How much cash do you usually carry with you?

[JayhawkCO]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

Other than a reaaalllllly crumpled note, I've not had any issues with bill readers in the past 10 years or so. Granted, I probably put cash in a vending machine maybe once a year.

[Rothman]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

Nah.  Bill readers have been fine for decades.

[mgk920]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

I agree with the latter, 'plastic' is very profitable for those who issue and process the cards.  As I have said many times before, the USA needs higher value everyday circulating coins and a POX! on those politicians who trashed the Dollar!

Mike

[JayhawkCO]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

I agree with the latter, 'plastic' is very profitable for those who issue and process the cards.  As I have said many times before, the USA needs higher value everyday circulating coins and a POX! on those politicians who trashed the Dollar!

Mike

That would just create more denominations of cash that I don't carry.

[SEWIGuy]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

I agree with the latter, 'plastic' is very profitable for those who issue and process the cards.  As I have said many times before, the USA needs higher value everyday circulating coins and a POX! on those politicians who trashed the Dollar!

Mike

That would just create more denominations of cash that I don't carry.

Exactly. I wouldn't carry cash regardless.

[Rothman]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

I agree with the latter, 'plastic' is very profitable for those who issue and process the cards.  As I have said many times before, the USA needs higher value everyday circulating coins and a POX! on those politicians who trashed the Dollar!

Mike

If it weren't profitable for the vending machines themselves, then the credit card payment wouldn't be available.  I don't see how the issuer and processor's profits are relevant.

[Scott5114]

Another thought: The fact that vending machines now take credit cards shows that those that carry cash are in the minority.

Or it shows that inflation over the decades has made coins useless, and automatic bill readers still don't work very well.

Nah.  Bill readers have been fine for decades.

*laughs in slot attendant*

[ZLoth]

Nah.  Bill readers have been fine for decades.

*laughs in slot attendant*

I have lost count on the number of times a bill reader had rejected what I had thought was a perfectly good dollar bill. As it is a mechanical part, it is subject to dirt, wear, and tear, plus when the United States redesigned the greenbacks, new validator code had to be deployed out. A dollar coin lasts much longer than a dollar bill.

While I have used the credit card validators at work, they typically add 10¢ to each transaction. I've ended up carrying a roll of quarters in my backpack for that type of situation.

Of course, at casinos, most (if not all) of the machines only take paper bills of all values, and it has been ages since the machines went from spitting out coins in a tray to issuing a paper coupon with the simulated sound of coins. Aren't all of the machines "leased", thus it's easier to keep the bill validators up to date?

[mgk920]

Banknote acceptors and dispensers are notoriously expensive to buy and maintain and are similarly unreliable (also very subject to jamming) whereas coin handling equipment is simple, inexpensive and very long-term reliable.  Yes, many bill acceptors can be 'trained' to recognize and accept new design notes.  The coins themselves are also very long lived compared with banknotes and the materials in worn out old ones can easily be reused in new ones. (It is still common and normal for me to receive half-century+ old coins in everyday circulation here in the USA.

Mike

[elsmere241]

I do a 50 per week regiment for small stuff.  On trips I'll carry some 30 per day.  Who knows if I have to carry Quid Cash in the Fall, but definitely have to pull some Euro cash.

I was reading one of my father's old journals a while ago, and he mentioned having to cash a traveler's check in each country when he traveled in Europe.  (This was in 1986, before debit cards were popular, and long before the Euro.)

When I was a missionary in Italy in 1992-1994, we got our monthly allowance in cash.  It was hard for some of us (including me sometimes) to hold on to all of it at the end of the month, so we would often try to cash an American  personal check.  (It wasn't easy.  One of my last times I had to figure out what conto corrente meant - forunately the teller spoke at least little English.)  Now why we didn't all think of having travelers' checks or just using our debit cards in the ATM, I don't know.  Right when I went home, they set everybody up with a debit card account, where withdrawals were in increments of 50,000 lire (about $30 then) unless you wanted to empty your account.

Anyway, I don't carry a whole lot of cash now.  My wife just carries her $2 bill collection.  About the only time I take cash out of the ATM is when I get a haircut; we use it mostly for deposits when my father sends a check or my mother-in-law sends a wad of cash.

