Cash and Carry

[Zyzzyx]

Dinero. Scratch. Greenbacks. Banknotes. Bucks. Moolah. Loot. The Almighty Dollar.

Whatever ya wanna call it, just how much do you carry with you?


Met someone on the club bike ride this last weekend, a bit of a surprise. We all stopped at a donut shop towards the end of the ride for sugar and caffeine, I was behind him in line. When he opened his wallet and thumbed through for cash, I could see a healthy pile of One Hundreds. Talking to him when we were on the road later, asked if that was his usual. "Ayup," came the reply. Mentioned that he takes half his paycheck in cash and puts that in his wallet every couple weeks. Uses that to buy stuff as he needs it.

Different styles, I guess, as I was a bit shocked at this. I've found that I rarely carry more than $40 cash on me, as that's the most I'll grab from the ATM at one time. Usually I'm wandering around with under $20. I'd rather stop by the ATM more often if need be than to start out with $100 or more. (also, note that I'm hitting the ATM at my bank, no fees) The chat about this spread into the other folks on the ride, and was interesting to hear the variety. Some folks don't carry any, some about like I do, and some usually over $100.

How much legal tender do you usually carry? Why?

[RJO]

I carry pretty much 0 cash on me at all times. We have a system here in Ontario (and I think all of Canada) called Interac which gives you access to all your bank accounts via a card pretty much anywhere (and its not like a credit card... everyone accepts it more or less). So for me... its pure debit/interac card.

[Charinida]

I rarely carry cash. It's primarily a debit/paypal/credit realm for me...

Except for like the Dodo, or one of the other local eateries that is cash only, or the vending machine at work...

If anything, less than 20usd/week I carry... normally.

Even on delivery orders (chinese, italian etc) ... unless they take credit cards, I don't order from them really...

Cash is nice, but I have a bad habit of forgetting what pockets they are in sometimes (when wearing cargo pants). and the bills are usually wadded/crumpled/stuffed in the pockets in no discernable order.

[leng]

About £20 (~$35) or so. Maybe a bit more. Virtually everything I buy is paid for by credit card and the credit card is paid off in full automatically at the end of every month from my bank account. I only use cash for odd things like takeaway food. Can't remember the last time I wrote a cheque - they are almost obsolete nowadays (several of the larger supermarkets no longer accept them).

[deepfred]

i don't even check my mail. my mail carrier gets mad at me cause my mailbox is usually overflowing with junk mail cause i'll not check it out for weeks at a time.

[Asharad]

If I have $50 in cash on me, I feel like John D. Rockafeller.

[Quervo]

Me and my Wife ussually have about $60 between the two of us in some combination. I carry it for things she doesnt need to know i got ... Like lunch when i bring something i didnt like the first time we ate it. everything else ends up on the Discover card.

[Erudite]

Usually none. If I can't use the debit card for it, I don't buy it. If I do have cash, it's $10 or less. I find I spend less if I don't carry it around to spend. :lowrazz:

[Serani]

Similar to Erudite, if I've got to go through the process of running it, then I tend to think twice about buying. There are times I have to have cash - like trips to the strip district (as the outdoor vendors don't take anything else and a lot of the stores have CC minimums), but as a rule, I tend to run things. Our bank is a PITA with fees - they charge for debit transactions (.50 ea) but I got around that by getting a Paypal debit card that allows me to directly debit from my bank account without paying the fees (yet. I'm sure they'll find a way eventually). I have discovered that my bank will decline charges (on my bank card) under $1, so I do keep a few dollars for emergency bus fare and coffee or something. But, tops, it's $20, it's really rare, though, to have that much on me.

[Lycos]

Usually, I stock up on cash once a paycheck. I get $200 out of the bank. Then when I am out paying for small stuff, I use cash. I used to pay for gas in cash, but since everyone requires you to pre-pay anymore, I use my credit card for convienence. I always try to pay in cash. Credit cards can sneak up on you. ATM fees are ridiculous these days. So, I go to my bank's ATM after a pay day, and that's not too bad.

[Greebo]

When I get below $40 bucks, I pull out $200 and milk it until I need more cash. Usually it pays for parking when I don't want to park 2 blocks away, meals when Carol doesn't make my lunch, and minor things like that. More than $200 in cash and I feel nervous.

[Kiir]

I vary between a couple bucks and $100 or so. It really depends on the day and where and what I'm doing. Right now I don't have much cash, but I'm not really going anywhere outside the house so I don't need cash. When I was going to college I use to always have some cash on me to buy lunch and for anything minor that came up.

Normally I'll just grab a 20 from atty when he takes out money, but since most of the time when I go out it is with him, he normally has cash anyways for small purchases, and we pay with credit or the check card for bigger ones it isn't a huge deal. Atty normally takes out $100 or so every week and uses it for lunch and other small expenses, so we always have some cash around, though not a huge ammount.

[Andrea]

What, no useless poll to with this? LOL :lowlol:

I dont keep cash on me, I spend it way too fast. Strictly debit card, credit card or check.

[Raveneye]

$20-$30 each week. I literally spend hardly anything, cash, debit or credit, on a weekly basis. My total expenses for a typical week:

$15 cash on a couple of lunches. Many downtown places don't take plastic or it's a hassle to have them run it.
$20-$25 debit card on gas for the week.
$10-$15 cash to grab "dinner on the go" one night usually for me and the kids (pizza, fast food, etc.)

That's it. My wife does the grocery shopping and most of the errands that would require paying for something. When I do occasionally buy something for myself, like at Best Buy, it goes on the credit card or debit card. Many days I have less than $10 cash on me.

I always laugh about the fact that I make a more than decent living and yet I walk around with an "allowance" that I try to stretch to the limit each week.

That guy that carries $1000+ around is an idiot. He's just begging to be robbed or have his wallet lifted.

