<prompt> Human: So my parents are both almost 60 years old. When I was a kid and wed go somewhere and theyd need to make a small purchase 1-5, theyd be skittish about buying and would often be wondering aloud do I have enough cash? as they scraped around for quarters in the car while definitely having enough to pay with on their debit cards. Meanwhile, myself as an adult I just use my debit card on everything. Why is it that my parents were so skittish about using debit cards for small purchases and what advantages would there be to using cash on small purchases? The only thing I can think of is it being a bitchaccounting headache to reconcile ever little 2 purchase at the end of the month.  <response>: For those to young to remember, there was a time there was a fee for every transaction you put on your card...credit or check card. There was also no online way to check your account. You either waited till the end of the month to see what you spent, drove to the bank, or waited on hold for an operator to tell you over the phone, during normal business hours. 