Cash is king!

I am so grateful that Japan is still a cash friendly society. I was reminded just how much I like cash when on a recent trip to two countries in Europe I couldn't use it easily! Of the two countries (Ireland and Finland) my home country of Ireland is particularly cashless. I knew this in advance so when we got our first taxi I said to the driver upfront "I only have cash", to which he said "Cash is King". It wasn't the only time I heard that expression on our trip. In fact, every single time I used cash the service provider said the exact same thing: "Cash is King". Supposedly the lack of cash is causing all sorts of problems. 

Upon arriving back to Japan the other day I was instantly grateful for how cash friendly Japan is. I really hope that it stays that way. I know they have been encouraging cashless here in Japan since the pandemic began, but it is not necessarily a good thing. There are benefits to a cash flow and on the flipside, if a country becomes to cashless (like Ireland) it has several negative effects. One of the biggest issues is people living beyond their means and racking up debt. And that is exactly why I like cash - you can see how much money you have and are less likely to end up in debt. 

Both my husband and I have credit cards, out of necessity, as for the last twenty years its the most convenient way to pay for airline tickets. Coincidentally before we met each other, we both lived by the motto "if you can't afford it in cash, you can't afford it at all". And to this day, we still live that way. With the exception of our house (and airline tickets as aforementioned), we purchase everything - even our cars - with cash! I think it will take me a long time to adopt cashless, because for me, just like our taxi driver, Cash is King! What do you think?