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Ask the Readers: How Much Cash Do You Stash?
Friday, 10th October 2008 (by J.D.)This article is about Ask the Readers, Odds and Ends
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“How much cash do you carry in your wallet?” my friend Michael asked at lunch last Sunday.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Somewhere between $40 and $100, I guess. That’s how much I take out of the ATM when I need it. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I read something the other day that said the average person keeps about $175 on hand. That seems like a lot.”
“That does seem like a lot,” Kris said. “I don’t keep much in my purse at all.”
“Some people do carry a lot of cash,” I said. “I know people who not only keep a lot in their wallet, but have stashes hidden around their house.”
Michael nodded. “When my mother died, we found $1500 tucked in various places around her place,” he said. “She didn’t have much money — she was on food stamps — yet she had all this cash hidden in her house.”
“Maybe it was her way of feeling wealthy,” suggested Michael’s wife, Laura.
“We’ve never kept cash around the house,” Kris said, “but now the economy makes me nervous. Maybe it’s irrational, but now I feel like I’d like to have some on hand. Just in case.”
“My father was a worrier,” I said. “Back in the 1980s, he was always worried about some looming economic disaster. He didn’t have much money, either, but somehow he found a way to hoard a few ounces of gold and silver. But he didn’t like having it in the house. He was afraid it might be stolen. Instead, he created a ’safe’ out of a short length of pipe and two caps.”
“It looks like a pipe bomb!” Kris said.
“It kind of does,” I agreed. “When we were cleaning mom’s house recently, I found Dad’s old pipe safe. It was in the pantry, behind the canned food, which was the same place he always kept it. He hid it in plain sight.”
“At first I thought there might still be some gold or silver in it,” I said wistfully, “but there was only a handful of dead spiders.”
“I wonder what’s normal,” Laura said. “I wonder if most people keep money around the house.”
“I don’t know,” I said, “but now I’m curious. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Later that evening, I spent Too Much Time searching the internet and digging through personal finance books, looking for some facts on this subject. Finally, in a book called Are You Normal About Money?, I found the following stats:
- 96% of women carry a purse or a wallet.
- 61% of men carry a wallet, while 6% use a money clip, and about 20% carry cash loose in pockets.
- The average purse or wallet contains about $104.
- 13% of American adults use a piggy bank, while 28% collect change in a jar.
- Just over 15% of Americans keep a serious stash of cash around the house — about half of these hide it, while the other half keeps it someplace obvious.
- Another third of the population keeps a small amount of cash on hand for emergencies.
- More than half of us don’t keep any extra cash in the house at all.
I know this is kind of an awkward thing to ask, but I’m curious if you folks keep money stashed around your house in case of emergency. How do you decide how much to carry in your purse or wallet? Have recent bank woes affected your habits? How much cash do you keep on hand?
October 10th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Each evening I empty my pockets of change and place the coins in a jar. About once a year I empty the jar and use the money to buy something special. Usually this process yields a couple hundred dollars.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:13 am
In my purse I have the normal cash I need for that day (we do the envelope system) and I usually have a twenty or 2 tucked away.
At home, about a year ago, I decided it was a good tool to be prepared for an emergecy to have some cash on hand. I pulled a couple of hundred in small bills from our emergency fund and tucked it away. I have been contemplating the need for more. What if our bank was shut down for a week or so and we couldn’t even use or debit card or checks? I haven’t decided what I will do yet though.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:15 am
If I tried to find cash around the house for some kind of emergency right now, we’d probably be up the creek without a paddle. We’re so card-dependent (bank card, not credit card) that it’s not funny.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Up until very recently I never had cash in my pocket. Once we instituted the allowance policy I will keep at least $20.00. Right now I think I have $60.00. I have been known to sock away money from side jobs for something I really want but don’t feel the $$ should come from the home budget. The most has probably been 1k. We keep a change jar by the washer and one on my husbands dresser. He stashes his allowance on his dresser and keeps $20-40 in his pocktet.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:20 am
I keep only about $20 in my purse. My husband usually keeps $40-$50 in his wallet. I’ve never kept a stash of cash in the house before, but the economy does have me a bit concerned. I’ve been toying with the idea of setting aside around $500 in a drawer in the house, just in case.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Right now I have maybe $70-$100 without looking. This is extremely high for me but my brother just had me buy something for him online with my credit card and paid me in cash.
Normally I have $20 or so. I am less likely to pull out my CC than cash but I’m pretty damn cheap both ways.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:29 am
I tend to carry no more than $40 in my wallet. I try to only use the cash when credit cards are not accepted. As for around the house, we do keep spare change around, but not much else.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:29 am
My fiance and I have started an allowance thing 50$ per pay check each and the remnants of that can normally be found in each of our wallets.
I’m curious, though. Do I have to worry about my savings if it’s less than 100,000 and in a bank that is FDIC insured? What do I do if the bank does **it the bed?
I’m considering moving my savings to a local credit union, but if my savings are automatically insured, I want to take advantage of the easy, stream-lined internet access that I have.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:30 am
I rarely have more that £50 (about $85), as that’s all I ever take out of the cash machine. Around the house, I just have my small change jar, which I doubt has more than £1 in, and a stash of the right coins for using the laundry (less than £5). But you’ve made me think now, especially since we’ve had quite a few banks freeze accounts while they sort out the compensation after they go bust. I don’t think my bank is at risk, but I’m wondering whether it might be worth having a couple of hundred safe somewhere just in case. Although I’d be worried about security - I live in student halls, and it would be one hell of a temptation to the low-paid cleaners if they stumbled across my hiding place…
October 10th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Today I have $10 in my wallet. It is the first cash I have laid my hands on in about 4-5 months. I don’t usually carry cash and have none stashed in the house either. I would rather have my money in my high yield savings account to earn a little bit of interest than keep it in the house. This way, I can kind of keep up with inflation and I don’t loose the cash flat out.
There’s my two cents.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:32 am
I’m with Joel - we use cards all the time and hardly ever use cash. At the most, I will pull $100 or so if I’m getting ready to travel for work so that I have cab fare once I reach my destination (which is of course ultimately reimbursed by my company). Even that is increasingly unnecessary as many cabs have begun to accept credit cards. In my day to day life, I may have as much as $20 or as little as $0 in my wallet. We track our expenditures carefully on a daily basis, so using cards and not overdrawing (or overspending on credit cards) has never been a problem, and cash just flies out of our hands too easily with no idea of where it goes!
October 10th, 2008 at 5:34 am
I usually carry $0 on me… that’s the best way I’ve found to not spend it.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:35 am
I keep a 100 bucks in the bug-out bag plus 25 silver dollars. I have some change in jars that add up to 10 bucks or so.
I only keep about 20 bucks in the wallet.
I did pull out 500 bucks this week (kept in wallet) just in case the banks freeze up for a day or longer.
I am in command of my money so if nothing happens in a week or four I will put that 500 back into the bank.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:36 am
I don’t carry any cash with me. My husband starts the week with $50.00. We don’t have a cash stash at home. We do have a pretty impressive array of penny and change jars. If the banks were to close for a week we have enough food and other basic living supplies on hand. I do believe we will start squirreling away a few extra dollars a week, maybe starting with cashing in the penny jars?
October 10th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Depending on how i feel i used to keep about one to two hundred dollars stashed in my sock drawer just in case i ever spontaneously needed cash and wouldn’t have time to go the the atm. For instance when ordering a pizza, going out to a club with friends with no previous notice etc.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:38 am
I think the most I’ve had on hand for years is about $30. I use plastic for practically everything, since I find that easier to track. I’m a little nervous about the small amount of cash I have right now–about $20, not counting what’s in the kids’ piggy banks. What if I can’t get money from my bank for whatever reason? I hate to be a worrier, though, so I’ll probably not run out and withdraw more just because things look bleak right now. I’m pretty sure my cards will still work for the foreseeable future.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:38 am
pretty soon i will be adopting an all cash policy as you suggested where i take out only the money i intend to spend for the month as a means of budgeting.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:40 am
My husband and I are grad students, so I think we have $20 in our emergency kit, about $5 in my wallet, and $5 sitting on his dresser.
