I've always valued cash, probably because I grew up in an era where credit cards weren't very prevalent - They were only introduced into Australia in 1974, when I was four years old, and my parents didn't have one for most of my childhood; When something got paid for it was with cash or sometimes a cheque.
I began working at 14 years old and was paid with cash and it wasn't until I was about 20 when I got my first credit card which I maxed-out in about a month and spent two years paying it off. Lesson learned. I have a debit card now, not a credit card, but all these years later still value cash over credit. I tend not to buy something unless I have the money to pay for it in full - Credit is a slippery slope.
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A year or so ago many businesses valued payment in cash. It allowed them to pocket some and avoid declaring it to the taxation department which is totally against the law of course, but it happened. As the pandemic-panic gripped the country payment in cash was shunned in preference to tap-and-go credit card payment though. It's a condition that has endured and expanded over the last year and...
...Today someone refused my cash payment.
I was in a shop picking up some lunch, a baguette and iced coffee. When made they put them on the counter in front of me: Chicken, cheese, avocado and sundried tomato toasted baguette and freshly made iced coffee. Yum!
I was hungry so quickly whipped out a $20 note and proffered it to the lady who looked at me with disgust and said, we don't take cash. I was lost for words so just stood there like an idiot for a few moments. I regained my composure though and said...What payment do you take?...Knowing what she'd say. And sure enough...
Credit card only.
I nodded and told her we have a problem, that being I don't have a credit card. She looked at me as if I had said I just had the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine and was about to turn into a zombie before her eyes! No credit card? What the hell?
She wouldn't take the cash and so I said I'll go elsewhere leaving her with a made up iced coffee and baguette to deal with. I walked out and paid cash for my lunch elsewhere and won't go back to the first establishment. Their loss, not mine.
Have you had similar experiences? Had your legal tender refused? It worries me as I don't believe this condition will get any better in time, just worse. Dare I say it...The new norm? I'm also not keen on the government tracking every single dollar I spend. I guess maybe it won't matter too much when hyper-inflation hits though...A wheel barrow of money won't buy a baguette and an iced coffee!
What have your experiences been?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
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Voting with your feet, respect.
I use the credit card way too much. Amanda keeps it paid off so we don't pay any interest; but it's certainly a tracking/surveillance nightmare.
I was thinking what'd be fun, is to get a group of half a dozen close mates; have them swap credit cards and mobile phones at random, for a week. Just to contaminate all that data.
Yeah, me too Matt, I pull the VISA debit out far too often, but like you there's never any credit or overspending. But I really should use cash more. The tracking thing...Going to lead to no place good.
I like the swap cards thing. I imagine some government nofcice going into meltdown as they can't work out what's going on!
Never heard of anyone simply reusing to take cash point blank either here in Thailand or in the UK but I know for large purchases in the UK, you can't pay cash for a car for example, most dealers have a limit of £2000 in cash toards the total cost which must then be by bank transfer. In Thailand, cash is still very prevalent, you can often stand queuing in a bank behind someone either depositing or withdrawing amounts in the millions of Baht, but yet we all use our phones for paying for small things, everything is App and QR code which I think is very healthy as its not too far removed from paying with Crypto in the future....
However, if the conspiratory theorists are right, and the shit really did hit the fan, it will be back to cash and trading, so however hard the government pushes us into a cashless society, a nice little pile stashed in reserve wouldn't hurt....
FInal thing. In the UK, my Mum cannot now get a cheque for her premium bond winnings or get her pension in cash. Everything is straight into the bank...all in the name of cost and convenience, but we know the real reason!
Yes, while I don't use cash a lot myself, restrictions on its use are very concerning to me. They pave the path to tyranny.
Exactly!
Well, make sure you have a card here in Australia and not cash as plenty of places refuse to transact in cash. Seems legal tender is not welcome my h anymore. I don't mean just small businesses either, some of the big national brands do it and are adamant. They have cash only signs and will not budge on it.
The money straight into the bank is all about control and tracking as you allude to, so is the cashless thing. This post was more prompted by the concern over the pile of cash I have in my safe and how difficult it is becoming/going to become to use it. Experiences like the lunch payment yesterday will become prevalent.
It's all a bit mental if you ask me, but let's see how it plays out.
I have the same mindset as you do in regards to cash/credit. I do everything cash and I have a visa/debit because well that's just my bank card but I still just take out cash and use it physically because it's easier to keep tabs on my spending habits. I would have walked away too letting the business deal with all the waste for their own behavior. At the beginning of the pandemic, our local fried chicken place tried to go cashless and we did just that, drove away without our order leaving them to deal with it. I guess they took so much flak and so many orders left behind, it lasted like 2 whole days and they went back to accepting cash. I don't support cashless, I'm pro choice!
