elmmx5

Well... this is an easy poll to answer since I'm the reason it exists in the first place. I very rarely carry cash. In my day to day activities, I just don't need to have paper money. My first payment choice anywhere I go is credit card. I also carry a debit card, but I only use it to get cash at a machine if there is no fee, or to go to a grocery or convenience store to buy a candy bar or something and get cash back to avoid a fee. To me it's better than cash for a number of reasons.
First off, there is a nice paper trail of everything I buy making it easy for me to keep track of my purchasing habits and to reconcile. Secondly, I get a whopping 1% cash back when I use my credit card. It's not much, but I'll take the effective 1% discount (I always pay my balance off monthly in full) every time I buy something over cash's 0% discount (not counting the rare dealings where I do indeed get a "cash discount"). Another obvious reason for me to use credit over cash is to build credit. I recently bought a house, and am eager to recoup those precious FICO points I lost thanks to an onslaught of credit checks. Finally, I see it as more secure. If I lose my credit card or even if someone steals my info, I'm not responsible for the charges as long as I report it lost. If I lose a pocketful of cash, I'm out that money.
Cash just doesn't make sense to me. If I really need cash I'll deal with the minor inconvenience of finding an ATM or just find Lainey. Also in my mind, cash is unaccounted for money. I religiously log every purchase I make in quicken. I also save all of the receipts with their corresponding monthly statement so they can easily be cross referenced with my quicken records at any time. When I take cash out, I just define it as an ATM transaction and give it a vague description. After I've done this, I immediately consider the money gone since it is spent according to my records. Then without fail, I take this "spent money" and spend it on things that I probably wouldn't have if I had to think it over and stare at it in my online records and justify the purchase somehow.

Lainey

Erick, you give so many logical reasons for not carrying cash, I think we'll go with your method in the future. Next time you need cash at a meet, you'll have to look for another "bank" besides the "bank of Rick and Lainey."

paivag

Hmm young gun? (34) well for years I have always used direct deposit into a Visa Check Card account and use the visa card for all household expenses and bills. Major purchases get paid through a credit card. I pay off the Credit Card through online banking. Everything is done electronicly. In recent years I have been using a brokerage account for my banking and everything is being done electronically through the web. There are times I have some petty cash in my pocket but that is usually just spent on non-sense.

I rarely see cash. Funny growing up with my parents both being self employed in a cash based business (Liquor Store, Construction) I was used to seeing a mountain of cash on the kitchen table at the end of the month to pay distributors, suppliers, etc...

jtpassat

my problem is that I don't want to know where my money goes!!

MsPerky

George - Reminds me of the cash pouch that Cher forgot to deposit in Moonstruck.

Lainey

We keep a certain amount of $ each week. That's money that we know will get pi$$ed away. Gas, going out to eat, small purchases at CVS, or the grocery store, etc.

We aren't ones to use credit cards for all purchases as I think I may overspend if that was the case. We do use a debit card for many purchases. With the debit card, you KNOW the cash has to be there before you make the purchase.

I just saw a segment on the "Today" show about this subject. They said different things work for different people as far as spending/budgeting/saving money. For some folks it works best if they use credit/debit cards for just about everything. The bottom line, of course, is to live within your means, and to be sure you save some $ every paycheck. Not always fun, but it's necessary.

dlq04

Lainey & Deb, etc. I'm with you; I can't imagine running around with no folding $. Shell card for gas, VISA card for motels, and cash for everything else.

SSSnakeSSS

A little of both. When on a trip we always carry cash, but our preference is Amex. All gas, hotel, resturant costs go on the card. Moments like when the entire room splits the bill, cash works the best.

We do not like to travel without cash. Just in case some place does not take credit. It does happen.

martha

But David, he's definitely worth it!

Actually, if Dean carries our cash, it seems to stay with us longer. If I carry cash it disappears instantly (and no I don't splurge on myself -- it just goes away for extravagances like food or gas that I can't account for).

I prefer to use my debit card for everything just to have that paper trail so I can actually figure out where the $$ goes. And those points they give you add up pretty fast if you use the card for everything.

The exception is traveling and I like for us to both have some cash for travel.

vtec9

I use my AmEx whenever I can. It's by far my most frequent method of payment. Every now and then I come across a place that doesn't take AmEx (they have been raising rates, people getting upset), and I use my VISA check card. I typically do have cash on me, but not a lot. I will pull out $60 every now and then and use it sparingly only when necessary. When it runs out, I will go a few days without cash until I'm in a situation again where its needed, and the process repeats. I try to put everything on plastic; cash is a backup.