To wonder why so many people don't carry any cash on them?

[InHibernationTilISummer]

Excluding people who are skint and the Queen, obviously.

I've had so many examples of this in the last few weeks:

• Colleague who came into the work in the bad weather. Lots of delays and problems on the bus route they normally get so wanted to get the train instead but had no money for a ticket because they had come in with their season bus pass and lunch and hadn't expected to be spending any money.
• Friend turning up for exercise class but hasn't realised that the price has gone up 50p since she last came - and she only brought the exact money she thought she would need.
• Another friend dropping older child off at sport class finds that there's a fair going on at the sports centre with stalls and activities that her younger child (who was with her) would have enjoyed. Complains that she wishes she had known about it in advance as she would have taken some money out with her.

Is this becoming more common or is it just the people I know? If you aren't skint but don't routinely carry money on you, why is that?

I've been in situations where I haven't expected to be spending any (or much) money and some problem has occurred or plans have changed for some reason (e.g. having to accompany someone to A & E or the last bus not turning up) and I would have been really stuck if I hadn't taken some spare 'emergency' cash.

I prefer my card to be honest i rarely carry cash

I have some cash kept in my car, usually about £10 in case I fancy a drink or a snack whilst I'm out, but in my handbag I just have my cards.

I never, ever carry cash - why would i need to these days?

I use cash for food shopping as it is easier to keep track of what I spend when I'm phsyically handing it over and not just "top up shopping". Other than that its for the pub as noone wants to be waiting behind the person needing the machine/mosy pubs around here don't accept cards.

I use cash. I like it better. I understand why people don't but for me I feel more security with a bit of hard currency on me. Quite often a lot, but I live in a very low crime rate area.

I always have cash. I find it makes it easier to budget- I draw out my 'pocket money' for the month and then I always know how much I have left to spend. Unfortunately though, DH hardly ever has cash and whenever we go anywhere and grab a coffee or something, he always looks at me and says "have you got cash ??" So I always end up paying

My husband never has cash on him, and I always make sure I do. We laugh about it and chalk it up to a generational difference - he's 12 years younger than I am and never even knew of a time before ATM and debit cards.

I rarely go past a bank, supermarket for cashback or an ATM so I don't usually have much cash unless it's important enough to make a trip to one. I keep a change tub to rustle up an emergency £5 but day to day I may have no notes.

I usually try to have at least £5/£10 in cash on me for emergencies but I very rarely use it as I can use my card/Android pay almost everywhere.

AlsoI find that if I draw out money I rarely need the full amount and am more likely to fritter away the random change I have on impulse buys whereas if I pay with card/Android pay I only spend the specific amount I initially needed. E.g. a coffee at the cafe opposite my work costs £1.85 ... If I use cash then I have to withdraw £10 from the ATM and am left with £8.15 that I will fritter on a pack of chewing gum here or a bar of chocolate there since I have the money in my pocket. If I use my card then I spend the £1.85 and nothing else as its not worth buying a pack of 45p chewing gum on my card.

I have a phone case with two slots - I keep my travel card in one slot and a £5/10 note in the other. Unless I am actively going shopping I rarely even carry my debit/credit cards with me as almost every shop in my town takes Android Pay and I have my phone anyway if I do need to make an unplanned purchase.

I always have cash. I make sure I've got about a tenner's worth of gold coins. Yes it's a bit heavier but it's handy when someone wants you to buy a raffle ticket or you see someone sleeping rough or a stall selling things. I don't carry wads about though....not notes anyway.

I budget spending money for myself each week, and that includes $100 in cash (about £72). I find that I spend less when I have a finite amount of cash to spend, and am more careful with it.

I pay a lot of smaller amounts in cash. Always have some. Hate running out. I don’t use contactless and pay larger amounts in credit card.

I very very rarely carry cash and I’m not sure why... it’s not a conscious decision, I jut rarely need it. The DC go to two clubs/groups a week that I have to pay by cash and it drives me mad, I’d always rather do a bank transfer.

Oops posted too soon.
Like a poster above if I have cash I find i fritter it away, because it’s already come off my ‘bottom line’ (my bank balance). I prefer to be able to track all my spending via online banking.

What annoys me is when you go out for a meal with a group and no one has any cash. So everyone pays for their meal plus tip on their cards, then the last person says, “oh my meal has been covered! There’s only 50p left to pay!” and happily pulls out their card. When it is pointed out to them that everyone paid extra not to cover their meal, but to tip the waiting staff, they say “well I don’t have any cash so I’ll just pay what’s left on the bill”. This happened a few times in my presence, I don’t get it. Rant over!

I try to use only cash for smaller payments. I'm worried about being forced to become a cashless society, which I think could be very dangerous for all sorts of reasons, so I'm doing my bit to support the continued use of cash.

Cash is anonymous. If you pay for everything with a card, there's a record of exactly what you bought, and where you bought it.

I never carry cash on me; I only ever need to use my card for purchases from 20p upwards.

If a place doesn’t take card (and I haven’t come across one in a couple of years, and I don’t live in a major city either), they don’t get my business.

I just don’t see a need for cash anymore.

I never carry cash on me. If I do occasionally have the odd few £'s on me then I generally give it to one of my teenage boys for a snack or something on the way to school/college.

I rarely carry cash, I have a £20 in case my card is declined when getting petrol but that's it.

I don't carry much cash as I just don't need to.

I can understand the exercise class scenario as that's the one time when I would leave the house without even taking my purse, because I don't like having to take my purse with me just to have to leave it at the side of the room unsupervised whilst I actually do the exercise class.

I very very rarely carry cash. In fact, I'm so used to paying contactless, and not getting cash out that I have forgotten my pin!

I don't carry cash because I live in Australia and can't think of anywhere that doesn't take card.

I haven't used an ATM in moons.

My daughter would say that this is evolution in action. She never seems to have cash, but multiple digital and card ways of paying. I’m a mixture, mostly card, and I do have cash stashes in different places. My parents, in their late 80s use cash and cheques.
As a PP said, the new slippery notes are a pita.

I feel unprepared if I don't have cash on me. I always have 20, 10, 5, 1 denominations.

I would also not use a debit or credit card in small businesses. The charges they have to pay to the credit card company/bank may make it difficult to run a profitable business.

And getting receipts for transactions worth £5 or less seems wasteful.