Do You Still Use a Wallet and Cash?

After being ever reliant on phone payments lately and ditching my wallet, i was wondering if anyone still frequently uses cash for most payments and still carrys a wallet.

An acquaintance of mine who is in transaction data analytics said that if you can use cash to use cash. Their reason being that you are being tracked for all your purchases and this allows banks to make decisions on loans, particularly home loan applications where you state your expenses. As cash can be used to a degree of anonymity and also can be stored for use later, cash withdrawals don't register as an expense the same way a purchase through card or mobile NFC payments do and the expense cannot be tracked by the banks create a profile of your spending. This can potentially enable great loan values to be acquired.

This has lead me to think cash might be worth going back to, as well as physical nature of tracking your spending and feeling your wallet thin out makes you want to spend less.

Do you still carry a wallet and pay with cash, or have you embraced the wallet free life?

Poll Options expired

  • 46
    Carry a wallet and cash - pay mostly with cash.
  • 323
    Carry a wallet and cash - pay mostly with card/phone
  • 112
    Carry a wallet and no cash - pay mostly with card/phone
  • 4
    Carry cash but no wallet - pay mostly with cash
  • 5
    Carry cash but no wallet - pay mostly with card/phone
  • 15
    Don't carry both cash and a wallet - pay with card/phone.
  • 176
    I only carry a phone and use it to pay all transactions.
  • 9
    I have no cash, no wallet and no phone and use other people to pay all my expenses.

Comments

  • +1

    i don't carry cash, the wife does,

    • +2

      You sure you don't carry her cash (and phone)?

      • +16

        no, she carry's me nuts in that purse of hers,

        • +2

          when she's got your nuts, your heart and mind will follow ;-)

    • +1

      So you carry your wife ?

      • +5

        nope, she earns 3x my salary and i earn a decent amount myself. i think she carries me.

  • +31

    Nice try ATO.

  • Pay with phone. Leave wallet in stylish unisex messenger bag just in case. I would just leave it at home but I need my bag for other things anyway, like AirPods charging case, vape pen, Cross ballpoint, etc.

    • stylish unisex messenger bag

      Got any recommendations?

      • +1

        I bought this one https://www.amazon.com.au/Navali-Mainstay-Laptop-Messenger-l… It is kind of plain actually, like something an actual messenger used to carry. But the leather is thick and sturdy and it'll look better as it ages. It says it's made of crazy horse leather, so presumably they would have had to put down the horse anyway so it is vegan friendly. The leather will probably last longer than the brass clasps on the strap.

        • Given the description reading;
          "With a premium leather finish (genuine crazy horse leather made from premium cow hide)"
          Somehow I don't think vegans are on board.

      • AliExpress have had a few unisex shoulder bags in their USD$1.99 app home screen deals, with free shipping

  • +5

    yes last weekend just buy new 1 bed apartment with cash. we put them in boxes no wallet

  • -1

    Their reason being that you are being tracked for all your purchases and this allows banks to make decisions on loans, particularly home loan applications where you state your expenses

    For this. Open a credit card. Pay what you can up front (health insurance, insurance etc) for the year. Then close. Wait 3 months (so everything is off your bank statements) and apply for home loan, helps to avoid some questions if they want to be picky.

    • +3

      The original Ops comments doesn’t really make sense.

      The reason bank would look at your statement is spending habits. Like % of expenditure vs income. (If they do that).

      It doesn’t matter you use card or cash, as long as you store majority of your money in banks (not under your mattress.), they still have that info of total amount of withdrawal from your bank accounts.

      Not that many employers are paying cash these days, you are pretty much still part of the statistics.

  • +3

    Still use cash, mainly for small payments (< $20). Feels strange to put a $2 charge on card.

    Also, if I’m buying a present for the wife. If I use the card (shared account), then she gets the bank app notification which can ruin the surprise a bit.

  • Always carry a wallet with some cash in it, but always pay on card.

    • Likewise, but always have a few notes for the Big Issue sellers.

  • +1

    RBA put out some data recently
    https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2023/sp-so-2023-03-28.html

    Cash payments below 20% and and 30% of card payments are via tap device while tap card is now dropping.

  • +1

    Always carry a wallet but mostly pay by card.

