Cash is Queen

Cash is Queen

There was a time in covid where we thought that cash would die out. Do you think that will happen?

Having been at a car boot again today and having been quite successful (I was so pleased with my £102 profit in cash!!!!) when I was looking around and I found it really refreshing watching people just use cash. And with the movement from cards to phones it was interesting to see that people also weren’t on their phones.

Yes I sold things at a loss but it was a clear out and I have cash. One of the reasons businesses fail is not because they aren’t profitable but they don’t have enough cash to pay their bills.

This week as I am doing some consultancy work the importance of cash flow was apparent as the business I am working for forgot to process my invoice. This caught me by surprise a bit. People aren’t thinking about cash in and out they are just thinking about can I afford it overall – I think this is where payday loans are bad as people think they can pay for it ‘when my money comes in’ then they get into a bad loop and then can’t pay it. My advice only pay it if you have the money there and then.

I now have saved quite a bit of cash and used it to buy something off facebook marketplace – so it is good for saving and also nice to have in the house,

There are lots of people on Instagram doing cash stuffing envelopes which is nice to see and that got me thinking can going back to using cash benefit us?

I used to think that if I had cash I would spend it – but now with contactless I think its even easier to spend – just tap tap tap and all of a sudden you have spent £100.

Now I think cash is a great way to budget and because you are physically handing it over you notice how much you are spending and when it is gone its gone.

These I think are the key benefits of how using physical money can help us;

Tangible and visible- like I said above – the physical act of giving the money away helps people be more mindful of their spending and also the value they are getting for what they are buying

Budgeting – when using cash you have a physical amount or boundary if you like to what you can spend

Privacy – its actually safer – this week someone at works card got used by people in America and then the bank had to cancel and he had to wait for a new card. That doesn’t happen with cash – the risk of identity theft or fraud has gone

Acceptance: Cash is accepted by everyone

Emergencies – in terms of emergencies or natural disasters cash can be a lifeline for people facing disruptions of electronic payments. Cash transactions remain resilient in situations where power outages, network failures, or other unforeseen circumstances render digital payment methods inaccessible. By keeping a stash of cash on hand for emergencies, individuals can ensure they have access to essential goods and services when other forms of payment may be unavailable.

Although I may not move totally towards cash I do like having some as a back up and I have taken on the budgeting aspect but by other means. And I will continue to enjoy the car boots – still loads to get rid of. I also like the sustainability aspect of car boots – people don’t want to buy new and people don’t want to send it all to landfill. It’s a win win.

Laura and Nicola x