10% Of Americans Don’t Carry Cash Anymore

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Ten percent of Americans don't carry cash anymore. This is most likely due to the fact we don't have any cash to carry, but that's a different subject altogether. :D

The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, also found that 78 percent of Americans carried less than $50 in paper money, and that 49 percent carry $20 or less each day. Nine percent went without cash entirely, the survey found.
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I rarely have cash on me. Seems like the only time I do is when we're on a road trip and it's handy to have a bit of cash in one's wallet. Around town? Hardly ever.
 
I carry $40 tops. And that is because that is the cash back standard limit is at the local supermarket. And that $40 will last me 2 weeks. Otherwise it is all Debit Card and online payments for me. I can't remember the last time I wrote a check.
 
When credit cards give you free money for using them it's a no-brainer.
 
aVaLaNcHe said:
When credit cards give you free money for using them it's a no-brainer.
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Or you know,people use debit cards instead. I rarely use cash anymore unless i absolutely need too. If someone were to steal my wallet i could just cancel my cards and keep my money,but if it was full of cash i can kiss it goodbye.
 
Where does it say 10% don't carry cash? The survey says 9%. That's only rounding up by 10%, but if 10% isn't significant, that's kinda ironic considering the thread title.
 
nvgrim said:
Or you know,people use debit cards instead. I rarely use cash anymore unless i absolutely need too. If someone were to steal my wallet i could just cancel my cards and keep my money,but if it was full of cash i can kiss it goodbye.
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Operating on the assumption that we all pay our bills on time and in full (which I do with my credit cards)

the 1 to 5% cashback programs on many cards, is quite literally free money. Between business (reimbursed) and personal expenses in the past 10 years I've probably made a few thousand dollars in cash back.... by literally doing nothing but paying for what I was going to buy anyway.

In the hands of an idiot a credit card can surely wreck you financially. But if you are going to pay for it regardless.... credit will always offer a better return, and more protection.

I haven't written a check in a long long time, have the CC's set to auto pay the balance every month and maybe once or twice a year I'll get a free wad of cashback. It really is a no brainer if you are looking to maximize return (or minimize net expense in the long run)
 
My wife always questions where I got money from, apparently I'm not allowed to have any.
 
9 years ago when i lived in Canada I only carried cash for small things, maybe $20-30 tops... basically breakfast in the cafeteria and lunch money. Then I moved to Germany and it blew my mind how cash is still used almost exclusively for everything you do during the day.

Credit Cards can only be used online (and not always, and often with a 4-6 euro service charge) and debit cards are only reliably available in LARGE stores, due to being raped by massive fees from the companies providing the services.

Restaurants, pubs, corner stores, etc are almost always cash only.
 
I almost never have more than $20 on me at any given time. When Im going thru the checkout line at the grocery store or something and if I have no cash, Ill get $20 back. I only use it for really small purchases like when Im buying a drink or something at a gas station. Other than that, I use my check card for pretty much every purchase I make.
 
I typically only carry $10-15 on me at a time. It makes paying for beers a bit easier at smaller breweries.

In visiting Germany pretty regularly, it always blows my mind how rarely credit cards are used...but the few machines they have are much better than what we have. Restaurants and shops have a little portable system akin to Square...but nobody seems to be using them. ATMs are on every block, but credit cards never seemed to have caught on.
 
When you carry cash your more likely to spend your money on useless stuff that you don't need.:)
 
collegeboy69us said:
Operating on the assumption that we all pay our bills on time and in full (which I do with my credit cards)

the 1 to 5% cashback programs on many cards, is quite literally free money. Between business (reimbursed) and personal expenses in the past 10 years I've probably made a few thousand dollars in cash back.... by literally doing nothing but paying for what I was going to buy anyway.

In the hands of an idiot a credit card can surely wreck you financially. But if you are going to pay for it regardless.... credit will always offer a better return, and more protection.

