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Sweden - about to engage full-retard mode

I still don't get how fake money becomes real money like bitcoin. Guess the swedes think digital currency can be "printed" at a much faster rate as needed
 
Sure it sounds crazy, but thinking about how I live financially now...I touch cash maybe three times a year these days. My local farms use Square Stands to pay for pick-your-own apples & blueberries. The vending machines at work are all swipe. Drive-through restaurants take cards. I think the only times I really used cash in 2015 was when the credit card machines went down at the store (fortunately I carry a few bucks for backup) or if I went to a festival with vendors who were cash-only (although a lot of them are using stuff like Square magstripe readers on their phones to do payments using cellular data).

Still, it seems crazy to go 100% digital in a world with rampant identify theft & hacking....if they can hack Target, Home Depot, etc., they can hack your digital cards & other stuff, so I'd be worried about getting my identity totally nuked. I had a buddy whose identity got stolen and he is still dealing with the fallout many years later from all the stuff that was purchased under his name.
 
Well, I live in Sweden and yes cash is getting less important. But the headline is basically lying.
For example, we are currently changing the design of all the bills in our country, that is not something you do if you plan to skip cash soon.
In fact the government in Sweden expects cash to be around for decades.
 
I use cash virtually exclusively. It's anonymous, and it doesn't require a net connection to work. For the rest, I use prepaid visa, or someone else's card.
 
I pretty much never use cash, to the point that when I pay with cash people with me say out loud "holy shit you have cash"
I have it so infrequently, last time I went to the ATM I didn't remember what my password was,
 
With some very few and minor exceptions, I have not carried or used cash since <2007. Besides, cash is just a promissory note and no real intentions of issuing government of making it worth anything.

Unless you are carrying gold then the paper stuff ain't much more better than the intangible stuff.
 
I've actually used cash a lot more ever since a place double-charged me for a $5 sandwich on a credit card in ~2006. You can't do that with cash. 🙂

I also try to only use my debit card at stores where I can hit "cancel" and "credit". That way I don't have to enter my PIN and hackers can't steal it.
 
I have rarely used cash myself for decades.

The wife and I both usually use the debit card and she monitors things pretty closely online just to catch any possible usage besides ourselves.

Was only one time in the past we caught someone using it and shut it down and had it reissued and the bank came down on them.
 
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lxskllr said:
I use cash virtually exclusively. It's anonymous, and it doesn't require a net connection to work. For the rest, I use prepaid visa, or someone else's card.
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Is that you Jack Reacher?

I've been cashless for some time but there have been articles floating around that Canada would be willing to go in negative interest rates if that's what it takes. All speculation and shouldn't happen but if it did people here would probably go 100% cash and buy large mattresses under which to store their money!
 
Anubis said:
I pretty much never use cash, to the point that when I pay with cash people with me say out loud "holy shit you have cash"
I have it so infrequently, last time I went to the ATM I didn't remember what my password was,
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This is basically me.

Plus, cash doesn't get you rewards points for free travel. Between my trips last year and what I already have booked this year, I've gotten ~$25k in free travel by just signing up for new cards whenever a minimum spend is met. Contrary to what Dave Ramsey preaches, CC's aren't the devil as long as you're responsible and don't ever pay interest.
 
I only use cash in situations where it's advantageous to do so. There is no logic in favoring one method over another, other than to reap whatever benefits. Since I pay my balance off in full every month, I use my credit card for all possible transactions. With the cashback it means I'm actually being paid to use it. Keeping my money in various accounts that accrue interest means my money is making money, instead of being forever devalued due to inflation if I were to hold it all in cash.

If I *can't* use plastic or online payment, or circumstances are such that using cash is better, then I'll do that. But that's quite rare for me. I live in Canada though. When I travel to remote places, it's rare to use anything other than cash.

I can totally see a society going mostly cashless, as electronic payment in one form or another is already the predominant payment method in plenty of places. I lol'd at the ending of that article...