For our wedding we received about $300 in cash and having that much really made me nervous. So, we used it to pay for the hotels on our honeymoon.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:45 am
i usually have $20-100 on me. not counting the change jars at home … we don’t currently have anything stashed there but are working on stashing an emergency fund of ~$1000 in the house in cash (after rebuilding the emergency fund in the bank that i had to dig into for major engine work this summer - thank goodness for that emergency fund!!)
-s
October 10th, 2008 at 5:45 am
I’ll keep up to $40 in my wallet at a time. Sometimes I’ll pull out more from the ATM, but it’s for a purchase I plan to make immediately (like a bus pass or my monthly dojo fees).
I keep coins and leftover foreign currency (usually no more than about $100 CAD) in a little shelf-divider next to my desk.
Really, that’s about it. The rest of it stays in the bank.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Like others, I’m really card dependent. I’ve found that cash mysteriously disappears and I don’t do well at tracking my spending. Whereas if I pay using my debit card, I have a very easy record of what I’ve spent on in my online banking.
We do, however, have a huge change jar that is used for saving for things like spending money on vacation, a nice dinner out, etc.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:51 am
I keep $50 for emergency evacuation purposes. And we have a few other bits and pieces around the place.
I don’t carry much on me unless I’m traveling away from home. If I don’t have it, I can’t spend it! I only get cash out of the bank when I need it at places I can’t pay by card.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:51 am
In light of the article thought this might make you smile
Safe sales increase in France - As banks fail, more Parisians save their money and valuables at home.
http://www.expatica.com/fr/articles/news/Safe-sales-increase-in-France.html
October 10th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I normally carry <$40 with me, and we keep about $200-300 at home in case of extreme emergency.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:55 am
I take out money for my eating out for the week ($10-$20). We have some cash stashed at home, but it’s less than $30. My husband takes out more money and keeps it in a wallet.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:55 am
My partner and I take out about $60-100 in cash each week for each of us - helps us coordinate our spending and budget, and cuts down on bank fees - and keep a couple hundred at home in case of an emergency. (That made more sense in hurricane country where there was a chance that electricity would cut out ATMs.)
October 10th, 2008 at 5:59 am
I usually have $20 or less in cash. I’m more inclined to spend cash, if I have it, than to use my debit card, and it’s harder for me to track what happens to it. About the only thing I use cash for these days is on Saturday mornings when I go to the farmers’ market.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:00 am
I normally keep between $0 and $40 in my wallet, and my wife does the same. No cash is stashed in the house.
I live in Nebraska and work for a power company, so I am always traveling to small rural towns. You would be surprised at how many restaurants and gas stations out here can’t take a credit or debit card, and won’t take an out of town check. Before I go anywhere for work, I always take about $60, just to pay at those places that won’t take my company credit card. (I get reimbursed for the cash I spend)
Also, a lot of sporting events around here only take cash at the concession stands, so I always have some before I go to high school and college games.
I have no plans to start saving cash. I have full confidence in my credit union.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I keep very little cash, just between $0 and $100 in my wallet. I rarely use cash, so I don’t keep much. But this does concern me, for a few reasons:
* If I need emergency road service (I don’t have AAA), I would likely need cash.
* A bank collapse could inhibit my ability to retrieve cash or use a credit card. (A month ago this seemed ridiculously unlikely.)
* A natural disaster could inhibit my ability to buy essentials if credit/debit/ATM cards are not working.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:05 am
I never have cash on hand, and my wife doesn’t either. With debit cards, we just haven’t had a need to … we DO have an emergency fund through ING that we could pull several months worth of income from, if needed, but on a day-to-day basis I’d say we carry less than $10 cash between the two of us.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Even though I do almost all transactions with plastic. I am a worrier and always need to have cash reserves. My comfort zone is:
$40 - $200 on me
$500 - $1000 CDN in the house
$500 - $1000 USD in the house (usually travel leftovers)
$4000 in CDN gold maple leafs in the safe deposit box
The rational engineer in me knows that I am losing money every year through inflation and loss of interest, but I can’t shake this security blanket.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:07 am
i usually carry about $20 with me. i rarely ever use cash. and i collect change in a spaghetti sauce jar.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Right now I have $1 and some change. Money tends to fly out if I use cash. I can track better using debit card. I also have a change jar that probably has $30-$40 in it right now.
I have money in to separate banks and the likelihood of both going down, let alone at the same time, is unlikely. The only thing I need to be concerned about is natural disaster and lack of access to ATM.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I keep $20 to $140 in my purse most of the time and we take cash out to keep at home every few months. We use it for the boys’ allowances, my husband when he travels, pizza delivery (not often), babysitters, and general small emergencies (if the kids had to take a cab home or something like that). We keep it mostly in smaller bills. Change gets collected in a set of cannisters until they get almost full and then the boys count and we cash it in.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Rational people don’t stash their cash around their house. It’s like taking your kids out of school because you think they will get beat up. Money should be working and earning interest. While cash is convenient, that fact also makes it easier to lose or have stolen. After I lost my wallet with about $80 in it, I never keep more than $20 in there unless I’m going on a trip and know that the cash will get spent.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Like most, I rarely keep cash on hand. If I do have cash, it was because I needed cash to make a cash only purchase (ie. craig’s list) and have change from it. I have found too that the cash disappears, and it is difficult to track - although now I have a wallet account in quicken to try to follow it. We do pull out cash if a hurricane is coming our way because ATM systems go down. Typically right after it goes back into the bank.
Right now I have $3 in my wallet.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:13 am
I always have a minimum of $20 in my wallet, folded and hidden in a little pocket. Right now, I have an additional $30 in my wallet, which is about par for the course.
I’ve got a few bucks in quarters in my car for tolls and parking meters. And I also have a change jar at home, but it’s mostly pennies and nickels, and probably doesn’t amount to $6 at this point.
I am realizing that I probably should have at least $100 set aside at home for emergency purposes, probably even more. I hate pulling that sort of cash out of my bank accounts, so I may try to do it slowly over a few months.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:14 am
We keep about $500 in the house for extreme emergencies (hurricane evacuation, etc., not extreme pizza emergencies) and I keep $40 in emergency cash in my wallet at all times plus another $40 or so for tips, drinks at cash-only bars, and splitting the lunch bill with co-workers. The hurricane cash has come in handy quite a few times over the last few years since we live on the gulf coast…no power for weeks means no ATMs or credit card authorizations!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I discovered that if I had cash in my wallet, I would tend to spend it. Normally I wouldn’t bother pulling out the debit card to pay for a candy bar so I wouldn’t even think about buying one, but if I had cash in my wallet, I’d think about buying the candy bar and then do so.
So I almost always have no cash in my wallet unless I’ve taken it out for a specific purpose. After the dealing with an emergency post, it reminded me that I need to create my $300 of emergency cash fund and stash it in the house.
My kids tend to have way more cash at hand than I do, and they are 6 and 3.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:18 am
I use the cash/envelope system and have for 10 years so I usually have several hundred dollars in my purse. I carry cash for groceries, gas, entertainment, gifts, clothing, and baby needs. Basically, I carry cash for any purchase which is “discretionary”. These are the purchases that can so quickly sabotage your budget. My husband and I split the gas money and he usually loads his onto a gas card for convenience.