Last week when we were stuck at O'Hare for eleven hours (see "Minor things that bother you" page 360) Frontier gave us "virtual meal vouchers".  I had to go online to claim them, and attach my debit card.  What we spent with that card (had to use the credit option) we got reimbursed for.

[Rothman]

Travelers' checks were the norm when I was a kid.  Glad that credit cards have taken over, though.  Much less of a hassle.

1992-1994 is a strange timeframe not to know about travelers checks.

[JayhawkCO]

Debit cards were just kind of coming on the scene as I remember too. My dad definitely just had a "cash card" which couldn't be used at vendors, but only at the ATM. Might have been a little earlier than '92 but not much.

[SEWIGuy]

Debit cards were just kind of coming on the scene as I remember too. My dad definitely just had a "cash card" which couldn't be used at vendors, but only at the ATM. Might have been a little earlier than '92 but not much.

Yep. I had an ATM card from when I opened up my first checking account in the mid 80s until debit cards came around in the early 90s.

[elsmere241]

1992-1994 is a strange timeframe not to know about travelers checks.

They were available where we stayed for two months in Provo first, but a lot of us didn't think to act.

[Rothman]

1992-1994 is a strange timeframe not to know about travelers checks.

They were available where we stayed for two months in Provo first, but a lot of us didn't think to act.

Eh, for my time in Russia, it was more about timing your conversions of dollars to the plummeting ruble more than anything.  Convert too soon and the value would be decimated sooner and you found yourself going broke.

Ruble went from $1:P2500 to $1:P5000 over the seven months or so I was there.

[elsmere241]

Eh, for my time in Russia, it was more about timing your conversions of dollars to the plummeting ruble more than anything.  Convert too soon and the value would be decimated sooner and you found yourself going broke.

Ruble went from $1:P2500 to $1:P5000 over the seven months or so I was there.

The lira was about 1000 to the dollar when I got there and peaked during my time there around 1700.

[Scott5114]

Nah.  Bill readers have been fine for decades.

*laughs in slot attendant*

I have lost count on the number of times a bill reader had rejected what I had thought was a perfectly good dollar bill. As it is a mechanical part, it is subject to dirt, wear, and tear, plus when the United States redesigned the greenbacks, new validator code had to be deployed out.

The dirt is the big problem; most bill acceptors are robust enough that wear and tear isn't going to be a major concern. You also have the problem of bills that are just barely damaged enough that the BA rejects the bill, even though to the naked eye they look perfectly fine. (Some of this is because the BA looks at the bill under UV light since that is a good way to detect counterfeit paper, but if the bill has gotten some sort of UV-reactive substance on it, it will be rejected even if it isn't visible under normal light.)

While I have used the credit card validators at work, they typically add 10¢ to each transaction. I've ended up carrying a roll of quarters in my backpack for that type of situation.

I used to get rolls of dollar coins when I was in situations where I was using vending machines heavily. Much easier than futzing around with paper bills or quarters.

Of course, at casinos, most (if not all) of the machines only take paper bills of all values, and it has been ages since the machines went from spitting out coins in a tray to issuing a paper coupon with the simulated sound of coins. Aren't all of the machines "leased", thus it's easier to keep the bill validators up to date?

The Chickasaws lease their machines; other casinos may or may not. (In Vegas, I think the larger casinos own their own, but the machines in places like neighborhood bars and gas stations are leased.) I think the casinos that own their own machines actually can perform better maintenance on them, since when they need to flash the BAs they can just start at machine A-01-01 and run through the facility until they get to J-89-12 or whatever at the other end. With leased machines it's more like "Yeah, all the machines on B-11 work just fine, but B-09 belongs to Sucky Gaming Group and we haven't seen any of their techs in weeks. Oh, and B-13-06 is down because a drunk guy pissed in the BA and fried the interface board and a new board is on backorder." (That last thing actually happened at a casino I worked in.)

Some tricks for dealing with cantankerous BAs at casinos:
- Cashout tickets generally work better than bills because they are less complex to validate and they are freshly printed on fresh(ish) paper.
- Usually it's just one particular machine that's being a pill. Try putting your money into the machine next to it, cashing out a ticket, and putting that in the machine you want to play. Usually it will take it just fine. If that doesn't work, try putting it in a machine across the aisle—those might have a different model of BA and take your bill just fine.
- Some casinos allow you to take cash to the cage and purchase a ticket there. (This was an option at the Chickasaw casino I worked at, though it was rarely exercised.) You can also get the cage to swap out your bill for one that might work better.

