[Racer X 69]

Kind of sad when you see a young cashier not being able to count out 93 cents in change and just giving me a dollar instead.

Especially when the register does the math.

But hey, you came out 7 cents ahead.

[Racer X 69]

And I can buy more BACON that way

Now that's using your noggin.

[Racer X 69]

I keep $50 to $200 cash in my wallet, but use my credit card for almost everything. The cash I use mostly for tips at restaurants, or an occasional six pack of beer. I pay off the card balance every month, via check, and it earns me points on every transaction.

So far the points have bought a huge flatscreen TV, and are about to buy a couple new flat screen monitors to replace the aging CRT's on one of my desktop computers.

[Ex Finn.]

What did that to it?

33 inch Goodyear Wrangler.

[Ex Finn.]

i told you you should have used a screen protector!

lol! :d

[Ex Finn.]

I trust it was not in your pocket at the time? I know Finns are tough, but...

I was in the truck when it got run over... foot on the gas pedal

[gaweidert]

Especially when the register does the math.

But hey, you came out 7 cents ahead.

The person could not figure out how to add up the quarters, nickles and dimes. Very sad.

[dbs]

The person could not figure out how to add up the quarters, nickles and dimes. Very sad.

That seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.
Must learn how to put a spaceshuttle into space but not how to count
The basics are not being taught in school,should be known before they start school?

Dave

[tim60]

Hi Tim

Direct debit a new form of theft from your account
If it is not a set regular payment then no way

Dave

Coming from the big town just south of you, where all payments out of a bank account must be initiated by the account holder or specifically authorised by them.


Over here most billing is paid by DD and there is no system like BPay, where your payment of a bill is directly linked to your account at the seller by back office computer means. Payments done here that are buyer initiated are only a transfer to a back account number and the sender needs to put the right information in the message field. Can't work out why they have not taken advantage of the possibilities of BPay, such a cheap way to get the back office work done in a business.

[tim60]

Haven't bought a phone on-contract for years - no strings or "hidden payments"! We buy outright and then choose the PAYG SIMs which suit/seem best value at the time, or over time - currently a mixture of GiffGaff and Virginmedia.

I buy the phone outright, looking for a deal on what I want. I use it till it gets very old, not just out of fashion.

I had a student do a paper comparing the cost of buying outright or on-contract in the US contracts available at the time. The conclusion was that, based on TVM with the interest rate for mortgages at the time that the buyer would be in front after only 8 months - and the financing deal would hang around for 24 months. Effectively a very high interest rate, as bad as or worse than a credit card.


I got a SIM with Three on a deal no longer available to new customers.
GBP17 p/m for 200 minutes, 200 text, unlimited data used on the phone and 4GBp/m tethered, in UK. In a long list of countries (including the countries I am most likely to go) I get all that (for calls and txt to UK) except for the tethered data without roaming charges (before the European no-roaming arrangement was put in place and now I get that too).


Now what I want is an App which will make tethered data look like phone used data to the telco!

[tim60]

Cheques ("checks"!) have gone almost totally "out of fashion" here, and many, many companies won't accept them any more - only electronic payments by card or on-line.
Pretty much the only times I use them nowadays are to pay my government tax bills and the guy who services our c/h boiler once a year!

The only time I used one here was to pay the DVA for my drivers licence.


If they used BPay they could do without that too.


In Australia you pay the tax bill on BPay unless you do not use online banking.

[tim60]

Heck, I even used to carry cash. Stopped that, too, some years ago - but definitely less than ten! I think... Anyway, now it's plastic all the way. Or paying with the phone, even if I don't see the point of it. It's like having a huge battery dependent cc... I don't want my bus pass on the phone, either, as long as I have a choice. It's just too "smart".

Then again, some will use their phones for everything. Don't they have teeth?

I like cash.


Anonymous - the bank has no record of which little things I buy.
Also I do not get a million little transactions to sift through to see if something is gone astray. Smart scammers would do little transactions to be below the visibility radar.


I do not want something like the bus ticket on the phone - flat battery would mean getting stuck. Also a software failure would become a personal crisis, not just an inconvenience. And the software guys do not care enough to make sure they NEVER happen.

[savoche]

Hey!

That guy's phone is trying to eat his beer!

It's the new model Horror Phone. "Will eat your beer."

[savoche]

I like cash.


Anonymous - the bank has no record of which little things I buy.

That's the point that made me stick to cash for as long as I did. At some point I just gave up. Well, at least I use a bunch of cards from different banks, but "they" will know anyway

Also I do not get a million little transactions to sift through to see if something is gone astray. Smart scammers would do little transactions to be below the visibility radar.

I use different cards for different types of transactions. That makes it easier to keep track of the items as there aren't that many on each card.

And I think the card issuers have become quite good at spotting scams. I have had a few cards cancelled because of suspicious transaction attempts, but only once has anyone actually managed to get anything through (and that was back when the magnetic strip was still in use).

Of course, when relying on plastic only you need several cards. I had my card eaten by an ATM in Namibia, and it would be rather inconvenient if that was my only card

I do not want something like the bus ticket on the phone - flat battery would mean getting stuck. Also a software failure would become a personal crisis, not just an inconvenience. And the software guys do not care enough to make sure they NEVER happen.

Exactly. It doesn't really give you anything in return for the inconveience/uncertainty.

Parking meter apps work very well, though. No more running back to the car to add more time.

[microlight]

My business has been paperless since I set it up ten years ago, and I haven’t routinely carried cash for a looooong time. My wife gets annoyed when I scrounge a quid off her to get a bar of chocolate!

My current phone is my son’s old iPhone 6 Plus, which is a brilliant phone that I shall keep until it dies. He accidentally dropped it on its face in our driveway, and changed to a Samsung in a fit of pique. I got the screen and battery replaced, and it’s like new now. And with optical stabilisation, videos taken with it are awesome!