The cash/envelope system is so fantastic for keeping you on a budget. I honestly never worry about carrying the cash, but I think it is because I live in a very safe area with no crime. If I am going somewhere else I will usually leave my cash at home, except what I need. If I need more while I am out, I just use my card and then later deposit the cash to cover my expenses. I think this system would work well for people that are nervous to carry too much cash but would like the financial boundary that the cash system provides. It really is so helpful to know that when your envelope for entertainment (for example) is empty, it’s time to stay home
October 10th, 2008 at 6:19 am
I’m in my twenties and my friends and I hardly ever have cash in our wallets. Whenever we go out to eat everyone grabs their debit cards.
Recently I’ve been withdrawing $20 at the beginning of each week for coffee and snacks during the week. It’s the way I limit myself. Once that $20 runs out, no more coffee or snacks till the next week.
The financial crisis has made me a little uneasy, and I’ve considered withdrawing money to have on hand. But that makes me nervous too (I live in a house with 3 roommates and not that I think they’ll steal from me, but still).
October 10th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Being only 22, I use a combination of cash and plastic (mostly debit card). Right now I have $1 in my wallet, but usually keep anywhere from $40-$100 in cash. I like paying with cash rather than swiping a card if I can. Using cash can also lead to cash discounts at some places like the mechanic, gas stations, and more. It keeps their costs of running the business down, so they will sometimes pass that discount along to you. Anytime I have a major purchase or need, I ask for a cash discount. Sometimes it can be as much as 10% off.
My parents, who are in their mid 50s use only cash and checks. They didn’t grow up using anything else. They hate using credit cards and don’t want to have the bills to have to pay. My mom usually has $100-200 and then some tucked away in her purse. My dad always has more than a few hundred on him. My parents are small business owners and deal 75% in cash, so this also plays a roll in that.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:24 am
I never used to carry cash at all, then I got a job that involves a lot of traveling in washington dc, so now I pay $10-20 to park more than once a day (all reimbursed, but I have to pay with cash). I still rarely carry more than 60 or 70 in cash at one time, I just get cash back every time i buy anything.
I also switched to ETrade, a bank that refunds atm fees, from ING, a bank that doesn’t, so when I need cash its not a big deal.
I don’t keep cash around the house at all, but I do take out $200 or so anytime I travel just to have enough to get a hotel room and some food if something goes horribly wrong.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Lately I have not been keeping a whole lot on hand. I just got a new debit card and have not memorized my PIN number so it is a bit harder for me to get cash out.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:28 am
I usually take $60-100 out of the bank at a time, so that’s the max I ever have on hand, and I have no stash elsewhere.
That book was published in 2001 and I really think those numbers seem off.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:29 am
In my purse, I have whatever is left from the $100 weekly cash I take from the ATM, plus a $2 bill for emergencies. (The $2 bill is a trick my gma taught me - unusual enough that I never spend it by accident.)
I have a couple hundred dollars hidden in my house, plus another $40-50 in change. Given the national liquidity problems I’m thinking of adding to this so that we have enough cash on hand to last us for a month.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:30 am
I usually keep enough cash in my car for a full tank of gas. (I drive a small car, so that’s not much.) I also carry an emergency $20 on me.
Other than that, I don’t really keep much around in emergency cash. Cash-wise, my major concern is not being able to access my main checking acount for a few days, so I’m building up a small emergency fund at my local credit union, just to give me a local money source in the event that I couldn’t access my main account for a couple of days for some reason (fraud, bank error, etc.) Money at the credit union is safer than it would be in my apartment, and it’s insured by the NCUA.
I collect change in a change jar and deposit it — usually there isn’t much more than $100 when I roll it up and bring it in. And I don’t carry more than $60 in my wallet for spending.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:31 am
I’m one of those cash-stashers. I have a few hundred dollars hidden away. I call it my “bug out” cash, as it is intended to be pocket/gas/bribe money if I have to leave my home in an emergency.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:31 am
More often than not, zero. Money kept around ends up getting spent, if not by me then by my wife.
At the most I’ll maybe keep a few coins (including a few pound coins so that a bus fare doesn’t mean a dash to an ATM first) around for change for buses, but besides that everything gets paid by card, cheque or direct debit.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I don’t carry much cash at all…. but I do keep about $120 in a fireproof box in my house. I started doing it after 9/11. You just never know when you might not be able to access an ATM for whatever reason - whether major economic crisis, weather emergency or power outage (I live in a rural area).
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I think that “Cash on Hand” can be broken down like this:
Everyday Cash (in your wallet, purse, pockets, etc.) I usually keep between $40-$200 on my person at most times. This allows you to take advantage of quick deals, plus you’ll never be that slouch that’s bumming a few bucks off your friends/co-workers for the pop machine or what have you.
Emergency Cash (not to be confused with Emergency Fund!). This is the cash that you stash around your house and hope you never have to use. We keep around $1000 in our fire safe in a mix of denominations (all $100’s won’t come in handy if you’re evacuating your home and need to buy a quick meal).
Keep in mind that most homeowner’s insurance policies will only cover $200 of cash in a loss, so be aware of what your policy stipulates.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Generally speaking, we use the envelope system for our general purchases, and we keep those envelopes in a central location, not hidden, but not exactly out on the kitchen table, either. On top of that, we have a change jar on the kitchen counter where extra cash goes. We use it as a shared goal center, and encourage each other and the kids to regularly “chip in”, so that we as a family can go and do something fun with it 9we typically say in advance what it is we want to do.
On another end of this, I occassionally set goals for myself where I want to stash away a little moeny for something, and want to make the use of that money somewhat inconvenient, but still motivating. For the past year, I did this by converting dollars into dollar coins and putting them into a clear piggy bank on my office desk. It worked well for awhile, but then I actually found it to be a bit too cumbersome to finally convert them all into a usable form (imagine going into a store with $500+ dollar coins to go purchase something (LOL!).
Now, I use an ING direct account and sweep my extra funds (leftover blow money, proceeds from selling something, etc.) into that. Still a little challenging to get to, but easy enough to get access to it should I truly need it for something.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:37 am
My wife and I use plastic for everything so rarely have any cash in our wallets, maybe a few stray dollars here and there.
Sinc emy wife babysits sometimes, she usually gets paid cash and since we don’t use a B&M bank we just keep it around and that usually stays between $300-$1000.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:37 am
We normally put every transaction possible on our Amex blue cash card and pay it off every month. Most places do take cards, even Dunkin’ Donuts or whatever. In our state it is illegal for a merchant to insist on a minimum transaction. So the upshot is that we do not keep much cash on hand. My husband might have anywhere from 20-60 on hand, and I might have 5-20. It just doesn’t come up to need it. We have a change jar with maybe 15-20 in it.
But I was thinking “hmm, what would happen if my bank pooped out?” I have confidence that I’d eventually get the money back, but not being able to withdraw it right when I needed it might be possible. I am considering keeping a few hundred around, say enough to eat and drive for a week.
I also signed up for the ING checking account, so I could tap directly into my ING reserves with their debit card if my main bank were frozen. And since we already use the cc for everything, theoretically we could keep doing that, barring apocalypse. What would it take for Visa or MC or Amex to stop processing transactions?
My parents have always been big cash and precious metals hoarders. They keep their cash in the freezer in a plastic bag. The metal is scattered around the house in weird places. I’m thinking a fireproof safe might be a better idea for us.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I keep between $40 - $100 in my pocket normally. This is just the amount I take out from my ABM. My wallet only holds my CC, debit card and ID.
I put any loose change under a quarter (I live in Canada so we have $1 & $2 coins) in a jar labled vacation fund. The jar is actually full now that I think of it.
All other money is in the bank earning interest or in the day to day account.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I feel safer with less money on me; I have my cards (which are secure if someone were to take them), and a little bit of extra money just in case.
Like others said, I like to keep my money in a high yield acct for the interest. Plus, I can track my spending much better.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Cash on hand: enough so I could buy a tank of gas for each car and groceries and necessary meds for a week if the banks go down. Doesn’t matter WHY the banks go down: hurricane, ice storm, global banking failure: I’m not risking my family’s life and ability to evacuate on whether my ATM machine has cash and electricity. I keep a couple hundred in a fire safe in small bills and rolls of $1 coins (since I find I don’t loot those!)
