1) $200
2) $20
3) $5,000-$10,000 (In a safe Bolted to a Concrete Floor)

100-200
50
250

I'm clearly in the minority on this one, but I'm almost strictly cash-only at the street merchant level. There is just too much credit card fraud and identity theft happening all over and I've just chosen to minimize my risk. I was actually a "victim" of credit card fraud when the whole massive breach happened at Target. The account was never compromised, but I had to go through the hassle of getting a new card and change the auto-pay accounts associated with the card.

As a couple others have mentioned, cash is often more convenient than paying with a card. And cash is still accepted almost everywhere.

I'm off The Grid, baby!

$75k in Cash??? The way the market is going that is a waste! Invest brother Invest!

1) varies quite a bit, but usually in the $50ish ballpark. When I hit the ATM in my building at work, I usually go for $75 so I get a mix of 3 $20s and 3 $5s unless I have something specific like a couple hundred for a set of snow tires on craigslist, etc. Of course strip club nights that gets supplemented; either they don't take cards, or I don't want a printed record of that visit on my next bank statement anyway. Likewise, I'll also get cash back at the grocery for heading across the parking lot to the liquor store so that doesn't invite any scrutiny on the next bank statement either.

2) maybe $20 or so. I usually like to at least have a $20 and a few smaller bills for flexibility. For instance, if I stop off for a happy hour w/ some friends on the way home or meet up for lunch and we don't want to do the PITA routine of having the server/bar wench split our bill 4 ways (or worse yet itemize) so we each get a separate bill in order to run a credit card. Easier to just throw in cash, or have one person charge the whole thing and the others toss our cash his/her way to even it out.

3) have $1000 spread over the range of denominations stored in the safe along w/ passports & such if we gotta bug out suddenly, plus a smaller 'working' reserve kitty (usually only $40 or so) for last-minute pizza whims or if the kid says she needs an extra few bucks for lunch, school trip, etc. Also each car has a similar small stash (usually $20) just in case.

And the safe is a lot like a bike helmet; not all fires or bike crashes are created equal. Sure, if you house burns completely to ashes, safe ain't gonna do shit, just like a helmet won't save your life if you get run over by a dump truck. But just like the helmet will offer protection against smaller impacts, a safe will keep your shit intact for longer than without it, which could very well be enough time for the FD to get there and limit further damage.

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"They've done studies, ya know... 60% of the time, it works EVERY time."

1. $300
2. $50
3. $5,000 Never know when you might find a good deal or something on craigslist that you want to act fast.

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Pain or damage don't end the world, or despair, or beatings. The world ends when you're dead, until then you're due for more punishment. Stand it like a man. And give some back.

1) Ditto, mostly small denominations 1/5/10s for tips etc.
2) Ditto
3) About $500.- (as I am poor), but I live in earthquake country with a not very robust electrical grid (CA), likely requiring cash to even get out of that pit.

1. About $100

2. $20

3. Confidential

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

So we'll knock off your house right after Duffy's.

Today in my wallet I had $56 minus $10 I gave to a charity raffle this morning. I typically have $0. I only happen to have cash from a recent Craigslist sale. Unless I'm going to a special event where I anticipate I'll need cash for event parking or if I'm traveling (I like to buy local stuff from street vendors), there's zero reason to have a bunch of cash on my person. Plus it makes me nervous.


I also keep zero cash at home, same reason, there is no reason for me. Even in power outages and ice storms/snowed in situations I had zero reason to have wads of cash laying around.