I haven't written a check in a long long time, have the CC's set to auto pay the balance every month and maybe once or twice a year I'll get a free wad of cashback. It really is a no brainer if you are looking to maximize return (or minimize net expense in the long run)
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Im retarded,i thought he was insinuating that everyone that has a credit card thinks its just free money. Although there are some people who think this
 
Domingo said:
I typically only carry $10-15 on me at a time. It makes paying for beers a bit easier at smaller breweries.

In visiting Germany pretty regularly, it always blows my mind how rarely credit cards are used...but the few machines they have are much better than what we have. Restaurants and shops have a little portable system akin to Square...but nobody seems to be using them. ATMs are on every block, but credit cards never seemed to have caught on.
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What are the ATM fees like? Most ATMs I consider using here in the US charge a $2 fee to pull money out. When I only want $20 that's a 10% surcharge, ridiculous!
 
I carry cash for emergencies only... like if I need cocaine or a street hooker on short notice.
 
Kueller said:
What are the ATM fees like? Most ATMs I consider using here in the US charge a $2 fee to pull money out. When I only want $20 that's a 10% surcharge, ridiculous!
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Verus a credit card which gives you 5% cash back and other perks like extended warranties and of course protection since even if jacked its not your money.
 
somewhat off topic, what do you all do when it comes to traveling overseas?

do you do a decent sized currency exchange upfront and carry more cash on you?

or do you still rely on credit cards and just eat the foreign transction fees?
 
Canadian in Berlin said:
9 years ago when i lived in Canada I only carried cash for small things, maybe $20-30 tops... basically breakfast in the cafeteria and lunch money. Then I moved to Germany and it blew my mind how cash is still used almost exclusively for everything you do during the day.

Credit Cards can only be used online (and not always, and often with a 4-6 euro service charge) and debit cards are only reliably available in LARGE stores, due to being raped by massive fees from the companies providing the services.

Restaurants, pubs, corner stores, etc are almost always cash only.
Click to expand...

Being from Canada and visiting Austria a few years ago I noticed the same thing. Hated carrying around 200 in Euros.
 
Here in Brazil you have to carry cash at all times. You don't want a criminal getting nuts because you don't have any for him.
 
That said, in larger cities most places here take debit/credit cards, no problem. But you do want to have some cash around for criminals, no joke.
 
I carry less than $20, partly due to past experiences with holdups. I worked at a place in Chicago where this homeless guy would mug people coming out to their cars at the end of the day to head home throughout the whole industrial complex. The police did very little about him. They'd arrive about an hour after being called, take statements, and walk away, never bothering to actually track the guy down. I got held up by him, gun pointed at my face, three times. The second time he mugged me, I didn't have any cash on me, thinking he may just go away without me losing anything. He punched me in the face and him me on the top of the head with the bottom of his gun then stated "You better have money on you next time, or I'll make sure and break your jaw with this gun, and the third time I'll shoot you." I kept $20 in my pocket after that, separate from my wallet. I now never keep money in my wallet. If someone mugs me now, I take the cash from my front pocket, toss it one way and run the other.

Partly, that's what comes from gun control in Chicago. Anyone who gets mugged will never have a gun to defend themselves. The police and politicians expect people to just throw their money and run. They also do almost nothing about muggings, unless someone dies. It's a great place for criminals. Anyone there can make a great living being a career criminal, even politicians. Er, rather especially politicians.

I'm much happier living in Colorado now. I pity people living in Chicago. I still have the habit of keeping a little cash in my front pocket as a distraction for muggers, even though I haven't been mugged in Colorado, ever. I don't think I'll ever get rid of that habit. I don't hardly spend cash, but I sure feel like I need it, just in case.
 
dgingeri said:
I carry less than $20, partly due to past experiences with holdups. I worked at a place in Chicago where this homeless guy would mug people coming out to their cars at the end of the day to head home throughout the whole industrial complex. The police did very little about him. They'd arrive about an hour after being called, take statements, and walk away, never bothering to actually track the guy down. I got held up by him, gun pointed at my face, three times. The second time he mugged me, I didn't have any cash on me, thinking he may just go away without me losing anything. He punched me in the face and him me on the top of the head with the bottom of his gun then stated "You better have money on you next time, or I'll make sure and break your jaw with this gun, and the third time I'll shoot you." I kept $20 in my pocket after that, separate from my wallet. I now never keep money in my wallet. If someone mugs me now, I take the cash from my front pocket, toss it one way and run the other.
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Hopefully he has threatened the wrong guy in the time since that happened to you, and got himself murdered instead. If I knew where the guy hung out after he did that to me, it would be the last time he'd be able to threaten anyone.
 
