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Cash Amnesia

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Re: Cash Amnesia

#91

Post by magicalhippo »

bern4444 wrote: post #80

I've always thought the opposite. When I pay for something with cash I remember it far more strongly than when I pay with card. I pay with a card all the time and the action is the same no matter the price. I tap it and move on. With cash I remember having to go get the cash, counting out the right amount at the register, and physically handing it over. And then I notice its absence since now I gave up all the cash I…

I'm from Norway, where cash is rare these days. But I feel similar, it's a lot more obvious how much you pay when you need to count bills and hand them over.

As a compromise I only keep a small amount of money on my debit card. That way I have to keep topping it up, so I get a sense of my spending that way.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#93

Post by chaorace »

hammock wrote: post #74
KomoD wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that legal?

Yes, and recently legal/not penalized for all credit cards in the US to advertise cash price and automatically add a fee for credit card purchases that is lightly advertised at point of sale Someone else can come behind me and cite the court case/credit card guidance

Yes, it's generally legal to apply an additional surcharge on card transactions beyond the cash price, thus making it appear as if the sales tax is being removed. It's all above board as long as the full value of the sale is reported and taxed (exact details vary by tax code, of course).

It's generally illegal, however, for a business to evade taxes by failing to report the full value of cash sales. It's also legally dubious as a customer to knowingly help facilitate such transactions (e.g.: anti-laundering laws)... but I don't think it's common to catch heat for this if you're an otherwise law-abiding person.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#94

Post by saltcured »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #70
ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like it'd be totally normal for any restaurant or store to give a discount to its best customers

"You're taking a lot of drugs, we're going to make sure you keep taking them by giving you free drugs" is extremely different from "you're buying a lot of bras, we're going to give you a free bra". This should not even require pointing out, but apparently it does.

But, you are begging the moral question in assuming that credit cards are obviously like "drugs".

For me, a credit card and a debit card are just different accounting systems for the same thing. Either one has zero interest when I manage my expenditures properly and do not carry a debt. Either one could trigger penalties and/or interest if I outspend my budget.

I still prefer the credit card because of the frequently mentioned difference in consumer fraud protection. My fear is that the credit card providers will eventually erode their protections to match the debit card rather than the converse.

I do NOT want to participate in a system where a chip-secured/card-present transaction is now presumed to be valid and I have a difficult battle to contest a charge. If the card is made that valuable, I would then withdraw from the casual retail marketplace and keep my card locked up in a safe as others have mentioned in other threads.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#95

Post by wing-_-nuts »

bern4444 wrote: post #80

I've always thought the opposite. When I pay for something with cash I remember it far more strongly than when I pay with card. I pay with a card all the time and the action is the same no matter the price. I tap it and move on. With cash I remember having to go get the cash, counting out the right amount at the register, and physically handing it over. And then I notice its absence since now I gave up all the cash I…

I'll say this, spending cash is harder in the moment. There's a real visceral feeling of loss when handing over actual cash vs card.

However, when it comes to tracking long term? Cash always seemed to just ...evaporate, out of my wallet where as I can look back and see my credit card purchases and go 'why did I spend that much on that?!'

In my experience, there are two types of people when it comes to money. There are spenders, who could usually stand to cut back, and savers, who could stand to loosen up. I'm definitely in the 'could stand to loosen up' camp. I even went so far a set aside a 'fun money' budget but it mostly goes unspent because my frugality has no chill...

Re: Cash Amnesia

#97

Post by CaliforniaKarl »

sneed_chucker wrote: post #92

When I pay with cash, all purchases are essentially rounded up to the Dollar, since I will literally never end up spending my change anywhere once it enters coin form.

I'm curious: Do you go grocery-shopping yourself? If yes, do you use a self-checkout option? And if yes, does it support paying with cash?

In my case, the answer to all the above is "yes", and I found paying with cash is a good way of getting rid of the change that I've built up. Every self-checkout I've come across that supports cash will also support splitting payments, allowing me to pay the rest with credit card.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#98

Post by tracker1 »

bern4444 wrote: post #80

I've always thought the opposite. When I pay for something with cash I remember it far more strongly than when I pay with card. I pay with a card all the time and the action is the same no matter the price. I tap it and move on. With cash I remember having to go get the cash, counting out the right amount at the register, and physically handing it over. And then I notice its absence since now I gave up all the cash I…

That was my take as well... when I was younger and paid for nearly everything in cash... I'd literally see the amount in my wallet go down, and have to think twice on everything. I was so much more aware of the fuel I was buying, how much I would or wouldn't spend eating out, grocery shopping etc. Now it feels like sticker shock each month when I pay everything off... "how did I spend that much." I think the article makes a lot of conclusions that my own experience would indicate the opposite.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#99

Post by tracker1 »

magicalhippo wrote: post #91
bern4444 wrote: post #80

I've always thought the opposite. When I pay for something with cash I remember it far more strongly than when I pay with card. I pay with a card all the time and the action is the same no matter the price. I tap it and move on. With cash I remember having to go get the cash, counting out the right amount at the register, and physically handing it over. And then I notice its absence since now I gave up all the cash I…

I'm from Norway, where cash is rare these days. But I feel similar, it's a lot more obvious how much you pay when you need to count bills and hand them over. As a compromise I only keep a small amount of money on my debit card. That way I have to keep topping it up, so I get a sense of my spending that way.

I keep two accounts for my payroll deposits... one which is my day to day usage (fuel, food, entertainment, etc) and the other where bills get paid from. I also keep my large bills and credit cards not autopay. So I have to actually go in at least once a month to pay the mortgage, car payments, and pay off CC. It helps for awareness, but not actively tracking sometimes makes it surprising how much gets spent in a month.

Re: Cash Amnesia

#100

Post by tracker1 »

nfriedly wrote: post #30
TheRealPomax wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I first moved to North America, the idea that a credit card company was allowed to give people cash back, offer insurance, etc. for using their cards seemed like some bizarroworld "how is this legal" concept. Having lived here for decades, it still is. It's like an alcohol shop rewarding its most alcoholic customers by giving them free booze. And then if you sign up for a new card, or you cancel a card, some ran…

I've lived in the USA my whole life, and I still think it's bizarre and ought to be illegal. It's basically a bribe. The worst part is, as long as it is legal, it just makes sense use it - because most things are the same price either way, so it's essentially a small discount on everything. So, I simultaneously use it regularly and hope it becomes illegal.

I definitely favor using CC, and paying off if only for the 2-5% "cash back" program(s). If I pay cash, I'm effectively paying extra, same for debit. It kind of sucks, and definitely should be better managed. Also, if you let the debt accumulate on a CC (very easy to do), then the interest definitely comes out to more than the rewards in that case.
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