For longer-term emergencies I’ve got about three months’ living expenses in the form of pre-1965 silver coins and some ounce rounds of gold and silver in a different safe. I study economics and think losing the U.S. dollar as a currency is chillingly possible. (Don’t believe me? Google “fiat currency”.)
This may sound strange, and I obviously forgo the ability to get interest, but I find that I do not tap into that savings casually. I would if I had to, if we were going to go hungry with no foreseeable way to raise some cash via our labor, but the money in precious metals STAYS there until I call on it. And isn’t that what emergency money was supposed to do for us?
October 10th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I usually have between $20 - $80 in my wallet, and my husband has the same.
We have a hard-to-reach-unless-you-know-where-it-is stash of about $500 for emergencies. I imagine if we had to evacuate or there was some sort of emergency or something that would be enough to get us out and buy a bit of time. It also comes in handy when we order pizza and forget that we haven’t made an ATM stop lately. Finally, my husband’s wallet was stolen and we had to cancel all the cards. All our accounts are joint ones, so until we got everything re-established we were in a temporary cash crunch. The cash that we had stashed came in very, very handy for smoothing over that period!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:52 am
I usually have between $20 and $40 in my wallet, and an extra $5 stashed in another part of my bag. We tend to keep between $200-$500 in cash in our house, it mostly worked out that way because I give my partner cash for my share of the rent and he hardly ever spends it. It has proved useful in the case of a blackout in the past and we live in an earthquake zone so we like to keep it.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I try to keep around $50 to $100 in my wallet. Though I let it putter out during the week, for example, right now I’ve got a $1. I also tend to collect change and dollar bills, at home on the dresser, at work in my desk, in the ash tray of the car. That’s usually my “oh crap, I need change for the toll or the vending machine or something and I don’t want to go to the bank right now” money. I’ll periodically take the five to ten dollars in bills and roll up the change and use the money for gift money, vacation spending money, or against some debt money. .
October 10th, 2008 at 6:54 am
We have traditionally kept $2000.00 - $3000.00 cash in the house. We’ve decided to up it to $5000.00 lately because of the current financial mess. Couple of notes on this though. First - we have a very large gun safe so theft isn’t a worry. Second - the purpose of the money is primarily for my husband’s shopping habits. He’s constantly buying and selling toys (motorcycles, etc.) and the transactions are done in cash.
Still, we both agree that we like to know the money is there in case of the type of emergency that would make going to a bank impossible. (earthquake, hurricane, tornado - we all have something!)
October 10th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Until reading this post, I really had no idea that people kept cash around their house. My partner waits tables and we are always focused on getting all that cash out of the house and into the bank.
As for my purse, $6 is about the most I ever carry, unless I use my credit card for dinner and friends pay me with cash.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:56 am
I usually have $5-$20 in my wallet. If I have cash, I spend it. So I try to keep only a small amount handy. When we travel, I always take $60-$100 out just in case. There’s always that small breakfast place that doesn’t take cards.
My other half used to keep a $300 cash stash in his wallet. His dad does the same thing. However, after he lost his wallet (and the stash) he’s stopped doing it. I also felt we could be using that money to pay off debt or at least gain interest on it instead of sitting idly in his wallet.
We don’t have anything stashed in the house. We can barely find anything to begin with, we’d never be able to find it when we need it! We do have the change jar that I take in once it fills. Though I don’t think the pizza guy would appreciate being paid in change.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:57 am
I keep a significant sum (usually in the range of $50-$200) in the house, but that’s because banks get miffed if you ask for $2 bills in bundles of less than a hundred at a time, and they’re fun to have around to slowly dole out.
For actual spending money, I rarely have more than $60, and it’s in my wallet. The only exception is if I’m traveling to a place where I don’t have fee-free ATMs — then I usually put $100 or more in my wallet.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I’m kind of surprised no one has mentioned the fake can safes that are available. They look like a real product (shaving cream, beer, can corn, etc) and the bottom hides a small space. My parents have a fake can of Busch in the fridge with enough cold cash for them to get though the month.
I had a similar one long ago but at some point someone popped the top and ruined the illusion. Now I have a cigar box hidden away with several hundred dollars of emergency money. Not as well hidden but it’s good enough for me.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:06 am
we keep above 500$ and right now that might be going up to 1000$.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:07 am
My husband and I typically carry $20 or less on us and the only money we have in the house is the change jar. Like some of your other posters, I’m beginning to wonder about whether or not we should stash some at the house.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I wonder what percentage of the population have cash in the house that they’ve forgotten is there?
I had my wallet stolen with DM 300 in it once and have been loathe to carry cash since, and I really don’t like keeping it around the house either, for fear it could get stolen or eaten, but I am thinking it might be wise to have a small stash. I remember when a roof collapsed from snow load in New Jersey and shut down ATMs all over the country–it is a pretty vulnerable system.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:09 am
I don’t carry much money around. Between $0 to $20. Sometimes as much as $60. Nothing more. I pay everything with my credit card I noticed that I use the card more when I have more cash in my wallet cause it makes me feel richer. So I prefer to feel poor.
Else, I migth have $10 in change in plain view in my room. Finally, I keep all my savings in a ING Direct account.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I have about $50 in change, but other than that I usually have no cash around the house OR in my wallet.
However I fully think that I SHOULD keep at least $100 in cash in my house in case of emergency. Like a real, we-need-to-evacuate emergency. My mother always cautions me to have enough on hand to fill up the gas tank and buy food for a day or two, and to keep it in small bills in case people can’t make change.
If there’s a true national emergency, it’s not hard to imagine computers being down at gas stations and other stores, and power outages could even affect ATMs. In those situations (however temporary they hopefully are), cash will be king.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Neither my husband nor I regularly carry cash. In fact, when we moved to the northeast from the west is was a really hard adjustment for us to remember to have a little bit of cash in the car for the occasional toll road.
We don’t keep cash in the house either. Just the kids’ piggy banks–which we’ll raid if there really is an emergency that warrant such an action.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I’ve several small stashes. I keep a small bit of “light” emergency money in a separate part my wallet — $20-40. It’s enough to put gas in my car if I have to stop at a gas station that won’t let you pay at the pump (I’ve a small car), or, if I need to use a small chunk of cash for some reason.
In my car, I have two stashes. One is in a sealed envelope and is for true emergencies. I live in the Northeast — it’s possible to get stranded in a bad storm. Enough cash for a cheap hotel room just in case is good. I also usually have a $7-20 stashed and accessible. This actually saved me a couple months ago. I accidentally left my wallet at work. I left as they were closing the building and realized after I left that I’d forgotten it AND I needed gasoline. Since I had a $20 stashed in my car, I didn’t have to worry about stranding myself.
In my home, I keep a similar small stash of about $60 in small bills.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I rarely carry more than $60 in my wallet. When I’m vacationing, it will be even less or I’ll store it in various parts like a $20 in my front pocket, $20 in my purse, $20 in my bra, etc. If someone snatches my purse, I still have enough to get lunch while I’m filing a police report.
As for around the house - nah. I have a change jar. When it fills up, I roll it and take it to the bank. It never amounts to more that $80. Anything more than that, I’d be too worried about theft, flood or fire. I’m not sure how hard it is to prove how much cash was lost to an insurance company.
On the other hand - I do know that my money is FDIC insured to $100,000 at my credit union and to $250,000 in my ING account.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I never used to keep money around the house other than spare change that went into a jar but after the recent electrical outage here in southwest Ohio I have started keeping $500 in small bills stashed away in several spots. While the power was off you could get gas and groceries in two stores that happened to have power (for a while) only if you had cash since their debit/credit processing machines were down (they themselves were up but the location the machines talked to was down).
