Todays Observer: Sweden Reverting Back To Cash?

No-one seems to have mentioned cheques to date either. I do still use one occasionally and I think it's as well to have all options possible available personally.

Hence mine is cash, cards (NOT contactless) and cheques.

This has got me pondering what would happen re cheques being accepted if something happened to "The System" and our salary/pension due wasn't paid in when it should be for some reason. If the system wouldnt hand over our direct debits for bills I know I'd try writing out a cheque (because, as far as I was concerned, my money would have gone into my bank when due - even if it hadnt for some reason to do with The System iyswim).

I can see my mind revolving round that one in circles - after I whacked everything over onto direct debits years back when I was too ill for a while to physically leave my house - even to pay my bills. I soon learnt about direct debits having their uses in the first place when someone did my back in.

AuntieE

You can work it out on the basis of what you would need in cash if you suddenly because of a cyber attack could not pay by any other means, as you know what your groceries etc. bought online cost.

It would be a much larger amount than you would want to have in the house as an emergency fund, so I would suggest a quarter or en eight of what you normally spend on housekeeping every month.

The real snag here is, that if a cyber attack makes it impossible to bank online, that we will have no way of paying utility bills - the relevant firms are miles away, and probably the ATMs won't work either.

And if you do have cash in the house, make sure of two things.

The first that you do not keep it in the places a theif would check - your desk, the kitchen cupboards, your underwear drawer etc. - the police will be happy to help with a list of the places NOT to keep valuables of any kind.

The second is: make sure that the safe place you chose, is one you can remember! Seriously. We have all heard of people who put things away in a safe place and then could not remember when they need ed whatever it was, where or what the safe place was. My mother was an exponent of that art, all her life, so beware.

I echo the "where you can remember". Years back I had to take in lodgers for a while and when I cleaned up her room after one had left I found a stash of cash under the mattress of the bed. Fortunately for her - even though she was Italian and had gone back home - I went out there soon afterwards for a holiday with her and so she got given her money back.

Is cash the best? Ask Bank of Dave. Heard of him?

It’s a sad old world when you have to hide your holidays in case you get robbed, isn’t it ? We are very fortunate in living in a cul de sac where mostly we know when strangers are around. We leave doors open but now I am trying to remember to shut them because I think your insurance wouldn’t pay out if you were robbed with an unlocked front door.

I keep cash in small bills but never in a purse or wallet. Only in a box of cereal or in the freezer. If all systems go down, you dont want large bills then asking for change back when there is none. I dont keep jewelry because I dont want to be sad when its stolen.

Sorry for your startling violation, Labrodora. Its really awful, I know.

Never publish on social media when you are taking a holiday. Only state the fact upon returning.

An ATM ate my card a couple of months back and I was in big trouble.

My sons accessed cash withdrawals to tide me over and what struck me was how using cash made me so much aware of how much money I was spending.

The $100 note I used soon dwindled away to coins which made me stop and think about the type of 'lack in accountability' when using a card.

A few weeks later one of our major banks went offline for half a day, this was another wake up call. Since then I keep a cash kitty at home and enough in my purse for small purchases.

Outages will become our Achilles heal, especially now with the political argy bargy going on in the world.

Gr8dame

I am horrified by the way people pay for everything by card and one of my friends got into serious debt this way.
This has made me look at life very differently and I now withdraw cash and pay for everything I can by cash.
Card only supermarket checkouts make me very angry and on the rare occasion that I’ve used one in error I’ve refused to pay by card and started my shop all over again.
Money hungry supermarkets are cutting down on staff by pushing card sales and I am not one of their employees.

Money hungry supermarkets are cutting down on staff by pushing card sales and I am not one of their employees.

I think it's the self-service checkouts which are doing that so I rarely use them unless it's just a a very few items.

Paying by card doesn't mean buying on credit though. I use a debit card for most of my purchases, and have no debt at all, as the money comes straight out of the bank.

I am horrified by the way people pay for everything by card and one of my friends got into serious debt this way.
This has made me look at life very differently and I now withdraw cash and pay for everything I can by cash.
Card only supermarket checkouts make me very angry and on the rare occasion that I’ve used one in error I’ve refused to pay by card and started my shop all over again.
Money hungry supermarkets are cutting down on staff by pushing card sales and I am not one of their employees.

I'm really hoping we never go cashless. I enjoy carboot sales and I've bought so many bargains there. Loads of reading books for DGD's school at £1 each or less, 2 pretty Dorma single duvet covers and pillow cases brand new and sealed pack £13 the lot, a bodyboard to play in the sea £1, and a wetsuit £4 to fit DGD. Online would be so much more expensive even 2nd hand. Long live cash for fetes, carboots, garage sales etc and FB private sellers.

I don't think any of us would manage for long if there were a real attack on the banks. If people couldn't order groceries etc online the more local supermarkets would soon run out of goods, and presumably the supply chains would be affected too. I was once in a store with a friend who was buying shoes when there was a glitch, and luckily was able to go to a cashpoint and lend her the money to pay in cash, but that was a temporary issue, so it was possible to get round it. If nobody in town had been able to buy anything the banks would soon have run out of cash.

Also, would our pensions/salaries get paid if we had a real emergency? It might not be as simple as going to the cashpoint to get money out of the current account.

Anyway, I had a decorator in last week doing touch-up type work, and paid in cash, as I'd been to the cashpoint, and it wasn't a lot. I will try this for a while and see how it goes. Usually I pay the cleaner cash as she goes shopping after my house on a Friday, and the window cleaner gets cash too, but most other things are card payments. I suspect it will take a while to get used to a change, but I'll give it a try.

