Good points. I dump change into a change bin, and from time to time take it to some donation jar. Accounting is a good reason to avoid money, but I try to keep track of how much no-paper-trail money I get, and that sum goes into the miscellaneous column when I figure my expenditures. I still find cards too much of a bother for groceries and small purchases. And I travel places sometimes where cards are not accepted. When I went diving in Cozumel, there was something like a 5% surcharge for plastic at the dive shop. Travelers' Checks were the preferred form of payment. And cash for the tips.
Over the years, I have found out if the credit card does not leave my sight, I never have false charges show up. Most credit card thieves get the card number from large stolen databases or in resturants. In the later, a lot of strange charges get rung up when that card is gone.....and a fast service is not the norm, giving plenty of time to order stuff. So the usual procedure is credit cards for all major viable purchases and cash when I do not want the card out of sight.
That's why all the major card companies absorb false charges. They want you to use the card, because of the fees they collect, so they do not charge you for fraudulent charges. I've had three false charges, none of which involved my card leaving my sight, and none of which ended up costing me anything: I charged something in a store; the card never left my sight; and two charges instead of one appeared on my bill. I confronted the store, and they gave some lame excuse about how the machine sometimes mistakenly "remembers" the card number and uses it on the next charge. They immediately reimbursed my card. And on two separate incidents, Mary Kay company in Texas charged my card. I actually believe it was an honest mistake, and that a customer had a number close to mine and there was a mistake in a phone order. My bank canceled the charge, and after the second incident I had the card canceled and a new one issued. If it had been intentional fraud I think they'd have charged a lot more stuff, and done it at many stores. Mary Kay does not check to see if the customer name matches the name on the real card account, and apparently does not check any confirming information, such as a billing address or security code.
very very few do. i pay by credit card on 3 different verizon wireless accounts for various family members. only one account has my name on it.
