Are we a cashless society? [Archive] - Bub Hub Pregnancy & Parenting Forum

sydneybubhub

30-01-2008, 21:41

More than a decade ago, it was predicted that we would become a cashless society. But have we?

With EFTPOS available at most local corner stores, and more credit card reward programs luring us in, one would be forgiven for thinking we are headed that way fast.

What are your best tips on ways to manage your money and make the family budget stretch?

Benji

30-01-2008, 21:44

We pay our bills before doing anything else. And I mean anything. So if we have to miss out on something, it's not a bill that we will be charged extra on it will be clothes or something like that.

We also put money in our savings account as soon as we get paid so we don't get to the end of the week and think "oh well no money left".

(Our savings account is one that we both have to go into the bank to sign before we can withdraw so that never happens :D)

Also, when we have paid bills, I withdaw all of my cash so I only have to do it once rather than pay for 10 different things on EFTPOS.

Susan Mac

30-01-2008, 22:02

We use our credit card for everything - but only if we have the money for it in another account. We have a rewards programme and make $50 a year on it after fees, and never end up paying interest.
A fortnight ago our card was cancelled, and I finally got the new one today. I found it really challenging to pay only cash for that time, and I didn't like carrying several hundred dollars around with me. I did spend a little less during the time, but couldn't keep it up long term. I need to consider more whether I really need to buy that, rather than stop using credit.
I would normally only get out $100 cash a week between the two of us, and some weeks we wouldn't use that much. So I guess we are almost a cashless household.

aardvark

30-01-2008, 22:07

I carry cash when I go to the market for obvious reasons.

The rest of the time I pay by eftpos or credit card.

The really difficult thing is sending your teenager overseas before the age of 16 with the school on exchange. Travellers cheques are not as readily accepted as they used to be, and they can't have a credit card until the age of 16, even as a secondary card holder on a parent's account. We had to send her with cash for the most part, with her ATM card just as a backup in case she ran short, on account of the punitive overseas ATM fees.

We are definitely heading towards a cashless society IMO, though.

Susan Mac

30-01-2008, 22:11

but it is a little scary. the reason our card was cancelled was because someone tried to access it. Fortunately our bank has good security and picked up on it straight away. but the lack of physical money does make theft and fraud easier.

smog

31-01-2008, 06:04

i def prefer to eftpos everything the only thing i ever have cash for is swimming and tennis lessons for kids and school excursions etc. and that drives me nuts i always have to go and get money out to pay it.

MummaBear03

31-01-2008, 06:10

Seekrit

31-01-2008, 07:26

I hvae a visa debit card which makes it hard to withdraw money - every ATM I use I'm slogged with $2.50 and every time I press "Savings" I am slogged with $1 fee... so I often have little cash because I say "credit" and can't withdraw then.

I get so embarressed when I'm buying something for $3 and I don't have enough coin

~mia&ryan~

31-01-2008, 07:40

We use the credit card for all our groceries etc and then pay it out each month. For everything else we use cash. Much easier to keep track of what you are spending when you are actually handing over cold hard cash.

Ana Gram

31-01-2008, 08:10

I don't have a credit card and I won't be getting one. I use cash for almost everything.

tally

31-01-2008, 08:14

deb1234

31-01-2008, 08:18

:iagree: we are the same, keep the money in our savings acc for the mortgage and pay everything on our credit card. then at the end of the month we completely wipe our credit card.

i'm from nz and i can't believe how many places over here DON'T have eftpos. we always get stuck at the counter with no cash! imo there are still too many places that don't take eftpos/credit. i think its much safer to carry a card than cash.

shanz

31-01-2008, 08:22

i chose card, but some cash.
We generally have a small amount of cash, we have visa debit and use it for everything. Dont have a line of credit and :fingerscrossed:never will.
I use internet banking for all bills, or the cheque book.

mastermum12345

03-02-2008, 10:03

We are with a credit union and as there ATM's are not everywhere like most major banks If I paid EFPOS for everything my transaction fees would be through the roof - Soooooo - I go down to my banks ATM machines take money out and pay with cash.

Until we stopped getting slugged with fees for using "other non " what ever banks ATM's your with , I will continue to use cash :D

As for the CC - I hate using that thing at the best of times - For us its an emergency use only option :)

Duchessa

03-02-2008, 10:10

I use cash, card and cheque. Most of our business transactions are done by cheque (probably around 95%) - I'd say we write around 200-300 cheques a year. Most of our personal stuff is transacted with card and cash in approx equal amounts.

