POLL: How do you pay for everyday purchases at groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, etc.

[Parrothead]

 

 

I thought floating checks was a thing of the past. Check21 changed that.

• Remember how you used to “float†a check? That’s where you wrote a check, but figured you had a few days to cover the payment. Well, keep remembering it, but don’t do it anymore. Generally speaking, expect the checks you write to clear faster than ever before. Many checks will clear the same day they are deposited.
  
• But here’s the catch: your deposited checks won’t clear more quickly. Banks can still play the float game, but you’d better not. Bottom line – Don’t write a check unless the funds are already in your account.
  

That may be one of the few advantages of being so far from civilization. Depending on the store I can float one for up to two days.

 

There is no big national bank here. And according to the back of my checks most of the local businesses use the small local bank.

[catz]

We use CC for everything, but never, ever, ever carry a balance on it at the end of the month. I only ever carry very small amounts of cash and isn't unusual to have none. Credit card companies hate us. We have cash back cards. :D

[Melissa in Australia]

debit card and cash for shopping. bills are paid by phone banking, and purchases over the Internet are by bank transfer.

Check books in Australia are practically non existent. Banks are trying to phase them out and put a hefty surcharge on using them, something like $10 to get the check book, and $1 fee to process each check.

[justamouse]

I use debit, Dh uses cash.

 

I keep just a small amt in my debit accnt, because i purchase a lot online. None of it is connected to the main accnt. We have nothing attached to our main accnt.

 

Otherwise, all CC that we pay off each month. He's talking me into just getting the amex so we can get points.

[boscopup]

Credit card, paid off every month. It usually has a % back, and DH keeps track of which ones are offering more back during certain months (like I think this month, Discover is 5% back on restaurants). We get a higher % back using AmEx at gas stations. Most other places, I use a Mastercard. That card number recently got stolen, but it was easy to fix (just reported it to the bank, and they took the charges off immediately and sent out a new card).

 

With the new laws about adding fees to CC purchases, we'll have to see which stores start charging them. I'll pay cash at those stores if I need to. I just don't really want to carry cash around. And we don't use checks very often (just for paying bills that don't have online bill pay or CC pay available... and I pay the farrier with a check).

 

I keep ALL my receipts to give to DH so he can keep track of the budget (big Excel spreadsheet). So there is definitely a paper trail. He also checks the CC statements online daily (that's how we noticed the weird charges recently... $75.00 charge to Walmart, and that's pretty rare to have an even charge like that, plus I hadn't been to that Walmart ever).

[J-rap]

I try and pay with my credit card for everything now (and then pay it all off each month), because we earn airline miles for every dollar we spend. We have earned many free airline tickets that way.

[ScoutTN]

We use cash for items where we might overspend - groceries, clothes, entertainment etc.

 

Debit card for the rest. Especially gas b/c it's a huge pain to have to go in to pay.

 

Bills we pay almost all online.

[Jennifer3141]

I put everything on my amazon card and I pay it off once, twice or even three times a month. I had about 80% of Xmas paid for with the rewards for that thing last year. It was awesome!!

[Pawz4me]

Groceries - debit card

Gas - credit card

Pharmacy - debit or medical expense/benefits card

[Desert Rat]

We are mostly cash. I do pay for groceries with a debit card. Gas, pharmacy, all smaller purchases are cash.

[QueenCat]

For those of you who mostly use cash, how often do you get cash? If I were to pay for everything I shop for in person, I would be carrying an uncomfortable amount of cash on me. If I were to get cash weekly, I am thinking I would need to carry around a considerable amount to cover food, gas, dining, etc. And then I'd need to figure out how much of it to give to dh in case he ended up picking up the food that I had the cash in my wallet for..... the whole idea makes my head spin.

[kewb]

For those of you who mostly use cash, how often do you get cash? If I were to pay for everything I shop for in person, I would be carrying an uncomfortable amount of cash on me. If I were to get cash weekly, I am thinking I would need to carry around a considerable amount to cover food, gas, dining, etc. And then I'd need to figure out how much of it to give to dh in case he ended up picking up the food that I had the cash in my wallet for..... the whole idea makes my head spin.

 

When I am on the ball-I withdraw cash on payday to last until the next payday. Gas, groceries, etc. are planned out so I carry the cash I need for the day. Otherwise I go to the bank when I need cash.

[TravelingChris]

I only pay cash when the purchase is pretty small. I hardly ever use ATMs and so most of my cash comes from getting extra when I paid with a debit card. I can't go to any teller because my bank is nearly 800 miles away. I had to withdraw very large amounts when I lived in Belgium- we were paid in dollars and deposited in an American bank and our rent and all bills where in Euros and had to be paid from a European bank. So I would get thousands in US and take them over to the European bank we used and deposited them there. I really hated doing that but we were never robbed. I believe I usually just did it all on the Nato base so there would be less likelihood we would get robbed. Oh and in Belgium, there was a lot bigger chance you would get robbed than in any other place I have ever lived/

[Momof3littles]

Debit for lots of things. Online purchases are sometimes credit, sometimes debit. We still write checks for some bills. My parents are in their mid 60s and almost never use a CC or debit card. They still write checks at the grocery store, etc.

