Went to my local FFL to pick up a lower I'd bought, paid $30 cash for the transfer. Later stopped to fill up my car, and get some fast food. Pump said see attendant, went inside and tried to pre pay for gas, but my credit card was declined. Paid cash.

I know there have been threads about carrying cash, and a lot said they never did.

This is the reason I always carry a couple hundred in cash.

I had over 1/4 tank of gas, and was less than 5 miles from home. What if I was a couple hundred miles from home? I did have a back up credit card, and my bank debit card, but some may not have back ups.

Turns out someone tried to put a charge on my card for $74.99 at Pocketguard Inc. but my bank stopped it and killed my card.

I use my card 98% of the time since I started using a front pocket wallet that only has a money clip. Cards are most handy, but good old cash can be most handy at times.

I usually carry a couple of Benjamin's with me at all times as well just in case. I usually pay bar tabs in cash and have to have cash for the golf course gambling we do.

As far as cards having a security hold placed on them, I personally am fine with it.

Worked in that industry for many years. They generally know fraudulent charges before the customer does.

In the event there is a security hold on your card, and you are caught cashless, a call to the card company can get the hold overridden and the sale approved in pretty short order.

I know it is a hassle, but the card company is covering all fraudulent charges, so they limit the risk.

I am surprised a call wasn't made to you to verify the charge or notify you that the card was being deactivated.

I had 3 calls while at the gun shop, but I didn't take them. They tried.

It was after the gas station when I was in line at Wendy's that I remembered and saw I had a voicemail from the bank.

The bank killed my card. I'll get a new one in 5 days.

I carry a couple of Benjamins just for such emergency purposes and never use them in anything other than an emergency...but there is the occasional gun show emergency which thankfully doesn't occur often.

Twice in the last year or so my prime credit card was hacked but the bank caught it each time and stopped it before any damage could be done. It's inconvenient to wait a few days or a week for the new card but it's better than having my credit rating repaired.

My wife and I are leaving on a trip next week and at lunch today we were just discussing having a different card with us should something happen to our primary account.

Navy Fed. C.U. is Excellent for protecting ones cards. Have received calls from them over the years checking if I used my card. Few times they caught fraud and killed the card. Always got a new card by going in a branch. Quit using the debit card as get lots of points using the card.

I have more than one credit card. One is declined, the rest work.

I was trying to contact American Express one day when the phone rang--Amex was calling me. Seemed they thought a purchase seemed odd. Not only odd--I didn't need a dozen cell phones--but also not me. Received a new card the next day.

Wife and I went to Hawaii, day one of the trip the bank shut off my wife's cc because they though it being used there meant it was fraud.
Good thing we other cc with us or we would have been in deep dodo.
No call from the bank to check if she used it.
That bank did not have any branches in Hawaii so she couldn't get her replacement card until we got home.

Ruthie and I both keep a folded C-note in a tiny Ziploc bag nestled in our wallets.

Ya just never know.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I used to carry lots of cash.
Back in the '80's men on my construction crews were always broke on Monday. I'd let them hold $100 until Thursday when they returned $120 in the parking lot of the check cashing store.
From then until recently I'd carry "gun money" in case a deal appeared. Happened fairly frequently until a few years back.
Now I carry $100 or less. Use cards for everything.
This year I let it run down and when at the "MiniWally" getting a head of lettuce I get $20 "cash back."
We're all headed to "cashless society" sooner or later. Just got back from Dallas Tx area and I was much surprised at how many businesses are not set up to handle cash. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I carry cash but was never a fan of one hundred dollar bill tucked away. I could be in a situation where it can not be broken. Then it’s useless.

My feeling about a $100 bill is that once you break it…it’s gone forever. $20 and lesser bills disappear quickly.

Along with my bank debit card as well as two credit cards I always have a couple hundred cash in fifty dollar bills on me for the reasons stated above. $50 dollar bills are the new $20's.

I carry a wad of $2 bills, and a bunch of Golden Dollars and half dollars in a Crown Royal Bag.

