What are some things you will only buy with cash?

I have had the same three dollar bills in my wallet for the last month. Everything is done with my debit card. Google knows more about my shopping habits than I do and they just record my searches and emails.

Nowadays, I buy almost nothing with cash because I almost never carry it, preferring instead to use a debit card. I do carry a credit card for big purchases but always pay off the the balance before the due date. There was a time when I survived on credit. That led me to debt hell to which I intend never to return. If there’s a Satan, he’ appears to us in the form of a Visa card!

I buy just about everything with cash. I use checks for bills. I don’t own any debit or credit cards. I like to spend only what I have on hand.

Meth, obviously. Okay, just bribes…I pay those in cash…we give bribes to the Russian gynos that deliver my babies..it’s sad but it works…same with the pediatrician…you give him a bribe and his Jewish behind is there for my newborn during sabbath (shabat)..true story

I use cash for all my tattoo purchases. It’s not because of any secrecy thing or anything. It’s easier on my artist and I think it’s part of the reason she started hooking me up with good deals when I first started getting them.

I rarely carry cash, I’m not paranoid about what info’ companies crunch from my purchase information. My debit card is my currency since I don’t use checks credit cards.

Cash only items
Dog groomer- she works under the table
Furniture movers- they work under the table.
House cleaner- she works under the table
Vending machines

I use my debit card for most things. I really don’t care who knows what I buy, so I’m not worried about it needing cash to hide anything.

@Neizvestnaya and this is how I know you’re Russian…besides the user name

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I’m not but by association ;p but I do hear you on the bribes, they work when you really need some extra consideration.

I buy pretty much everything with cash. I use checks to pay my bills… everything else is cash.

@Neizvestnaya Well, by association then, lol – it’s all good in the ‘under the table’ hood

@Simone_de_Beauvoir Any Orthodox Jewish doctor will attend to their patients’ urgent medical needs even on Shabat (sabbath). Protecting life and limb always takes precedence. Once the need has been met, they may have a long walk back home. Bribes are not required!

Hookers and blow!

@Randy Most of the artists I know charge considerably less to those who pay cash; sometimes up to 20%. For an artist that runs $100–150/hour doing a full back piece, that can be a chunk of change.

Illegal drugs, hot merchandise, alcohol after hours and most anything that is illegal.

@Dr_Lawrence He is not Orthodox…and it’s not a life or death situation…more like if the baby is born from Friday to Saturday morning, he doesn’t have to be there till Sunday but he’ll make it there Saturday for us.

I have not illicit activities that require the anonymity of cash. I have too little money to worry about identity theft.

Good question. I never had a credit card. I usually use my debit card to get my money out of my account. For purchases under $500 I usually go with cash. I use money for most smaller purchases. The only exception is something that is too expensive to carry cash around. I use my debit to buy a large order of groceries however. I do not like carrying over $500 on me personally however.

I like buying used clothes, becuse they are cheaper and affordable. Everyone always want to buy from forever 21 and h & m. those shops are just too expensive and way to many people shop there. So I always shop somewhere very unusual for others to buy. So I am unique.

Oh went off topic, well I buy with only cash when shopping at thrift stores and market, street sales.

I pay my bills and purchase merchandise online and buy gas with checks or a credit card, but 85 to 90 percent of everything else I buy, pay with for cash, the 15 to 20 percent that is not cash are major purchases like electronics, gadgets appliances, etc. but for day to day expenses like groceries, etc. I use cash. I know it must seem very old fashioned but it’s a kind of a habit with me. But it also helps me manage my spending. If I get a certain amount of cash out of the ATM, say two hundred dollars, that really seems like two hundred dollars to me, and as I spend it, as it diminishes, it’s very real to me. If I simply offer up my credit or debit card to someone for every transaction, it doesn’t seem entirely real to me and I can’t always keep track of what I’m spending. I know that a lot, if not most people can manage their money using cards and plastic but that’s difficult for me. Using cash for my day to day expenses helps me do that.

Gas, due to a 45 cent “convience fee” that the gas station charges.
I prefer to use cash when I can because I can see how much money I have and then not spend it.

@py_sue I’m totally on the other side of this one. I always pay for gas with my credit or debit card. I think pay at the pump gas is the greatest invention since sliced bread, as they say. I may pay extra for the convenience but I am spoiled as far as this one is concerned. And maybe I’m not paying attention, but do gas stations still charge extra for paying with a credit or debit card?

@lillycoyote Arco does. Which is aweome because it’s always the cheapest gas in town by 10 – 15 cents. The Shell stations are charging a 35 cent fee if you use your card for a purchase of 5 bucks or less.

@py_sue I don’t think we have Arco stations around here. We do have Shells. I will start paying more attention, but I love pay at the pump. I like to fill up when I get gas and if pay with cash I have to sort of estimate how much gas I need and if I get it wrong then I either don’t get a full tank of gas, or I pay too much and have to go back in to the store and some of my money back. I love to pay and go. Apparently there are two luxuries I indulge in, I guess. I am willing to pay for a better than good haircut, no bargain salon for me, and I am willing to pay extra for pay at the pump. Everything else is negotiable.

@lillycoyote That’s cool. I like to get enough gas for that trip only, so I put in as much money as I need. Different stokes. :) I won’t pay for a cheap haircut either. One time was enough.

@py_sue Exactly. One cheap haircut was enough for me too. I found my current and longtime “stylist” because I needed to find someone to repair the damage that my “bargain” haircut had done me.

i only pay the girl who helps around the house in cash. I love debit cards….and sometimes you get a discount for using one for gas.

My last hair cut was awful and my hair is easy to cut…it’s curly. maybe i’m sick of cheapies. and i need one bad.

@lillycoyote without getting too far off topic. My cheap haircut was at a perfectcuts. I shoulda known better, but hey. I had to ask to get my hair washed. I couldn’t see what she was doing and I kept asking her. I think she got annoyed and said “all done!” I left with wet hair and an ugly cut.

We’ve worked out a system to budget better and stick to it, so we buy all our groceries and bathroom/toiletries and cleaning stuff with a set amount of cash. Our bills we do via internet transfer or online credit card payments. Spare money is transferred to the homeloan via internet transfer or spent on things we want via credit card purchases. And we pay the guy who tends to our garden in cash.

I use cash whenever I can, so that I can’t look at past statements and feel ashamed of my shopping habits. I just think, ‘oh, I could have sworn I had a twenty dollar note in here before…’ and move on.

Anything from a vending machine, Girl Scout cookies and tips.

@tedibear GA! And congratulations on hitting 5K.

@Pied_Pfeffer – Thanks for the GA and the congrats.

There is a little ice cream place near us called the Tasty Freeze. The building is the shape of a ice cream cone. It’s the closest ice cream shoppe. It only accepts cash. I was surprise… I was sad when I walked my daughter and me all the way down there for ice cream. To find out they don’t accept debt. I was like stunned… I thought ALL places except debt cards. I have learn my lessen to carry a $20. for those occassions like that .

I never use cash. Well, for a lime chiller at Sonic. (-;
Next time I have a housecleaning person I’ll pay her with cash if that helps her in some way. I never thought it mattered.
I pay off CCards each month. Orders from the Head Honcho.

I carry and use cash all the time because most British shops will not accept cards for purchases under £5. I will also pay cash to anyone like a plumber, gardener or electrician who comes to the house. For most other things I use a debit card.

Ammunition, anything else that might raise an official eyebrow.

I generally carry what I call Passepartout money, from a chapter header in Around the World in 80 Days which reads, ”In which Passepartout sees very well that, even at the Antipodes, it is Prudent to have some Money in One’s pocket.”