How much cash should you keep in your house for emergencies?

[Anonymous]

I often raid my “emergency” cash when I need cash. Sometimes I have $500 in the emergency stash. Other times, I have less than $200.

[Anonymous]

We typically have $500-$800 on hand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably a couple hundred. It’s less for emergencies and more for random things that pop up.

This. I keep a few hundred in a variety of bills in our fire safe. I raid this stash every time I need random cash for kids field trips, holiday tips, random things, etc. I try to refill it pretty quickly after I use any of it. Mostly, I keep it to have on hand for these situations. But it also serves as our emergency cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i've talked to people who keep anywhere from $500 to $10,000 on hand. It seems a bit much to me since I rarely carry any cash on my person. Should i really have a stockpile of paper notes in my house in case of local, regional or global calamity?

Always a good idea.

Think of this. All that "wealth" you have in digits is just numbers in a computer. Imagine a virus/hacker/disaster/blacklist wiping out the databases/servers, and now your "wealth" has disappeared.

[Anonymous]

If there is a derecho or something where we have to flee and ATMs and cellular are down we have cash.
Plus we have a separate stock for handyman who wants cash.

[Anonymous]

I was about to answer 0 but then realized I actually have $4k sitting in a drawer from a casino trip not long ago and my kids probably have about $3k each in their rooms from various gifts over the years (and we never got around to opening bank accounts for them). So I guess $10k for now, though I should get to the bank and deposit that as I never use cash.

[Anonymous]

I usually have between $6 - 8 thousand in my underwear drawer. When my teenage nieces and nephews come over I like to give them hundred dollar bills. When my teens have friends over I give my teens cash to get something to eat. They are my kids guests and they should pay. When we go to the mall for necessities I use cash.
It might sound weird but it works for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was about to answer 0 but then realized I actually have $4k sitting in a drawer from a casino trip not long ago and my kids probably have about $3k each in their rooms from various gifts over the years (and we never got around to opening bank accounts for them). So I guess $10k for now, though I should get to the bank and deposit that as I never use cash.

You won 4k? I never win anything.

[Anonymous]

We probably have about $500 in cash in the house. I do think it’s a good idea. Don’t forget how much it costs to fill up your car now. You want to have enough to do this and buy groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was about to answer 0 but then realized I actually have $4k sitting in a drawer from a casino trip not long ago and my kids probably have about $3k each in their rooms from various gifts over the years (and we never got around to opening bank accounts for them). So I guess $10k for now, though I should get to the bank and deposit that as I never use cash.

For fun, have them calculated how much money they’d have now if that money had been invested rather than sitting in their sock drawer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was about to answer 0 but then realized I actually have $4k sitting in a drawer from a casino trip not long ago and my kids probably have about $3k each in their rooms from various gifts over the years (and we never got around to opening bank accounts for them). So I guess $10k for now, though I should get to the bank and deposit that as I never use cash.

You won 4k? I never win anything.

Came home with 4k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually have between $6 - 8 thousand in my underwear drawer. When my teenage nieces and nephews come over I like to give them hundred dollar bills. When my teens have friends over I give my teens cash to get something to eat. They are my kids guests and they should pay. When we go to the mall for necessities I use cash.
It might sound weird but it works for me.

You live in a safe neighborhood, I guess.

What neighborhood? Or a safe street in a bad neighborhood? What street?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually have between $6 - 8 thousand in my underwear drawer. When my teenage nieces and nephews come over I like to give them hundred dollar bills. When my teens have friends over I give my teens cash to get something to eat. They are my kids guests and they should pay. When we go to the mall for necessities I use cash.
It might sound weird but it works for me.

What do you do with all the coins you get as change?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i've talked to people who keep anywhere from $500 to $10,000 on hand. It seems a bit much to me since I rarely carry any cash on my person. Should i really have a stockpile of paper notes in my house in case of local, regional or global calamity?

Always a good idea.

Think of this. All that "wealth" you have in digits is just numbers in a computer. Imagine a virus/hacker/disaster/blacklist wiping out the databases/servers, and now your "wealth" has disappeared.

What good will cash do you in that situation?

[Anonymous]

I keep around a thousand on me in 100's, 20's and 5'sh - and replenish every mon. Mainly because I have to pay cash for the lawn mowing and house cleaning each week. On top of that, my DH likes to tip a lot for all our restaurant eating and deliveries. Also, I have a copay for my weekly medical appointment and I like to give the exact change for co-pay.