2024 Digital purchasing restraint

[AimlessWanderer]

We've all seen (and many of us have failed in) the GRUME threads and year long sabbatical threads. 2024 will be different for me, and not just limited to shaving.

I'm planning a year long (at least) digi-spending restraint. Direct debits for household bills can stay. Essential purchases that I can't do locally with cash can stay too. Everything else, whether groceries, clothes, household goods, or hobbies, has to be bought in person with hard currency.

In 2023, I did all my grocery shopping this way. I spent wiser. Better choices, less waste. Now I want to extend this to a full lifestyle choice. No sitting around waiting for delivery vans, get off my backside and go fetch. I might see something better when I'm there. It might not feel as good in hand as it looked on screen. It might be out of stock. Or as I suspect might happen, I might just think, "actually... I'd rather keep the cash than have that". I actually did that far more often with in purchase spending, than I would have with digi-credit-clicks.

As regards what I CAN buy... anything. So long as it's in person, and I physically have the funds to do it. No restrictions on what ... just how. Although the how does of course limit the what, to some extent. Aftershaves, fountain pen inks, compatible notepads, tobacco, saucepan, hairbrush, shoelaces, teapot, citric acid, anything... go find it... or the nearest alternative.

Where possible, I will put cash over the counter to small businesses, or market stalls. I'm not averse to using the big stores though. Sometimes I might even need to go out of town to find what I want. If so, I'll make an event of it, with a pleasant train journey, and bite to eat somewhere different.

The aim isn't to save money, just to spend better. Live better. Not be held hostage to data stalkers, and stuck at home waiting for a van. Fresh air, and analogue life choices, with tangible goods, and different faces. Freedom and data privacy and exercise and human interaction.

No "game over" if I fail though. If I fall off the wagon, I'll just drag my sorry arse back on it and try again. Sometimes it may be inescapable. Or impractical. I won't be trying to drag a new freezer through town Wherever I can though, I'll endeavour to do this, no matter the weather, or whim of the day.

So... anyone else tempted, or is it just me that'll be engaging in this retro lunacy?

 

[cleanshaved]

So... anyone else tempted, or is it just me that'll be engaging in this retro lunacy?

Err no, not for me. I'm cashless and loving it. I have no wish to go back to the 80's

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Err no, not for me. I'm cashless and loving it. I have no wish to go back to the 80's

I suspect you may well be in the majority

 

[cleanshaved]

I suspect you may well be in the majority

Growing majority but if cash works for you it matters not what others are doing.
I do get the pull a set amount out and that's your lot for the weekend or week approach though.
Not having cash saves me from the pushy raffle ticket sellers though. They never have EFTPOS

 

[lasta]

I haven't touched cash in 5 years!!

 

[ColtRevolver]

I always carry cash. I have gotten a lot of sudden person to person deals on items from sellers who want cash right then.

 

[njpaddy]

Other than ordering online, I always use cash locally, including restaurants and tips. When we grocery shop together, my wife uses her ATM card and digital coupons. It really annoys her when I go by myself. I insist on paying with cash and refuse to learn how to use my Iphone and digital coupons. I'd rather pay the extra couple of dollars.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Other than ordering online, I always use cash locally, including restaurants and tips. When we grocery shop together, my wife uses her ATM card and digital coupons. It really annoys her when I go by myself. I insist on paying with cash and refuse to learn how to use my Iphone and digital coupons. I'd rather pay the extra couple of dollars.

You pay extra for using cash?

 

[njpaddy]

You pay extra for using cash?

Yep. I consider it a small price to pay for not using my cell phone. I also still have a landline phone.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Yep. I consider it a small price to pay for not using my cell phone. I also still have a landline phone.

Fair play. I'd pay the privacy premium too.

I don't know if you have the store loyalty card system over there, but over here we have supermarkets that will offer discounts to loyalty card holders. It might be 30% off, or buy two and get a third free. You know the kind of deal. So there's two prices on those products. One for the card holders, and one for everyone else.

I don't buy those products.

I refuse to pay with personal data instead of cash. My privacy isn't that cheaply bought. I also refuse to pay a premium for not letting them stalk me. So I buy something else instead, or buy the same item from a different store, even if that means paying a little extra. It doesn't fix anything in the world, but does make me feel better.