[shadowgate]

I at most have 20 to 40 on me at any give time other than during vacations. My wife usually has 40 to 60 on her on a regular basis.

[Asharad]

That guy that carries $1000+ around is an idiot. He's just begging to be robbed or have his wallet lifted.

Also, he has a small penis.

[Shiz]

I carry $40-240 in $20s. I go to the ATM when I get down to $40 or so and take out $200.

[GravenStone]

I usually draw $200 every couple of weeks or so as walking around cash. That pays for groceries, gas, sundries. I have my debit card for larger or unexpeted stuff, and a couple credit cards for major purchases, etc.

I found when I went strictly debit/credit, it was far too easy for me to burn through money without paying attention to it. At least with cash I can gauge my habits and just see how often I withdraw it to see whether I'm being an idiot or not.

[attriel]

$20-$25 debit card on gas for the week.


where do you live again? even with prices down almost a dollar in the last 2 months, it costs me 35-40$ to fill my tank each week!

[EricStratton]

Man, what we will do w/ ourselves when Z ends up getting a job? ;)

I'm like Greebs. When I get below $40-50, I pull out another $150-200.

[Sagar]

I used to pull out $100 each week and use it for incidentals (and giving money to Evenstarr).

Now, I usually carry only $20-40 and use the debit card for most stuff.

If I am traveling, I try to keep $100 cash on me. Still places around here where cash is the prefered way to pay for stuff.

[Raveneye]

where do you live again? even with prices down almost a dollar in the last 2 months, it costs me 35-40$ to fill my tank each week!

Cincinnati, Ohio. Gas here is about $2.05 a gallon the past couple of weeks, and hasn't been above $2.50 since June. I drive a Ford Focus wagon to/from work which is only about 12 highway miles away. I put about 10 gallons in the car each week, hence the $20-$25.

[Sylvene]

I used to carry more and get my $$ in $100 and $50 bills until I learned that they don't really like that here in the States. I used to be salaried once a month and that continued in the States because my first job was with a German company that paid once a month. In those days of no direct deposit and few ATMs (and high fees) it was more convenient to take a month's worth of spending cash when I deposited my check.

These days, I take a trip to the ATM once a week. It's located in the grocery store, and with cash back available at the store.... it's too easy to get cash when you need it.

[Raveneye]

Also, he has a small penis.

I only have $20 on me, and no, that's not two rolls of quarters in my pocket.

[Greebo]

I've seen guys like that come in to casinos on rare times I've been playing. They come up to the $5 blackjack table and get $500 in chips, and then lose it all and act all big about not caring. Ok, so they're loaded - good for them - but obviously they're not happy cause they apparently have to make themselves feel big by blowing wads of cash in front of people who can't afford that kind of risk.

[noptov52]

I carry very little in cash, usually $10-20 max. It is the rare place in NoVa that doesn't take credit cards and most of them don't even ask you to sign the receipts anymore. Really the money is mostly for tips or putting in for my share of dinner if the waiter was nice... thankfully (:roll:) that is a rarity these days, so they're likely to encounter the dreaded "Please put these items on this card, those on that one, the drinks on the other card, and please split the appetizers three ways and adjust the tax for everyone based on their subtotals."

[Asharad]

so they're likely to encounter the dreaded "Please put these items on this card, those on that one, the drinks on the other card, and please split the appetizers three ways and adjust the tax for everyone based on their subtotals."

Here's another way I am weird. nothing makes me more uncomfrotable that the discussion where you try and split up the tab. I am much more likely to just buy dinner for everyone than have that discussion.

[Zyzzyx]

Hey Ash, next time we do dinner, ya mind if we split the tab?

[Aananla]

I carry zero cash. 99% is debit.

[Zyzzyx]

I carry zero cash. 99% is debit.
And 1% is shoplifted. :twisted:

[Sylvene]

And 1% is shoplifted. :twisted:

Ya mean pick-pocketed like a good rogue don't you?

[Charinida]

Another reason why I hate carrying cash around, is all the coins... Main reason I typically use my debit card more than anything...

Right now, I have about 6usd in coins in the pocket... :( pita getting thru security... Otherwise, I tend to dump it all in a wicker basket at home...

I really need to get a coin sorter...

[leng]

Another reason why I hate carrying cash around, is all the coins...
When I come home in the evening any coins are dropped into a collection of old jars in the kitchen. Every now and then I bag up the contents of a full jar and bank it. The best is the jar with the ?1 and ?2 coins - last time I emptied that there was over ?150 in it.

[Serani]

I wish we had $1 coins that would last. I love 'em.

I like when we go up to Canada and I collect a couple up there. It's fun. Unfortunately, the two cities closest to us use as much US currency as Canadian, so we don't always get them.

[Zyzzyx]

Ugh. I don't like coinage. Only time I've got coins on me is after a purchase and I haven't made it home or to the car yet. Can't stand carrying coins around in my pockets. Tried a 'coin purse' for awhile, still too annoying.

Its odd too, as I used to always make sure that I DID have coins. I'd leave the house with the right coins to make any change (3 quarters, 2 dimes, 1 nickel, 4 pennies). But now, they all get collected in a mug at home and deposited about once/year.

[Sylvene]

Hmmm... I need to start a "Mad Money" jar again. Great idea! I haven't had one in years.

[Draknor]

I carry no more than $50-$60. Debit and credit cards for nearly every purchase, though. Credit cards are a great deal when you pay your balance off every month.

[Sylvene]

Credit cards are a great deal when you pay your balance off every month.

Yes, they are. I love being able to "stretch out" payments using credit cards. The last time I did that with something big was furniture.

90 days same as cash, pay with credit card, pay credit card... keep $$ in bank earning interest while sitting on new cushy sofa for almost 5 months.