Most monetary transactions nowadays take place electronically. But there are still many people who use paper money. This post will flesh out all the reasons why no one should use paper money, not even Dave Ramsey followers.
See, the problem with paper money is that it’s an unsustainable way of using currency. Pretty soon, paper money will only exist on the outskirts of society. Everyone will soon be using smartphones to pay for everything. Credit cards are even considered bulky and inconvenient by today’s standards.
The Dave Ramsey envelope system will need to be revamped very soon. That or his target market will stay focused on the elderly who are too stubborn to change their ways.
Furthermore, paper money is dirty. Heck, most bills have traces of cocaine on them. Why? Many cocaine users use rolled up bills for snorting the illegal substance. After snorting, they don’t just throw away the bill, they put it back into circulation. Those drug-addled bills eventually end up going through an ATM, where the traces of cocaine gets scrapped off upon entry. Then other bills then go through the ATM, thus contaminating everyone’s bills.
Bills are also just plain full of germs. They are quite disgusting really. The average bill stays in circulation for years. This means thousands of people will have used that bill beforehand. I’m not a germaphobe but having thousands of people touch something doesn’t ever seem like a great idea to me.
Bitcoin is definitely proving why paper bills are becoming a thing of the past. All Bitcoin transactions occur electronically. Bitcoins are never turned into a physical form. Physical money costs a lot to produce, costs a lot to distribute, and costs a lot to reproduce once the original bills and coins become unusable. Google ‘cryptocurrency’ for more information.
Spending with paper also means you get absolutely no rewards. Many debit cards have rewards. Most credit cards have rewards. Heck, even several secured credit cards have a nice rewards system. But not paper money. No one cares that you just bought a car with $10,000 in cash. You get no free airline miles, no cash back, and do not pass go and collect $200.
Also, paper money is dangerous to have lying around. In the even you are robbed, the paper money is absolutely gone for good unless the criminal is caught and you can somehow prove that money was yours. Tricky. There’s no digital trail to follow. Who’s to say that $10,000 wasn’t someone else’s? When using plastic, after a theft, you can simply call the financial institutions and have them deactivate your card immediately. This can happen very quickly with every financial institution. There’s really no excuse to having a lost or stolen card rack up transactions unless you didn’t notice and didn’t cancel it quickly.
It’s the 21st century and things are getting easier than ever before in human history. Why not embrace the future and spend all your currency in a digital fashion? It’s clean. It’s rewarding. It’s safe. It’s the future.
Of course, many people will still find a reason to use paper for a few more decades. But sooner, rather than later, tangible currency will become a thing of the past.
“When I was your age… we had real money.”
I’m a personal finance freelance writer and webmaster. I welcome you to visit me at www.thefrugalpreneur.com