Don’t be the guy who holds up the line at Safeway to spell out “sixteen dollars and forty four cents.” And maybe think twice before fishing out a twenty.
I use cash all the time. It generates less data about my behavior than a digital transaction. Cash also helps me to budget myself. If I give myself $100 cash allowance per week, then I always know how much money I have left. If you’re always using plastic for purchases, spending becomes too easy. It’s important to physically hold something in your hand, and have to part with it in order to make a purchase.
I have categorically zero issues with spending (or knowing how much I can afford to spend), whether I use plastic or not. Using plastic doesn’t change my spending habits. I know how much money I have at all times, and it is simple to stay within a budget that way. My “plastic,” by the way, is actually cash. I use a debit card, not a credit card. I basically just don’t buy things for which I don’t have the money. When I want something expensive (like my computer system or a car) I save so I can buy it outright - or in the case of my car, pay it off as fast as possible and be done.
I have two credit cards; both just sit in a drawer here and never see the light of day except maybe once a year when I get a notice that the accounts will be closed for lack of use. I then make a purchased on each, and immediately pay the balance in full as soon as it’s billed to me.
I realize these are “old school” habits most people don’t engage in, but for me has it worked well and helped me to maintain maximum credit rating. The American credit system is one of the biggest rackets I have ever seen and the last thing you want to deal with is bad credit because it’s impact follows you everywhere. Applying for a job, finding an apartment, getting a car, etc.
I wish checks would die. Most retailers in my area no longer accept them. The only thing that does is my landlord, who apparently has decided to not move into the 21st century. I ended up having my bank send an automated check to them just so I don’t have to deal with keeping track of a checkbook anymore.
As for cash, I really hope it doesn’t die. But I’m definitely seeing a trend. There are a number of restaurants near me that don’t take cash at all. It’s a terrifying world where currency is digital or debit or credit only. I rarely use cash these days, but it absolutely needs to remain a viable option.
Every place I have been that does not accept cash has a sign up front when you walk in. Plus I don’t think it would be a debt, it would be considered a service that was provided.
Since that particular reference is fairly succinct and doesn’t make it clear why “legal tender for all debts” doesn’t mean you have to accept cash, I did a little more digging. As I understand it American federal law says that US dollars are legal tender, but dollars are not just the physical slips of paper or the physical disks of stamped metal. You can pay US dollars via a check or credit car too.
The basic point of the law is that a business in the United States can’t declare that they only accept Canadian dollars, or company scrip, or such. It cements US dollars as something that’s worth holding in whatever form you may hold them.
No, you actually are required to take cash. The pieces of paper must be accepted in payment of a debt. You cannot refuse them.
You absolutely could only take Canadian dollars at a storefront, because it’s not a debt. It’s a proposed transaction you are not obligated to accept. Chuck E Cheese doesn’t have to list the ticket prizes at a dollar price as well. They are fully entitled to only do business in tickets at that stand.
The Federal Reserve link says specifically “There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services.” They can refuse cash in favor of other forms of payment (e.g. credit card, personal check, or any of the digital payment services). The statute says that currency is legal to use for commerce, not that it must be.
For goods and services. That’s prior to the existence of a transaction.
The literal second they can’t walk away without paying you, you unambiguously must accept the actual paper. You unconditionally can not mandate any other form of payment after the fact.
I did this twice in the last week, in San Francisco, where tech is still big. “All parking meters in San Francisco accept payment by coin, pay-by-phone, and credit or debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover).” SFMTA
Edit to add: It seems necessary that a governmental service (like parking meters) should be required to accept currency issued by the government. Refusing cash effectively removes a portion of society who can’t get or use other forms of payment. Not everyone has a bank account, credit card, or a smart phone, and they shouldn’t be required to use public services.
So if they also accept payment by card then it’s your choice to carry coins around for them. Sounds like it’s really just street musicians that are keeping you needing coins.
While I use digital a lot, I routinely mix in cash, a lot of stuff still isn’t set up to accept cards yet, or only do so in externally buggy ways. Also I prefer to tip in cash as that way I know who I’m giving it to gets it all. I’ve heard to many stories about supervisors at restaurants using digital tipping systems to steal from the servers.
Everybody hates it when the checkout line is held up by that lady who has to whip out her checkbook and write out the total in cursive. Just swipe yoru debit card and get moving!
I don’t use cash anymore, especially since my bank was enrolled in Google Pay (around 2016), I tap for anything, I don’t have a wallet anymore, all my cards are in my cellphone.
