Large cash purchases

[Deerguy]

zelle, very easy to transfer money from one account to another

[boomerball]

once I was buying a junker car and the guy refused to take cash. he was worried about counterfeit bills so i went to 7/11 for a money order. I wonder if you could get a money order drafted from a bank account (instead of handing over bills) at western union / Wal-Mart / or quick loan type place?

[bowhntrmatt]

I’ve been in the same situation. I really try to keep a few thousand in the safe for when a great deal comes along. Keeping $15k on hand seems a little extreme, but I also know people who have 2-3k on them at all times, so I guess we are each on our own budgets.

[BO-N-ARO]

Food for thought: Banks are rebuked to only have 10% of there holdings in cash. If a regional or national disaster of some sort was to happen and you needed cash to help get through it............ ?????
Hate to have cash laying around collecting dust instead of invested making more, BUT!!

[jds247]

I keep some cash on hand.. I found a boat I wanted one weekend. Couldn't get to the bank until the next Friday because of work.. I ask the guy if he had pay pal .. i gave him what cash I had and paypal the rest standing in his driveway..Drove off with the boat.. I'm bad about holding things for people.. so far I haven't been burned to the point I couldn't sell it later..

[RascalArms]

If the power goes out you better have cash.
If you want to make good deals you better have cash.
If the socialists win the White House you better have more cash.

While I agree having some extra cash laying around never hurts, if there’s a major power outage (storm, emp, etc) the ability to actually pay cash for items isn’t realistic nowadays. Retailer’s registers and inventory systems depend on power and most aren’t equipped to operate without it.
Being in the food industry I can assure you that when the power goes out and you stop hearing that electronic “beep” because that bar code doesn’t scan at the register, it’s standard operating procedure to stop all transactions (like you have a choice?) and either wait until power is restored or cancel the purchase altogether. Some retailers might actually have a temporary backup system where a short power outage would still allow them to finish the transaction at hand but that’s it. They would then instruct all customers to leave and lock down the store.
It’s not like the old days when a cashier could use a calculator and add up the cost of items and still sell them to you if you paid in cash. The systems today are dependent on computer software that controls almost everything...from reorder and replenishment, inventory forecasting-management and purchasing/procurement procedures.

Cash won’t be any good to you if there’s a long term power outage and the grid actually goes down...including the ability to purchase just basic essentials like food and gas.
The amount of chaos this little overblown virus has caused recently will pale in comparison to the seriousness of a long term power outage, trust me.

[texan4ut]

I use cash back credit cards for most everything then pay it off the next month. Free money. I get 5% cash back with my Academy card on my purchases then pay off the balance so a 200.00 purchase save me 10.00 and I then pay off the card. I never pat interest because I pay it off. Same with my Discover card. I don't use any cards I don't get cash back or has an annual fee. Learned that from a old boss I had. He used his American Express card to buy a car one time and got a ton of airline miles. The next week he got a car loan at his bank and paid off the card. Free money.

[JHT]

While I agree having some extra cash laying around never hurts, if there’s a major power outage (storm, emp, etc) the ability to actually pay cash for items isn’t realistic nowadays. Retailer’s registers and inventory systems depend on power and most aren’t equipped to operate without it.
Being in the food industry I can assure you that when the power goes out and you stop hearing that electronic “beep” because that bar code doesn’t scan at the register, it’s standard operating procedure to stop all transactions (like you have a choice?) and either wait until power is restored or cancel the purchase altogether. Some retailers might actually have a temporary backup system where a short power outage would still allow them to finish the transaction at hand but that’s it. They would then instruct all customers to leave and lock down the store.
It’s not like the old days when a cashier could use a calculator and add up the cost of items and still sell them to you if you paid in cash. The systems today are dependent on computer software that controls almost everything...from reorder and replenishment, inventory forecasting-management and purchasing/procurement procedures.

Cash won’t be any good to you if there’s a long term power outage and the grid actually goes down...including the ability to purchase just basic essentials like food and gas.
The amount of chaos this little overblown virus has caused recently will pale in comparison to the seriousness of a long term power outage, trust me.

I have friends who have waited in line for gas for four hours only to find out they are only accepting cash payments.

If you get in a jam somehow and you cant find your phone how will you pay for things?

I bet the guy in the OP's post didn't want to let him pay for the whatever on his AMEX of Visa. If so he would have charged more than he was asking.

Solar powered calculators work without power. Generally speaking businesses know the cost of what they are selling. When things go south here businesses that stay open on cash sales usually rake it in.

I don't think my lawn guy or the contractors that remodeled my house know what Pay Pal is.


The virus has nothing to do with this issue.

[RattlesnakeDan]

While I agree having some extra cash laying around never hurts, if there’s a major power outage (storm, emp, etc) the ability to actually pay cash for items isn’t realistic nowadays. Retailer’s registers and inventory systems depend on power and most aren’t equipped to operate without it.
Being in the food industry I can assure you that when the power goes out and you stop hearing that electronic “beep” because that bar code doesn’t scan at the register, it’s standard operating procedure to stop all transactions (like you have a choice?) and either wait until power is restored or cancel the purchase altogether. Some retailers might actually have a temporary backup system where a short power outage would still allow them to finish the transaction at hand but that’s it. They would then instruct all customers to leave and lock down the store.
It’s not like the old days when a cashier could use a calculator and add up the cost of items and still sell them to you if you paid in cash. The systems today are dependent on computer software that controls almost everything...from reorder and replenishment, inventory forecasting-management and purchasing/procurement procedures.

Cash won’t be any good to you if there’s a long term power outage and the grid actually goes down...including the ability to purchase just basic essentials like food and gas.
The amount of chaos this little overblown virus has caused recently will pale in comparison to the seriousness of a long term power outage, trust me.

I agree with that but...it works well with the neighbor's eggs, meat, guns, ammo, chainsaws, gas cans etc....

[sharpstick35]

Don't keep your extra cash in your gun safe, it is the obvious target. leave a few 100 in there but get a second smaller safe for large amounts and keep it hidden somewhere. if thieves get in they will spend all their time on the gun safe and not find the $$$.

[jaker_cc]

Sounds like you wanted that Mule that went up for sale yesterday.

[armadillophil]

If you are trying to find a deal then you better have cash. I buy old cars and motorcycles all the time. You better be ready to drop everything and bring cash if you want to make the deal. There are times I didn't have all the cash but left 1000 dollars and picked up as soon as I could get to bank.

[BowSlayer]

I had a guy come buy a stock trailer from me a few years ago. Pays me 1800 cash and asks if he can leave it with me for a few days. I said sure. These old trailers don't have titles, just a bill of sale and no vin#, so he really has no record and neither do I. Well , a month later he still hasn't come back for it. I can't remember the guy's name and don't have his phone number anymore. Now I am concerned that if it disappears and he comes back he will be pretty mad. It took me some creative online work to find the guy's number after calling a half dozen people from old phone records. He said he forgot all about it, and says thanks for not selling it to someone else. lol

What in the world did Joe Biden need a stock trailer for?

[armadillophil]

****! If I had seen the mule for sale yesterday I would have bought even though I dont need it. That was a no brainer.

[bermise]

Keep cash in your gun safe.

I recently had the same issue. My bank is closed due to Covid. I could only access the ATM. Thankfully the guy gave me time to get all the money out. It was very frustrating though

Yes and post on a lot of public forums about it.