[Sandtrap328]

Originally Posted by gpirate

Never carry cash anymore. Just to much risk of getting robbed if people see you buying with cash. Also the fact that credit cards give you an incentive to charge. Just payoff each month during the grace period.

From your location, you say The Villages next. You will feel very safe. I have been here 5 years and there has not been a single instance of a person being robbed of cash in a holdup. Some home burglaries but no person on person robberies of Villagers.

I do think there have been a couple of businesses robbed at gunpoint. Sure a lot different than the Washington DC area I came from, though!

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

Are you basically saying that the young people at local Chinese buffets are working as indentured servants? Is this for their family in the US or in China? That sounds highly illegal to me with the younger workers probably being illegals. Read a book called "Snakehead" and it tells about the same thing.

Yes, read Snakehead. You will be astounded.

Back to topic, I gave Doggie Doo Run Run $3 today and $6 last week. They accept checks, but I'm not putting my check with account number in their till box at the entrance to the park.

Otherwise it's credit cards for the mileage.

[Justus]

We use cash almost exclusively. The government and marketing agencies everywhere that monitor your personal habits don't need to know what we buy or where we spend our money. As one poster said, cash is still king. In the unlikely event that you're robbed, all they can take is the money you have on you at the time. Moreover, it's a whole lot more difficult to steal your identity from a hundred-dollar bill than from your credit card.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I gave Doggie Doo Run Run $3 today and $6 last week. They accept checks, but I'm not putting my check with account number in their till box at the entrance to the park.

I have been leaving monthly cheques in the till box at Doggie Doo Run Run for eight years and it never once occurred to me that I was being foolish. I'm glad you mentioned about cash being safer. I always thought the opposite.
You're the smart one. I tend to be naive. I need to be more careful and less trusting.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

I have been leaving monthly cheques in the till box at Doggie Doo Run Run for eight years and it never once occurred to me that I was being foolish. I'm glad you mentioned about cash being safer. I always thought the opposite.
You're the smart one. I tend to be naive. I need to be more careful and less trusting.

Well, the people at DDRR are probably the least likely to be stealing your info, Bare. After all, they're dog lovers!

I just don't like to leave checks in public places. Maybe I'm just over cautious.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Well, the people at DDRR are probably the least likely to be stealing your info, Bare. After all, they're dog lovers!

I just don't like to leave checks in public places. Maybe I'm just over cautious.

PS: The few times I paid monthly, I mailed them the check.

[Sandtrap328]

Originally Posted by MikeV

I pay mostly with Frequent Flyer Miles cards. One thing I use cash for is tips at restaurants. I was never a waiter but friends who were said management would monitor their tip amounts for what reason I don't recall. So I tip in cash thinking maybe I am making the servers a little happier.

I like to tip in cash, too. I write on the tip line "in cash" so the manager does not think the server did such a poor job that the customer did not tip.

[queasy27]

Drive-through at McDonald's for an Egg McMuffin (two for $3 special!) For whatever neurotic reason, I'm embarrassed to use a debit card at a drive through. I wouldn't be if I was inside the restaurant.

[Cisco Kid]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Well, the people at DDRR are probably the least likely to be stealing your info, Bare. After all, they're dog lovers!

I just don't like to leave checks in public places. Maybe I'm just over cautious.

Aww !!! Memories 🌴👍😎

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by princesspat

There is an author named Dave Ramsey who has been a great help to us financially. How book is The Total Money Makeover. He says that using cash fires the same neurons in your brain as being in pain. Its true! Take 20 to the store and you will put back things you would have gotten on your credit card. Even though we too used to credit everything and pay off the balance, we now have envelopes with spending, restaurants, clothes and play. Every two weeks we put in the same amount we used to charge for theses things, and now we usually have money left over at the end of the two weeks. We use the "leftovers" for things we want but don't need (bought an iPad, etc.) Still charge gas, big purchases, etc. Works for us! And we have airline miles, too, from the bigger purchases, so spending extra just to get miles doesn't make sense to us.

[emoji106] for Dave Ramsey

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by princesspat

There is an author named Dave Ramsey who has been a great help to us financially. How book is The Total Money Makeover. He says that using cash fires the same neurons in your brain as being in pain. Its true! Take 20 to the store and you will put back things you would have gotten on your credit card. Even though we too used to credit everything and pay off the balance, we now have envelopes with spending, restaurants, clothes and play. Every two weeks we put in the same amount we used to charge for theses things, and now we usually have money left over at the end of the two weeks. We use the "leftovers" for things we want but don't need (bought an iPad, etc.) Still charge gas, big purchases, etc. Works for us! And we have airline miles, too, from the bigger purchases, so spending extra just to get miles doesn't make sense to us.

We use cash for everyday living, that way I know what I am spending.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by MikeV

I was never a waiter but friends who were said management would monitor their tip amounts for what reason I don't recall. So I tip in cash thinking maybe I am making the servers a little happier.

Probably to report to IRS. Servers can cheat by not reporting cash tips. I had a barber for many years that was getting ready to retire and told me that he cheated the IRS all his life but now was only going to get $200. per month in social security.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Sandtrap328

Are you basically saying that the young people at local Chinese buffets are working as indentured servants? Is this for their family in the US or in China? That sounds highly illegal to me with the younger workers probably being illegals. Read a book called "Snakehead" and it tells about the same thing.

It sounds illegal to me as well, but it goes on. These kids all live together in housing provided by the restaurant owner. They often sleep four or five to a room. They get picked up in a van in the morning and brought to the restaurant where they stay until closing. They usually get two or three days off per month. The restaurant also gives them three meals a day.

I'm not sure, but I suspect that the restaurant owners do the paperwork to show that they are paying them the minimum wage for a server and then charging them for housing and food.

I've spoken with many of these kids and they all tell the same story. Now, it may not be the case with all of them but it is the case with a lot of them.

There is a whole network where ads are run in newspapers in China and work visas are provided for kids that sign up. In the northeast, most of them are permanently housed in New York City and there is a bus service that transports them back and forth from NYC to the cities where they work and stay in temporary residences. The bus fare is minimal and I suspect that a group of restaurant owners own the bus company. I also suspect that the Chinese organized crime syndicates are behind a lot of the restaurants. Again, not all of them but certainly many of them.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee

We use cash for everyday living, that way I know what I am spending.

I can go online every day and see what I'm spending and what I've spent.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I can go online every day and see what I'm spending and what I've spent.

Me too.

And I get an annual report telling how I wasted my money.