# Man, people are weird about CASH **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591 "2025-01-05T20:00:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/61 "2025-01-06T02:53:02Z")
For a long time, the local transit authority had machines that dispensed Susan B Anthony dollars instead of bills. When I spent them anywhere but in another machine, I would get weird looks. A few times a cashier would refuse to take them until I explained what they were. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/62 "2025-01-06T03:09:18Z")
Guh, nothing grosser than sweaty boob money. I just don’t get the urge to stick your money, (or cell phone? 😕) somewhere in your bra…yuck! They have so many options of _where_ in the bra they can stick that money; I personally find under the armpit the worst. I haven’t gotten much sock money, but that is yucky too. Pockets people, or a bag. Anything that doesn’t make the money sweaty, and involves a show of you fishing around in your underwear. 😝 ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/63 "2025-01-06T03:11:34Z")
I’ve encountered a number of vending machines that dispense dollar coins as change. Often (well, maybe 20% of the time) a Suebee will be dispensed along with the usual Sacagawea and president dollar coins. They certainly aren’t rare. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/64 "2025-01-06T03:12:09Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > A few nights ago, I was at this raggedy ass establishment that didn’t have Benjamins stocked in their Ticket In Ticket Out (TITO) machine. I put $300 into a slot and won $459. I haven’t really read any of your threads but I have noticed your name out and about the Board. Perhaps you’ve already explained this elsewhere but I’m curious, do you consider yourself a “degenerate gambler” because you actually play the slots? 🤯 > [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > So, I went to Walgreens to spend some of that money. I got some medical stuff for my dad and a few groceries. It’s a pretty special night when, after playing heavy slots at a casino you have any money left over for food and dad’s medicine. 😲 ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/65 "2025-01-06T03:12:17Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I associate carrying large amounts of cash around with having “cash intensive” businesses where you don’t want to deposit the proceeds because you aren’t reporting the income [fully] to the tax authorities. And also paying employees and suppliers in cash for similar reasons. > > Except for old people who are doing it out of habit (and whose second choice for payment is writing a check!), ALL the people I know who are carrying around rolls of cash are not going to want to explain the source of the cash to either the tax authorities or the benefits ones or both. > > Aren’t the casinos all now pretty much cashless? I haven’t been to one in 28 years, but I have heard it was all chips and cards now. Yeah. I can understand if it is large sums of cash, like a wad of cash the size of a fist or a duffle bag full of cash. But most of my cash transactions are less than $100. And only a few within the $101-$500 range. And like I mentioned earlier, seldomly those. My money goes in the bank and the only time it isn’t is when I’m not near the right bank or the right atm or too late at night. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/66 "2025-01-06T03:18:49Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I’ve also seen surveys that people who pay in cash spend less, & I believe that. My wife withdraws the monthly grocery money in cash for exactly this reason. Our spend for groceries went down considerably. > [@DocCathode](#): > > Debit Card: $9.99 per transaction > I can pay by e-check. This only $2.49 per transaction. That’s unconscionable. The typical bank fee for a commercial bank account on an e-check or debit card transaction is under $1 - at least in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/67 "2025-01-06T03:26:58Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I literally have never heard anyone use the term Benjamin outside a cartoon, or bad gangster movie from the 30s. Diddy! That’s who I heard it from. His song “All about the Benjamins”. 1997? _Pops a cassette in the boombox_ _I put my hand on my hips, and thrust my chest twice to the left and twice to the right_ _I cross my arms, and lean to the left and then to the right_ _Finger gun!_ **It’s all about the Benjamins baby! It’s all about the Benjamins baby!** ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/68 "2025-01-06T03:28:08Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > Diddy! That’s who I heard it from. His song “All about the Benjamins”. 1997? So, like I said from the last century. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/69 "2025-01-06T03:36:55Z")
