As cost-of-living pressures continue to climb, people are looking for creative ways to save. One method gaining popularity on social media is called "cash stuffing". It's a reinvention of the old envelope system our grandparents used to use, and it's bringing back the use of physical cash.
I haven’t used cash for anything except dodgy Facebook and Gumtree buys in a decade. I currently have the better part of $1000 in cash in my wallet that has collected because I just never use it. I haven’t entered a bank branch in probably a similar time frame, and they (BankWest) closed the branches near here so I’m not even sure where to deposit it if I wanted to.
You know what I like about bank accounts? You don’t get drunk and leave your bank account in the back of a taxi home. And a house fire doesn’t burn down your bank account. There’s also a slightly less chance that people will break in to your home and steal your bank account, though it’s probably a coin flip compared to scammers and what not.
But at what cost? Sure the individual will save in the short run on the occasional bag of dog food, but society at large will lose options that avoid tracking and outside intervention. The push for online shopping isn’t for your convenience, it’s for control over your life and your spending. In the future there will be only a handful of companies total, and they’ll essentially become the government if we don’t wake up and shake shit up.
If you have enough money to support local retailers then absolutely - it’s important.
But if you’re struggling to the extent that you’re envolope budgeting to make sure everything gets a share, then you’ve got bigger more immediate problems than Costco becoming so big you get your law degree from there.
I haven’t used cash for anything except dodgy Facebook and Gumtree buys in a decade. I currently have the better part of $1000 in cash in my wallet that has collected because I just never use it. I haven’t entered a bank branch in probably a similar time frame, and they (BankWest) closed the branches near here so I’m not even sure where to deposit it if I wanted to.
You know what I like about bank accounts? You don’t get drunk and leave your bank account in the back of a taxi home. And a house fire doesn’t burn down your bank account. There’s also a slightly less chance that people will break in to your home and steal your bank account, though it’s probably a coin flip compared to scammers and what not.
You’ll also pay more by going into shops and using cash…
Big bag of dog food from local shop, £65.
Same bag from online only retailer with free shipping? £38.
Cash only is not a good way to budget.
But at what cost? Sure the individual will save in the short run on the occasional bag of dog food, but society at large will lose options that avoid tracking and outside intervention. The push for online shopping isn’t for your convenience, it’s for control over your life and your spending. In the future there will be only a handful of companies total, and they’ll essentially become the government if we don’t wake up and shake shit up.
Imagine having enough money to have the luxury of making moral choices with it lmao
If you have enough money to support local retailers then absolutely - it’s important.
But if you’re struggling to the extent that you’re envolope budgeting to make sure everything gets a share, then you’ve got bigger more immediate problems than Costco becoming so big you get your law degree from there.