Really, just plastic for me. There’s no place I go that doesn’t take debit and credit cards. Uber? Taxi? I use plastic. Shopping? Restaurants (fast food or full service)? I use plastic.
For me a big drawback of using cash is that you have to deal with change. It piles up and then you have a hatful of coins you can barely buy lunch with. Either that, or you have to remember to always tender that eleven or seventeen or whatever cents extra so you don’t get another handful of coins back.
Not to be snarky, but that is the complete opposite of the way I’ve understood the phrase my whole life. If you want to buy something from me for $100, but can write a check, promise it to me tomorrow, trade with me for something that you own worth $100, etc., those all might be fine to me at the end of the day, but when you lay down a Ben Franklin in my hand, then I know you are serious and you get priority over those other people jabbering.
That’s exactly how I always understood it as well. And in a way that’s not too far off from its original use.
This may constitute “necroing a thread” but I see the issue of carrying cash a long term one, and perhaps in need of an update.
Before COVID I always tried to carry some cash in my wallet, maybe $20 to 40, and use up any loose coins that might have been generated in transactions. I always carry around a small tub of quarters in my car (I get teased a lot for this) in case I need emergency money OR funds for feeding a parking meter.
But since COVID started, when I go out, I pretty much exclusively use my cash card, no matter where I go. I’ve just stopped using cash. Not because I’m afraid to use it, more in that it’s just more convenient to do so.
Also, since the start of the pandemic, I’ve been paid adequately (relatively speaking of course) and have stopped worrying about moment-to-moment balance in my accounts. I check them online to get a general idea of where I am, dead reckoning as it were, but don’t bother to write down every little purchase in my ledger anymore.
So these past two years have seen a total revision in how I handle small purchases. I imagine I’ll continue this way from now on.
During the pandemic, particularly the early days, some stores I visited encouraged customers to use non-cash options, tap-to-pay credit cards in particular.
That’s the beauty of cash. It’s so easy to whip out the Visa. It’s like burying your head in the sand until the bill arrives. If you are watching the cash evaporate, you’ll think twice occasionally. I once read that using cash reduces discretionary spending by about 5% (and it doesn’t leave a paper trail when you buy your mistress a new pair of shoes.)
I think a lot of these policies were fueled by the coin shortage that was significant during the height of the lockdowns. I know one local business that flat-out refused to take cash for a while, simply because they were unable to make change.
It also prevents advertising companies from tracking your spending so as to send you individually curated advertisements (I don’t know if that’s really a thing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was).
That’s from 1993…
Along those lines, I recall hearing that saving is easier if you carry larger bills. A lot more thinking goes into breaking a $20, than if you have a $10 and 2 $5s.
And to answer the OP, I usually carry cash but almost always use my debit card for routine purchases. For the most part if I’m going to spend money I’m going to spend money, and the choice between using a debit card or cash is pretty irrelevant. There used to be a video rental store locally that didn’t take plastic so we always paid in cash (but, being a video rental store, that tells you how long ago that was), and a place I used to go get my haircuts only accepted cash. But I do not frequent these businesses any longer so it’s not an issue. I keep a few dollars in change in my car for parking meters or an unplanned vending machine lunch, but the times I’ve actually had to dip into that stash has been all but never – I honestly can’t remember the last time I had to utilize any of it.
This, however, I think is true. I like knowing I have a few $20’s in my wallet for “just in case” scenarios, and breaking them to buy something feels like I have less money than making the same purchase with a card even though the money spent would be identical. However, as noted, my purchases are almost always pre-planned so impulse spending isn’t something I have to worry about.
Even many parking meters and vending machines take credit cards now.
And apps. In Seattle, I pay for street parking with my phone. (I actually love it. I can add time from the restaurant, for example)
For me, using a debit card means I don’t have to go get cash to replenish my pocket. I’ll use cash at my coffee stop in the morning, and to pay my gardener. Almost everything else is credit or debit.
Indeed, which is why my change supply has remained untouched for so long. Using a debit card is just easier.
A bunch of you folks are still stuck in the times of carrying a wallet. People don’t carry wallets anymore. You keep the 3-4 items you need (ID, credit card, debit card, and maybe a security card) in a pocket on the back of your phone. Keep up with the times!! 
One of our kids does this. I’m seriously thinking about it. I really shouldn’t be carrying 5 credit and debit cards around, along with health insurance card, bar card, AAA card, museum card and proof of vaccination status. I could easily photograph most, and just have one credit card and my license with my phone.
From private parties, yes. Not from dealers. If you are buying a car from a dealership, let them think you will buy on credit from them. (in fact , if they offer a really good interest rate, sure).
However, at a swap meet or etc, cash is the way to go.
Wise boss, that was almost certainly Money Laundering.
Still many places I can’t use CC. So I have to use cash regularly.
trash to the dump/farmers market/garage sales/etc.
Since Covid we’ve gotten into the habit of putting our groceries on a card. Something we would never have done before. We are very much, ‘cash is king’ types. If you’re bringing something, to my house, or are servicing something, I always pay in cash. No one seems to mind.
When I ordered our firewood delivery in the fall, (from out of the city!) I didn’t pay any delivery fee (standard around here!) because I paid in cash.
In some ways cash is still king, but things are changing fast certainly.
I’ve found that I have to specify “cash only” in selling things online, as few people seem to carry any with them. They all want to use Venmo. I tried to set up Venmo on my phone but the app wouldn’t recognize my bank for some stupid reason and the instructions seemed confusing to me.
How do you do cash when selling stuff online??
It’s for local sales over Craigslist or FB.