18 Comments

Fascinating! I love Denmark, all those cheerful beer-drinking Vikings living amidst the most picturesque countryside and architecture…I lived in very different Germany, south of the border in Hamburg most of my life. Skagen, a charming artists’ colony where the North Sea meets the Baltic, I remember as a beautiful, horrendous traffic jam. (one road through the middle of), and the point of the beach absolutely COVERED with blue jellyfish on the North Sea side, orange jellyfish on the Baltic side, meeting and mingling at the point of confluence. Ah, memories.

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I understood something very different when I read the title of your post😂😂

The only place I know of, that they will only take cash, is on the bus. You can buy a ticket via an app, but if you just ask the driver for a ticket, they will ask for cash. I think it is still like that.

The weird thing is that there are places that do not accept cash at all. That is especially common in businesses that work in some kind of collaboration, like streetfood markets, where all foodtrucks share a lot of expenses, like cleaning of the common areas etc.

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Norway is almost totally cashless as well. I love it!

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Those mowers are like Roombas for lawns. Also available as pool cleaners. Expensive to buy, but generally hands-off to operate.

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I enjoy reading your articles and used to love my trips to Denmark. I gave up cash and now only use my phone here in UK. I was triggered by a visit to my son in Australia when I realised he never carried a wallet. We have friends here with a beautiful sloping garden and the little robot lawnmower just keeps on crawling over the garden while we sit on the terrace admiring the view!

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Interesting about the drive away from cash. I am concerned about this mainly because in places in the UK like farmer's markets or even hairdressers cash is preferred as the cost of using card machines for the suppliers is really high. Also we have a culture of charity tins so cash is always welcome there. (Apple Pay? Bit difficult if you don't have Apple equipment.) I did enjoy my trips to Denmark - the chocolate was sooo good.

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I moved to Portugal from the UK in 2023, before that I ran a small business and much preferred cashless payment. Yes I paid for a Stripe or Square machine (even though you can use a phone app free) but the cost of it and processing was peanuts compared to the cost of time and transport to deposit cash in a bank. It was very cost effective for me. I do get the concerns about leaving older people behind though (although we're in our 60s and 70s and don't have any issues).

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The machines which link to phone apps are quite good but the network connections in some areas are very iffy (and likely to get worse as they phase out 3G. Of course, these days people in their 60s and 70s should have had plenty of experience of using pcs/tablets and phones by now.

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I found it's actually the 40s and 50s that are more likely to (proudly) announce they don't have much use for technology but I'm quite a bit more concerned about the lateer 70s and above who didn't embrace tech and are now quite disenfranchised.

We were also stuck on Ischia when their banking system went down in 2022. We couldn't pay contactless or get money out of the ATM to pay for food. We were lucky in that we already had tickets to leave the island but it made me realise that as much as a contactless champion I am, there are issues that need to be addressed

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I guess I'm lucky as I worked in IT from the early 80s and ran a big department as well as writing software. My concerns are with the young ones who have not grasped the concepts of scams and security. It must have been a bit worrying for you to be stuck on Ischia - I confess I find contactless a boon when doing the supermarket run but always have cash in the wallet along with the moths. Of course in Portugal you can't really get by without cash - especially in the bars and coffee shops - but at least they seem to have plenty of ATMs.

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I notice while traveling that PT had many more ATMs than other countries.

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Yes, I think so too. Certainly more than the UK

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The same in Norway!

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I visited Denmark many years ago and loved it. Great country (not so nice weather, but that was really the only "not so good" thing)! About the cashless option, when we travel it is great, but looking at it from a different point of view, it is mainly about profit (again): All these payments envolve fees, that do not exist when traditional cash is used. I got (more) curious about it and I found a "good" article about it, that states the obvious: it's all about allowing people to choose, instead of making electronic payments mandatory. I'll share it here, as food for thought: https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/personal-finance/budgeting/a-cashless-society-what-are-the-pros-and-cons. Cheers!

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Hi Nance,

I think u need a lot of money in Denmark, just not any cash

Big lawnmovers are electrical powered and GPS controlled

Knud

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You're right...we did notice a difference in the cost of living in Denmark compared to Portugal. But based on our limited experience, I think Switzerland still has you beat.

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Hi Nancy - since you left Palm Desert we have a new arena and ice hockey team. The arena only uses credit cards - even in the soda machines. I think the USA is headed in the same direction as Denmark. Hi to Denise. BB

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This is a great article, thank you.

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