How much cash do you keep on hand?

[Supervisor42]

To be honest, I keep enough cash laying around to cover any emergency that we may have.

So, are you a drug-dealer or criminal?
...or maybe just another person who is prepared.
I just realized that I never answered the thread title question: $10K-$15K.

 

[Mountain trapper]

So, are you a drug-dealer or criminal?
...or maybe just another person who is prepared.
I just realized that never answered the thread title question: $10K-$15K.

Of course not. Remember when they took away the $500 and $1000 bills? They said only drug dealers and criminals used those denominations. There's been talk about getting rid of the $100 bill too for the same reason.

 

[Supervisor42]

Of course not. Remember when they took away the $500 and $1000 bills? They said only drug dealers and criminals used those denominations. There's been talk about getting rid of the $100 bill too for the same reason.

Ah, you brought back a memory for me .
When I was young and single, I always wanted to get one of the bills shown below, frame it, and put it on the wall for my 'emergency-money'.
I was making enough to support a family and had little-no expenses, so I had plenty to get it from the bank.
Went down to the bank to get one, and they had a few... and stupid me said: "none of them are pretty enough to frame" .
...I still kick myself to this day for being so picky.

 

[Pearl]

Oh you know, I usually keep a few hundred thousand stashed for a rainy day, in a cheap safe in the garage at my house at 501 Rte 66, Kingman, AZ. You never know when you might need to buy a house, or bribe a jailer. I've been meaning to bolt that safe down though. I'll probably get to it, along with fixing the alarm system, right after we get back from our winter ski trip next week.

I'll be there to feed the cat

 

[Caribou]

We went over to the house of my wife’s co-worker. The computers were down, the grocery store couldn’t accept cards, and the cash machine was tied up with the same problem. They were complaining (not my original wording choice) about the store not making arrangements for people too stupid to keep cash (not their wording). They accepted no responsibility for their own action, or lack there of. The wife and I kept quiet, neither of us wanted them to come knocking the next time something happened.

 

[Proud Prepper]

enough to pay 6 months of bill's. xtra few thousand for emergencies.

 

[Cascadian]

Of course not. Remember when they took away the $500 and $1000 bills? They said only drug dealers and criminals used those denominations. There's been talk about getting rid of the $100 bill too for the same reason.

The fact that my 100 is rolled up in my shirt pocket is irrelevant.

 

[bkt]

If the dollar collapses, then even that safe full of cash will not be enough to buy dinner.

True, but you can light a fire with it. You do have firewood, a wood stove, and food to cook right?

 

[Amish Heart]

I hope that everyone on this forum does.

 

[UserNameTaken]

Here is a short article on emergency funds. It says 3 months. But over 1 in 4 have none, and 59% are not comfortable with what they have.

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/natio...m&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral

 

[Tim Horton]

How much cash do I keep on hand ??
Will let you know about that as soon as I hit the Lotto... BWAHAHAHAHHHAAA....

You are right.. The plastic Canadian bills are a mess to keep in your wallet or pocket when all crinkly... But the thing I think they do have right is the $1 and $2 coins.. Called ..Loonies and Toonies.. Also NOT using a $1 bill or the penny.. It made many things much simpler..

I have always thought the US missed out big time by not making better use of the $1 coin.. Infact, I believe a $5 coin would be a good idea..

Facts, details, experience, thoughts ??

 

[old tex]

I'm not a prepper so my cash on hand isn't for that. We have a drawer with from 20 to 120 dollars that we stock as needed. I carry maybe on the high end, $20. My wife probably closers to $100. Locally we have a savings account that generally has between 800 to $1200 which is located 3 miles from our house. That's just in case we need some "bigger" cash. Our main credit union is about 1200 miles from here. My wife got into silver buying a while back & has bought some 2 or 3 times. I "kind of" know where it is but don't know how much is there.

 

[Sourdough]

I just take some checks from a closed checking account, and make them out payable to me, for huge amounts of money. I pretend that it is actually real wealth............like the government money.

 

[Mountain trapper]

How much cash do I keep on hand ??
Will let you know about that as soon as I hit the Lotto... BWAHAHAHAHHHAAA....

You are right.. The plastic Canadian bills are a mess to keep in your wallet or pocket when all crinkly... But the thing I think they do have right is the $1 and $2 coins.. Called ..Loonies and Toonies.. Also NOT using a $1 bill or the penny.. It made many things much simpler..

I have always thought the US missed out big time by not making better use of the $1 coin.. Infact, I believe a $5 coin would be a good idea..

Facts, details, experience, thoughts ??

