Curiosity - how much physical cash do y’all hold?

[HeyMickey!]

If you’re comfortable answering - curious how much paper cash mustachians hold? I used to keep some on hand ($500 but creeps up to $2K sometimes) for purchasing from small businesses, tipping, and emergencies (hello hurricanes), but with it being ‘corona times’ it’s time to re-evaluate. Thoughts?

[Engineer93]

Cash, like paper?  $0.  I don't even remember the last time I carried around physical cash.  My wallet doesn't even have a spot for it.  For Christmas my grandparents usually give me a $100 bill and I hate that I have to actually go to the bank to deposit it. 

[wenchsenior]

Typically about 50-100$ between my husband and me, plus our 'change jars'.  ETA: I almost never use it.  The same bills will sit in my wallet for months at a time. I charge almost everything.

[kanga1622]

None on purpose. I do sometimes have some when people reimburse me. DH does like to carry cash but generally has $40 tops on him at any given time. Most of our bills are set to autopay and we use credit cards to earn reward points for the things we would buy anyway.

[Sibley]

There was a post about this a few months ago. From my memory, it was all over the place.

[terran]

Usually about $20 in the desk drawer.

[CodingHare]

I carry $20 in my wallet and $20 in my work bag/backpack when I travel.  Just as a "Oops, my cards don't work/I lost them" backup.  Also useful for lending to coworkers who leave their wallets at home and look starved at lunchtime.

[jinga nation]

A G in 20s. And maybe another 500-Grand in fiddies and hundos.
Coz you never know.
Not in my undies or sock drawer, before anyone asks.

[Alternatepriorities]

I like to have at least $100 in my wallet... It's enough to solve a lot of problems when a card doesn't work for some reason, but not enough of my net worth to be significant if I lost it. Honestly the time lost dealing with various cards and identity theft would have far more of an impact. It's saved me a lot of trouble on several occasions when the power or phone lines go down someplace and cards stop working. The most valuable save was being able to buy gas in the middle of nowhere northern Canada when the only station for miles had a broken a card reader. Totally worth the slightly lower conversion rate! I'd have been hitching without the cash...

We also keep some extra cash stashed for craigslist deals. It's nice to not need a bank stop just to go look at something.

[Chris @ Saturday Financial]

. . . And maybe another 500-Grand in fiddies and hundos. . .

Haha, I first read this as "500 grand" and assumed you were joking. $500,000 would be a lot of physical cash, whether in a sock drawer or a fireproof safe. :)

[Queen Frugal]

You all are going to laugh at me but when I noticed craziness starting in the grocery stores last month I decided to take out a stash of cash from my bank. Holding $3,000.00 currently. I usually keep about $20 on hand total. I started thinking "What if the banks close?", "What if there is a run on cash like there is on TP?", "What if the internet is overwhelmed and shuts down and my cards don't work?"

Not really worried about any of those things at this point but maybe it is because I am sitting on $3,000 of cash.

[HPstache]

$500 or less for Babysitters, going out to the bar with friends (remember the olden days?), making small transactions with our budget (DW and I both have side income and hobbies), craigslist/FB market deals, etc.

[markbike528CBX]

10 Trillion, 5 billion Zimbabwe dollars.

[Cranky]

Every few weeks I get (or used to) $20 back at the grocery store for little odds and ends. I believe that I have $15 in my wallet currently, and it's been there since March 15, and it's not going anywhere any time soon. LOL

[APowers]

I usually have a jar of change in the car (~$25), ~$30 in my wallet ("just in case"), and about $200-300 in the house.

The change in the car is all my pocket coins-- mentally designated for an eventual trip to the local penny arcade with the kids.

The cash in my wallet is for those instances where the card just doesn't work, or I need to reimburse someone in cash (actually did this about 3 weeks ago). It's just enough to pay for a tank of gas and/or a grocery-store lunch.

The cash in the house is from cash gifts and selling stuff on craigslist, and is also used for buying stuff on craigslist and/or paying the occasional helper (remodeling/landscaping/babysitting).

