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Original poster

Times I have needed cash this fortnight

353 replies

marymarkle · 04/02/2019 23:48

I know there are some on here who say they never ever use cash. I don't know how they manage. Like most people I use a mixture of bards and cash.
So in the fortnight the times I have had to use cash are as follows.

Buying the Big Issue. I assume those who never use cash never buy the Big Issue.
Paying for drinks at a cash bar at a wedding. Very posh venue, but cash bar only, no cards.
Getting the bus into town. I live in a City where the buses only take cash or a bought bus card. I hardly ever use the bus, so no point buying a bus pass, so I used cash. You can not use a card.
Went to a local vintage fair today. This is a small fair and the best stalls are always some people who do this as a hobby/to make a bit of extra money, and none of them take cards. I assume because of the cost of taking cards.
Paid a tip by cash in a restaurant. I always pay tips in cash so servers get the whole amount. Even the best places take an admin fee.

By refusing to use cash I would have negatively affected my life this fortnight and not supported someone who is homeless.

OP posts:
ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:04

Would people really buy a single stamp, mars bar or packet of crisps with a card?

Yes. It's faster and easier than faffing around with counting money. Since the lunchtime places I go to became de facto card-only, the queues are much shorter.

gamerchick · 05/02/2019 11:05

Sounds like more places need to introduce a minimum spend for card use.

ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:06

Sounds like more places need to introduce a minimum spend for card use.

Why? For a lot of place, cash is a pain: it's expensive to handle, requires insurance if left over night, is subject to fraud and needs to be banked. What's the problem with paying 50p on a card, aside from your feels?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:08

Don't be so bloody patronising Reflectant, You come across as a pretty nasty superior type of person.

OP posts:
Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:09

And the reason for minimum spend is because there is a fee for cards.
HTH

OP posts:
gamerchick · 05/02/2019 11:09

Because it costs the shop money when you use your card. Hmm selfish attitude to have.

ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:10

Because it costs the shop money when you use your card

A percentage, usually.

Most shops realise that is less than the cost of their cash handling. But if they disagree, that's their choice. As is my choice not to shop there.

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:11

The truth is we all pay to use your cards. It is not free.

OP posts:
ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:12

The truth is we all pay to use your cards. It is not free

The truth is we all pay to use your cash. It is not free.

Unless shops pay their staff and suppliers straight out of the till, they have to count it and take it to the bank. Of course, a lot of shops do pay their staff and suppliers straight out of the till, but I don't feel a moral need to facilitate tax evasion.

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:13

REflectant Oh so you do actually understand why some very small retailers may have a minimum spend on cards? You just wanted to be insulting?

OP posts:
BarbaraofSevillle · 05/02/2019 11:15

What's the problem with paying 50p on a card, aside from your feels

Well it's quite likely that it has cost the shop 10 or 20 pence to process the card transaction, thus wiping out their profit.

Supermarkets etc can afford to absorb card fees and negotiate much better deals than small shops, who will probably be on a X pence plus Y % deal, so it costs them a huge proportion of their income to take card payments.

And a lot of their transactions will be small value, so it doesn't take many unprofitable transactions to serious dent their profits.

Doing everything by card works well for huge chains at the expense of small traders - it's just another thing they can't compete over and another nudge towards the day when only the biggest chains will be in existence.

gamerchick · 05/02/2019 11:15

So just common garden selfish then Grin

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:16

Not everyone paid by cash is tax evading. I used to manage a business for an owner. We paid the cleaner in cash at her request and declared her wages officially.
Someone who deals with tax evasion for a living has already explained on the thread that cash tax evasion is very small fry and that most tax evasion involves online payments.

OP posts:
ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:16

Oh so you do actually understand why some very small retailers may have a minimum spend on cards?

As I say, it's entirely their choice how they ask customers how to pay. It's entirely my choice where I shop.

