You are never far from friends (except in the wilderness) when you have plenty of cash on hand. (-:

Jerry

I keep $20 stashed in the car, $100+ in a money belt, & $200 +/- for actual walking around cash. The $200 fluctuates during the week & gets topped off on payday with any extra going to the safe. The others are reloaded ASAP if they are used.

minimum $500, max $1500. always.

ever drive low on fuel into a small western town (ie: someplace like Ely, NV) when the internet is down and no credit card purchases possible?

or how about losing a fuel pump or clutch in the middle of nowhere on a weekend and the only garage doesn't take credit cards or checks (and no banks/ATMs for 100 miles)?

cash is king, even today.

Whenever I travel extra light, I carry about $5,000 in Bitcoins on a flash drive.




(kidding)

opportunity for some enterprising financial group to go into the blood chit business...

replica, Burma, 1944

There is recovery service to help out in emergency situations with cars, black outs don't last long and buying some food because you are hungry is just a convenience as long as you last meal was recently. However, if you raise $100 in a fire to lure a fireman to get you out first or place well known banknote with a message for help, I think this is when cash is used for survival.
Having said that, I usually carry something like £20 for mini-emergencies/inconveniences, but it changes once I travel abroad because £ usually goes further than local currency. Nowadays you can get cash and card payment almost in any popular place. And if they don't have electricity, it is still not a problem - they somehow get a copy from your card and cash later. Card fraud protection makes sure only legit transactions get through.

I cannot count how many times services of this nature have been unavailable due to weather emergencies.



Long is relative. A 24-hour blackout that keeps you from getting where you need to go can feel like an eternity. If you need to get home to get the kids off the school bus, a delay of even an hour can be very challenging.



That used to be the case in the USA but is no longer. Most places, if the power is out or the connection to the bank is down, plastic stops working and cash is king.

I carry 2 $20s hidden in my wallet, the bill compartment amount varies usually about $100 and around fifty in a money clip. We have rather large amounts in small bills and $50 in quarters in our BOBs. I have yet to meet the person who will not take cash over a check, and if the systems go down plastic will be useless. I am assuming that they would prefer cash over supposed gold coins, nuggets, jewelry etc. I'd rather not depend on those means of exchange and have them not accepted. This is JMHO.

When I was still in Dallas, I made sure I had a $5 bill in case I lost my DART pass and I had money for vending machines.

Jeanette Isabelle

Are you sure quarters are worth the weight penalty in 2014? This should work out to about 3 lbs!

I suppose there are a few parking meters that take quarters but the major use, pay telephones, no longer exist! Almost all vending machines that I see take dollar bills.

Is there another use that I didn't think of?