No inflation, but...

[pwd72s]

I prefer using cash over whipping out the card. I've noticed that as often as not, I need to drag out more than $20 for things that used to take less than that...say a Bacon & eggs breakfast for Cindy & I at a regular restaurant, not a fancy place.

All the $15 per hour increases I'm sure enter in.

These days when going to the bank for walking around cash, I've started requesting 50's instead of 20's. Makes for a thinner wallet.

Anybody else doing this?

[Jim Richards]

No

[Crowbob]

20's are the new 10's.

[herr_oberst]

20's have been the new 5's for a few years now.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

20's are the new 10's.

Not where I shop.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I prefer using cash over whipping out the card. I've noticed that as often as not, I need to drag out more than $20 for things that used to take less than that...say a Bacon & eggs breakfast for Cindy & I at a regular restaurant, not a fancy place.

All the $15 per hour increases I'm sure enter in.

These days when going to the bank for walking around cash, I've started requesting 50's instead of 20's. Makes for a thinner wallet.

Anybody else doing this?

You pay $20 FOR BREAKFAST FOR TWO??????? Boy you are a BIG spenda!!! They seen you comin...

I can get a 2 egg, 2 sausage or Bacon, Hash Brown, Toast and Coffee Breakfast at the Santa Fe Station Cafe for $3.99.

Or the Breakfast Buffet which includes making an Omelet anyway you like... $7.99

[RKDinOKC]

Yep have noticed restaurants in general have raised their prices. Carls JR $6.00 burger is $6.00. And just a quarter pounder at McDonalds seems almost that.

[ted]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I've started requesting 50's instead of 20's. Makes for a thinner wallet.
Anybody else doing this?

Never, $50s are bad luck, any Vegas casino buffet rat knows that.


"legend" was that Bugsy Siegal had been killed with 3 x $50 bills in his pocket and it was the only cash he had on him.

Stopped with cash when a tank of gas went over $20.
Ihop not worth it at any price.

[RKDinOKC]

Use a card almost exclusively now. Too much trouble carrying big wads o cash. Set up two accounts for my expenses and use VISA debit cards. The debit cards work just like credit cards for protection with the biggest difference being they can only get the amount I have in the account not the limit of a credit card. Even then the amount charged to a debit card is lower than a credit card before you need to approve the charge.

One account/card I use for my recurring monthly expenses/bill like natural gas, electric, etc. It is never used for any purchases. I put the amount needed to cover the expenses each month in that account and that's it.

The other account/card I use for purchases like food/gas/internet whatever. At the beginning of each week I transfer enough to cover that weeks budget. That is the card most likely to be lost or compromised. Can easily just kill the card and get a new one. And bogus charges are re-imbursed just like a credit card.

Doing two cards like this I never have to worry about going to all my recurring expenses and changing the card numbers because it was lost or stolen.

I do not have any actual credit cards.

[GH85Carrera]

I have had a $50 stashed in my wallet for decades. It is my "Oh crap" money. On 4 or 5 occasions over four decades I have had to spend it to avoid a problem.

For the last 10 years, I use my debit card 99% of the time. It was WAY WAY faster, and totally safe. I have never lost a penny by using a debit card.

Now I hate it when I am in a checkout line and some geezer pulls out cash, and the real topper, starts digging in a coin purse for the exact change. Then the teller has to actually count out the change and that takes forever. Then the customer put the change of the bills and coins away. The real horror is the total was $10.61 and the customer hands them $20.76 so they get a $10 and dime and a nickle back an no pennies. The clerk just looks like a deer in the headlights.

Then the line gets back to normal, piece of plastic, zip, done, bye.

An I am an official geezer, I just know how mach faster and easier a debit card is.

[pwd72s]

I used to use cards, until we got caught up in the Target debit card scam. Hassles galore getting a card cancelled, a new one issued. Damned near changed banks over it.

Pretty hard for a scammer to hack cash.