[HBFIRE]

~ $100.  Very rarely use cash.  In fact during this pandemic we haven't used cash once  Emergency fund?  Robust, 1-2 yrs living expense.

[use2betrix]

My wife and I usually have somewhere between $20 and $150. It could last us months. We only use it when cards aren’t accepted, which is rare for the type of things we purchase.

I currently have a $100 bill sitting in my backpack that my boss and I have been giving back and forth as a bit of a running joke. We keep hiding it in the other persons desk, house, laptop, etc.

[Serendip]

I usually have around $300, currently only using the card but often use cash for most smaller purchases..

[penguintroopers]

A $20 in the car, I have like $10 in my wallet and hubs has ~$60.

We might hold somewhere around $600 over an entire year. Depends on how many craigslist deals we do and how often we stuff a birthday card with cash instead of a gift card.

[ketchup]

$71 in my wallet.  Leftovers from my last cash transaction a few months ago.  I keep forgetting to spend it.  I hate cash.

[midweststache]

~$50 divided between me and DH. Mostly from selling stuff on my local parents' FB group when people didn't have (or want to use) Venmo. We only spend cash when we need something from our corner market food-wise, as they have a $10 minimum for credit cards, and a one-off grocery purchase won't typically get us there.

I loathe cash because 1) I spend it faster than credit because I don't track that spending as intently and 2) I can't optimize it like my CC points (our points pay for Christmas gifts).

[Livingthedream55]

I take out $400 cash each month for groceries, gas and minor incidentals.

[Villanelle]

Usually probably $100-$200.  When the shit started hitting the fan, even though I knew it wasn't rational, we hit the ATM.  I guess I was thinking that if branch banks shut down, the ATMs might not be filled.  Anyway, right now we have slightly more than usual, but still less than $1000.

[Retire-Canada]

If you’re comfortable answering - curious how much paper cash mustachians hold? I used to keep some on hand ($500 but creeps up to $2K sometimes) for purchasing from small businesses, tipping, and emergencies, but with it being ‘corona times’ it’s time to re-evaluate. Thoughts?

I've got ~$80 in my wallet. No plans to change that. When I get down to $0 I'll take out ~$300 and spend it down over 6+ months. I rarely use cash for anything.

[Steeze]

Under $100 for me, DW maybe another couple hundred, and another $50 in quarters for the laundry machines. Will disappoint the robbers.

I have spoken to several of my more conservative friends that are 100% cash - emptied bank accounts and cashed out stocks. Literally 100% in physical cash. These guys also own silver, gold, guns, and have enough food for 3-6 months. If things go sideways here in NYC I know who’s couch I’m sleeping on!

[Bettersafe]

Around a 100.

I've about 20 in my phone-case for emergencies and the rest at home. It's used for craigslist deals, ice-cream-money for the kids (there's a nice ice cream parlour nearby and about 3-times a year they're allowed to go. Instead of giving them one of our debit cards to pay,  I like them to take real money, get them to think about how much the exchange should be etc)

[Slee_stack]

~$500 due to selling occasional items on CL.

We occasionally take small bills for cash tips or topping up public transit cards.

[Apple_Tango]

Around $500 physical cash total. I feel comfortable having at least $25 in my wallet.

[dignam]

I think we have like $32 and some change in a jar downstairs?  I hate cash and dealing with change.  Wonder how much we've all lost over our lives dealing with loose change...don't have that problem with credit/debit cards.

[jinga nation]

. . . And maybe another 500-Grand in fiddies and hundos. . .

Haha, I first read this as "500 grand" and assumed you were joking. $500,000 would be a lot of physical cash, whether in a sock drawer or a fireproof safe. :)

Nothing wrong with holding less than 0.5% of one's net worth in physical cash during scenarios such as this pandemic. Plus we have annual hurricanes, so keeping the cash handy is normal.