Duchessa

03-02-2008, 10:13

If I paid EFPOS for everything my transaction fees would be through the roof

This is the reason I use the credit card a fair bit - you can do all your transactions for the month, pay the bill on time and not pay a single transaction fee - whoever you are with.

Shanaynay

03-02-2008, 10:19

What are your best tips on ways to manage your money and make the family budget stretch?

EFTPOS is my downfall! Small amounts here and there, they add up very quickly more often than not I'm not really aware of how much I'm spending - I just check my balance and find that there is far less than I anticipated!

Budget wise, for me I find it much better to withdraw the cash I need for the week and just use that so I can keep much better tabs on how much I'm spending.

But I rarely do that :p

mysonroger

03-02-2008, 16:56

:iagree: we are the same, keep the money in our savings acc for the mortgage and pay everything on our credit card. then at the end of the month we completely wipe our credit card.

.

this is what we do too. requires great discipline but when you see those years coming off your mortgage, its worth the while.

with my own personal spending, i am now trying to move toward cash only as i don't want to waste so much money on transaction fees. previous, i had always put everything on EFTPOS - but i got sick of the fees.

kymmy

03-02-2008, 16:57

I use cash most of the time but occassionally use EPTPOS.

drewid

03-02-2008, 17:19

I hate swiping cards...I prefer to have my cash in my hand and know exactly what I have available to spend.

SixtiesChild

03-02-2008, 21:18

No, I don't believe we are a cashless society as yet but one day it will be exactly that. I also feel that when this happens money might be misunderstood by the coming generations.

I personally find that cash is more tangible, so most of my daily dealings with money are with cash.
Credit & eftpos cards sometimes have their uses and can be convenient at times but only because we are headed towards being cashless and cash in some instances can be slow and inconvenient. Eg: buying something from ebay etc....

WizzFizz

04-02-2008, 07:19

I rarely ever have cash on me anymore. I might take out $20 to cover random bits and pieces (like parking and milk or bread etc.) but mostly I BPAY everything!!

Freya

04-02-2008, 09:18

I never have cash on me unless I have gone to a place and they don't have eftpos then I go to the machine it is really bad, I need to stop doing it because of the surcharges alot of people have for using cards along with the bank fees. I just don't think of it.

bAaM

13-02-2008, 19:47

I pay with eftpos and keep a little bit of cash on me.

jorey

13-02-2008, 21:30

I hardly have cash on me. I love eftpos because i can track my spending online and have a record of everything i spent. I can also track what my husband spends money on because it's all from the same bank accounts:laughing:. We also use credit card for big spending but we pay it off before the interest kick in every month.

ThomasMum

14-02-2008, 10:29

I only have cash for emergency ($20) the rest we pay with our credit cards to accrue points etc and always pay them in full each month.

My DH, inlaws & my family are all doing the same things, cash for emergency only.

You don't really want to carry big cash around just incase. DH lost his money clip long ago luckily its only has $5- on it, soon enough AMEX called us because the wonderful person who found it call the AMEX people, he didnt lost his cards except the 5 notes :yes:

Mummabear

14-02-2008, 12:24

We used to be with a credit union and had an account with a visa debit card, but I got so sick of all the fees and charges. I had been putting off changing banks because of the hassle of the direct debits, etc, but we finally did it just before christmas and it's wonderful. We are now with a bank that charges $6 per month for unlimited transactions. DH gets paid in cash (because his boss is slack) so he banks all of it on the way home from work and then we use the card for everything, usually only carrying a small amount of cash with us. We're not doing fantastically at sticking within budget so I'm looking for other ways to better manage it (hence why I came looking in this thread, lol).

I would start using cash all the time instead of the debit card or eftpos but I am petrified of standing at the checkout and not having enough money to pay.

Widget

19-03-2008, 19:06

I prefer to pay cash, but seeing as bills are paid online and there isn't much left after that, we rarely actually see cash...

Queen

04-04-2008, 04:08

Bit of both;)

diesal444

04-04-2008, 07:08

We have our mortgage set up so that all the cash we have in the bank reduces the interest on our loan, so we use our credit cards during the month and then swipe at the end of the month. I very rarely use cash but always have a small amount on hand because you cant use a cc everywhere.

