Bummer. Battery died while stopping to pay a bill en route to my work. The good news is that the full service gas station was 20 yards from where my truck's battery died, the bad news was that I had to pay what they were asking, which was 85.94 when all was said and done.

I normally EDC $90 emergency cash in my belt. Think I might bump it up to $200 because right now I have only 28 greenbacks in my bank account and that would have not gotten me anywhere.

The two thread questions:

1. How much cash do you EDC and is it for emergencies only?
I wrap mine in a million layers of bags and tape so it is not easy to get to or I will spend it.

2. Anybody had an expensive commute to work lately? I felt bad about the $90 because I am not a high wage earner if you know what I mean, but at the same time I am kind of elated and estounded that I was prepared when I needed to be. Sure this was not a life threatening emergency, but that is why it is called EDC. Saved my wife a trip to save my but, saved 1/2 a day trying to get to work, and only arrived 20 minutes late!

I only carry about $25 cash. I know I should probably carry more but I figure that's what plastic is for.

II got caught in the east coast blackout (2003?) with less than $20 cash. With ATMs down, I had to make due with that. Since then, I have carried $100. Been pretty good about not touching it unless it is a true emergency. I keep it separate from the wallet, in case some thug with a weapon demands "street tax".

I don't drive. All mass transit. In your case, $200 sounds prudent.

Good thing you were ETS

Is it a full size truck? If so then you can add a second battery easily by utilizing the space the factory would have put it for a diesel engine (those all come with two batteries) or the factory camper/plow package. My truck is farily new so I had to buy the tray from a dealer for about $30. Then every couple years I buy a new battery and put it in as the primary and move the primary to the secondary and turn the old secondary in for the core. I'm using an isolator which is basically a couple big diodes to prevent one battery from discharging the other but allow them to both charge. This gives two advantages, one I can jump start myself if needed and 2 if I ever were to be stuck/stranded someplace I have extra battery power to run all the gear I keep in the truck.

I forgot to answer the question.
I have about $200 split between two wallets currently. I try to add a little at a time then sometimes I'll use a little for a purchase and try to make sure to never spend more than 1/2 of what I have. For example about a month ago I had close to $250 and gave my wife $100 for her birthday so she could shop a little bit wherever she wanted.

A couple other suggestions:
1. always pay bills electronically then you never have to stop to pay a bill and if someone ever says you didn't pay the bill you ask your bank to research it and let them fight it for you.
2. always carry some tools in your truck so you don't have to pay someone else to put in that battery. even a simple adjustable wrench is sufficient to change a battery. You don't have to spend a lot, just don't buy cheap chinese made tools. Stop by sears right after a holiday and go straight to the clearance table and pick up a set of decent tools for cheap. usually they will discontinue sets or have some in fancy packaging specifically for that holiday that they will put on clearance and you buy it and toss the packaging and have several good tools for a good price. A basic adjustable wrench is a start, then add some screwdrivers and a small set of wrenches then a socket set, usually 3/8" drive will do most autmotive work. Then maybe a 1/4" drive socket set and maybe a 1/2" drive long bar and a couple big sockets, one that fits the lug nust because they have less chance of slipping off than the cheaply made factory lug wrench.

I have $100 in small bills stached in each car to be used ONLY for emergency purposes. Been doing that for quite a while and a few times have had to dip into it.
I also have AAA. Last time we used that my Darling Bride had a blowout (ran over construction crap on the highway). Not a chance that she's going to change a tire.

well there's something else for the BOB..a 20 pound car
battery..well if you were on the road with a earthquake
or whatever right behind you and the battery fritzed out
you would on the spot..with a traffic jam behind you and your
car being pushed into the ditch..if you lived someplace where
evacuations are common..the Keys or the Gulf coast..you may
want to think about having the smallest battery that will
start your car packed safe in you trunk along with water
and food..

It would go dead by then, you have to keep car batteries constantly charged hence my permanently installed and isolated second battery.

"...you have to keep car batteries constantly charged ..."

What do the guys at the store do to it when you buy it? I'm assuming they don't have a "live battery self" ...

Sue

They don't keep them on the shelf for very long. When you go buy a car battery its best to buy them from a store that moves a lot of them so you can be sure you have a fresh one. There are web sites which tell how to decode the date code marked on them so you can be sure it hasn;t set for too long. They are kind of like produce, if they sit for too long they start to go bad.
Note that there are deep cycle batteries which can be deeply discharged without harm but you don't normally put those in cars, those are for things like the "house" battery in an RV, you normal car battery the plates are thinner and start to deteriorate (did I spell that right, can't have firefox on the work pc) when they discharge.