I never bought anything online at Walmart and never use my credit card or debit card at the store.
Always paid in cash.
I have a friend in IT, big time IT, security and stuff involving top secret clearance, and if I told you what he told me he saw in the Walmart IT building that is located in Arkansas, underground in a former ICBM missile silo, you will freak out.
There will always be a need for cash. It's largely independent of technology and your level of education. Like every solution it has its limitations, but also a couple of unique selling points, so to speak. The idea that you need a bank account and/or a phone number to make payments sounds rather abhorrent to me. There are some who are interested in getting rid of cash, but they are hardly impartial arbiters of the truth. A cashless society is also a society to concentrates power to those in control of the electronic backbone. It is no coincidence that the discussion of eliminating cash resurged at a time of negative interest rates and the question how the central bank could prevent people from evading the negative interest by hoarding cash.
Cash is - to a degree - the economic counterpart to the second amendment.
I never bought anything online at Walmart and never use my credit card or debit card at the store.
Always paid in cash.
I have a friend in IT, big time IT, security and stuff involving top secret clearance, and if I told you what he told me he saw in the Walmart IT building that is located in Arkansas, underground in a former ICBM missile silo, you will freak out.
I will safely asume that you are hinting about purchase behaviour tracking? If so, Amazon and Google are light years ahead in that regards. They both track you even if you do NOT purchase anything online with them or not. Saying that, I do agree your point about buying with cash as much as possible.
Cash is - to a degree - the economic counterpart to the second amendment.
I agree with that analogy but going cashless would present national governments with MANY huge advantages so it will be extremely difficult for them to pass it up for too much longer. The immediate two advantages would be shutting down all of the coin and paper currency minting and printing facilities which would be a major cost savings and the other would be making tax evasion almost impossible since every financial transaction would now have a digital trail.
Cash is - to a degree - the economic counterpart to the second amendment.
I agree with that analogy but going cashless would present national governments with MANY huge advantages so it will be extremely difficult for them to pass it up for too much longer. The immediate two advantages would be shutting down all of the coin and paper currency minting and printing facilities which would be a major cost savings and the other would be making tax evasion almost impossible since every financial transaction would now have a digital trail.
I don't have credit cards anymore. I have a debit card I might use twice a year. I pay cash or write checks when I buy something. Want to stay broke? Keep buying the B.S. the credit institutions are feeding you. THEY are the ones making loads of money on their customers. Studies show that a person spends an average of 20% more on a purchase when they use a credit card. It makes you think a lot more when you're peeling bills out of your pocket to pay for something.
I have 2 credit cards and I only use them for emergency and there has been none.
I use a VISA debit card linked to my bank checking account to pay for living expenses and if there is no money in the account, I don't spend.
My credit cards are just normal cards. No % back rewards. I find that to be stupid. They always sending me email want me to sign up for rewards back program.
Look! If you spend $500, you will get a $25 gift card.
How about I save $475 of that $500 and use $25 of that $500 to buy stuff..
Also my bank checking account is just a normal one with no frills.
My sister has one that gives her change back by rounding up to next dollar.
She spent 1.25, the bank will give her 75 cents back and put it into her account.
So she is always making multiple charges to get those cents back.
She looks for stuff like avocados that were 5 for 1, she bought many of them one 20 cents transaction at a time.
Wife and I use joint Costco Visa's for practically everything. Annual reward check ranges from $500.00 to $700.00 (1% normal, 2% shopping Costco, 3% travel...the latter range from making road trips).
Haven't carried a CC balance in decades so it works for us.
They deliberately don't signage the aisle and move stuff around every night so customers will have to go down each aisle just to find something.
Costco customers end up spending more at the store and buying more items that they weren't planning to purchase when they enter the store
Costco makes millions of dollars more each year because of this strategy.
Also makes life difficult for the employees too.
I went to Costco 4 years ago with a co-worker who is addicted to the place.
His son works at one Costco as a General manager, his wife works at another Costco as an assistant manager, his daughter works at another Costco in another city as a Customer Service manager.
I got talked into signing up for an executive membership for $155 a year.
After they gave me my card, I didn't look around and I didn't buy anything.
We had to go back to work.
I have never been back. There are only so many Costco here and I have to travel 40 minutes to get to one. Not worth my time.
Finally with about a week left in the membership year, I called corporate and told them I never used it. They refunded my money.
I've never noticed stuff changing location except for seasonal items, usually in the back middle of store. But hey, like going to Home Depot/Lowes, I usually walk all the aisles anyway if just for the exercise! The key for me is to shop the later weekday hours when there's no tempting samples, also less people in the store.
BTW, my Costco drive is 45 min. but my shopping list is huge, extremely consistent and very healthy.
He has the slowest internet speed, as long as he can check his email, that's what matters..
He doesn't stream or download any music or movies
He won't shop online or do his banking online.
He definitely will not deal with online dating.
He has a cell phone that his sister gave him and I think it's either a very early iPhone or Droid.
No texting, chatting, messaging,
He is still using it.
Him: "Get off my lawn!!"
Me: "Ok Boomer"
Sounds like a compliment to me.
Maybe this guy lives in the past, and I'm all for that. And I don't mean moping about longing for the good ol' days, that would be depressing. Just not automatically giving in to and accepting popular culture and attitudes, deciding what current fads/ideas might or might not be a positive thing in their life. I live in the past as much as possible (flip phone, no streaming, about to purchase Night Ranger tickets) while enjoying the present as much as ever and looking forward to the future.
He will be still using a flip phone if one of his sisters never gave him a smartphone. I think he is still be using a regular antenna and a VCR to watch regular TV. I don't think he ever sign up for cable.
Best time to go to Costco is early in the morning. Those samples are evil too. That's another way they get people to buy more of items you weren't planning to buy and you don't need.
But man, after watching a little football recently (after long spans of no television), every other commercial seemed like greasy brown fast food burgers/fries/pizza! The advertising is brutal.
But man, after watching a little football recently (after long spans of no television), every other commercial seemed like greasy brown fast food burgers/fries/pizza! The advertising is brutal.
The football fan demographic is one of the most analyzed and best known demos to the advertising industry so they know what the typical football fans like to eat! You won't see any commercials for places like "Whole Foods" or "Pasha's" during an NFL game broadcast.
The key for me is to shop the later weekday hours when there's no tempting samples, also less people in the store.