Cash making a comeback?

There's an easy way for B of A customers to avoid paying a $5 monthly fee to use their debt cards: Just stop using debit cards. Or only use them to withdraw money from your ATMs - B of A won't be charging for that. I understand that the concept of paying for items with currency instead of plastic is foreign to a large percentage of consumers, many of them under 40. It's also extremely uncool. The thing is, it works quite nicely. It also might make people think a little harder about whether the purchase is necessary, and that could be a good thing. Not to overstate the case, but plastic - be it credit or debit - has made spending a whole lot easier, and over-spending is one of the reasons we're in such a mess. BTW, Matthew Pryor of Sound Mind Investing has a good rundown on making the transition from debt/credit to cash.