Peeves
No Cash - No Service
I stopped into my local Aldi store last evening on the way home from work to pick up some of our weekly grocery supplies (i.e. bread, cereal, etc.). My wife and I love to shop Aldi! We didn’t even know the store was in existence until we moved last spring and there was one in the area. Aldi has a very interesting business model which allows them to provide lower prices on their products. One of the ways they reduce their costs is by not accepting credit cards. What? I try and put all of our expenses on our credit cards in order to earn as many rewards and points as possible. Instead Aldi accepts only Debit Cards and Cash which prevents them from paying Credit Card processing fees. This cost savings is then passed down to the shopper.
Now to the point of my post - When I shop at Aldi, I am always prepared to use our Debit Card instead of pulling out the Credit Card. I cringe when I do this as I am calculating all the missed rewards I am not receiving through my purchase. Luckily, the savings are good enough to shop at Aldi and use the Debit Card. However, last evening when I pulled up to the store, I noticed a sign posted out front that their Debit Card machine was down and they could only accept cash. Well, I can tell you that I typically carry $0 of cash in my wallet. I very rarely carry any cash on me. Needless to say, I kept the car running and went home.
Reasons for Not Carrying Cash
Why don’t I carry any cash you may ask? My wife gets annoyed at me because I don’t carry any even for emergency’s. I guess I can see her point and probably should, but here are some reasons why I don’t carry any cash in my wallet -
- Credit Rewards & Points - As I mentioned above, we try and make all of our purchases on our credit cards to earn as many rewards points as possible. If I don’t carry any cash on me, then I will always use my credit card to make the purchase. In the instances where stores like Aldi don’t accept credit, we use our Debit card.
- Temptation - I think that I am completely different than most Americans on this point. I am much more tempted to frivolously spend cash that is in my wallet than to pull out the plastic. I dread the monthly credit card bill with that purchase I made weeks ago that I didn’t really need. Cash doesn’t do that to me. Once it is out of the wallet, it doesn’t come back to haunt me. I think most Americans are more tempted to spend frivolously using credit - but not me!
No Credit
As a result of my shopping mishap last evening, I decided to put together a list of places/stores that don’t accept credit and require cash or debit instead. This list will help me determine if it is really worth carrying cash.
- Aldi - Since I normally have the ability to use my debit card at Aldi, I don’t see this as a reason to start carrying cash. I will throw in Sam’s Club to this mix as well. The last I knew, they only accepted debit and Discover.
- Vending Machines - Most vending machines that I know of don’t accept credit cards (although I assume there are some out there that do). Part of my goals to become financially independent require our family to live frugally. I can’t think of any vending machine purchase which is not a frugal expense.
- Chinese Restaurants - I am not sure why, but I have noticed that several Chinese restaurants don’t accept credit or at least require a $10 minimum purchase. Since we don’t eat out anymore, I don’t see this as a reason to start carry cash.
- Eating out in large parties - Probably the biggest difficulty I deal with in not carry cash. Not having cash makes it difficult when you are eating out with friends, family, and co-worker’s. If the bill is not split out, then I am forced to pay the entire bill with my credit card. While I like earning points on the other’s purchases using my card, it is just a pain trying to collect cash from everyone else in these situations. I have been with some people who even have the same feelings as I do and they don’t have cash either. Then that makes for an interesting payment! This is probably the biggest reason that I can think of for starting to carry cash. However, I really don’t eat out too much anymore, so how often will I have to worry about this?
- Tipping - Most of the time, I am not in any situations where I need to tip someone. I could make the case that I need to carry cash only in situations when I would need to tip someone.
- Toll Booths - We would only need this when traveling. Toll Roads and booths don’t accept credit (at least I don’t think they do), so this is a good reason to carry cash. I can make the case that we will carry it only when traveling and I don’t need it day to day.
- Farmer’s Market - Again, not something we do every day so I can make the case that we will carry cash when we go to the farmer’s market but not on a regular basis.
- What else?
Do you use credit, debit, or cash to make your purchases? Are you more tempted to frivolously spend with credit or cash? What other places/stores do you know of who don’t accept credit?
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5 comments for “No Cash - No Service”
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I have a harder time avoiding impulse purchases with a credit card than with cash. I always try and keep a small amount ($15) in my wallet and that will last me a long time. I used to put “just one or two” items per month on my credit card… then forget what I had put there and put one or two more and so on - so when the bill came it was a shock! Now that I am spending less that doesn’t seem to be as much as a problem. But credit cards still make me nervous. I prefer my debit card.
It is against the merchant agreement with Visa/Mastercard for any establishment to require a minimum purchase via credit card.
I only carry cash for emergencies and those rare occasions when I absolutely have to use cash. More often than not it is for chipping in a coworkers birthday gift or something similar.
I find that I am just as frugal regardless of the method of payment, so it is in my best interest to stick to the ccs for rewards.
I am just like you in that I don’t carry cash. I use my rewards cards and really don’t see the point of carrying cash since I don’t do vending machines etc.
It is a bit of a hassle when I do come to a place that does not accept cash…like when I just had to go to the hospital to see my mom and the place to get the parking passes only took checks or cash.
I have not used my check book in AGES and it is probably covered in dust right now. Luckily I got a free pass that day….and then went to the bank to get cash to buy passes the next day.
[...] Family Income is blogging about the places that only accept cash (no credit cards, no debit cards). There aren’t too many of those left and it usually means [...]