Lately, I’ve been hearing more people say we are moving to a cashless society. Some of my younger friends believe a cashless society is already here. It is for them.

In a recent Gallop poll, 64% said they believe payments will become electronic. For those under 50, it jumped to 70%.

Already, the use of cash is dwindling. But most people aren’t ready to make carrying currency a thing of the past.

When a hurricane is predicted we are warned to make sure we get enough cash to carry us through. There will be instances, we are told, when cash will be needed.

I grew up in a household that didn’t believe in credit cards. My mother firmly believed in not buying anything unless she had the money.

Like many other senior citizens, as soon as a bill arrived they drove to the business to pay the bill. With cash, of course.

Many senior citizens still follow that pattern.

My mother saw no reason to use a credit card. She didn’t own one and never thought one would be necessary until she and my stepdad needed to rent a car on a trip.

My mom went to the counter, cash in hand, and was shocked when they told her she needed a credit card or she couldn’t rent a car. The clerk explained if the car was damaged the credit card would assure the rental agency of getting their money.

“OK,” my mom said as she pulled more bills out of her purse. “How much would you need to cover that?”

She was incredulous when the woman told her no credit card meant no car was possible. End of story.

Someone in their travel group came to her aid by offering to use his card for my mom’s rental. He knew she would pay him back.

I think eventually she had to get a credit card for their travel. But she continued to use cash whenever she could.

My mom thought credit cards were a trap that allowed too many people to get in over their heads by spending money they didn’t have.

“If you do that and have to pay interest on what you charged it’s the same as throwing your money down the sewer,” she said.

Well the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My brother and I were greatly influenced by mom’s money management.

That meant we never bought anything until we had the money and when we did use a credit card we made sure we paid our credit card balance before we had to pay interest.

When I talked with my brother a while ago he told me he still hears mom’s voice saying, “It you have to pay interest on a purchase it’s like throwing your money down a sewer.”

My brother and I both use Mom’s envelope system to save for something we want. Every payday we put what we could afford in an envelope. Even a few dollars at a time adds up if we do it long enough.

Every year I saved for what would be our spending money for our family’s Outer Banks vacation.

I took the envelope with cash and carefully monitored our vacation spending. When I still had some cash at the end of vacation I told my family that meant we could go to a great seafood restaurant instead of cooking at home.

One year I decided instead of worrying about carrying cash I was going to use a credit card and pay it off at the end of the trip.

I learned how easy it is to overspend with a credit card. When I used cash I knew when it was gone. It’s harder to keep track of spending with a credit card.

On the other hand, it’s a big worry on a trip to carry a lot of cash. I keep worrying I’ll lose it or someone would steal it.

That happened one year when we were checking out of our rental unit. I left the room briefly to walk our friends to their car. When I came back my money was gone. We had to scrape up money to pay the tolls going home.

So, what do you think is better? Cash or credit cards?

My answer is it’s best to have both.

I’ve noticed some gas stations charge more for gas with a credit card. And several of my favorite restaurants have started charging more if you pay with a credit card.

At first it was only a few restaurants but I’ve noticed more restaurants are doing the same thing. They tell me with their food costs so high they are barely making a profit so they added a credit card charge, usually 3½%.

My younger family members don’t even carry cash. There are many times when they have to quickly find an ATM machine. But theirs is a digital world, with no thought of cash.

There are definite advantages of using credit cards. If you lose cash, too bad. It’s gone.

If you lose a credit card your bank can limit your loss.

Plus, credit cards offer more protection if you have a problem with a purchase.

But statistics show you spend 60% more when you use credit cards.

So you tell me. Will we always need both?

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.