Do you still use actual cash to pay for things? Ive just realised I've not used notes & coins for months

[ApexDragonfly]

Its suddenly struck me that I've completely stopped using actual money in every day life. If I go out anywhere I use my phone/watch to pay so no longer bother carrying my purse most days. If my teen dc ask for money I just do a bank transfer rather than handing them cash. Ive just booked a friend group Christmas dinner and everyone transferred their deposit to my bank account. I think the last time I used actual money was when I was on holiday, but even then things like taxis were via an app, flights and hotel booking were paid online, and bigger restaurant bills I paid via card.

I think what's made me realise this is that the news is full of govt warnings to have some actual cash in case of a cyber attack. And I checked my purse and found I had £100 cash in it (I went camping in June, so took went to a cashpoint to get actual money in case i needed it. Turns out I didnt spend any of the actual cash money and have used my card to pay for everything since then).

Surely I'm not the only one who has gone cash free? Ive enabled voting

YABU - I still use cash for most things.
YANBU - I never/hardly ever use cash

I use cash for almost everything. I pay all my bills in cash, food shop, clothes, etc.
I’m poor and using cash helps me budget.

Cash wherever possible for me, and I try not to use businesses that don't accept it.

I like the anonymity of paying with cash.

We use alot of cash but we buy and sell alot of second hand stuff and deal with alot of self employed people (I have no issue helping John the plumber avoid paying tax so he can afford to put food on the table when huge companies are avoiding paying millions), go to car boots, we live quite rurally where people raise chickens and have little farm shops or stalls outside their house, takeaways are cash only.

Cash for the garden man once a fortnight. He'll be finished for the Winter soon.

A spare £20 in my card wallet just in case.

A stash of about £500 in the house. Not telling you where ha ha 😊

Otherwise apple pay all the way

I have a feeling that is not allowed in the UK

Glad to hear it’s not allowed it feels very sneaky in tiny font size 5 at the end of the menu (or booking activities etc) as if we will carry around a couple of hundred in cash “just in case” but it really sticks in my craw!

I keep a pound coin in the car for the supermarket trolley and there is a couple of notes pinned to the Chinese menu for the next time we may want takeaway because they don't take card. Other than that I don't carry cash anymore.

Only time I use cash is for the local chippy which is cash only. It's probably good it's cash only as it stops me going very often! Annoyingly, some relatives send us cash in the post for our birthdays and Christmas, which is stupid because our post often doesn't arrive, and also what do I do with the cash?! We get cashback on our cards so use them for everything except the annual chippy takeaway.

Yes because I've forgotten my pin

Hairdresser, beautician, drinks in pubs, tips, taxis, tradies....

If someone asks for cash it’s enough of a pain in the arse for me to generally take my business elsewhere. I haven’t used cash since I was a teenager and have only used Apple Pay since it was introduced so I don’t even use a physical bank card anymore. I don’t own a purse - I have no need for one!

If any are demanding cash and don’t accept card, it’s most likely a dodgy business.

I use cash where I can: I'm usually paid in cash, and I am extremely opposed to a cashless society (yes, call me a conspiracy theorist, a tinfoil hatter: I've heard it all before.) As others have said, with card, it's very easy to go tap, tap, tap, and your money dribbles away into the pockets of the big corporations... I'm sure that's why contactless was invented. With actual physical cash, you have to think about it.

I do use a debit card (not a credit card - invention of the Devil). A card can be useful for keeping a record of my self-employed spending. But the one thing I really will not do is use my phone to pay for anything - if you lose the phone, as can happen so easily, you are screwed.

They tell us they are putting animals on the new banknotes. Is this to pacify those who fear a cashless society, to make them believe we are keeping cash for a bit longer? (Goes to polish tinfoil hat)

I don't think I've used cash at all this year. The one time I was prepared to - a public toilet - it turned out it was either tap your card or insert cash and the insert cash function was broken!

You're missing the point that the cash does not get paid into a business account, it goes into a purse or wallet for general spending.

I like to always have a bit of cash in the house. Like others though will use card mainly. The chip eventually goes though and the payment won't go through . This happened to me chip was worn. Had to go and get cash out until I could get a new card. It was ok as cash point was near shop. Might not have been easy though. Depending on where you were

Never use card abroad though. Always get Euros.

Those who say tap tap tap and it's all gone in a flash, and you're over budget etc. well, I have two accounts that I use all the time - one for household expenses and bills, and what's left goes in the other to be spent with abandon if I feel like it.

I know spare money is not something everyone has, but plenty do.

I do bits of shopping for my mum and she always gives me cash so I usually have some in my purse. The only thing I use it for is to buy cake at the school tuck shop on a Friday!

My hairdresser is a sole trader and takes only cash.

One of the hospitals has a few car parks where the payment machines are coin only. Unsure if can park in one of the coin car parks and pay by card at another one counts. Car park officers are jobsworths. So unsure there.

Even on holiday abroad I mostly paid by card as get a better exchange rate. If you spent €500 on a card at multiple places- restaurants, tourist attractions, transportation - costs you £420. Getting money from a bureau de change - the same €500 costs you £455.

Returned from Turkey a couple of days ago and I probably had 4000TL (£61) in cash which was used when tour members had an alcoholic beverage and easier to split the bill with cash. Another cafe’s card machine was playing up - paid cash. The rest went on tips.

I use cash when treating the dc to their choice of treat somewhere as I found it helps them get a better idea of money.

I like card payments as I can see exactly where I spent my money, rather than seeing that I withdrew £30 and wondering where it all went!

My mum loves cash though, I'd just go and borrow some off her if something stopped card payments!

Occasional takeaway , daughter’s ice skating lessons and her gcse tuition last year. My husband likes to have some cash I never have any on me apart from when daughters grandad gives her cash and she asks me to convert to money in her account.

im not sure how much it would help having loads though as are not the tills etc needing power /wifi?

The things I use cash for are my cleaner every two weeks or so because she prefers it and the cafe next to the centre I go for regular medical treatment as they specify cash for takeaways.
Occasionally I will pay cash for a small supermarket top-up shop if I have it to hand or at the door or for refreshments at small local events.
As PP have said, it can help one to keep track of finances if one is on a tight budget but, then again, it can be a pain getting exact money ready.

I cancelled my window cleaner because he only took cash and I had to keep driving to the cashpoint just to get money out for him. It was more trouble than it was worth.

Thankfully virtually all our car parks take cash so I keep a wee purse with coins in it.
I much prefer this to having endless parking apps on my phone - many of which probably don't work.

I pay cash for line dancing class, parking at the venue (loads of complaints about the parking app and people getting fines when they've paid), my window cleaner, plants and vegetables at the local market and yesterday, I paid cash in a Sostrene Grene shop. I sometimes pay for shopping with cash too.

I love having cash in my purse and I keep around £500 at home which I gradually use over a couple of months.