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 haven't used cash in years. The only time I ever have cash is if my mum gives me some to buy something online for her - I just put it in the bank. But haven't paid in cash for anything in at least 5 years and very little at all the 5 before that.

You don't need a phone connection to pay with a phone - it works on aeroplane mode and everything.

Have used it a fair bit this week.

Money for DC1 Oyster card (he goes to the local shop and Oyster has to be paid in cash 😳)

£20 from cashpoint to go into birthday card (party tomorrow and the bloody gift hasn't turned up)

Had a tenner in my purse earlier this week that I didn't even know about so put that towards the shopping in Sainsburys.

Usually it's less cash than this though.

No it isn’t

Oh my sweet summer child!

I’d say I haven’t used cash for the last 10 years tbh

I went to a small zoo one day, with signs proclaiming “we are cashless”. Behind the desk, the sheepish-looking staff were saying “actually, it’s cash only today, our wi-fi is down.”

This is precisely why we must continue to use cash. I bet they lost a lot of custom that day.

No because it has security on it

Just to add I put £1 coin in the donation bucket this morning for dress up day and tomorrow kids are all swimming so I'll be taking x3 £1 coins for lockers.

I wouldn't do this to the staff as they have no say in it but I'd really want to do a massive 'ha ha!' to whichever big boots manager made that decision.

But while you can do that for service providers like your osteopath, you can’t so easily for your hairdresser or local coffee shop. One of our local cafes asks people to pay cash if they can, and has a sign up saying that the card machine fees on a typical Saturday would pay the day’s wages for an additional member of staff.

I HRTFT but came here to say that booking platforms and card readers all take a percentage of the fee charged, usually 1-1.5% of each transaction IME. If someone pays me in cash I tend to use it in the hairdresser, laundrette, and pubs on the rare occasions I go. Monzo charges me £1 to pay cash in at the post office, which is annoying to say the least, so while I do put cash through my books I don’t usually pay it in unless I need to pay a business invoice online.

I think people might switch back to using more cash over the coming months based on all the cyberattacks. Revolut went down earlier this week, and my local supermarket wasn't able to take apple pay payments today. If things like this continue, we might all be better off having more readily available cash.

I’m an even split of using cash and card. Shops automatically think you’ll use a card so have to cancel the card reader when I’m paying cash.

Why would we? Unless they have my code or my face they can’t pay with it. It’s more protected than a plastic card is.

And I keep an actual debit card in my bag in case of not being able to get home. Can’t use cash on the bus or tube anyway.

i use cash as much as possible

I use cash for under a tenner, so I haven’t voted. I've used it several times this week and will be using it at least twice tomorrow.

I don’t think I’ve used cash for anything for several years. I’ve had about £100 cash purse but it’s just sitting there devaluing! So many banks have shut now that paying it back in is a problem

My MIL however is a staunch believer in ‘cash is king’ and actively avoids businesses that don’t take cash, refusing to believe they know what they prefer for their business. When she had some decoration done at home, the decorator asked for a bank transfer, but no, MIL would only pay in cash - so she travelled by bus to a bank ten miles away to withdraw £600 cash, travelled back with it by bus, handed it to the decorator, who then had to travel the 10 miles back again to pay it in (and may have had to pay fees to do so).

But that’s all ok because ‘cash is king.’

I pay £2 at bridge club twice a week, and other than that rarely use cash - although I went to a breast cancer fundraiser cafe this afternoon and used cash for raffle tickets and entry donation.

I use cash when I can. It helps me to budget better.
And I am sure the church hall that I paid 50p for tea and cake recently, would rather a coin than card.

I pay DC for chores in cash but weekly allowance for lunches and bus fares goes on their card. It’s more tangible to get cash for work IMO.

I always keep some cash in my purse "just in case". I put money in birthday cards (yes, I even send cards!) and if I go out for a meal I like to tip in cash. I also think it's useful in case my bank goes down through a cyber attack or something. At least I wouldn't be totally stuffed.

Often when we go on holiday, some places prefer cash

Yes as the best way for me to budget is to take out x amount of cash for the week and when gone it’s gone

when tapping phone for Apple Pay it adds up quickly and account drains

I pay in cash for all my in person purchases. I believe it's important that people have the choice of how to pay so it is, to me, a small act in support of that belief.

They must either be a ridiculously busy cafe or need a new card accepter

Even if the staff member only earned £50 in a day they would be taking £000s to pay that in card fees

Is never seeing cash a London thing, I use cash every week and see loads of other people doing it in shops. Or is it that these are posters who do all online shopping?

Does no one buy or sell on Facebook, that's all cash isn't it?