[Dicey]

Hmmmm, I had a hundo, about five twenties and a couple of singles in my wallet when we returned from a cross -country trip in February. This week, I checked my wallet and there is only a single wrinkled dollar bill in it. No idea that happened to it. Maybe I'll find it in a pocket some day, but for now I just feel fortunate that it's no big deal. For many years, it would have been a devastating event. We also keep about $500-$1000 in cash on hand in a more secure location. I charge everything I can, but we use cash for the cleaners and for buying (and selling) on CL, ND and the like.

[Nick_Miller]

About $2500 at home, and I usually have at least $100 on me. Roger Sterling used to carry the equivalent of $4,000 in his wallet, so I'm just trying to be a tiny bit as cool as him.

[honeybbq]

Like 0. When I have to get my daughter her allowance (2 or 3 bucks) it's always a struggle and sometimes I'm counting out dimes from the change drawer!

[poetdereves]

The last time I had cash on hand was Christmas in 2018. I got a crisp $100 bill from a family member as a gift. A couple days later I went looking for it and never found it. Even drug dealers take Venmo these days, so I don’t know who is taking cash anymore.

[ericrugiero]

Right now I have about $300 in my wallet (stocked up at the beginning of this crisis and haven't spent over $10 since). 

We also keep around $1000-$1500 in a secure location in the house.  That's mostly for emergencies but is occasionally handy if we buy something for cash. 

[phildonnia]

At the beginning of March, I had $20 in my wallet.  I spent the last of it just a few days ago, giving it to a friend who hooked me up with a bag of jasmine rice from CostCo.  I was just thinking that I don't really see any need to ever use cash again.

I do normally keep $60 in the car, because I usually get gas from Arco, and they charge a fee if you use an ATM card.

[NattyAnn]

You all are going to laugh at me but when I noticed craziness starting in the grocery stores last month I decided to take out a stash of cash from my bank. Holding $3,000.00 currently. I usually keep about $20 on hand total. I started thinking "What if the banks close?", "What if there is a run on cash like there is on TP?", "What if the internet is overwhelmed and shuts down and my cards don't work?"

Not really worried about any of those things at this point but maybe it is because I am sitting on $3,000 of cash.

Glad I'm not the only one! I had a bit of a mild panic about a run on the banks a few weeks ago, too. I had been feeling so secure with our fantastic nest egg in our savings accounts and Vanguard, but lost all sense of security when I went on a downward spiral of "What if ...?". It really started freaking me out that all my money is just 1's and 0's in somebody else's computer.... a computer that I could be locked out from accessing at any moment.

My husband talked me down off the ledge, so I didn't take anything out of the bank at that time.

We have $100 - $1k in cash "just in case." Like a previous poster said, it is nice to have the option to buy something from craigslist on short notice, w/o relying on a bank stop. I also usually keep a $20 in my wallet, too.

[Dr. Pepper]

5$ at the moment, usually between 20-60$. I also wear a nice watch I can use to barter if needed.

[Frankies Girl]

TL/DR: about $3.50 and some gold and silver. :)


I have self-removed and melted all my gold fillings down into easily bartered nuggets for the end times. I have several Morgan silver dollars that I was saving for the coming werewolf invasion, but apparently this stuff happened first, so I guess I'll have to hope the wolf thing waits til next year.

We have stockpiled many trinkets and treasures that should become valuable commodities in the event we must flee the area. I have also commenced boarding up the house and dug a few moats (still waiting on my Amazon order for the tree stakes that will be modified into spikes for those). Hope the delivery guy doesn't fall in... maybe I should add some special instructions? Or hey, bonus meat!

As bullets may become harder to come by and I also don't own a gun (yet), I've constructed a simple recurved bow and am practicing out in the back yard. I'm not Hunger Games good yet, but I will continue to work at it. I'm not volunteering for any tribute no matter how kickass the wardrobe however. I am however intrigued by the idea of taking the term "silent but deadly" to a whole new meaning. Or not. We've also stocked up on lots and lots of beans. SO dual meaning? I'm hoarding catchphrases too!