nvgrim said:
Or you know,people use debit cards instead. I rarely use cash anymore unless i absolutely need too. If someone were to steal my wallet i could just cancel my cards and keep my money,but if it was full of cash i can kiss it goodbye.
Click to expand...

If someone were to steal my Debit Card info - those charges come out of my bank account directly. A Credit Card I can dispute charges without having actually lost the money first.

I stopped using my debit card several years back now its all on the Amazon Rewards Visa.
 
ml_paladin888 said:
somewhat off topic, what do you all do when it comes to traveling overseas?

do you do a decent sized currency exchange upfront and carry more cash on you?

or do you still rely on credit cards and just eat the foreign transction fees?
Click to expand...

I think there are some cards available without foreign transaction fees. If you want cash, it's probably best to do an ATM withdrawal when you get there; check with your bank(s) in advance to see which ATMs to look for; in my limited experience, my credit union card worked fine in multiple ATMs in Paris, at the airport in Bangalore, but only in 50% of ATMs in London (real pain was that it didn't work at the train station, so I had to wait in line at a money changer to get cab fare, so I ended up in a big line... multiple ATM cards would probably have helped).
 
collegeboy69us said:
Operating on the assumption that we all pay our bills on time and in full (which I do with my credit cards)

the 1 to 5% cashback programs on many cards, is quite literally free money. Between business (reimbursed) and personal expenses in the past 10 years I've probably made a few thousand dollars in cash back.... by literally doing nothing but paying for what I was going to buy anyway.

In the hands of an idiot a credit card can surely wreck you financially. But if you are going to pay for it regardless.... credit will always offer a better return, and more protection.

I haven't written a check in a long long time, have the CC's set to auto pay the balance every month and maybe once or twice a year I'll get a free wad of cashback. It really is a no brainer if you are looking to maximize return (or minimize net expense in the long run)
Click to expand...

The cash back I got on my American Express for 2013 alone paid for my launch day Xbox One. However it is the security of not carrying cash that motivates me to use electronic payment for as much as possible. I also do not use debit cards because that gives someone potential direct access to my account while a credit card is an intermediate payment service. The two I carry are my Wells Fargo Visa and AMEX because both of those companies are excellent at taking care of you in the case of fraud or something else.
 
dandragonrage said:
Hopefully he has threatened the wrong guy in the time since that happened to you, and got himself murdered instead. If I knew where the guy hung out after he did that to me, it would be the last time he'd be able to threaten anyone.
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Not in Chicago, you wouldn't. The police hate anyone who defends themselves there. If you shot a mugger, they'd haul your ass in for gun possession charges and you'd be carried out with a sheet over your face. If you doubt that, listen to their Chief of Police and read up on the Chicago Austin District FBI arrests.

In 1996, the FBI charged 27 officers out of a 30 officer district with corruption and abuse of power, including extorting money from local businesses and drug dealers. The city attorneys defended the cops to the point that only 7 got convicted, and of those, the police union is still trying to get the convictions overturned. The FBI has made over 100 more arrests of Chicago area police in the 18 years since, and nearly all of them were later released due to political pressure from certain federal political offices.

Chicago is a hellhole, and any civilian not associated with a gang shouldn't be caught carrying a gun there.
 
dgingeri said:
I carry less than $20, partly due to past experiences with holdups. I worked at a place in Chicago where this homeless guy would mug people coming out to their cars at the end of the day to head home throughout the whole industrial complex. The police did very little about him. They'd arrive about an hour after being called, take statements, and walk away, never bothering to actually track the guy down. I got held up by him, gun pointed at my face, three times. The second time he mugged me, I didn't have any cash on me, thinking he may just go away without me losing anything. He punched me in the face and him me on the top of the head with the bottom of his gun then stated "You better have money on you next time, or I'll make sure and break your jaw with this gun, and the third time I'll shoot you." I kept $20 in my pocket after that, separate from my wallet. I now never keep money in my wallet. If someone mugs me now, I take the cash from my front pocket, toss it one way and run the other.

