Cash default
Date:
When it comes to in-person payments, cash is now my preferred default.
I went to Trader Joe's for the first time, and the cashier called paying with cash uncommon!
Uncommon I am, then.
Recently, I started paying with cash as much as I can. The main reason why is just for the principle. The principle is that it is analog currency and I don't like bank tracking. The fact that a few Big Banks get to know almost everything that is bought by anyone and also charge businesses fees for it is disgusting and creepy. I don't like the consolidation of power. Of course, I'm not making a big change in the world doing this myself, but it is my little rebellion against The System. It doesn't make me much less of a sucker for everything else in The System, anyways.
The secondary reason why I do this, which is actually why I started doing it is the following: at restaurants, it allows you to leave quicker. If you pay for your meal at a restaurant with a card, it is often a whole process, but with cash you can pay and tip all in one go and leave as soon as the money hits the table. Otherwise, you may have to hand your card over, wait for them to bring it back, and then add a tip and sign. It also may be true that I am providing a small help for small businesses by paying cash: not forcing them to pay a credit card transation fee.
How do I stay sane with all the cash and coins? Every once in a while, I cash out from my bank and keep that somewhere safe, and frequently I restock my wallet from that mini-hoarde. Then, I keep receipts for everything that I buy with cash, and every month I take the receipts out of my receipt pile and balance my checkbook. All of the coins that I accumulate from transactions are put in a coin jar that I occassionally cash in at the bank. Otherwise, I treat coins as a liability and prefer bills. I don't pay with coins unless the transaction is a convenient way to get rid of them quickly.
Because of this process, I can't get much useful budgeting information from looking at my bank statements. The downside of not being as finely tracked by banks is that I have to do the work of tracking myself.
One upside of using cash has been that it is a bit of a conversation starter with cashiers because it is not as common as cards or paying via smartphone.
Cash bonus: power move
One power move you can play with cash is: surprise people with $2 bills! I've come across a lot of people who think that they are rare because they are out of print, but you can still get them from the bank.