Do you use cash or debit cards?

McKneff

Citygirl1 wrote: »

Yes I do have a an app on my phone but it requires the full login details every time which is long winded and puts me off using it.

Have a word with your bank. They will sort a shotcut out.

I only have 3 random numbers or letters from my password to input

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Lizabeth21 wrote: »

All cash for me. Take money from atm every two weeks and then know exactly how much I have.

All cash for me too except one transaction per month on cc (cc company has a habit of sending letters if you don’t use your cc for a couple of months). The cc bill is paid in full the day I receive the statement - I bank by phone. I withdraw cash on my debit card, when I am down to my last £10, I withdraw the next amount. Depending on time of year or number of birthday cards to purchase, quite often the money I withdraw lasts two to three weeks. Other times it will only be one week as I post parcels to my sister in France - teabags mostly! I keep a pen and paper record of everything I spend - I do not have a mobile, nor do I use iPad for anything financial.
Too many stories of hacked accounts/companies etc DH does any online shopping I require as he is more computer savvy than I am (I am a bit of a Luddite!) I still use cheques for birthday presents & charity donations.

The main reason I use cash is that many moons ago I worked with someone who went mad with her cc . I was about 25, s/he was 19. This person asked me to help not by giving a loan but by giving me cheque book & cc, working out a budget and giving set amount to spend per week. No arguments as I advised I would stop helping immediately. If anything urgent outside of usual expenditure occurred we discussed & dealt appropriately. It took 18 months to sort BUT the person was debt free for at least another 3 years & could afford to get married in that time frame. (I moved jobs after that)

I did the same again for a second person a few years later - this person was sorted in 12 months.

The happiness these people showed was more than enough to discount the stress I placed on myself by agreeing to do this.

The stress that these people felt when in debt, left it’s mark on me - so cash and paper & pen recording + check bank statements asap (my inclination has mostly been to hoard cash as Cash was “tight” when I was young).

Cash is king - the new technology is wonderful I am sure but to me it is frightening beyond belief - you work for your money & in a nanosecond it can all be gone:(

Sorry for the long post & I hope I haven’t bored you all.

Mrs SD:)

tori.k

Citygirl1 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. I am tempted to use my debit card more. Can I ask though, how do you keep track of how much is in your account when you use debit cards? I know you can look online but my online banking website is such a faff to log in to that I don't want to be going into it every day.

I'm quite old school, with pen& paper, all our DD come out of one account money is transferred payday for the month shopping and flexible money is in another account and I do a daily reckoning when I spend that gives me my running total, what's left has been transferred to savings the night before payday. This year I have to be a bit more careful as the savings will be transferred first rather than last.
But the key is regardless if you use card or cash is being mindful and honest to yourself of what we consume.
When your statement of affairs is right the budget runs itself as long as you stay within the parameters.

wort

Your balance can be checked at any Atm machine.
I use mainly cc and debit. I don't like to have cash lying around. Plus you have to remember to draw it out!!
As long as you remember to pay cc bill as soon as it arrives, then you are ok. It helps build s good credit score if you need a mortgage too.
You can keep receipts and log them at the end of each day.

Prinzessilein

Old fashioned...mainly cash here!

I don't have a credit card...never had one...I am thinking about it, but don't know that I would be accepted...I am on benefits and I also have a really cruddy credit record - not because I have been in debt but because I haven't! No mortgage, no car, no store cards (oh I tell a lie...ONE store card years ago, cut up after a few months...after a bit of a snit with the shop!)...when I had to open a new bank account last year (I was with the N&P but they closed all current accounts) I had REAL trouble finding a bank, I failed their preliminary checks. (Very happy now with Nat West)

So...basic bank account with debit card for me...bills paid by DD....then I take cash from the machine for shopping....I occasionally use the debit card for larger purchases.

If I shop online I use Mum's credit card and pay her the full amount. (Which is why I would like my own card sometime....Mum will not be here forever!)

PollyWollyDoodle

Another YNAB fan here, after reading about it on the forum. I've got the 'original' version, it doesn't matter which account the money is in, as you can see exactly what is in each category. However if I'm truthful, I don't usually check - after years of budgeting, I usually know whether or not I can afford something.

I put all food, vets bills, household expenditure, gifts etc on credit card which earns points, and pay it off in full each month. I rarely have more than £20 in my purse and it can last weeks.

Syman

I use a credit card wherever i can, including Aldi ( not sure if other Aldis refuse them).
I rarely use or take cash from the bank,

I use a program called "MoneyManager EX" for keeping track of my accounts.

trailingspouse

Asda credit card for everything (even small amounts, now that contactless is a thing). I get 0.5% cashback on everything, and 1% cashback on Asda purchases. It's amazing how it mounts up over the year. Credit card is paid off in full every month via direct debit, from a Santander 123 account (currently paying 1.5% interest).

So, say I spend £1000 on my credit card in a month - that £1000 isn't going out until three weeks in to the next month, so I'm getting between 3 weeks and 7 weeks extra interest on my money in the bank = +/- £1.25. Because I've used my Asda card, I get 0.5% back = £5.00. That's £6.25 a month coming in rather than going out. In other words, a spend of £1000 has only cost me £993.75.

I always have a bit of cash on me - rarely more than about £40-£50 - for those odd occasions when you can't use a card. I really don't use cash very often - even my window cleaner gets paid directly into his bank account now.

MankyVegSoup

Our weekly food and eating out budget is cash but most other things are debit card.

We shop a lot in local independents so it's easier to take out our weekly amount and keep track that way. Anything left over can go on a treat - lunch out etc.

lessonlearned

Mainly credit card which is cleared every month, or debit card for places that charge extra for using a credit card......(my garage).

However, I have never forgotten that my father taught me “Cash is King”. Turns out he was right because I have bought some amazing bargains purely because I had sufficient cash at hand.

A brand new ex showhouse bed, still in wrappers, RRP £1200 for £150. Bought from a builder one Christmas Eve. He just had to clear the show house because he’d sold it and the purchaser suddenly decided they wanted to be in for Christmas and didn’t want the bed.

A used caravan for £100. The guy selling it was desperate. The site fees were due and he couldn’t afford them. He simply had to sell, or even give it away. We used that caravan for another 5 years and then it eventually went to my dads allotment garden as a shed. After a couple of years someone offered me £25 for it.

That was just a couple of examples.