re: Cash? How much is too much?

500 bucks folded and tucked throughput the wallet for SHTF. Carry limited ones and fives for tipping.

I don't use cash.

Anyone that doesn't carry some cash has never had the experience of all networks being over loaded from some type of crisis so credit cards no longer work, and ATMs are down.

I always carry a couple of hundred, and keep a few thousand at home. Until muggers get X-Ray vision the risk of getting robbed carrying 500 dollars is the same a getting robbed carrying 5 dollars.

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only poors carry any decent amount of cash

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I know a guy in his mid-80s who is very well off. He grew up in Nazi occupied Europe. One day I noticed that he had wad of cash in his wallet. I suggested that it was a bad idea to carry that much cash and that someone with bad intent might notice it and knock him in the head over it.

His response was nobody will have to beat me because I'll give it to them and send them on their way. I tried to tell him that it may not be that simple and asked why he was carrying a that much cash. He said, "If I learned anything from the Germans, it's that you never know when you might have to bribe some petty official (he was joking. I think...) It's always good to have cash if you need it. I always try to carry $1,000."

The reality is that he's an extremely generous man. I'm sure he gives a ton to organized charities, but he also runs his own little spontaneous grassroots charity campaign. The polite, yet harried, waitress might get a $100 bill on a $15 lunch tab. He might pay the bill for someone at WalMart or the grocery who looks like they're in a bad spot. If he hears about someone in financial distress over medical bills or an unexpected accident in his community, they might get an envelope of cash anonomously to help them through a difficult time.

He's definitely not poor, he's definitely not stupid, and he's definitely not a sucker or naive. He's a good person who has worked hard all his life and made plenty of money. I think he has a soft spot for people who are busting their asses, but having a hard time getting ahead.

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I'm keeping more cash on me now after getting my debit card skimmed twice in 18 months

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What did your bank do?

You know how we know that you are a pauper?

It does not even occur to you to carry cash to tip people.

Quit posting and work smarter so that you are not so pathetically impoverished.

I am under 40, but I like cash. I keep a stack in a clip at all times.

only poors carry any decent amount of cash. Sounds weird, but its true.

im going to get credit card points for everything I do, only a fool would use cash instead.


Recent gig was for a wealthy family and their wealthy friends. Old money and new money, and a lot of it. First time around a crowd like that for an extended amount of time. All the men carried wads of 100s and 50s. Eye opening to me, I'd be scared to death of losing that pile. To them, worrying about credit card points is a peasant's task. They aren't worried about saving points for vacation rentals, their whole life was one long vacation, bouncing around the world and visiting theirs and their friends' properties.

"poor" in your context is a relative term, just depends on if you're looking down or looking up.

FWIW I carry around bout one fiddy for emergency, but stick to the CC for majority of transactions. I'm a cash back chaser.

I'll say this, there's no bigger mooch in the world than "oh sorry I don't carry cash on me" guy


Its like they wear it with a badge of honor. Congrats on being cheap and lazy. It takes a few minutes of your day to get cash from an ATM, cashback at a store, whatever.

Your laziness creates inconvenience for normal people.


fwiw I carry 50-100