Hello dear friend,
I hope you are keeping well. Thank you for stopping by. The topic of cash is getting hotter by the day. Talk of a cashless society leading to greater control of all of us is clamouring to make itself heard. Banks closing people's accounts as they disagree with the customer's politics and opinions. And so on. The noise on the subject must be getting very loud if I'm taking notice as I'm a bit clueless where finance is concerned.
Today, I decided to sign GB News' petition to add my voice to the opinion that Cash should remain legal tender in the UK. Here's the link if you want to sign too.
After doing so, I decided to, (nervous gulp!), make a huge effort to shop with cash instead of debit card.
Thing is, I haven't carried much cash for ages. But in the pandemic, when most places only accepted card payments, I've got too used to paying for even, say, a magazine with a card. I know I'm not the only one doing this.
As I stood in a short queue in a Tesco Express waiting to pay for a few groceries (I rarely use self-checkout machines) I said to the person in front of me, "I won't use those machines, will you?"
"No," she replied. "I only use cash." I hadn't given a thought to the fact that the machines only accept card payments. The woman continued, "Using cash you know what you're spending. Using a card you spend too much!" How right she was!
By using the money from my purse I was completely aware, for the first time in ages, that only buying a few bits and pieces cost, what is for me, a lot of money!
I did a little research on this and soon came up with plenty of views on this subject.
A man called Clark Howard really discourages the use of paying for anything by debit card. He points out:
Unfortunately, the lack of consumer protection when you pay with a debit card isn’t the only potential pitfall.
The banking industry pushes debit cards as being almost equivalent to cash. But there’s something the banks are missing here, according to Clark.
“There’s a completely different psychological thing with cash than with card,” he says. “If I go somewhere and spend a $1 bill, it’s gone, right? I’ve got to come up with another one to have more.”
“There’s a sense of finite-ness with physical cash that you don’t have with a piece of plastic,” Clark notes.
For this reason, going cash-only is much more likely to help you keep your spending under control than using any kind of plastic — be it debit or credit.
How Clark Howard Uses His Debit Card
Just in case you’re wondering, yes, Clark does use a debit card.
But he uses it only to withdraw cash from ATMs. He never uses his debit card for point-of-sale (POS) purchases at the register.
“If you’ve had trouble making sure you have more money than month, and if you know you have not been able to discipline yourself with spending, then nothing beats going cash only,” Clark says.
Read more of Clark's views on this subject:
Having passed on this info I do not plan to keep lots of cash about me but where I shop the ATMs are abundant and I'll top up as and when I need to.
I'd love to hear your views on this. Have you tried spending cash only recently? Did you feel as weird as me when you did so? That it felt like you were spending much more with cash than if you were paying the same amount by debit card?
Love and blessings,
Teresa
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