I remain convinced that strip dancers are why the US still uses $1 bills instead of coins (which we also produce but don’t circulate, like $2 bills) because no one, especially those in Washington, wants to tip with a $5.
I was so disillusioned when I found out Americans are giving strippers $1 bills.
I’d always assumed it was a much higher denomination, partly because where I live the smallest denomination is $5 but partly because of the money strippers were making.
The “bill pay” center in most checking accounts relies on check infrastructure to function. More people would do well to know about that. You can “electronically” pay a lot of bills through your bank (by having the bank issue a check) for free, without having to pay transaction fees. For example, I just scheduled my semiannual property tax payment to go out without having to walk to the office or eat a several dollar online fee. And my bank’s website is way better than the city’s.
Checks should not be happening retail. Hell no. But they are still plenty useful for moving payments around without having to involve shady third-party transaction platforms. And they’re still a great way to pay the plumber.
You can “electronically” pay a lot of bills through your bank (by having the bank issue a check) for free
My bank charges a $5.99/mo fee to use their bill pay shit, and then never stopped charging me it after I stopped using it. I had to call them and complain before they took it off.
Switching between Apple Pay and Cash (Germany). Cash just works, no bank involved, simple. Had some problems where the bank fucked something up and my card stopped working so I had to get cash and pay using that for a week. Cash should always exist.
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I use cash all the time. It generates less data about my behavior than a digital transaction. Cash also helps me to budget myself. If I give myself $100 cash allowance per week, then I always know how much money I have left. If you’re always using plastic for purchases, spending becomes too easy. It’s important to physically hold something in your hand, and have to part with it in order to make a purchase.
I have categorically zero issues with spending (or knowing how much I can afford to spend), whether I use plastic or not. Using plastic doesn’t change my spending habits. I know how much money I have at all times, and it is simple to stay within a budget that way. My “plastic,” by the way, is actually cash. I use a debit card, not a credit card. I basically just don’t buy things for which I don’t have the money. When I want something expensive (like my computer system or a car) I save so I can buy it outright - or in the case of my car, pay it off as fast as possible and be done.
I have two credit cards; both just sit in a drawer here and never see the light of day except maybe once a year when I get a notice that the accounts will be closed for lack of use. I then make a purchased on each, and immediately pay the balance in full as soon as it’s billed to me.
I realize these are “old school” habits most people don’t engage in, but for me has it worked well and helped me to maintain maximum credit rating. The American credit system is one of the biggest rackets I have ever seen and the last thing you want to deal with is bad credit because it’s impact follows you everywhere. Applying for a job, finding an apartment, getting a car, etc.
I wish checks would die. Most retailers in my area no longer accept them. The only thing that does is my landlord, who apparently has decided to not move into the 21st century. I ended up having my bank send an automated check to them just so I don’t have to deal with keeping track of a checkbook anymore.
As for cash, I really hope it doesn’t die. But I’m definitely seeing a trend. There are a number of restaurants near me that don’t take cash at all. It’s a terrifying world where currency is digital or debit or credit only. I rarely use cash these days, but it absolutely needs to remain a viable option.
If you eat there & try to pay in cash & they refuse, that’s legally their problem.
A new transaction is different than paying off a debt. You can’t legally refuse cash for payment of a debt. You can for a new transaction.
Paying for your meal after the fact is a debt. If you pay up front you can refuse cash. If you pay after you can’t.
Interestingly, most of the places that don’t take cash are counter service (albeit fancy ones). So you do actually pay up front.
Bingo.
Nope, that is legally your problem
https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm
Only if that is disclosed up front before service. If I’ve already eaten there, its a debt.
Every place I have been that does not accept cash has a sign up front when you walk in. Plus I don’t think it would be a debt, it would be considered a service that was provided.
The second the service has already been provided, it’s a debt. Declining cash if they can’t walk away without owing you anything can never be legal.
Since that particular reference is fairly succinct and doesn’t make it clear why “legal tender for all debts” doesn’t mean you have to accept cash, I did a little more digging. As I understand it American federal law says that US dollars are legal tender, but dollars are not just the physical slips of paper or the physical disks of stamped metal. You can pay US dollars via a check or credit car too.
The basic point of the law is that a business in the United States can’t declare that they only accept Canadian dollars, or company scrip, or such. It cements US dollars as something that’s worth holding in whatever form you may hold them.
No, you actually are required to take cash. The pieces of paper must be accepted in payment of a debt. You cannot refuse them.
