Cash..... Reports Of Its Death Are Greatly Exaggerated?

@just_carl, yes, you do get cash back, but the merchants have to pay a few % back to the CC company. Perhaps we pay more, or perhaps the merchant absorbs it.

So we have to play the game or we are losers, or maybe just not as much as if we used cash.

I for one have just resigned myself to playing the game and get my cash back.

A very unfortunate problem with using a credit or debit card is there is that record somewhere of what you purchased. Remember this when you buy coins, stamps, guns. knives, ammunition, jewelry, or any item of value to others. I worry about this with guns. By me there is this constant attempt to confiscate guns from every one and a record somewhere of you having one is possibly all they need. And with coins, who knows who has such information. With the internet having so many personal search web sites, people know longer can even hide where they live anymore.

But then there are cameras... Think Minority Report.


Yup, the upshot. Embrace it.

I have a ten year old. I also have local nieces and nephews ranging nine to 16.

Sorry to disappoint, but cash is the exception. To be sure, cash is still needed, but needed less and less it seems.

Almost everything school related can be paid online and electronically now, even fundraisers (which kills my I have no cash excuse).

While the kids gladly accept cash for birthdays and holidays (free money is free money and is still what the grandparents do best), they still need the parents to deposit it so they can use online for their purchases. Everyone is happier getting/giving gift cards and to be honest, it is so much easier.

Oh, and the babysitter takes Venmo.

That is to my point. The younger people are embracing the digital age full force. Many will grow up with very little exposure to cash.

In the next generation or two those kids will look at cash like today's kids look at window cranks and stick shifts... "What is that?"

I am not talking about gifts between the adults. This is about what we get our children and grandchildren. I should have been more specific.

For what it is worth, we do not do gifts between all grownups. We all pull one name and buy one gift. We did this to avoid what it was becoming, a gift card swap.

Now we just have to buy one nice gift for one person. The rest of our time and money is spent trying to figure what to get the kids (spoiler alert: gift cards they can use online).

With no cash, tipping becomes a problem. At restaurants I pay the bill with my credit card but if the receipt says tip, I put nothing. I then give the waiter or waitress a tip in cash. I give my mailman cash for Christmas. Any where a tip should be given I use only cash. There are many places where tipping is not only normal but necessary. So without cash, so many things like this will have to change.
So now what do you do for those girls selling Girl Scout cookies. Use a credit card?

I always tip in cash. Here's why:

I worked in food retail on and off over the years - FOH and BOH. In my experience, at the end of each shift, the waiter cashes out the tips and goes home. Then, once a month, the owner gets a bill from the credit card processor with a merchant service fee (5 or 6%) on all credit card sales including the tips. So, the tips go in the waiters' pockets (right where they belong), but the owner has to pay a fee on the tips. That's thousands of dollars a year in fees on tips to the staff. Some restaurants try to deduct the fee from the waiters' paychecks but that's illegal in a lot of places. And some restaurants (like Lexington Candy Shop in NYC) don't allow credit card tipping.

So, I definitely understand why the restaurants don't like credit card tipping - it's very expensive and doesn't bulk out the bottom line. And most restaurants have such slim margins that a few thousand bucks a year can make or break a small business. I'm not talking about Olive Garden (I don't care about them), I'm talking about the corner pizza shop etc.

If the banks ever stop charging fees on tips (an easy solution) then I might change my mind. Till then, I tip in cash whenever I can.

(BTW: I won't get into the tax implications of cash tips, or the argument that many people tip more when paying by credit card etc. That's beyond the scope of this discussion I think.)