Have you gone cashless as yet?

[which1]

Was recently looking for a new wallet.
So many places now seem to do just cardholders.

So do you still carry cash?

I guess there might be a trend for more and more card use seeing as pretty much everywhere now has a card machine and I suppose they scrapped those 2%/3% fees that sometimes used to be added on to the total cost of the transaction.
I suppose also as more purchases move online, obviously that's card only.

I have started to use cash more as an aim to keep to a budget , too easy to use a card without thinking

I have googled but cant find the clarity on cash and Handmaid? I read the book about 25 up years ago.

Do men have cash in that?

Until earlier this year, I barely used cash. Then I had to start doing stuff for mum, who always uses cash. I found I liked the idea that no one could see where money was going, so started to use it again.

The only thing I use cash for is school donations, bake sale etc. Even my window cleaner has a card machine now.

I mainly pay by card but have some cash in my purse for the odd Indian or chinese takeaway, to pay ds tutor, for emergencies. With the threat of Brexit looming, I am taking out some extra cash just in case of need.

Have you read the A Handmaid’s Tale?
I haven't.
What is the link to cash?

After several days of our entire city having no power and no telecoms during Storm Desmond, it brought it home how stupid it is to rely on cards, which of course rely on electric and telecoms to work.

There were people literally walking the streets in the pouring rain in the middle of the night after being stranded. Of course, cash machines were dead. Thankfully, lots of people took pity on them and gave them lifts or a sofa to sleep on - several pubs stayed open by torchlight so they at least had somewhere to stay out of the cold and wet.

The next few days, what few shops were open only took cash, so people couldn't even buy what little food/drink stock the shops had to sell.

Even before then, I always make sure I have enough cash for emergencies, but after Desmond, I make sure I have more not just to cover a day, but several.

I really worry about a "cashless" future with the cobbled together struggling infrastructure we have.

All small businesses here seem to have some kind of card reader.

Which is fine in the dense urban areas with good infrastructure. But in smaller towns and villages, broadband can be very slow and mobile internet is often a pipe dream. That means card readers can be unreliable due to not being able to get a connection.

Who pays the tooth fairy if we become a cashless society?

😱

Back to reality - I just returned from Denmark. They are planning on becoming cashless society.
It means there is less begging on the streets (although I have seen in some parts of the world they are starting to use contactless now!)

I use cash all the time

We have horses so this week alone I’ve used cash for a riding lesson and a hay delivery which are cash only. We’ve had the farrier and the dentist which I pay there and then - they will take a bank transfer but mobile phone reception at the yard is shite. Livery fees are paid by bank transfer but I pay a tenner week in cash for morning turnout

Our local fish and chip shop is cash only

The odd £1 for school mufti day/bake sale, etc

I also find it easier to stick to a budget using cash so I get a set amount out each week to cover stuff like the window cleaner/break/milk

Small business here. We used to rent a card reader from barclays but often we would go a month without using it then we had paid £40-50 unneccessarily (most of our customers have an account and would settle by bacs/cash or cheque) so we sent it back. Looking into other options though - even the icecream man had a card reader the other day.

If I started spending cash people might think I was working for cash. If I pay by card they know the money has come from a bank account

Surely that's taking things to the level of paranoia. Even assuming your neighbours are privy to your financial situation you'd have to live in some bizarre world for you to think they are assuming you're on the fiddle if you whip out a fiver the corner shop.

if I started spending cash people might think I was working for cash. If I pay by card they know the money has come from a bank account

Whaaattt? That is quite frankly utterly bonkers way of thinking. Why on earth would anyone think that instead of not giving the matter a second thought, or if they really thought about it, they might think you'd been to the cash machine, got cashback in the supermarket, sold something, or any other of all manner of ways of aquiring cash. Plus the fact that many people work and claim tax credits, all quite legally.

I do for small spending such as milk or a sandwich. I'd be concerned that if cash was not an option, banks would up fees and charges, even if hidden.

Yes I like cash as it is not traceable. Not that I'm trying to do anything dishonest

Very rarely have cash on me now. I still find it incredible though that you can swipe your card to pay on a bus, life has changed beyond belief really. Years ago it was so important to go to the cash machine to have cash for a taxi, newspaper, pint of milk etc. My shop didn’t take cards for ages, then only for a £10 spend or higher.

Cheques too, they seem so old fashioned but I used to quite like writing cheques in a way. It felt very adult.

I use cash in my local town 100% of the time and recently made myself a new coin purse to carry the excess coinage.
There are a few places where you can use cards, but the majority still rely on cash as they are all Independent shops, not big chain stores. Also, as I don't have an Irish bank account here in Ireland, I'm not planning to change to using bank cards for the majority of my transactions anytime soon.

I paid in cash at our local leisure centre today, and I was due 5p change. The girl behind the counter said they aren’t given coppers or 5p pieces anymore for their till, so she had to give me 10p back instead! Crazy!

This is a cause of tension in my house . Mr G insists he’s cashless..which he is..but who does he come running to when the meter won’t take his card etc.?

I was in Wilkinson’s recently and all the card machines went down....I was able to go straight to the front and pay. I’m not saying cards are the devil but isn’t it better to have the flexibility ?

I haven’t read AHMT, what’s the reference to card use in it?

"Therefore even having access to cash would be proof I've been out of the village."

So what. Are you never allowed out of the village? It does seem rather an unusual thing to worry about. You do sound rather paranoid.

I use cash as much as I can as don't like cards.
Never had a credit card, but will use debit if I have to, prefer not to though.
My older family members won't even use banks as don't trust them. It doesn't do a lot for their rep, just fuels those who think they don't pay tax.

One of my clients is a village convenience store. Their cash sales through the till are still over half of total sales, so they'll keep taking cash for many years to come. It was about 3/4 in cash about a decade ago, so at that rate, it'll be 10-20 years before they go fully cashless as the changeover is very slow.