One Word Sunday: money

for One Word Sunday

Cash. Get it. Use it.

“That will be $2.50.”  The person on the other side of the counter proffers a credit card. “Do you possibly have cash?” I ask.  “No, sorry.”  “That’s fine. No worries,” I say as I run the card, in the process, incurring a charge to the business, a charge that’s completely unnecessary and impacts every business, small ones more so than larger ones. And just so you remember, anything raising the cost of doing business, eventually gets passed on to the customer.  That’s you and me.

While I’d love to see credit card companies not charging businesses for accepting credit cards, I realize that’s not going to happen. I’m encouraging you as a consumer to carry cash for small purchases, purchases of $10 or less.  It’s an easy way to support small businesses as well as to do your part to keep costs down.

While my boss hasn’t said what she’s charged per credit card use, it’s simple math to realize that as the amount of the purchase gets smaller, the percentage of the sale taken by the credit card company’s fee gets large; the percentage, not the amount.  One local grocery story has stopped accepting credit cards for sales under $10 A;do doesn’t take credit cards at all, only debit or cash.  I don’t know how many other businesses might do this, but if we all started using cash for small purchases, yes, even at McDonald’s or other large companies, it would go a long way to showing support for business, particularly those smaller, local shops we profess to support.

It doesn’t cost  you anything extra.  But it allows businesses to keep a bit more of their profits.  That means they can pay their employees a bit more, expand, hire another person, or just go on vacation a day longer.  All good things.

So next time you’re at the ATM (one where you’re not charged a fee, please) or at the bank, get some cash.  Use it for those under-ten-dollar (or your country’s equivalent) purchases.  It won’t cost you anything; in fact, it might make you spend less when you actually see the money go out, not just put it on the plastic.  But it will help the owner of your favorite tea shop, coffee shop, local hardware store, deli, or other store.  And that helps all of us.

Sunday sayings

Money without honor is a disease.
~ Balzac

Poverty wants much, but avarice, everything.
~Publilius Syrus