And I believe I scraped about $3.50 in change out of the couch the other day, but then my neighbor Jean stopped off for a chat and asked about the same question, and when I mentioned it, she perked up and inquired about whether she could borrow that exact amount. It was then I realized that Jean was a 6 story tall crustacean from the paleozoic era. I told her to get the hell off my porch and marveled at the fact I never noticed that I was living across the street from the loch ness monster.

Strange times.

[Bettersafe]

Like 0. When I have to get my daughter her allowance (2 or 3 bucks) it's always a struggle and sometimes I'm counting out dimes from the change drawer!

We're struggling with the same (keeping banknotes is not the same as having coins for allowance) so about a year ago we set up autopay for it. About half of their allowance goes into their savings account and the rest in a debit account they've excess to (neither spent from it actually, maybe mini-mmm?).

[jamesplease]

I always assume $0, since I pretty much never use paper money. I happened to look in my wallet the other day and was surprised to find $60. I'm not sure when or where I withdrew it, and I have no idea when I'll get around to spending it.

[Leisured]

DW and I have about $200 in cash. I use cards a lot more than I used to. Cash is essential if there were a social collapse, but I know  most people do not want a zombie apocalypse.

The coronavirus has changed thinking. Money has been known as 'filthy lucre' for a very long time, because people realised that notes an coins pass through innumerable grubby hands.

[Fishindude]

With exception of gas and mail order stuff, we do most all of our spending cash.   Almost always have at least $500 in my billfold, always keep $5-15,000 cash stashed somewhere.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

I understand people's lack of affinity for cash - I rarely use it. However, I can't comprehend the idea of not having at least $20 hidden somewhere in your wallet. Have you all never had a situation where you needed gas where there was no card reader or just any number of things come up? It happens extremely rarely, but it's helped me more than once, and the opportunity cost on $20 is pretty small as is the risk of getting contaminated from it being dirty if it's tucked away in a slot that I never access unless I need it.

[ketchup]

I understand people's lack of affinity for cash - I rarely use it. However, I can't comprehend the idea of not having at least $20 hidden somewhere in your wallet. Have you all never had a situation where you needed gas where there was no card reader or just any number of things come up? It happens extremely rarely, but it's helped me more than once, and the opportunity cost on $20 is pretty small as is the risk of getting contaminated from it being dirty if it's tucked away in a slot that I never access unless I need it.

I'm 29 in the US and I've never paid for gas with cash.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

I understand people's lack of affinity for cash - I rarely use it. However, I can't comprehend the idea of not having at least $20 hidden somewhere in your wallet. Have you all never had a situation where you needed gas where there was no card reader or just any number of things come up? It happens extremely rarely, but it's helped me more than once, and the opportunity cost on $20 is pretty small as is the risk of getting contaminated from it being dirty if it's tucked away in a slot that I never access unless I need it.

I'm 29 in the US and I've never paid for gas with cash.

Fair enough. It's certainly rare for me, as well.

It must be being from a rural area then or maybe even a particular rural area. I have needed cash to save me from a pretty challenging situation at least a couple times in my life and have used cash I happen to have had to make a situation better at least half a dozen times. It's definitely rare, but, again, folding a $20 dollar bill 4 times and sticking it behind some other cards in my wallet to only be pulled out a few times has been overall beneficial.

[JLee]

*peers into wallet*

Presently $81.  Often none, but I like to have at least $20 just because.

[beege]

$1K each in small bills in our go bags. Don't carry cash usually otherwise.

[Wanttobehome]

Usually less than 20.
Post CV 19 I have 400, so children have immediate cash.
Planning to increase to 1 to 2 K,

[TheFrenchCat]

Generally between 20-60 bucks between my husband and me.  The local milk store only accepts cash, so I keep it on hand for that, about $4 a week.  DH still eats at the cafeteria at work sometimes, and that's cash only too.