Do You Keep a Stash of Cash?

[smiths02]

I feel like the high school years were the worst for kids needing cash for this or that. Lunch on a field trip. Money for the school t-shirt. Money for snacks at the game after school. Today it was cash for the ticket to prom. Sometimes a card will work, but it's always hard to know for sure in advance. I feel bled dry sometimes, but I can't imagine not having cash to put in their hands when they need it.

Our school will accept checks as well as many things can be paid online (field trips, lunch money, yearbook)

 

[diznygirl]

We do - it's usually for school related stuff. Kids are always needing a few bucks for school, and school events take cash for parking/tickets/concessions. The booster club really needs to get the Square.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Absolutely. I take some cash out of checking every week & split it with DW. I stash what I don’t use. If I’d like to surprise DW with something nice, it comes out of this stash so it doesn’t show up on the CC statement. I’ll use it for myself as well, or even minor car repairs.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

It sounds like the US is more cash-free than the UK (or at least my little bubble of it). The 3 local taxi firms I use only accept cash, as do many corner shops. If I tip for food delivery, breakdown recovery etc, I have no option but cash. I have to pay the guy who cleans my bins in cash each week. Not all street parking meters accept card payment, and it’s a hassle to do. There are also plenty of pockets of areas that don’t have phone reception, should I need to pay by card for something. I would feel very vulnerable not having any cash.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our school will accept checks as well as many things can be paid online (field trips, lunch money, yearbook)

Ours takes checks for most things but not all. It's just hard to know sometimes which ones are the exception. Cash is just so much simpler sometimes.

 

[smiths02]

It sounds like the US is more cash-free than the UK (or at least my little bubble of it). The 3 local taxi firms I use only accept cash, as do many corner shops. If I tip for food delivery, breakdown recovery etc, I have no option but cash. I have to pay the guy who cleans my bins in cash each week. Not all street parking meters accept card payment, and it’s a hassle to do. There are also plenty of pockets of areas that don’t have phone reception, should I need to pay by card for something. I would feel very vulnerable not having any cash.

I think there is a difference in suburbs at cities.

I can count on one hand the times in my adult life that I have used a taxi. Whenever I have, it has been a known prior expense. I have had a friend, coworker, or family member "rescue" me from every car breakdown. There are also really no buses here where I live (there are in other parts of the US). Nearly every family has at least 2 cars. In the suburbs, there is rarely a charge to park. If I know I am going to go to the city, I'll have cash because I know I'll have to park.

I also don't see having $20-40 in my wallet and $20-40 in DH's wallet as a "stash of cash" in my house. That covers parking, tips, etc. So maybe I interpreted the question wrong?

 

[Southernmiss]

Most of our purchases are by credit card-don't even know where my debit card is. But we do keep some cash on hand...

Have a high school child-there are often last minute "Oh, I need XXX for YYYY." Cash is needed as we are heading out the door in the morning.

We live in a hurricane prone area-when power is out for days or weeks, credit cards don't work. Cash is needed for bottled water and gas or other emergency items.

DH referees soccer. Cash he receives from that becomes his lunch money and our incidental cash. He just mentioned the other day that he is building some money set aside from his referee money for emergency/hurricane $. Hopes to amass $1000. If we don't have a hurricane, it becomes lunch money when we are out of town or date night money or even Disney or vacation fun money.

I do have my own "mad money" stash. I get cash bonuses at work-nominal $100 or $500 and save those for when I want a treat-a new outfit or something else that I can't see taking from the regular family budget for. Right now, it's about $800.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

But yes -- we do keep some cash at home "just in case".

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I think there is a difference in suburbs at cities.

I can count on one hand the times in my adult life that I have used a taxi. Whenever I have, it has been a known prior expense. I have had a friend, coworker, or family member "rescue" me from every car breakdown. There are also really no buses here where I live (there are in other parts of the US). Nearly every family has at least 2 cars. In the suburbs, there is rarely a charge to park. If I know I am going to go to the city, I'll have cash because I know I'll have to park.

