I'm a payment snob

[Bignate603]

Just stick with cash.

That means I would need to physically go to a bank or ATM often or carry around large amounts of cash, neither of which is convenient. Most of the places I shop do not have an ATM, or if they do it would charge me a fee to use it.

I'd move to debit or check for most purchases if they started passing on the costs of using a credit card to the consumer, but until then there's no point for me to. Right now, the way the prices are it rewards the people that use credit cards (they get cash back or rewards) and punishes people that pay in cash or cash equivalent (they pay the same price, yet get no additional benefits). Until the true cost of a credit card gets passed on there really is no motivation for the consumer to use any other form of payment.

 

[HAL9000]

That means I would need to physically go to a bank or ATM often or carry around large amounts of cash, neither of which is convenient. Most of the places I shop do not have an ATM, or if they do it would charge me a fee to use it.

I'd move to debit or check for most purchases if they started passing on the costs of using a credit card to the consumer, but until then there's no point for me to. Right now, the way the prices are it rewards the people that use credit cards (they get cash back or rewards) and punishes people that pay in cash or cash equivalent (they pay the same price, yet get no additional benefits). Until the true cost of a credit card gets passed on there really is no motivation for the consumer to use any other form of payment.

Good point; Debit card.

 

[Eos]

Brb checking my....

Go for it.

Ah, you were giving your approval for jlee to do something.

 

[JEDI]

I look down on people paying with cash.

I look down on people paying with debit.

I want to beat people paying with checks.


I pretty much think anyone not paying with a CC is a fool.

:/

and i hope u mean 2% rewards credit card w/3% for retaurants, and 5% for gas

 

[Eos]

It's Sams Club that accepts Mastercard.

I use my Chase Freedom at my work's cafeteria. 10 bonus points per transaction and since I usually just get soup ($1.50) or fries ($0.95) it comes out to 5-11% back

Looking at that card, I see "5% cash back on up to $1500 spent in bonus categories each quarter". $500 a month is not very much to me. We get back more than $50 per month with Chase amazon rewards between 3% on amazon orders and 1% on everything else. I looked a long time to find a good rewards card. I always look at others, just in case there's something better.

 

[CZroe]

Why do I want such protections when I buy a candy bar?

 

[Eos]

Why do I want such protections when I buy a candy bar?

Seems like you're acting like a troll, but I'll bite.

For me, protections are secondary. Rewards are primary.

 

[DaWhim]

wth...I just notice HAL9000 is in england. what a joke, the banking system is COMPLETELY different over there. i worked in london for a year in the banking industry and still maintain 3-4 current accounts + 2 credit cards.

credit card is not really desirable. the gov't has a rule that all purchases need to process through the pin&chip which is entering your pins regardless of if your card is debit/credit card. most cards if not all issued in europe have sim chip in it.

one thing I noticed was people are a lot more incline to run a balance on their current account instead of credit card. it is pretty much the people. people use debit card and they borrow against their current account. of course, the fee is not as high as credit card.

 

[nick1985]

wth...I just notice HAL9000 is in england. what a joke, the banking system is COMPLETELY different over there. i worked in london for a year in the banking industry and still maintain 3-4 current accounts + 2 credit cards.

credit card is not really desirable. the gov't has a rule that all purchases need to process through the pin&chip which is entering your pins regardless of if your card is debit/credit card. most cards if not all issued in europe have sim chip in it.

one thing I noticed was people are a lot more incline to run a balance on their current account instead of credit card. it is pretty much the people. people use debit card and they borrow against their current account. of course, the fee is not as high as credit card.

His name is neckbeard

 

[AlienCraft]

Unless you're paying for what I'm buying, your opinion is irrelevant.

 

[nick1985]

Unless you're paying for what I'm buying, your opinion is irrelevant.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[DrPizza]

I wonder why the OP thinks that paying with cash is stupid. Is it so he can make a measly 1% in rewards or some such petty amount? Some places offer cash discounts. A few places I go to give a 3% cash discount. Seems to me that it saves me more money. How about doing a side job under the table - someone needs a computer fixed and wants to pay you cash for it. You're not going to spend that cash? Or are you the anal retentive type who will waste your time to drive to the bank. OP's time not worth anything?

 

[AlienCraft]

Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome.

 

[nick1985]

I wonder why the OP thinks that paying with cash is stupid. Is it so he can make a measly 1% in rewards or some such petty amount? Some places offer cash discounts. A few places I go to give a 3% cash discount. Seems to me that it saves me more money. How about doing a side job under the table - someone needs a computer fixed and wants to pay you cash for it. You're not going to spend that cash? Or are you the anal retentive type who will waste your time to drive to the bank. OP's time not worth anything?

