4 ms·
unfortunately, at least for me, keeping everything in cash is not a viable solution
by evilsocket 10y ago
unfortunately, at least for me, keeping everything in cash is not a viable solution
- fiatjaf 10y agoWhy?
- evilsocket 10y agoi pay my rent and bills with wire transfer, same goes for 99% of my purchases ( mostly on amazon ) ... my paycheck is sent me as wire transfer as well ... how am I supposed to live just on cash? :) I only use cash to buy cigarettes basically ... using only cash would make my life very, VERY, hard.
- Karunamon 10y agoAren't wire transfers incredibly expensive? (Something like upwards of $20 for the sender and the recipient?) That may just be an American thing though, countries with first world banking systems may have that sorted :)
- evilsocket 10y agonot where I live
- ascorbic 10y agoTransfers in the UK are free and instant.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- david-given 10y agoHere in Switzerland the entire financial system is arranged via wire transfers. I get a bill. At the bottom of the bill is a red pay-in slip with a magic number on it. I log in to my bank, enter the number, tell it how much I want to transfer, done. There's a not-used-enough automatic system where one of my creditors can send their bills directly to my bank. Now, I log into my bank, get told there's a pending e-bill, at which point I select it, press 'pay', done. No fees anywhere. I'm from the UK, which is just starting to do this, but it's nothing like as polished; small traders and tradesmen still prefer cheques, and regular payments are typically done via direct debit, where you authorise them to debit money directly out of your bank account (with a whole pile of banking guarantees). Switzerland seems to do this much less frequently; most people just pay the invoices monthly.
- jacobush 10y agoThis is identical to how's it done in Sweden
- pbarnes_1 10y agoAnd Australia. Plus transfers are free... and appear same day in the other account. The US is a different kettle of fish.
- Gracana 10y agoWow, I would love it if things worked that way in the US. Even without the "automatic system," that's pretty awesome.
- sdlion 10y agoWith wire-transfers you mean international wire-transfers? I think it might be just an american thing, mexican banks usually don't charge you anything for wire-transfers inside the country (in their "use your credit/debit card at least once each month plans") and well, it's Mexico. Though I think "first world"-something is quite the phrase just to describe consumer comfort: not advanced, not better (or worse), just "it's ok, I don't mind". ---EDIT--- Wire-transfers between national banks are free if you wait a day; there's a small fixed fee if you want them immediately. Transfers between different clients in the same bank are free and immediate. And it's becoming very common to be able to pay a quite assorted list of services through your e-bank account (from utilities to departmental store accounts) without fees.
- CydeWeys 10y agoIt's not really a viable option for anyone. You're exposing yourself to huge risk of theft/destruction/confiscation, and you're losing out to inflation every year. Much safer to keep your money in an FDIC-insured bank account. If you have more than the maximum, then open up several bank accounts. Any event catastrophic enough to wipe out money in FDIC-insured bank accounts would also affect your paper currency. If you're really worried about that eventuality, best to hoard gold. EDIT: Let me clarify, I suppose it is a viable option if you are living paycheck to paycheck, but if you have accumulated wealth of any significance, it is not.
- XorNot 10y agoAny recent event which wipes out FDIC accounts is going to devalue all that gold a surprising amount too.
- matt_wulfeck 10y agoThis is true, but you still have something you can trade for bread.
- CydeWeys 10y agoSo what's better in that case -- ammo?
- quality10 10y agoLosing money in bank is not theoretical. I have to pay income tax, just because I receive money through bank account. Using bank means paying - income tax and insurance - debt collectors - fines Any mistake can result in astronomical fines and wipe all savings. If I earn less than minimum wage, I have to pay 100% tax or more. That's because there is minimum monthly social benefits contribution. With cash and bitcoin they never know if I have money. Maybe foreign bonds and offshore accounts are good solution for storing money.
- joosters 10y agoSo you're trying to evade taxes and not pay for your share of social benefits? You will feel at home in the Bitcoin community.
- cmurf 10y agoYou haven't really thought your own question through very far, have you? You pay your internet and utility bills with cash? That's a problem in the U.S. In other countries many businesses are cashless, often even public transit is increasingly cashless. Update: I'm even thinking of landlords of multitenant buildings, there's just no way they're going to take e.g. $100,000 in cash from everyone each month. It's really not workable. The apartment I had in NYC a few years ago was conventional check only. No cash possible, no credit card, no EFT.
- cesarb 10y agoHere in Brazil, ISP and other bills usually come in the form of a Boleto Bancário (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boleto_Banc%C3%A1rio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boleto_Banc%C3%A1rio), which you can pay with cash at the bank (or at lottery stores). Utility bills use a similar system. From the point of view of the bill issuer, it's cashless. I don't know how it works on other countries, but I'd expect similar systems.
- ghock 10y agoSimilar in most of Europe as far as I know, though many use online banking now. Haven't seen a check in 20 years.
- fiatjaf 10y agoI thought you lived in a country with high inflation, like Argentina.
- cmurf 10y agoNo, I'm thinking of the landlord making that size deposit. I know of no one walking around with $3000 cash to go pay rent let alone the landlord walking even two blocks to a bank to deposit that from everyone in the building.