No Cash next year?

[Anonymous]

I like to have cash on me mainly because at any given time my kids may tell me "I need $x for ______ at school tomorrow" but other than that I don't usually have it. I'm trying to adapt our household to cards as much as possible. Various school functions require checks to be sent in - not sure why the schools are so slow to adapt to card payments - but we are getting there. Once I make my large planned paydown early next month, I will be able to more easily get my wife to not automatically reach for her debit card at a store.

We agreed that after the holidays, we will leave the kids at home, go out to a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant in the area, and go over the "what card to use where" topic to maximize points and cash back. She finally bought in on why I've wanted to do this when I showed her the recent flash sale from Delta with round trip airfare to Europe for something like 18k SkyPesos and reminded her that we have about 56k of them sitting on our Delta Gold. That made things real to think we could go to Ireland (she has dual citizenship) for the cost of lodging and airline taxes/fuel surcharges. Hoping that putting the debit cards in the safe with some on-hand cash and the non-daily credit cards will boost up our points and cash back nicely this coming year.

[HeavenOhio]

I use credit cards for absolutely everything that I'm allowed to. The big advantage is that I know where my money's going. Cash has a tendency to slip through my fingers when I use it regularly. My preference is to use Apple Pay via my watch.

I carry enough cash to cover most of the things I'd normally buy, but I hope not to touch it. In theory, it's possible that I could drag around the same bills for months.

I keep quarters in the car for Aldi and air for my tires. (A credit card for air seems cumbersome for air pumps.) I used to stash pennies, nickels, and dimes in a snack-sized ziplock. But lately, I've been leaving them at the register. I used to use quarters for occasional visits to the laundromat. But I now have machines at home that are big enough to take care of the occasional large items that I used to have to haul in.

The only flaw in this plan is Woodman's supermarkets. They only take Discover, and I don't have that card. Until this year, they didn't take credit cards at all. They take debit cards, but I prefer cash to debit.

[pinkandgrey]

I always like to have cash. I use cards a lot but I wouldn't go completely cashless. I don't use mobile/phone pay either. 

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

I use credit cards for absolutely everything that I'm allowed to. The big advantage is that I know where my money's going. Cash has a tendency to slip through my fingers when I use it regularly. My preference is to use Apple Pay via my watch.

I carry enough cash to cover most of the things I'd normally buy, but I hope not to touch it. In theory, it's possible that I could drag around the same bills for months.

I keep quarters in the car for Aldi and air for my tires. (A credit card for air seems cumbersome for air pumps.) I used to stash pennies, nickels, and dimes in a snack-sized ziplock. But lately, I've been leaving them at the register. I used to use quarters for occasional visits to the laundromat. But I now have machines at home that are big enough to take care of the occasional large items that I used to have to haul in.

The only flaw in this plan is Woodman's supermarkets. They only take Discover, and I don't have that card. Until this year, they didn't take credit cards at all. They take debit cards, but I prefer cash to debit.

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I carry a bike pump in my car for tires.

[CreditCuriosity]

Echoed above cash is king as least for now.. Actually gold is king, but another story.  I use credit 99% of the time, but you need cash on your as mentioned CC machines have been down before or the network etc.. Also such things as valet parking(my biggest cash expense) etc is probably the main reason I always keep 20-100 in my wallet otherwise everything goes on CC.

[Raisondetre]

I never carry cash, haven't for some time. The only time I had a problem was when I was at a small town veterinarian that only accepted cash, had to leave and find an ATM for that one.

[Anonymous]

Parking meters have been the biggest reason for me needing cash, now many around here have pay-by-app, but still a few holdouts.  But this just needs a few quarters in the car, no need to carry around.

The only other time I use cash is for payments that do not need to come to the attention of the IRS but I'm sure no-one else does those.

[JNA1]

I’m the same as others. I always keep $100 in my wallet and I keep a little cash in the console of my truck in case I forgot my wallet or whatever.

I’ve had the discussion with people about the money in my truck, and Ive has few people have a fit about the cash in the truck getting stolen, but it’s a gamble I’ll take to have it if I need it. To get in my truck, they’ll have to knock my window out, so it’s going to cost me either way. 🤷‍♂️

[Gmood1]

I normally carry a very small amount of cash, maybe $20.
Cards are use 100% of the time.
You just never know when some places don't take them.
I also carry one debit card with me. Only used at ATMs.

When out of the country. I carry way more cash. Since there's even more of a chance that merchants don't accept CCs.

[tparks5961]

I've been slowly making that transition to only use cards.. but there have been 2 recent examples where I could have used cash.

#1 I forgot my wallet and figured I could use apple pay, ordered my food and they didnt accept it. I had to leave the restaurant.

#2 I recently had a pedicure, and paid for the service with a card. I asked if I can put the tio on the card and look lady with. Look of horror on her face said cash would be better for her. So I'm assuming she gets cheated out of her credit card tips. I had to find an atm and return to th shop.

So now, I'll always carry $20.