To ask you about cash?

[PassingStranger]

What with card payments going down and threats to shops online systems

Are you thinking you should keep more cash in the house? I am.

It's not really promoted as being safe though. They always say money is safer in the bank.

Would you consider having more cash available?

Yeah we were talking about this at dinner actually. Going to make sure we have equivalent of a weeks shopping in cash

I think I'd be worried carrying it around, but in the house not so bad, we have a safe actually.

Cash doesn't make a not of difference. It still needs to be paid in, and there are increasing numbers of places that prefer not to take it.

I much prefer card payments to cash as it's less costly for me.

I always keep a bit in my pocket and have a stash at home. Every now and then I find I need a bit of cash. It’s handy to have some available since I can afford to keep a bit.

Mostly gets used for the odd child request. though now that she has a proper bank card I expect that is going to fall dramatically.

im still a committed put everything on my credit card and pay it off each month person.

I've been burgled, and losing £100 or so would have been the least upsetting part. When people say money is safer in the bank, they mean don't keep your life savings in the house in cash. It's absolutely fine to have enough for a week's shopping in cash.

As someone whose Ex used to only give out for food money I have always had a secret stash of cash for emergencies. The fact we are becoming a cashless society will only make financial abuse of women easier to do unfortunately.

I always have £100ish in my purse and we keep a wad at home. We have a safe though.

It's much harder to spend real money than plastic imo (psychologically).

How much cash are you talking about?

Yes but when computer systems go down, your stuck.

You are for cash too. Shops can’t ring up the amounts.

a few months ago my bank went down for nearly 3 days, couldn’t gain access to my money and had nobody to borrow off in the meantime - I have always kept cash in the house since then and always will do. It’s far to common of banks going down now.

I make sure I’ve got enough cash for a couple of days worth of food but I do prefer using my cards. More and more places are becoming cashless and it means there’s a record of everything. I’ve heard lots of people complain that card payments mean we are being tracked, I honestly don’t care who sees where I go, it’s not particularly exciting.

Yes, this! It’s one thing if the card payment services crash, then you could pay cash, but pretty much everywhere requires power and computers to take payments so having cash won’t help if there’s a power outage. The only place I can think of near me where I could still pay cash regardless is the local pop up grocer that visits…although even they do the costs per item/weight on a phone now that I think about it 🤔

I love a cash budget; I can spend what I have with abandon, but then it's gone. Makes sense, if you see what I mean...

I have enough cash to survive for a year if the country goes to shit. You’ll find most people who can have enough cash to get out of dodge if they need to.

We always keep £1k in the house (in a safe) "just in case".

Never gets touched and it was only when the latest set of notes came out that we realised we needed to check it and sure enough, we had some quite old ones in there.🤭
Took them down to the PO and they exchanged them, every note is now bang up to date.

Paper and pen ?

How do you think we dinosaurs managed before electronic, online, cloud, etc. ?

I much prefer card for lots of reasons but still have cash 'in case'.

How will you get your shopping if the systems go down ?

If we get to the point where the banking and finance systems have failed hard enough that we can’t spend on card, do bank transfers, or get cash from a bank counter, post office or cash machine, for long enough that people are running out of food in the cupboard, I’m not really sure that bank notes will be worth the paper they’re printed on. Toilet paper might be a more useful currency. Early COVID behaviour shows that everyone subconsciously knows this.

I keep very little cash, about twenty in my purse and usually a hundred or less for emergencies at home.
We have a very secure alarm system, but I’d still be too afraid of a fire or a robbery.

My parents used to keep their life savings hidden under a bed, probably tens of thousands of cash. It’s a miracle they were never broken into.

I’m 60. I’m well aware how it was done before computers and internet. That doesn’t mean it’s possible now. Shops use the till as part of stock control, tax, all manner of essential things. They have no capacity to work without it.

havent seen it on UK news but have friends in Spain who said there was a huge power outage there last week, no internet, bank services, information of any kind. If that happens here we need to be prepared

Nowadays people like the interest of their money.

😱 a years worth?!!

Do you think shop assistants have time to write down a month's worth of shopping, for every person? Plus having enough staff to check the price for each item?
Tills are needed for stock control too.

Surely they can write down the transaction and ring it up later? That's what they did at my work when we had no electricity.