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Original poster

How much money do you keep in the house?

108 replies

Belindabelle · 13/01/2020 21:23

I received some money for Christmas in cash. I put in my bedside drawer and it is still there. Just wondering if I should keep it in a safe place in the house as I never need to go to the bank and I probably won’t spend it for a while. I mainly shop online now anyway.

I know my Mil has a small safe with a few hundred pounds in it and one of my Great Aunts always had a supply of dollars and euros in case she needed to leave the country quickly!

Just wondering what other people do.

OP posts:
IncyWincyGrownUp · 14/01/2020 08:18

From £0 to £10 in 20p pieces. I don’t usually have any cash at all except for the twenty pences which my son uses for snack procurement at school. I pay private music lessons, window cleaner and so on via online banking. I only have to get cash out for school music lessons, which is a ball ache so I tend to do it termly instead of weekly. School have made noises about getting parent pay, and I have been very encouraging when they’ve mentioned it.

willothewispa · 14/01/2020 08:19

Anything between a few pence and £20

hardyloveit · 14/01/2020 08:48

We have a money jar with around £900 in - did have £3k but used it for a holiday.
At the moment have around £600 in cash as sold few things but that will be going into the bank when I get the chance. Don't normally use cash for anything. Kids schools have online payment for everything. Don't have cleaner etc. Only use the money jar when needed (ie a pta sudden non uniform day etc)

UnitedRoad · 14/01/2020 08:49

Only about £20 between three adults - all in small change. There might be a few pounds in my other daughters room, who has left home.

Probably another £10 in husbands car.

UnitedRoad · 14/01/2020 08:51

Oh and a £20 note that’s the postman’s Christmas tip, only we had a temp over Christmas. Next time we see him we’ll give it to him.

littlestrawby · 14/01/2020 08:53

We have about £300 in a tin currently. My husband has many many fish tanks and we constantly have strangers trampling through the house buying baby fish from him. It helps pay for the increased electricity bills!

readingismycardio · 14/01/2020 08:57

Around €500-1000 at all times.

thesunwillout · 14/01/2020 09:12

People with safes, where do you keep yours? I have a safe, it's one of those ones you can pick up and carry.
I realised when I got it it's a bit useless when someone can just steal it, and all you have to do if you've forgotten the password is take the batteries out lol.
I 'think' there's a special key thing for the battery bit tho.

My safe is well hidden but still.

MerryDeath · 14/01/2020 09:22

an unlimited supply of coppers and random foreign currency, and toy money. and it's well spread out now as my DS goes through phases of moving it around as cargo or other, posting it places, there's a fortune under our floorboards 😁

bugger all useful cash, whatever DH has in his wallet as i hate the stuff and don't go anywhere near it unless necessary.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/01/2020 09:34

Probably less than £50 between the two of us and whatever euros we have leftover from our last holiday as we go away 3 or 4 times a year and just save what we have until next time.

It's useful to be able to buy drinks etc without having to find a cash machine first, although we're shifting more towards card payments in Spain as more restaurants seem to be accepting cards and more cash machines in the mainland at least are now charging, which wasn't the case when we went to Lanzarote a few weeks ago.

I did once manage to pay a taxi driver in the UK with our spare euros as we got in a taxi without getting any cash (well before the days of uber or taxis accepting cards). I think it worked out that I gave him a 20 euro note for a £12 fare, so he was up on the deal and it meant that he could get on his way without having to take us to a cash machine.

DoneAdulting · 14/01/2020 09:36

People who keep cash in the house or travel with it, do they know it os not covered by insurance? So if it was stolen or destroyed in a fire etc it would be gone forever?

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 14/01/2020 09:41

About £25, with probably another 10 in sofa change. Years ago, I got into frightful trouble because the sofa change would only buy a bus ticket, and I didn't fancy queueing at the post office for taxi fare. So I went off to have my appendix out with a bagful of books and no clean underwear, on public transport. DW went fucking nuts. From then on there's always enough to get to A&E.

Gammeldragz · 14/01/2020 09:46

DH keeps £100 in fivers as emergency money, in case we need it. Never know when the system will crash/get hacked. Not that we're paranoid...
I usually keep a fiver in my phone case but I keep using it!

Betelgeuse3 · 14/01/2020 09:50

Zero, I basically never use cash so never have it around the house.

hopeishere · 14/01/2020 09:53

Only what's in my purse so between £0 and £100.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/01/2020 09:53

Never know when the system will crash/get hacked

It's reported at least once or twice a year that a major UK bank is having severe difficulties with it's payment systems for days at a time.

Anyone who relies only on cards/phone and only has accounts with one provider (remember that some different branded banks are on the same system) is setting themselves up for significant inconvenience if they are affected.

Dancingontheedge · 14/01/2020 09:57

£300 in different locations, one of which only I know.
£60 is the family emergency stash, borrow and replace if it’s a minor emergency.
£40 is general kitty.
£40 in the car
£10-15 in the penny pot in the kitchen.
£150 in my preppers stash, along with a few sovereigns.
There are 4 adults in my house, so there may be more cash around I’m not aware of, but DD uses card for everything.

NeedAUsernameGenerator · 14/01/2020 09:58

Almost nothing. I prefer not to use cash at all but DDs need it for snacks at school etc so I have to keep some coins and keep replenishing them.

Trewser · 14/01/2020 09:58

None!

Trewser · 14/01/2020 09:59

I have about 17 in my purse.

Trewser · 14/01/2020 10:00

Anyone who relies only on cards/phone and only has accounts with one provider (remember that some different branded banks are on the same system) is setting themselves up for significant inconvenience if they are affected

Scaremongering.

Been with the same bank for 30 years, never had an issue, always use cards or apple pay these days.

ZooeyS · 14/01/2020 10:05

None, everytime dd empties her piggybank it's filled with notes saying 'IOU £10 for fish and chips (Daddy)'

Elbeagle · 14/01/2020 10:07

Anyone who relies only on cards/phone and only has accounts with one provider (remember that some different branded banks are on the same system) is setting themselves up for significant inconvenience if they are affected

Well it’s never happened to me in the 20 years I’ve had a bank account, but I’m sure it’s feasibly possible. I can’t think of anything I’d need to pay so urgently that it couldn’t wait a couple of hours until the banks systems were back up anyway.

ssd · 14/01/2020 10:09

We used to have around £100 usually but right now it's zilch, never been so skint.

GatoFofo · 14/01/2020 10:14

None.
Maybe £1-2 in my purse, but we do occasionally treat DC’s pocket money stash as petty cash (we repay within 24 hours).
My parents always had a few hundred pounds in cash in the kitchen cupboard!

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