What a STUPID commercial, or "What? My CASH isn't good enough anymore??"

Cafe Society
41

Oh, I loathe this commercial. I shouldn’t pay with cash because it breaks your rhythm? Heck, it makes me want to pay cash. It makes me want to pay in dimes, in fact (some places have rules against using pennies, I understand).

it reminds me of the line in one of Heinlein’s books – Tunnel in the Sky, I think. To paraphrase from memory:
"My father paid in cash. They refused to accept it. So he pointed to the bill and made them read the part that said “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private.”

42

[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
Oh, I loathe this commercial. I shouldn’t pay with cash because it breaks your rhythm? Heck, it makes me want to pay cash. It makes me want to pay in dimes, in fact (some places have rules against using pennies, I understand).

it reminds me of the line in one of Heinlein’s books – Tunnel in the Sky, I think. To paraphrase from memory:
"My father paid in cash. They refused to accept it. So he pointed to the bill and made them read the part that said “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private.”
[/QUOTE]

Have Spacesuit-Will Travel and, IIRC, it was because the father would send the IRS money, but no records.

43

As I recall, it was about how the debt was to be paid – otherwise there’s no point in having them read that statement.

44

[QUOTE=myskepticsight]
I found out something interesting about check cards yesterday. A couple came in buying a hard drive camcorder and stuff for Christmas. The sale was about $1000. They tried to use their bank card and it was denied. I was confused so I called my manager and he said often, banks have a limit on bank card purchases, usually around $300. The couple had to write a check instead. I’ve used my debit card for an online purchase of $600 before, but never more than that and only that one time.
[/quote]

My two largest online purchases, using my debit card, were approximately $600 (bass guitar) and $1,000 (bass guitar amplifier). No problems, as long as the money was in my bank account.

45

[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
As I recall, it was about how the debt was to be paid – otherwise there’s no point in having them read that statement.
[/QUOTE]
You’re kind of both right actually. The Dad kept all the family’s in two baskets: one for them and one marked Uncle Sam. At the end of the year, he would bundle up the contents of the Uncle Sam basket and send it in.

The IRS comes out and begs:

  1. For the Dad to keep and submit proper records.
  2. For the Dad to stop sending cash.
  3. For the Dad to stop marking “Spy” in the occupation column on some form.

The Dad’s responses:

  1. He does keep records - in his head.
  2. The aforementioned “all debts, public and private”
  3. He’ll change it to “Unemployed Spy”.

I had just gotten this book back from nephew and had it to hand…

46

[QUOTE=myskepticsight]
I guess its to prevent someone stealing your check card and going out and draining it all on one purchase or preventing a huge overdraft. Annoying though, for the people that have plenty of money in their account and don’t want to use an actual credit card and pay interest or anything.
[/QUOTE]

If they have plenty of money in their account, they could easily pay the credit card bill in full as soon as it arrives, and then incur no interest. And previous posters have noted that credit cards have stricter mandatory protections against fraud, so it seems to be in the best interest of every party (merchant, bank, customer) to use a credit card for large purchases.

47

[QUOTE=Zakalwe]
You’re kind of both right actually. The Dad kept all the family’s in two baskets: one for them and one marked Uncle Sam. At the end of the year, he would bundle up the contents of the Uncle Sam basket and send it in.

The IRS comes out and begs:

  1. For the Dad to keep and submit proper records.
  2. For the Dad to stop sending cash.
  3. For the Dad to stop marking “Spy” in the occupation column on some form.

The Dad’s responses:

  1. He does keep records - in his head.
  2. The aforementioned “all debts, public and private”
  3. He’ll change it to “Unemployed Spy”.

I had just gotten this book back from nephew and had it to hand…
[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I wanted to check it, but couldn’t find my copy.

48

[QUOTE=Not A Tame Lion]
But overall, I think using cash is still the smartest thing to do, and in the grand scale it’s better for the financial health of the society.

[/QUOTE]

What makes you say that?

49

I love that commercial! Great art direction and cinematography. Perfect scoring.

