Wallet. Why?
Just seems (to me, anyway) like a lot, especially when compared to most everybody else in this thread. Much more than I would feel comfortable carrying.
Yes it is a lot. I realize I’m an outlier but I’m not alone here. I’m certainly in the minority.
I’m thinking of emergencies that include electronic pay systems being down. Also, I’ve been really good at protecting my wallet and so far in my life have never lost it.
I hope I just didn’t jinx myself. 
Good point.
The cash on my person mentioned upthread is chosen for compactness: 3 or 4 largish bills. So when I’m out on foot or bike, which is most of my days, that’s all I’ve got access to.
There’s a larger stash in the car and a larger yet stash in the safe. Those are meant for living through the aftermath of a hurricane or evacuation where power, and hence electronics, may be out for days.
Cash in the car or other places is great if the system works for you. I tried that once. A few months later when I found the cash in the car it surprised me. I’d forgotten about it.
Mine is in my wallet.
I keep $2-300 in my car, just in case I’m somewhere like a yard sale where I have to pay cash. I’ve been thinking of putting a couple thousand in a go bag just in case of natural disaster.
StG
Exactly! I also have some pretty huge batteries for charging phones. After one massive typhoon in Taiwan, we didn’t have power for three days.
Nowadays, a lot of stores can’t sell things, even with with cash if their Internet connection is down.
A few years ago, I was grocery shopping when it turned out that the supermarket had lost all their data connections. To my surprise, they hauled out old-style credit card imprint machines and even had a supply of the old carbon-paper credit card forms to go with them, the kind that you had to sign. Why they kept those around I have no idea, but it sure came in handy then.
They couldn’t do that today as new-fangled credit cards don’t even have raised numbers any more. They really wouldn’t have any backup strategy.
True, but we’re talking about an emergency stash. Most places take card, some take only card, but as several posters in this thread have noted there are the odd places that are cash-only. Having that cash on hand should you find yourself needing their products or services can be a lifesaver especially if it’s gas in your car, a bus ticket, or a meal when you’re hungry.
Plus, as others have noted, sometimes it’s just handy to have cash on you: yard sales, farmer’s markets, tipping a service provider (I always tip my waiter, the hotel maid, and my barber in cash), or loaning giving a friend a couple of sawbucks to help them out of a jam.
I got a tattoo last December and the tattoo artist was cash-only. This was my first tattoo so I don’t know how common that is – on reflection, I suspect quite common – but I’m damn glad I had a stack of $50’s in my wallet. He didn’t tell me he was cash-only until after the ink was done.
Often, yes, but not always. The parking meters in Portland are card-only – at least the one I’ve used in the Pearl District are. The parking meters in my hick town two hours south of Portland are coin-only. Carrying a handful of coins in a sandwich baggie buried in your glovebox is hardly an inconvenience.
I’ve used vending machines that are card-only. I’ve also used vending machines that have a tap-to-pay terminal on them that isn’t functioning. The only way to use them is to feed them paper bills. I’m not a big vending machine user so the fact that I’ve encountered malfunctioning card readers tells me its likely not an uncommon occurrence.
One thing I don’t do anymore is keep cash (other than the few $ worth of coins) in my car. I’ve had cars broken into twice and I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave easy money for those assholes to grab. If I did leave money in the car I would find a place to hide it very, very well.
And, while it wasn’t addressed in the OP but have others have noted, having a supply of cash at home tucked away in a safe is a good idea. I’m not a SHTF prepper type, but I like to keep a few $K in my home safe just in case. I don’t really know what specific scenario I’d need that money for but it’s about being prepared. Boy Scout motto, PPPPPP and all that.
Thanks. Yes, I don’t think those phone payments were happening by direct communication between the phone and the vending machine. They were going through the phone company. If I recall what I was told correctly, the purchases appeared in you phone bill.
Nope. Still a valid backup plan. Those backup forms work just as well with the CC numbers & name hand-printed.
The kerchunk machines saved time, reduced transcription errors, and served as quasi-proof of a card-present transaction.
But those are all nice-to-have, not need-to-have.
Yup.
A couple of years ago i was in Germany and didn’t have enough cash at a grocery store. They pulled out a mechanical credit card machine from storage and wrote everything in.
(I try to carry between €50 and €300 when I’m in Germany.)
Yeah, the last couple of times I’ve had to feed a parking meter (and both times were years ago), I used a credit card.
I had to check my wallet because I didn’t have the foggiest idea of how much cash was in there – $27 dollars in bills, and looked to be about $2 in change. I have no idea when/where I got the cash, and I haven’t used any of it in over a year.
I usually have about $100 in my wallet. There are still some places around here that are cash only, such as the barbershop I go to.
Also, for those who never use cash, do your local public schools take credit card payments? Because none around here do. My son just had to buy a new high school gym uniform, it was cash only.
My daughter’s school uses a service called ScoolCashOnline.
https://www.schoolcashonline.com/
I don’t think the school is allowed to handle cash anymore.
Same. It just feels.. right.. in case of an emergency. I’m 58.
I no longer have kids in school, but 20 years ago my local public schools didn’t accept cash. I paid by check.
It’s always fun to see the various ways we solve these petty problems. And the insights that gives into how differently we all live.
I don’t know about public schools - my kids went to Catholic schools, a long time ago. About the only thing they accepted cash for was Friday pizza - everything else was checks back then. They probably take credit cards now, as they all accept donations by credit card.
This is something which I’m really happy about living in Japan. Cars just don’t get broken into here so that’s not something I’m concerned about.
When I was backpacking around Southeast Asia, I had to be a lot more careful about the cash I was carrying. Some bills in my front right pocket, a credit card in the front left pocket and a couple of buck in the dummy wallet in my back pocket.
Checks haven’t ever been used by individuals here in Asia so that’s never been an option.
Instead, a lot of transactions are done by bank transfers, which are easier to do than in the States.
In Taiwan, a lot more people are using LINE Pay, which allows you to pay stores but also transfer money to your friends / family. It’s not as common here in Japan.