Physical cash

[smitcat]

Typically between $15K and $20K bout it varies.

[MikeG62]

I typically have about $100 in cash in my wallet at any point in time. I usually only pay cash for items at or under $10 so it tends to last a while. When it drops to $50 I take out another $100 and repeat that process.

When we go on vacation then I typically withdraw and carry $600-$800 in cash for OOP purposes (cabs, tips, and misc stuff).

DW takes out $240 every two week and spends every dollar of it. She loves cash.

I do have several thousand dollars cash in my safe.

[djpeteski]

Despite being completely out of debt and member of the two comma club we still follow the Dave Ramsey plan of using cash for groceries and certain other items. One tends to spend a lot less when using cash, although less so these days then when we still had consumer debt.

[taguscove]

About $2000, $200 in my wallet.

I use far more cash to pay for purchases than a few years ago. Many of my favorite restaurants and shops are locally owned small businesses. I know they pay substantial credit card fees so I try to pay with cash. CVS, burger King, and other big corps I have no problem paying that $1.50 item by card, even though $0.30 goes to interchange card fees.

[daheld]

Generally $0 cash in my wallet. I do have $20 right now, but I grabbed it for something (do not even remember what...) and wound up not needing it. I almost never, ever spend cash day to day.

Usually keep about $100 in cash in the glove compartment of my car. Never know when it might come in handy if you're traveling or in a rural area. I realize most places would take a card, but if I'm somewhere and need gas or a tow and a card machine isn't working, I don't want to be stuck.

Generally keep roughly $300 or so in cash in a small electronic gun safe in the bedroom. It is rare that we ever need to use it, but I do like having it on hand if needed.

[mediahound]

I keep a few hundred, in $2 bills.

[Valuethinker]

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.

And so is the beginning of many a thriller ....

[Valuethinker]

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.)

Yes to cocaine residue - at least USD 100 bills do (99% apparently).

However cocaine in that concentration, absorbed through fingers, is just not going to affect you, mentally. And if it did, it would be a nice feeling .

Cash is a good vector for disease (I suspect coins might be worse) though.

[Valuethinker]

Typically between $15K and $20K bout it varies.

Do you ever worry about theft?

[bloom2708]

I keep a $100 bill folded behind my driver's license. That is my Emergency Hondo.

Otherwise I usually have between $20 and $100 of spending cash.

[Valuethinker]

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.

You can pay your traffic ticket in Austria in cash.

Needless to say, Austria has a reputation amongst other German speaking countries for corruption .

[Valuethinker]

I keep a $100 bill folded behind my driver's license. That is my Emergency Hondo.

Otherwise I usually have between $20 and $100 of spending cash.

Is it possible that you could get arrested for attempting to bribe a law enforcement official? Most countries in the world, that's what that would look like.

[bloom2708]

I keep a $100 bill folded behind my driver's license. That is my Emergency Hondo.

Otherwise I usually have between $20 and $100 of spending cash.

Is it possible that you could get arrested for attempting to bribe a law enforcement official? Most countries in the world, that's what that would look like.

Laughed at that one. It isn't attached to my driver's license. Just tucked behind. I made it to 40 without getting a speeding ticket. Then got a $12 speeding ticket. 32 in a 25 zone. I don't think a potential bribe is in my worry zone.

[Valuethinker]

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.

There is truth to that.

I would add: razor blades, batteries, other small easily tradable items. In prisons, cigarettes (and drugs) serve as currencies.

Ammunition in common calibres, probably, in the USA if not other countries.

[Valuethinker]

I keep a $100 bill folded behind my driver's license. That is my Emergency Hondo.

Otherwise I usually have between $20 and $100 of spending cash.

Is it possible that you could get arrested for attempting to bribe a law enforcement official? Most countries in the world, that's what that would look like.

Laughed at that one. It isn't attached to my driver's license. Just tucked behind. I made it to 40 without getting a speeding ticket. Then got a $12 speeding ticket. 32 in a 25 zone. I don't think a potential bribe is in my worry zone.

OK - just a warning vis-a-vis other countries where such mechanisms are common. In fact in Russia it is illegal for a public servant to use the common Russian expression "that's all very well but it won't feed my family" because it's also the standard request for a bribe.

We nearly got a $200 fine in PA, travelling 75 in a 55 zone at about 3 am -- Canadian plate. And this was in the 1980s. I think many US jurisdictions fund their PDs via speeding tickets on out of staters. Fortunately patrolman let us off.

