Credit Cards/Debit cards. Cash. Checks...

Locally, I pay for almost everything by credit card. Only place I need cash is WinCo which I don't visit very often. Two cc's and about $20 cash.
 

Cash for local shopping. I have business bills like cable, electric service and trash pickup drawn from my bank account. Then personal checks for other bills (like doctors, fuel delivery and lawn care) not set up to make electronic withdrawls. No CC or DC.
 

I never use checks any more.

As for the rest, I like to have a variety of options in my wallet, in case something is not accepted somewhere. I've been stranded in foreign countries, had perfectly good cards declined at the supermarket, etc., and it was not fun.
 
Remy said:
I have no heard of anyplace in my area that does not take cash. I've heard of places that are cashless in San Francisco. I'm in a larger town but not a city. We've had self check outs temporarily not take cash in some stores. I'd be lost without cash. I'd have to get used to it I guess.
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There was a lot of stores that wouldn’t take cash when covid was bad !!
 
I must admit one of my biggest peeves is being in line at a store and having someone in front of me write a check. It only happens about once a year now and I know I should be understanding and patient but I am sorry to say that I am not. What gets me, even before when it was common to write checks, are the people who don't start filling out the check while their items are being rung up. I know that some stores are now not accepting checks.
 
NorthernLight said:
I've been stranded in foreign countries, had perfectly good cards declined at the supermarket, etc., and it was not fun.
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Yeah, happened to me, too
Frustrating
LadyEmeraude said:
I always carry a small amount of cash, and always carry 'one' credit card in my wallet.
Life long habit. How about you?
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Couple 100 bucks cash
Debit and credit card

I only pay with debit for largish purchases, like 100 bucks in lumber

Groceries and 20-60 dollar purchases are cash

I've only used checks for title companies when buying property
 
MarkinPhx said:
I must admit one of my biggest peeves is being in line at a store and having someone in front of me write a check. It only happens about once a year now and I know I should be understanding and patient but I am sorry to say that I am not. What gets me, even before when it was common to write checks, are the people who don't start filling out the check while their items are being rung up. I know that some stores are now not accepting checks.
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Yes! Years ago, back in the 90's when I still wrote checks, I had mine made out signed and ready to add the amount. Then I'd get behind someone who seemed to have all the time in the world, taking the checkbook out after they were told the amount and slowly fill the check out. Drove. Me. Nuts.
 
Before CCs were widely accepted and many used cheques, the grocery stores could insert your cheque and have date, amount, store name printed for you. Then the customer would sign it. Very smooth.

I’m going to start carrying $100 minimum. Sometimes the cash register system fails and CC can’t be used. You should see the customer tantrums then. Or the power goes out.
 
I carry two credit cards... one that I consistently use for "cash back" purposes and a second one in case the first one is declined (it never has been). I also carry a debit card to withdraw cash from the bank. Lastly, I carry a $20 bill but rarely use it.

My gardener has charged $25 in cash for the 17 years we have lived in our house. The only reason I use cash is to put his $25 in an envelope outside. That, and tips at the car wash. I only use cash to obtain change for those two reasons.
 
I only use my debit card to get cash at my bank's ATM. All purchases go on my credit card, which I carry. Check book stays at home and rarely gets used. I carry a small amount of cash "just in case".
 
Way back, around 2000, I traveled to/from Australia using traveler's cheques and cash. When I stayed
overnight in Hong Kong, they accepted American currency at the hotel. I had zero credit cards, and just
a debit card.

These days, I use a debit card, and rarely, cash. I recently attained a credit card that I intend to use, rarely.
 
horseless carriage said:
Same here, cash is king. My debit card is simply for withdrawing cash from an ATM. There is no loyalty card in my wallet, nor will there ever be. Like debit and credit cards, loyalty cards primary function is to harvest the holders spending habits, from that a profile is made, a profile which can be traded. My habit of cash purchasing has had results in that I am never plagued by sales canvassers. No texts, no emails, no glossy flyers in the mail, nothing. I don't exist.
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I was a cash only person for years. Now debit card. But the loyalty cards have really paid off for us. We have two grocery stores that give credits for gas. One chain of gas convenience stores gives gas credits also. Between them all we always get between 15 and 30 cents off per gallon. I registered all under a separate gmail that I never use....except to delete all! And a PO box I don't have.
 
