Do You Still Carry Cash?
Posted by admin in Banking
Interesting article I came across about whether we are truly becoming a cashless society.. In it, the author relays a story about going out with a group and having the restaurant's credit card processing go down:
At the time, it seemed more than a little irritating, particularly since we all had to wait at least a half hour before the restaurant's staff gave up on the computer and processed the cards the old fashioned, manual way. In retrospect, though, I can't help but get a chuckle out of the fact that not one of us could pay the bills in cash. I'm not just talking about one person having enough to pay for a bill covering 12 customers – hardly anybody carries that much cash anymore. No, I mean the fact that nobody, me included, had ANY cash on them at all. Not even five bucks for a tip. We all planned to pay by plastic and put the tip on it as well.
Personally I don't feel completely comfortable without some cash on hand; it just allows for some flexibility in situations where a card is a pain or a card makes me feel ridiculous. I still have trouble pulling out a credit card for a $3.00 purchase. And sometimes I use cash for little Mom-and-Pop merchants that I know pay fees to let me put my measly purchases on a credit card. Plus, you never know when a bizarre tipping situation is going to occur, like coming across the occasional guy in the bathroom who tries to put soap on your hands or hand you a towel to dry them. I'll usually keep $20-$40 on hand.
But my general M.O. is that everything goes on the credit card if that's easily do-able, and that the cash is a backup.
How about you? How much cash do you have on you right now? And how much would you say you usually carry?
(Photo courtesy of billaday.)
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I’ve had about $200 in my wallet the past month, though it’s from a roommate and I haven’t needed the cash in the bank. Normally I try to keep around $20 on me in case of emergencies.
I try to carry at least $60 to $100. With all the WiFi transmission of card transactions, I’m not really happy using cards. Besides, it’s too easy to overspend with cards. Note: if your car breaks down don’t try to pay the tow truck driver with a card.
i normally only carry about 50 cents with me … i use my debit card, save all receipts and track my spending that way … its only difficult when i want something out of the vending machine