
Do you use cash/have you increased your cash usage out of privacy concern - clubm8
Have any other HN posters increased their use of cash recently? (Or already pay for things in cash when possible)<p>I originally did it for privacy reasons:<p>1.) No one can judge me for what I buy.<p>(Ex: OP goes to bars too often. No new liver for him!)<p>2.) I don&#x27;t generate a giant list of establishments I frequent.<p>Ex: I want to harass OP - looks like his favorite cafe is at $ADDRESS.<p>But I had an interesting side effect - looking at cold hard cash makes me less frivolous with it. The money I make from my frugality exceeds what I&#x27;d get from credit card rewards.<p>I often see articles about societies going &quot;cashless&quot; on HN, and I thought it would be interesting to hear from HN users who are going in the opposite direction.
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tompark
I'm definitely in the cash camp, not only for privacy but also just wanting to
limit how many vendors have my credit card info (so I use Apple Pay whenever
possible, if not cash), especially after point-of-sale breaches like the ones
at Target and Home Depot.

The problem with cash, for me, was that I'd run out of it too quickly.

That changed when I started focusing on saving 60% of take home pay, cooking
almost all meals at home, stopped going to bars/cafes/coffee shops, comparison
shopping of groceries (shifting to costco), etc.

Now I don't worry about small effects like CC cash-back or accidental
frugality, because hitting over 60% savings is an overwhelming effect.

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NeedMoreTea
It's been studied quite a few times since credit cards arrived, finding that
spending cash means you spend least. It explains some of the push for cards,
app stores, more recently cashless, and alternative game currencies. Perhaps
explained as simply as paying over notes "hurts more" psychologically than
invisibly debiting 50 to a card or account.

[https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-science-
behind-b...](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-science-behind-
behavior/201607/does-it-matter-whether-you-pay-cash-or-credit-card) Lots of
other research and links to find about this.

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clubm8
This is also why casinos use chips, not cash, for betting

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tobylane
When you're judged for a liver donation it's not by your bank records but by
your liver condition. When you have your phone in your pocket you still
generate a list of establishments you frequent (maybe cash machines too). Even
if you were famous who'd have access to that information?

You have good points but bad examples. China is the only country where there's
a known link between purchase history and government/quasi-government
decisions. They have a lot of facial recognition technology so cash wouldn't
help. If USA started this too do you think the NSA/etc are far behind?

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EldonMcGuinness
I've actually had the opposite experience as you. Having my debit card keeps
an easy running tally which is difficult to do unless you only leave with
small sums of cash in your pockets. However, when you only have a small amount
of cash you run into the "just short" effect, where all you need is a few
dollars more to get what you want and you can afford it but can't get it. To
me, the potential opportunity cost is just not worth it.

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creatornator
I have found it difficult to track cash spending. I picked up using GNUCash
this year, and that helped a bit. I at least can capture most cash spending to
see if I'm within budget in different categories. But every few week's I still
need to make a 'correction' transaction for ~$10, which is annoying.

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clubm8
I adjusted my budget so dining out is included in the broad category of
"entertainment", along with bars, movies, and other stuff.

(I do track calories from these things though :))

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bitxbitxbitcoin
I always end up being more frivolous with my cash. The fact is that society
has made it hard for users to use only cash or to use only any anonymous
payment method. Living only on cash is almost as ridiculous sounding as living
only on Bitcoin as a demonstration of what privacy-less dystopia we are
barreling towards.

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clubm8
Living on cash only is not doable.

But only using a CC for bills/groceries and moving your day to day stuff -
bars, eating out, small errands to cash is doable.

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5555624
> Living on cash only is not doable.

Why not? My last apartment, where I lived a year ago, included utilities.
Although I wrote them a check for my rent, I could have used cash and gotten a
money order. Groceries, eating out, etc. I always use cash. Once I got a car,
I started using a card for gas, since it saved me a trip inside and I did not
need to worry about if I was a bit over $20.

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wprapido
If it it's an offline payment, it's always cash. It's not much about privacy
as it is about optimized spending.

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paulcole
I haven’t. I get a discount/cash back for using credit cards.

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clubm8
Do you make more in cash back than you'd make not buying something?

Keep in mind, to make 20.00 at 5% you need to spend $400. ($1000 at more
common 2% rewards)

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paulcole
With the extra bonuses that come with new credit cards I actually come out way
ahead.