You absolutely could only take Canadian dollars at a storefront, because it’s not a debt. It’s a proposed transaction you are not obligated to accept. Chuck E Cheese doesn’t have to list the ticket prizes at a dollar price as well. They are fully entitled to only do business in tickets at that stand.
The Federal Reserve link says specifically “There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services.” They can refuse cash in favor of other forms of payment (e.g. credit card, personal check, or any of the digital payment services). The statute says that currency is legal to use for commerce, not that it must be.
For goods and services. That’s prior to the existence of a transaction.
The literal second they can’t walk away without paying you, you unambiguously must accept the actual paper. You unconditionally can not mandate any other form of payment after the fact.
Small & large farms still use them. A lot.
I use cash for small purchases and have an old iPhone pouch in my jacket for coins, which I use for parking meters and street musicians.
I haven’t seen a parking meter that took coins in a decade. At least. So that’s interesting.
Of course, for the last decade I’ve been in the US where there are no coins really worth anything. But still.
I did this twice in the last week, in San Francisco, where tech is still big. “All parking meters in San Francisco accept payment by coin, pay-by-phone, and credit or debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover).” SFMTA
Edit to add: It seems necessary that a governmental service (like parking meters) should be required to accept currency issued by the government. Refusing cash effectively removes a portion of society who can’t get or use other forms of payment. Not everyone has a bank account, credit card, or a smart phone, and they shouldn’t be required to use public services.
So if they also accept payment by card then it’s your choice to carry coins around for them. Sounds like it’s really just street musicians that are keeping you needing coins.
Which is cool.
@HalJor @ripcord
You guys keep talking about parking meters and credit cards and somebody gonna hack that sh^t quick. #Shhh
PSA: Don’t scan a QR code if found at a parking meter. Stickers you scan could lead to rogue websites that gather user info and credit card numbers.
Example: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/01/scammers-put-fake-qr-codes-on-parking-meters-to-intercept-parkers-payments/
While I use digital a lot, I routinely mix in cash, a lot of stuff still isn’t set up to accept cards yet, or only do so in externally buggy ways. Also I prefer to tip in cash as that way I know who I’m giving it to gets it all. I’ve heard to many stories about supervisors at restaurants using digital tipping systems to steal from the servers.
Everybody hates it when the checkout line is held up by that lady who has to whip out her checkbook and write out the total in cursive. Just swipe yoru debit card and get moving!
35+
Never seen or used a check.
Haven’t used cash since the last time I visited the US (2017).
I don’t use cash anymore, especially since my bank was enrolled in Google Pay (around 2016), I tap for anything, I don’t have a wallet anymore, all my cards are in my cellphone.
Lol funny thought… strip dancers with nfc pos terminals in their panties
I remain convinced that strip dancers are why the US still uses $1 bills instead of coins (which we also produce but don’t circulate, like $2 bills) because no one, especially those in Washington, wants to tip with a $5.
I was so disillusioned when I found out Americans are giving strippers $1 bills.
I’d always assumed it was a much higher denomination, partly because where I live the smallest denomination is $5 but partly because of the money strippers were making.
Qr code tattoo…
When the power goes out, you need cash.
When the Internet goes out, you need cash.
It’s good to keep the cash system around even if is increasingly a rare form of payment.
I am mostly cashless for years now but I still agree that keeping cash for emergencies is still a must. Always keep a few bills and coins on you!
The “bill pay” center in most checking accounts relies on check infrastructure to function. More people would do well to know about that. You can “electronically” pay a lot of bills through your bank (by having the bank issue a check) for free, without having to pay transaction fees. For example, I just scheduled my semiannual property tax payment to go out without having to walk to the office or eat a several dollar online fee. And my bank’s website is way better than the city’s.
Checks should not be happening retail. Hell no. But they are still plenty useful for moving payments around without having to involve shady third-party transaction platforms. And they’re still a great way to pay the plumber.
My bank charges a $5.99/mo fee to use their bill pay shit, and then never stopped charging me it after I stopped using it. I had to call them and complain before they took it off.
Get a new bank like yesterday.
If a bank is charging you any kind of fees for basic checking services, including out-of-network ATM usage, get a new bank.
People who care about privacy use cash.
Switching between Apple Pay and Cash (Germany). Cash just works, no bank involved, simple. Had some problems where the bank fucked something up and my card stopped working so I had to get cash and pay using that for a week. Cash should always exist.