Before I moved here, we researched the neighborhood. We researched the building. We did do research on the management company. Then, we found out we had done research on a different management company that had the same name. I am less than surprised that management is over charging on transaction fees. I made a list of repairs that needed to be done after I first signed the lease. I sent the list to several people in management, several times. I had hoped the repairs would be made before I actually moved in two weeks or so after I signed the lease. The repairs have never been made. While helping me move in, a friend smelled gas. I called the gas company and reported a leak. They quickly got a team out. They confirmed an internal leak in my oven. They shut off the gas to the oven and said it needed to be fixed or replaced. I informed management of this and repeated the list of repairs. They said they would immediately replace the oven, but that they felt making the other repairs (mostly unsticking windows that won’t open, putting screens in the windows etc) would be too intrusive now that I was living in the apartment. Rather than yelling, cursing, pointing out that they had at least two weeks to do the repairs before I moved in, and that replacing a oven was massively more intrusive than any of the repairs they said they did not want to do- I just asked ‘If the other repairs are too intrusive, could you fix the lock on my mail box? That can be done without ever setting foot in my apartment.’ They never responded. They never followed up about replacing the oven. I never ever use the oven or range. I don’t want them in my apartment if I can avoid it. So, I have not raised the issue. Oh, and once it got cold I discovered that the hot water in the bathroom sink is usually extremely cold. Letting it run will sometimes get it to warm up. Sometimes it will become hot enough to scald. Mostly, it is just barely above freezing. I think I have mentioned all this in various monthly mini rant and other Pit threads. This apartment is, however, quite a few steps up from my last one. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/70 "2025-01-06T03:44:29Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > > [@DocCathode](#): > > > > It can be considerably cheaper to just pay cash. > > This. I pay with cash almost daily. Many small stores and gas stations charge the customer an added fee when using a credit or debit card, and often paying cash for gas can save 15 or 20 cents per gallon. That adds up quickly. And a penny saved is a penny earned and all that. It’s also much easier to keep track of my bank activity when using cash as I don’t have to wait for transactions to be processed through and deducted from my account. Example: I used PayPal to pay for my son’s school books (actually a online ebook subscription) and it took _two days_ for pay PayPal to email me a recipt and another 2 days to show up on my bank statement. Absolutely maddening. With cash that’s never an issue. > > $50 bills are the best. You can carry $200, $300 in your wallet without it being “fat” and they tend not to raise the hackles of a cashier like a $100 bill does. > > I have never, but _never_ recived weird looks or heard a snide comment from anyone when paying for anything with cash. As noted some cashiers find $100 bills a PITA to deal with, but they still accept them. Usually. Buying a $3 coffee with a $100 bill is a dick move though. Carry a couple of $5’s, 4 or 5 $10’s, and the rest $50’s. You wallet won’t be too fat and you’ll have enough cash for both conveniences and emergencies. > > Regardless of your personal attitudes toward cash it’s always a good idea to carry enough folding green to buy yourself a meal and fill up your gas tank. You never know when a POS machine will be down and you’ll need to pay with cash. I also carry ~$10 or so in dimes and quarters in my car in case I find myself needing them for a parking meter. It doesn’t happen often but when it does cash – coins, in this case – is the only option. > > > [@dalej42](#): > > > > casinos are the last bastion of a cash life along with marijuana dispensaries. > > And tattoo parlors and many barber shops. And laundromats! Well TITOs only distribute 1s/5s/20s and sometimes $100s. I don’t remember any of those kiosks EVER spitting out any 2s/10s/50s. I wonder why though, $2 bills the reason is obvious. But why not 10s/50s? Occasionally you might get a $10 or $50 if you go to an actual human cashier at the casino, but even then it is rare. Good question for the “general questions”? I guess I can request 50s whenever I withdraw cash from the bank. Just haven’t thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/71 "2025-01-06T03:56:34Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > > > I use cash frequently and have never experienced any problems or weirdness. > > Ditto. > > However, I’ve read some really annoyed stories on Not Always Right about being handed “sweaty” cash. The problem’s not the cash; it’s the cash being sweaty (or sometimes worse.) Stash your cash where it doesn’t pick up your bodily fluids. > > And I associate $100 bills with people who want to show off how rich they are – or, possibly, who are trying to pass a forged bill. I don’t generally take them at farmers’ market. Especially not for a $2 purchase. Take the Benjamins (a term I’ve read but don’t think I’ve ever heard in person) to a bank, or at least to the sort of large business which has lots of change in the till and a bill-testing system there on the spot. 20’s should be fine. > > Of course, if you deposit a large amount of cash in the bank, they’ll have to report it. I forget the exact amount. 