Need some groceries? You head down to the supermarket, and on the way you put some fuel into the truck with your gas loyalty card. You stock up on what you need, and then you pay for the groceries with your debit card. After you get home, you log onto ebay to see if you've sold anything. You have, and the money has gone straight to your paypal account.

Next day is pay day. Your money goes straight into your bank account. You can check your balance online, and figure out your budget. You have direct deposits set up that pay your electricity and water bills. With this months pay, you decide to buy that new chair for your living room, so you flip through a catalog, and then phone up the store and give your credit card details over the phone.

This isn't the future. This is today. It is already possible to live a completely cashless existence. The only times we really use money is for minor purchases. Maybe a cup of coffee, or something out of a vending machine. Everything else is done by debit or credit card.

How did this happen? Well, for starters, plastic is easier. Paper money can get lost. You can leave it in your pocket accidentally, and end up washing it. If you want to buy something that costs a few hundred dollars, you don't have to carry a big wad of paper through the streets to purchase something. Debit cards are faster if you want to buy something from another state, or even another country. Posting money is insecure and slow. Paying someone with electronic currency, through paypal for example, is quick and fairly secure.

That's why consumers prefer plastic to cash. But what about business owners?

Well, impulse purchases are easier if you have instant access to cash and credit. If you spot something in a store, but you don't have enough in your wallet to cover it, you don't have to make a special trip to the bank. Most of us, given time to think about an on-the-spot purchase, choose against it, or shop around. But a debit card means we can give into that instant-gratification urge, and buy something without thinking twice. Extra bottle of wine or a fresh cream cake with your groceries? Into the shopping basket it goes. Amazon sends out a newsletter and tells you DVD's are 10% off? No need to walk down to a store with your wallet, you can just log-in and pay on the spot.

Of course, plastic comes with some negatives too. Impulse buying might be good in the short term, but in the long term it spells consumer debt and potential recession.

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