[GH85Carrera]

I use a local credit union. Totally friendly, and easy to work with. Banks are useful only if you have a business.

One employee at a local restaurant was stealing the credit card numbers and selling them. The police caught him red handed.

My credit union stopped all the fraud before it happened to my account. They just froze the card. I had to drive 2.2 miles to the credit union, and they printed up a new card on the spot and handed it to me.

[ckelly78z]

I usually take my lunch to work everyday, so I don't actually use much "walking around money". I go to the gas station to guy gas only....never walk inside. I go to the grocery with a list, and don't deviate much, I don't drink coffee, so starbux is out, and as far as going out to eat, which isn't often, I get what I want, and don't worry about price. I usually use our debit card for most purchases.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Yep have noticed restaurants in general have raised their prices. Carls JR $6.00 burger is $6.00. And just a quarter pounder at McDonalds seems almost that.

I've started going to Steak'n Shake. Never heard of it before recently but the meat is on par with InOut/5guys/etc but not as greasy as Culvers. Fries are thin and wimpy, but I usually get onion rings instead which are a solid grade B and I'm a connoisseur. Full meals are a buck less than all the others and coupons make it even better. Their dine-in is a 1950's throwback with waiter service at the place around here.

Or shop at Aldi. Thick cut bacon does a breakfast wonders.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by john70t

I've started going to Steak'n Shake. Never heard of it before recently but the meat is on par with InOut/5guys/etc but not as greasy as Culvers. Fries are thin and wimpy, but I usually get onion rings instead which are a solid grade B and I'm a connoisseur. Full meals are a buck less than all the others and coupons make it even better. Their dine-in is a 1950's throwback with waiter service at the place around here.

Or shop at Aldi. Thick cut bacon does a breakfast wonders.

LOL! A pool hall saying came to mind: "Man, that cut (shot) was sliced thinner than Dennys bacon."

Yeah, where we go for our breakfasts is a place in Albany called "The original breakfast". Thick sliced bacon, only good cooking oils used, hash browns made from raw spuds chopped into little squares, even the toast and coffee is gourmet stuff. Yeah, it costs $12 for bacon & eggs, and worth every penny...Cindy loves their pecan pancakes, served with real maple syrup. Best breakfast in the Willamette Valley as far as I'm concerned.

[JackDidley]

Credit card for everything here. Its faster than cash and I like the rewards points. I just cashed my points in for about $300. Not the first time this year. If all vending machines would accept plastic, I'd have no need for cash.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Yeah, it costs $12 for bacon & eggs, and worth every penny..

Q). You know why quarters have rippled edges?
A): It's to prevent people like me from shaving off 1/16" of metal from every one.

You can get a single $6 coffee at the coffee house.
Or you can get a $6 12oz bag of Swiss Gevalia breakfast roast and make about 20 pots of coffee.
I still buy go to the cafe but as a treat and not compulsion.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

These days when going to the bank for walking around cash, I've started requesting 50's instead of 20's. Makes for a thinner wallet.

Anybody else doing this?

No. Places that charge too much don't get my business. I still go to the places that provide value.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by john70t

Q). You know why quarters have rippled edges?
A): It's to prevent people like me from shaving off 1/16" of metal from every one.

You can get a single $6 coffee at the coffee house.
Or you can get a $6 12oz bag of Swiss Gevalia breakfast roast and make about 20 pots of coffee.
I still buy go to the cafe but as a treat and not compulsion.

Exactly, I work with a bunch of other Engineers who all walk in with an expensive coffee in the morning, go to a different sit-down resturaunt at every lunch, and then buy treats/soda pop out of the machines at work. I bring my own, and about once a month, go out for lunch, or buy something extra.

[Ayles]

Had a debit card since it was an employee only product at Bank of America. Never an issue in over 20 years. I do keep a couple hundred at home for tips and ice cream man etc...

The one thing I do miss is filling up a bucket of change at home. Sure takes a long time to fill one up these days.