I also don't see having $20-40 in my wallet and $20-40 in DH's wallet as a "stash of cash" in my house. That covers parking, tips, etc. So maybe I interpreted the question wrong?

That’s a fair point about cities vs suburbs. I live in a suburb here in Scotland but we don’t have suburbs of the type that I lived in in the US. It is definitely possible to live here easily without a car, which is a big difference.

I don’t think you misinterpreted the question: it asked about an emergency stash of cash, which I agree is different from having $20 in your wallet. I was just surprised by all the people who said that they don’t really use cash. I have definitely been in a position where I needed cash in an emergency (to get a taxi home from the hospital). Because I’m generally bad at keeping enough cash on hand, I always make sure that my husband and I both have an emergency stash, should we need it. I keep it separate from the cash that I have in my wallet.

 

[Klayfish]

Absolutely. I take some cash out of checking every week & split it with DW. I stash what I don’t use. If I’d like to surprise DW with something nice, it comes out of this stash so it doesn’t show up on the CC statement. I’ll use it for myself as well, or even minor car repairs.

I've got a Paypal account for that...it pays for some car stuff, DWs' personal trainer, even Disney stuff.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Yes, my husband and I both have cash hidden away in case we are out and need it.

Together, that cash could keep us afloat for long enough to get out of Dodge.

My son also carries some. Or at least he is suppose to.

 

[soccerdad72]

Stash? No. We usually have about $200-$300 on hand in the house at any given time, though.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Always have cash. Never know when I will need it.

 

[scrapquitler]

I usually keep about $10-$20 in the center console of my car for an emergency (like maybe I forgot my purse and need gas or coffee), and I've usually got about $20 in my purse, but that's all the emergency cash I keep around. I've never run into a situation where the power was out and nobody was taking credit cards (none of the stores here will open at all if there's no power, and if just one has a CC machine problem, I'd go somewhere else).

I guess if the zombie apocalypse hits, I'll really be out of luck without cash, but in that case, I don't want to be around anyway.

 

[wenrob]

The only time I have cash for emergencies is when we travel. I usually come home with most of it. That gets stashed for the next trip as I see it as already spent money. But actively keeping cash for emergencies, no. We have credit cards for that.

On power outages, I can only think of two brown outs in the last 25 years that affected our area. I have never witnessed it happening to the whole city and it was hours not even a full day. Neither case called for money. I did have to go to my sister’s house to bake the homemade pizzas I’d put together when it was clear the power wasn’t coming back on any time soon. The last time we went to the movies where there was air conditioning.

On possibly needing a cab, here they’re all set up to take debit, credit card, Apple Pay, Android Pay etc. Worse case we’d have to ask them to stop at an ATM. If my vehicle breaks down a tow and a ride is covered by my insurance.

In the couple of decades since debit became a thing I’ve only been caught out a couple of times where cash would have been useful but not necessary. Carrying a credit card would have solved the issue and now we always do.

 

[Jaime4004]

Stash? No. We usually have about $200-$300 on hand in the house at any given time, though.

Same here. Never know when we're going to need cash for something so we usually have a couple hundred hanging around just in case. I'm not a fan of driving 15 mins to the bank, if I don't need to. My son called me from school last week asking for me to bring him $5, they were having a snow cone day at school. Little things pop up that require cash. I also don't travel around with a wallet, just my phone that holds my license, one credit card and $20 in case I need it.

 

[wvjules]

No. I don't even know what cash looks like anymore. lol

 

[dmaxphil]

$200-$500 at any given time. I plan on looting if stuff hits the fan.

 

[diznymom]

Yes. I have paid for brand new appliances (refrigerator) with the stash. Also, all the little things for school and such.

I have to keep it hidden. My guys have no qualms about going through my purse / wallet to find cash.

 

[Gigi22]

After our first major multi-day power outage, the local emergency authorities updated the list of emergency supplies that they recommended every household keep on hand. At the time $1000 cash per household was suggested...