Cash or credit cards?
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
November 4, 2010 3:42pm CST
My husband and I work for the Danish lung association and we are selling some christmas magazines at the moment. We walk from door to door and ask people if they are interested in supporting patients with lung diseases and some people buy the magazines.
A lot of people tell us that they have no cash in the house, because they use credit cards all the time, and we only take cash. I think that some people use it as an excuse, but many people are interested in supporting the association and ask us if they can donate money online instead.
I am surprised that so many people don't use cash at all. Of course you can use credit cards in most situations, but there are certain situations where you need cash. In my country you need cash if you want to borrow a shopping cart at the supermarked, if you want to use a public toilet, if you want to use the stamp vending machine when the post office is closed or if you want to buy something in one of small second hand shops.
Do you carry cash in your wallet or do you use credit cards all the time? Are there any situations in your country where you need cash/coins?
3 people like this
12 responses
@ra1787 (501)
• Italy
5 Nov 10
I always use the credit card when i have to pay more than 10€.. for little payments instead i use cash.. you can't buy a newspaper o a single coffee with a credit card... they will probably laugh at you if you try to pay 1€ with a credit card :D
I usually bring along some cash (at least 40€.. you never know if for some reason you need cash it is always a good idea to have some with you..) but i tend to never use it if not for the aforementioned little payments or when we split the bill at a restaurant or a pub among many people... since paying a single bill with 10 different credit cards doesn't seem a good idea either :)
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
5 Nov 10
In my country I sometimes see people who use their credit cards to pay small amounts, but I don't do that myself. Like you I prefer to use cash if I have to pay a small amount. Yes, when we have to split the bill it is much easier to use cash. I remember one time when my classmates and I were having dinner together at a restaurant. We were 20 people who had to split the bill and many people only had credit cards, I think that the waiter was a little tired of us 
@ra1787 (501)
• Italy
6 Nov 10
I surely do believe that the waiter was not very happy to swipe 10 different credit cards for a single bill. If every table pays this way they would probably need someone just to process all the payments. I am quite sure that here it could still be ok to split a bill with credit cards in a restaurant, but it would be quite complex in a pub or bar, when everyone has to pay less than 10 euros.
just for curiosity are you italian?
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
6 Nov 10
No, I am Danish, but I have lived in Italy in the past (in Ravenna and Bologna)
@hanni711 (243)
• Philippines
5 Nov 10
There are always advantages and disadvantages with using alot of things. With regards to cash and credit cards I think we have to be wise when to use it to avoid interest and charges. While when we buy in cash we have nothing to worry about anything. But there are circumstances that cannot be avoided at times when we run out of cash and that's the best advantage of credit card.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Nov 10
That is true, we have to keep the charges in mind when we use a credit card. If we use cash it is easier to keep track of the money that we spend, and if we use a credit card we might spend too much. I am careful how much I spend, but one of my friends once got in big trouble because of his credit card. He still have lots of debt and it will take a lot of time to get rid of that. On the other hand a credit card is convenient in some situations for instanse we have to pay a big amount and don't want to carry a lot of cash or if we run out of cash.
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
5 Nov 10
Hi Porcospino,
I very rarely have too much cash on me. I have my debit card and I use that. I do have a change jug and I do usually have a few dollars in cash just in case I need it but it is a very small amount. I have to say that if you knocked on my door that there could be a good chance that I would not have the cash to pay for the magazine. They could be making excuses but it is possible. I do know that a lot of people have their pay direct deposited into their bank accounts and if they need cash for something then they visit the ATM.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
5 Nov 10
Many people say to us: "I don't have any cash, but if I had known that you were coming I would have picked up some cash" and some people ask us why there is no announcement about the lung association in the newspaper so that they would have been prepared for the situation. Making a announcement might be a good idea, that way people have the chance to pick up some cash if they want to. Like you I usually have some change in jar in case I need cash, but in many families the only coins are the ones inside the children's piggybank and sometimes the parents ask their children if they can borrow the money to buy the magazine...
@mods196621 (3652)
• Philippines
5 Nov 10
I also using credit card and it is more convenient to me sometimes. Most of the people are using their credit cards. If i need to buy something that i really need then, s if i have a big purchase i need that card atm. And also this is a safe thing to carry inside the bag.
@shia88 (4571)
• Malaysia
5 Nov 10
Hi,
Feel proud of what you and your husband are doing now.
Walking from door to door to sell Christmas magazine is not
an easy task.
For me, It is important to have some cash in hand for emergency used,
be it I do have credit card in my wallet,but not all the time, I can
use credit card when I make some payment. Some places only
accept cash and I need to have extra cash in hand when I need it.
Everytime when I go out, I will bring my wallet which consist of cash
and credit card,so I have better option to choose my payment method.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
5 Nov 10
I am happy that we are able to walk around and sell the magazines, I like to help the association the way that I can. There are people in our family have or have had lung cancer, and that is my personal reason for supporting the association. We have sold 170 magazines so far, and we have about one more month left. Our goal is 500 magazines.
I when I leave the house I also carry cash as well as credit cards in my wallet. There are some shops where they only accpet cash like some of the second hand shops that I often visit.
@aeiou78 (3445)
• Malaysia
5 Nov 10
Of course we need cash. But it is suppose to be the small cash which we bring along.
Credit card is so popular now.
In the America, we paid speeding ticket by credit card on the spot. The policeman over there has become a businessman. ha! ha! ha!
All the while, I tried to use my credit cards fully. In my country, we are granted 20 days interest free by using the credit card. Since someone has given me the credit, for sure I must use it.
At the end of the month, all of my expenses are itemized in my bill. It is very good for me to check and track my expenses.
I like credit cards very much.
1 person likes this
@kewlme (163)
• Philippines
5 Nov 10
I prefer to carry cash as I can control my expenses rather than credit card. There is a tendency for me to buy things that's not so important. In the end, I regret buying it as I cannot use it that much. Bad thing is my income will go there at the end of the month. Therefore, I cancelled all my cards so that I can control my expenses.
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
5 Nov 10
At some stores, they rather you pay cash than credit cards, because the transaction cost might be too high to consider. So, cash can be useful at certain situation. I don't know about other countries, but I think cash can be useful here in the U.S.A too.
1 person likes this
@nangisha (3496)
• Indonesia
5 Nov 10
Hi Porcospino!.
I life in country thats using credit card in daily life not to common except when you need to buy something in the mall or buying an electronic.
So you can say I always bring cash and already allocated certain amount for a day and by thats way I can control my money.
@liewss80 (85)
• Malaysia
5 Nov 10
In my country cash/card is equally important. As for me, I prefer to use card. But most of the time, there are still places where card is not acceptable. So, we have no choice but to keep cash with us too...In places where we have a choice, card would definitely preferred.
@ghostripperbg (9)
• Bulgaria
5 Nov 10
I think that nowadays it's way more safe to hold your money in credit/debit cards (despite there are h*ll of a lot bad people, who invent newer and newer ways to steal them). Now we could easily have access to the money itself, because there are bank machines "on every corner".
But anyway, sometimes you need cash too... :-)
1 person likes this
