I take every $5 bill I end up with as change and stash it away in our fireproof safe. I "borrow" from it when I absolutely need to, and add to it whenever I find Abe Lincoln in my wallet. It adds up quicker than you might think.

Consider having a fireproof safe in your house. Good place for all those important papers, too. Ours is in a place that isn't super easy to find or steal but is relatively convenient to get into.

I don't keep any cash "in the house" but like to have at least $20 in my purse in case I'm out and want to buy lunch somewhere or a snack at a convenience store, etc.

Not information I would share on the net.

I do keep a few hundred dollars on my person most times.

I'm with Malna about having a safe in the house. Ours is bolted in. Jewelry, some cash, important papers. They aren't expensive, and you can buy them at Costco.

" I had a friend tell me recently that I should keep no less than $10,000
at all times in case we have a disaster in our country because we could
not use ATMs or write checks or use credit/debit cards."

This is bad advice, it's nonsense. I'm going to guess that the source is someone who is uninformed or very misinformed about how banks and financial systems function.

Keeping any more cash than is needed for personal convenience for a few days is unnecessary.

$10,000 is a ridiculous amount to keep in the house. Our biggest natural risks are wildfires and earthquakes. One would burn it up and the other would bury it. A lotta good it would do me then!

I'm curious why a couple of you, (Lindsey deleted her post) would carry a large amount of cash. Why not use debit or credit for large purchases?

We use cash for groceries unless we use debit for cash-back. Gas gets paid by cash, or sometimes a credit card if there's a promotion; currently we're saving 5cents/litre by using the credit card.

I try to keep a couple hundred at home. We do like the grocery money in a jar so that I don't have it with me all the time where it gets dwindled away.

I keep a few hundred in the house. Although I use my debit / credit
cards a lot, I carry cash also because it's faster to pay that way.
Keeping $10,000 in the house is crazy.

$10.000 for stash cash?! Are you looking to adopt? :)

Never keep that much cash around. I take $200 from the ATM periodically just in case I need cash. It usually lasts a month or more. Credit cards and ATMs will always work somewhere. if they don't we are really in trouble.

We keep one to two hundred in $20's in the house. We may use $800 in a year. Everything else goes on a CC where we pay the full balance each month. I like the convenience and the record of what went where -- and the cash-back or miles-back features too. I don't understand the appeal of a debit card that leaves your entire bank balance exposed to theft.

A fireproof safe is fireproof. That is, the *safe* will withstand a fierce fire; paper inside it will be ashes, and coins and jewelry inside it will be a glob of molten metal. No safe is secure if it can be removed from whatever is holding it in place if it is small and light enough to be carted away. It will protect goods from a light-fingered guest and -- the typical residential burglar, who is gone in under three minutes, before police can respond to an alarm.

I'll just say, I am doing it all wrong. I have no cash at home. I wish! I carry around what I can lose, and it wouldn't kill me should it get lost or stolen. I'd prefer not to, but it wouldn't be insurmountable should it happen. It's only for going out to eat, odds and ends, splurges, etc. I want/need during the month. At the beginning of the month, I buy all my groceries, and set aside a month's worth of gas for the cars (it's something like $15 a week X 4 weeks so only $60), and it stays in the car. There is a monthly allowance for clothes and whatever we need/want is picked out during the month, so they're bought on payday, straight out of the account or cash taken out and it's typically used within two days. Medications are quarterly and those come directly out of the account. What else do you need cash for?

It's wise to keep whatever amount a person feels comfortable with in a safe place in the home. Also don't let your car's gas tank get too low because if electricity is interrupted, you cannot buy gas.

$15 a week gets me back up to full. Typically only use a 1/2 tank, and I can walk everywhere, including work. I'd be ok.

;)

I can top this. My INLAWS keep bars of gold and silver in their house. I won't tell you where. Once hiding spot is pretty smart. The other...it might as well be under the mattress.