&#8220;Everything speaks in favor of a cashless society,&#8221; he said as he strolled past the Abba Museum to retrieve his car. &#8220;It&#8217;s a utopian thought, but we&#8217;re very close to it.&#8221;
He paused at a hot-dog stand for a snack. But when he was ready to pay, the card reader was broken.
&#8220;Sorry,&#8221; the vendor said. &#8220;You&#8217;ll have to use cash.&#8221;​
 
Have maybe 200 SEK ($25) cash on me, as just-in-case-money, but I never have to use it.

Everywhere you go, you can pay with plastic. No matter how small the amount or how tiny the place. Love it.
 
PingviN said:
Have maybe 200 SEK ($25) cash on me, as just-in-case-money, but I never have to use it.

Everywhere you go, you can pay with plastic. No matter how small the amount or how tiny the place. Love it.
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And then people wonder why small business continues to fold everywhere. I'm not saying transaction fees are the only reason, but it just helps compound all the other things they face.

Lots of microbrewerys and pubs here have gone to cash only to avoid the fees so they can stay alive.
 
Kaido said:
Sure it sounds crazy, but thinking about how I live financially now...I touch cash maybe three times a year these days.
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Same with me, more or less. I have to touch it a couple of times a month because the local bagel shop doesn't take cards, but they're the last holdout that I patronize. In terms of going cashless, though, I have much more faith in the existing bank payment systems than in so-called decentralized currencies.
 
What does this have anything to do with "retard"? Sounds to me like OP was just looking to be offensive for no reason. no printed cash would be amazing.
 
What's the difference? Whether you have a piece of paper/plastic/metal with a value printed/stamped on it or completely Digital either way you are just exchanging Numbers. Each person gets a Number to use and exchanges a certain amount of that Number with others to gain Goods/Services. That's all Money is.
 
There are still many places that are cash only. Obviously if you live in a nicer neighborhood, you can go cashless but there are still smaller restaurants that are cash only or charge you a certain amount for using card or a minimum.
 
zerocool84 said:
There are still many places that are cash only. Obviously if you live in a nicer neighborhood, you can go cashless but there are still smaller restaurants that are cash only or charge you a certain amount for using card or a minimum.
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I can count on 1 hand the number of places ive been in, in the last 10 years that only take cash

and I live in the middle of nowhere
 
TheSlamma said:
And then people wonder why small business continues to fold everywhere. I'm not saying transaction fees are the only reason, but it just helps compound all the other things they face.
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Small businesses seem to be doing fine here. Compared to the cost of employing people, transaction fees are a drop in the ocean. And like cost of employment, everyone is on the same playing field.
 
BarkingGhostar said:
With some very few and minor exceptions, I have not carried or used cash since <2007. Besides, cash is just a promissory note and no real intentions of issuing government of making it worth anything.

Unless you are carrying gold then the paper stuff ain't much more better than the intangible stuff.
Click to expand...

Hate to tell you this but gold only has value for the same reason paper currency has value. 🙁
 
cbrunny said:
What does this have anything to do with "retard"? Sounds to me like OP was just looking to be offensive for no reason. no printed cash would be amazing.
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Because I have the foresight to see that there are many factors that can render your stupid cards useless?
sandorski said:
What's the difference? Whether you have a piece of paper/plastic/metal with a value printed/stamped on it or completely Digital either way you are just exchanging Numbers. Each person gets a Number to use and exchanges a certain amount of that Number with others to gain Goods/Services. That's all Money is.
Click to expand...

So if the systems are temporarily down, can I just write you a note for goods and services rendered? Don't lie to me.
 
SSSnail said:
Because I have the foresight to see that there are many factors that can render your stupid cards useless?


So if the systems are temporarily down, can I just write you a note for goods and services rendered? Don't lie to me.
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Like a Cheque? Possibly.
 
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