Partly, that's what comes from gun control in Chicago. Anyone who gets mugged will never have a gun to defend themselves. The police and politicians expect people to just throw their money and run. They also do almost nothing about muggings, unless someone dies. It's a great place for criminals. Anyone there can make a great living being a career criminal, even politicians. Er, rather especially politicians.

I'm much happier living in Colorado now. I pity people living in Chicago. I still have the habit of keeping a little cash in my front pocket as a distraction for muggers, even though I haven't been mugged in Colorado, ever. I don't think I'll ever get rid of that habit. I don't hardly spend cash, but I sure feel like I need it, just in case.
Click to expand...

Now imagine a whole country with strict gun control but no law enforcement for criminals. Welcome to Brazil.
 
dgingeri said:
I carry less than $20, partly due to past experiences with holdups. I worked at a place in Chicago where this homeless guy would mug people coming out to their cars at the end of the day to head home throughout the whole industrial complex. The police did very little about him. They'd arrive about an hour after being called, take statements, and walk away, never bothering to actually track the guy down. I got held up by him, gun pointed at my face, three times. The second time he mugged me, I didn't have any cash on me, thinking he may just go away without me losing anything. He punched me in the face and him me on the top of the head with the bottom of his gun then stated "You better have money on you next time, or I'll make sure and break your jaw with this gun, and the third time I'll shoot you." I kept $20 in my pocket after that, separate from my wallet. I now never keep money in my wallet. If someone mugs me now, I take the cash from my front pocket, toss it one way and run the other.

Partly, that's what comes from gun control in Chicago. Anyone who gets mugged will never have a gun to defend themselves. The police and politicians expect people to just throw their money and run. They also do almost nothing about muggings, unless someone dies. It's a great place for criminals. Anyone there can make a great living being a career criminal, even politicians. Er, rather especially politicians.
Click to expand...

Those liberal utopia’s sure are wonderful places to live.

Reminds me of what happened in Florida years ago.
Florida expanded their concealed weapons permits, and these criminals started having problems because some of their intended victims were armed.
So, the criminals changed tactics and started following rental cars as they left the airport. They figured someone arriving by air & renting a car wouldn’t be armed. After several tourist where killed, the rental companies had to remove the stickers identifying the cars as rentals.
 
I've had the same $15 in my wallet since 2005, so I suppose technically I carry cash.
 
somecallmeTim said:
I rarely have cash on me. Seems like the only time I do is when we're on a road trip and it's handy to have a bit of cash in one's wallet. Around town? Hardly ever.
Click to expand...

Literally, the only time I have cash on me is when I'm heading to Costco and plan to buy at their food court .. Since they don't take cards.
 
ml_paladin888 said:
somewhat off topic, what do you all do when it comes to traveling overseas?

do you do a decent sized currency exchange upfront and carry more cash on you
Click to expand...

In going to Europe I used to always get a large chunk of cash up-front, but on my last couple of trips I noticed that the foreign currency ATM fees were actually cheaper than using the currency desk at the bank. I carry the equivalent of $25 in Euros for emergency and then just get the rest once I get there. Depending on how long I'm staying (and what I'm doing) is how much I grab at once.
 
arr4ws said:
I always have minimum 60$ with me. Saved me so many time.
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Yea I generally try to carry at least some cash on me. Usually around 50 bucks or so. Every once in a while you will have the credit card systems down or something. It helps to have some cash on you that, parking, etc.
 
I almost never carry cash anymore unless I am going yard saling or similar.

The reason is, if you don't have cash, you don't have to worry about "homeless" people asking you for money. Much easier to just tell them that you don't have any cash then to give them a reason that you shouldn't cave to their "sob story".
 
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