Just nutty stuff. Now I understand why some of my friends say they don’t even carry cash anymore.
Few weeks ago, we were to donate some money for coworker’s birthday gift, so I pulled a $5 dollar bill from my purse and stuffed in my side pant pocket to later give it to the coordinator when she arrived to her office downstairs. I know dumb but somehow it slipped when I was using the restroom. I didn’t realize it until later during lunch when I tried to fish out of my pocket the bill and realized it could have fallen on the floor, idiot me went back to restroom to look for it (even someone would have taken it as dirty as it was in that restroom)
Just this morning at Office Depot, I decided to use a coupon for a great deal for printer ink. I gave the cashier $40 and thought I got $12 back, but when I got to my car and drove to the car wash, my $12 was missing. I knew cuz all my other bills in my wallet were $20 bills! I could have sworn I put the $12 in my coin purse along with my bills! Searched thru my pockets, my car, bottom of my purse…sheesh, and nowadays at office depot they accept Paypal and was very close to just using that instead of cash! Most inane thought, that I left the $12 on the store counter, and no one said anything.
If I pull $100 out at the ATM, it’s likely to be a few months before I need more cash. I have to carry it, since there’s a need now and then, but it’s pretty rare; I buy just about everything with a credit card. Part of the reason is convenience (then I don’t need to go back to the ATM very often), and part of it is because of the credit card perks (frequent flyer miles).
I think your real problem is relying on pockets. A wallet requires hand and eye confirmation of transferral, and is less likely to fall out of your pocket unnoticed.
Whenever I read about these threads where people discuss going cashless I can’t help but think about where I work - somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of all the resister transactions I handle each day are still cash, and many for hundreds of dollars (yesterday’s winner: $498 and some change). So, while internet users probably do skew towards cashless, cash is still enormously popular. I’m guessing that some of the folks pulling out a wad of 20’s or even 50’s or 100’s are underrepresented on the internet.
Cash and coin are not going away any time soon. I expect to see personal checks disappear first, and I’m still doing a dozen or more of them in a typical work day. Hell, I still use them myself sometimes.
Basically, I think having options is good. ATMs and plastic don’t work if the power goes out, and for very small transactions are arguably better. Also, you can’t hack a dollar bill.
I lost 20 bucks the other day that I carry as emergency cash (along with my license as ID) when I cycle. I must have pulled something else out of my jersey pocket, because when I stopped at a garage sale on the way home, my cash was gone. I’m glad I didn’t lose the license, though.
This is me. I do keep a couple of $100 bills secreted in my wallet for true emergencies, but I put everything else on my credit card and then pay it off. Simplifies tax time, because I can go into Quicken and categorize transactions, get a report, and give it to my tax preparer. I’ve got hundreds of dollars of rewards points saved, which I plan to use when I replace my cell phone. I bought my current cell phone with rewards points. Also, if I carry cash, I usually wind up giving it to panhandlers. One time I gave one of the $100 bills to a woman in an old beater car (full of kids)-- she was in the parking lot of the grocery story scraping together some change.
I’m not terribly worried about financial hacking. I only use my debit card at the ATM in my bank’s vestibule, and loss due to credit card will fall to someone else. On the other issues, yes, I do use cash for very small transactions - a few screws at the hardware store, a bottle of tea at the gas station - which is why $100 lasts so damn long. And for power outages, yes, I do keep a rather larger stash of cash at home.
It’s just as easy to lose a card as it is to lose cash. My cards tend to get lost when I feel pressured to get through checkout and don’t take the time to return the card to its proper place in my wallet.
Walgreen’s drive through puts your cards (credit / loyalty / drivers license) into the sack with your prescription. I have accidentally thrown all the cards away, thinking the sack was empty.
I occasionally hire a handy man who insists on being paid in cash. I imagine he isn’t paying taxes, but also I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even have a bank account. There are probably a lot more people like this than we think.
I almost always use cash - especially when I travel because I go places that ATMs don’t really work (Sudan, Somalia, Iran…). Even small towns in Nevada are often cash only.
How would you contribute to the birthday gift fund without cash?
I always have cash and cannot understand the resistance to carry some at all times. In fact, I believe it approaches irresponsibility to not have $20 or so. There are any number of reasons one might need or want cash:
A bathroom emergency at a cash-only establishment that requires purchase;
Tipping an above-and-beyond towtruck driver;
Fuel at a cash only gas station;
Quarters for an unexpectedly low tire;
Need a bottle of water but the merchant (right or wrong) imposes a $20 minimum transaction;
An outstanding street performer;
A hat is passed for the band at a tavern;
The tamale guy shows up at the bar at a time when tamales are so very badly needed;
Power or network outage when essentials are needed.
I tip waitstaff in cash whenever I can, too. Too many crooked restaurant owners/managers steal from servers’ tips.