[QueenCat]

When I am on the ball-I withdraw cash on payday to last until the next payday. Gas, groceries, etc. are planned out so I carry the cash I need for the day. Otherwise I go to the bank when I need cash.

 

 

I plan groceries... gas is when I need it. But sometimes, for groceries, there are unexpected sales so I stock up. I would be very frustrated if I had to run to an atm to get money. The one's in stores charge..... I guess we all have different reasons to do it the way we do..... Just can't see going that way.

[sbgrace]

We do credit cards with cash back bonuses and then pay off the balance in full every month. We get a lot of cash back.

[atozmom]

Debit card or cash. Most of the time it is my debit card though as I rarely have cash on me. I don't have any credit cards anymore, so they aren't an option.

[magnificent_baby]

Credit card for everything. It is paid off each month, we spend the same regardless of payment method, and the rewards equal free money.

 

Ditto!

[MomtoCandJ]

We cash dh's paycheck at the local credit union where we have a savings account. We load the blue bird card with what we need for bills and by the time we pay the bills there isn't much left.

[Woodhaven]

Dh and I use our credit card for almost everything. We always pay it off at the end of the month, and don't leave a balance. Using the credit card simplifies our lives by giving us an additional record of our purchases. We don't have to carry much cash on us.

[edithcrawley]

We use our credit card for everything. We pay it off every month, and we get cash back, so it makes sense for us to do it this way.

[Donna]

Credit card used mostly except for gas...unless I go on a long trip in which case I'll use the credit card. Though I just learned that in NJ stores will be able to charge a 4% check out fee if they'd like on credit card purchases. I may be using cash much more often.

[Sparkle]

For those of you who mostly use cash, how often do you get cash? If I were to pay for everything I shop for in person, I would be carrying an uncomfortable amount of cash on me. If I were to get cash weekly, I am thinking I would need to carry around a considerable amount to cover food, gas, dining, etc. And then I'd need to figure out how much of it to give to dh in case he ended up picking up the food that I had the cash in my wallet for..... the whole idea makes my head spin.

 

 

I get cash out at the beginning of the month to cover the whole month. I generally just carry enough with me to cover what I'm doing for the day. It's rarely more than a couple of hundred dollars. Sometimes dh uses his debit card for purchases and then I will have to re-deposit money into the bank, but I'm trying to discourage that :) We're used to using cash though, it works for us, and keeps us from overspending.

[abacus2]

I remember the last time I wrote a check to any store where it was not my only option. I wrote a check at Pizza Hut in about the year 2000 and they processed it electronically and handed it back to me. I forget why I wanted to write a check that day, but I was annoyed because had I known they would do that, I would have used my debit card.

[LaxMom]

I use my Visa check card for just about everything (we no longer have credit cards). I write a check at my food co-op once a month, and when we have oil delivered. And, quarterly, if I don't remember to queue up the water bill (no electronic payment, bank sends a check).

 

Anything else, I do an electronic payment via online banking or my bank sends a check. I can even do electronic payments to individuals.

[Mnemosyne]

Credit card used mostly except for gas...unless I go on a long trip in which case I'll use the credit card. Though I just learned that in NJ stores will be able to charge a 4% check out fee if they'd like on credit card purchases. I may be using cash much more often.

 

They can only charge that fee if they don't accept AmEx, from what I've read about it... I may be totally mistaken though.

[Lisbeth]

Checks DO seem to take forever. I remain neutral but notice a lot of irritation from others when someone writes a check. They are irritated by my coupons, too. We use credit cards for everything, esp. since my husband started hearing Clark Howard talk a lot about how checks are so open to fraud and tgeft.

[TravelingChris]

I admit it. I hate to be stuck behind a check writer or a mass couponer. In busy supermarkets, just like the have the quick line for 10 and under, I wish they had the slow line for checks and couponers.

[Heather in Neverland]

This is pretty much a cash only place still. You can really only use credit cards or debit cards and the big malls.

[AHASRADA]

I very rarely have cash in my pocket. Maybe $5-10 once in a while, but often nothing but a bit of change.

 

I use my debit card for all everyday purchases (groceries, pharmacy, fast food).

 

We use our credit card for larger purchases, those that weren't planned, or are hard to estimate (including gas, but also clothing, trips to Walmart, gifts, big restaurant meals, Home Depot, car parts or repairs, etc.) We always pay it off at the end of the month, but it buys us some time to get the funds in place to do so.

 

I only write a check for our rent and kids' activities (karate, soccer). Everything else is online bill pay. Most of my utilities are going to online-only billing, and charging $2 per statement if you still want a paper bill.

[Alessandra]

Credit card with rewards, paid in full each month -- almost everything. Using credit (and paying it off) gives you better credit. I have a few cards to get the best rewards, so I use an Amazon one for Amazon purchases, AMEX for travel, etc.

 

Cash -- gas stations. I never let the credit card out of my hand, in case it gets skimmed. (In NJ, there are no self-serve gas stations.)