on using cash more often than cards

[chiver78]

it's like the Globe Magazine knows us or something 
seriously though, interesting read. lots of stuff we all knew already, but there's a history of how credit cards came to be, as well as profiling a business that offers a discount for cash purchases. 

link -> Put away that credit card. You need to use cash more
Big banks are the big winners when shoppers whip out the plastic. Meanwhile, Americans sink further into debt.

[TheHaitian]

Link??

[chiver78]

Aug 15, 2018 12:32:11 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Link??

the title. I'll go back and edit the post. 

[jd2005]

The link brought me right back to this Topic.  Regardless, I agree with the sentiment of using cash vs. cards.  I find it much more painful to use cash (thus I use less of it).

[movingforward]

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a domestic flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

[chiver78]

oops. link is fixed now.  

[chiver78]

Aug 15, 2018 12:50:17 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

there's a link further down the article that says merchants are sometimes penalized with higher transaction fees when a purchase is made using certain reward cards. I didn't know that was a thing, and how the EFF is that legal? wow! 

[Tiny]

Aug 15, 2018 12:52:14 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 15, 2018 12:50:17 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

there's a link further down the article that says merchants are sometimes penalized with higher transaction fees when a purchase is made using certain reward cards. I didn't know that was a thing, and how the EFF is that legal? wow! 

Yep, credit cards are big money for banks... they get paid from both sides of a transaction - the merchant and the consumer (if they carry a balance).    That's why banks don't cut off "deadbeats"  like me -- who never pay interest - the bank still makes money - even with a reward card - from each and every transaction.

Do you remember back in the day when Discovery was a rewards card while visa/mastercard were not?   Not every merchant accepted Discover (because it was another expense for the merchant).      The merchant was paying the "reward" more or less that discover was giving to it's card users.   

[TheHaitian]

Since Americans paid $104 Billions in interest in 2017 alone... that may not be a bad idea.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/2C91F308-89FA-11E8-B343-8928CBC9C041

[Deleted]

I'm the exception to this (I know, everyone thinks they're an exception, LOL)  Cash is like Monopoly money to me.  I spend it willy nilly and have no idea where it went.   Drives me crazy.  I think lots of times I even physically lose it, but have no idea if that's what happened or I really spent it.   What matters to me is my little app in my phone and the numbers in my budget.  It doesn't matter if I use credit or debit to pay for something, the "money" is already there and I just transfer it over.   

[Tiny]

I use a combination of cash and specific reward cards.   I haven't used my smartphone to pay for stuff yet (thus being able to get rid of all the cards in my wallet).   For some reason, I don't like the idea of using my phone to pay for stuff... don't know exactly why.    

FWIW:  when I was reading the article - I kinda cringed thinking about how much cash the gas station guy had on hand and how tempting (and easy pickings) it would be for a thief to steal.    

[Gardening Grandma]

Aug 15, 2018 12:50:17 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

Same here. I don’t pay any attention to the interest rate because we don’t carry a balance. We put everything we can onthe Cap One Venture card and collect 2% in rewards.  And we don’t have topay taxes on the value of the rewards.

The only exceptipn is the dozen or so small purchases that I use the debit card to get the 3% interest on the checking account.

Imight actually start tracking the annual amount of the reward for the fun of it.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Aug 15, 2018 12:50:17 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

We had a serious problem with denial when it came to credit. We had to go to only cash for about three years to get everything under control. Now we use two credit cards and pay them in full every week just so we can get the cash back. I get around $1000 per year cash back. 

Aug 15, 2018 12:52:14 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 15, 2018 12:50:17 GMT -5 movingforward said:

I never use cash. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month. I alternate between the Southwest Visa and my Discover card. I haven't paid for a flight in years with all the points I rack up and I love the cashback option with Discover.

I don't really know why anyone would use cash unless they just don't know how to monitor spending with a credit card.

there's a link further down the article that says merchants are sometimes penalized with higher transaction fees when a purchase is made using certain reward cards. I didn't know that was a thing, and how the EFF is that legal? wow! 

It's just the agreement between the credit company and the use of the credit card machine for the business.

It's why AmEx isn't accepted in many places because their fees to the business are higher than the other cards.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2018 13:24:54 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

I might actually start tracking the annual amount of the reward for the fun of it.

I get over $1,000/year back- my credit card site tracks it and shows my totals!

I'm a "deadbeat", too- interesting that the banks use that term when typically it refers to someone who doesn't pay their bills. We're just the opposite! If I were concerned about controlling my spending I might move to cash, but my spending levels are reasonable given my resources.


There have been some documentaries lately about Sweden, where nearly everything is paid electronically. There's even an app called Swish that you can use to donate to panhandlers and street musicians! There are many advantages to the government, of course, because all of your transactions are tracked, and it's harder for businesses to evade taxes. There's also an advantage to businesses since theft is less of a problem (yeah, that picture of the gas station owner with his wad of bills made me shudder) and so is embezzlement by employees. The other advantage is that, as the article points out, most people are likely to spend more if all they have to do is hand over plastic.


Remember Loony, the (former?) poster who owned a grocery store and complained that she was pretty much paying the cost of all of our credit card rewards?

[hurley1980]

I never use cash.  I only carry about $20 in an assortment of bills on me at any time.  It just seems too dangerous to me.  If my wallet gets stolen or lost, than money is gone, but credit cards can be cancelled, and the money spent by a thief is reimbursed by the company/bank. 

I have 3 rewards cards ranging from 1.5% to 5% cash back.  I don't even know what the interest rates are and I pay them off every month.  I get around $500-600 cash back a year.