😂 This describe some of the guys I’m buddies with from the casinos. They walk around with slings (man purses), fanny packs, or cargo short pockets FULL of Benjamins. They whip out a wad of cash just to pay for a beer. One guy is known to spread out five figures worth of cash onto chairs bunched together to count his money. Midwest Degenerate Gambler -I wanna be like them some day! Not the showing off, but winning that much money! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/72 "2025-01-06T04:01:19Z")
My guess is your buddies are all poseurs. IOW, they’re not winning as much as they pretend to. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/73 "2025-01-06T04:21:41Z")
I just came back from a trip to Japan, where a LOT of small businesses are still cash only. Here in my city, a local well known barbershop has been cash only for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/74 "2025-01-06T04:48:57Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > often paying cash for gas can save 15 or 20 cents per gallon Fine, although where I live it’s 10 cents pretty much everywhere, which amounts to maybe 2.5% or under $1.50 for a fill. I fill maybe a couple of times a month, so it adds up over a year to maybe $36, which I would never notice. It’s worth it to me not to have to deal with the people who work at gas stations, especially now that they have more secure credit card payments at most pumps (just tapping). Parking meters: all the meters in San Francisco accept credit and debit cards, and also have tap to pay. I used to carry quarters (mostly you get maybe 15 minutes for a quarter) but paying with a card is much easier, you just cycle up or down to the amount of time that you want. I’ve got nothing against using cash, but I got out of the habit during Covid and just went on from there. I do carry a modest amount of cash, but I can go weeks between withdrawals. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/75 "2025-01-06T04:56:27Z")
I was in a parking garage and forgot to have small change or bills. The machine took my twenty but gave me nineteen one dollar coins in return. I didn’t mind so much, it was fun using them and they were legal tender. But my favorite story involving cash was about my father. And see, I sometimes wondered where I got my occasional orneriness from, this taught me. Back in the early 80’s my folks were selling their house, and purchasing a smaller one. The realtor they dealt with was a nice lady but it turns out the head of the office was a tempremental jerk off. So the terms of sale and purchase were settled, with the final signing of the papers in a couple days. My dad would need to have about $2000 and he said he’d pay by check…The office manager said he required a certified check not a personal one and my dad was pissed, although he wouldn’t use the word. He felt his integretiy was being impugned. So he told the realtor he’d pay in cash when the time came. He went to the bank and got the required amount, in ones and fives. He put the cash in a bag and tossed it like salad. When the time came he poured it out on the jerk’s desk. Dad said the guy got red in the face and stomped like a toddler, saying he wouldn’t take it. Dad said his one mistake was not taking it back then and there, as legally the guy had refused payment. Jerk made the realtor help him count it, and was more angry when Dad would not help. At the reception following my dad’s funeral, when everyone got a chance to tell stories, this is what I told about Dad and everyone laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/76 "2025-01-06T05:14:16Z")
I got a BS parking ticket once on a Saturday. The ticket stated I had 48 hours to pay it (at the PD station). I did the same thing as your dad did, except with assorted coins all jumbled up in a bag & went over to pay it on Sun, except they wouldn’t take it as they only accepted payments M-F, 9-5 or 6 or 7(?) so I fought it. The cop stated I had two business days to make payment. I told the judge the PD is in operation 24/7/365 & they specifically printed it with “48 hours” on it; therefore it is reasonable to assume that the clock starts ticking when I get the ticket & that if they wanted it to be two business days they surely could have printed that on their custom tickets/envelopes but they chose not to. The judge sided with me & dismissed the ticket so I had to go thru the zip-loc bag & pull the coins out & sort them myself but at least I kept my money; all $10 or so. Principle, man, principle! