Black Unicorn wrote:
Sound paranoid? Try this. I'd like everyone who reads this to try and go 45 days without using plastic or writing a check. Just 45 days. If you don't grow alarmist very quickly (like in the first week) I'd like to hear your experience. If nothing else, try adding up a few months of finance charges, yearly fees on your credit cards, transactions fees, check fees, interest lost on no-interest checking accounts... see what you're paying to keep people from looking at you like a criminal.
Depends on where you shop. I was recently at a store where my request to pay with a credit card instead of cash elicited a look of disappointment from the owner-operator. Normally I'd have been happy to accomodate his desire for cash, but when someone else is letting you charge it to their credit card... well... I think the real problem is dealing with big companies who want you name, address, and phone number for their marketing dept. Mom and pop shops would much prefer to cut out the middleman.