Do you keep cash in the house?

[MaccaPacca81]

If so, do you have a safe or is it squirrelled away under a floorboards?

I wonder if cash will be destroyed after Covid 19? I don't need to worry if this happens (as it did in the worst hit parts of China). I've only got 1ps in the house.

We usually have about £50 between us but don't intentionally keep emergency cash so it wouldn't get us far.

Even £2/300 would be a useful compromise and can get you out of a hole if you can't get to the cash machine/bank or the systems go down, which they do reasonably regularly.

Even the new breed of trendy start up street food cafe bars that would like to be card only can come unstuck - There's a lovely Sicilian pizza and arancini bar near me and last time I went, I was all set to pay by card, because while I almost always have around £20 on me, I'm trying to pay by card where I can except for tiny amounts so my cash lasts as long as possible, and their machine was playing up. I bet they lost loads that day and the 'no-one carries cash these days' lot would have gone hungry.

Yes. About £300 stashed in main home. £100+at our holiday cottage. Plus we both have about £100 on us and a change tray with at least £40 in coins

Will you be asking for our addresses next OP?

Not some much now DD is in college.
I have a few pounds in the back of my mug cupboard and collect coins for parking but move those to the car.
I have a emergency £5 in my 2 most used handbags in case of emergencies.

To all of those who only use their cards to pay, what would you do if your phone died and you lost your card or the internet was down ?
We have very poor signal in this area. We found a young couple by the roadside a few weeks ago, their car had broken down, it was dusk, there was no phone signal to call for help, neither was dressed for the weather, they didnt have a torch or water in the car. We took them to a local pub so they could use the landline to call the A.A and get a hot drink and a something to eat, they had no cash and the pub doesnt take cards due to the poor WiFi signal. Just as well we are nice in this area and wouldnt see people in need, they were given seats by the fire and soup and sandwiches to help them warm up. They felt bad at not being able to pay. Bet they wont go anywhere again without cash

To all of those who only use their cards to pay, what would you do if your phone died and you lost your card or the internet was down

If I broke down and my phone had died I would go to the nearest shop and ask to use their landline.

If it was in the middle of nowhere then cash or no cash It would make little difference

Fortunately I have never ever had this situation

Not really no - certainly not enough to warrant a hiding place for it anyway.

I have emergency money in my car and I always have a small amount in the zip of my handbag and a little bit at home.

None, I use my card for everything.

I can't understand people saying they never have encountered situations where they need cash.
Even places I commonly pay on a card, have had times where their card machine isn't working for one reason or another.

I have a couple of hundreds behind my chessboard

I rarely have cash on me but will pinch out of the boys pocket money jar if needed!

I’ve never been great at having cash ready - at least now with Uber and just eat we don’t need it as much.

I've probably got about £100 in coins in the change tub, but otherwise it's only whatever's in my or DP's purse/wallet and sometimes £35 for the cleaner in the Special Cleaner Paying Location (shh!). We're out in a village with no local cashpoint, but we've not had a situation where significant cash on-hand would be useful in over twenty years - all the time we've lived here.

I mainly online bank Apple Pay etc
But I always have £500 in cash in the house
Just in case
Not sure what just in case for !

I keep about £150 as a cash float at home in case of emergencies although we barely use cash, we use our cards for everything that we can. Probably spend £30 cash max per month.

Might have the odd tenner in my purse but use card for everything.

DH usually has a 100 or so on him, so he gets to pay the window cleaner.

I've got $500 in my purse. It's in my bag, which is in the hallway. If you come in through the garage, which is unlocked, you'll see it straight away. We're the house at the end of the driveway on the right.

Any other info you need OP?

No, we don't. We live less than 10 minutes walk to 2 cash machines. I can't think why we'd need to keep cash in the house other than what we have in our wallets?

Yes to cash in the house.
I have a tin on the kitchen counter that has cash in it.
DC use that to pay for groceries on their nights to cook.
I am the only person in the house who has cash in my wallet and resent being used as an ATM when others need cash.

We had an earthquake that cut power for about 5 days. No ATMs were working. We were able to buy nappies, a little water and food from a cornershop only because my husband always has some a small amount of cash.

Yes, $400 - 500 cash. Mainly due to being cut off due to bushfires. Once there are road closures surrounding the fire grounds/towns affected - if you leave you the area often you can't get back in - sometimes for days! At least by having cash you can buy bits and pieces from the little general store - often our sat internet is knocked out, so no eftpos and nearest cash machine is a 40km round trip so in our life it makes sense to have some at hand

No, we don't. We live less than 10 minutes walk to 2 cash machines. I can't think why we'd need to keep cash in the house other than what we have in our wallets?

See it's this sort of stuff that makes me wince about people. How they take everything utterly for granted.

Cash machines depend on the world flowing smoothly. They're not something you can rely on.

I suppose people will only change their behaviour after they've been personally inconvenienced.

Like all the people who operate on a 'just in time' approach to grocery shopping and buy what they need that week and little more, instead of always keeping a reasonable stock of basics and essentials in so they can manage for a couple of weeks or so if they needed to without having to go to the shops if they couldn't for any reason and have now panic bought things like toilet paper because they have only a few days supply in the house.

I'm not talking about prepping for being snowed in through an an entire Canadian winter levels here, btw and do appreciate that not everyone has money or space, but most people do have the means to keep a few extra toilet rolls, painkillers and non perishable food options in the house.

We keep several hundred aroudn and it has come in useful before for emergencies (paying the curtain man.... ;) )