Do you still use cash?

[BitchesBeSniffin]

Just had a discussion with my DH about this and am wondering which of us is in the minority in the world of Mumsnet.

YABU: I still use cash and make sure I always have some on me

YANBU: I barely ever / never use cash

It’s my mission to pay by cash more often.
Refuse to shop anywhere that insists on card only. I’ll decide how I want to pay.

Yes I use Cash often. I prefer it.
I am not old I am in my 30's.
Don't want any apps in my phone. Having worked in IT etc don't like having many apps on my phone.

I pay cash for almost everything in-person. I think it's important to keep cash available as a method of payment and so I want to demonstrate that cash is still used and wanted. I am only a single person with not very significant spending, but it's a contribution. Any form of spending is a part of a message that's basically either in support of cash or for card (possibly: card only).

Out of principle, I try to avoid places that are card-only, where possible.

Had the opposite. A lot of carparks are app only now. So you need a smart phone (and signal) to park.
My mum was so pissed off with this... she kept getting either no signal or stuck in the "this email is already in use" bollocks, she just put a handwritten note on her windscreen saying she tried, but tech let her down.

Me too...if you don't use it you loss it. National trust is now cash free so stopped eating in their cafes especially since they admitted why their scones taste so bad...no butter.

Same. I am astounded at how many apps people install that have a huge bearing on their life. Banking apps, and NHS for starters. I just have games on mine.
All the "important" stuff is on my home PC.

Have to with kids, especially at this time of year- bake sales, fairs, school tours etc! But after bank card recently not working in petrol station I’ve actually started to enjoy using cash again-it makes you watch your money more!!

edited to add: recently saw nieces and nephews for the first time in a while and was raging I didn’t have a few givers or tenners on me- my aunt and uncle used to slip us ‘money for ice cream;)’ all the time!!!

Yes, I use it as a way to manage additional spending. When I get paid all my bills and direct debits go out, I do a big online grocery delivery and then I take out what I deem to be enough cash for the month. If I physically have to hand it over it makes me more conscious of it.

My DH and friends laugh at me but we were recently at a wedding in a remote location and for some reason card payments were not taken. Everyone was looking to me and my wad of cash!

Parking-I use an app and both window cleaner and bin cleaner are paid by standing order at their request so they don’t have to faff about collecting cash to deposit at the bank. I don’t deal with schools but eventually they’ll probably move to digital too. I have £20 in my purse and have had it since Christmas as I never take my purse anywhere so forget I have it. I’ll spend it at some point. Even the woman who does my nails and the podiatrist who comes out take bank transfer.

Hate carrying cash. However my gardener, the chip shop and now the cattery only accept cash. I actually don't use that cattery anymore as they even want relatively large payments of £100, £150 etc in cash. It's not convenient for me.

In my mind, I reckon those cash only businesses don't declare all their earnings. Why else won't they accept any other payment method! Card/contactless/bank transfer is preferable and much more convenient.

In college finance lectures in the 1990s, I remember being told there would soon be a cashless society. So 30 years later where is it?!

No, I avoid places that won't accept contactless or cards.

Cash only - tax avoidance.

Plus it's not practical for me to carry cash.

I hardly ever have cash on me, but I do keep a little in a tin at home, just in case it's needed. If I do use cash I can never remember what I used it for, if I use my card I can keep track via my bank transactions.

My favourite fish and chip shop is cash only, but I've never been anywhere else that was.

Won't pay with cash. Card only.

Really only for my nails and at car boot sales. 95% of my spending is Apple Pay on my phone

Rarely, these days. I'm a Luddite, I like paying contactless with my card not my phone.

I rarely use cash, but also have very few apps on my phone. I use cards to pay for things.

The only times I use cash now is the kids school lunch/snack money, the kids haircuts at the barbers and subs for one of the kids sports. This is only because all of those places only accept cash. If they didn’t I would be totally cashless (except for my £1 shopping trolley coin 😂).

Went into a chip shop the other day. I was about to order until I noticed cash only.

Didn't have enough cash on me so I told them, have no cash sorry and walked out so they lost my custom!

I keep a cash wallet in my glove box - coins for car parks that are cash only and a few notes for any place I may visit on a drive that is out of the way and only accepts cash.

That said, majority of everyday transactions are card and even more are contactless. I live in a city, that might make a difference.

Why would you get massive discounts on goods and services by using cash? Genuine question - I'm not in the UK and most places here would prefer you didn't use cash.

I used a mixture of cash and card. Which I use depends on the type of business I'm shopping in. If it's a small business, I always use cash - the bank fees a small business has to pay for each transaction eat into their profits.

Another thing we used to have several banks in our village, now they have all closed. The post office you could used to get cash from your accounts from, closed.

Cash machine usually broken. The Tesco Express won't do cashback.

So none of this helps even if you wanted to use cash, as there is usually no where to get it from. Card all the way.

Why no butter?? I thought their food was meant to be good quality?

I did the same in a card only bakery

I did likewise in a card shop when buying some birthday cards and they didn't take cash. I use cash whenever I can because I find it easier to budget (I see we've already had the requisite businesses-who-take-cash-must-be-tax-dodgers posts)

What others do is up to them, but I don't believe removing or reducing people's options is ever a good thing. I think I posted similar on the last one of these threads a couple of weeks ago.