Our one dollar coin probably would have been better accepted here if it wasn't the size of a quarter. I'd like to see a decent sized $1 coin and a $5 coin. I always liked the $2 bill too. I don't know why people didn't like it.

 

[zoomzoom]

I'm not big on coins. A dollar bill is easier to carry than 4 quarters (or a dollar coin). A $100 bill is definitely a lot easier to carry compared to the same value in coins.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I'm not big on coins. A dollar bill is easier to carry than 4 quarters (or a dollar coin). A $100 bill is definitely a lot easier to carry compared to the same value in coins.

That's why it would be nice to have a choice. I'd also like to see the $500 and $1000 bills be brought back.

 

[lonewolf]

the problem with cash is finding a cashpoint these days, more and more are closing down, my favourite one closed a couple of months ago.

 

[Mountain trapper]

the problem with cash is finding a cashpoint these days, more and more are closing down, my favourite one closed a couple of months ago.

What is a "cashpoint"?

 

[lonewolf]

What is a "cashpoint"?

ATM we call them cashpoints.

 

[Mountain trapper]

ATM we call them cashpoints.

I see. We have one in my county, but I've never used it before. We just get cash out of the bank.

 

[Tim Horton]

Cash point...... ATM......
Convenient at times, but they don't always work if the power or internet is out... Or are empty..

 

[Sourdough]

To safely have enough "cash" for six months of ultra-hard expenses (no fluff) I would be needing $18,000.00 to $20,000.00 green cash.

So, my typical $20.00 to $40.00 cash on hand, would cover Two hours and seventeen minutes

 

[lonewolf]

bank branches over here are shutting down at regular intervals , the nearest one to me is 8 miles away and that is the only one.
most people bank on line and dont use cash.

 

[Mountain trapper]

bank branches over here are shutting down at regular intervals , the nearest one to me is 8 miles away and that is the only one.
most people bank on line and dont use cash.

We have one bank in our county and it's 20 miles away. We use cash for many things. The people that I do business with locally can't accept credit cards. We do use credit cards when we shop online and at the grocery store.

 

[Amish Heart]

If it's our small town local (grocery, feed, hardware, thrift, and car repair), I use cash or check. The owners appreciate not having to lose a percentage when people use credit cards. If you forget your checkbook at the feed store, you can just sign for it. Same for the hardware and auto place. Or if a neighbor picks up something for you. You can swing by another time and pay. For our unmanned gas and diesel pumps, they send a monthly paper bill and you can write a check and mail it or pay in person.

 

[Tootsie]

If it's our small town local (grocery, feed, hardware, thrift, and car repair), I use cash or check. The owners appreciate not having to lose a percentage when people use credit cards. If you forget your checkbook at the feed store, you can just sign for it. Same for the hardware and auto place. Or if a neighbor picks up something for you. You can swing by another time and pay. For our unmanned gas and diesel pumps, they send a monthly paper bill and you can write a check and mail it or pay in person.

I made the rounds yesterday with some neighbors doing some holiday shopping at some of the small home businesses. One store was run on the honor system, self check out. They easily had several thousand dollars worth of stuff in there. Many new books which you could buy, or pick up a copy from their lending library, honor system too, for just a quarter. I’ve found some new favorite places. Friendly, welcoming places to shop. Cash or check, all but one. To me it seemed like a big step back in time, like living in a Walton’s episode. It is real, it is doable, and it will work until some ‘modern’ idiots ruin it.
Another thought too was that almost everything that you might need for day to day living is all available there with in the community, off the beaten path maybe, but all within the community.

 

[lonewolf]

most people here use debit or credit card, I use debit card for big supermarket shop but cash for all the smaller purchases, online purchases are pay pal payable on credit card account by cheque by post once a month.

 

[Amish Heart]

I made the rounds yesterday with some neighbors doing some holiday shopping at some of the small home businesses. One store was run on the honor system, self check out. They easily had several thousand dollars worth of stuff in there. Many new books which you could buy, or pick up a copy from their lending library, honor system too, for just a quarter. I’ve found some new favorite places. Friendly, welcoming places to shop. Cash or check, all but one. To me it seemed like a big step back in time, like living in a Walton’s episode. It is real, it is doable, and it will work until some ‘modern’ idiots ruin it.
Another thought too was that almost everything that you might need for day to day living is all available there with in the community, off the beaten path maybe, but all within the community.

Yep, I can make do with what's in our community pretty well. It's set up that way, since it takes an amish person quite a while to drive the tractor 20 miles to Walmart, or hire a driver. But the younger amish ladies do hire a driver for their Walmart and Aldi runs a couple times a month. But it wasn't always like that. But we can pretty much get what we need here, and most is by honor system.