    I try to keep some cash at home because the kids always need some for school or to buy some lunch on the weekend.

  • +3

    👏cash👏is👏king*

    *for gumtree transactions

  • +5

    My phone case is my wallet, where I store my cards and cash.

    I pay with card to track my expenses better. I only carry a couple $5 notes to give as tips.

    • +9

      You tip? Here in Australia, since when?

      Oh boy, what’s happening.

      • +7

        Yes, I do sometimes. Many of my friends do too. For context, we're in our early to mid 20s and grew up in Western Sydney. Let me explain:

        I am not pro-tipping culture. I do not want tipping normalized in Australia. I do not want us to become like America where workers aren't paid a living wage and are reliant on tips, and patrons are required or expected to tip.

        In Australia, I refuse to tip at any place that expects you to tip. It's usually higher end establishments that do this in my experience. If asked to, I will say no. If it's there by default, I will boycott, call them out online, and if my friends are in the mood, we'll cause a scene there with the owner/manager.

        So why do I still tip and when? Because I understand the struggle and like to make people's day. I was born here to low income immigrant parents. I live in Lakemba which has a high low-income immigrant population.

        • Food delivery workers - these guys are usually international students working multiple jobs or long hours, sometimes illegally long hours, just to get by. I tip them a gold coin.

        • Butcher - I shop weekly there and have large complicated orders. I don't tip the owner. I tip the worker he assigns my order to. I know as a fact he underpays them because he can. I can see them physically exhausted. I tip a fiver and watch their face light up because very few people tip their butcher.

        • Restaurants - if I dine in and there's table service. Of course only if they don't require/expect/advertise tipping. A fiver simply as a token of appreciation to someone of a similar socioeconomic background to me. And even if they're not struggling financially, I know I personally would still be ecstatic about being tipped randomly.

        • Me - I lose a few dollars but I gain joy on being able to tip. May be a selfish feeling, but it makes me feel good.

        • +6

          I know as a fact he underpays them because he can.

          You know the right thing to do is to report the owner and advocate on behalf of the underpaid staff. Tipping is masking the problem not solving it.

          • +2

            @HardQuiz: We have. We've successfully gotten one local grocery store closed but the majority of reports don't do much. Check the NSW Food Authority's name and shame list for my suburb. Numerous penalties issued but they still carry on. There's also the owners and managers we can't publicly confront because it's not safe for us to start issues with people we live near, especially if they have connections with any of the crime families. I'm not trying to solve the problem of underpaid staff through tipping, just trying to appreciate and help individuals out a little.

            • -1

              @Nillionaire:

              We've successfully gotten one local grocery store closed

              I bet the underpaid staff were happy with that.

        • +2

          'i am not pro gun but i attend gun rallies'

      • I drive uber sometimes - the amount of joy I get receiving tip outweighs the joy I get at being a tightass, so if you give a tip for good service know that the other person's day is made. Once I got a $50 tip and I'm still telling the story.
        PS. uber driving is shit money always tip your driver

        • I can’t believe someone downvoted your comment. Here’s an up to void it.

          • +1

            @Pidapipo: They were downvoted for "PS. uber driving is shit money always tip your driver"

            Pushing that opinion creates a tipping culture in Australia. We just want the uber driver to not get shit money to begin with.

    • +1

      What case do you have? I've become accustomed to check before leaving pocket taps of phone in one pocket, keys in the other, and if i can carry cash easily in a phone case that would cut an additional tap out for the wallet haha.

  • +2

    $100 emergency cash at all times, but everything else goes on card.

  • Made the change to only carry my phone/watch around during COVID and it's stuck. I never use physical cash anymore, in Australia anyway. In fact I had a $50 note given to me which went unused for 6 months, and then decided to bank it.

    The exception is if I'm having a big night out, I may bring my physical drivers licence and a credit card.

  • +6

    People are starting to push back against card payments in favour of cash. I don't waste my money on coffees and takeaways much, only the occasional fast food takeaway special which I order through the app. But cash is indeed king and we should all be using it in preference to cards with the way things are going at the moment. Many shops will give you a discount (more back in change) for using cash too. I prefer it. Easier to track your spending, less inclined to waste money on unnecessary things and no one needs to know your movements/what you purchase.

