How much cash do you carry?

[nickyboy]

Tend to pull out £100 and then it slowly gets whittled away by cash only transactions like paying the window cleaner, some car parks, traditional pubs and cafes etc

Like most cyclists I hate change (it's all about the weight innit?) so pay on card whenever possible. This has extended to everyday life, not just cycling. It's interesting that Mrs N has a different approach. Small purchases (like a local train ticket or a coffee) I will always use card. She will resolutely use cash. I think its to do with the faff of keeping the change. I have a manly wallet with no change storage to speak of. She has one of those bottomless purses that contains her whole life

 

[Brandane]

Try getting on a bus in Londonshire with cash.

That was my first experience of contactless payment, which I had never even heard of before (a couple of years ago).
I must have looked like a real country bumpkin when I pulled out some coins and asked the driver for a single to wherever. He just pointed at the card reader and grunted something in Londonese which I didn't understand.
A fellow passenger in the queue of impatient city types behind me had to give me a crash course in how to work this new technology!

 

[screenman]

That was much the same for us, although I had used contactless before.

 

[Oxo]

It's not just me then. From smaller to larger, front to back. Front of the note forward as well.

I only have small! Sorted.

 

[KneesUp]

Last time I forgot the note, a corner shop wanted to charge me an extra £1.50 for paying by card for about six quid's worth of food and drink.

Shops get charged for every card transaction. If it's a debit card it's a flat fee (I can't remember rates, but for a little shop it will be about 30p) and for a credit card it's a flat fee plus a percentage of the transaction (again, it's years since I looked, but was something like 10p and 2%) On top of that you pay to rent the machine too - which if you don't get many card transactions can be a big cost per transaction. Of course if you have a business bank account you also get charged a percentage for paying cash in to your bank account, which is why it's cheaper to spend cash if you have a shop.

I believe the margin on food and drink is fairly low if it's the sort of stuff you get at the cash and carry rather than freshly made, so I can understand the transaction fee from the small shop, where perhaps they don't take card that often.

 

[stephec]

Yup. I do the same.

And me.

 

[cyberknight]

Im married with kids, all the money has been spent before i get a sniff at it.

 

[ianrauk]

I used my phone app for payment today for the first time. In Greggs of all places :-)

 

[Brains]

I've noticed in some of these "soap operas" lately that the barmaid hands over a card machine to the customer when they buy a drink. Using a card to pay for something costing 3 quid or less seems a bit odd to me.

I discovered last summer that I had left my wallet and all my cards and cash home when setting off on a week long holiday in deepest darkest Cornwall.
Luckily I had my iPhone and had downloaded the 'wallet' app.
I survived a complete week using the phone to buy everything from newspapers in village shops, to chips, to beer in remote pubs.
The only place I found I was unable to use it was at a service station on the M4 on the way home!

I now buy most things by just using the phone to 'tap and go'
(and as it works on my fingerprint, it's more secure than a card or cash)

 

[Brains]

A pint of Newcastle Brown (don't like/drink lager) in the best pub in Oslo costs about 8-9 quid. For one drink. No chance of having a long session there.

..... but if you want to 'only' pay City of London prices then as long as you order in English (and if asked say you work for the large shipbrokers, Clarksons, over the road), Otto's bar on Parkveien (Aker Brygge) is the place to go

 

[stephec]

I used my phone app for payment today for the first time. In Greggs of all places :-)

Have you got the Gregg's app?

 

[ianrauk]

Have you got the Gregg's app?

Nah. I dont visit that regular. Just a nice treat now and again.

 

[nickyboy]

I used my phone app for payment today for the first time. In Greggs of all places :-)

I couldn't care less how you paid. What's important is...was it a festive bake?

 

[ianrauk]

I couldn't care less how you paid. What's important is...was it a festive bake?

Lol. 2 sossy rolls. Very nice they were too.

 

[stephec]

Nah. I dont visit that regular. Just a nice treat now and again.

I have a Gregg's breakfast at least once a week so I couldn't resist it.