i only use cash to pay my housekeeper and non-citizen gardeners and such, or sometimes to get discounts on big ticket items like furniture or home improvements.
my bank charges a nominal fee the first time you use your ATM card for goods and services each month (i think it's like $10 or so) then you have unlimited use of it the rest of the month. As someone pointed out, it can be used as a credit card, with no PIN at all, at many places, but my bank covers any unauthorized usage without any penalty deductibles, so the convenience is worth the risk of having to deal with being temporarily without a checking account in the event that my card is stolen and my bank account cleared.
My grocery store has its own Debit Card which is linked directly to my checking account, so i never use cash there.... and i never even write physical checks to pay bills because i do it all online through Quicken. In fact, i don't even have to prompt the payments to go through on my 'fixed' bills such as mortgage, car payments, cable, schooling, donations, etc. It makes life a bit more simple, and all this automation leaves more time for AWAD and other distractions