    • +1

      While I support your sentiment, I do not understand the arguments, how is it easier to track cash spending, why are you less inclined to spend cash? In my experience cash flows easy and uncontrollably and is a nightmare to track as it often leaves no trace. The entire anti-cash push stems from the desire of more control because cash by definition means LESS control.

    • Easier to track your spending

      I could understand this if it was for the money you've set aside to 'freely spend' per week, but I find it easier to track expenditure when I use my card because I keep an eye on my statement almost every day.

    • -4

      No one is pushing back except conspiracy theorists - more and more are moving to card payment via mobile device.

      • How is not wanting every payment at every store for every item any different from you not wanting a camera inside your house?

        Are you saying, "If you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothin' to hide"?

        Set up the cameras in Randolph's bedroom. He's cool with it.

        I haven't drunk the Kool Aid, Randy. So if you don't mind, I'll retain the little privacy I have left until I am too dead to care.

        • Are you saying, "If you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothin' to hide"?

          Set up the cameras in Randolph's bedroom. He's cool with it.

          Did you get a cash discount on the straw for this argument?

          • @Randolph Duke: I actually didn't spend a cent. I just picked up all the straw you dropped while you were saying the only people pushing back against card payments were conspiracy theorists.

            I couldn't use it all. Poor people are stuffing mattresses with the rest. You were awfully generous.

  • +1

    I only carry a wallet for my license as they aren't digital yet.

    • -6

      they aren't digital yet

      Apple have a digital wallet.

    • Come to NSW 🤟

    • +3

      In a lot of states you don't need to carry your licence when driving.

      Eg. Vic

      Some people are legally required to always carry their driver licence and/or learner permit when driving or in charge of a motor vehicle in Victoria. These drivers must be able to produce their licence and/or permit at the request of Victoria Police or an enforcement officer.

      These include:

      learner permit holders
      probationary licence (P1 or P2) holders
      driver licence holders, under the age of 26
      driver licence holders whose licence is subject to an ‘E’, ‘I’ or ‘Z’ condition (includes interstate licence/permit holders who are subject to an ‘I’ condition)
      driver licence holders when driving a vehicle listed below, beyond an 80km radius of the vehicle's normal place of business:
          a bus,
          a heavy vehicle
          a light vehicle towing a heavy trailer
      
      • And what happens when you are pulled over for some reason and the police want to see your license?

        • +1

          You just tell them you aren't carrying it. They can check their system anyway and see if you are required to be carrying it. Haven't had mine the last two times I've been pulled over.

        • My name is [name] and I live at [address], they can look it up on their system, if they don't already have it from checking your vehicle licence plates

          • +1

            @OZKap: How could they know you aren't the registered owner of the vehicle if you don't have ID, let alone a driver's licence?

            Evening ociffer, I stole this car from [address] and my name is [name on mail found in car].

            The cops don't even care anymore. It's all cameras now.

            • +1

              @the wiz:

              Evening ociffer, I stole this car from [address] and my name is [name on mail found in car].

              "After looking up your details, you look nothing like the licence photo on file. Please step out of the vehicle."

          • +1

            @OZKap: I often drive my partner's car so I am not the registered owner of the vehicle.

            • @Sammy2000: And that would most likely be fine, as long as you don't lie to the officer and try to claim to be the registered owner of a stolen vehicle

      • News to me. Thanks

      • Also, Victorian drivers who are supervising a learner driver.
        Also, out of state drivers who are in Victoria need their out of state license.

  • +12

    I carry cash for places that charge >1% surcharge on credit cards.

    Still get annoyed when staff don't say anything but the machine automatically add a 1.5% charge only after you tap.

    • Agree. Not sure how this is legal

      • It's legal as long as there's signage of some kind at the point of sale to alert you of it. The only times I've not seen it displayed has been at some stores at farmers markets.

        • Canteens at sports grounds (not stadiums) usually don’t display surcharge sign either.

        • I've seen many CBD lunch places or local butcher/grocer having the smallest sign with size 10 font in the furthest corner. Sure that might be legal but those business owners definitely trying to hide the fact.