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/77 "2025-01-06T05:15:54Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > This describe some of the guys I’m buddies with from the casinos. They walk around with slings (man purses), fanny packs, or cargo short pockets FULL of Benjamins. They whip out a wad of cash just to pay for a beer. I don’t sneer at rich people for being rich. I will, however, sneer at them for behaving like that. They don’t look impressive to me, they look like insecure assholes. I suspect they look like that to a lot more people than they think. (And did you not notice the part about not giving people sweaty money?) > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My guess is your buddies are all poseurs. IOW, they’re not winning as much as they pretend to. Agreeing with this. > [@Baker](#): > > The office manager said he required a certified check not a personal one and my dad was pissed, although he wouldn’t use the word. He felt his integretiy was being impugned. That is utterly and absolutely normal for real estate transactions. Your father was way out of line. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/78 "2025-01-06T05:19:18Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > That is utterly and absolutely normal for real estate transactions. Your father was way out of line. For only $2000? No he wasn’t. The realtor told him the guy was a butthole all the time. She made sure the office door was cracked open slightly, so the others in the office could hear him being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/79 "2025-01-06T05:37:55Z")
I won’t use Venmo or any other payment program on a computer or phone. It’s just something to get hacked without any guarantee. I mostly use a credit card because I pay it off each month and I get cash back. I usually take out $300 for spending money for places that charge extra for credit cards. I’ve never dealt with a business that is credit card or payment ap only. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/80 "2025-01-06T05:47:15Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I hadn’t realized how out of touch (and out of cash, apparently) I was until I read this and kept wondering to myself, what the hell is a “Benjamin”? > > I presume it’s some sort of bill, presumably with Franklin’s face on it? Not sure which denomination, but probably a big one? $100. But I was confused as to what is a > [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > As a MWDG ??? I use cash for anything under $20, to save them CC fees. or when buying gas. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > MAGAoids and other subterraneans are freaking out about an imminent cashless society, which will force them to have implantable nano-commerce microchips which will also allow them to be remotely vaccinated and confined to 15-minute cities. Yep, and then they say “Siri, remind me to…”. 🙄 > [@Baker](#): > > There is a scene in which the protagonist goes clothes shopping at a very high end store, Many of which do not accept cash today, IRL. And of course some low end stores wont take cards. (If their average sale is $10 or so, I cant blame them). > [@madmonk28](#): > > I literally have never heard anyone use the term Benjamin outside a cartoon, or bad gangster movie from the 30s. Rap Music. that is who Al was parodying here- [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qpMvS1Q1sos/maxresdefault.jpg ""Weird Al" Yankovic - It's All About The Pentiums (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos) > [@Spiderman](#): > > 6% of the US population is unbanked. Philly, with it’s high poverty rate is probably higher than that. You can have a card and be unbanked. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > However, I’ve read some really annoyed stories on Not Always Right about being handed “sweaty” cash. My wife HATES it when some jerk licks his fingers as he counts out his cash then hands the germ farm to her. She openly uses hand sterilizer after. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Of course, if you deposit a large amount of cash in the bank, they’ll have to report it. $10000.01 or more. It is called a CTR in the USA. They are routine. No one looks at them. Unless you are under investigation for something else. They do not trigger an audit or investigation. But do NOT, repeat **NOT** break up a transaction to avoid the CTR. That is structuring and is a crime in of itself. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Are reloadable debit cards like Walmart’s Cashcard no longer widely available? Exactly. > [@mixdenny](#): > > Ticket In Ticket Out machine Gambling/casino terminology. > [@Sylvanz](#): > > Guh, nothing grosser than sweaty boob money. _Licked money._ I win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591.md?page=5)