MarkinPhx said:
I must admit one of my biggest peeves is being in line at a store and having someone in front of me write a check. It only happens about once a year now and I know I should be understanding and patient but I am sorry to say that I am not. What gets me, even before when it was common to write checks, are the people who don't start filling out the check while their items are being rung up. I know that some stores are now not accepting checks.
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THANKYOU!!! Been one of my pet peeves for a very long time,always have the check totally made out except for the amount.
 
Debit card
With ATM's everywhere with fee free withdrawal no need to carry cash. Found our check book to use to write a check recently to open a checking account at a bank a few blocks from us. That was because debit card use at an ATM at our long time bank cash withdrawals are now being limited to $400.00 a day. No reason given, but we could go to a branch office to get up to $1600.00. That is not convenient. The recent account allows for $3000.00 a day debit card withdrawal. I doubt we will need that much but it is good to have just in case.

Credit cards
One primary cash back credit card used for everything, a 2nd. cash back credit card for just in case. Credit cards are in my wife's name as primary, her having established credit in her name is another long term planning tool.

Bill pay online & direct deposit take care of the rest of our financial processing needs. Credit card or debit is so much easier now than in the stone ages when checks we used for most purchases.
 
I carry 3 credit cards and 1 debit card (that has no ATM fees no matter where I use it) and between $75 & $100 cash in a waist pouch hidden under my clothes. Shhhh...don't tell anybody. We don't want potential thieves being hipped to this and start asking people to strip when they try to rob them! :LOL:
 
Carry between $50-125 cash. Debit card and 2 credit cards, most of our cards are in our wall safe. Gas cards for the car.

I would think that unless one is engaged in criminal activity, why would the government be interested in what I buy? It's certainly of interest to Amazon and Safeway, but otherwise it's going to mostly show dining out, occasional groceries, cat food and litter. Boring stuff, LOL.
 
never a debit card .. i only use credit cards and cash

the problem is more and more restaraunts and groceries are charging 3-4% more for credit card .

unless it’s a 5% category i only use cash now ..that sucks .

i doubt i will renew my chase sapphire reserve card unless we start traveling again making it worth it since restaurants are getting fewer and fewer
 
I carry a credit card and pay for about all of my purchases with it. I immediately deduct that amount from my checking account and add it to a ledger, then pay it off monthly. I leave the debit card at home. It's way more of a hassle to get your money back from fraudulent use of a debit card than it is a credit card.
I also wish I could get away from checks entirely but that is never going to happen. Utility companies in my area tack on a processing fee for online payments including debit cards. Same with property tax. I'll pay what I owe but I'm not paying them extra to make their lives easier. They can continue to send me paper bills each month.
 
Was going with 'paperless' on most of my monthly bills until both the ISP & wireless accounts started charging a fee for paper statements. Gotta watch'em, sneaky! The ISP also charges a fee for CC, but still nothing like that from the wireless as yet!

Hasn't happened yet, but I'll be watching for fees on the few streaming auto-pays I'm forced into using. They'll get it with higher monthly fees in the end. That's when I quit.

It's been a few years but the property tax collector's office started charging a fee for CC, pay them with a check since. IRS & State charge a fee for CC if you use it to pay your tax bill. Can't fight city hall.
 
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LadyEmeraude said:
I always carry a small amount of cash, and always carry 'one' credit card in my wallet.
Life long habit. How about you?
Click to expand...
I carry two credit cards and some cash. Use my credit cards at all store except for WinCo which does not take credit cards, they will take debit cards. I would never have a debit card.

With my credit cards I get cash back. Wish my wife would use credit cards but she uses checks.
 
mathjak107 said:
today checks are the worst way to pay. and the most unsecured
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I have a check horror story. My friend does not do anything online when it comes to finances; not much else either. She wrote a check to an electrician (small business owner) in September. As of Tuesday, the check hadn't cleared. She had been calling and calling and couldn't get a response. She finally found out Tuesday that the owner's wife (who probably did the books sometimes and manned the phones) had been in the hospital for almost a month. Also, the business got flooded out during the storms and lost a lot of files and equipment. So on Tuesday my friend had to stop payment and write another check. She was told to mail it, not bring it in, just like they told her the first time.

She was concerned all this time because fees were being assessed on late payments. Her last billing statement was almost $15 more. But when she spoke to the woman (not the wife) on Tuesday, she was told to send the original amount. Before we found out what happened, I was telling her if they did maintain that she owed a late fee, they could say they never got the check. And what if the P..O. lost the check? It would fall back on her. I hate mailing checks anymore. Thank God I don't have to but a few months ago I did mail a check in a sympathy card to my cousin's husband who had lost his mother.
 

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