Cash is King

I’m going to continue the money series I have going on this week. What prompted today’s article was a trip to the gas station last night. I woke up with a terrible headache and needed caffeine. I grabbed a drink and ran my debit card. The machine just sat there doing nothing. The cashier said to run it again. I repeated and still the machine sat there doing nothing. The clerk told me to try it again that it said the network was down.  I have another debit card i could have used but I also have cash on me. Problem solved, I gave the man a $20 and was done.

Technology is awesome but fickle

I’ll be the first to admit I love technology. I have a deep rooted geeky side and appreciate gadgets as much as the next guy. I came real close to getting the newest fanciest android phone recently. I came to my senses at the last minutes though and couldn’t justify the expense since my phone still works fine. As great as technology is it fails. It’s made to. Companies plan on it failing and you having to buy a new device. Who knows what burp in the system happened last night when my card didn’t work. It could be a million things. handing over cold hard cash though works every time. Anything from a power failure to a computer glitch can take out the debit card readers. So many people never carry any cash on them and would be out of luck.

Convenience

Last week I went to see a band called Gaelic Storm with some friends.  Admission was cash only and two of us had cash on us. Luckily there was an ATM close by for the guy without cash. This is not always the case though. ATM fees are always the case. It’s like a tax on being unprepared. The guy having even beer to this bar before should have know they would not be taking debit cards at the door and came with cash. If he had we would have got in quicker and he would have been able to save a few bucks from being thrown away in ATM fees.Another time I stopped in a small store after a long hike for a bottle of water. The owner said he couldn;t run the card for just a water. The fees would eat up the entire transaction. My choices were to spend more money, which I didn’t want to or use cash. I didn’t have cash on me but did have some in my car. Cash saved the day the clerk was spared insane transaction fees and I got a cheap water.

Yard Sales

Some great deals can be found at yard sales. I have a few things I tend to look for whenever I stop by one. Although I have never seen any I keep looking for old cast iron. I have found medical supplies, camping gear, books and even ammo! I would not be able to get any of this without cash. I’ve not yet seen a yard sale that takes debit cards. I would have missed so many great finds without cash.

Vending Machines

Usually not on me but in a go bag or in my car I keep a bit of change. Normally an entire roll of quarters and some loose change. This has saved me so many times when I needed to park at a meter. Another big reason I carry change is for vending machines. They are always open and everywhere. In a major disaster I’m sure they would be wiped out but in smaller ones They could be useful. Every rest stop I’ve ever seen has them. No they are not the best choice of food. In a stressful time though something comforting could be very useful. Also in a bigger disaster as a barter item vending machine food might prove more worth than the change you traded to get it.

The buck stops here

I can’t tell you how much cash you should carry. For some it could be a few hundred or just a few bucks. I would suggest as a bare minimum twenty dollars split into smaller denominations. I would say to carry five ones, one Five and one ten. That covers you to use the ones in vending machines. On top of that I would designate money in your vehicle to buy gas. Figure out how much to fill up and store that much. I usually keep about $30 in the car for emergency gas and only use it for emergency gas and replace it ASAP! Other than than you need to decide your amount.

How Much do you carry and why? How has carrying cash saved the day for you?

 

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