Can you spare some change?

[Epsilon0]

No, I cannot.

I literally never carry cash in my wallet. Everywhere I go I pay by card.

Some years ago the State Treasury in my country changed the money, and I have no idea what the new bills look like.

And today, I was at my local grocery shop and after I paid (by card of course) I waited for the receit. Guess what? I didn't get one. The cashier told me their system has identified I am connected to the digital post delivery app and has sent me the receipt electronically.

This is it. The end of an era.

What's it like where you live?

 

[Yomyom]

The only cash I have is to buy drugs, I have absolutely nothing else to do with it, only Hundreds and two hundred bills, so no change
I have around 5 credit cards (don't know why)
And most of my shopping is online because I hate to go outside and it's really fun

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

In Latin America, it's far more difficult to find a place that even takes cards.

But change is a major issue, just for different reasons.

Everyone is constantly in a battle for change.

If one goes to the bank to make a withdrawal and asks for small bills, they're likely to be out.

In Mexico, go to a major retailer like Wal-Mart and hand them a large bill, and they're likely to ask you if you can pay with something smaller. If you can't, you have to wait for them to walk aaaaall the way across the store and back with just enough small bills to make change for you and the next self-absorbed customer who didn't plan ahead to ease the retailer's burdens. Sometimes they have the change, but it's the game. They see I'm holding smaller bills and ask if I can pay with them, and I say I need them for taxis, and the cashiers get it, even if they pull a face like they've been sucking on an agrio lime,* because that's part of the game -- it's bartering, for change.

*Lemons aren't a thing in Latin American cuisine.

Conversely, Mexico's one- or two-peso coins are abundant. It's common to get a huge handful of them if change is necessary, including at major retailers, and then the next person you pay with them twitches their lip in disdain. For fuck's sake, they have to count it.

In Guatemala, the tuk-tuk drivers get a major attitude if you don't have exact change, and they'll try to convince you it's your responsibility to go find it while they sit on their asses and wait. It takes a strong person to tell them it's their job to find change, which they finally will with a tsk and an agrio lime pucker, huffily putting the tuk-tuk in gear and driving up to a tiny convenience store that somehow magically has change for them but not for paying customers.

So no, I can't spare any change, either. I wouldn't be surprised if Latin American panhandlers get mugged just because they have change, not because of how much. But maybe the Mexican ones are safe because who wants those damn peso coins, it would take too much effort to count the take. I've never given any money to a panhandler here, but I bet if I offered one a large bill, they'd ask me if I could get it broken first.

 

[Epsilon0]

In Latin America, it's far more difficult to find a place that even takes cards.

But change is a major issue, just for different reasons.

Everyone is constantly in a battle for change.

If one goes to the bank to make a withdrawal and asks for small bills, they're likely to be out.

In Mexico, go to a major retailer like Wal-Mart and hand them a large bill, and they're likely to ask you if you can pay with something smaller. If you can't, you have to wait for them to walk aaaaall the way across the store and back with just enough small bills to make change for you and the next self-absorbed customer who didn't plan ahead to ease the retailer's burdens. Sometimes they have the change, but it's the game. They see I'm holding smaller bills and ask if I can pay with them, and I say I need them for taxis, and the cashiers get it, even if they pull a face like they've been sucking on an agrio lime,* because that's part of the game -- it's bartering, for change.

*Lemons aren't a thing in Latin American cuisine.

Conversely, Mexico's one- or two-peso coins are abundant. It's common to get a huge handful of them if change is necessary, including at major retailers, and then the next person you pay with them twitches their lip in disdain. For fuck's sake, they have to count it.

In Guatemala, the tuk-tuk drivers get a major attitude if you don't have exact change, and they'll try to convince you it's your responsibility to go find it while they sit on their asses and wait. It takes a strong person to tell them it's their job to find change, which they finally will with a tsk and an agrio lime pucker, huffily putting the tuk-tuk in gear and driving up to a tiny convenience store that somehow magically has change for them but not for paying customers.

