Is it a good idea to have £600 in cash in a jar?

[Oricolt]

I've chucked cash into a jar for about a decade. I just counted and it's £600.

Money is tight. I'm covering bills and groceries but there's nothing left over. We're okay but not buying treats or holidays. I'm also in a financially precarious position while I separate from my very unreliable ex-husband.

Should I put it into my (paltry) savings account?

Should I add it to my current account and put it towards bills?

Should I keep it unrecorded in a jar in case of disaster?

I’m a conventional person but put it in your savings account so it’s earning some interest. What is your account earning at the moment?

If you are in divorcing, the cash is best kept deep under your mattress.

you can pull it out once the paperwork is signed and firmly dried.

I also have about 600 pounds in cash. I keep it at the back of a drawer. I keep thinking I should put it in a bank account but I think it would get spent there so I keep it in cash in case if I ever have an emergency.

No, obviously not - what is the point? Firstly, it makes you more vulnerable to theft - I never have more than an odd £10 in the house.
Secondly, you need money, but you have money! Pay it into your bank account, and make good use of it- there is no point keeping money "for a rainy day" when it's already pouring down!

Having £600 in cash in one place is dumb unless it's a locked safe.

This has crossed my mind. It's also insurance for the day he inevitably doesn't pay child support, which I rely on.

We have a little bit of cash in the house like about £40 mainly if the kids need any money but certainly not like £600!

In your shoes op I would put £500 under the floor boards and use the rest to start a savings account that’s totally separate from your soon to be ex. And put the next £500 in to the bank!

I won't go into the gory details, but he has been very underhand with regards to money. He earns significantly more than me, and I have reason to believe he has hidden a large amount of money from me (and therefore from his children who live with me). I have no reason to trust him. I don't want him to get 50% of my £600 if I put it into my savings account. I think I'll put it under the floorboards for now. Just in case.

I thinks its fine x

A well hidden jar, yes.
We keep a grand in the safe, sterling and euros.

Definitely sounds like it will be best kept off the books as an undocumented emergency fund.

I would put it in a jar or other container that makes it blend in the kitchen (biscuit tin/opaque spaghetti jar or similar) and keep it in the back of a cupboard.

Or if you have somewhere safe you could keep it at work, keep it there?

Don’t put it under the floorboards if you have an undivided solum or hatches with access from other rooms.

You have hidden money, he has hidden money.

leave it in the jar for now but as others said better off in a savings account as an emergency fund once you are set up on your own

@Sensiblesal "You have hidden money, he has hidden money"

Yeah. I mean, I had a totally not secret jar in the hall cabinet that I chucked cash into when I sold old baby stuff, in the hopes of maybe one day spending it on a family holiday for us all. He transferred tens of thousands of pounds to his girlfriend's overseas account in a four-years long preparation to leave me and our three children. Potato, potahto.

Do you have a relative you trust implicitly?
There was one thread on here where the mum of a woman in a domestic abuse situation opened up a savings account in her own name and her daughter gave her the money she was able to squirrel away to put into that. So when the daughter finally was able to leave the bad relationship she had an emergency fund.

But of course that type of arrangement requires total trust.

Speaking from experience. Organise your child maintenance through the Child Maintenance Service. Then he has to pay it and support your child/children.

Also if money is tight look to see if you’re entitled to any benefits to top up your income. That is what they are there for.