A frugal life is an easy life!

For years we have had the benefits of banks thrust in our faces and seen them take over every aspect of our lives, isn't it time that cash, once again, became king?
"Convenience costs" - I am sure we would all agree, I don't believe that banks can any longer hold the claim that they are our financially frugal friend!

Security:
Wages require a bank account to have them paid into - but did you know, that according the law in England and Wales (Scotland has similar laws) you can request that your employer pays you in cash!
The wage packet was replaced by the wage slip, with money going into bank accounts rather than companies having to pay for security, on payday.
Branches of banks on the high street have become under staffed and many thousands have closed down altogether - yet Natwest are now sending out mobile branches - banks in vans - so how does this equate with the argument that bank transfers offer better security and ultimately save us all money?
Our information:
Data protection laws in the UK are there to protect us all, but seldom do they ever help an individual when banks are clearly at fault.
Months of waiting for reviews of an individual's case - toothless ombudsmen (put in place by the banks themselves) - useless regulations that are never applied unless it stops you from accessing your own account.
When your information is used against you to market goods and services, your information is stored on computers in foreign lands without any of our data protection, when your information is being accessed by call centre staff in countries on the other side of world, again without any data protection laws in place.
How much have you personally, ever been paid for your own banking habits and personal information? I haven't received a penny piece - yet banks (like other businesses) sell on our information for profit!
Convenience:
Direct debits - wonderful things they are, backed by a guarantee that is not worth the paper it is written on!
Banks even make profits from these.
You have a direct debit set up, say to pay for your gas bill every month. Your payments are spread over the year in monthly installments, you are paying in advance most of the year in effect giving your gas company an interest free loan (which is currently being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading) - they put up the monthly amount without 28 days notice in writing (which is the law) which your bank pays out.
You are charged upto £35 for a non payment of a direct debit, which costs the bank around £1 if a letter is sent out to your home, the banks have for years refused to prove that actual cost to them for this process, is the amount they charge the customer.
To get your money back, you spend ages on the telephone (part of the call price is paid to the bank) you may have to write a letter or two, more time and money for you to waste, even after all this you don't always get your money back.
Other bills might not be paid, you might be pushed into an overdraft due to their original error or charges, again this uses up more of your time and money, etc.

The benefits of using cash?
The more frugal people amongst us, are well aware that all is not simply "black and white."

If you buy something from a shop/store, and are asked for your home address, would you give it to the shop? Even when the staff says "it is for your receipt?"
Are you aware that the store then puts you on a mailing list and sends you junk mail, many companies then sell on their "customer lists" to other businesses, making profits on all our information.
Did you know that a till receipt is a contract of sale between a store and its customer? No address is ever needed, as a till receipt is a valid proof of purchase in law.
The issue I am trying to raise here, is that it is not just payments in cash that benefits you, it saves you from marketing in the future, paying in cash saves you in the longer term as well.
Without clubcards for example, Tesco's profit making model would be in tatters, as would every other company who offer these schemes.
Promoted to benefit the customer, giving token discounts (which are added on to prices around the store so they lose nothing) they not only encourage you to return to their store to buy their wares, but they also use this information to market products at you!
Tesco started out hiring a company to set up their clubcards, knowledge is power, so successful was the company, Tesco bought them for millions of pounds!
In the past year, a recession has hit everyone, yet supermarkets continue to make obsene profits as the cost of our staple foods goes through the roof. Tinned goods have shot up in price without reason, even those experts who work in the industries providing the goods cannot explain the price rises.
The supermarkets have stayed typically silent on the issue!

If you pay cash, stores cannot gather information that allows them to provide "footfall drivers" to entice you into their store - it messes their information processes up, which is great for the customer.
Don't use a clubcard or debit/credit card and pay cash, as this hurts the supermarkets/stores:

• they cannot link types of goods sold to areas of people
• they cannot estimate income levels for different surrounding areas
• they cannot link what goods are bought to various income levels
• they cannot target so called incentives to get you into their stores
• they cannot market adverts at your area via television
• they cannot sell your shopping habits/mailing lists on for profits

Look at the bigger picture and safeguard your local businesses.
Paying cash also has other benefits... in my area, a supermarket petrol station is one of the highest prices in the area, they used to be the lowest until they put the local petrol stations out of business, they charge 3p per litre more than their nearest petrol station, and the fuel comes off the same delivery!
Now as a result, we all pay more and have less choice!

When was the last time you negotiated a discount paying with a credit/debit card?
When was the last time a high street business or bank gave you a discount at the checkout?
If you pay cash at your local stores they are often far more competitive in price than you realise and almost always give you a discount.

If I pay my gas monthly in cash at our local garage, I do not have possible bank charges, I am supporting a petrol station (helping it stay in business) I don't have my information sold on, I don't have goods/services directly marketed at me, etc, etc.
For too long people have been pushed towards using banks for the convenience they provide, whilst the individual takes on all the responsibility for any mistakes that occur and risks paying out more money, all ends up.

It is time the people fought back, start using cash where ever you can, rip up their business models and information gathering and start fighting back!