So no, I can't spare any change, either. I wouldn't be surprised if Latin American panhandlers get mugged just because they have change, not because of how much. But maybe the Mexican ones are safe because who wants those damn peso coins, it would take too much effort to count the take. I've never given any money to a panhandler here, but I bet if I offered one a large bill, they'd ask me if I could get it broken first.

What a story!!! Talk about cultural differences... It's as if we are living on two different planets. Here you can pay by card at the market stands and even at public toilets. The big retailers (H&M for instance) have signs that read: Card Only.

I am actually starting to understand all the paranoia surrounding data collection. Everything I buy and everywhere I go, I leave a digital trace. All my receipts are now stored digitally on a server. Theoretically speaking, they can be downloaded and used to control me and shape my customer behaviour. Which really is what Google and Facebook are already doing, but once someone has access to my receipts then we are talking about manipulation on a whole different level.


Hmm... this raises all sorts of questions about ethics, data protection and personal integrity.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

I am actually starting to understand all the paranoia surrounding data collection. Everything I buy and everywhere I go, I leave a digital trace. All my receipts are now stored digitally on a server. Theoretically speaking, they can be downloaded and used to control me and shape my customer behaviour. Which really is what Google and Facebook are already doing, but once someone has access to my receipts then we are talking about manipulation on a whole different level.


Hmm... this raises all sorts of questions about ethics, data protection and personal integrity.

There's a story, several years old now, of a teenager who bought a pregnancy test at Target in the States. She used a rewards card. Her father figured out she was pregnant because their email offers started to include baby products.

 

[Epsilon0]

There's a story, several years old now, of a teenager who bought a pregnancy test at Target in the States. She used a rewards card. Her father figured out she was pregnant because their email offers started to include baby products.

The lesson here being: kids, don't lie to your parents.

(I am just using humour as a means to disguise my outrage.)

 

[Yomyom]

The lesson here being: kids, don't lie to your parents.

(I am just using humour as a means to disguise my outrage.)

Collecting information like that more than okay
I want my supermarket will bring me deals on something I want, not other stuff

Also in google and Facebook with time they have More recent advertisements for me, I like it

In Mexico, go to a major retailer like Wal-Mart and hand them a large bill, and they're likely to ask you if you can pay with something smaller. If you can't, you have to wait for them to walk aaaaall the way across the store and back with just enough small bills to make change for you and the next self-absorbed customer who didn't plan ahead to ease the retailer's burdens. Sometimes they have the change, but it's the game. They see I'm holding smaller bills and ask if I can pay with them, and I say I need them for taxis, and the cashiers get it, even if they pull a face like they've been sucking on an agrio lime,* because that's part of the game -- it's bartering, for change.

It's basically everywhere, when I worked as a cashier I always hat that problems with customers, and it's amazing to see how all the people with bills come together in a day that there is no change in the supermarket

 

[Matthias_k]

I haven't had any cash in my pockets in years. I even use an app to pay for parking. It took me a while to adapt since I am a bit of a paranoid. But I still have some cash stashed in my car for specific purposes.

 

[Epsilon0]

I haven't had any cash in my pockets in years. I even use an app to pay for parking. It took me a while to adapt since I am a bit of a paranoid. But I still have some cash stashed in my car for specific purposes.

Like if someone breaks in and steals your car, the least you can do is but them a cup of coffee, right?

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Barely use cash, not been anywhere to spend it for months. Yes we are traced everywhere, out lives are an open book to those with the resources to read it. Most of it is targeted advertising driven. There's ways to opt out of this but it's a place of diminishing returns. Being on the radar conveys so much convenience for many, it's barely worth the effort to stay off it, so the powers that be get what they want because avoiding it is just making your life harder.
Bloody internet, life was better without it.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

I prefer cash so I can hide my trail. Loyalty cards gather information on you too. Before long your grocery store loyalty card will be used against you for insurance purposes. Mark my words.

