Why you still need cash and how the system tracks you

I doubt it. If the phone satelite and internet is down in large area, then cash flow will stop. Yeah, you can buy the last bag of bread on the shelf in the corner general store. But for most part, you can't buy anything without internet and satellite network working. I'd rather stash non-perishable MREs (Meals-Ready-to-Eat) than cash in my safe.

 

I've been learning 'storm lessons' since I was a kid in my beloved home state of Indiana.
Ice, fire, and thunderstorm.
Hurricanes are one of the more effective means of 'forced urban renewal' but fire and ice can also lead to regional infrastructure issues.
One of the two key lessons Katrina taught me was that communication (phone AND internet) CAN fail and cash is pretty handy.
I, literally, had people tell me that Katrina was nearly 20 years ago and that something like that would 'never happen again.'
Hurricane Helene - Wikipedia

oops.

One of the latest storm prep things that I have purchased is a Starlink mini - for $249.
At $5 a month for the roam plan - it's cheap insurance AND a pretty handy fallover for alarms and IOT sensors and switches.
Of course, I still keep a modest amount of cash at home as well.

Elon-net and LIFE at 500kb/s..... | PriusChat

 

There have been leaked plans to collapse both gold and silver as apparently the supply in play is only ~5%.

we already saw silver collapse because of a very small move, precious metals will only protect until the big players do their rug pull(s) to desired effect.

 

Our local Walgreens had a few cash only days in the pandemic years because the system was down.

all of Appleton Wisconsin was cash only at every business for the same reason mid pandemic a few days because no cards would process regionally.

people figure it out when things don’t work.

I do remember that I couldn’t buy gas those days though.

 

I don't remember any internet or money network being interrupted because of pandemic. My recollection is that during pandemic, non-human cash register increased. Yes, I could still use cash on those register, but I did all of purchasing on internet and either no contact pick up or delivered to my home during pandemic.

 

Human memory is fallible, I was in the process of shopping that day, the entire fox valley region was affected, had to go to a physical register with a person at woodmans, had to return $20 of stuff because I didn’t bring enough cash for everything (wasn’t planning on doing all shopping with $$$)

thankfully I got most everything since I had been to the bank the day before.

couldn’t buy gas though, even though you can pre-pay with cash they said the pumps wouldn’t update correctly.

funny part was one of the many cell phone disruptions was just days before that.

 

Had to be a regional thing. Hard to believe it was related to pandemic. We had no such interruption in our area. Yeah, if the internet and/or phone network is interrupted, we are all going to have problem, whether have cash on hand or not. That is unavoidable. Having cash on hand may become handy at time, but that is such a short term solution for a small cash only item. I am not going to be paid if the internet is down. I can't get cash out from the bank if the internet is down. I don't carry cash with me. But I am sure if I scrounge around in house, we can get enough cash to buy a dinner or two for a few days. But anything more... yep, I need internet working to withdraw.

 

Why I need cash: grandkids, buskers.

 

Concur, that's when I switched over from dogged reliance on cash to virtually all credit card, just settling the full tab every month.

 

I knew the world had changed when Aldi began taking credit cards.

 

so if you have cash, and the market collapses, you can get some great deals.
but then you don't have cash anymore

 

One of the reason I don't use cash and pay everything on credit cards is the cashback. I get 2%-5% cashback on everything I pay on CC. That is not just for grocery and dining, but includes, insurance premium, grocery, utility bill, and other large ticket item. Oh, yeah, I have used CC for paying for grandkids and buskers too. Yes, they do take cashless card payments. lol AND most importantly, as your comment, I also pay every balance before the due date. Never paid interests or fees on the credit card. Use the best % cash back credit card for the purchase. I have dozens to choose from. I figure free money from banks amounts to close to couple thousands dollars each year easily. Banks probably hates me for this. The worst kind of customer for the bank.

 

Around here many restaurants, gas stations and service places give a discount for cash.

 

the smart ones

 

If it’s not a chain everything from restaurants to independent grocery to gas charges more for CC and debit than cash in this area.

the cash back rarely exceeds the fee.

honestly I note which restaurants don’t charge the fee in case it’s a weekend and I’m out of cash, nobody wants CC around here.

even the junk stores require a $20 minimum purchase and charge a buck fee to use anything other than cash.

also get harassed by large minimum tips if you pay by card selections from 25% to 50% with no custom tip button are a drag, going west there is a gas station that asks for tips if you pay in the store

 

What fees are you paying for credit card?

 

The worst is an automatic
$1 service fee you pay no matter what plus 3.5%

most are 3.3%~4% same charge whether it’s debit or credit.
One place is talking about moving the fee up to 5% in November, no idea what is special about November.

some gas stations give a discounted “cash rate”

Most of the discount grocery and trash stores have a minimum purchase plus a $1 fee to use anything other than cash.

I usually don’t buy enough that I would be allowed to use cc.

we still have 2 places that will not accept cc or debit at all, I used to take my income controlled grandma and uncle there because we could use checks to pay for the meal (they only stopped taking check 3 years ago)

There are also a few oddballs that push cash or debit but will also take discover cc and only discover.

Many of the motels we visit during trips give a cash discount with the highest being 15% off