How much cash is enough?

I've been trying to go to operating on a cash basis for daily stuff and give myself a $200 "allowance" on the day my Rocking Chair Money is deposited. I keep it at home and if going out for something, just take along what I think I'll need. Trouble is that I forget I have cash so end up using the debit card. Duh. It's only been about two months since I started doing this...a work in progress.
 

I normally keep about $80 in my wallet and another $1000 or more in our home safe. When we travel, I will bump the amount I carry up to $500 or more. My wife and I carry different credit cards so that if one gets stolen or compromised we are not stranded. When travelling, she will carry one of my aircraft boarding type ID cards, and I will carry one of hers. There are few things that would be more frustrating than being stranded because your wallet/purse was stolen and you cannot get back on a plane. I do not carry an ATM card, my wife does, but rarely uses it.
 
I have about $60-70 in my wallet-just in case of a small emergency when only cash will do. Otherwise, I'm cashless. I rarely use cash anymore. The reason is change. Ya know, all those coins. I have a huge thick glass jug filled with years of emptying my pockets of change at the end of the day. It was an easy way to save. But, now, how do I get rid of them? Most banks won't take a truckload of coins. And I'm not about to loose 15-20% in some supermarket coin machine.
 
Trade said:
There is a world wide government conspiracy to move us all to a cashless economy. I intend to fight it to my last breath.
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The scary thing about that if all money is electronic, there's nothing to prevent negative interest rates.
 
I keep around $100.00 at home for small purchases. I want it in certain denominations so I can take just what I need. You cannot give me a debit card. I am a target anyway walking with a cane. I use a couple of rewards credit cards and enjoy the checks I get from Kroger to help with my groceries. One thing that is a problem are Vanilla brand gift cards. I had a $300.00 one hacked for $95.00 and another one for $40.00. Relatives gave them to me for Christmas. I have filed disputes for both but it takes 90 days to issue another one. The 95.00 one was for makeup from Saks 5th avenue in New York! The 40.00 one was a paypal transaction. I do not use paypal and have no plans to start. My daughter said for Christmas this year she will give me a Kroger gift card and cash. Works for me. Just no more Vanilla gift cards.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I have about $60-70 in my wallet-just in case of a small emergency when only cash will do. Otherwise, I'm cashless. I rarely use cash anymore. The reason is change. Ya know, all those coins. I have a huge thick glass jug filled with years of emptying my pockets of change at the end of the day. It was an easy way to save. But, now, how do I get rid of them? Most banks won't take a truckload of coins. And I'm not about to loose 15-20% in some supermarket coin machine.
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Several years ago I had about $500 in coins from years of collecting them. Every week or so, when errands were going to be taking me past one of my bank's branches, I'd bring in a dozen rolls to cash in, then ask for some more wrappers. Tellers were very cool about it since I had an account there. No bank wants to get stuck with a truckload all at once, but they're happy to get a bit at a time.

 
I have a lot of trouble wrapping my head around how much inflation there has been in my lifetime. It's gone up by a factor of about 10-1 since I was a little kid first learning the value of a dollar. Today that dollar is like a dime was back in the day. And it takes a 10 dollar bill today to equal what a buck was. Take this morning. I spent $85 bucks at the grocery store. Just to pick up a few things that barely covered the bottom of the shopping cart. I can remember when $25 bucks was enough to buy groceries for a family of four and would fill up the entire cart. That was when I was working my first job as a bag boy at Publix in 1963. A lot of times I'll just make an adjustment in my head. I'll move the decimal point one place to the left and tell myself "OK, you just spent $8.50 at the grocery store. And instead of $369 in your wallet, you really have $36.90. Then I feel better.
 
A short time ago I brought around $300 worth of wrapped coins to my bank. The teller told me I didn't have to do that. Just bring in the change and they will send it to somewhere in the bank that will count it and add it to my account. I'm going to do that next time. I have a very large Nekko cat where I throw in my change. Lately though I've been putting my change into the stores' donation container.
 
@fuzzybuddy

Coinstar charges 8%. I'm not thrilled about that but I usually only accumulate $20 or so before cashing in, and that's often my lottery fund.

When my niece & nephew were young they liked helping me roll coins. I no longer have the patience or dexterity, so I use Coinstar.
 
My credit union has a coin counter that costs nothing for customers. It's in the lobby so all I have to do is take the coins in, dump them in the counter, wait while it counts them, take a printed receipt to the window and the teller gives me cash or deposits it to my account, whichever I want.

Most banks won't even take rolled coins anymore. Also...most banks don't charge their customers for dumping their coins into a coin counter and giving them cash back.
 
Banks around here ( Northeastern PA) won't take rolled up coins. And there's only one bank that has a coin machine, but you have to have an account with over $100. I've had problems depositing checks in ATMs at certain banks. Some won't take the check if you don't have an account. Never use to be that way. It used to be they were "friendly" banks, now, it's screw you.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Banks around here ( Northeastern PA) won't take rolled up coins. And there's only one bank that has a coin machine, but you have to have an account with over $100. I've had problems depositing checks in ATMs at certain banks. Some won't take the check if you don't have an account. Never use to be that way. It used to be they were "friendly" banks, now, it's screw you.
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If you don't have an account at an institution with a local branch, why not open one so you can use their services?
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Banks around here ( Northeastern PA) won't take rolled up coins. And there's only one bank that has a coin machine, but you have to have an account with over $100. I've had problems depositing checks in ATMs at certain banks. Some won't take the check if you don't have an account. Never use to be that way. It used to be they were "friendly" banks, now, it's screw you.
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Many years ago I worked at a grocery store and a man brought in 5 rolls of dimes rolled up to exchange for cash. Dimes rolls had open ends so you could see they dimes. This con guy kept asking questions while I was waiting on him. The manager later open one of these and it contain 2 dimes one on each open end and pennies inside. I was making 80 cents an hour and I had to pay it back $1 a week.
 
applecruncher said:
Odd because pennies and penny rolls are visibly larger than dimes. 🤔
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I was 17 and this guy kept asking questions and kept me confused and pennies are larger, but it can be done and they were dime rolls and I still remember the green wrappers. lol There were many other tricks they used to confuse persons making change and the fast pace of checking persons groceries out did not help. I learned a lot about this con game, but never used it, but they used the art of confusing you, but after this one time I was bold and if anyone tried it I rang for the manager.
 
I roll my coins. My bank accepts what I give them, because they have to, or I'm gone. I generally carry ten dollars in my wallet. I much prefer paying with a credit card because I can track everything on my phone or computer. I adjust my budget, as needed.
 
I remember a Seinfeld scene where George takes a container of pennies into a bank, and the teller hands him a bunch of rolls. He says "What do you want me to do - quit my job?"😂
 

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