I have a fireproof safe(it says to what degree and for how long, it has limits) installed in the cement basement floor(no it can not be removed). I keep a few bills, maybe $60....just in case I find something on CL. :0)

I usually keep a couple of hundred in the house in the safe and also keep a hundred dollar bill tucked away in a pocket in the car....just in case! Hope I don't forget it when I go to turn it on on a new car! Lol!

We do live in an area of hurricanes, we do have a safe, we do keep a stash in it because we have been in situations of extended loss of power and when that happens cash is king. If we need to hook up the rv and haul it out of here fast we have money on hand. It would definitely depend on where you live, the types of disasters you might be faced with and how easy it is for you to get out and get around to be able to gain access to money should you need it. On me personally I usually have maybe a hundred, mostly to pay my cleaning lady or yard guys.

I use a credit card or debit card for all purchases now and pay off the credit card each month. I have one specifically used for online purchases and call in orders. If I should need to cancel it quickly I can with out any hassle. I gain points on both. I don't keep cash because I am concerned about the banking system, strictly because of emergency situations. Having been through it a few times you learn.

If power's out ... will you carry your generator along with your debit/credit card to the store? To more than likely find out that the reader at checkout is hard wired into the line.

But ... that would only work if the phone, cable, or transmitter station at the store to feed satellite, or whatever link they use is powered.

And ... there is power in operation at the credit/debit card clearing centre. Plus, possibly, the issuing bank.

I seldom have over $500.00 at home - $1,000. at most, even though I pay for most goods and services by cash ... but $500.00 would last me a long time.

But I usually have enough necessities on hand to last for a week, at least. I'm dependent on there being power at the gas station.

I've said for some time that it makes sense for half a dozen or so families to buy a quality generator with some more than minimal capacity to share in case of prolonged power outage.

Several years ago I borrowed generators to take in one situation about thirty miles and in another to another province to provide emergency power ... many were concerned about food in freezers.

A number wanted me to hook up furnace, but most have direct line to breaker box and I was unwilling to take responsibility for inadvertently feeding power back out on to a line that the repair people believed to be dead.

ole joyfuelled ... with some fuelling help from bread, etc. in an emergency

maybe $100-200 NEVER $10,000 that's CRAZY... what if your house burns down!

This same friend also has $50,000 in silver bars in a small safe in the house! If they have a tornado, that safe would be long gone!

Just be careful what kind of info you post about yourself and your friends/family with regards to money. I did an experiment a while back with a poster here (with her permission) and I was able to find her full name and address within a couple of minutes using just the vague information she's shared on the KT. It's unlikely something bad will happen but it's certainly possible.

I rarely have cash on me at all these days. Everything goes on the credit card and gets paid off completely every month. If I can scrounge up $5.00 in the house I'd be lucky.

My earthquake preparedness, which isn't all that thorough, does include maintaining a full tank of gas in the car, a backpack with emergency rations and a bit of cash on hand. However, none of my preparations would be adequate if a massive quake hit my area. As for preparing for a government failure, cash would probably be worthless. You would be better off having good barter materials on hand like water, food and fuel.

I inherited a home from an elderly relative that had a bomb shelter from the 1950's in it. When I cleaned it out, she had hoarded (or stocked up) on boxes of salt...dozens of them, as well as a gazillion bars of soap. I couldn't imagine why until someone suggested that perhaps she was laying in supplies that could easily be bartered, that would be in high demand. Neither took up much space. Oh, and a bottle of 1968 Dom Perignon, but I think that was probably to drink.

Bob....and you are correct about them having guns and ammo....and those suckers are all loaded!..scared me to death when he showed them to me! I make darned sure he knows when I come to visit his DW. Also they buy multiples in everything....so they have more food than they would need in 5 years!....guess they are prepared for anything.

I personally do not keep very much cash in my house nor my purse...just enough to buy lunch etc.. When I go shopping, I take a $20 bill for lunch and my credit card. Carrying a heavy purse is bad for my back.

Chi...there is no way I would tell what city or where my friends live...nor myself either....but thanks for the reminder. It is kind of scary that you were able to find someone on here just by what they shared on their posts.

Hi Bob,

Here is what our money looks like. It's polymer and is slippery as heck.