:thumbsup: same as us. This works really well for us, and we have managed to pay alot off our mortgage. The only thing with this type of set up is discipline but the benefits are definitely there. :yes:

11Eleven11

09-04-2008, 06:40

I have our budget on an Excel spreadsheet where I've worked out EVERYTHING that has to be paid. We get paid weekly, so it's worked out on a weekly basis. Obviously. LOL. With things like car insurance, home insurance etc (as it's paid monthly), I break it down into a weekly cost and have it automatically transferred (using internet banking) into my Savings account. Then the day before it's due to be directly debited from our Everyday account (which is monthly), I have it set up so it transfers the full amount back into the Everyday account so it's there. SOOOOOO many times before had I been stung with being unaware when it comes out and not having enough money in there or more embarrassingly, being at the shops thinking I had X amount of money to cover a quick grocery trip only to have my card declined. I have incorporated this method into ALL my expenses (including the hairdresser, lol - that's a necessity!) and mostly combining the weekly break-up transfer amount so I don't have a million different transactions on my statement. I found before that I was often forced to put everything onto my VISA card. I was getting into major debt with that because I simply was not managing my budget enough. This system is really working for me, and I don't have to think about it as it is all set up to just automatically do it. I have a budget of how much cash I get out a week to pay for groceries & other weekly expenses so once that's gone, it's gone. And I'm avoiding that nasty bank fee of $35 if you have completely drained your account (which would often happen before without me even realising) :)

Sorry. That was rather long :ecomcity: I'm new here. You'll see that I have trouble explaining things concisely :o

Awesomesauce

09-04-2008, 08:33

I dont have a credit card....and never will...

I use cash for everything if I used my card it would cost me a fortune in fee's

subaruforestermum

09-04-2008, 13:42

I couldnt vote, as I put everything on EFTPOS, not credit. We are lucky enough to have the money to do so usually....

I dont carry cash, yet dont use a credit card. Interest rate is too darn high.

munchkins

03-05-2008, 18:07

I do not have a credit card. On my pay day I usually take all my pay out a pay by cash

A Party of Five

04-05-2008, 07:41

I prefer to pay cash than use a card (EFTPOS or Credit) as then I know how much money I am really spending :yes:

secondtimearound2

04-05-2008, 12:05

We pay cash these days. We used to eftpos everything until we starting getting charged heaps of $$ in fees and over spending :o. Now every week I take out what I need for the week within our budget and know that the funds need to last a week!! It has been working for us and we have been able to put money away too. I do pay bills via netbank bpay...we have unlimited bpay transactions. We don't have a CC anymore either.

joankiss

04-05-2008, 17:37

As I know most of single parents are using both of them for their daily life. Credit card to cash just like email to letterl. it can not take place of cash in next 10 years.

MummyGoingMad

19-08-2008, 23:01

What I do
-I am a sucker for budgets... I write up everything we spend and what we aim to spend, I've found it makes a *huge* difference because we found we were spending sooo much on non essentials that we could easily cut down on. It also makes me more conscious about saving, I do running totals so if I've already spent lots in a month I will try to cut down.
-I try to buy things in bulk or on sale so I dont just buy things cos we "want" them at the supermarket, more like I look for specials and good value for the amount, quality and ingredients.
-I dont have a credit card!! DH has one and I could easily have a linked one but I'd prefer to pay eftpos, because a cc is too much temptation for me !! That way I can keep track of how much I'm spending and have left.
-We are trying to pay our mortgage off asap, once we put a big enough dent in that then we can concentrate on saving for a holiday etc.

lulu 2

19-08-2008, 23:25

Cashless definately not here in WA ,if you want to eat at some of our lovely riverside cafes or enjoy a bite at kings park cafe you will need cash as there is no eftpos along with small boutiques and even a toy shop I visited recently. Otherwise there is a sign next to most registers that requires $10 purchase for electronic funds to be used so once again out comes the coin purse which is full of change for the parking meters I use every day at work and the trolleys at the shops that need a $2 coin to free them from the pack. I am sure we will have more plastic facilities in the future but the card will never hold the same value to us as cash.

1+1=5

22-08-2008, 06:05

a lot of places still have a minimum of $10 for EFTPOS so i prefer to pay cash. we don't own a credit card.

Lea78

18-02-2009, 19:23

I've never owned a credit card. Can't imagine I will any time soon either. I think so long as we have a roof over our head, fuel in the car, food in our tummies, and we're not behind on any bills, we're doing well. We don't get new clothes very often, in fact all my clothes are well over a year old except the dress I bought for my brother's wedding (cost me $50 down from $175!!!)

Yeah, im the same. Its only since I have become pregnant I have even started to buy things for myself. Its a bit hard not to buy clothes when your getting a big belly.

I guess after being raised in a family were money was always tight, I find it hard to splurge on things that arent needed.

