I still don’t get the debit card thing. But according to the WSJ, there is a new trend I do understand: establishments accepting cards but not cash.
Slips of paper and metal disks are an inefficient and archaic form of money. 
You have to go to an ATM to get some, and often pay a fee. To use it, you have to wait for the clerk to make change. You have to carry it around. And then there is the growing pile of coins most of us have at home.
And don’t get me started on parking meters. Offering me a nice parking space for half an hour in exchange for a quarter, and only in exchange for a quarter, is more scavenger hunt than transaction.
Plastic pushing out paper has been a long brewing trend. I can remember when grocery stores didn’t take cards. I still feel a little funny charging things there. Today we take for granted that we can use plastic just about anywhere, even in places, like taxicabs, that a generation ago would have seemed implausible as potential users of cards.
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The Wall Street Journal has been running a series modestly entitled "The New Rules of Personal Finance". The most recent installment is on what to do differently now that you know that taxes will be going up.
As readers of this blog know, I’m not all that convinced taxes are on the way up anytime soon. Yes, the deficit and debt are heart-poundingly frighteningly large. And yes, any reasonable observer can see that something has to be done. That doesn’t mean it will be.
I am sure that the Administration and its supporters would, if they had their druthers, raise taxes significantly to get the deficit under control. But I am also sure they are aware enough to see that they just don’t have the political capital right now. And when would they? Next year, during the mid-term election season? In 2011 and 2012, when Obama will be facing what is looking like a tough reelection?
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From some spam I got yesterday:
Dear Amazon.com Customer,
As someone who has shown interest in books and magazines on cooking, you might like to know that you can get a $5.00 instant discount on SmartMoney this month.
I’m not entirely sure what is going on here. It’s possible that it’s just a mail-merge typo, that the text "cooking" was accidentally put in where Amazon meant to write "finance and investing." I like eating as much as the next guy, but describing me as somebody "who has shown interest in books and magazines on cooking" is quite a reach. On the other hand, I do keep buying books about finance, so flogging SmartMoney to me makes some sense.
But there is another, less likely, explanation that I would rather was true. I would rather that the algorithms at Amazon that tell them that people who bought A might like to buy B have found that personal finance and cooking/nutrition/dieting are similar topics with similar audiences.
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Usually, the word "late" carries a negative connotation. But not in the phrase "late edition." So the fact that this ought to have been posted a week ago is a good thing, right?
Speaking of positive and negative connotations, two frugal bloggers raised a similar confusing question on August 28th. Dawn at Frugal for Life posted 
When Frugality Crosses Over to Stealing and Serena at Queercents asked When Does Frugality Constitute Stealing?
Before I read these posts I thought the answer to Serena’s question was "When you’re really good at it." Because a truly great bargain is a steal. Isn’t it?
Alas, both these bloggers meant "steal" in a pejorative sense, which confused me. Apparently, they want to complicate the frugal lifestyle with an unnecessary set of new rules. For example, it’s no good using coupons if you stole the newspaper you cut them out of. Also, under this new regime, smuggling snacks into the movie theatre and then fishing used refill cups out of the trash to get free soda is frowned upon. What’s next? Are you going to tell me I shouldn’t have my friends hold open the fire exit so I can sneak in without a ticket?
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I have a debit card. I think. It’s the ATM card my bank gave me. It’s got the MasterCard symbol on it, so I think that means I can use it to buy stuff. Of course, this is just a theory. In the ten years it’s been in my wallet I’ve never thought to test it out. Why would I?
I am going to admit right here that I am pretty obviously missing something when it comes to debit cards. Debit card transactions now outnumber credit card transactions. This mystifies me. I can think of only three reasons to carry a debit card rather than a credit card.
1) You are considered a poor credit risk and cannot get a credit card.
2) You can get a credit card but will not because of ethical or religious objections.
3) You find it too difficult to overcome the temptation to borrow more than you should if you carry a credit card, so carry a debit card that will limit your spending to cash you actually have.
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You have to go to an ATM to get some, and often pay a fee. To use it, you have to wait for the clerk to make change. You have to carry it around. And then there is the growing pile of coins most of us have at home.
Credit Cards, Media | Frank Curmudgeon | 
September 16, 2009 4:00 pm | 
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