I would think that if the government went bust then money/cash would have no value whatsoever. I know in all the end of days type movies, it doesn't. HA! I would think toilet paper and those bars of soap granny had stashed would be more valuable! Of course canned food and a manual can opened would be the bomb!

I keep very little cash. Heck I would think that a lot of people don't have $10,000 to their names in this economy!

I just want to say that chi is right. A person who posts frequently on these forums (not on kitchen table but another one) has a unique handle. I was interested in some things this person said about him or herself in terms of a house project so I googled his/her handle. Within just a few seconds I found a lot of other sites this person posts to using the exact same handle, and within 5 minutes I found his/her address and phone number. No, I had no intention of stalking this person but it was a warning to me! Be careful out there!

According to what I've read, I agree with Arkansas_girl. Money, gold, and jewelry will have no value. Bottled water, cigarettes, gasoline, canned food, toilet paper, soap, medicine, and (sorry to say) s*x, will be the currency. Even during Katrina, money was less valuable than bottled water.

Jasdip wrote, "I'm curious why a couple of you, (Lindsey deleted her post) would carry a large amount of cash. Why not use debit or credit for large purchases?"

I have a large amount of cash in the house, not because it was a conscious decision to do so, but because I got into the habit of saving any crisp bills that come out of the ATM when I withdraw money, as well as crisp bills that I receive in change when making purchases with cash. The bills range in size -- I have hundreds, fifties, twenties, tens, fives, and ones. The money is safely and securely put away, and I sincerely doubt anyone would find it. Even if they did figure out where it is, they simply wouldn't be able to get to it.

Although there used to be a branch of my bank two miles from our house, it's no longer there. The nearest branch is a bit of a drive, and I don't have that amount of cash with me when I happen to be in the area of my bank branch. And I haven't ever thought, "gee, tomorrow I think I'll go to the bank and deposit this huge sum of money that I have here at home." Although I can withdraw money from virtually any bank's ATMs, my bank does levy a fee for using an ATM from another bank, so I only withdraw from my bank's ATMs, or I get cash back when making a grocery purchase. I would never, ever, deposit cash through an ATM. (I know others have done so without issue, but there's no way I'm putting multiple thousands of dollars in cash into an ATM.)

As for Jasdip's question about using debit or credit for large purchases.... When I was working (I retired nearly a year and a half ago), I would withdraw $300 in cash once a month. That was my spending money for the month for lunches, incidentals, etc. (And it was out of that $300 that crisp bills were set aside.) Any money left over at the end of the month got set aside as well. Since I retired, I don't withdraw cash every month -- only when I am running low on cash-on-hand, and by that I mean cash in my wallet (and I still set aside the crisp bills). I always use my debit card at the grocery store, and a credit card for gas (for my car) purchases. I also use a credit card in restaurants, unless it's a fast food type of place, and then I use cash or my debit card.

As my growing-up-in-the-Depression mom told me ad infinitum, "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

Yeah, I prep for natural disasters (not the end of the economy/world scenarios because I don't have the energy for that). We do have blizzards or major snowfalls and hurricanes on a regular basis. Therefore I stock enough food and water for me and the furkids for a month. A manual can opener and an outdoor propane stove and grill with at least two full propane bottles. A propane generator running off the house supply, so I don't have to worry about gasoline. After Hurricane Sandy, I know exactly how much propane per hour (with load) the generator will use. I ration it when I have to.

Cash still works when the Internet is down, but the store is still open. Not much else does.

The heck with buying water. I just fill cleaned out 2 liter soda bottles (I have about 50 -you'd be surprised how many you can go through in a day when you don't have power-we tested it) with my well water and save them. If I don't use them within three months, the plants get watered or the washer gets filled, and I refill the bottles.

I do try to avoid the scenario of no toilet paper, but *it happens :-)

Lindsey, do your ATM's get robbed that you wouldn't deposit cash? I can't think of any reason otherwise. I suppose you could go to a teller and do it there, if you ever needed to.