I have to force myself once every 2-3 years to splurge $30 on getting a hair cut.

*Need~More~Coffee~Please*

19-02-2009, 01:26

I would never be able to own a credit card , to much tempation.........
prefer to pay cash- but often get caught out with none so out comes the card for efpos ....... have just been thinking to myself in the past few days that i really need to get the cash out and stop with the eftpos especially with all these new fees all the banks are starting up ......

kayla

20-02-2009, 22:46

I actually love using my cards, I don't like having to go around with tons of cash on me all the time, I pay all our bills at the bank and then i just take out some cash i think we will need and if we need more out comes the debit or credit cards.

A Party of Five

28-04-2009, 10:11

I prefer to pay cash than use EFTPOS and we do not have a credit card as the are more trouble than they are worth if you ask me :devil6:

DaniiLawson

25-11-2010, 23:26

I have an ignite credit card with 13% interest, I prefer to use a credit card really for the convenience I think. Its a hassle tho if you cannot pay on the due date.

ronniewilliams

14-04-2011, 07:34

It depend on the profession of a person. If he/she is a big business man or belong to a rich family or they can afford than they use credit card otherwise most of people use cash in their daily life. I also don't have a credit card and use cash when I go to the market.

DelilahRose

20-05-2011, 20:22

Ive just started using the envelope system.

I put all the money I want to spend on food and fuel in one envelope and "fun money" in another envelope and dont use my cards at all.

The aim is to only spend the money in the envelopes and not live beyond my means. Its taking some getting used to but at least I dont have to feel guilty about overspending.

Omgshoes

20-05-2011, 20:29

I don't believe in credit cards but today it would have been handy i paid for petrol in 5c pieces

weirdali

21-05-2011, 00:24

We have 1 cc and i love it. We pay it off each fn and just use it for everything to earn points. Its easy if u are good at bugeting and have the limit to under what u earn.

Big beliver in living within ur means.
Sent from my iphone, excuse my mistakes, i have big thumbs.
Me 26 + DH 25 baby eric 13/08/2010

Bell & Bug

21-05-2011, 00:39

We don't, and never have, owned any credit cards. We live with what money we actually have.
I like to use cash over eftpos, but sometimes I just don't have cash on me. Other times I am shopping online so my debit card comes in handy.

Do you know how easy it is to spend money when you aren't actually using cash in hand?! That is my one and only tip, use cash where you can, because you actually see what you are doing with the money, you are handing it over and getting the change. It really makes you think about the money you spend.

As for being a cashless society, yes and no. I believe a lot of people rely on money they don't have (at that particular time), and I believe that yes, a lot of people don't use cold hard cash but use instead eftpos. Whether either is a good or bad thing depends on each individual circumstance.

ComeBackKid

21-05-2011, 00:42

hehe hi miss youthful!!

but yeah i am cashless.. everything i buy is on my debit card. annoying when shops have minimum speands!!

had credit cards... now they have been cancelled and i just debt

MissSteph

21-05-2011, 06:31

I get so embarressed when I'm buying something for $3 and I don't have enough coin

This ^^^
I very rarely ever have cash on me. If I need to get eggs or milk or bread I pay with eftpos lol.

Only "cash" I have on me is a $2 coin to use a trolley at Woolies hahaha

2darlingboys

21-05-2011, 06:35

I'm eftpos
Never any cash

& no credit card

narribri

21-05-2011, 06:50

I hardly ever carry cash - I find I think twice about using the card to buy stuff but if there's money in my purse it gets spent.

We have a keycard and a small 'emergency' credit card that only gets used if I put the money straight back on it. Works for us!

Freya

21-05-2011, 06:52

We don't have any credit cards and I rarely carry cash. I seem to spend more money with cash.

Janesmum123

21-05-2011, 07:32

I always use my cc, I hate having cash if I have cash I spend it. I always think twice when using my cc. Why do ppl think if u use your credit card then you are using money you don't have? I use my cc then pay it off before the interest kicks in. Not everyone who uses a cc goes stupid with it.

jsma10

21-05-2011, 18:05

i wish we could be cashless ... but alas we live in a small town and to get bread I don't want to have to spend $10 just to use my card for it!!

Lissa23

22-05-2011, 13:46

We use our credit cards for most things (except a small anount of cash for places that have a minimum spend limit and we haven't reached the limit). We earn heaps of rewards points, we got $350 back last year. We also make sure we pay the account in full each month to avoid interest. We don't go crazy with the limit or ever live beyond our means.