Lesson learned.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:18 am
My wallet currently has $1 in it. I rarely have more than $20 in it, I just never keep cash on me. At home currently I have $55, which is a bit of money from here or there that I’ve been putting aside for an upcoming bicycle swap meet, which takes place tomorrow. I’ve had the same oversized Pepsi jug covered in stickers that has been holding my change for 13 years, since I was 16. I’ve always told myself that it will be used for a vacation when it’s full.
I usually keep $5-10 in my saddle bag of my bicycle as well in case I need water or a snack while out on a ride.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Before I started the envelope system, I never had cash at home. Maybe a few dollars in my wallet. Now, I take about $800 out at the beginning of the month to cover all discretionary spending. There’s usually close to $200 in rollover envelope cash, so I’d say that at the beginning of the month, I have $1000 in cash sitting in my office and by the end, it’s down to $200.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:22 am
$500 in $20 bills. Behind photos in the frames hanging on the walls.
My husband doesn’t even know this. It’s in extreme case of emergency.
My mom did it because her dad did it because of the depression. I only found out about this because once in high school I needed $60 for something and we had no cash in the house. Then I watched as my mom moved a nicknack on the wall and came back with the money.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Cash on hand: I generally do not keep cash on me - actually, I don’t believe I have had cash on me for the last 10-12 days. I use my debit card for everything - but I am more than frugal. Living in NYC, I typically only spend between $100-150 per week for food, incidentals etc. all with my debit card. I only have cash if I go out to eat with friends and put the total bill on my card and collect cash from everyone else.
Money in the house: N-E-V-E-R. With a debit card, FDIC insurance and 99.9% of all business in NYC accepting plastic there isn’t a need for cash on hand. Besides - Home owner’s insurance and Renter’s insurance typically only insures up to $100 in cash on the premises. Load up $5k grand and lose it in a fire, a robbery and you are up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
House hoarding is a thing of depression era Americans. When I moved in with my grandmother at the age of 16 we found purses in closets filled with cash. By the time we opened her a new account and deposited it all it totaled around 10k. Dangerous, if you ask me.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:23 am
At the beginning of every month I hit the ATM. If I have no money in my wallet I take out $200, which lasts me the whole month for ANY spending other than gas and groceries (which are paid for via debit card). If at the end of the month I still have money left in my wallet then I take out enough to get back up to $200. If I run out before the end of the month then I go around with zero cash til the next payday unless an emergency arises for which I can only pay cash - then I hit the ATM again. But that’s VERY VERY rare.
At home I think we usually keep around $50 at any given time as well as a change can that is always full. Of course, the kids have their piggy banks into which we put money every now and again.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Generally the only money I have “stashed” at home is foreign money. I always keep $20-60 Canadian in my wallet, as I travel there often. I have about 45 euros, 1500 yen and small amounts of other money in various places.
After living in Japan, a cash society, I feel uncomfortable if I have less than $50 dollars on me. Right now I have $92.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am
My husband and I do not carry cash at all. If we have it, we spend it eating out, which is a big budget buster for us. The only money around our house is our change jar, which sits above the washing machine and collects the money I find in the laundry. This money usually gets used to pay for a newspaper or tolls.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am
No one mentioned that the survey might be skewed by age. My father, who is in his 60s, always pulls out a wad of cash to pay for things. I am in my 30s and never have more than $20 on me at a given time. I do tend to take out a couple hundred dollars when traveling - but that is the exception. An interesting question…
October 10th, 2008 at 7:29 am
I normally have only about $20 in cash in my purse. I like to use my debit card as it helps me track my purchases. However I do keep between $300-$500 stashed in the house because I live in an earthquake zone and may need cash if ATM’s etc go down. I also keep an emergency food supply stored and never let my gas tank go below half a tank for the same reason.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:29 am
My husband’s father was one of those depression era kids who always kept cash in various places around the house (and I suspect we didn’t find it all when we closed his house). Perhaps as a result, my dear husband also keeps cash around, a little stash in his car; some more in various places around our house… and he usually carries about a hundred dollars. I carry a lot less; I’ll take a hundred out of the ATM and it may last two weeks or more, but do have containers of change that I only take to the bank once year, and a small amount of cash that was part of my “cotton” anniversary gift [paper money has cotton fibers in it] that I tucked away for sentimental reasons…
October 10th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I almost never have cash in my wallet. I was in NYC on 9/11 and that is the ONLY time I ever thought “I need to get to an ATM” as a necessity, rather than a “I need cash for x purchase because they don’t take cards.” If I ever do have cash in my wallet, it inevitably goes to my husband, because he is an ATM goer, and I’d rather save him from incurring a fee.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I usually only carry $20-40 in cash in my wallet.
I do keep cash stashed at home…partly because of envelope budgeting and partly b/c it’s a habit I picked up from my father. He always keeps a stash in his dresser drawer. I am not sure how much he keeps in it, but I’d say close to $1000. I only have $200 (excluding coins, which may total $50) in my house just in case, and it is in a hidden place. I’m not sure why I have it; I know it would be better deposited in the bank drawing interest. And I haven’t used it at all. I suppose I just like to know I have it in case I should really need it… I do live in an earthquake zone so I suppose there is some validity to having it.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I try to keep 50-100 in my pocket, but the economy has been weighing heavily on my barbershops and beauty salons, so cash has been a little low.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I usually carry no cash in my wallet. I use a rewards card for all of my purchases and bills and pay in full from my bank account each month.
I do, however, have about 200 in cash stashed in a safe place in my car. I do this because I live in Florida, where hurricanes come every now and again, so if there were an emergency and I had to evacuate I’d be able to pay for gas, hotel, and a few meals in case I need to evacuate and card readers aren’t up and running.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Michael’s mom probably kept $1500 cash because you can’t save more than $1000 in the bank and still qualify for food stamps. They check. She was smart!
We keep a few hundred for evacuating in an emergency.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:38 am
I have absolutely zero in my purse right now, for the first time in ages and feel uncomfortable about it, so I’ll hold out another day and make a trip to the ATM this weekend for “walking around” money (you can’t use Visa for everything here). I keep a $20 in the car, just in case. I’ve never been in a tight enough spot to need it, but it’s a comfort to know that it’s there (I have looted it and replaced it a few times). I keep less than $100 in my bedroom closet and used that just recently in lieu of dipping into my sacred savings account (I have two). I was very glad I had it. I would like to build it up to maybe around $300 but always seem to find another use for the money.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I keep no more than $40 in my purse. We withdraw cash for the next week or two and keep it in the house so we don’t have to run to the ATM so often or use the debit card. But it’s never more than $200 unless we’re going on a trip.
Now I’m thinking about keeping more like $500 in the house as an emergency stash.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:43 am
I don’t keep any cash in the house, and neither my wife nor I carry any cash on us. I seriously don’t get why people carry cash anymore?
Everything we purchase is on credit card. EVERYTHING! I pay the CC off weekly.
The ONLY time I ever have cash on me is if we are going out clubbing. Cash does come in handy so that you don’t have to wait around the bar to sign a bill, and sometimes it makes splitting cab fare easier (although they do take credit cards as well).
Paper money is so dead. So are signatures for that matter. I can’t wait for the day where my thumbprint lets me “sign” or pay for anything.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Like many others, we are on the envelope system. I would estimate that we only take the money from our safe to our wallet when needed, so we usually average about $20 in our wallet at a time.
That leaves us with about $400ish in our safe, but that money gets re deposited at the bank at the end of the pay period and goes to Dh’s student loans.
We also have a money savvy pig smack dab in the middle of our kitchen counter.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:44 am
“When my mother died, we found $1500 tucked in various places around her place,” - sounds like a woman who lived through the Great Depression. All my relatives from that era do the same thing.