We always try to keep some cash at home. An electricity cut can make life difficult, even if it's only for a few hours (e.g. tills in shops or at petrol stations). At least with cash, in this situation it's much more likely that you can buy something. Additionally, IMO, keeping some cash in an easily accessed place at home may also mean that a burglar just takes it then leaves. (Doesn't spend ages going through the home & ransacking the contents.) This is because (as I understand it) many break-ins are by thieves seeking cash. (Of course this may apply only to very "ordinary" homes: posh homes in well-to-do areas may be targeted differently; think about the famous people who've had break-ins.)

We're in a rural village - well, there's about 4,000 inhabitants and they call it a town here - and we try to always use cash now, particularly important for the smaller businesses.

I don't want to hand over any more power to the banks and government than is absolutely necessary. I had a dreadful experience recently with online bank Wise - long story! - where they're closing my account three months after their decision, but without letting me access anything, make any payments, withdraw any money, etc., for the three months since December. I'm going to stick to cash as much as I can henceforth.

Talking of Scandinavian countries though, we were in Denmark last year and were surprised to have to pay by card to use the main train station toilets. I did wonder what would happen if you were desperate and didn't have a card on you...

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A problem even now is that many of the shops I use, don't accept cash now as all the Banks around them have closed and they don't want want the worry of keeping it or carrying it.
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Local Home Bargains store , cash only sales since Saturday when the system went down, luckily I carry cash.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Where best to hide it?
Mind you we are safe. Two floors up with a solid door and deadlock plus 7 good neighbours right by, along the decking.

Someone I know has a safe. She lives in a bungalow with no adjacent neighbours though.

Both my neighbours above me and a cousin, who lived on the 6th floor were broken into by the burglars using an interior fire access to the roof and swinging down.
I have a similar door to yours FGT2.
I have a small safe in my flat and another in the cellar.

Good luck to using only cards if you are up Swaledale Wensleydale or probably a few others as well. High up the dale you will get no signal and half the phones wont work there either. So cash still reigns supreme. I use both but always use cash for the markets, which is cheaper for the stallholders and myself. Cant beat cash at a show either. I usually go to Great Yorkshire and Harrogate Flower show. I make sure I have plenty of change, and many is the time that I am smiled at when paying the correct amount for a plant, whilst people are waving their phones in the air trying to get a signal. My local bank and building society know me by sight so good luck to anyone trying to get into my accounts and with passwords in other languages , so far so good, but I still take care with what I do with my money. Having an option is fine, but being forced into only one form of payment is not!!

You can work it out on the basis of what you would need in cash if you suddenly because of a cyber attack could not pay by any other means, as you know what your groceries etc. bought online cost.

It would be a much larger amount than you would want to have in the house as an emergency fund, so I would suggest a quarter or en eight of what you normally spend on housekeeping every month.

The real snag here is, that if a cyber attack makes it impossible to bank online, that we will have no way of paying utility bills - the relevant firms are miles away, and probably the ATMs won't work either.

And if you do have cash in the house, make sure of two things.

The first that you do not keep it in the places a theif would check - your desk, the kitchen cupboards, your underwear drawer etc. - the police will be happy to help with a list of the places NOT to keep valuables of any kind.

The second is: make sure that the safe place you chose, is one you can remember! Seriously. We have all heard of people who put things away in a safe place and then could not remember when they need ed whatever it was, where or what the safe place was. My mother was an exponent of that art, all her life, so beware.

I use cash as much as possible apart from large purchases. Once we are cashless and dependant on cards we will be totally reliant on card machines etc not breaking down or having glitches. I am sure the card companies will then charge for using cards as there will be no other choice. Cash is always king I think.

nanna8

I don’t keep much cash,either. Occasionally the machines at the shops go down and it is handy.

I have a few Aussie $ if you're stuck 😀
Mind you, the way the post is these days, they might never get there.

I don’t keep much cash,either. Occasionally the machines at the shops go down and it is handy.

About the only things we use cash for are tips and car parking at the local hospital. We also have regular 'Nottingham Knocker' that we like to buy from. One or two of the takeaways only take cash.

Our cleaner, gardener and window cleaner are paid by bank transfer.

We have to make a concerted effort to spend cash sometimes so we get change for the car park.

We always have cash in the house and bits in various places in the cars and purses - just in case.

Gardener, cleaner, window cleaner and hairdresser all take cash, so over £500 a month in cash payments. Not a problem and means I keep using cash.

Very rarely use cash, however I wouldn’t be adverse to keeping £150 in the house “just in case” As we have a large household we have a good stock of frozen and non perishable foods.

I also use cash quite a lot - because of the "If you don't use it you lose it" thing. Also I should think everyone knows by now that businesses get charges for people using cards to pay with - and so appreciate people paying in cash (which they don't get charged for accepting). Most of the businesses where I live now are small local businesses and I know they appreciate the fact that I do pay them in cash.

To me - it's much harder for a thief of any description to steal money from someone like myself who doesn't do online banking/does most of their purchases in cash/etc etc. Not to mention that, if the tills go down in a supermarket, I'm still okay for completing my purchase - but customers paying by card are put out by that.

I started using cash much more in Lockdown - as that leaves no record that I've just been in a shop or whatever and then a bit later that same day was out again for a second time and maybe a third time and all came to more than one hour per day in total. Debit/credit cards would have shown where I was and when - but cash couldnt.