When did you last hold a $50 bill in your hand? The new ones look strange … faintly colored, graphically random.
Cash in hand
You should pick one up sometime to reacquaint yourself with something called U.S. currency. Look closely. It still reads:This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.
Here’s my question: Does purchasing gasoline at Costco constitute a public or private debt?
Between the moment my gas tank is full and the moment I actually pay for the gas, I owe Costco some money. I have incurred a momentary debt, and it seems to me that I should be able to pay it with my U.S. currency.
Just try. In fact, at Costco filling stations, my only choice is to pay with plastic—even though plenty of human attendants arereadily available.
Now, before I get all co*cky and make you think I am always careful to carry the amount of cash I need for the day, let me confess. I struggle with this kind of preparedness as much as anyone. So go easy on me.
Cash keeps us alert
While waiting in the gas line, I pondered what “legal tender for all debts” really means. Then it dawned on me that I needed a few things from the Costco store—items we purchase in larger sizes because it’s cheaper that way.
While sitting there waiting for my turn at the gas pump, I made my list. I also decided to pull out my checkbook to be prepared once I made it into the store. Rats! I left it at home.
There I was, having waded through a sea of fellow shoppers to get inside the door and not about to go all the way home to get it. A quick review revealed that I had $42.23 cash.
From that moment on I was a different kind of shopper.
Before assessing my cash situation, I only wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t forget anything on my list. But now I was thinking about how many items were unimportant so I could cross them off the list.
One after another, that’s precisely what I did. I pondered. Next, I calculated. Then, I compared.
Finally, I arrived at the checkout with only two items in my cart.I got what I needed and spent less than $23 by switching from name brands to the Kirkland store brand for both items.
As I stood in the last line to get out the door, I had to deal with my attitude.
Without realizing it, I was judgmental and critical of all these people with their carts loaded to the rafters and beyond. They don’t even think about how much they’re spending!
- RELATED:How to Shop Online and Pay with Cash
Plastic wake-up call
I worked on myself long enough to come to this reasonable conclusion: The credit-card industry has our number. They know that if they can get us to forego cash in favor of plastic, we’ll spend more—even when we habitually pay the entire balance when the credit card statement arrives OR keep plenty of money in the account to cover debit care purchases.
They know we’ll shop with abandon and care more about what we’re buying than how much we spend.Without a doubt, we all need that kind of wake-up call from time to time.
By the way, there is a way to pay cash for gasoline at Costco. It’s a two-step process that is neither quick nor convenient: Walk into the store and go to Customer Service. Purchase a Costco Cash Card with cash, which is one of the plastic options accepted at Costco gasoline pumps.
Updated republished 11-5-22
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