          I generally never return to such places, although I've wondered if you can request they reverse the transaction and to pay cash to make the point.

  • I never have cash except for when I get a haircut cause old mate only takes cash. Would I rather he take card? Yes, but it isn't that big of a deal to get $50 out of an ATM every so often (haircut and beard trim is $25, ATM withdrawal is free).

    I do keep my cards and license in my backpack that I take to work (need to carry license while at work) but other than that I usually don't take any cards or ID with me except for when I know I am heading down to the gun club to have a shoot and you have to have the physical license card with you.

  • I carry my cash in a purse, because I'm female.

    I use cash for about 20% of transactions. This is mainly at small businesses, because they prefer it.

  • +1

    Thanks for the last option.
    But where is the : I beg on the streets option?
    Not everybody is a jv with a digital Apple license.

  • +2

    Budget-wise, it's getting far too easy for businesses to separate us from our money.

    It used to be when you wanted something, you open your wallet/purse
    and if there wasn't enough money then you could have a "second thought"
    before deciding to put that purchase on a card.

    Now it's just "tap-and-go" and you promptly forget you've made that purchase
    (even if it's just coffee and a muffin, which adds up over the month)
    until the statement comes in and your balance is lower than you thought.

    What was that saying that used to be said ?
    "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves" …

    • +1

      Can't agree more. If you want to budget then switching to cash is a very simple and effective start. But don't spend over $10K in cash or you'll be put in prison - there's that I guess.

    • As a pro Ozbargainer I don't buy unnecessary things even on Amex

  • +3

    Have not carried a wallet since the day digital licences came out in NSW.

  • +2

    You need an acquaintance to nudge you to realise that everything is being tracked?

  • I use cash as much as possible. I've never used digital payment.

  • +4

    There's been a growing trend of food places and small businesses passing on the card surcharge to customers where they used to absorb this.
    And because of this I'm using cash more.

    So much for contactless payments. This trend of passing on the surcharge started during covid too.

    Cash isn't going anywhere because of this.

  • +1

    Curious if Revolut single-use/virtual card bypasses this tracking from the banks or if they compile/link all of this data and sells it. Probably in the T&C somewhere.

  • +1

    I always carry a wallet and at least 500 cash

  • milady carries cash - I haven't carried cash since pre-COVID or over 3 years now

    I often see a street busker musician I'd like to give something to, and I think 'oh if I had some cash'

    but not enough to remind me to carry cash next time

    I understand that in China where everyone is tracked, buskers have 'tap to donate' gizmos, maybe like a dongle on their smartphone - if they had that here I'd be able to donate more often

  • +1

    Anyone that works with POS/EFTPOS systems for any length of time always carries cash as a backup.

    You dont want to be left high & dry every time some business has NBN issues.

    • +1

      @mitt

      Anyone that works with POS/EFTPOS systems for any length of time always carries cash as a backup.

      You know, I've been shopping using plastic for… 40? 45 years? And never once have I encountered the situation you describe.

      Back in the day, when electronic payments first came in, occasionally a retailer would resort to the old 'click-clack' credit card imprint slide machine. Connections then were possibly unrelaible phone line/300 baud modem-based.

      But since the days of EPTPOS I've never had a shop tell me their connection was down and that I'd have to pay cash. Have I just been lucky?

      You dont want to be left high & dry every time some business has NBN issues.

      Don't modern EFTPOS and other POS machines all have 4G/5G fallback/failover now? Wouldn't that mean both internet and mobile phone service would have to be down to be 'left high & dry'??

      • +1

        By works with eftpos I mean from the industry/retailer end. Most people interact with the system for 15 seconds a day tops, a few days a week. Its a very pin-hole view from the customer perspective. The most common reason for service failure now is somebody's server falls over & a particular bank or a particular processor goes down. There have been days where anyone with a suncorp card couldnt make a purchase for example. Other days where visa shat the bed for a few hours but mastercard/eftpos worked fine. Also for cheap machines (Surprise, industry goes with lowest bid contracts as a rule) the sim fail-over is janky & can take minutes to re-establish. Cash saves the wait in line as a line of cranky & far less understanding people stacks up behind you.

