Consumer Expenditures

Americans Buy Food And Personal Care Items With Cash More Often Than Any Other Type Of Good

Out of all segments of goods and services, Americans are most likely to use
cash to buy food and personal care items, according to the Federal Reserve

• Americans use cash an average 14.3 times per month to pay for food and personal care items. That means this category accounts for 60% of the 23.7 cash payments an average consumer makes in a month. 
• Housing-related expenses paid for in cash average $136 per transaction, the highest-value for any category of cash transaction. But housing expenses paid in cash only accounted for 1% of total monthly cash transactions. Housing expenses include things like rent and maintenance.
• The average cash transaction value for food and personal care items is the lowest of any segment, at $14. But cash transactions still account for 41% of the value of all cash purchases made in an average month due to how often people pay for these items in cash.

This data was published in April 2014 by the Federal Reserve, based on an October 2012 survey of U.S. residents that was weighted for seasonality and demographics.