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Going cash-only in the US

Kenickie said:
i said that banks charge me 30$ for a dollar overdraft, they charge me 5$ a month in "maintaining" my account, when i had overdraft protection it cost me 47$ a month banks will charge you whatever they want because you let them get away with it.
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I have never had a bank account that charged these fees.
 
There was a time when only people with money in their family could own property, get an education or start a business. Credit is the reason that's no longer the case. Credit set the young working class people free. You might spend half your life paying off your student loans, mortgage, business loans or whatever, but the alternative is just accepting that those things are out of your reach.

"Living on credit" should be about making a bet on yourself. You incur a big debt now in the hope that the returns will be even greater. When the bet pays off we all win, one more educated citizen, one more successful business, one more land owner.

I realize I'm slightly off topic here, but I'm tired of hearing about the "evils" of credit. Especially considering the people I'm hearing it from are exactly the people who benefit the most from it. Things got ugly and out of hand, I understand that, but credit is a very very good thing.
 
Max Power said:
Word. I'm with a credit union and they're great. :)
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Credit unions are awesome and should definitely be encouraged, especially over big banks. I was with one for a while unfortunately, they werent run very well and were relatively new so they had a lot of problems. More than once their site went down for an entire weekend so there was no way to check how much was in your account, and another time they made some other huge mistake, like displayed very much the wrong amount in the account or something like that. I do hope to go back to a better one in the future though.
 
Depending on how much cash we're talking here one should be aware before going entirely cash-based there's a higher liklihood that the IRS is going to audit you. Obviously it's still really low for the majority of people but definitely higher than someone who uses cards/checks regularly.
 
I'm with two credit unions. One I use for spending money, and the other I don't touch. However, both of these are savings, not checking accounts. Whenever I need money, I have to find an ATM. I don't have a debit card and will NEVER get a credit card. In a way, I'm one of those "cash only" people. If I can't afford to buy something outright cash, I shouldn't have it anyway. If I want it badly enough, I'll save up for it. For those that worry about their lonely woman at the restaurant, this can be avoided by simply being prepared. Bring more money than you think you'll need. You don't need loans for school if you work hard and apply for every scholarship you're eligible for. Those who worry about appearing to be vagrants, who cares what people think? At least that "vagrant" can afford to pay for their shit right then and there.
 
I like debit cards, maybe 5% of the money i spend is in cash. Direct deposit+ debit card is super easy, that's what makes it worth it for me. No change to carry or count, no making sure the cashier got the change right.

Only time I carry a lot of cash is when im out of town.
 
Credit sure did help me quite a few times. The most recent was the need to charge $1100 for a water heater I had no cash for.
 
I have been strictly cash only for about three years. I recently opened a checking account about two weeks ago just because it's a fucking pain in the ass to buy money orders to pay my car insurance which is my only expense that I can't pay in cash. Just checks though, I don't even have an ATM card.

I can't imagine it, there's so many people that never have cash, I was just talking to a friend about that tonight. I hate borrowing money at all, any amount. I don't like having that hang over my head stressing me out. The way I look at it is if I can't afford it with the money I have then I guess I don't need it that bad. I don't really have any savings either I live check to check but besides some hospital bills that I don't plan to pay I have no debt whatsoever. Now, I may not have a lot of fancy shit but everything I have is mine.

I do get mad when places don't accept cash, like it's legal tender for all debts how the fuck you gonna say no to actual cash money. That and paying a fee to cash your paycheck, and if someone writes you a check from some random credit union or bank that's not in the area it's a big pain in the ass to find a way to cash it.

Also, it's just good to have some cash on hand. What if you end up in a situation for whatever reason you need a decent amount of money what are you gonna go to the bank at 2am or give some random dude a card when you get stuck in some crazy situation? And it's nice to know you have real money, not just some "points" you have saved up somewhere as a number in a computer system.