I carry cash because I don't use ATM/Debit cards. For me it's either cash or credit. Lots of places are cash only. Bakeries, produce stands, farmer's markets, mom and pop restaurants, food trucks etc. Even when using CCs to pay in restaurants I prefer to leave a cash tip. Some gas stations offer a discount for cash. I carefully manipulate my CCs to either earn rewards or take advantage of zero interest on large purchases etc. I also factor in how much of my available credit is in use at any given time to keep my rating at an above average excellent. Nickle and diming on CCs would just add to more bookkeeping. Time is money also. One of my pet peeves are people who take up my time paying with debit/credit cards for a value meal or a coffee. Slows everything down then we wait because they can't get their card to work, it's rejected, they forgot their new pin etc. Meanwhile my milkshake is melting, my food is getting cold or the items in my full grocery cart are "expiring" because doofus won't carry enough cash to pay for a bag of popcorn and a soda. UGH.

PS Chi is absolutely correct. It would be very easy to get personal info on someone from a site like Houzz. I've done it for years just to test my skills. I'm no expert at it but I find it quite simple to pick up a trail and follow it. If I was someone with bad intentions I would probably be even more skillful at it.

Jasdip, the machines don't get robbed (although there have been one or two news stories over the years saying that an entire machine was stolen). However, there have been crimes where a person withdrawing cash from an ATM gets robbed on the way back to their vehicle. (There aren't a lot of drive-up ATMs.) I would be standing there with a big wad of cash feeding it into the machine - a great target. And then I would have to be totally trusting of the tellers emptying the machine to correctly report how much cash I put in. And I do not like going inside banks.

It doesn't take any longer to process a debit/credit card purchase than a cash purchase. Cashiers take a long time to count back your change.

I keep less than $5. in cash because I'm a bleeding heart that cannot pass up someone begging for cash on a street corner. I really can't afford to give up the money, but I always think...I have a home, cars and food, this person has none of that.

I rarely have any cash around. Maybe $20. If I need cash when I go to town, I withdraw what I need, pay for my purchases. I do agree with keeping your fuel tank topped up. One never knows when you have to "get out of Dodge" quickly due to a disaster situation. And we have a disaster tub, change of clothing, personal hygiene stuff, water and some canned goods, that we can toss in the truck for such an occasion.

We are sort of "preppers", but not because we fear economic collapse. We prep, because one never knows how long we might be snowed in or without power in the winter. A generator, propane stove and the fireplace has gotten us through just fine when that happens.

We have nothing. Recently with did start a cash jar from egg sales but it's more for the purpose of saving for a fun family event this summer. Everytime we sell eggs to my husband's co-workers it now goes into the jar. Before he used to just keep it in his desk at work *shakes head*. I live over an hour from a large city and closest town is almost 15 minute drive. We're already used to bartering here because our across the road neighbours are Mennonite. We have a great relationship with them. For example they rent our land every year and this year we had bought poor quality hay from someone else so we just bought bales from him and he took it out of what he would normally pay us for land rental. So now he owes us nothing for the land. We did the same thing last year and have even done that with livestock with him.
If there is ever a devestating event I'll go live with them. LOL Between the two of our families we'd be at least still eating very well.

We don't keep a lot of cash around. Enough for incidents or if we order a pizza to be delivered (about once a year). Sounds like we're in the majority.

I read that it's often quicker to choose a long line at the grocery store. Once their purchases are run through and they've paid then you're up.

In a shorter line, there would be several people all paying with debit, etc which often takes longer. I've been behind people who've tried 2 or 3 times to get their card to work.....mis-typed the PIN etc.

We keep enough on hand that if we needed to leave town on a moments notice, we would have enough to pay a house-sitter and have cash in our wallets to spare.

PKponder said, "I keep less than $5. in cash because I'm a bleeding heart that cannot pass up someone begging for cash on a street corner. I really can't afford to give up the money, but I always think...I have a home, cars and food, this person has none of that."