Of course, I didn’t really pay attention to what they were selling. Was it a new fast food chain? :wink:

50

[QUOTE=rainwalker78]
What makes you say that?
[/QUOTE]

The aforementioned disconnect that occurs when your money–the money you actually have to spend, not credit–does not pass through your hands. My experience is, not paying with cash helps pave the way towards increased personal debt, and having a whole society of people living in ever-increasing debt is not a healthy situation. If nothing else, more debt means less freedom; and you can’t have a free society with no freedom. Better for everyone to keep their financial houses in order, and I’ve found that’s easiest to do when paying for purchases with actual cash.

51

[QUOTE=Not A Tame Lion]
The aforementioned disconnect that occurs when your money–the money you actually have to spend, not credit–does not pass through your hands. My experience is, not paying with cash helps pave the way towards increased personal debt, and having a whole society of people living in ever-increasing debt is not a healthy situation. If nothing else, more debt means less freedom; and you can’t have a free society with no freedom. Better for everyone to keep their financial houses in order, and I’ve found that’s easiest to do when paying for purchases with actual cash.
[/QUOTE]

I am a little confused, if you don’t mind straitening me out. When you are saying cash, are you talking about actual bills and coins?

or

do you mean immediate payment verses credit? Becuase immediate payment also includes checks, debit card purchases, wire xfers, etc.

Because I 100% agree with you about immediate payment vs. credit. Credit is destrying a lot of peoples lives, and I intend to not buy anything with credit again for the rest of my life, with the possible exception of a house.

However, I took you first post to mean that you think we should only be using coins and bills, and that was what I was asking about. Sorry if I misunderstood you.

52

[QUOTE=rainwalker78]
I am a little confused, if you don’t mind straitening me out. When you are saying cash, are you talking about actual bills and coins?

or

do you mean immediate payment verses credit? Becuase immediate payment also includes checks, debit card purchases, wire xfers, etc.

Because I 100% agree with you about immediate payment vs. credit. Credit is destrying a lot of peoples lives, and I intend to not buy anything with credit again for the rest of my life, with the possible exception of a house.

However, I took you first post to mean that you think we should only be using coins and bills, and that was what I was asking about. Sorry if I misunderstood you.
[/QUOTE]

I was talking about actual bills and coins. To me it’s more “solid” as payment, in the sense that it’s more tangible in my mind when I pay for purchases with bills. “There goes thirty-five of my dollars.” I don’t get the same sense when I swipe a card to pay my bill; thus, to me, the money I’ve spent doesn’t “register” in my head the same way as it does when I use cash. I understand that, in a broad functional sense, there’s not much difference between handing over federal reserve notes or writing a check or even making a debit purchase. It’s just what goes on in my mind, how I do my accounting there, where it makes a distinctly different impact. And it’s that difference in impact that helps me rein in my spending, when I have to physically hand over those dead presidents.

My sense is that it’s actually the same for a lot of people–when they’re paying with a debit card (let alone a credit card), folks are more likely to lose track of just how much they’re really spending. The next time they turn around, their checking account is substantially lower than they thought it was. From that, they either don’t have enough money to buy what they want, or they turn to credit to make those purchases–and then they’re in the pit that you acknowledged above. There are subtle machinations of personal finance, and if you don’t stay on top of them, big trouble lies ahead. Thus, my strong belief in paying with cash (bills).

I hope that explains my perspective.

53

[QUOTE=Not A Tame Lion]

<snip>
I hope that explains my perspective.

[/QUOTE]

It does, thank you. And I even understand where you are coming from. I don’t know why, but for me I am almost the opposite. My balance is just a number, I don’t actually need to see a stack of money to feel like it is real. In fact, I tend to blow cash in hand very easily, becasue once I have it in my wallet, it is effectivly spent, as far as my budget is concerened. If I pull out 50 dollers in cash cuz I am going to the fair, and I spend 30, that other 20 is very likely gonna dissapear,and I won’t be able to say where.

I do much better managing my money electronically.

Also, for a large scale eceonomy, always carrying large sums of cash doesn’t make sense. Like buying a house. Or a company.