really need for the whole pay period. I pay all my bills online, too, so even though I have a checking account, I don't have a checkbook. (I need a check maybe twice a year, so I just get money orders when that happens. It's cheaper than buying checks.)

I was looking over my credit card statement and I realized that because I make most of my purchases on the card, someone with access to that statement could piece together my entire life. It's a bit creepy, and it kind of makes me want to switch to cash for privacy purposes, but cards are just so convenient.

 

[RAMA]

Almost never use cash, seems primitive to me now. I only use it maybe 10% of the time.