While I know it's true that some of the folks who are begging for cash on street corners really are destitute and need the money, I also know that some of them are not. Quite a few years ago, there was a woman who would stand near a light rail station in downtown Sacramento at the end of the day when state workers were going home. She was always there on payday and for several days after payday. She also always had a baby in a stroller with her, no matter what the weather was like. Can you imagine how that tugged at people's hearts, to see a mother and child in the rain or bitter cold, begging for money for food? Well, one day someone happened to see her leave the area and walk to one of the side streets, where she got into a Mercedes driven by a well-dressed man about her age. The guy who saw this told his girlfriend, who was a reporter. The reporter followed up on what she thought, rightly so, would be an interesting story. Turned out the "destitute mother" was taking in close to $100,000 a year (on which she was not paying taxes) by her little begging routine. Child protective services threatened to take the baby away, saying the mother and father were unfit, since they were subjecting the baby to being outside for hours and hours in horrible weather so that they could conduct a scam.

FlamingO said, "We keep enough on hand that if we needed to leave town on a moments notice, we would have enough to pay a house-sitter and have cash in our wallets to spare."

Hubs and I did have to leave town once on a moment's notice very late one night, when my brother was hospitalized and wasn't expected to live through the night. I was gone for over 9 weeks -- and glad that I had a bunch of cash with me.

I remember that report Lindsey. You know it's not that hard to tell the really down and out from the scammers. The truly homeless don't have the time to be working their spots. They are too busy trying to stay under the radar and watching over their meager possessions. They are the one who are so grateful when you offer them some food or even a bottle of water. They don't make demands or try to intimidate or guilt trip people into "helping" them.

I used to see a guy outside a store at closing time and as the buses stopped running. He would straight up ask for spare change for some "alkyhole". I didn't mind giving him a bit of change now and then. At least he was being honest.

I don't know who ticks me off more, the scammers or those that give them cash. It's like feeding wildlife. Those bleeding hearts are aiding and abetting. They are creating the problem. Good for you PKponder for at least recognizing your tendency to being a soft touch and trying to do something about it.

My husband's work is seasonal. Therefore, I like to keep a full freezer. When he isn't working, or not working very much, we always have plenty to eat. I also keep cash on hand. Also save my fives, and my change and save a little money every day, besides taking out a set amount every month and what I don't spend on incidentals, I save that too. I use a debit card for paying bills but almost every thing else, I pay with cash.

I usually take a chunk out of the bank every month or two, but I don't carry much around with me at any one time. I don't like not having a bit of cash available, but I sure don't need thousands hanging around the house!

Like someone else, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with $20 between my purse and my house. DH, though, carries (I think) a couple of hundred dollar bills on him at all times It would drive me bonkers worrying about it if I did that!!

If I have a $5 bill in my purse I think I'm rich. But it's coming into garage sale season, so I need to adjust that. Maybe up to $15, in case I find a bargain.

I keep some cash around but nothing like $10k! LOL I won't bother saying what I think of that.

I still use the credit card for most purchases and pay it off monthly. I take my cashback and smile. I do need some cash to pay the guy who mows the lawn and other casual labor at times. I keep some cash for parking if it should come up, tips in restaurants (though often it'll go onto the card) and for drive-through purchases.

I also found it important to have some cash in case there is an issue with the credit card. I was checking into the motel 200 miles from home one time and the card was declined. Saved a big hassle.

I don't consider myself any sort of a "prepper". I use common sense. Have always kept a pantry of supplies and some things in the freezer in case I can't get out for a few days. I don't need months upon months worth. There's been times when the vehicle is in the shop, or I'm not feeling well or there's weather conditions that control travel. It's just common sense to keep rational amounts of necessities around when needed.

Alot of people don't have a lot of cash, many live paycheque to paycheque. I agree you need enough cash on hand to buy gas and if you hear things are coming, quickly fill up as that is one thing that will go fast, paying for medications, remember it will shut down so cards are out, groceries, those things but I sure wouldn't have that in the house that much. Maybe a thousand if you can afford that as you might need to pay for motel too and meals. Pets, make sure you have money for them too if you need to buy anything for them,etc. kathy

ummm....don't have 10k in the bank, say nothing about the house!