# Do you regularly have change for $20 bill? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745 "2019-05-09T21:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/1 "2019-05-09T21:06:14Z")
My co-worker was struggling to break a twenty and no one around here could do it. Two people just loaned him $10 each to help him out. I couldn’t because even though I had more than $20 on me, I always try to have the smallest number of bills on me that I can. Since a twenty is the largest bill I carry, I basically never have $20 in smaller bills. Poll to come about your ability to break a twenty when called upon. Pick the response that best fits your situation, even if it doesn’t precisely describe you. If you’re outside the U.S., substitute the bill closest to $20 USD in your currency and answer accordingly. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/2 "2019-05-09T21:08:37Z")
Very rarely. It’s a lot more common that I’ll have got $40 (2x$20 bills) from the ATM machine, and have spent some of one of the twenties, but still have the other one intact. So I may have like $33, but it’s in the form of a twenty, a ten, and three ones, not some other, more change-friendly configuration. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/3 "2019-05-09T21:20:57Z")
Infrequently. I tend to have somewhere between $20 and $35 on me at most times, usually a $20 bill and a mix of smaller bills, mostly singles, amounting to less than $15. So while I can afford to spend more than $20 cash, I can’t fully break one. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/4 "2019-05-09T21:24:48Z")
I can usually break a $100 bill, but not a $20. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/5 "2019-05-09T21:38:40Z")
Only if I’m expecting to need to make change. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/6 "2019-05-09T21:55:24Z")
I’m the first yes? I voted yes because I opened my wallet and checked the cash in there, and it happened to be 3 5s and 6 1s. I’ve been carrying those very same nine bills around for _years_. I don’t use them, I don’t add to them, I don’t remove them. They’re just leftovers from back when the last thought that I might need to have a few dollars cash on hand for emergencies faded away. ETA: Of course, my ability to break a $20 would be a one-time thing. Once I’d done so I’d be carrying around just a twenty and a one forever, unable to break anything. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/7 "2019-05-09T22:02:24Z")
Rarely ever. I get $20s from the ATM so if I use one, the bills I have left over won’t add up to $20. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/8 "2019-05-10T00:06:16Z")
I’d estimate I could maybe every six to eight weeks. Is that regular enough for the poll? I carry and use cash (not exclusively) and do try to keep some bills under $20 in my pocket and they might add up to 20+ sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/9 "2019-05-10T00:43:21Z")
**jnglmassiv** , just pick the answer that most closely matches even if it’s not perfect. If you can only make change once out of every six or eight weeks, it sounds to me like one of the no answers fits you better. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/10 "2019-05-10T00:46:38Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Very rarely. It’s a lot more common that I’ll have got $40 (2x$20 bills) from the ATM machine, and have spent some of one of the twenties, but still have the other one intact. > > So I may have like $33, but it’s in the form of a twenty, a ten, and three ones, not some other, more change-friendly configuration. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Rarely ever. I get $20s from the ATM so if I use one, the bills I have left over won’t add up to $20. ^These. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/11 "2019-05-10T00:58:02Z")
I rarely have more than $10 on me - I’d be hard-pressed to make change for a dollar! ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/12 "2019-05-10T00:59:22Z")
My mother gets twenties from the bank but she’ll basically spend twenties until she runs out, then start spending smaller bills. So, she might, for example, buy coffee three days in a row and wind up with $50 in small bills. Only when the pile of smaller bills gets too big in her purse will she conscientiously spend them. She always has change for a $20. My dad likes having lots of small bills for flea markets and things. I figured there’d also be a few people who get lots of small bills as tips. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/13 "2019-05-10T01:07:57Z")
I can break a $100 and _usually_ a 20, but that would drain all my small bills. I like to carry two fives and five ones. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/14 "2019-05-10T11:03:24Z")
The UK has virtually got rid of singles in favour of coins but I’ll almost always have cash with me including 2 or 3 tens and maybe a five plus whatever change I haven’t swapped for notes. (A ten poiund note is currently worth around $13) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/15 "2019-05-10T11:09:31Z")
Funnily enough, I have change for a twenny in my wallet at the moment. But that is rarely the case. I cashed-in a (winning) lottery ticket a couple of days ago and my wallet is brimming with a couple of tens and some coins! I pay for everything on card. Even that winning lottery ticket. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/16 "2019-05-10T12:15:15Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I can usually break a $100 bill, but not a $20. This. I like to have 6 - 8 twenties in my wallet. Once I break one I use up what’s left. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/17 "2019-05-10T12:24:50Z")
I have 3 pre-teen kids… so it was between not having anything smaller than a $20 to not having any cash at all!☹ ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/18 "2019-05-10T12:28:10Z")
I’m with the OP in that I try to keep the number of individual bills in my wallet to a minimum regardless of denominations. To the extent that if I buy something for $6.xx and I have a $10 plus multiple $1s, I’ll hand over $12 to receive a $5 bill + coins as my change rather that a handful of singles. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/19 "2019-05-10T12:28:28Z")
I usually can give change for a $20. It might be 10 ones and two fives. I get stuck with ones a lot. I buy a burger meal for around $7.00. Use a ten and get three ones. I do that a few times and I have a big stack. Eventually I’ll use them at the self checkout at Kroger. The bill machine doesn’t mind ones. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745/20 "2019-05-10T12:35:44Z")
I’m married. I rarely have twenty dollars. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-regularly-have-change-for-20-bill/833745.md?page=2)