Physical cash

[northtexan]

I was reading a story about Sweden going cashless and how it was hurting the economy due to not enough physical bills in circulation. It seems that it could backfire if there were ever an outage since everything is electronic. Even here in the US a lot of people do not use physical cash to purchase items and if there were a bit outage it could be difficult to get certain things that are needed to survive, some could argue that there could be bartering if there is no cash available.

I am wondering what an average amount of cash on physical possession most keep.

Personally I have a few K in cash either at home or in the safety deposit(won't help if outage stated above happened)

[jebmke]

At any given point I probably average ~$25-30.

[Nicolas]

I don't hold cash.

[livesoft]

Recently I took all the change from my dresser for the past 24 years, added it up, and spent it on a cheap lunch. It was that little.

I see I happen to have a $20 bill in my wallet today. That's more cash than I typically carry.

So put me down for a huge whopping $20 in physical cash.

[Ged]

Usually I don't carry much. However after my experience with Sandy and the credit card / ATM system being down for a week I run to the bank every time there is a hurricane warning.

[mindboggling]

I like to have about $50 on me and maybe another $50 to $100 at home.

[buckstar]

We keep a couple thousand dollars next to the gun in the safe. Just in case.

[StevieG72]

As little as possible < $100.

Cash can be lost or stolen.

A few thousand in a safe deposit box seems counterintuitive since safety deposit boxes are in the bank.

[Jnick55]

$300 to $500 in my wallet. It is handy when I need to pay a restaurant bill and don't want to wait for the credit card process; when the credit card processing equipment is not working; or when I can negotiate a discount for cash. But I realize that I am a dinosaur. That point was driven home to me at the hardware store a few weeks ago when the customer in front of me wanted to buy an item costing $1.89. The purchase was voided when the cashier told him that cards were accepted only on purchases of more than $10 and he did not have the cash to pay it. I could not imagine anyone going to the store and not having $1.89 in cash.

[Cheyenne]

I'd like to keep $1MM in a shoe box in my bedroom closet but haven't been able to so far.

[blueblock]

When I go to the ATM, I usually withdraw $200. It usually lasts 2-3 months, sometimes longer.

We also keep about $500 stashed away at home, just in case it's needed. It rarely is.

[westcoast]

a thousand in the house twenty to forty in the wallet.

[NotWhoYouThink]

Lately my cash has mainly gone to tips. What are the courtesy van drivers and valets going to do if we all quit carrying cash? My kids don't know what to do with it.

I used to save quarters, starting in college when they were necessary for laundry machines. Then I kept saving them, rolling them, and cashing them in now and then for a nice dinner or other treat. It's been years now since I participated in enough cash retail transactions to collect enough to bother rolling up. There are a few rolls somewhere, maybe if the New Madrid fault ever cuts loose again I'll use them to buy something.

[Cycle]

I have $6 USD, my wife probably has $10 or so. Farmers markets are closed this time of year, so not much of a need for cash except for the local 2nd run theater and tips on groupons. Might be time to sell some stuff on craigslist and replenish the coffers.

[bhsince87]

I keep $200-$400 in my wallet, $200 in my backpack, $200 in each vehicle, and $10k at home in small fire safes. Mostly $20's and $100's

I buy a lot of stuff off craigslist, etc., so I do get some turnover on it.

The $200 in my truck came in handy a few weeks ago when I spent an hour in the grocery store, and realized I didn't have my wallet after everything had been scanned!!!

[123]

I'm in the old school crowd. Wallet usually has $200 - $400, often another $500 in cash in the house. Even though I've pretty much converted to paying everything with a credit card (and paying them off in full each month) I haven't yet given up the comfort feeling of having cash to pay for most of my purchases if there's a credit card system failure of whatever kind. I used to go to an ATM 3 or 4 times a month for $400 each time in cash, now I got maybe once every month or two. Cash primarily gets used for restaurants and purchases in ethnic markets that don't do credit cards.

[9liner]

I try to keep anywhere from $20-$100 in the wallet primarily for tips. Having worked in a restaurant earlier in life, I prefer to tip in cash. If I'm traveling, I may occasionally withdraw more but tend to use my USAA rewards card as much as possible. The card "makes" money for me. Cash does not.

[radiowave]

I withdraw 200 from the ATM and that usually lasts my spouse and I 2-3 weeks. I bring my coins down to my local brick and mortar bank every 3 months or so and get about $50-75 back.

[cfs]

Currently my travel bag is holding a large amount of dollars and a good amount of euros, all waiting for my next trip to Europe [traveling in the next couple of months, dates pending completion of my 2017 taxes]. What's in your wallet? In my wallet $155.00 USD, and $1.66 USD change in my pocket. Gracias por leer ~cfs~

[9-5 Suited]

$500 at home as a convenient ATM when we need cash. $20 in the car in case need gas and forgot wallet. $60 or so on average in wallet for misc expenditures that require cash.

