If you’ve walked into a local establishment of late, you might have noticed the signs warning that any purchase beneath a certain dollar value will have to be paid for in cash. 

And if you’ve walked into a local establishment, plunked a small item down on the counter, then patted your pockets only to realize with a sinking stomach that you do not, in fact, have the dollar bills to pay for said item in cash, you’re far from alone. 

Like some 93 percent of Americans, the paycheck I earn at my day job is directly deposited into my account, and the money I earn as a owner of a small photography business has to go through my business bank account for legal and tax reasons before I ever see a dime. Carrying cash is hard, and not just because I’ve abandoned purses to help take that extra weight off these aging shoulders. 

Many of us rarely see cash, and procuring it requires making specific trips to an ATM. 

But the spate of complaints I’ve seen about these policies, and the number of innocent cashiers I’ve seen berated for business decisions troubles me. It’s not their fault. Nor, for that matter, is their boss really wrong for making a small business decision that creates what amounts to a minor customer inconvenience. 

In fact, as a small business owner who dreads adding up the number of fees credit card companies and apps take from me every year, I can’t fault a single one of these local establishments for drawing a hard line. 

Fees often come in the form of a percentage plus a particular amount of money. For example, Venmo’s business accounts see one of the lowest fee surcharges at 1.9 percent of the transaction, but the digital wallet service then takes an extra 10 cents out of each transaction. 

Should someone be paying for an item that’s just $1, the surcharge itself will be mere pennies, but that 10 cents adds up quickly. 

And Venmo’s fees are some of the lowest out there. Visa, Mastercard and other big credit card companies take an even bigger cut. 

Now consider that credit card payments make up about 28 percent of all transactions in the US, just slightly behind debit card payments at 29 percent. Cash brings up the rear at just 20 percent. Business owners are seeing their profits eaten up by fees right and left. 

As consumers, we love our credit cards for their convenience and for their rewards. I say we because I’m just as guilty as everyone else out there at showing up at the cash register without cash on hand, only to smack myself on the forehead when I remember the new rules. 

But at the end of the day, we all have a choice. Do we pony up a little more for the sake of convenience, or do we make the point to take time to hit that ATM? 

Whatever your choice, you might want to make it before you run out of milk.