I had two reasons, the first is because i found it way too easy to spend on my card without thinking, and the second because I wanted to regain a bit of privacy alongside everything else I’m doing. Ive set it up in my bank that on payday, an amount of my salary automatically goes to the bills account, some goes to long term savings, some to short term savings, then the rest I take out in cash.
It really does change my perception of spending I think: Ive found myself not buying things because I didnt want to break a note and carry change. I can physically see how much I have left. I can take £20 to the pub and leave when its finished. Plus it feels really good knowing every single transaction isnt stored forever. I have a small amount of money on a contactless ring for emergencies like a bus fare or somewhere that unexpectedly only takes card.
Is anyone else still predominantly using cash day to day?
I rarely use cash. Nearly everything I spend is on supermarket and they know exactly what I buy because we’re forced to use their “loyalty” programs anyway.
Then traveling: dealing with other currencies, coming home with unspendable money. And there’s no interest on cash lying around.
But I hate the tendency for places to not accept cash at all, there should still be a choice.
One bonus is that I keep finding money on the streets in countries that love cash.
Co worker went into a grocery store and asked for a loyalty card. They wanted him to fill out the form of information. He’s like can I just not? The person behind the counter couldn’t care less…they just handed him the plastic sheet of like ~5 cards (full size and several keychain sized). So my loyalty card is spilt with that many people and is tied to no one. So the data on that account is wild I’m sure. I don’t get the like 3 cents off gas but I wasn’t gonna use it for that anyway. I hate ‘loyalty card’ prices on everything…
I’m using fake names on all those things, but prices without loyalty are often insane. It’s basically an extra tourist tax.
They also usually tie loyalty cards to phone numbers. So tell them 555-555-5555. Chances are high that someone already registered a card to some bullshit phone number, and many people are using it simultaneously
In what country are you forced to use loyalty cards?
I’ve never had a cashier tell me I couldn’t pay without a loyalty cars. Usually I ask them to swipe their card, which 80% of the time they do because they get free gas or whatever
Czechia. In many supermarkets “discounts” only apply when you have a card/app. Essentially the “discount” is normal price, otherwise you’ll pay nearly double.
And the cashier doesn’t swipe their own card if you ask them politely to do so?