HN Explorer

Do you use cash/have you increased your cash usage out of privacy concern

10 points by clubm8 ↗ HN
Have any other HN posters increased their use of cash recently? (Or already pay for things in cash when possible)

I originally did it for privacy reasons:

1.) No one can judge me for what I buy.

(Ex: OP goes to bars too often. No new liver for him!)

2.) I don't generate a giant list of establishments I frequent.

Ex: I want to harass OP - looks like his favorite cafe is at $ADDRESS.

But I had an interesting side effect - looking at cold hard cash makes me less frivolous with it. The money I make from my frugality exceeds what I'd get from credit card rewards.

I often see articles about societies going "cashless" on HN, and I thought it would be interesting to hear from HN users who are going in the opposite direction.

15 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 50.2 ms ] thread
EldonMcGuinness
I've actually had the opposite experience as you. Having my debit card keeps an easy running tally which is difficult to do unless you only leave with small sums of cash in your pockets. However, when you only have a small amount of cash you run into the "just short" effect, where all you need is a few dollars more to get what you want and you can afford it but can't get it. To me, the potential opportunity cost is just not worth it.
creatornator
I have found it difficult to track cash spending. I picked up using GNUCash this year, and that helped a bit. I at least can capture most cash spending to see if I'm within budget in different categories. But every few week's I still need to make a 'correction' transaction for ~$10, which is annoying.
clubm8
I adjusted my budget so dining out is included in the broad category of "entertainment", along with bars, movies, and other stuff.

(I do track calories from these things though :))

bitxbitxbitcoin
I always end up being more frivolous with my cash. The fact is that society has made it hard for users to use only cash or to use only any anonymous payment method. Living only on cash is almost as ridiculous sounding as living only on Bitcoin as a demonstration of what privacy-less dystopia we are barreling towards.
clubm8
Living on cash only is not doable.

But only using a CC for bills/groceries and moving your day to day stuff - bars, eating out, small errands to cash is doable.

5555624
> Living on cash only is not doable.

Why not? My last apartment, where I lived a year ago, included utilities. Although I wrote them a check for my rent, I could have used cash and gotten a money order. Groceries, eating out, etc. I always use cash. Once I got a car, I started using a card for gas, since it saved me a trip inside and I did not need to worry about if I was a bit over $20.

paulcole
I haven’t. I get a discount/cash back for using credit cards.
clubm8
Do you make more in cash back than you'd make not buying something?

Keep in mind, to make 20.00 at 5% you need to spend $400. ($1000 at more common 2% rewards)

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paulcole
With the extra bonuses that come with new credit cards I actually come out way ahead.
NeedMoreTea
It's been studied quite a few times since credit cards arrived, finding that spending cash means you spend least. It explains some of the push for cards, app stores, more recently cashless, and alternative game currencies. Perhaps explained as simply as paying over notes "hurts more" psychologically than invisibly debiting 50 to a card or account.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-science-behind-b... Lots of other research and links to find about this.

clubm8
This is also why casinos use chips, not cash, for betting
tompark
I'm definitely in the cash camp, not only for privacy but also just wanting to limit how many vendors have my credit card info (so I use Apple Pay whenever possible, if not cash), especially after point-of-sale breaches like the ones at Target and Home Depot.

The problem with cash, for me, was that I'd run out of it too quickly.

That changed when I started focusing on saving 60% of take home pay, cooking almost all meals at home, stopped going to bars/cafes/coffee shops, comparison shopping of groceries (shifting to costco), etc.

Now I don't worry about small effects like CC cash-back or accidental frugality, because hitting over 60% savings is an overwhelming effect.

wprapido
If it it's an offline payment, it's always cash. It's not much about privacy as it is about optimized spending.
tobylane
When you're judged for a liver donation it's not by your bank records but by your liver condition. When you have your phone in your pocket you still generate a list of establishments you frequent (maybe cash machines too). Even if you were famous who'd have access to that information?

You have good points but bad examples. China is the only country where there's a known link between purchase history and government/quasi-government decisions. They have a lot of facial recognition technology so cash wouldn't help. If USA started this too do you think the NSA/etc are far behind?