I learned in the Northridge Earthquake to keep cash on hand in my emergency kit. When the power is off, ATMs and cash registers don’t work. If you have cash you can get what you need, if you don’t you’re out of luck. I would keep $200 in one dollar bills and about $50 in rolled quarters in the emergency kit at home. I also kept $50 in ones in the car’s first aid kit.
Now that we are no longer in earthquake or blizzard country, we have stopped carrying money in the car, and only keep about $50 in ones in the house. We rarely carry any cash at all.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Due to the terrorist attacks on our nation just a few short years ago, and the current instability of our economy, I believe that now, more that ever, it would be very wise to have some cash on hand at all times. I think we have all learned that our nation and our economy is a bit more vulnerbale than we had ever imagined.
I am not generally a “worrier”, in fact, I have often been accused of wearing “rose colored glasses”. However, I have recently felt the need not only to have cash on hand, but an emergency kit and canned goods as well. I have found myself thinking more about what I would do in various emergencies, especially on a national level. I hope this is not my intuition telling me something!
Another really good time to have cash on hand is if you are in financial trouble to the extent that suits have been filed against you. Hopefully, you will never find yourself in this situation, but with the recent economic downturn, who knows? I am fortunate enough to be in a position to ride this all out, but many people out there are losing their homes and their jobs.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I usually don’t carry cash, even though I prefer it. I usually end up just using my bank card everywhere I go.
However, I do understand the desire to keep a few hundred stashed under the bed. I’ve spent quite a bit of time considering it … I’m still not sure what I’m going to do.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Once I hit my first savings goal I have kicked around the notion of having some “on hand emergency money” but it wouldn’t be more than $500.
I’ve also begun to “ration” myself cash. Instead of swiping the card when I go on food runs or for any personal purchases. I am currently tweaking what this amount will be, because i plan to do a monthly allowence. I also need to get in the habit of carrying my check book with me.
I didn’t realise how dependent I have become on plastic until earlier this year when I realised I had not touched a $20.00 in over two months.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Oh my gosh…that pipe. My father, he’s in his late 70s, took me one day to this closet and showed me how to lift this secret panel and pull out a safe deposit box where he keeps a couple of thousand dollars and then he showed me this pipe thing where he keeps other valuables.
Me, I took out twenty this morning to go to yardsales and the dairy for milk. I felt like that was a lot of cash for me…two different ends of the spectrum.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I live in Europe, where we’ve ‘recently’ switched currency to the euro. IIRC there was a 5 year period in which people could cash in their old money for euros. Papers have been full of stories about hidden wealth in cash for years. Six or Seven figure numbers of francs, marks, pesetas and guilders stashed in furniture, walls and makeshift safes, all worthless, because discovered after the change period.
While I realise that having cash money within arms reach can be necessary in case of disaster, I realise that the US has had the same currency since forever. So I thought it right to chime in with a unique point of view.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:01 am
I keep $500 in cash at the house. I have anywhere from $50 to $500 in my wallet at any given time, with $40 hidden in case I spend it all before I can get to an ATM.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Holy cats!
100 comments by 8 a.m.? And here I was worried nobody would want to chat about this…
October 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I’m one of the 4% of women that doesn’t carry a purse. I’m always scared of leaving it somewhere or having it stolen.
most of the time I don’t have cash. I use my credit card and pay it off each month. keeps me from a lot of impulse purchases (although I will admit it I am buying something already I am apt to impulse something on top of that)
if I have cash, I usually get $100 at a time. Which I do rarely. Usually when going out with friends and we are apt to split the check.
I don’t have anything but coins at the house for the most part. They get put in tubes that represent what goes in a coin roll so when they are full they get rolled and go to the bank.
There is almost no place that I NEED cash for. I suppose if the whole entire banking system crashes and burns I’ll be screwed, but then again, if the whole banking system crashes, we are all screwed.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Like many who are commenting, I typically never carry cash. I’ve found I spend money much more freely on unneeded items when I have cash on hand. Sometimes I take out $15 a week for dining/coffee so I can tip the coffee people.
I’m in a credit union, too… so not too concerned about my money “disappearing”. I can’t think of a a lot of scenarios where that would happen…. if it did, I would probably have bigger fish to fry.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:18 am
The produce stands we go to for our weekly produce shopping don’t take checks or plastic, so I usually have $5-$40 (depending on when I last went to the bank) in my wallet for those. My husband does not carry cash, because he finds it too easy to spend it without thinking.
We also keep $300-$400 in our safe, because if a hurricane hit and power were out for some time, we would be unable to access our bank accounts (ATMs won’t work without power).
October 10th, 2008 at 8:19 am
I keep enough for about 4 tanks of gas (small car, so $150) in my car. I also keep about $100 in Euros, Pounds, and (long story) Moroccan Dirham each. These sit in my passport wallet, alone with a few Canadian $20’s.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I withdraw a fixed amount every thursday, and that’s it. No cash at home, no debit card, no credit card except for planned expenses.
I find that with cash, I’m less inclined to give in to impulse buying: I can see what I have left, and I know I can’t get more until next Thursday. that keeps my spending in check.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I usually carry $20 with me day-to-day - that will often last me a month, since I use my credit card for everything (and pay it off every month, of course!). When traveling out of town, I usually carry $200, though, both because I’m more likely to have small amount incidental expenses that I don’t like to put on a card, and because my bank is a regional one, which can make it harder to replenish my cash without fees (which I DESPISE paying).
I keep about $400 in my “grab-it-and-go” box - the fireproof box all my critical documents are in. The box itself is in a pretty obvious place I can get to quickly on my way out the door in the event of an emergency - I don’t use it as a safe, per se. I keep the key in a hidden place, though (and a family member in another state has the spare, in case there really is a time I have to “grab-it-and-go” without having time to get the key.) I also keep $100 - and a spare key - in the glove compartment of my car for various emergencies where I might have to have cash (towing, lost wallet, etc.)
In 5 years, I’ve only had to touch these emergency funds twice - and both were more because of lack-of-planning than anything else. (Expired credit card + empty gas tank, and broken ATM on the way out of town - at 4 AM)
October 10th, 2008 at 8:28 am
This is what I do:
* $1000 in 20s in a sealed envelope at home.
* $4000 in 100s in a bank box
* $150 face value in silver coin in bank box
* $150 face value in gold coin in a bank box
This is partly because I live in earthquake country, and a good size temblor is going to shut ATM machines for a while. It’s also because we have started unwinding 25 years of debt, and our economic future over the next few years is uncertain, to say the least.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I usually take out $100 cash per paycheck (every two weeks). That’s all I would carry around in my wallet.
My husband and I have at least $900 in a safe at home for emergencies.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I can’t recall the last time I needed cash for anything. There is the odd place that is cash-only but I rarely encounter such a place.
So I carry and stash around $0. I do carry a wallet. It contains 3 ATM/Debit cards, 4 gas cards, 4 store cards,4 major credit cards, 2 discount cards, DL, and insurance card.
I just remembered, around 4 months ago I ordered a cake from a bakery that only accepted cash. That was the last time I really “needed” cash. I attempted to pay with a card when I ordered and they said I could just pay later when I picked it up. So I did.
I have a feeling that in a true economic disaster cash will be worthless anyway. Maybe gold/silver or even canned goods and water would be better. And I dont plan on stocking up on those and filling a bunker.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I keep $200 in the house since that is the insurance limit. When my house was robbed a few years ago, the insurance company is willing to reimburse up to $200 without showing much proof.
As for wallet, I usually have $50 and stack another $20 in a different sleeve in case I forget to go to the ATM.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I hardly ever have cash in my wallet unless I know I need it for something (parking meters, small transactions I’d rather not use debit for). This is mostly because I don’t go to the bank/ATM very much.