[DrGoogle2017]

I normally carry less than $100. But I just cashed a Costco check so I have a lot of cash with me. My husband joked about my cannon ball size Tahitian pearl earrings, as it’s an indication that I have money, and this is a good time to rob me because of all the cash I have now.

[Dolphin1]

I get around $200-300 when I go to the ATM and keep that in my wallet, it usually lasts 3+ months because I don't spend cash on most things. It comes in handy when paying tips, splitting the bill at a restaurant, farmers markets, and we still have a few shops that only take cash.

[Valuethinker]

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.

How fast do US bills go out of date? It is almost impossible to spend an old or worn USD notes in countries where USD is an informal 2nd currency.

Here in the UK we are moving to polymer money and so £5, then $10 then £20 notes have all reached their end of use dates. Not sure about £50 notes -- very hard to spend here except in tourist-oriented stores or expensive restaurants.

Not sure where the EU is on EUR 500 notes, which were the classic way of paying bribes or avoiding tax. Whether they finally agreed to abolish them - I think there is a justifiable suspicion of EU politicians that they would not.

[Valuethinker]

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'd be interested what the downsides are for the Swedes since mostly I'd heard about the upsides?

The main thing is better tax collection. Lots of small outfits were not charging VAT correctly. Also lots of tip income etc. not reported for taxes.

It also has significant security implications re tracking money laundering. Of course the privacy implications are also disturbing but AI may be making those moot in any case.

[SuperGrafx]

I keep about $200 in cash in my house.
Usually average about $100 in my wallet.

It's a good idea to have at least $100 on hand. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

[Jimbo9911]

We have 7,500 in the gun safe.
Lots of small bills along with the 2,200 in hundreds.
I always have at least 2-3 hundred in my wallet.
There are just some things that you can not put on a credit card.
Plus, how many times have you waited behind some person at at store that has to pull out his or hers third card to charge a $2 purchase to find a card that will go through?
Quite aggravating to me waiting for that.
We live in an area where tornadoes and maybe even hurricanes can affect the area so I am comfortable having cash available if needed.

Jim

[JBTX]

Keep about $100-$200 in the car, and my wallet could have anywhere between $0 and $200. It is rare I need cash, but occasionally kids will need a $10 or $20 for this school or other event or that.

[JBTX]

We have 7,500 in the gun safe.
Lots of small bills along with the 2,200 in hundreds.
I always have at least 2-3 hundred in my wallet.
There are just some things that you can not put on a credit card.
Plus, how many times have you waited behind some person at at store that has to pull out his or hers third card to charge a $2 purchase to find a card that will go through?
Quite aggravating to me waiting for that.
We live in an area where tornadoes and maybe even hurricanes can affect the area so I am comfortable having cash available if needed.

Jim

I find typically credit card transactions are faster, especially vs those who are determined to rummage through their purse or pockets to find exact change.

[Glockenspiel]

Every couple months I'll get $100 from the ATM and slowly spend it on little things. I typically have somewhere between $20 and $150 in my wallet. I keep zero cash in my home, otherwise.

[white_water]

What Blueskies123 said, $1-2K at all times because of likelihood of natural disasters with power out for extended periods.

[mptfan]

I go to the ATM about once every two weeks and withdraw $200, so I usually have somewhere between $0 and $200 in my wallet as I slowly spend the cash over a week or two on relatively small things and the occasional meal or bar tab, most spending goes on the credit card. I also keep about $40 as emergency cash stashed in my car.

[Jimbo9911]

We have 7,500 in the gun safe.
Lots of small bills along with the 2,200 in hundreds.
I always have at least 2-3 hundred in my wallet.
There are just some things that you can not put on a credit card.
Plus, how many times have you waited behind some person at at store that has to pull out his or hers third card to charge a $2 purchase to find a card that will go through?
Quite aggravating to me waiting for that.
We live in an area where tornadoes and maybe even hurricanes can affect the area so I am comfortable having cash available if needed.

Jim

I find typically credit card transactions are faster, especially vs those who are determined to rummage through their purse or pockets to find exact change.

Roger that JBTX.
I never use change, just bills and then take the change home, roll it up about twice a year and take it to the bank.
Us retired folks have to have something to do!
Happily retired for about 13 months now.

[NotWhoYouThink]

The slow processing speed on chip card readers is about to drive me to cash. But for now the cash back deals are keeping my transactions mostly plastic.

[smitcat]

Typically between $15K and $20K bout it varies.

Do you ever worry about theft?

No, not really.

[AllieTB1323]

DW and I have maybe $40.00 in our wallet/purse gathering dust.

[Edie]

I don't like cash (I worked in the cash office of a warehouse club store for a couple years, and used to handle between 20-100k a day in bills depending on the season),and avoid carrying it. If I have it, it will last a long time as I don't want to deal with it, I can't track it on mint without hassle, and I'd rather just swipe my card which is tracked.

My spouse always has around $100, but also doesn't spend it a lot. It basically dwindles in $5 to $10 increments for field trip money for the youngest two.

There's probably $3-5k in cash in our house, as our son pays rent in cash each month, and it's never been deposited because my spouse doesn't want to spend it by accident. We plan on giving it back when he moves out, something he is not aware of.

[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)

I'd be interested what the downsides are for the Swedes since mostly I'd heard about the upsides?

The main thing is better tax collection. Lots of small outfits were not charging VAT correctly. Also lots of tip income etc. not reported for taxes.

It also has significant security implications re tracking money laundering. Of course the privacy implications are also disturbing but AI may be making those moot in any case.

I personally think the biggest implication from a cashless society would be the ability to track what certain people buy and once AI really gets going, using that information to revolutionize the way healthcare insurance is priced. If you are really healthy than it would benefit you but for typically people it would probably increase their premiums.

[Valuethinker]

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'd be interested what the downsides are for the Swedes since mostly I'd heard about the upsides?

The main thing is better tax collection. Lots of small outfits were not charging VAT correctly. Also lots of tip income etc. not reported for taxes.

It also has significant security implications re tracking money laundering. Of course the privacy implications are also disturbing but AI may be making those moot in any case.

I personally think the biggest implication from a cashless society would be the ability to track what certain people buy and once AI really gets going, using that information to revolutionize the way healthcare insurance is priced. If you are really healthy than it would benefit you but for typically people it would probably increase their premiums.

And your health is largely not about how you live.

Or to be precise you can make your health worse by excessive smoking, drinking or eating, but you can't do much to make it better than your genes and your life experiences (especially pre natal and early life) make it.

A relatively small percentage of people spend most of healthcare spend. And there's a degree of randomness in those people getting cancer or other severe diseases. And also generally those people are *old* and that's when your genes really kick in (plus the luck of the draw).

The US might go down this route, but other countries would use the data to try to control & influence risky behaviour, rather than to price it.

[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.

How fast do US bills go out of date? It is almost impossible to spend an old or worn USD notes in countries where USD is an informal 2nd currency.

Here in the UK we are moving to polymer money and so £5, then $10 then £20 notes have all reached their end of use dates. Not sure about £50 notes -- very hard to spend here except in tourist-oriented stores or expensive restaurants.

Not sure where the EU is on EUR 500 notes, which were the classic way of paying bribes or avoiding tax. Whether they finally agreed to abolish them - I think there is a justifiable suspicion of EU politicians that they would not.

Interesting question. As far back as i can recall, cash has never "expired" here. I remember some talk of that years back when there was supposedly a lot of good counterfeits running around, but I don't think it happened.

The designs change from time to time, but when that happens, the older bills are just taken out of circulation by the government. So eventually, older bills will attract attention.

[KSOC]

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.

I get cash & gas about 5 days out from a hurricane. That's the happy side of hurricanes. Plenty of warning.

[BolderBoy]

$45 in wallet, $3 in coins in desk and $2 in coins in auto (for parking meters).

[whodidntante]

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.

If you often play at the same place, or just a handful of places, casino credit is an option. You won't incur interest but a float until you settle up. It's better than walking around with 20 grand.

[fishandgolf]

betweem DW and I....usually $80.00 -$120.00. in cash....

Now that old Monopoly game in the basement......probably a few grand in there.......

[DorothyB]

Between $100 and $700 most of the time.

[randomizer]

$100 or less.

[Doom&Gloom]

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.

If you often play at the same place, or just a handful of places, casino credit is an option. You won't incur interest but a float until you settle up. It's better than walking around with 20 grand.

That is a fine option for poker and machine play. It is a terrible option for advantage play blackjack or other table games. Cash or a stash of casino chips is a must.

[ImUrHuckleberry]

$3 in my wallet right now and probably something like $15 in change around the house and in the consoles of our cars. I spend any money in my wallet so I try not to get too much cash.

[radiowave]

. . .

How fast do US bills go out of date? It is almost impossible to spend an old or worn USD notes in countries where USD is an informal 2nd currency.

Here in the UK we are moving to polymer money and so £5, then $10 then £20 notes have all reached their end of use dates. Not sure about £50 notes -- very hard to spend here except in tourist-oriented stores or expensive restaurants.