Is 5% off gas measly? Is 3% of groceries measly? No, its not, you are just trying to make it seem as if the rewards are minuscule when in fact they are not.

I often do computer side jobs for cash, I'm glad you laid out that scenario. Here is what I do:

1. Deposit cash in my bank.
2. Spend money on CC
3. Pay off CC and collect rewards


It's such a "waste" to drive to my bank. Heavens, that 400 meter drive is brutal! And that 20 seconds I wait to see a teller....

 

[bfdd]

i don't like credit, so i don't have a credit card.

 

[nick1985]

i don't like free money, so i don't have a credit card.

 

[Eos]

I wonder why the OP thinks that paying with cash is stupid. Is it so he can make a measly 1% in rewards or some such petty amount? Some places offer cash discounts. A few places I go to give a 3% cash discount. Seems to me that it saves me more money. How about doing a side job under the table - someone needs a computer fixed and wants to pay you cash for it. You're not going to spend that cash? Or are you the anal retentive type who will waste your time to drive to the bank. OP's time not worth anything?

So much assumption used to build an opinion. For shame!

 

[jlee]

Technically, he is right. You owe them money so you are in debt. Sure, you have the money in the bank so it's all good. He's just using semantics....

Sure, except for the rest of it:

You are in debt the moment you use a credit card. Tard. If you can pay it off every month then why get into debt? Tard. Just use a debt card Tard. Anyone can use a debit card. Tard. If the responsibility of actually having the money when you want to buy things, don't buy them. Tard.

I get 5% cash back at grocery stores. In July/August/September, I will get 5% cash back from gas and hotels (convenient since I'm driving cross country twice). That's why. Clearly he is too stubborn to see this.

 

[Engineer]

It's not "free" money. There is a cost to the convenience.

 

[Eos]

It's not "free" money. There is a cost to the convenience.

Do you mean the higher prices charged by merchants to cover the cost of accepting cc as a payment method?

 

[Engineer]

Sure, except for the rest of it:



I get 5% cash back at grocery stores. In July/August/September, I will get 5% cash back from gas and hotels (convenient since I'm driving cross country twice). That's why. Clearly he is too stubborn to see this.

I do this also. I've gotten 5% back on gas for the last 5 years using the Penfed card. I'm currently getting 5% back on groceries using a Chase card. Regardless, technically, he is right in that you are in debt if you have a balance on your card. Does not mean that you don't have enough assets to pay it off...just that you have a balance of debt and assets.

Do you mean the higher prices charged by merchants to cover the cost of accepting cc as a payment method?

Yes. IIRC, there is usually a $0.30 to $0.50 fee + 1 to 2.5% of the purchase total. Buy a $0.50 candy bar (alone) on credit will cost the store $0.805 to $1.13 depending on the fees. Stores don't give that away, it's built into the prices of each and every product that they sell (unless they have a different price for cash vs credit).

 

[Kntx]

Maybe you get 2% cash back with your card. The real smart ones get a much larger discount by negotiating with cash.

 

[Eos]

Yes. IIRC, there is usually a $0.30 to $0.50 fee + 1 to 2.5% of the purchase total. Buy a $0.50 candy bar (alone) on credit will cost the store $0.805 to $1.13 depending on the fees. Stores don't give that away, it's built into the prices of each and every product that they sell (unless they have a different price for cash vs credit).

Does that mean if there is no cash discount, there's no advantage to not using a CC?

It seems to be cyclical (they charge more, so I use the method that makes them charge more), but if there's no cash discount, I'm not going to let myself lose out on rewards.

 

[jlee]

Maybe you get 2% cash back with your card. The real smart ones get a much larger discount by negotiating with cash.

Let me know when you decide to start negotiating prices at convenience stores up here. You won't win.

 

[Imp]

I stick to my two reward credit cards for 95% of purchases. It's rare that I have more than $20 in cash in my wallet, most of the time it's a dollar or two in change. I try to inflate my bills over $5 when using my CCs when I can actually find stuff I want/need, but I shouldn't since the store decided to accept credit as a form of payment.

I get about 1-2% back on my reward cards with no annual fees. Biggest "cash discounts" I've seen were 2% in my area at a computer store, which has since dropped it to 1% or 1.5%. If I spend $1000, I save $10 to $20, which is usually the cost of shipping or some sale at another store across town, so meh.

Also, I have no idea what peoples' bank accounts are like, but for mine, I get 10 free debit transactions (includes ATM withdrawals, debits, fund transfers out) if I keep at least $1k in there collecting zero interest. After 10, I have to start paying $0.65 per transaction, or I switch to another account with a $10+ monthly fee with a higher cap. So, all those "cash discounts" get balanced out by the CC rewards, interest collected on money in the bank, convenience, etc.