Greetings from mouse,
Another good day, mouse did her best to keep the house pleasant for Daddy, and yes she gets it -- it doesn't need to be that way. And it won't always be that way. We're taking things as they come.
Another good day, mouse did her best to keep the house pleasant for Daddy, and yes she gets it -- it doesn't need to be that way. And it won't always be that way. We're taking things as they come.
Recently, a shop mouse frequents said they no longer accepted ATM/DEBIT/Credit Cards. Now, mouse almost always exclusively pays via one of those. As mouse dug through her bag for crumpled up dollar bills and change, she asked about the policy, and it seems the fees the merchant was paying were too high. They struggle with business anyway, and with the economy, raising prices is akin to suicide. If they didn't have all those fees they could hire back the person they laid off recently. Like with everything, the market will charge what it can bear. They weren't sure if this would even help, but they pointed out many stores are doing this more and more. Another store recently began charging $ .50 if the customer uses their ATM card.
Now, our bank Daddy said not too long ago, toyed with idea of charging an ATM fee. For some reason this whole situation enraged mouse. While Daddy has always been a long-time advocate of doing most business in cash, mouse never really has. The problem was that mouse would be bad at not paying attention to prices. Isn't that awful to admit? Of course she'd compare prices on some things, but not on all, and never kept a running idea of how much was going into the cart.
Prices aren't what they used to be, of course they're likely cheaper today than they'll be tomorrow.
Armed with this new-to-mouse information, she went to Daddy asking if he thought going cash only was a good idea. Naturally, Daddy gave mouse a lecture about this; saying that she very well should have known about this for years. Admittedly, mouse did know, but..somehow talking to the store owner, it felt wrong. This wasn't some huge corporation. And the banks really did convince consumers that we don't need cash -- not that they're wrong either. Daddy gave mouse a crash course in economics 101 by laying out the reason for this, then Daddy asked for her ATM card.
Gulp
Seriously, mouse thought he would cut it up, he didn't but he did lock it away. In its place Daddy handed over some cash and wished mouse good luck and to consider this a new way to submit.
Did he have say good luck??? Did he have to bring up submission?
One good trip to Target and mouse will be crawling back for more cash! Might make things interesting.
*********
Song selection: Solsbury Hill; Peter Gabriel
R calls Target the $100.00 store. I carry some cash but do most of my shopping with credit cards. We pay them off each month. I have to keep track of how much I'm spending so we're able to do that, which is hard sometimes. The one that gets me in trouble is my Kindle purchases. It is just so easy to buy those books with 1-click, not realizing that the cost is adding up and before I know it, I'm over my $100.00 a month. Ouch to my back side.
ReplyDeleteHope you remember to carry a calculate and a pad of paper.
Hugs,
heather1
LOL. For us its usually around the $200 store but ya. And if mouse avoids going there...until we have a Tarjay crisis brewing...well the price can be more....
DeleteOne time it was like 260 dollars so Daddy wanted to see EVERYTHING mouse purchased...bag and bags of stuff, so mouse didn't put anything away. He looked and agreed that we needed everything. *shrugs* The prices for a lot of stuff is better than big grocery stores and a whole lot better than in town. Yes, there was some crap food in the bag but those only added up to a few bucks.
Have to do a Target run...VERY soon...
Hugs,
mouse
I've always wondered about the cost of the Debit/Credit system on small businesses. I worked in the marketing department of a larger corporation, and part of my job was to process that sort of info for our franchisees. I couldn't believe how much they were charged. Of course, it didn't change my habits....Maybe I'll try it now, at least at the smaller family owned places.
ReplyDeletei don't, however, see me mentioning all this to Master :P
Ya...um..ya. Really shouldn't have gotten so up-in-the-air about it...it really took mouse by surprise tho. Often mouse will rant to Daddy about many things like that...LOL. Didn't expect this tho. It isn't horrible. It's forced mouse to stay within a budget...but is the budget reasonable for our house? Time will tell.
