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In addition to my dad, my mom wanted someone else to know of a stash of cash she had hidden in the hem of the bedroom curtains. A fall resulted in a hospital stay and rehab for mom, and my dad needed to move in with me due to his health. I went upstairs to retrieve mom’s mad money and found an envelope with 70 neatly stacked $100 bills.
A few years later my mother in law was forced from her condo by a fire. Her unit was heavily damaged by water and smoke. When allowed back in to retrieve personal items we found about $3000 stashed in a dozen or so hiding places.
I’ve never been one to have more than several hundred bucks in the house. Now in this age of computer hacks and failures which can wreak havoc on banking and other industries I’m thinking that it makes sense to have more cash on hand.
What are your thoughts on the subject? How much is enough?
Kinda of surprised most of the amounts here are modest. Great question, though, I’ll be getting more to keep other than the sub-$500 I keep in small bills. Maybe not so much as several months of payroll!
I am a gambler and I always have a few thousand in winnings/stake at hand. I use it primarily for gambling but if I’m running short of $ in my checking account and don’t want to take anything from investments, I’ll pay cash for groceries, gas, etc until my next SS check comes along. I like having a little cash around the house.
“Be Prepared” has stuck with me since Scouting days. I keep some cash at the house in case ATMs are down, civil unrest, natural disaster, etc. Usually enough to get me thru a week of spending.
I like to always have at least $100 to 200 in my wallet. Last year public transportation out of Manhattan was shut down due to a flood and the Uber driver didin’t want to take us north when he realized where we really wanted to go, but when we offered him cash, he canceled the Uber call and was happy to drive us off the books.
In addition, I carry one dollar bills for beggars and buying snacks at street fruit stands. (Also occasional lottery tickets; how can I resist when I see the jackpot displayed at $1B?) I keep them in the side pocket of my work bag so I can get to them fast without pulling out my wallet. To facilitate this, every once in a while I get a pack of 100 ones at a teller window.
And when traveling or parking in commercial lots, for tips. We don’t get food delivered often, but I prefer to tip in cash after the delivery. Two aspects to this: tip after the service has been performed and make sure the person really gets the tip.
My wallet typically has $10 or so in $1 bills and I have less than $500 in the house. There is so little use for cash anymore.