I agree with all you say. It's so stupid that people don't realise how much power they have. If a shop lost 100% of its customers for three days due to going cashless they would re-evaluate pretty quickly like your chicken shop did. It's so dumb how people just accept things, follow like sheep. Sheeple.
bhaaaaa.
We are kind of Anarchist(not the violent ones) in Alberta, stuff like that doesn't stand for long. I found out cash transaction still accounted for 40% over here a few months ago. Makes me proud!
Then again, crypto represents cashless society so now I feel torn! I'm always at odds with myself, not surprising.
It's a conundrum...The cash/card/crypto payment thing. I mean we all know where it's leading...I'm an old dog though and so I'll be slow to transition. :)
that will not happen in my country for a while. i think i will skip the card period and in the end go to crypto payments :)
in our part of the woods cards are a thing for maybe less than 20 years and people start to use it more and more, even small shops are now forced to have readers because they now have costumers that pay only with cards. One said few weeks ago that he does not know what will he do as he is paying for the reader and bank service more then he is earning from the people that use cards.
Yep, the EFT machines are a joke...Banks charge for them, charge for transactions, charge for having the bank account...It's typical. I feel sorry for the smaller businesses that have been cash-basis for so long. Still, change is inevitable and we all have to adapt as best we can.
I also only have debit card and don't pay in instalments. Currently grocery stores have recommendation of paying with card. But I don't care. If I can pay with cash I will pay with cash. and If I can't pay with cash I will pay someone else who actually wants my money.
I agree with your actions and hope you stick to it...I'm doing the same where possible.
Oh, no. G-dog joined the dark side!
Jokes aside. I think the credit concept is interesting from a financial point of view as it could potentially give you the chance of acquiring things you would spend years saving cash to buy. Of course, there's the thing of paying for it eventually, but credit tends to work on quotas, so you'll never have to pay a lot for the things unless you skip payments and interest goes up.
I have had similar problems because I use debit a lot. In the 21st century, there are still places that only take cash in this country. It's a kind of paradox as cash is a almost unavailable commodity and things are done mostly digitally. Actually, there was this announcement that the currency would become digital, but then the idiots of the Government released some new bills and pushed devaluation even further. Nowadays, you would find prices given according to the type of payment you want to use. Cheaper for cash be it in local currency or foreign ones, more expensive for debit, a bit of neutral price using some system that helps you get money from a bank account to another for a tax, not a transference but something that is instant-regardless of the banks-. We call this last "pago móvil" (as it implies the phone).
The thing is that this is a country were people never got use to pay taxes, so they see fees on using cards or other things like money loss. And they will find ways of making you pay for the fees they should be paying. That's a 3rd world wonder! That's not all. Did you know devaluation in this country affects foreign currencies? Yep, and that's not the end of it. People get finicky with bills. You bill is folded, creased or has a tiny tear? Well, it isn't worth anything for this bastards.
It reads like a joke, but it's an anecdote.
I'm not into credit. I mean, I have a mortgage for my house but that's it. No credit cards and no personal loans. If I can't afford something I go without which is a simple ethos and reasonably easily maintained - Takes discipline. It's just too easy to zip a credit card at 25% interest or use afterpay or some such credit thing and once on that slope it's a downhill ride all the way into credit debt...And more credit spending usually.
You say about paper money being folded and people not liking it...I once ripped a $50 note in half by accident. This was before we had polymer money like we do now. I used clear sticky tape to put it together and all good! Probably wouldn't work up your way. Lol.
Here people get stupid about bills. I read somewhere that in Australia paper money has value if at least 20% of the bill is still holding up. It's maybe just some stuff I don't understand. However, this is only with foreign currency. With local notes, people get creative. I once had a bill with some art on it. I don't remember when I spent it.
Hmm, I'm not sure about that 20% rule to be honest, I'd say it's not true though.
Well, it sounds like a hoax.
Having a card costs money. And if you are really low on money, that fee really bites.
Here in The US, the paper says "for all debts public and private" so its assumed people have to take it.
However, i have had apartments where the rent had to be by check.
And i have more and more problems paying monthly bills in cash.
The power company closed its offices, and now you have to go to Wallymart to pay.
Also, my cell phone provider accepts cash, but charges $5 for that.
Credit Cards should be illegal.
There is so much fraud in CCs that any normal person would scrap the whole system.
However, it is a way to create money out of thin air, AND track everyone's spending, so they just eat that huge fraud and never make a peep about it.
Yep, it's all pretty alarming and yet
peoplesheeple go about their day oblivious or careless to the implications and future repercussions of it. Sort of crazy right?$5 levy to pay cash! MADNESS!
The governmental/corporate tracking, the restriction on freedom of choice, control of habits and actions...All very worrying.
Lol @ Wallymart. ✅
Credit credits makes our society poor
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Yes, totally.