DeleteIt's wonderful that a few of the stores in our small downtown area can afford to give their own credit...it's really done as a honor system. They've never asked for our address or where we live...they just put it on the charge -- they just know we come in often. They also know around the first of the month Daddy will pay it. He writes a check and gives it to mouse to drop off.
During the holidays when we were buying more, entertaining more, etc., Daddy insisted that we pay it more often.
It does occur to mouse that some people *might* be inclined to cut and run, but really think most just pay.
Hugs,
mouse
See, I can't have an ATM card, because I would blow through more money than I've ever had...
ReplyDeleteCash for daily life for this girl.
Daddy prefers to be a cash and carry kind of guy too. It makes him pay attention to what he's spending. CC, ATM, etc., are for emergencies. He gets mighty resentful when banks force people into thinking you don't ever need cash.
DeleteIt's true, mouse often wouldn't think about what she was spending...would just spend it. We needed it...or it's a good price or too good to pass up.
Now Daddy will look around and say sometimes...here's the check for the butcher to pay the bill, please tell him know that we have enough for now. Ok...well he did have lamb chops on special...Daddy loves lamb...
But no...
Hugs,
mouse
Its similiar here in the uk when it comes to dealings with debit/credit cards and the small business, although the majority of cash points especially those belonging to a bank are free of charge...but you know im not entirely sure and reading this has prompted me to want to check!
ReplyDeleteI prefer to use a debit card as i find it easier to keep track of my account, whereas with cash it burns a hole in my pocket....when using a card im more concious of what im spending as i cant physically see it (does that make sense?) whereas cash i have in my hand ...screwed up logic i know.
tori
No, it's not screwed up logic. Cash burns a hole in mouse's pocketbook too. But will also admit that mouse is kinda likely to pay more attention to prices when she knows that she doesn't have the ATM card to back up her purchases, if that makes sense. It's too easy for mouse to just transfer cash out of the savings account...to cover extras...
DeleteThe banks want things to be easier for the consumer sometimes it's just a pretzel logic that also works to their benefit as well..
Thanks for the comment!
Hugs,
Mouse
Another crazy fact is the government is now requiring all companies that use credit/debit machines to report the amount that goes through the machines. Even though they report their earnings on their taxes, they specifically want to know how much was purchased with "plastic". I find the whole idea disturbing. My husband and I work hard for our money and don't like the idea of an outside party tracking where we spend our money. We unfortunately do use our debit cards more than necessary but are trying to switch over to a cash only lifestyle. My husband has me using an envelope system which seems to work well. Each payday a predetermined amount is placed into each envelope. Each envelope is for a different purpose... Play, groceries, gas,...etc... It's annoying but with my spending habits annoying seems to be the answer. :)
ReplyDeleteOh yes...they "track" our spending in lots of ways. Those store cards, the ones that have replaced coupons in recent years...Daddy refuses mouse to frequent stores that use them. We had a long discussion about how demographics work...how things you purchase are compared with other people of different age groups. All to track shopping habits and then to sell that information to marketing who in turn use it to profile consumers and sell it to advertisers.
DeleteIt's not done to track personal inventories because purchases are scanned. It all feels so intrusive...
Anyway thanks very much for weighing in!
Hugs,
mouse
Hello Omega and mouse,
ReplyDeleteI am new to your blog and I find your posts very insightful. I agree that "plastic" currency is getting worse and worse. I feel that everytime I swipe my card that someone (government/banks) are watching. My husband's card got compromised twice last year and had to fight charges that he did not make. He got new cards but what a pain that was. I have to say that cash is going to be the new way of paying for things soon. Not only will I know how much that I have to spend, but I know that my purchases will most likely not be tracked.
I have to say that this world has gone a tad crazy and has made a lot of people paranoid for no reason.
Have a great day!
Hugs,
Jenni =)
Welcome to our blog! Tried to comment on the poem you have on your blog, but it wouldn't let mouse :-(
ReplyDeleteRe: Your comment here: Daddy would simply say once upon a time we were a cash only society. Everything old is new again. The world has gone a bit off kilter, hopefully it will right itself.
Wonderful to have you here.
Hugs,
mouse
Please try commenting again. I think I fixed the comment problem.
Delete-Jen