 

[Rushman2112]

I still carry cash, but I rarely use it here. Many places are cashless, and things like MRT cards (for the bus and tube) are getting harder to top up with cash: when I first came here, each station had a kiosk where customers could use cash but that was phased out during Covid. Now top up is only possible at a machine and increasingly they only take electronic payment.

Use cash in the supermarket and the staff panic, just tap and go please.

Food shopping is usually done in person, although there is a specialist French on-line store which sells just about everything. I only use it for wine and sometimes cheese and sinful desserts like creme brulee. As we do not have a car here though, non-food shopping is always on-line: once every three or four months we order washing liquid, cleaning products, loo roll: all the bulky stuff you can't easily carry.

Books have to be from Amazon: there are some book shops here but few and far between. There is a WH Smith at the airport (but airside) and I am hard-pushed to think where the nearest one is now. Even then the chances of finding the new Mick Herron or Rory Clements are remote.

There are shaving supply shops and one or two have physical stores but not handy for home. They offer free delivery within 24 hours of ordering and they have a huge range so it's the only way I'm afraid!

 

[musicman1951]

It seems a noble gesture, but I won't be joining you. I'm headed in the other direction. Heck, I've got Apple Pay on my smart watch.

 

[Columbo]

Be careful what you wish for.

Revelation 13:17.

 

[Submariner]

Nope, the only cash I carry is for my golf game bets, and that cash stays in the golf bag.

 

[Columbo]

Other than ordering online, I always use cash locally, including restaurants and tips. When we grocery shop together, my wife uses her ATM card and digital coupons. It really annoys her when I go by myself. I insist on paying with cash and refuse to learn how to use my Iphone and digital coupons. I'd rather pay the extra couple of dollars.

It's actually the opposite with a lot of small businesses. Inflation has left their margins razor thin. They are now passing along the 3% surcharge to pay with plastic. I confront it regularly and increasingly. And I'm fine with that. There's this old thing called a check, and they are all very happy taking one.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

It's actually the opposite with a lot of small businesses. Inflation has left their margins razor thin. They are now passing along the 3% surcharge to pay with plastic. I confront it regularly and increasingly. And I'm fine with that. There's this old thing called a check, and they are all very happy taking one.

Cheques have largely disappeared over here. It's just instant payments i.e.cash or data/digital now. People don't want to have to take it to the bank, then wait a further three days to be paid.

The surcharges were seen for a while, but minimum order values are more common, such as no card payments under £10, for example.

 

[cleanshaved]

Cheques have largely disappeared over here. It's just instant payments i.e.cash or data/digital now. People don't want to have to take it to the bank, then wait a further three days to be paid.

The surcharges were seen for a while, but minimum order values are more common, such as no card payments under £10, for example.

Cheques are being phased out here.
My bank no longer issues them. They will still honour them for 5 years from the date of issue. They however will not accept a cheques issued from another bank.

 

[Columbo]

People don't want to have to take it to the bank, then wait a further three days to be paid.

And who is responsible for the three day delay? The same people who want everything digital.

Just wait until they start pushing "social credit scores", and all your money is in their computers ...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Just wait until they start pushing "social credit scores", and all your money is in their computers ...

It already is, isn't it? That's the whole point of this exercise.

It's not just the banking services providers and storekeepers that I am trying to maintain my privacy from either, but also the vast multitude of third party data partners snoopers interwoven into the sellers website and IT systems. And the cloud security system it's hosted on, and all their data partners. And the paymemt intermediary, and all their data partners. And the delivery companies, and all their data partners. And all their data partners data partners.

If I pay in cash, the only people informed about the transaction, are the two directly taking part in it, and not 100+ companies on four continents.

 

[blethenstrom]

Cash is king! It has been shown that if you purchase with cash vs card you spend 10-20% more with a card. This is one reasons why banks push their cards. All in the name of convenience. With a card you do not "feel" the money. It is a bit harder to hand over those bills than swiping a card, especially if you have to break a $100 bill. If you want to stay on a budget, cash is the way to go, at least for some purchases. Of course to @AimlessWanderer 's point all purchases via card are tracked and you will be targeted with all kinds of annoying marketing.