[jsapiandante]

We usually have no more than $200 in change every month for tips, church offerings, etc. The only time we carry more than that is if we are going on vacation.

[oldcomputerguy]

We keep enough cash stashed at home to cover one typical month of grocery shopping.

[Kenkat]

I'd like to keep $1MM in a shoe box in my bedroom closet but haven't been able to so far.

Yeah, I have the same problem. It’s hard to find a good sturdy shoe box anymore, so I am kinda stuck.

[Kenkat]

I usually get $200 from the ATM, usually around 3 times a month or so. I usually pay cash for anything under $10.

[VictoriaF]

$500 to $1,000 in the US Dollars.

~$1,000 (total) worth of Czech Kronas, Euros, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, and Swiss Franks. A couple years ago, I've acquired some Polish Zlotys. This summer, I will pick up some Serbian Dinars. I like arriving to foreign countries with some local cash. I pay with credit cards wherever I can, but if I come across a place that does not accept cards, I don't want to rush to an ATM.

I am always very selective about ATM machines. I don't worry as much about the exchange rates as the security. I prefer ATM that are inside of or adjacent to a bank, and that look solid. If an ATM machine is stand-alone and does not release my card, it could be difficult to resolve it. If an ATM machine is wobbly, it's more likely to be hacked. Of course, solid ATM get hacked too. And so I inspect them before inserting my card, and cover my hand when I am entering my PIN. I use ATM on weekdays, during daytime, in busy places. I withdraw cash closer to the end of my trip, so if there is a problem I can resolve relatively quickly when I arrive home.

Victoria

[Dantes]

We start each week with $400. That's groceries, a dinner out, $40 for the car, and walking around money. We are not particularly frugal. Cash is so much simpler for purchases, the (no longer) new chip cards are painfully slow.

[Artsdoctor]

Good question. Any earthquake preparedness list is going to include cash and I'm surprised that people in hurricane-prone areas don't keep some cash around. Consumer Reports and Center for Disease Control both recommend having cash in case of an emergency. However, the recommendations are really all over the board regarding just how much to keep. It's true that ATMs can go down during a catastrophe and hopefully you'd be able to drive around to find one that's available somewhere out of the problem zone; however, the disasters I've lived through have taught me that everyone else is doing the same thing so I'd like to avoid something as aggravating as standing in a line at an ATM; there's usually a lot of other things to be concerned with.

I don't think you're going to need a huge stash of cash but I'd think most would want to have access to at least a few hundred dollars in case of emergencies.

[22twain]

When I go to the ATM, I usually withdraw $200. It usually lasts 2-3 months, sometimes longer.

Same here. My wife carries less, probably about $50, and replenishes it with cash back from her debit card when she buys groceries.

We also keep about $500 stashed away at home, just in case it's needed. It rarely is.

We don't generally keep any extra cash around the house.

I get more cash before I travel. These are usually road trips for pleasure, never business-type trips. (I wasn't in a line of work that called for business travel, just very occasional trips to academic conferences.) The last few trips I haven't used any more cash than I use at home. I bring the cash home where it sits in a drawer until I gradually use it up instead of visiting the ATM.

[SocalLiving]

a thousand in the house twenty to forty in the wallet.

This is exactly what we do.

[madbrain]

$0 at home, as close to $0 as possible in my pockets.

[Blueskies123]

If you live in a disaster prone area you should have several K. I have seen the power out of 6 weeks in a near by town and I have been without power for a week twice in 23 years. Stores only took cash.

[Doom&Gloom]

$200 in wallet.
$200-2000 at home--used to be more. Rarely a need for more now.

[stimulacra]

I usually keep between $50 - 100 in cash in my wallet at any given time. Helps me stay under budget for lunch and when running weekend errands (haircut, coffee, etc…).

I usually keep four or five dollar coins in the coin pocket of my jeans and it's come in hand countless times for small purchases or giving strangers money without having to expose my wallet.

If there's a hurricane or tropical storm coming I'll take out between $300 - 500 in cash.

[gusan]

$100 each for me and DW and ~$3K at home for emergencies.

[bhsince87]

I keep $200-$400 in my wallet, $200 in my backpack, $200 in each vehicle, and $10k at home in small fire safes. Mostly $20's and $100's

I buy a lot of stuff off craigslist, etc., so I do get some turnover on it.

The $200 in my truck came in handy a few weeks ago when I spent an hour in the grocery store, and realized I didn't have my wallet after everything had been scanned!!!

Quoting myself here, is that OK?

Anyway, now that Prime MM, etc. are paying close to the inflation rate for the first time in years, I will probably drop my $10k cash money at home down significantly.

