This morning, like many mornings I stopped and got coffee prior to starting my day. there was a long line today. At the head of the line was a man, probably in his mid-50s fumbling in his pockets for the correct amount of change. Not only did he do that, but he did it in a way that forced the clerk to perform arithmetic.
How often do you see people use cash these days? Do you use cash or do you use a credit card, a rewards card, or a debit card? When was the last time you wrote a check?
I use my rewards card for just about every purchase I can. We used to write checks to some service providers, but now we have everyone on Square cash and it's better for everyone involved. It's literally free.
It occurred to me as I watched the man fumbling in his pockets that my grown children will likely never see this sight. He is, an endangered species, right alongside somebody using a payphone, adjusting the tracking on their VCR, the sound of a dial-up modem etc.
I carry a small sack of gold coins around my neck which I use for all my exchanges. There is chocolate on the inside of the coins as well, which is just an awesome bonus.
I envision you as one of those rare people that can get away with using the word phantasmagorical.
That is a cool word, one which I didn't know until just this moment. Here, have a couple of gold coins on me... //throws gold colored foil at thenewgreen Buy yourself a pretty pony or somethin'I envision you as one of those rare people that can get away with using the word phantasmagorical.
Went for an ice cream yesterday at a local place, in another neighbourhood. After i make my order and they make my ice cream, they tell me they only accept cash and I can go to the ATM right there to take out some cash. WHAT IS THIS!? 1985? ...So yeah, i paid a 2,50$ fee for a 5$ ice cream. urgh. It was good tho, i'll come back with cash next time.
The place where I get my haircut accepts credit cards but they will not accept a tip on credit card. Therefore, I always find myself having to come back later in the day or the next day to give a tip to the person who cuts my hair. Eventually, I got so annoyed by this I stopped going there.
My barber is actually cash only, now that I think about it. It's a sort of independent operation run by a few guys in their twenties, but I'm sure they mostly do it for the nostalgia factor. A comprehensive cut costs 16, which means they pretty much always get a 25 percent tip. Pretty good system they've got. EDIT: and at least twice I've forgotten and had to IOU them.
I love the convenience of keeping my money in binary, but I'll never get over the feel of cash. I get cash tips at work, and the time I get them is often the high point of my day. There's something about the feel of 75% cotton, 25% linen that I've been conditioned to love. Maybe I should fight it; it's probably capitalism working its devil-magic. Regardless, I love money.
Rewards card (card or apple pay through phone) for almost everything. You introduced me to square cash. Checks are still required in some weird places (DMV) but I don't write them often. It's funny you mention this - my wife just had me pull a couple hundred bucks of cash out of the bank to have at home for miscellaneous purposes like paying kids for babysitting/odd jobs and for things like graduation/wedding gifts. It's just nice to have some scratch laying around. I have a brother-in-law and a father-in-law (on different sides of the family) who both use almost exclusively cash. In fact, my father-in-law pays me in cash to make online purchases for him. He's kind of a conspiracy/tinfoil hat kind of guy when it comes to identity theft and "the system of banking lies on wall street". whatever... but it's weird because he ALWAYS has like 3-5k in cash stored in his car somewhere... He bought a car from me last year and handed me $9000 in cash - and I don't think he had to stop by the bank to pay me... There were some OLD bills in there. My brother-in-law uses cash only because he lives in a small town and that's just how he rolls. It's all about cash, old school tabs, and a handshake. and he's loaded. He only pulls out the Marriott card when he's paying for a $75,000 concrete job on his next commercial building. He's a baller that way. Lastly - I've got some friends who own a few bars and other businesses. Cash allows them to pay themselves off the record. They draw regular "pay checks" from the businesses - but just enough. So cash money is how they roll most days - lunch, drinks, etc - it's all cash. They end up having problems trying to spend the "unaccounted for" cash.