I pay cash or write a check for just about everything local. That is how I have controlled my monthly budget for over 40 years. I now pay most of my monthly bills through my credit union's electronic bill pay program, which allows me to control what gets paid and when (so I am not a complete dinosaur) but I try to minimize the number of monthly bills that are done by auto-pay programs. Quite frankly, I don't trust vendors to stop taking out payments when I choose to stop their services and fully believe the vendors count on customers not checking their monthly bills and they will gradually increase their charges without the customers being any the wiser. (Yes I have MAJOR trust issues with corporate America) I keep one low interest rate credit card thru my credit union with a fairly low dollar limit on it, as a self imposed means to throttle my spending. I pay off the credit card each month. Yes that can be a bit of an inconvenience at times, but it works for me. To me, cash is still king and if I go into a business (particularly a fast food restaurant) that will not accept cash then I will walk away.

Most of my life is lived on a cash basis. Some businesses will not accept $50 or $100 bills. If you all have a $100 bill for emergencies, good luck.

Some of the fast food joints don't accept cash anymore as they get robbed regularly. Oh, well.

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Thread Killer.

That;s the reason I carry $20's. They take up a lot of room, but everyone will take them.

The gun shows I go to most of the tableholders would look at you funny trying to buy grips or a gun with a credit card.

The guys running a business are taking cards but they rarely have the good stuff.

Cash is king!

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No baby we aint

BTW, Navy Fed. C.U. sets ones cards up for trips as long as you let them know when and where you are going. Another perk.

When (not if) it happens again ask your card company to expedite the new card. I use cards for everything I can, so I'm what you might call "a good customer." Citi overnighted a new card to me the last few times it happened. I suppose they figure it's worth the cost to get me back in the game.

I do carry cash, but primarily use cards for two reasons. First the kickback. 2% and sometimes 5% may not seem like much, but when nearly everything goes on the card it adds up. Next, it makes it easy for me to track my expenditures. I use Quicken and log transactions under various categories. Cash has a way of slipping though my fingers uncategorized.

A while back at a Las Cruces Gunshow I declined to take a check from this College Student.
Turned out he was a Lee, a wealthy NM ranching - mining family.
So I kept hearing, ‘Your the only guy I know who won’t take a check from the Lee Family.’

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I think that 100s are the same as 20s were a few years ago. It doesn't make sense to me to carry a big wad of 20s when a few 100s will do. If a store doesn't take 100s or cash they lose a sale because the store on the next corner will take them. Larry

C Notes are easy to hide, but not always the best way to go.
I keep one $20.00 in my bill-fold, then five (5) more hidden in the car. Been lucky and have never needed to.
Cash was king at onetime, but I'm not to sure if it still is.

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Always Stay Strong!

I use a cc whenever possible but do carry btw 10 and 200 in cash.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

I pay mine off every month, so I'm probably looked at as a bad customer.

I do like the cash back deals. I usually get at least $400 or so a year back. Not a lot, but I'll take it.

Small bills here, 10’s and 20’s mostly with a Benji or three lurking nearby.

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Sure you did

I am a cash local guy, although I do use a debit card on occasion to keep from having to replenish my pocket cash. I usually carry upwards of $1000. Something I am going to reduce to say 500. I do keep a lot of cash in my safe. I need to filter some of that into the bank in small increments so I do not look like a drug runner.

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Except at gun shows, hundred dollar bills aren't nearly as useful as they once were because of the number of businesses that won't accept them. Smaller bills work much better these days for most purchases.

Most card companies will overnight a card to you. It has nothing to do with value as a customer and everything to do with asking for it. Every time I have had a security issue where they shut down the card I had a new set of cards within 48 hours.

In each instance they said they would send a new card within 3-5 business days; I requested overnight, and they always agreed.

This is an inconvenience to you and a risk mitigation issue to them. The 10 bucks to overnight the card is a lot cheaper than the bogus charges.

If I pay cash, that's what I pay.

If I use a credit card, I get cash back each month.

If I lose my wallet, my cash is gone. Any credit card use is reimbursed.

If I go to a gun show and the guy won't take a card, I didn't need the gun anyway. If I HAD the cash, I would probably have spent more than it was worth.

If my card gets hacked, I have another to get me though the day.

If the CC company wants to send me a new card in 3-5 days I insist on overnight delivery and they WILL comply.

Cash isn't king....it isn't cost effective.

The cash in my wallet is only to buy an ice cream cone at the local waterfront venue.