[Rothman]

Eh, for my time in Russia, it was more about timing your conversions of dollars to the plummeting ruble more than anything.  Convert too soon and the value would be decimated sooner and you found yourself going broke.

Ruble went from $1:P2500 to $1:P5000 over the seven months or so I was there.

The lira was about 1000 to the dollar when I got there and peaked during my time there around 1700.

A decrease in value doesn't sound like a peak.

[kkt]

Oh, and B-13-06 is down because a drunk guy pissed in the BA and fried the interface board and a new board is on backorder." (That last thing actually happened at a casino I worked in.)

You don't work for the Las Vegas Bureau of Tourism, do you? 

[Scott5114]

Oh, and B-13-06 is down because a drunk guy pissed in the BA and fried the interface board and a new board is on backorder." (That last thing actually happened at a casino I worked in.)

You don't work for the Las Vegas Bureau of Tourism, do you? 

Nope, but no worries, that happened in Oklahoma.

[jeffandnicole]

While I have used the credit card validators at work, they typically add 10¢ to each transaction. I've ended up carrying a roll of quarters in my backpack for that type of situation.

A typical soda at a convenience store costs an extra 10-20 cents for tax.  Most vending machines are comparably priced at regular retail prices, so the 10 cents is about the same (actually, often cheaper) than what I would've paid as a tax.

Some tricks for dealing with cantankerous BAs at casinos:
- Cashout tickets generally work better than bills because they are less complex to validate and they are freshly printed on fresh(ish) paper.
- Usually it's just one particular machine that's being a pill. Try putting your money into the machine next to it, cashing out a ticket, and putting that in the machine you want to play. Usually it will take it just fine. If that doesn't work, try putting it in a machine across the aisle—those might have a different model of BA and take your bill just fine.
- Some casinos allow you to take cash to the cage and purchase a ticket there. (This was an option at the Chickasaw casino I worked at, though it was rarely exercised.) You can also get the cage to swap out your bill for one that might work better.

In casinos, I don't really recall having an issue with the bill reader taking my bills.  My bigger issues in casinos have been getting my casino card to work in the slot, and the ticket printing out legibly as sometimes the ink doesn't print properly.

In NJ Casinos, for the longest time the bill readers didn't accept $1s. They would only take $5, $10, $20, $50 & $100 bills. More readers now accept $1 bills.

[ClassicHasClass]

My wife just carries her $2 bill collection.

Okay, you'll have to explain this one. Why $2, and how many?

If it's to mess with clueless cashiers, I can get behind that. 

[elsmere241]

My wife just carries her $2 bill collection.

Okay, you'll have to explain this one. Why $2, and how many?

If it's to mess with clueless cashiers, I can get behind that. 

She likes $2 bills for some reason.  When she was working as a cashier a little while ago, if someone paid with one, she'd take it and replace it with two dollars in another form.  They've come in handy in a few emergency situations over the years.

[JayhawkCO]

My wife just carries her $2 bill collection.

Okay, you'll have to explain this one. Why $2, and how many?

If it's to mess with clueless cashiers, I can get behind that. 

She likes $2 bills for some reason.  When she was working as a cashier a little while ago, if someone paid with one, she'd take it and replace it with two dollars in another form.  They've come in handy in a few emergency situations over the years.

<snarky hat on>If a few toonies can resolve a situation, I can't imagine it was that much of emergency.<snarky hat off>

 

[elsmere241]

My wife just carries her $2 bill collection.

Okay, you'll have to explain this one. Why $2, and how many?

If it's to mess with clueless cashiers, I can get behind that. 

She likes $2 bills for some reason.  When she was working as a cashier a little while ago, if someone paid with one, she'd take it and replace it with two dollars in another form.  They've come in handy in a few emergency situations over the years.

<snarky hat on>If a few toonies can resolve a situation, I can't imagine it was that much of emergency.<snarky hat off>

 

Most of the time, they've accompanied whatever cash I have in my wallet.