I used to have a separate savings bundle of cash in my house, stashed in a tea box. It was mostly designated as money I was saving towards something fun. For some reason having the cash in my house made it more compelling to save for fun things (like a Wii, or new camping gear). I think it’s because I liked the satisfaction of pulling out the box and counting the cash. Mostly that money was bits of cash that I’d have left in my wallet, plus “windfall” money — money from my medical savings account, or from reimbursements at work, that I had already written off because it was out of my pocket. I was more disinclined to spend than money than the money in my bank account! I haven’t done that in awhile but now I think I might start again
Oh, and the money kept in my house never exceeded $300-400.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I usually carry $10-20 in my wallet in case I need to buy something small at a place I don’t want to use my credit/debit cards at (convenience store generally).
At home I deposit all my pocket change into a piggy bank by my bed which gets raided once or twice a year.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:39 am
For me it varies, I have anywhere from $5-$1000 in my wallet depending on what expenditures are coming up. I got card happy previously in life and now prefer to pull out the cash if I am making a purchase like recently $600 for bunk beds. It is psychological for me to pay in Cash vs. using the debit card. It keeps me honest with myself. We don’t generally have a stash around the house and have chosen instead to stock up our pantry so that if power were to go out we know we can feed ourselves for up to a month right now. working on getting a large barrel of water we could use for sponge bathing and washing clothes…
IF things are that shut down, I don’t want to deal with the chaos of the stores. I’d prefer to know we can take care of our family and help out any neighbors who might need assistance.
I have a good friend who just went through Gustav and she was in that place to feed neighbors and take care of family etc. until power was re-established and she didn’t have to go to the store–had alternate means of cooking and people would come and eat together at her place which only lost a fence–
it reintegrated that philosophy stronger in me and I went and restocked some of my basics like the powdered milk (which I hate but in an emergency I think we’ll worry less about taste and more about taking care of our families)
always have change and some bills in the car to pick up a drink if we are going for a long drive (coke or bottled water) we have a few change jars in the house as well. No idea how much is in them at present, probably about time to go cash them in.
We put money automatically into ur daughters savings account each month–but have started to give her a dollar here and there (she’s 2) so she can start to understand the value of money. She bought her own treat at the store the other day and was so so proud of herself. I was proud too she picked an apple.
Just remembered we used to keep money in a jar in the kitchen, should go see if there is any still hanging out in there…haha.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I try to keep between $40 and $100 in my wallet. My wife keeps beteen $20 and $40. We don’t keep cash in the house specifically for emergencies, but we don’t go to the ATM very often, so the cash in the house tends to spike to around $300 when we go to the ATM, then dwindle down as we spend money from our wallets and replace said money from the stash. Right now we have more money than usual becuase I got some $1 coins direct from the US mint at face value with free shipping, but we’re spending them slowly.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:42 am
I keep a lot of cash in my wallet, about $400-$500. I learned this from my mentor, Mr. Michael Steinhardt. When you grow up without much money like I did, having cash in hand makes you feel good. It makes me feel prepared for an emergency and able to strike should an opportunity come my way.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:44 am
For 10 years, I keep only $40. It was the default “fast cash” amount at the ATM when I was in school in Miami, that’s why.
When I was in New York, I had to use a lot more cash. The ATM lines are long, so I keep $200 in wallet, $200 at home.
Now I’m in suburbia Toronto, I keep $40 in my wallet but always have $100 when I’m downtown. I keep another $100 in my filing cabinet as “emergency pizza delivery money”.
Hope Paypass will catch up soon so I don’t need to carry so much cash! (They are unhygienic! And handling pennies is time wasting!)
October 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I generally have less than $40 in my wallet, my boyfriend rarely carries cash because he spends more that way, and we keep about $200-300 at home for emergencies.
I’ve also been saving dimes since I was a kid. I don’t know why I started, but I’d guess that I’ve got several hundred dollars accumulated by now. The rest of my spare change gets rolled and deposited, but the dimes stay home. I never think about my dimes as an emergency stash, but they certainly have become one.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am
That’s so funny about the little pipe bank! My dad kept cash in socks for the first few years in the U.S. Then, when he had too much for that method, he put them in jelly jars and buried them in the backyard. Guess that’s part of how he was able to turn $50 into a small fortune, which I wrote about in “How Dad Turned $50 into $1.2 Million” at http://shanelyang.com/2007/11/15/how-dad-turned-50-into-12-million/ I only keep about $40 in my wallet. My boyfriend the same. Between the two of us, we always have enough for an impromptu meal at one of our favorite “cash only” restaurants — just in case. For everything else, there’s plastic. : )
October 10th, 2008 at 8:50 am
for those who have cash at home, can you please tell me where you live and when you aren’t home?
I carry around 12million, naira that is…ooops, 13million…oops, 20million…oops, 30million
p.s. please leave your key under the mat. thanks
October 10th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Zilch. There is never anything on me or in my home worth stealing.
I work above my own bank so if I need cash for something I run down and withdraw exactly what I need.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:09 am
$0 in my wallet
$125 in the house
$20 in the trunk of the car and another $20 in my scooter.
My wife keeps less than $20 in her purse.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I rarely carry cash in my purse. I probably should, but it tends to get spent when I have it. I’m less apt to stop on a whim and get a latte or something while I’m out, if I’m not carrying cash (though when carrying debit I will buy a latte AND a muffin AND a pound of coffee if actually convinced to stop). That and, I have two teenage girls. If I have cash, once I break it into smaller denominations it usually gets taken for busfare.
I keep around $100 cash in the house for emergencies. The current climate is making me think I want to keep maybe $200-300 just in case. I will probably freeze it in a block of ice, because it is too easy to decide we need pizza delivery (our local pizza place only takes cash) if it is easily accessible.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Reading this reminds me that we found over $10K in various suit pocket of my grandfather. I am still not sure why he thought his suit pockets were good hiding places – especially over his safe.
Around my house, we have the change jar (usually yields $80-$100 /year) and the kid’s giving/saving/spending banks. My wife & I both keep $30- $50 in our wallets for sporting events & weekly “fun” money. We do, however, hide over $1K in the safe for evacuating emergencies & helping others in life’s little emergencies. We have discovered it is easer and more accepted to give cash than a check when those needs come up.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Intresting responses. Recently I have been considering raising the amount of cash I have on hand in case of craziness going on with the economy and not being to access my bank. However B of A seems quite stable so I don’t worry too much about that aspect.
Usually I have around $50 on hand because I don’t use credit cards or even my bank card if I want to eat out (rare occurrence) or purchase groceries etc…I was considering keeping $200 on hand at all times now. I live very close to all of my services like the grocery, library, banks so I don’t have to take delivery so I just don’t keep much cash on hand. I basically don’t go out and spend much wth cash. A lot of my bills are automated and I grocery shop maybe once every 2 weeks. Ok, ok…
October 10th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I carry no cash but DO have a hidden stash. When the stash becomes large I put it into a savings account and start the stash over again. When I shop I pay myself according to how much I have saved on grocery/household items by doing a cash over for that amount. I save on average $120.00 per month by using coupons, rebates and shopping the sales. As crazy as it sounds, to me it is extra money I am saving from an allocated budget and I am building a nice emergency fund from found money.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I have three dollars in my purse right now. I always use my debit card or credit card, mostly because my bank’s ATM is pretty inconvenient. I don’t have any cash in my home, but the person who had the idea of keeping 100 for times when they can’t make it to the ATM was smart… I might do that.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:22 am
None. Unless someone happens to give me some (sold something, etc.) I never have cash on hand.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:24 am
One dolla!
Literally.
And now that I’ve found it, it’ll probably wind up in the candy machine downstairs.
This is why I don’t stash cash– it don’t stay stashed!
October 10th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Between $0 and $200 in my pocket (no money clip, just folded over). I usually take $200 from the ATM and then carry it around until it’s gone.