        The "click clack" machines are largely replaced with off-line processing now, where a machine will accept a valid card while off-line & process the transaction later. The machine can only store so many transactions/value off-line however before you need to call the bank for an authorisation code. This is transparent to the customer usually. Cheap retailers wont fork out for off-line processing (protip, most are cheap) & they are where you get the waits/delays.

        • Thank Mitt, for your experience and info.

          And I am sure you are correct.

          Even so, with the tens of thousands of transactions I must have had in my time, I've never experienced an issue.

          Naturally, at the server/vendor end outages will be noticed way more, but them having problems is no reason for me to carry wads of $$$.

          • +1

            @Roman Sandstorm: Not so much wads of cash, but keeping a couple $50s in the glovebox/inside the phone case can be damn worth it when you run into the rare outage. Being able to whip out a $50 & move on with your day saves so much time & drama.

      • +1

        WiFi was so great in the 1970s and 1980s that nobody ever complained. It was incredibly good. I don't know what went wrong after that.

        You've probably been lucky. But you also seem more interested in making a point than being honest. I've been refused service due to connection failure multiple times.

  • -4

    I can't remember last time I used cash, other than the random bogan wanting cash-only on marketplace or gumtree
    I think last time I used cash in a shop was 5-6 years ago..maybe more
    and the last time I used a physical card must have been at least 3-4 years ago, I now only use my phone, dont own a wallet, and have my drivers license under the the phone cover in case I need photo ID (hope the government joins us to the 3rd millennium and starts releasing digital photo ID)

    • +1

      hope the government joins us to the 3rd millennium and starts releasing digital photo ID

      Great, then they can make it illegal to root your phone because it destroys remote attestation of their government ID (we're already moving in this direction).

      • -2

        Personally, no issues with that. If you want your ID in your phone, you can't root it, of you want to root it, bring along your physical ID

  • +1

    always have cash, while it is rare it does seem to happen at least a few times a year when various eftpos or pos systtems are down, very frustrating not being able to purchase because of a system error.

  • +1

    I have a wallet for cards and cash and a clever kangaroo for coins.

    • Does the Clever Kangaroo improve the experience of using coins?

      • +1

        Massively! No 'jingling' while you walk, fishing around your pockets for some change or picking up loose pieces if you lay down for any reason.

        • No noise at all? That's pretty good! I'm currently using a wallet with a coin pouch but it sometimes can make a bit of noise. I might get a Clever Kangaroo, thanks for posting it.

          • +2

            @thisusernameistaken: I highly recommend them, they seem almost indestructible too. No stitching or zippers to fail. Simply folded leather!

  • +1

    People not using cash, are making it easy for governments to deploy a contract based CDBC. Tracking will be least of your worries.

    • -3

      I just looked up CDBC at the Reserve Bank website.

      Looks like a good idea to me.

      Reduction of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, simplification of accounting, record-keeping. Sounds quite positive.

      Tracking will be least of your worries.

      If tracking (whatever that means) is the least of worries, what are some of the more concerning ones?

      • +1

        CBDC will be tied to a mandatory Digital ID.
        CBDC can programmed to discriminate, age, sex wealth, race, etc. whatever the metric the government decides.
        CBDC can (for a class of Digital ID) eliminate savings, and inter-generational inheritance, by making it expire, just like a gift card.
        CBDC can make negative interest rates enforceable to everyone in a class.
        CBDC will have the ability to prevent payment not authorized by government. e.g. precious metals, medicine, drugs, alcohol, meat, etc.
        WEF stated "You’ll eat much less meat" - Meat will be "an occasional treat, not a staple, for the good of the environment and our health."
        ANZ bank has recently been trialing CBDC integration with carbon tracking and trading.
        CBDC will allow carbon tax to be taken out of the account, automatically.
        CBDC can be tied to a Chinese like social credit score.
        CBDC may be frozen, for not complying with government demands, such as getting a mandatory Jim Jones juice every 6 months.
        CBDC can be digitally printed faster to devalue existing holdings, through inflation.
        CBDC can be frozen to prevent a bank run, while bail-in haircut is being implement.

        • -2

          I apologise.

          Before commenting I should have checked first. With your previous anti-government, anti-Covid and conspiracy comments, I feel I may have wasted people's time.

          Mea culpa.

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