Hi Mrs D, i have always only used cash for everything i buy, i know it's old fashioned these days but just feel a lot safer that way, i have a bank auto teller card for any emergencies, which nearly all retailers and other's in OZ will accept no problems, so i am also covered for like any major repair's for my car that may pop up if traveling a long way away from home too.

My reluctance for having a credit card is that if say my wallet got stolen or lost or the possibility of someone hacking into my credit card details on the net is a worry, i know you can notify the credit card company when you realize its been stolen or lost but i don't need all the hassles of proving it was not me that wasn't spending the money in the time i had not noticed it gone, i don't use internet banking for the same reason, there are a lot of very clever cyber thief's out there that are very capable of getting into what is thought to be a secure site, they can even get through very sophisticated large banking securities and transfer people's money to other overseas accounts, so this is my reasons as well as the extremely high interest rates that credit cards seem to attract.
I am even considering closing my Paypal account, there is already a bogus Paypal site been found, so it looks like postal cheques are for me if buying stuff off the net, but i do appreciate your thoughts.
thanks,
Brian