[Deleted]

I do hate the credit card system though because it does drive up the costs for everyone.  I would go all debit if it wasn't for the cash rewards, but I know really I'm just paying for most of these perks in increased costs. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Aug 15, 2018 13:57:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I do hate the credit card system though because it does drive up the costs for everyone.  I would go all debit if it wasn't for the cash rewards, but I know really I'm just paying for most of these perks in increased costs. 

Right, but since the prices are already up, might as well take the rewards!

[movingforward]

The lady that does my nails sent out a notice a couple of months ago saying she was no longer accepting credit cards due to processing fees. It was only 2-3 weeks later that another email went out saying she would continue to accept credit cards. She is a one woman shop so I did feel for her a bit as I am sure the processing fees eat into her profits but not accepting credit cards in this day and age was a business killer for her. Very few people carry cash. People don't really want to have to run by the ATM and pull cash out just to get their nails done. There is a nail salon on every corner so she also has to watch her prices.

[NastyWoman]

Aug 15, 2018 14:02:46 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Aug 15, 2018 13:57:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I do hate the credit card system though because it does drive up the costs for everyone.  I would go all debit if it wasn't for the cash rewards, but I know really I'm just paying for most of these perks in increased costs. 

Right, but since the prices are already up, might as well take the rewards!

 and with that I want to point out that, contrary to claims it is not the seller that pays the fees but the customer. The seller just doesn't get to keep all the money he collects; like the cost of him/her stocking an item, sales taxes, etc. this is just a cost to him that he needs to pay to the CC companies. And who here really believes that prices will go down if there are no more credit cards used?  They may actually go up due to the need for added security because of the risks involved with having a lot of cash on hand.

[weltschmerz]

I rarely use credit cards. I don't like buying things on credit, and just handing over even more of my money to banks. I finally, finally paid off my credit card debt 3 years ago and now I have zero debt,

Now it's debit or cash only. Don't want to fall into that hole again.

[chiver78]

Aug 15, 2018 14:16:12 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I rarely use credit cards. I don't like buying things on credit, and just handing over even more of my money to banks. I finally, finally paid off my credit card debt 3 years ago and now I have zero debt,

Now it's debit or cash only. Don't want to fall into that hole again.

I can't wait to get back to that point. 

[Deleted]

I quit using debit cards when Regions tried to charge a monthly service fee on our supposedly free account if you used it.  It was $5 a month.  I made the switch to a credit card and didn't go back when they decided to nix the fee.

Now I'm glad for a different reason, and it isn't the rewards.  It is easier to deal with a hacked CC than a hacked debit card.  You really don't have a whole lot of fraud protection legally with the debit.  Most banks and CUs work with you, but it's nothing like the automatic protection tied to CCs.

Plus, I'm another one where cash just gets basically lost if I have it.

[weltschmerz]

Aug 15, 2018 14:19:55 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 15, 2018 14:16:12 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I rarely use credit cards. I don't like buying things on credit, and just handing over even more of my money to banks. I finally, finally paid off my credit card debt 3 years ago and now I have zero debt,

Now it's debit or cash only. Don't want to fall into that hole again.

I can't wait to get back to that point. 

Sometimes you have to use credit cards, like shopping online.
I bought something about 2 months ago, paid it off immediately, without even knowing the grand total, with fees and currency exchange, etc.
I overpaid.
Now Visa owes ME $15.00.
Otherwise, I will not use credit cards. I know me. I have every intention of paying off the balance but something always comes up, like car repairs or vet bills.
Then I start sinking deeper and deeper. I learned my lesson.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2018 14:25:28 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

Plus, I'm another one where cash just gets basically lost if I have it.

Yep.  I broke a $20 at the Farmers Market last weekend and before I knew it, it was gone.  I spent the last $3 on a nice, cold, crunchy dill pickle on a stick.

OTOH, I log all credit card and checking account transactions and track my spending by category.  (I spend about $100/month cash, if that, so don't feel a need to track every penny.)  I'm a numbers person, it makes me happy.

[Cookies Galore]

Cash: morning coffee, food trucks, dinners with friends when it makes sense to not have a zillion cards, and obviously when something is cash only.
Debit: grocery shopping so I can take cash out
Credit: everything else

[zibazinski]

I’m careful in restaurants and some stores. Having my card hacked is a pita.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2018 13:57:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I do hate the credit card system though because it does drive up the costs for everyone.  I would go all debit if it wasn't for the cash rewards, but I know really I'm just paying for most of these perks in increased costs. 

I agree- it's built into the costs.  It's unfortunate that people who pay cash (who are probably disproportionately poor or struggling) pay that extra cost, too. 

Back when I had a Hilton Amex, I did avoid using it at smaller businesses, even if they accepted it, because I knew Amex raked off a higher % than the rest.

[lynnerself]

Aug 15, 2018 13:57:08 GMT -5 hurley1980 said:

I never use cash.  I only carry about $20 in an assortment of bills on me at any time.  It just seems too dangerous to me.  If my wallet gets stolen or lost, than money is gone, but credit cards can be cancelled, and the money spent by a thief is reimbursed by the company/bank. 

When my purse was stolen in Europe I actually wished that it had only had cash in it. I would rather have been out 100 Euro than the hassle and concern with getting all my credit and debit cards frozen and replaced.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 15, 2018 13:57:35 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I do hate the credit card system though because it does drive up the costs for everyone.  I would go all debit if it wasn't for the cash rewards, but I know really I'm just paying for most of these perks in increased costs. 

Considering how many times TD and I have had credit cards hacked this year, there is absolutely no way I will use a debit card.  I don’t need to find my checking account emptied and have to do battle to get it back.

[justme]

I've been virtually all credit for at least 6 years possibly up to 8. I'm one of the few where cash just disappears. I can never remember how much I had on me so I couldn't tell you where it went. And before then frankly most was on my debit card which is just stupid. I know I've earned a few thousand in rewards over the years.

Merchant fees vary by card and how the card is used.