Around these here parts Mister Softee takes plastic.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Being in a situation where I rarely need credit I have locks on everything. If I need to access my credit for any reason it is something I can plan to open the window for three days or so, otherwise we are in complete credit lock down. No debit cards, only two credit cards, one is my wife's business card has an instant use alert, mine has a low ($1500) limit, If I need to spend more I use check or cash.

I always carry cash with me - sometimes a Credit Card just won't cut it! I try to instill that on my Kids but it is something they just can't grasp (product of their generation I guess - certainly not from me) - I gave up. One day when they get in a jam, they'll figure out their old man wasn't just whistlin' Dixie!

Was on an out of state trip a number of years ago. The Hotel accepted my card. The Card Company (not my bank) number comes up as spam, so they scraped my card! A two-week trip would have been a problem except for my wife's card. I have another card from a better card company now.

Pocket cash is normally 6 to 8 Benjiman's in a money clip. Never buy a cheap purchase with a 100. That uses all the available change. When filling up the full size pick-up it's usually $75+ When told in advance, NOBODY has turned me down yet!

During Covid shutdown. nobody went to the bank, so only Night Deposit Box drop off of cash. All the local businesses were giving me extras to pay with rolls of normal change! Not on gas, but get free pop or snack! My EDC kit in the truck includes 30 kinds of ammo, 4 packs of common batteries and a roll of quarters. It is the most accessed part of the kit! (First Aid is the least accessed!) Everybody thought I was nuts for having a magazine of ammo for every common caliber, until I have "A Little Extra" ammo for plinking or buying a new gun. If I have room, I think I'll bump it up to 2 rolls of quarters!

Ivan

I just hope the rumored CBDC never happens.

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Common sense isn't so common.

The town of Nexton was designed and built from the beginning as a haven of gentrification. We play trivia at one of the establishments there. There is a sign on the door. "This is a cash free facility". You can't pay for ANYTHING with cash. Since sometimes I just drink soda and my wife water, and you have to pull out the plastic for that. You CAN slip cash tips for the waitresses on the sly but it's frowned upon. Having to handle money is demonstrably low class.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

If you try to pay cash and they refuse it, what happens when you thank them for the free meal?

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Common sense isn't so common.

This makes no sense to me.

Umm, to be blunt, you don't know how to haggle, won't haggle or you must like to pay full price.

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Thread Killer.

I can get into more trouble using my credit card than cash. I at least know where I stand when the cash runs out. Most people don't have the common sense or discipline you have.

I take out $1k cash each month from my checking. That covers all of my needs for the month. My credit card is basically my safety net in case I forget to put cash in my pocket when I go out. Otherwise I only use the card for big ticket items.

I've had people do odd jobs for me that like getting paid in cash. They have lives like us and that cash might be for gas to get to their next job. How they account for getting paid cash up front isn't any concern of mine.

I've been called deplorable for years. I think I could live with being considered low class.

After all the stories about civil asset forfeiture, traveling carrying large sums in cash is risky. A few hundred is one thing much more you could lose with basically no recourse.

I use cash 99% of the time.
Always works. Also, it makes me more conscious of what I am spending as I see those $20 bills flying out of my billfold or bank envelope.

Haggling, or knowing how to haggle makes no sense to me because it does not apply to this thread.

You can haggle all you want, but if you don't have the cash and the guy won't take a card, there is no sale...period.

Boy Scout motto is: Be Prepared.

In my SUV, I keep basic tools, flashlight, etc.

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Rather be outdoors

I wonder how many of those “ high-class “ snobs are up to their eyeballs in debt?

After each retirement check hits, I get some cash from the ATM. A few stores I buy from give me 2-3% off if paying in cash. Yes, I count pennies. I never carry much, 100 or so in 20's or 50's.

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Heavily armed old man.

Yup, the key word is discipline. I know people that have literally gone bankrupt because the card made them see stars in their eyes and had no idea what fiscal management was.

As I said before, the card gives a discount that cash does not provide.

I often deal with contractors that work under the table for cash. If cash gives me a discount, I'm all for it. Buttttt, only if I have experience with them before.

You're the the one who who brought up haggling when you said, "If I HAD the cash, I would probably have spent more than it was worth."

That's haggling. My point still stands.

I'm not arguing that.

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Thread Killer.

Ya know, I bet I can help you with any cash overflow issues! I'm in Pittsburgh, the Southern shore of the Allegheny River by about 1/2 mile as the crows fly, close to the zoo.

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There's a Monster on the loose