I live in the U.S. and it used to be pretty rare for an establishment not to accept cash payments. In the days of COVID, this has changed. I do like the anonymity of cash. It's not that i have anything to hide but
I'm not surebanks, government, etc. don't have any business knowing where I spend my money. On the other hand, I do use a credit card for most of my purchases these days, mainly because of the cash back bonuses that are available. Free money as long as you pay off your card every month so that you are not charged interest.I could have written this comment myself and it would be just as relevant...I'm exactly the same. Nothing to hide but I do hold cash reserves and if I can't spend it? Hmm, a problem.
I don't like the government knowing my spending habits and so use cash where I can, for instance I am going away soon, a short break...It'll be all cash as the government don't need to know about it. I bought a new suit for work a few weeks back - Cash. That sort of thing.
I feel controlled when that say no cash and I don't believe it's legit...But it's the way of the future I guess.
Thanks for commenting.
We don't need to have anything to hide to demand our right to privacy be respected
Your rights as a citizen cannot be used against you
*Be certain*
No group, institution or individual has any right a priori to know anything about you
A citizen does not need to prove they have nothing to hide and have therefore "earned" their right to privacy
It worries me when people say things like this because then the battle is lost before it's even been fought
I phrased that poorly. I am absolutely certain that we have a right to privacy. Corrected above.
I'm sorry @darth-azrael, that was a bit full on of me. Nothing personal! I just had to express my thoughts...
Stepping down from my soap-box a little sheepishly now...
😅
They would not accept a Debit card? I don't own any credit cards as they are pure evil.
Yes, some places here don't accept cash. A certain KFC does not, yet another does. I use my Debit card there, as the other KFC that accepts cash sells noticeably worse chicken.
Not all KFC outlets.. are equal.
Well, yeah they would have but it was the principle of the thing.. Cash is legal tender in this country still and I don't know if the legalities of having to accept it so I decided, in my hubris, to push the issue. Considering they had made the food I thought for sure they would take the cash...But nope, they did not. It's rather worrying.
Many businesses have signs saying card payment only and I tend to avoid them on principal although it's hard to resist KFC right? 😁
Good on you for leaving! Most people would have just caved and handed over plastic. It is a worrying situation but I think in Australia this will probably become more prevalent than in other parts of the world. I guarantee you that here in South Africa if they tried to ban cash, there would be a massive growth of black market dealers who WILL accept cash. When the lockdown started here in March, the "government" tried to ban cigarettes, buying t-shirts and open toed shoes (communism much?).
Well we the people later found out that the minister of health has an interesting friendship with a mafia black market cigarette dealer (among other things), so the illegal sale and purchase of tobacco went nuts. You create a vacuum, someone will find a way to fill it - guaranteed.
We actually had the opposite happen to us a few days ago. Since we moved here we've been trying to support more of the smaller, family owned businesses. We found a little dairy and they ONLY accept cash 😏 my kinda place!
I'd also give that shop that refused your legal tender a below average rating for that somewhere online, but that's because I'm a bit of a cow when it comes to stuff like this.
You make an interesting point about the black market there and it makes a lot of sense. Everyone is out to get ahead I guess. It's less of a thing here though and so I think it's more about trying to prevent staff-theft, record keeping and covid fear. That last seems laughable though. Of course, the government love card payment as they can track everything through the bank feeds. Banks here require our Tax File Numbers to open accounts.
Quite a few places have card only signs, as did this place I went to, some very big national retailers too...I tend to avoid them. It would have been easy to pay with my debit card and walk away but I decided to do an experiment. She stuck to her guns and so did I. 🙄
I don't mind having a card. I use my debit card for most things, but I do have a credit card for the bonuses. I never spend more than I can pay off the same month.
I like being able to check my expenses online.
But I still am a bit suspicious about it and check the receipt, making sure they didn't charge me too much.
I wasn't aware it was even legal to say no to cash in most countries. In what country do you live?
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I use VISA debit for almost everything too, but I also like cash, hold it, and need the ability to use it...Otherwise it's just polymer. I stack metals too and would love to be able to pay-like-a-pirate but that's not possible either generally...So, I'm like the rest of the world, forced to use cards. Not credit though, that's not my style.
Australia. I didn't think it was legal to refuse legal tender either but it's being encouraged now and my little episode above is the result.
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This is crazy - never heard of people not accepting cash - what a joke.
I'm not sure how they get away with not accepting legal tender but they do. They have signs of course, as this place did, but honestly thought they would take the cash. They ended up with no sale and some food that went to waste. Just because they fear covid-19 in a State that hasn't had a case for months.
Good luck with you business clowns!
So many businesses are erecting signs like that...It's the way of the future and cash-dinosaurs like me will have to change. I have a card and use it for so many transactions but I have cash reserves and need to be able to spend it. Putting it in the bank isn't a good option.
So, the cashless society is upon us already.