None in my house, although after reading your post, maybe a home stash is a good idea.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I like to have around $20 in my wallet at all times. I call this my Wallet Cash category in my budget. It is for miscellaneous expenses that come up through the week. Usually work or family related expenses. Like when my girlfriend’s parents invite us to brunch or dinner, I have cash to pay for the meal. Some places we go do not accept debit cards. Most of the time though, I have the same twenty in my wallet for 2- 3 weeks at a time. I also use this twenty to refill the laundry card if I don’t get a chance to get more cash before we run out. When I have less than $5 in my wallet, I usually put another $20 in there.
I have found this setup to be very easy to handle and has been very convenient over the past year or so since I implemented it. There have been countless times when I have needed cash for something immediately and have had the cash to complete the transaction.
I live in an apartment, so I keep $100 in cash hidden in the apartment, even though my bank is just a 5-10 minute walk down the street. Since I am not married and do not have any kids, I can’t justify keeping more on hand.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am
We keep a couple hundred in our disaster kit, but I carry almost no money in my wallet. I’ve found I spend whatever is in there, and when I don’t have money in there, i don’t spend as readily for some reason. I also have a piggy bank AND a change jar.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
About $40 in cash in my purse (it stays there for months at a time), $20 in the car, $0-200 in my apt.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I carry around $50 on my person at all times and always have $500 in cash on hand at the house tucked away in case of an emergency.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I normally have a couple hundred in cash stashed in my desk. I try not to use is and just know it’s there if I need it.
I also have a big jar that I use to collect my change (excluding quarters). I’ve found that this jar actually helps me to see the importance in pennies, etc because after time it all adds up. I have over $60 in dimes, nickels, and pennies.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I keep a “petty cash” envelope to pay kids’ allowances, door-to-door type fundraising and to meet last minute cash needs. I keep that at about $200. I also accumulate loose change and bills in a bank that is probably around $20.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am
My mom always had cash stashed in her cigarette case even long after she quit smoking. I never knew how much but she always seemed to be able to come up with the “extra” I might need for something special. Always have money, your money was her mantra. I have found the most effective way for me to save is just to stash money away and when its a certain level–I take it to the bank. My husband always has cash in his wallet, I always have emergency money stashed in my wallet, but use my debt card for purchases.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I always use the $40 quick cash option on the ATM, so that’s the most I have in my wallet at any given time.
I’m a plastic spender, so I only use cash for small transactions and places where cards don’t seem appropriate or aren’t taken. (Say, at a movie theater where using a card will hold up the line.)
The only cash I have at home are a couple containers of coins.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:15 am
A big fat $0.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I usually have $1-$10 in my wallet. Spend $2/wk on Powerball, and $1-$2 for sodas at work.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:21 am
we just keep the cash that is in our envelopes in the house. except for at the end of the month, that should be enough for an emergency. our emergency fund lives in a bank
people’s responses to this question have inspired me to put some money in my glove box and office, too, just in case . i rarely have much on my person- somewhere between $3 and $5- for the coffees i buy when i am working. i just take that out of my envelope at the beginning of each day.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I rarely keep money in my wallet. Maybe $5 in case of emergency. I use my credit card for everything and pay off the balance monthly. I do however keep about 2500 in my house for emergencies. I have always done this.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I carry less then $20 and keep no cash around my apt. except for what’s thrown into a change jar. I pay for almost everything by CC, but pay it off in full every month. That way, I can keep track of my purchases online instead of with a bunch of receipts floating around and get some cash back.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:42 am
We do keep a change jar, and in our wallets we only have about $40 at best. We do not have a cash stash.
I will admit I’ve been considering it, though. I’m easily scared by our current economic crisis.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I generally have $0 in my wallet, I don’t carry cash. If I do then I go to the carts for lunch and spend it, that’s a bad habit.
I do have a “birthday stash” at my house, I take out $20 from each check and then on my birthday spend $480ish on whatever I feel like ’cause it’s my birthday and that’s my birthday money I can do what I want with it.
When my grandpa passed away I took a few of his books home and when I finally was reading one of the larger ones I found $40. I told my grandma about it and she went tearing through all his other books looking for money… didn’t find any though
October 10th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I keep a little bit of cash with me (about $30-50) just for hanging out with friends and splitting the bill at a restaurant.
At home I have a jar that I throw change in once in a while or an extra $5 bill when I’m feeling flush. I clear out this jar every two years or so, typically for spending money for a vacation.
I live in Northern CA so I keep about $40 in small bills and quarters in an emergency kit in case there was an earthquake and I needed it.
I also keep about $20 stashed in my car. In case I need it for a toll or something. The only time this was a stupid thing to do was when my car got towed and the guys at the towing company ransacked it and stole the money. a small price to pay I suppose.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I keep $40-$60 in my purse depending on my activities in the next few days. My husband usually keeps about $30. WE don’t have kids or we’d probably carry more.
As for cash stashed in the house, I keep about $100 in smaller bills (1s, 5s, 10s) in case of a power outage (stores can’t usually make change in an outage - learned this the hard way). I also keep another $100-$300 in 20s that we just grab from when we need cash rather than making a lot of ATM trips.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I have found that working with cash for small discretionary expenses works best, especially for my husband. We each get $40 at the beginning of the week for lunch and what we don’t spend is our personal cash for toys. Right now I have $140 of this cash saved up tucked in with my hair clips.
I like cash because I’m anal about balancing my accounts, so we have DNE (does not exist) money for small splurges like pizza etc. That usually has about $200 and has been growing. That is also our cash when we go on vacation for buying trinkets and other stupid fun stuff.
Total I’d say we have $500, and that is great to tap when we pay for firewood or something in cash.
I will say to people who stash cash BE CAREFUL. I was broken into a couple years ago and they hit the main places for a stash, drawers, pantry, and my hiding place at the time in my closet. They got about $500. In the end it cost more to replace the door they kicked in, but it still hurts. If you hide money be smart about it.
On another note the guy who remodeled our house found, not cash, but GUNS hidden all over the house. The old lady who sold it to him was super paranoid and she and her husband had them hidden in the walls behind drywall and other such places. That is on top of the ones she found and packed when she moved.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:01 am
When I was a kid I was the stash king. I hid money in books, sock drawers, and old wallets. There was a time when my friends went through my bedroom and found over $100 in various locations (not bad for a 12 year old). Needless to say they were jealous. Now a days cash is rare commodity in my home.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I tend to keep $2 to $50 in my wallet most of the time. Spare change goes into an old jar and gets rolled when it gets too full (not that often an occurence anymore). Then it is off to the bank to deposit into savings to add to the emergency fund or my “Nused Car in the Future” fund.
Living in Tornado Alley, I try to keep a little cash in a “Go Bag”, along with a credit card and my checkbook. The last time the sirens blew and we hastened to my in-laws to partake of their storm shelter, I noticed their neighbor carrying a similar bag as well. Glad to see that I wasn’t the only one to think of that. I do need to bump up the reserve in there in light of recent events.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Wow. This generated a great deal of responses!
These days with cash cards running rampant, I find that I hardly ever carry cash.
Lately however, due to tolls,etc - I find myself carrying at least $20-$40 in small change.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:12 am
We’d be in trouble if the debit cards stopped working. Except for what’s in my kid’s piggy bank we don’t keep cash in the house. The best way for us to keep to a budget was to use a card for Everything,so we knew where our money went.
All this talk does make me think for emergencies such as when the power is out, etc, maybe we should have a small amount (100-200) in cash at home.
My dad is very old school. He always had a HUGE roll of 20 and 100 bills in his wallet. He has been in the restaurant business his whole life and is comfortable having huge amounts of cash around, way more than I would feel comfortable.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Until last month I didn’t keep anything. But with the economy in the toilet, I started taking out a bit. Since then I’ve cashed out every paycheck I get, leaving just a little bit to pay credit cards. Right now I’ve got about $3500 in cash, but I hope to get a few thousand more.
It may seem irrational to John (comment #35), but it’s a whole lot more rational than putting it in the