[welderwannabe]

I keep between $100 and $200 in my wallet. I feel better having some cash.

[miamivice]

Rather than keeping cash on hand, keep a good supply of toilet paper. It's the most habit forming product that you can purchase, and if anything weird happens, people will want toilet paper a lot more than they'll want cash.

[WildCat48]

In the US I keep about $200-$300 on me at all time and about 2-3K in the house. In my house out of the country, I keep about 25K in a mix of USD and local equivalent in cash.

[Jnick55]

My close friend bought the adjacent house from his at the end of a remote road in rural New England a few years ago. It was owned by a family of survivalists who kept largely to themselves. When my friend tore out the walls to renovate, he found slightly more than $70,000 in silver coins tucked up against the studs. An extreme example of keeping emergency cash on hand.

[stimulacra]

My close friend bought the adjacent house from his at the end of a remote road in rural New England a few years ago. It was owned by a family of survivalists who kept largely to themselves. When my friend tore out the walls to renovate, he found slightly more than $70,000 in silver coins tucked up against the studs. An extreme example of keeping emergency cash on hand.

Junk silver or bullion? What does he plan to do if they remember and come asking about it?

[MnD]

My close friend bought the adjacent house from his at the end of a remote road in rural New England a few years ago. It was owned by a family of survivalists who kept largely to themselves. When my friend tore out the walls to renovate, he found slightly more than $70,000 in silver coins tucked up against the studs. An extreme example of keeping emergency cash on hand.

Junk silver or bullion? What does he plan to do if they remember and come asking about it?

Probably a member of the oldest generation of the family did that and didn't dare mention it to anyone in the next generation before passing or losing mental capacities. Nobody alive and of sound mind "forgets" about $70K in the walls when they sell a house.
Exhibit A about how bright it is to stash physical cash and precious metals.

[3dream3]

I keep less than $60 on me and nothing really at home. However, our kids currently have a couple hundred from their allowance and what not at home so I suppose that they won't mind if we raid their stash in an extreme emergency

After reading this thread, it does have me rethinking about keeping more cash at home... just in case.

[unclescrooge]

Rather than keeping cash on hand, keep a good supply of toilet paper. It's the most habit forming product that you can purchase, and if anything weird happens, people will want toilet paper a lot more than they'll want cash.

You can always use cash as toilet paper. Is the converse true?

[sergeant]

I'm an AP in blackjack and have kept my gambling money in cash for years. I think there is about 20 grand in a fire safe file box located in the fire proof gun safe.

[Sidney]

Those holding large amounts of physical cash and/or bullion or coins might wish to review their homeowners insurance policy. Mine has a fairly low limit ($250, I think) on what is covered in that category.

[willthrill81]

I keep at least $300 in cash on me at all times, and we keep at least a month's worth of spending cash at home, plus another three months' worth in precious metals.

Most of the cache at hand is not insured, but it is very well hidden in a fire resistant box. It's a risk we're willing to take.

I refuse to be subject to electronic banking in order to buy next week's groceries. Funky stuff can and has happened; just ask anyone who's been through a major hurricane if cash is better than plastic.

[hilink73]

I was reading a story about Sweden going cashless and how it was hurting the economy due to not enough physical bills in circulation. It seems that it could backfire if there were ever an outage since everything is electronic. Even here in the US a lot of people do not use physical cash to purchase items and if there were a bit outage it could be difficult to get certain things that are needed to survive, some could argue that there could be bartering if there is no cash available.

I am wondering what an average amount of cash on physical possession most keep.

Personally I have a few K in cash either at home or in the safety deposit(won't help if outage stated above happened)

I have around 15-20k of Swiss Francs and Euro at home for any emergencies where I need cash fast (grab and go).
(I count that as part of my emergency fund. The rest is in a savings account, which I can access at least the next day.)

(Also: negative interest rates and negative consumer price index in Switzerland in the last years.)

[DavidW]

I am old school so I carry $200 or so with me at all times. I pay everything in cash except Amazon purchases and fuel at cashless locations. Cash helps me spend less. I hear the argument that if you carry cash, you can get robbed. But no one carries cash anyways so the crooks are finding other ways.... Also, I dress like a bum so no one bothers me...

[Rhadamanthus]

I rarely have cash so I never keep any on me, though I have $40 right now somehow. I do plan ahead for when I know I'll need some, but I'd rather just not ever have to touch the stuff (doesn't most have cocaine residue?) but on the other hand, I also hate credit cards. Quite the conundrum. (My preference would be to use debit cards, but I use credit cards mostly as the least of the three evils.)

[Cheyenne]

I keep between $100 and $200 in my wallet. I feel better having some cash.

I once had my car towed in NYC and I had to pay $150 CASH to retrieve it from the vehicle impound.