JennyOnAPlate · 05/02/2019 11:16

I live in a large city but still need to use cash a lot. The pay and display car parks I use regularly are cash only. I visit the local farmers market monthly and cash is the only option at all the stalls. Subs for brownies and guides are cash only. You can't pay by card on the buses. A number of the shops on my local high street only take cards if you spend a fiver, so if I only want a loaf of bread I need cash.

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:17

And tiny retailers pay far less to trade in cash than cards. Which is why some still use cash only. So ice cream vans tend to be cash only.

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 05/02/2019 11:17

Of course, a lot of shops do pay their staff and suppliers straight out of the till, but I don't feel a moral need to facilitate tax evasion.

But clearly a moral need to be judgmental ?

PickAChew · 05/02/2019 11:18

£6 at the independent greengrocer in town
£2 at the chemist (I don't like using my card for small amounts, even if it's possible, as it costs the retailer and is especially hard on independent traders)

£16.50 on multi operator bus day tickets for me and one of the boys. It was over the card limit for that bus company and splitting the transaction would have been a faff.
£1.40 on a local bus ticket (small amount again - I walked the 2km there, picking my way through frozen slush - heavy bags back on the bus)
A weekly £1.50 for DS1 to take to school to cover tuck shop and supplies.
£1 for non uniform day.
£4-5 weekly pocket money.
£10 spend in tesco metro when their card systems weren't working. I find that this happens to one or multiple retailers quite often, in town.

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:18

REflectant Of course it is up to you where you shop. I don't care if you boycott anywhere that is cash only. I do care about your patronising nasty attitude on this thread.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSevillle · 05/02/2019 11:19

Of course, a lot of shops do pay their staff and suppliers straight out of the till, but I don't feel a moral need to facilitate tax evasion

Plenty of businesses that are cash only don't evade tax. Plenty of businesses that are card only do not pay as much tax as you would expect given their turnover.

Of course, they may not technically be evading tax, but there's some pretty enthusiastic avoidance going on and you average newsagent or Chinese Takeaway is going to be a drop in the ocean in comparison.

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:19

DG Nope. RTFT.

OP posts:
ReflectentMonatomism · 05/02/2019 11:27

Whatever. Businesses which are reliant on payment in cash are doomed: the number of people who do not carry cash is rising, volumes of cash business are falling. If your current business relies on a large supply of passing trade who carry cash, you're going to go bust. If you want to bet on me being wrong, or think I'm being patronising and snippy, fine: I can take it. But the cold hard reality is that as every year goes by, the number of people carrying cash - as is proven by this thread - is going to fall, so the number of people who can shop in your cash-only shop is going to fall.

And, hilariously, I bet that if I were to offer to pay for the 50p bag of crisps with a £20 note I'd get a complaint from the shopkeeper too. Exact change only, can't break a note mate, have you got anything smaller shops are even more doomed.

explodingkitten · 05/02/2019 11:30

Our (equivalent of the) big issue seller sells in the supermarket. He also likes to receive food and drink, which I buy for him using my card. I don't buy the big issue but I do support the man in this way.
I have never been to a wedding with a cash bar. I'm not in the UK so it might be more normal over there.
The transport system in my city doesn't use cash. I literally can not buy a pass in the bus using cash. I use the equivalent of an oyster card.
I use my bank card to tip and always ask the staff if the tips are still shared when I do this. They always are.

The fair would have been the only time I would have needed cash. I have been known to go cashless for months. I think my DH hasn't had cash for several years, he doesn't even have a wallet to put it in. He hares cash.

explodingkitten · 05/02/2019 11:30

Hares =hates

Original poster
marymarkle · 05/02/2019 11:31

Yes the amount of cash being used is falling. More and more people are only using it when they have no other choice. And yes at some point cash will disappear, although we are nowhere near that yet. None of that is rocket science, it is just obvious.

And it is not because of that obvious point that I said you were being patronising and nasty. I have said quite clearly up above that some of your comments have been nasty and superior and that you come across as a very unpleasant person.

OP posts: