How much CASH do you carry?

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Surprisingly, around here (at the feed store, hardware store, and Amish discount grocery salvage store) you can take what you want and sign for it. Come back on another day and pay it. Or they will snail mail you a bill. Or if someone's doing a project for you, they can pick up what they need and you can go in whenever and pay for it. A few places take cards, but most just cash. They'll be a sign up if that's all they take. The mexican place we went to yesterday was cash only. Limits on ATM's for cash here is $200. So that's ridiculous. So if I need cash, I go into the bank and get what I want. And cash back after paying with a debit card at the grocery store will charge a buck fee.
 
Back in the spring because of covid my bank raised the ATM limit to $700 per day. They still haven't changed it. I just have to use one of their atm's though. Personally I didn't like the increased security risk so I keep less than that in the account attached to my atm card.
 
None.

We keep a couple thousand in cash at home but I don't carry any unless I'm on my way to make a deal.

After having lost a few thousand over the decades before everyone had debit cards I am glad to no longer have to worry about that.
 
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I usually carry between $100 and $200. It lasts for months.
Only place I use cash is the pharmacy because they charge a 3% CC fee.
Co-pays are only $6 per prescription so $100 lasts a long time.
Everything else goes on my 'stuntman' credit card, (risking other people's money:p).
 
Good thread to resurrect!

I have about $100 in the wallet most of the time. That has usually been enough ‘walking around money’ for me. If I am going somewhere, what I will have on me depends on where I am going. I never over-carry too much but have a good buffer, just in case. I never have more than…. Maybe $500 cash in the wallet, I will have more but not on me. That amount can be $5,000 to the basic $100. 5k would be a vacation event. Dinner, I figure $100/head tops for a small group will get us a meal at any restaurant they choose. If in a larger crowd I would use the Debit card.

In the vehicle I have an envelope inside a plastic bag tucked up under the passenger seat. 2- 20’s, 1 – 10, 2 – 5’s, 5 ones and about $2 in change. Nothing that is going to make a major purchase. I plan on it for if I happen to go out and forget the wallet. It is enough to put some gas in the tank and get something to eat, that is plenty.

At home about $8k, $4k in 2 different locations. 10 - $100 bills and the rest 50’s and 20’s with some smaller ones in each location.
 
I carry cash on my person; in my GHB; and in my EDC Bag. Small bills. Nothing larger than $20.00's. I guess between $200 and $300 in each. The method to my madness is that if the power goes down there will be no banks or ATM's, and NOBODY is going to give you change. If you don't have small bills you will be SOL. I also have a few rolls of coins stashed in a couple of bags.
 
Morgan101 said:
I carry cash on my person; in my GHB; and in my EDC Bag. Small bills. Nothing larger than $20.00's. I guess between $200 and $300 in each. The method to my madness is that if the power goes down there will be no banks or ATM's, and NOBODY is going to give you change. If you don't have small bills you will be SOL. I also have a few rolls of coins stashed in a couple of bags.
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My philosophy is to be ready to do what I need to do without needing to buy anything if the power goes down.
 
Aerindel said:
My philosophy is to be ready to do what I need to do without needing to buy anything if the power goes down.
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Where you are that makes sense. I am in a more suburban setting. I also think of it as a means to get home if need be. I am usually within a 25-50 mile radius of my home, but if things went south while you were away I want to be able to buy gas if need be. I like to think I am well prepared, but Murphy will always rear his ugly head.
 
I only carry between $10 and $20, if I am not traveling for work. I have one credit card that I put everything on, I can see what is on it real time from my computer and I pay it down if it starts getting too high. I pay it off completely each month. I do get points with each purchase that go towards sporting goods....
 
I carry about $100 in my wallet, another $500 hidden in each vehicle. Mostly in 10s and 20s.
I've had occasion to be grateful for this habit as out here the machines do go down unexpectedly, sometimes for days. Or like after Dorian blew through it took 2 weeks before you could use a card again.I have more tucked away in a few places at home.
The bulk of purchases are on the debit or credit cards which we make sure to clear immediately.
 
Aerindel said:
My philosophy is to be ready to do what I need to do without needing to buy anything if the power goes down.
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I get what you're saying, but isn't part of prepping to be prepared for anything? Sometimes cash can make your life so much easier. I gather from Morgans post you are in a pretty rural area. Still, if there are people around, cash could make things easier, perhaps saving yourself valuable time if nothing else.

I'm in a rural area, but not so much so that cash isn't king. Like many of you, I have cash stuffed in lots of different places while on the go. I have cash in my BOB in the car, in the ashtray, in my purse, in the glovebox, etc. Having that extra cash stuffed here and there has shown to be beneficial at times.

Maybe it's just coincidence, but I've noticed that the folks around here who conceal carry also tend to walk around with more cash on them. I wonder if that's the case elsewhere?
 
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On my person I carry $20-$50 dollars, where I can get it in ten minutes, about $200.00 dollers in small bills.
Never tell anyone where it is. Wife came in the front room smiling one day
& said I found $100.00 in one of your old wallet. Oh well, have to find another hiding place.
 
angie_nrs said:
I get what you're saying, but isn't part of prepping to be prepared for anything? Sometimes cash can make your life so much easier. I gather from Morgans post you are in a pretty rural area. Still, if there are people around, cash could make things easier, perhaps saving yourself valuable time if nothing else.
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There is certainly some logic to that. I'm just generally of the opinion that 'you only have what you have' when SHTF. Rather than carry cash to buy gas....I carry extra gas, that kind of thing. I don't want to get into the habit of carrying cash to buy supplies that I think I may need, rather than carrying those supplies. If you really think you are that likely to need it....then buy what you think you need NOW rather than only when you need it....when it may be too late.

Now, that being said, I didn't even have a bank account until I was 35. When I saved up money for my house while working in alaska, I kept it all in cash. But losing money was a big problem of mine back when I was cash only and these days I really try to keep my preps 'physical' rather than 'liquid'

For normal problems, electronic money works everywhere these days, for SHTF.....I'm not sure buying things is what you want to be doing. I do have a small stockpile of cash at home, I just view the risk of carrying it from day to day during normal times as a greater risk than its worth.

Now, if I was planning a cross country trip or something...it would certainly take a large amount of cash.
 
My Dad was working in Alaska and he would cash his paychecks and put the money in an old workboot. My brother got the boots mixed up and tried to put on one of Dad's. It was stuffed full of cash. Dad used that money to pay off the house.
I have 2 safes so securing cash is easy. If I hadn't lost it all in a boating accident. :p
 
Just trying to think this through a little. If the power were to go down even localized, your credit card wouldn't be of much use. As much as we like to think we have planned, things do break, get damaged, burn, rip, tear, get lost, forgotten, whatever. You may need goods, and services that would require cash.

Most of us live by this, but better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
 
I generally carry no more than $100 in various bills on a daily basis.

Between my phone and the case it's in, I have another $30 in smaller ($5&10) bills as an "Emergency Stash".

In the safe, I try to keep at least a grand in bills no larger than a $20 (note, I said "try").

Wife has a stash of about $400 from tips from her previous job.

GHB each have about $100 in smaller bills tucked away in various places.
 
We have a bunch of credit cards; all are paid right now except for the one with which we just bought our tickets to Phoenix for Thanksgiving; we'll ay it off in full when we get the bill. We have a debit card which controls our checking account and four savings accounts. All of the savings accounts have a never-drop-below limit which has worked pretty good so far.

As far as cash is concerned, Dawn usually carries $25-30, and I carry $5-10; sometimes you have to pay cash.
The only other cash we have are included in two envelopes, one with ten $20 bills, the other with twenty $10 bills. These envelopes, along with several other items, are contained in a dirty, old (and somewhat stinky) fishing-tackle box either in the back of the Xterra or in the trunk of the Civic.

That seems to be working out for us.
 