I say go for it. Maybe keep a checking account with minimal funds in it just to aide in paying bills and accepting checks but it's much better to use cash when possible as far as I'm concerned. Sure, you won't have credit, but why the fuck would you need credit if you don't borrow money anyway?
 
^Just curious, what kind of place doesnt accept cash? I didnt think that was even legal. I've never heard of anyone/anywhere turning down cash.
 
captainballs said:
as for practical nuances that only experience can teach, consider this: when you rent a car on a credit card, no deposit is required. when you rent it on a debit card, though, they will hold hundreds of your earned dollars hostage, which may make things difficult to budget. with cash only, forget about renting a car period. sure, when's the last time you rented a car - but things like this, in this reality that we live in, will no longer even be an option for you.
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Unintentional pun?

fizzle said:
^Just curious, what kind of place doesnt accept cash? I didnt think that was even legal. I've never heard of anyone/anywhere turning down cash.
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Speaking of cars, I think that some tolls are no longer acception cash, so you need EZ-Pass, SunPass, or LEEWAY to travel on the roads. I think it's Florida that already has this, and I'm sure others do too, or soon will.
 
Tommyboy said:
Speaking of cars, I think that some tolls are no longer acception cash, so you need EZ-Pass, SunPass, or LEEWAY to travel on the roads. I think it's Florida that already has this, and I'm sure others do too, or soon will.
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We have a toll road like this too - they no longer accept cash but they will photograph your license plates as you drive through and send a bill to the address the car is registered to.
 
cash is a bad store of value. long term monetary storage should be invested in pms or other real assets, that don't decrease in value due to retard$inflation.

some retailers will give cash purchases a discount because they dont have to pay the fee on a CC.

cash and no rewards cards, doesn't even offer the same level of anonymity it once did, as cameras can ID you everywhere. It is possible for a retailer to photorecognize your face in the parking lot, match it to the license plate of the car you got out of, and track not only your purchases in store, but surveillance can show what you looked at and what products you touched and did not buy, even paying cash and not giving them your info with a member discount card. computers became scary, and cash only doesn't solve the problem.
 
Simply_Live said:
You can't be serious. Wtf. What if you're visiting and had no idea it was a no-cash toll booth?
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Same here as queenbee. I'm not sure if when you're mailed you can pay cash or not. I don't think it's the worst of ideas. It keeps traffic moving and if you don't happen to have the right change or cash you're not stuck behind a toll bar. They have it here in Seattle. There are no toll booths just places where you're going to be tolled... though the toll charges are INSANE. Bridges cost a lot of money. :\
 
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just had maybe the absolutely worst friday/payday trying to deal with a shitty bank (wells fargo) and my check coming into the store late and sitting there, wondering how i was going to do errands tomorrow when none of my cash was available from a wells fargo drawn check into a wells fargo account because i didn't get it in till after 8 because you know i had to like, work, and shit and like, my job doesn't offer direct deposit and i just want to fucking throw up. banks fucking suck. why do i even bother?
 
I opened a free checking/savings account to try and save money.. I figured if I didn't have it on me I wouldn't spend it. Well I noticed that I would swipe the card without even thinking about the price or balance.. I ended up spending A LOT more. This payday I didn't put any in the bank and I have spent far less which I believe is because I can see the money in a physical trade in stead of just swiping a card.
 
Kenickie said:
just had maybe the absolutely worst friday/payday trying to deal with a shitty bank (wells fargo) and my check coming into the store late and sitting there, wondering how i was going to do errands tomorrow when none of my cash was available from a wells fargo drawn check into a wells fargo account because i didn't get it in till after 8 because you know i had to like, work, and shit and like, my job doesn't offer direct deposit and i just want to fucking throw up. banks fucking suck. why do i even bother?
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Oh no. How much do you need for your errands? I think max. withdrawal with a direct deposit is $40 here. Lame as hell.
 
i'll just put off most of it until later in the week, like monday, but it just fucks with all the plans i had for these days 'off'. annoying and intrusive and stupid.
 
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