I've noticed that a lot of Americans don't seem to have one. Am I right, or do I just know a lot of people who like to 'stay off the grid'?
If I am right; why?
Mostly, people that don't have accounts find them unnecessary. They buy everything with cash, they manage it well, and they keep it safe.
Or, they just feel the gov'ment is out to get them.
But a bank does all that, and also pays you for the privilege of keeping your money.
mexicans always pay with cash.
I actually need a bank account if I want to earn EMA next year, and also to keep my inheritance money in.
I have a bank account but never really use it.
A lot of poorer Americans who lack any sort of education on the financial system ay for everything in cash, and often have their life savings on them. Most middle and (i'd bet) all upper class americans have accounts. I've had one since I was a child.
like I said, all mexicans pay with cash.
I have a bank account, yet I only keep enough in it, to hold it open for when I'd like to have my checks cashed out for free. Which, the last time I checked, I only had $5 in it currently.
I have one savings account and one debit-only account in two separate banks. Having accounts are better than just cash!
I use my bank account all the time. I'm not going to carry all my cash on me. That's ridiculous. I have a savings account and a regular account. I pay for almost everything using my debit card. It's faster ad easier.
I have a checking account, a money market account, and a savings account.
I don't have one that's for personal use, but to be an "employee" of my dad's business I had to have some kind of account opened with $100 in it.
[quote=Stinger;539073]I don't have one that's for personal use, but to be an "employee" of my dad's business I had to have some kind of account opened with $100 in it.
Direct deposit, eh? Most businesses handle money that way now, safer than putting it directly in your hands to **** up with..
I pay with cash.
Slower. Don't want to get stuck behind you in line.
I have several bank accounts. I mean, why not? I don't like carrying much more than $20 at a time on my person, so a debit card is necessary, and that basically means a bank account is the best option.
If you wanna stay off the grid, you're more liable to get screwed. If I didn't care about high tax rates, a Swiss bank account would be the option.
[QUOTE=Ch
I've got a couple of bank accounts, but I mostly deal with cash these days, since my boss pays us under-the-table, thus allowing me to dodge both paying tax and losing my student welfare payments.
I've had an account for eight or nine years. I use credit cards for basically everything.
I even use mine when I get bubble gum. Still faster. Very convenient.
[quote=Dexter;539292]I even use mine when I get bubble gum. Still faster. Very convenient.
Plastic over paper? I ****ing hate credit cards. One of the banks I used to "deal" with, Jewed me through a credit/debit card I carried. Overdrafted me like a mother****er, and overcharged me even though I had $300+ remaining in my account prior to ANY spending. That's what plastic and machines get you, a ****ing bill and a *** **** headache. **** civil-technology, I'll count over swiping anyday.
[quote=Vampiro V. Empire;539426]Cash is way ****ing faster than debit cards have ever been. The amount of times I've got stuck behind someone because the debit machine wouldn't recognize the card is impossible to count.
Maybe you just suck at counting and can't figure out two ones, a five and a ten gives you seventeen bucks.
Maybe he just sucks at counting, PERIOD!
I like how I can buy more stuff with credit than with cash. :cookie:
It takes too long to pay for porn over the net with money orders or cash so I had to get a bank account with a debit card.
lol paying for porn
I have a debit and a savings account. My savings has seen little to no action over the last year or so. It's kind of nice to get paid to ignore money.
On plastic vs. cash, I'd have to say it depends. It's way more convenient paying for gas and groceries with my debit card, but I hate buying fast food or something really small with it. I do like to keep my wallet thin, though.
[quote=Slade;539505]lol paying for porn
Only 'cause I'm too lazy. :(
[quote=Vampiro V. Empire;539426]Cash is way ****ing faster than debit cards have ever been. The amount of times I've got stuck behind someone because the debit machine wouldn't recognize the card is impossible to count.
Maybe you just suck at counting and can't figure out two ones, a five and a ten gives you seventeen bucks.
What?! Are you insane? The only time cash has been faster in the entire time I've been shopping for myself is at restaurants. Everywhere I've been, I see people swiping with debit, putting in their code, and walking out with their grub, that easy. A fifteen-second transaction!
I carry cash most of the time, but I see the speed and convenience of a debit card. Alas, I won't use mine, because I like carrying cash with me 'cause it makes me look so fly:cool:, and strippers don't like it when you wave plastic in their face... yet they get away waving theirs in yours...:(
Canadians come in bags!
we call them... wombs
I have a bank account and store all my moneyz there. I use my debit card for big purchases and try to if I can buy smaller things with cash. Every now again I withdraw money just to have some cash in my wallet for this special emergencies.
I pay for everything with my AmEx card to rack up the mile points (halfway there to a free plane ticket to Tahiti, wahoo). Plus it lets me keep track of what I'm wasting my money on. If I carry cash on me, it's spent before I know it and I seldom remember what it was spent on. With the credit card, I get to see exactly what I bought and can be more conscious about things.
Having said that, I have both a savings account and checking account. 95% of my money is in the savings, I just transfer enough over to the checking when it comes time to pay that huge AmEx bill each month.
Ew, AmEx?! Queenie, get a Visa, don't waste your time on those filthy American Express cards. Unless you have the Centurion card, and not the Charge Cards (ones you must pay in full each month), can it!
I have a checking account with Bank of Hawaii, and I prefer to use my debit card for most things. I do find it to be much quicker and easier than cash much of the time, though I prefer to have a little cash on me for purchases under $5. Usually, the reason many people take so long paying with debit or credit cards is because they are idiots who don't know how to perform a procedure as simple as swiping a card in a card reader and expect the cashier to do everything for them.
I have one simply for the purposes of cashing my checks.
It's rare that I use cards though.
[quote=Wings]But a bank does all that, and also pays you for the privilege of keeping your money.
Right after charging you monthly account keeping fees that end up being more than your quarterly interest payback.
I have a direct-debit account and a savings account with a large sum of money sitting it it at the moment. And no, you cannot have my bank details. Personally, I find cash far more convenient and faster than using my bank card. I basically use my bank account as a means to keep money out of my reach, where I can forget it but know I still have it.
It's not that hard when you go and buy your groceries, or anything else that you have either an exact number in mind that the total will be, or a guideline of how much you plan to be spending and have that ready BEFORE the cashier names the total. It's easier to have a $50 in your hand waiting and hand it over when she says "$48.75" than to start fumbling for your wallet, search through your notes and gather the right amount together.
I use my bank account all [da] time. I'm not going to carry all my cash on me. That's ridiculous. I have a savings account and a regular account. I pay for almost everything using my debit card. It's faster a[n]d easier.
er, didn't some one else say that!!!!!
It's not 100% safe! A week and a half ago some one came to my bank, withdrew $1,000 from my account, just using my name...and walked out with it!!! He didn't even give an account number, and the signature wasn't even close to mine!!!!!!!
while with his, you couldn't even read it!!!! Luckly, since the bank errored, they are taking the loss!!! Now ID will be required to withdraw money.
Basic savings accounts have gain horrible interest these days. That is why Money Market accounts or Cds are better, if you are looking into investing. Many people I know, who have no idea how to invest their money, just stick with a basic bank account though.