The caveat for me is that I always have some emergency cash on me…usually, a couple $100 bills stashed away in obscure parts of my wallet. But I haven’t spent one in literally years (and through several wallets…and have actually had a couple that were in my wallet so long they disintegrated when I went to change wallets) and it’s just one of those things I do now (I was caught out without cash when I was a lot younger and decided that would never happen again).
I picked More than a week, but less than or equal to two weeks, but it varies throughout the year. In the late spring, summer, and early fall, I’m often at festivals and it is more convenient to buy a beer or food with cash. There are a couple of small restaurants near my apartment building that are cash only, or only take cards for larger amounts. Finally, I usually travel to Europe and Canada each year and I usually use cash there for smaller purchases to avoid a ‘fraud alert’ even if I’ve notified them in advance.
I always have at least a little cash on me. I can’t stand using my card for every little incidental I need.
I don’t see the point of having cash honestly. I rarely have any on me because…why? The only place I’d get cash from is the ATM and why would I be pulling out cash? Nine times out of ten, whatever I need to buy is always more than the amount of cash I might have on hand so I have to use my card anyway. Most vending machines take cards now and I can’t think of a single situation where cash is my only option. It feels WEIRD to have cash. I had $150 in cash in my wallet just recently, the first in well over a year. And that was only because I sold my old junker of a car to some dude and he paid in cash. I immediately deposited it in the bank.
1979 Toronto - 16 years old. I had left home. I was penny-less for 3 weeks.
Nowadays I mostly carry my debit card, but try to have a small amount of cash for incidentals.
Cash isn’t necessary, but I can think of a few instances recently where it was faster than paying by credit card.
Case in point: I was ordering a pizza for delivery. He asked “cash or credit?” If I answered credit, he would ask me to read the credit card number over the phone, which would mean I’d have to get my wallet. Instead, I answered cash, and the phone call was done.
More than a month, but less </= 6 months.
Debit cards really became a thing during the years I was without a driver’s license. The local bus service only runs from 7:00AM to 7:00PM, and given that I work in the restaurant business, which doesn’t keep “normal” business hours, that left me walking or bicycling either to or from work, often in the dark. So, I figured it was safer if I didn’t carry cash. I’ve continued not regularly carrying cash to this day.
Occasionally I need cash for something or other, and the change ends up in my wallet, and I promptly forget it’s there. I’ll discover it some weeks later.
I’m infamous for always having cash on me. Not a ton of cash, but part of my standard equipment when I leave in the morning is a five, three ones, two quarters, a dime, a nickel, and two pennies.* Experience has taught me that will cover me thru most eventualities, though that’s most often a friend saying “E, you’ve got a <blank>, don’t you?” because they know I do this. It’s one of those things where everyone rolls their eyes at you for being prepared, when they’re the ones that it helps most often.
*also pen, small notepad, two mints (spearmint), small multi-tool.
I hardly ever have cash on me unless I know I will need it for a specific transaction like tipping someone.i certainly go weeks without carrying cash if not months.
I answered “longer than a year” … but I usually keep a dollar bill or two in my wallet … maybe a couple bucks in change in my rig for parking meters … but never anything over $5 … almost all my transactions are with plastic …
I do keep a big stack of $100 bills on hand, but that’s just to hide my password list … and for casino gambling … the poll didn’t specify currency for money or for deception …
Oh that’s right: When I’m traveling, I need to have some cash on me to tip the people carrying my bags. How do you tip all those people without cash? Every shuttle driver, every bellhop expects a little something.
In 2001 I folded up a 100 dollar bill and stuck it in the fold of my wallet, just in case. It’s still there, and short of an emergency involving a gun pointed at my head, it’ll stay there.