I'm starting to carry more - $60 is useful

I'll confess I had never considered keeping rolls of quarters to buy stuff from vending machines: I'd only thought about using quarters in the almost extinct pay telephones. I'll have to check: most vending machines I think now take bills and credit cards; so if the grid is up, the three options should work. I think fewer and fewer vending machines are taking quarters.

Change is useful - I like to keep some in the car.

A couple years ago, I spent a lot of time in cities with parking meters that only took coins. I ended up with around $40 in mixed coins (heavy on the quarters, no pennies) that I keep in the center console of my car in a screw-top tin. My travel patterns have changed significantly, but I’ve made the decision to keep it there.

I opened this thread, not realizing that I had already replied to it in the past, 3-1/2 years ago (Feb 2017). I was going to reply today that I don't use much cash anymore. My old post:

"I usually carry $60. I should probably carry more. Except, that same $60 has been sitting in my wallet for years. Guess I don't run into too many emergencies."

Ha! I still have that SAME $60 in my wallet today! I probably ought to use it, or at least swap it out with fresh bills, before it rots or something.

I haven't spent or gotten change in 4 months -- All cards now ( Less contact)

This topic mirrors a longer discussion in a 6/23/20 topics titled ,”Cash is king”. . Long story short, carry as much as u can , in small bills as UR circumstances allow,. Build it up to say ~ $500-$1000, or more, depending on costs U R likely to encounter in UR area of operation.. $20s, $10s. $5s & $1s, up to about $350 and add extra $20s and $50s & $100s , after U reach that plateau. It took me years to build up to the higher amounts.

Dylan said “ Money doesn’t talk , it swears!” It can save UR life in a mugging , buy unavailable transport tickets or a room in a hotel with a “No. Vacancy” sign fluashing, or a tank of gas at a “. All Out” gas station. And it becomes even more valuable in a blackout when credit card machines stop working. I carry stashes on my person, in my EDC bag and in my car.

I used to carry change for parking meters , vending machines and pay phones, but that was a lifetime ago. Albeit I have some leftover quarters in my car. Today it’s better to make sure U have ten dollars in $1s for the purpose and small tips.

Expanding on the theme, again as circumstances allow, try to build up a cash reserve to cover 1-6 months household expense, loan/ car payments, mortgage & taxes,, to keep at home. I also keep an extra credit card , different from the ones I usually use, in cas mine is stolen or cloned.

"up to about $350 and add extra $20s and $50s & $100s"
1) I'm not sure why $350 represents anything other than opinion... but whatever...
2) Having been in a situation where (hurricane, power failures) cash WAS king, I'll never again keep large bills in my "stash." $5, perhaps $10, but no larger. Didn't like paying $20 for a normal $2.00 block of ice because "My register is down... can't make change..." I could have given him a $5 and taken a small hit. If I had a $5.

I recognize the argument that large bills are easier to transport and keep in your wallet/purse. Fine. But for an emergency stash I'm happy with packets of 1, 5, and 10 denominations run through my foodsaver vac packer. Tight little packets, tuckable in many places. And I like the many places idea.

NAro: The $350 change point is in fact opinion & experienced based. Adding larger bills after that point was/ is intended solely for the “ on person” stash and is, as u guessed,for compactness. The EDC, car, home stashes can vary in bill sizes and amounts, based upon ur experiences and the cost of living in your AO.

I have several caches of medium and smaller bills. They sit there idle for long times, but sometimes you urgently need them and feel so happy you have them. So, during this Corona mess we used cards to pay most things but cash was needed at times.

Our daughter, who is staying with us after giving birth, made a few online orders and some of the delivery guys didn't have enough change. So, I put some medium and smaller bills in the kitchen in case she needed some.