Germany is a cash only society. Credit cards are not widely accepted here. It has taken some time to get used to carrying cash again. Before moving here, I used my mileage credit card for everything and just paid it off every month.
While it is a little less convenient, I do think people are less likely to get into financial trouble without the ability to buy anything they want regardless of whether or not they can afford it. I find that I spend less money when I'm paying in cash.
Although everyone pays cash or uses their EC card (debit card), no one uses checks. You don't even get checks when you open your bank account. To pay our bills, we simply give the company our banking information. They then automatically withdraw it from our account.
One of the down sides to carrying all this cash is that it is heavy! Because I'm still learning the language, I generally give any cashier a large bill so that I don't need to have them repeat themselves 10 times before I figure out what I owe. My mountain of change is really starting to pile up. I am continually emptying the change out of my wallet to lighten my load.
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