I don't use my credit card at the grocery store. I used to use debit card every week, but I was sick and tired of being scared that somehow my debit card would be declined due to a compromise of my account or technical difficulties. Now I pay cash, but do you ever get worried that all of your groceries will stay there and get embarrassed because you couldn't pay the cashier? I tend to calculate my bill as I shop and check my balance on my phone before I check out to make sure that I haven't overspent. That way I don't have to deal with these kinds of issues. I never use credit cards at the grocery store because I don't believe that I should be using credit to pay for every day expenses. It's a bigger thing for me to think that I owe money out for groceries and that something might happen and I won't be able to pay it off.
Yes, I used to get terrified all the time, not so much because I thought there would be a technical difficulty, but I always had the fear that somehow I had less in my bank account than I thought I did. In fact, it was a real fear, because that has happened to me more than once, just not at the grocery store. Now I pay cash more often than debit, and I keep a closer eye on what's in my account than I did in my youth, so I'm not nervous about it anymore.
I keep a close eye on my checking account balance via online banking. I mentally count up grocery basket if I don't think I will have enough to cover my purchase. If I don't think I will have enough, I will delaying purchasing a few items until my next shopping trip.
I tend to pay mostly cash, for much the same reasons. I find that if I actually have to hand over cash for my grocery shopping, I spend less, because I think even worse than having a card declined is counting out the cash and not having enough. It's cut my impulse buying considerably - I only buy what we really want. If I pick up something I don't need, I stop and ask myself if I really want to buy it. Usually, the answer is no, and I put it back on the shelf.
I pay for my groceries using my debit card. First I go to my bank's website and make sure I have enough money in my checking account. Then I look at my store's weekly ad online to see what's on sale. Then I make a shopping list and pull the coupons I need from my file. Planning ahead takes a lot of the fear out of grocery shopping. If you know how much money you actually have to spend, you don't have to worry. I'm lucky that my bank is across the street from my supermarket, so if there was a technical issue with my debit card, I could walk across the street and rectify it.
I used to feel this way, and I'd always feel kind of panicky as I would approach the counter because I'd be scared that I had picked up too many items. Now, though, I'm really careful to keep the total in my head as I'm adding things to my cart, and I always round up a little bit to make up for taxes and any errors that I might make. Ever since I started doing that, I have been feeling a bit better. One thing that I hate is when I reach my total when I've only hit up about half of the aisles in the grocery store, though!
I like to keep old grocery receipts so that I can have a good estimate of what I can afford to purchase. I always check my balance right before I leave the house. Plus, I always keep track of how much I'm spending in the store. I don't worry about being exact, I just make sure that I round up so I'm always above the actual amount. No need to have surprises at the register.
Ahahah, i always had that fear too, even when there is no one else in there. It's just a bother to take all that time going there and then not having money. Never happened to me, but i hope it stays that way.
I have had this problem a couple of times, but it was because of forgetting the day I get paid. Bit of a silly thing to slip my mind, but the result was I was a little angry, but not really embarrassed
I just look at the app on my phone to see the amount of money I have and everything. I hate carrying money with me though and I usually shop when its not busy so I wouldn't get embarrassed lol.
I was the same way for quite a while....at one point it was really bad, now I'm still very attentive to it but I have everything added up in my head before I ever check out and make sure I have more than enough money to cover it.
I have a fixed income budget when I do my grocery shopping so yes I can tend to worry. Especially on those occasions where my list may vary with items. Because I wonder if my ring up will be more then I have on hand. I won't pretend that this hasn't happened to me in the past, because it has. I have actually had a few incidences where the bill was more then I had on hand and I had to deal with it. So, I can totally understand this fear, and have dealt with it myself. Every time I do my grocery shopping in fact.
I usually have this fear as well but luckily I just check out in one of those " do it yourself" machines so I save myself any embarrassment. I even check my credit card balance before I go shopping and I make lists so that I stay on too of my spending. It really helped me a lot over the last few years.
I wish more of the stores around here had self-checkout. The only place that has it is Walmart, and I hate using it because it always alerts someone to come over...
I've never had that fear. I usually only buy the items I need, and I go in to shop with my list. I usually use coupons and that drops the price of many items. It might be because I worked in a grocery store, but there are many other reasons that cards can get declined. I once had a woman who tried to use her debit card and it wouldn't go through/got declined. She had an expired card with her because she forgot to destroy it after she got her new one. Once that was figured out she was fine. I've also seen cards declined because the wrong PIN number was entered. I've always seen a customers card not scan into the machine because the magnetic strip got messed up. There are many different factors. I usually use self-checkout if I don't have coupons.