Not sure where the EU is on EUR 500 notes, which were the classic way of paying bribes or avoiding tax. Whether they finally agreed to abolish them - I think there is a justifiable suspicion of EU politicians that they would not.

Just for fun, here is a URL from the US Treasury about bills up to $10,000 as legal tender:
http://www.bep.treas.gov/uscurrency/de ... 100.html

Trivia question, who is the president on the $5,000 bill?

[whodidntante]

If you often play at the same place, or just a handful of places, casino credit is an option. You won't incur interest but a float until you settle up. It's better than walking around with 20 grand.

That is a fine option for poker and machine play. It is a terrible option for advantage play blackjack or other table games. Cash or a stash of casino chips is a must.

Well aware that an AP will want to stay under the radar. But we don't know the poster's pattern. If you play occasionally, the floor might not notice or might not think it's worth acting on. And even an AP has a minor edge; it's not easy to spot, and an AP can have an impressive losing streak. I don't think taking a marker is noteworthy. Gambling big, pattern to bet sizes, no player's card, fast action, comes by now and usually plays long sessions would get you noticed I think. But I almost never play the house, so I'm speculating here.

[matt fe2o3]

It is an interesting thread.

I just bought a gift card for someone who did me a solid. Eight freaking fraud alerts later - I think it went through,,

Anyway I have exactly seven dollars in my wallet. I think we have 60 in the jar for the pizza guy - should the need arise.

[balbrec2]

I usually have $60 in my wallet as my walking around money.
For emergencies I keep $500 in the house safe.
For SHTF I keep $1k in US silver coins in the safe

balbrec2

[sfnerd]

In the US I kept very little. Mostly 0, unless I was traveling or going out and thought I might need a few hundred bucks in case I went to a cash only place.

Now living in Bangkok, I keep a few thousand dollars worth around, mixed between USD and baht. In the case of any sort of instability, I want to be able to pay my way out of the country quickly. Probably unnecessary, but not a big cost to do so.

[bhsince87]

. . .

How fast do US bills go out of date? It is almost impossible to spend an old or worn USD notes in countries where USD is an informal 2nd currency.

Here in the UK we are moving to polymer money and so £5, then $10 then £20 notes have all reached their end of use dates. Not sure about £50 notes -- very hard to spend here except in tourist-oriented stores or expensive restaurants.

Not sure where the EU is on EUR 500 notes, which were the classic way of paying bribes or avoiding tax. Whether they finally agreed to abolish them - I think there is a justifiable suspicion of EU politicians that they would not.

Just for fun, here is a URL from the US Treasury about bills up to $10,000 as legal tender:
http://www.bep.treas.gov/uscurrency/de ... 100.html

Trivia question, who is the president on the $5,000 bill?

Interesting link. Thanks!

While there, I clicked on more info about the $20 bill.

That's where I found the, umm, money quote:

"All US currency remains legal tender, regardless of when it was issued."

[Hukedonfonix4me]

I like to keep a $100 bill for emergencies tucked behind the drivers license. This has come in handy for times when credit is not an option (and no nearby ATM) or a cab ride is needed for someone to get home safely.

I would not want to be stranded on the side of the road due to car trouble...or at a fun brunch that was taken too far with that darn orange juice that always makes me fell buzzy.

Otherwise, anywhere between $0-$60 in wallet and whatever is in the cup holder

[caffeinefree]

Being of the millennial generation, I hardly ever carry cash. When I do, it's always less than $40, and usually only when I know I'm going to want/need it - typically for festivals where I know vendors won't be accepting cards, although these are becoming few and far between as more and more vendors are accepting credit cards. Since all my friends have Venmo, if we need to split expenses, we just send each other the money electronically.

I feel much safer not carrying cash. If, god forbid, I'm mugged or otherwise robbed, it means the only thing they'll get are my cards, which can be canceled immediately with no financial repercussions. And I can honestly tell bums that, no, I don't have a $1.

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.

In my opinion, this shouldn't even be a question, because we should just pay people a living wage and do away with tipping altogether. But that's a different topic altogether!

Edited to add: When I'm traveling it's different, I still don't like to carry cash if I can avoid it, but if I'm in a country where cash is the standard tender (most countries outside the U.S., it seems), then I obviously do carry cash. But I still don't carry more than I need for a day or two of travel, so I only get a couple hundred out of the ATM at a time. The exception was when we visited Greece in summer 2015 and were told to get our euros before going, because there was no guarantee the ATMs would have cash, what with the instability ...but that ended up being a non-issue and we came back with a couple thousand euros that we never spent.