"Oh you eat unhealthy, we need to charge you a premium rate."

 

[Myforevercharlie]

I still prefer cash over card. I want to see what i left for a month. Unfortunately a lot of stores are not really happy with it, but wtf! As long as cash is still a legal way to pay, i will use it.

I think it will be gone soon enough...

 

[ArtsyDrawer]

Change is an issue in Israel. A weird issue.
The prices of things here are weirdly precise: my shoes, for example, cost 374.90
"Alright," you say, "it's that 0.9 trick to make shit look cheaper and entice you to buy it, I get the picture", but no, it's worse.
Bread is 6.60.
Fancy bread that lasts for like a month and doesn't get moldy is 45.60.
I may be eating cancerogens.
Milk is 5.40.
Snickers bars can be between 3.30 and 7.80.
EVEN FUCKING CARS are like this! I don't buy cars, but my boss brags about how he bought a second hand Mazda for 54871.30! He doesn't say 54000 or 54800 like a normal person, he says the exact number.
As a result my left buttcheek is protected by an artillery proof slab of metal. Everybody has exact change at all times and are extremely vigilant about giving it to you.
Reading @GoodPersonEffed 's take (and laughing my ass off at "tuk-tuk"), he might consider Israel a heaven!
"Exact change?! AT ALL TIMES?! CUT MY DICK AND LET ME IN!!!"
Or if they're a woman, "hold on, imma grow a dick for you to cut! LET ME IIIINNN!!!"
But this is just the first half of the problem.
Nobody wants exact change.
If you want some bread, you hand over 7 shekels, the cashier's eyes light up with child-like glee as he hands you four 10 aggorot (0.4 shekelsp coins. You hand over a tenner? Even better!
20 shekel bill? "OMFG I LOVE YOU!!!"
The 20 shekel bill is the most popular, most beloved piece of currency in grocery shops.
If you give a 50, for a loaf of bread, that's fine too, but the cashier will not be happy to part with his twenties.
God forbid you hand exactly 6.60, though.
Legally, the cashier must accept this, and he will, but he sure as hell will fail counting it right the first time.
The cashier might ask if you have a tenner if you hand them 7 shekels, but that's pretty rare.
I am not kidding, I have about 5kg of brass or copper in a box at home. I'm trying to give exact change, but I take in more than I get out.
I will sometimes buy a coke using 10 aggorot coins. I need to do it at fucking night so that the owner doesn't see me! Paying for something strictly in 10 aggorot coins counts as harassment, even in a vending machine.

I live near A FUCKING SAINT. There's a guy who for whatever reason loves 10 aggorot coins and hates bills. He doesn't look like a serial killer, but he might be. We agreed that once a month I'll bring him all my aggorot and halves, and he'll give me bills.
There's a nagging feeling I'm missing something here, though. The guy could be just batshit crazy, and that's fine too.

 

[irreversibledamage]

Digital payments are becoming more and more popular, but cash is still the norm where I live and I like it, digital money is often tracked money.

 

[Throwawaysoul]

Even though I never carry cash, IMO digital is going to fuck us in the long run. Both freedom and privacy. It's like the Facebook of currency.

PayPal, Venmo share our data with 600+ companies. Credit card companies do the same and there's no protections against it in the US.

I wouldn't be surprised once we get rejected for health insurance and or jobs based on our purchases. The government black listing where you can spend money is another fear. All digital makes taxation even easier.

 

[Broken Chimera]

I like keeping some on a debit card, but I like having money on me. When I get paid I pull most of it off the card to hold on to. Things can happen to make it impossible to buy anything with a card, like a power outage or the internet going down. I don't want to be stuck without anything. If we go to a cashless society we'll be controlled. No privacy to buy what we want. Might as well say we're owned by the system.

I don't really carry change unless I know I need it, and even then it's mainly quarters.