We still have quite a ways to go, but the change seems to be accelerating. Interesting that Germany is so fond of cash:
Can confirm, since I'm German. If you ask people above 30 if they have credit cards, (unless they're traveling business man) they look at you quite weird. I moved out a year ago and since then I do my own grocery trips and I've never seen anyone but me pay with my maestro card, even though it's technically possible and free. Don't even think of using a credit card even! My family is traveling over to the US this summer and my family had to order four credits cards, because noone except me had one. Also, quite a bunch of my friends (most of them are around 25) really only get one, if they need it, for example of orders on the internet outside Germany, where the store requires them to - if there are no alternatives where you can order without a CC, of course. I think it's a cultural thing. Money-wise I think most Germans are raised very conservatively, living of last month's paycheck and don't spend money you dont have are normal things here which every child learns when growing up. Even paying stuff off in monthly rates is sometimes considered as putting yourself into debt and very rarely done. So paying with a credit card indirectly means that you want to spend money you don't have and that's a baaaaaaad thing. Just a couple of years ago, if you paid groceries with a card (not even credit card) you got a bunch of weird and judging looks. People assumed you can't properly live with your last month's paycheck or manage your finances, so you have to use your bank's money via the credit card to pay even for food! What a lowly human you are! Nowadays I only get the occassional sigh from people when I get my card out of my wallet to pay my groceries. Although younger people (<30) seem to accept it. But still very little of them actually do it themselves. Little story: Yesterday we had a business lunch and we decided to go outside the campus to a restaurant. I asked if it's paid by the company or if everyone is paying him/herself. I told them, that I ask because I don't have cash on me and I'd have to get it first. Hilarity ensues, because how the hell can you not have cash on you for a lunch meal?! Edit: Just saw that you even linked an article, and they seem to support my thesis after the history lesson in the second half.
I'm actually shocked at the value for Canada. for myself and most people I know, if we don't have to use cash we won't. I don't carry any in my wallet.
I still use cash daily. It's just more practical.
I use cash all the time. I have a debit card that I use on occasion but it's still mostly cash for me. On an even rarer occasion, I write checks out. I think I have only used 25-30 checks in the past seven years or so. I didn't think people using cash was going out of style at all until this topic.
I'm not a fan of cash, mainly because the more bills and change I have to keep up with, the higher the possibility those bills and change will not stay in my possession. I'm notorious for losing cash. Somehow I've managed to keep my debit card in my possession and in the event I did lose it (which would probably happen in my own home) at least I can cancel it and wait for a new one. Lost cash is lost cash. I worked as a cashier for a food place for a bit and we got half and half on cash and credit transaction. I think this might be due to the fact that a lot of other places in the city are cash only or have a minimum on debit/credit transactions, but I thought it was surprising how many people carried physical money. On another note, I saw someone use a payphone the other day and it occurred to me that I may have been looking at one of the last payphones in existence.
A lot of places in NYC don't use cards, so cash is a necessity. I still have the habit of checking for signs in the front of the door despite not living there any more. Some concerns about credit cards are a lack of privacy, though I don't know if it's a common concern among the masses.
I like having cash in my pocket for the sole reason that any left over change at the end of the day goes straight into my piggy bank at home and turns into savings. Living in Canada, this means that a fair amount of that change is either a $1 or $2 coin. I imagine when my huge piggy bank is full, it'll be roughly $1500 dollars. Besides that, having cash is mostly annoying given that new Canadian currency is more difficult to fold. I keep my money and cards in a rubber band in my front pocket so having money that doesn't like to be folded is not comfortable. I'm not sure if the states has the air-swipe thing with the credit cards yet, but it's awesome. The worst thing with my money transfer situation is that I make Canadian dollars, but have to pay back U.S. loans. This means that EVERY SINGLE MONTH, I have to go to the bank and get a money order and fill out all this stuff and mail a check to my loan provider. Cause loans have to come from a U.S. bank. It's a humongous pain in the ass. There is almost no reciprocity between the two financial systems even though we're the worlds largest traders of each other's goods
If my bank account was a room it's be covered in dust. I make tips and when I get a paycheck most of it goes towards bills in my roommates' names so there's never a real reason for me to put it in an account unless I'm buying something online. I'm horrible at saving money though and that's probably a factor.
Roughly half of all the transaction at my work are Cash. My wife and her friends always carry cash when they go out together. Splitting everyone's checks or running different amounts on different cards takes time and is a hassle for all involved. They get the bill, they put their money down they leave.
I absolutely despise cash. Working at the bar though I end up with it from tips, and there's no branch of my bank on any of my routes, so I'm never going to the ATM. But I just hate carrying the shit too. I'm constantly terrified I'll lose it, or it will get stolen. It's just so insecure. I can't track my spending then, and it's inconvenient to use in any situation. Debit, Square cash, google wallet, paypal. Whatever I can to avoid using cash.