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?

Do you pay your employees daily then?

And not many suppliers/wholesalers will allow their drivers to collect large amounts of cash and drive around with it all day. Maybe OK for a local home bakery to take £50 for a couple of boxes of cakes or a local egg producer to take £25 for a tray of eggs, but you're not going to pay the Booker wholesale delivery van a few thousand for your weekly van load of groceries/booze/alcohol!

I couldn't care less what YOU do, I just find it baffling that getting a bit of cash out of a machine is such a huge difficulty to some people. People have got beyond lazy.

I wasn't actually talking about supermarkets. If there was a power outage why on earth would anyone want to do a full grocery shop anyway?

How is it lazy? My commute includes a 4 mile walk per day and I’m out the house 7am-8pm. I don’t pass a cash point once. How does that equate to lazy!?

Quite a few in Spain and Portugal recently.

Yes I have been saving some here and there for an emergency. Cash is king as they say!

@Badbadbunny depends on their insurance! They can update their insurance to do so.

With higher cover comes additional security requirements like safes, alarms, etc which are expensive and can’t be organised overnight

I was in a pub once when we have a power cut but we also couldn't leave because there was a toxic gas cloud outside (some fire at a nearby factory) so an alert went out on the radio telling everyone to stay inside and close all windows and vents. So they had to stay open but they obviously couldn't take card payments so they could only accept cash. I was so glad then that I always carried some cash! Was a brilliant night though, playing poker by candlelight.

they would say money is safer in the bank... you can't make a profit on money in peoples houses can you?

I don’t use cash any more unless I have to. I try to keep a small amount in my purse- £10-£20 as you sometimes get caught out at small retailers or need £1 coin for something. DD’s school tuck shop money is the only thing I regularly need cash for. I’d happily use no cash at all.

You are losing money on cash kept in your house. Inflation means money loses value over time and under the mattress doesn’t pay interest.

I work in retail and am thinking cash or at least having money in two different accounts- horrible not being able to pay for a whole shopping (the last two weeks have had two people’s phones not work, one battery, one internet)

And big risk of losing it in a fire, flood or burglary.

I was in Spain last week when the power went down. Lots of places closed but the ones that were open were only taking cash. The few ATMs that were working (not many) had very long queues.

We were very glad that we had cash with us.

Tell me you don't live rurally without telling me you don't live rurally.

My local coop was only accepting cash today. Presumably because of the cyber attack. I’m planning to keep more cash in the house from now on.

I keep a 4 figure sum of money in the house in cash for emergencies, rarely needed but very handy on occasion. It's useful just to keep it on hand, as it's a hassle withdrawing large sums from the bank in one go. Never had a fire, flood or burglary.

I keep about £70 in cash in my bag, which I hardly ever use, but I've had to spend some occasionally and then top it back up. I think it's always sensible to have enough for a cab fare home at least. I prefer to use a card to pay but there are some situations where cash is better. I have accounts with most banks though so if just one bank went down I'd still be able to pay with another account.

I live in a city centre so it's easy to withdraw cash regularly. I keep a decent stock of long life food in the house too.

I think people are suggesting £100-£200, not the life savings or monthly salary's worth, small amounts are generally covered by home insurance anyway

I can't remember the last time I used cash. I walk past a cash machine to go to the shop but once in the shop there is rarely anyone behind the tills so I use the self service ones rather than hunting for a shop assistant.

I often think I should use cash more but when most self service tills don't accept cash it seems a right pain.

I went to the recent Spring flower show at Harrogate and had to pay cash on a couple of stalls.