I have a wallet that I don't like to carry so I keep it in my truck console with around $50 in it. Mostly $1 bills but a few other denominations. That wallet has bailed me out a couple of times. Once when the gas station card readers were down so cash only and once when I made a drive-thru order and discovered I left my wallet at home. My wife also carries a spare wallet in her van.
I must have around $10 in change scattered in my consoles also. A coin holder is on my Christmas wishlist.
 
I used to travel for work a great deal. I wore a money belt. Seems I was always flying to a city I'd never been to in the middle of the night. I serviced catscans, seems they always put hospitals in really bad neighborhoods. I always had 3 to $100 bills on me as back up if I were robbed or lost my wallet.

Last month I bought a new wallet. Its RFID blocking, no one can scan my cards.

https://www.amazon.com/money-belts-men/s?k=money+belts+for+men
https://www.amazon.com/rfid-blocking-wallets/s?k=rfid+blocking+wallets
 
Carrying cash....about 50 years ago a lady turned in front of us totaling our car. I was car shopping for a replacement and being young the Used Car Salesmen didn't take me serious.

Found a Camaro for $750 that would work for us. Salesman (the owner of the used car lot) was entertaining a few of his friends and didn't acknowledge me until he was done telling his story to his friends. I told the Salesman I was interested in the Camaro. Salesman asked me if I had $750 with me. I said I'm not in the habit of carrying that kind of money with me. With reluctance the Salesman toss me the keys before going back to story telling with his friends.

I looked the car over, rear window was leaking and had destroyed the rear deck which an added piece of carpeting was hiding. Small oil puddle under the engine. Test drove OK. Walked back to the office and the salesman and his buddies all gave me a small grin. I got the impression that the Salesman had been bragging how he was going to make a great deal at my expense. Told him I'd give him $500 for the Camaro. He agreed IF I gave him the money right now! I opened my wallet and started counting out $500 in cash. His jaw just about bounced off the floor. YOU TOLD ME YOU DIDN'T HAVE MUCH MONEY ON YOU!!!!!!! No, I said I'm not in the habit of carrying large sums with me! He was a man of his word and sold it to me for $500.

Cash is King!
 
joel said:
On my person I carry $20-$50 dollars, where I can get it in ten minutes, about $200.00 dollers in small bills.
Never tell anyone where it is. Wife came in the front room smiling one day
& said I found $100.00 in one of your old wallet. Oh well, have to find another hiding place.
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I hate it when that happens.
 
Update.
I carry about $100 US currency and another 100-150 dollar equivalents in Euros on me.
In my vehicle I have hidden 50 Euros for fuel emergency.

Interestingly I have a pre paid Gas card that I usually use in this foreign country that gives me very significant tax savings (taxed at the US rate not the local rate which knocks off 40-45% off the high local fuel price).
Yet yesterday that card failed to work for reason not entirely clear to me yet (its prepaid so I may have run out my prepay... but I thought I was still good and had checked relatively recently)

I had money to still pay for my fuel (it was already pumped) alas at the higher price.
 
Several times in the past few years, DW and My debit/credit cards were flagged as being compromised in data breaches and shut down. Most recently DW was at the supermarket with several hundred dollars of groceries and her debit card was declined although there was plenty of $ in the account. Shocked, she paid with a credit card (cringe) and came home fuming mad. Had I been with her I could have paid cash. She called the card services and was informed that it was shut down for her safety and a new one was being issued. It took 2 weeks to arrive. Without cash in the house she would have been in a hard place. She always thought I was crazy to have cash stashed in the house, now, not so much.
 
masterspark said:
She always thought I was crazy to have cash stashed in the house, now, not so much.
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Wow, I thought almost everyone had at least some cash stashed at home, especially now that folks are getting nervous. Her realization is a big win for you!

I always have a $50 in the glovebox hidden in the car manual. Hubs laughs and says it's for if I get pulled over and 'accidentally' put it in with my registration to hand over. LOL! Nope, it's just in case I forgot my purse or something like that. I always want to know there is cash in the car for gas, food, or whatever. I also have change in the console along with small bills for a trip to the drive thru or whatever. It's saved my butt a few times.
 
I carry this in my wallet.
That's more Money than any Liberal has!

TRUMP 2020.jpg
 
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