Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

I use a mixture, Capella, mostly because I'm not organised enough to do anything else! But also because I do most of my shopping at the local market, where cards are only accepted at a couple of stalls.

jk0

This problem might interest you guys: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5472361

For a couple of days last week my mobile wouldn't work at all. Even ringing it from my home phone gave number unobtainable. Now it's back to normal. I'm not sure if this was because MSE made Vodafone aware of it, or some other reason.

However, anyone who relies on their phone might want to slip a spare Sim card in their wallet.

[Deleted User]

I take out the housekeeping amount from the bank once a week and that's IT as far as food, cleaning stuff, toiletries etc is concerned. If we buy online obviously we use either a card or paypal and if I buy clothes or books or any big item I use a card as I don't like carrying lots of cash. I make sure though when I've used the card to put the receipt straight into the study so nothing is missed in the accounting.

GreyQueen

I only use cash, cappella. I might use my debit or credit card for payment purposes once a year, if that.

My reasonings are many; privacy, simplicity, control of spending, keeping my bank statement tidy and easy to check without lots of fiddly !!!!ant little transactions cluttering up the place.

Privacy is key; card use date and time stamps your whereabouts and consumption patterns in a way which is simply unacceptable to me. I used to work in debt and welfare advice and have had sight of many a stranger's bank statements, supplied by themselves, as part of that process.

You'd be horrified at the level of detail even a 30 second perusal of you bank statement will reveal about your life. I feel that people are being incredibly foolish to move away from cash. It's like sleepwalking into a police state and it frightens me that I may well be swept along in the societal flow of foolishness.

A couple of days ago, I was in a supermarket queue behind a card payer whose card was declined. She said it was the second time that day, she had no idea why, but she had no cash and had to leave without her shopping. Whilst holding the rest of us up.

My observation is that card payments are no faster than cash, but actually slower. And card payments will be inflationary; I see the letters the providers send to my shop-keeping friend and the % they want of any transaction. These costs are being passed to us shoppers. My pal only deals in cash and several times a week the under 25s wander in off the street wanting to make £10 or so purchase with a card and have to be routed to the nearest ATM.

Also, cash is very convenient if you want to give a little gift or make or recieve a little money for a job. These micro payments make the difference to some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

Attempts by the banking industry and the grubbyment to go cash free should be smacked down really hard by all people of liberty, and especially preppers.

*climbs off soap box*

pollyanna_26

Good morning all . I withdraw the cash for the week and never use cards for normal purchases . I have a credit card which is used as protection on large purchases but it is paid in full when the bill arrives I recently rejected the contactless debit card that was sent when my card was due to expire . We are lucky to have a branch of the bank in the small town nearby and they told me contactless cards were the way to go . I informed them I would not be validating the card and would destroy it , I received a normal card a few days later .
I have never banked on line , like GQ I try to limit the information as much as possible . They obviously know far too much about us all but I wont help them and prefer to remain a luddite .
I love Woodlice and they live in great numbers here however I shall be keeping an eye on them from now on , I have been blaming the thrushes and blackbirds for the strawberries but maybe the woodlice have been joining the feast .
Finally the weather has cooled a little after two weeks of hot and humid , no rain yet but we may finally see some on Sunday .
polly

Karmacat

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

We've got both the pink and white Japanese anemones but only in a front border between two concreted driveways and they are gradually filling a space where nothing else WILL grow. No problems with them spreading as there's no where to spread to and I really love them. I think in an uncontained position though they could be as pernicious a weed as bindweed or couch grass!!!

Perfectly understandable in that position - but yes, otherwise they *are* pernicious :eek:

Woodlice do love strawberries, I often pick the biggest, ripest ones and find a hollowed out bottom to them and whole colonies of woodlice munching away to their hearts delight. I grow enough to satisfy both our needs and don't mind them sharing in the feast, I'm quite fond of 'Pilly Bugs' too!

I'm turfing out my alpine-strawbs-that-infest-the-place but I'm fond of woodlice I like "pilly bugs"

Cappella wrote: »

I can't grow Japanese anemones at all, I only wish that I could they flower the year I plant them and then vanish never to be seen again. Same with lily of the valley and Michaelmas daisies.

Sorry Cappella! All of them grow well with me but nothing to do with me - I'm sure its about location (south of you) and soil (heavy, heavy clay).

May I ask you all about something that I've been seriously thinking about? Do people here use cash only for purchases or just cards, or a mixture? Don't answer if the question makes you uncomfortable.

I do quite a bit online - supermarket, Amazon, ebay, even clothes shops because I can't get there myself. I'll use more cash when I retire and get my strength back, because I'm very aware of the privacy and cost issues.

southantrim3

GQ, I tend to agree with you that cash is King and every time a card is used you give away where you were and what time it was and how much you spent. The only other thing is, I would add that when you're withdrawing cash - you do it from the same place each time, eg if you did it outside the shop you were making a purchase in, the fact that you took out cash from the cash machine beside that shop would be as good as (but not quite) using your card in the shop...

Hope that makes sense...:D

mardatha

I get the weekly pension from the mobile PostOffice van and we divide that into wee piles for elect/coal/petrol. I use Paypal and like Karmacat I buy a lot online because its too much hassle for me to trek up to a shop.
The other day (Sunday) we were up in FortWilliam where they were having the World Cup mountain biking championiships. The queue for the one and only cashline machine stretched right round the railway station. All young tanned yuppies lol - without any cash! And when the person at the cashline took too long they got heckled by those at the end of the queue.

Margaret54

hi all I too have started to have a little purse with cash which I take out on the beginning of the week which is for food shopping toiletries etc only. I use a debit card for anything bigger and online. I do feel like another poster said that you can lose track of what you are spending when you pay by card and I want to keep a tighter rein on our pennies. What a lovely thread and such nice postings too

boultdj

I use a mixture of both, car stuff is all paid on the card, but shopping is all cash and there is a good 'swap skill' arrangment in the area, so definetly 'off the radar' of the PTB.