Going underground — Can technology be outsmarted?

I happened to be walking around with extra cash this week and so I’ve been buying things, meals at restaurants, supermarket shopping, and the dry cleaners, with real money instead of a credit card.

The thought suddenly struck me that if I refrained from using a credit card for a year I wonder if I would disappear, in a technology/marketing/junk mail kind of way?

Without the constant refreshing of my name and number would all of the companies that hound me give up after a year and assume I no longer existed?

Without a credit card trail no one could actually track my movements.

Would I soon get a knock on the door from the marketing police wanting to know what in blazes is going on?

Refraining from using your credit card can be done. If you know how to budget and can take that amount of money out of your paycheck every month and keep it in your pocket, it might be a unique experience.

Is it un-American? Is it seditious?

I just ate in a fancy restaurant and paid cash. I felt like spy hiding in a strange city.

Not to go to far down the conspiracy road but I wonder how many times my location is known by companies paying for a credit card usage history.

Of course most rental car companies, airlines and hotels won’t take cash.

Well, there are always taxis, trains instead of planes and cheap hotels instead of Ritz Carltons that I can use.

I’m getting serious about this.