Cash may disappear by 2050…

There are many people who are happy to sit with cash in their pocket whilst they’re overdrawn. Having access to this cash has not been to their benefit and as I said before does nothing but inculcate a false sense of security This is an issue of financial literacy. There’s just no nuance in the article, it’s talking on others behalf and it’s half informed waffle intended to have a shock factor for clicks.

Been noticing at my old work that cash has been on a slow and steady death , to the point where they’re having to go to the bank to get coins whereas there always used to be a healthy amount

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Yes, makes sense. Thinking about it I’m using the Post Office a lot more than I used to - where ‘in the before times’ if someone gave me cash for picking stuff up from Costco or wherever for them (which I do quite a lot) that cash would sit about in my wallet and be used to split bills or as holiday money. Nowadays whenever I send off a parcel if I’ve more than £15 I’ll pay it in while I’m there.

It’s actually a symptom of me using cash day to day less though, not more.

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Same. Used to carry cash around also in small amounts, since I live dangerously close to a post office, whenever I am on my way to the town centre it’s in my path anyways. So it goes into the bank.

They’re just everywhere and oh-so convenient.

Cash carrying is very uncomfortable, if it’s in a wallet then it adds a lot of extra weight and volume to your pocket. I prefer just a minimum: a phone card (or a cardholder with a few cards), house keys or car keys. Do you find it the same or it’s just me?

Phone cards still exist?

If I’m carrying cash, it’s in note form. Any coins I accrue are likely to be dropped in a small wooden bowl in the hall. :relieved:

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I meant the one you have on your iPhone in your virtual wallet.

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I very rarely use cash but hear it’s being used more with the cost of living crisis.

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Same. To be used during a visit to a local hostelry that does not have a card machine. R-

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People seem to revert to it as a budgeting tool - despite it giving you zero insight on where it’s all going wrong with your budget…

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There’s a lot to be said for the envelope system, but as you say, very little insight. Arguably you do feel handing over cash more than digital spending. You also have to work with what you’ve got to hand when you’re at the till. It’s a shame very few current account providers give you pots/spaces as Starling and Monzo do. Unless you have multiple accounts it’s hard to budget day to day with a homogenous lump of digits.

Being able to have a digital envelope rather than a paper one is ideal --particularly now you can assign a debit card to a space with Starling.

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I hear this a LOT - that people “can’t budget” without cash and that if everything is on a card, they spend it. Can’t understand this rationale at all. If you only take a limited amount of cash out with you, what would happen if you lost it ? It’s a nonsense to me. I can count the number of traders I deal with who don’t accept cards on the fingers of one hand. It does tend to emanate from the older generation, but I’ve met a number younger people who think the same. I suppose it depends on your upbringing and your self-discipline. I remember colleagues of mine queuing up in the Building Society, drawing out £10-20 at time a few times a week. I said that I pulled out £70 a time, and went back to the ATM when I’d spent it - often 2 or 3 weeks later. My colleagues said that, if they had £70 in their wallet, they’d “have to spend it”. I honestly don’t understand this mentality.

There’s also a “the government could confiscate all your money like they did in Argentina” line as well. So it’s all best kept under the mattress, I guess :wink: Forgetting of course, that countries like India demonetised the most popular notes meaning you had a small window of opportunity to bank your money or lose it. Or like when Montenegro changed from using the DM to the €. You had to prove the provenance of anything above (I think) €10,000. Cash is not as safe as people think.

I suspect that the rise in cash withdrawals at the Post Office is in all probability due to the fact they are now the only cash withdrawal facility left in many towns and villages. The archetypal little old lady queuing up in the bank to withdraw £5 will now be queuing up in the Post Office instead, because her nearest bank is 20 miles away.

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I enjoyed that :point_up_2:t2::relieved:

Impulses can be hard to control. Especially for the young, naive, and neurodiverse.

Even nowadays, if I’m feeling pretty low, and I have the cash spare, I’ll spend it on impulse on things I don’t need but kinda want in that moment, get excited about it, realise it adds no value and regret it, spend more on something else I think will add value so I can feel good and accomplished again. It’s rare, and my financial skills are adept otherwise.

It’s why, even though I’m fortunate enough to not need them just to get by, I’m a big fan of the budgeting tools Monzo provide. Because they obfuscate my actual balance, and I can hide stuff away in pots. It’s why I also generally prefer to have my savings externally.

Banknote maker De La Rue has said that demand for cash around the world is at its lowest level in 20 years.

The company, which designs a third of banknotes globally, said demand for cash had fallen since the pandemic when central banks stocked up on currency.

It said the downturn would hit its full-year profits, which are set to fall short of expectations.

The firm is having to renegotiate its loan agreements with its banks due to the tougher trading conditions.

“The demand for banknotes has been at the lowest levels for over 20 years, resulting in a low order book going into fiscal year 2024,” De La Rue said in a trading update.

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The pizza place takes card for deliveries now. Cash is officially obsolete to me.

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Hard for DLR but they must surely have seen the trends ahead of time on this?

My main need for currency nowadays is coins rather than notes. £5 is too big a tip for a takeaway driver!

De La Rue should be investing in a CBDC service administration arm, to have any relevancy. That or maybe need to diversify into entirely different businesses.

I finally eliminated cash a couple of months ago when I discovered that my barber was happy for me to pay him by bank transfer (he doesn’t have a card machine, and was the last thing I needed cash for).

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