"People who do math don't have credit card debt."

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

e-currency is all but inevitable. I almost never use cash, and increasingly it's only used by old people, paranoid people, criminals, and in other countries as a store of value.

OK, so you're weird :-)

But you're way off on the people & instances where cash is used. For instance, my grocery store. Most gas stations, where it's about 5 cents/gal cheaper to pay cash. Most transactions between individuals, where you don't want to hassle with setting up an electronic transaction, and don't want a personal check - e.g. buying a car.

Even where on-line transactions are done between individuals, it's not an electronic crypto-currency being used, but good old dollars in the bank.

The wealthy live as if they were poor, and the poor live as if they were wealthy.

It's not just that. A lot of it requires adjusting your ideas of just what constitutes "wealth". Who's wealthier, the guy who wears a Rolex, or the guy who doesn't wear a watch because his time's his own?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Originally, the stock market was a mechanism to unload risk onto small investors.

Sure, but it also shared profit with those small investors, and so provided access to far more capital than could be supplied by a handful of extremely wealthy people.

But then, derivatives markets emerged and now people sit around and bet on whether someone will eventually lift a finger.

People play poker, buy lottery tickets, and bet on horse races. But sensible investors don't put their money on them, or in the derivatives markets.

[Xist]

I pay rent via Zelle because when I got $400 back from Safeway, even though I counted with the cashier, I only had $361, and my landlord does not accept anything else.

Who is to say two people cannot agree what is a reasonable wage?

McDonald's is slowly becoming more accurate:

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

OK, so you're weird :-)

But you're way off on the people & instances where cash is used. For instance, my grocery store. Most gas stations, where it's about 5 cents/gal cheaper to pay cash. Most transactions between individuals, where you don't want to hassle with setting up an electronic transaction, and don't want a personal check - e.g. buying a car.

Even where on-line transactions are done between individuals, it's not an electronic crypto-currency being used, but good old dollars in the bank.

I've made plenty of cash transactions as I have never had a check book. In fact, I just paid half of a new roof in cash for my house. I'll pay the other half in cash upon completion. I paid cash for my truck ($6k) and Prius ($13k). My grocery store (Winco) accepts debit or cash only. I use debit.

At $3/gallon for petrol, I make 6 cents back by using a credit card (2% back). As a bonus, I don't have a pocket full of change getting in the way of useful stuff like keys, cellphone, wallet. I used to pay cash at Arco a long time ago to avoid the extra fee. No extra fees at Costco, AND they have the cheapest fuel.

[gone-ot]

As Shakespeare wrote in HAMLET:

Polonius: Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 75–77


...and there's nothing worse than a dull husbandry tool (wink,wink).

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

As Shakespeare wrote in HAMLET:

Polonius: Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 75–77


...and there's nothing worse than a dull husbandry tool (wink,wink).

LOL.

My friend doesn't need the money; he just didn't want to take out a mortgage on an investment property, and I wanted more than the 2% interest I was getting on my checking account. He can pay it off within a couple days notice.

The most I've ever loaned a friend in need was $1k. I've probably made loans on a dozen occasions and always got my money back eventually. I don't loan anything I'm not willing to lose.

[Xist]

Can he pay you back within a couple of days without getting a mortgage?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by xist

can he pay you back within a couple of days without getting a mortgage?

heloc

I had considered applying for a HELOC myself when I wasn't sure we could pay for my wife's PA program in cash. I wasn't impressed with the student loan options considering the higher interest rates, and the fact that the debt is not discharged in bankruptcy. HELOC interest is tax dedictible, is low interest since it's secured (lien against home), and is discharged in bankruptcy.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

My grocery store (Winco) accepts debit or cash only. I use debit.

My grocery store too, but I find cash easier. I don't have to worry about keeping track of exactly how much is in the checking account.

At $3/gallon for petrol, I make 6 cents back by using a credit card (2% back)

Depends on the card. At 2%, it's pretty much a wash hereabouts, though when the one card has its 5% cash back at gas stations (it has categories that change every quarter) I fill up everything.

No extra fees at Costco, AND they have the cheapest fuel.

Not around here. The only Costco (that I know of, anyway) is in the middle of town, where prices run about 30 cents/gal higher than the same distance south of me. And it's way out of the way from anywhere I normally go.

[Xist]

I love Winco. I wish I had thought harder about my plan:
Step 1: Buy food from Winco.
Step 2: Obtain temporary debit card.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit!
Google told me the closest Bank of America branch to a suburb of Phoenix was Tucson, but everybody knew the sixteen-story B of A building by Fiesta Mall.
Yeah, it is not Bank of America anymore. The guard was kind enough to give me directions.

I find it easier to use my debit card than keep track of cash. Budgets are probably great and wonderful. I have never made much, but I never spend much, either, and I always have enough in the bank that I know I can afford gas some groceries, etc.

If I make a larger purchase, I make sure I have the money.

When I paid rent in cash, the money fit very poorly in my wallet and my pocket.

I got lost the other night and was walking around the wrong part of L.A. Which is safer, carrying $20 - 40 or nothing?

The other thing is: I like being able to say "Sorry, man, I don't have any cash."

Hopefully the money would go to better use through a reputable charity.

Hopefully.