I believe we are certainly headed that way. I don't like it.
I don't like the way things are going either. Life has changed and is changing so fast at a rapid rate.
Yes...Too fast for my liking. In fifty years the world will be unrecognisable. I'll be dead so it won't matter though.
Haha I could be too for all we know @galenkp
Some shop owners do that so that every sale is recorded, as at times the staff pocket the cash.
In this country there are shops that refuse credit and debit cards, cash only but mostly owned by dodgy people that doesn't pay tax.
I have a credit card (Never used and brand new) and I have a debit card, but don't know the pin number. Sounds strange but true, as Marian knows the pin and whenever she needs it she uses it. Personally, I hate cards and machines and I never use them.
The only money that I have is carried in my back pocket and I use that to give to needy souls whenever I encounter them.
A simple life methinks.
Yep exactly, it's pretty hard for staff to dip into the till when it's all electronic and record keeping is good too...The government think it's great!
I heard today that the government is busy formulating tax rules for crypto Galen.
They are desperate to get every cent that they can out of us.
The thing is that they can't explain to us where the money of the road levies that we pay goes.
If it was spent to upgrade and maintain the roads, then we wouldn't need such high taxes on gas.
But no, it all goes into a hole and soon the crypto taxes will go down the same hole.
There's already firm tax laws in place here and I'm not surprised they're working on it over there too.
Good thing that Papillon was granted formal Tax Exemption status, so I am not too concerened about their tricks.
Yes last year during covid stuff I went to buy some light bulbs for the house and the lighting shop refused to take cash. I said it's legal tender and must be accepted as payment by law. They begrudgingly accepted the cash after that. I only have a debit card as well not credit card.
I was surprised the shop didn't take cash payment considering they'd made my food...I guess they value wastage more than profits. I'll not be back.
I offered cash at a jewelry store once and they refused. I thought they'd certainly want to save ~3% of an expensive bill. But when I asked why, the answer made some sense. Basically, the owner did not want to deal with the security headache of handling a lot of cash, specifically transporting it to the bank. So that was worth the 3% or so haircut they end up paying to the credit card companies.
Cash is important though. Fungible, anonymous currency is important to keep. The best way to keep it is to do exactly what you did in this situation. You don't take the "real" version of money, I'll go somewhere else. In my case with that jewelry store, I could have refused to buy at that point, but there unfortunately wasn't an alternative.
I totally understand in situations like this as moving money, large sums, can be problematic...It also needs counting and check-counting and staff tend to have sticky fingers sometimes...Loads of reasons why. I get that...But a $20 note at the lunch shop? Not legit. Me leaving will be the last time they see me...I hope they liked my baguette and iced coffee combination, or gave it to someone needy.
I have cash at home, The stack pictured as it turns out and so on...It's important to have some and whilst eventually it'll have little value right now it does. I stack it away for things...Like the BF Goodrich all-terrains my Landcruiser will be booted with next year...It's good to pay for stuff like that I think as some places are smart and offer discounts for the green folding stuff. (Although not all our money is indeed green...Just the hunjies!
Thanks for your comment, sharing your story...Umm...Engagement ring? 🙂
🤣🤪
I feel the same and with the kids i feel its important to show how the world has real money aswell and not only plastic. With our teenagers its also a way to learn them value, and yes sometimes people are chocked that you get out cash instead of a card, well call me old but 40 + years made me say take it or stick it where that coffe is going.
I just remembered that in the netherlands its not allowed to pay cask over a certain amount because of the law on money laundering
I was raised learning the value of money and of earning it by one's actions and efforts rather than taking handouts. It's good to be teaching your kids the same in a world that seems to value more, more, more over anything else.
I don't think we have that same law here, about the cash, although one would probably never walk into a place and want to pay large sums with it. I paid $7,500 in cash last October when I had a few accessories put on my truck and they were like, come on! I didn't want the government knowing what I was spending. It's none of their business. So, cash.
Wow; that's crazy. Well done walking away.
That said I hate cash; hate getting change etc. But likewise never use a credit card only debit card. Transferwise (now just Wise) are the best , multi currency and you get the interbank rates on any currency you spend in and can hold multiple currencies with no fees. But I do changed countries every few weeks so my case is not normal. But cash to me is non liquid; I have all this change in Eastern Caribbean Dollars which is essentially useless now I am back in St Martin which uses Euro and USD.
Yeah, we have to vote with our feet more often I think. People have a lot of power but tend never to use it...Just run their mouths off on social media...Don't like the rising cost of products? DON'T BUY THEM they'll drop. But nope...They buy. Not me though, clearly.
I don't carry much cash around day to day but sometimes I do and when I want to use it I feel I have the right...It's still legal tender in Australia right? My issue is cash reserves I hold, metals too as one day they'll be cash. No ability spend it means it needs to go into the bank and...Well, you know.