Keeping “emergency” cash at home…

[arknor]

I usually keep about £60 on me.


I had a £270 transaction declined trying to use google wallet in sports direct.

luckily I had my physical card on me, something I wouldn't normally do.... or I would have looked a right tit. so I guess relying on a phone isn't practical

the google pay wallet doesn't seem to have any easy way of confirming a transaction was you. or doing anything about it at all

Happened a few times here in Hampshire at big supermarkets. Big powercut 1st time. Couldn't buy anything. 2nd time tills were down, weren't accepting any transactions.

I experienced that once, no one in the store mentioned it on arrival..

so everyone at the checkouts were being told to travel 3 minutes away to a cashpoint up the road...

 

[mrk]

I used to only handle cash for the barbershop but now the barber takes card, so bye bye cash lol.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Again i dont really see the point in that these days


google pay on phone?

Apple pay on phone ?

second bank account with a different bank (keep the balance at zero ?) just have online banking, and keep the card at home?


hell if you loose your card, its unlikely you will lose your phone at the same time

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your wallet , and your phone at the same time, and your keys to your house so you cant get a backup card in the draw

you could even go to a bank these days and withdraw emergency money from them without needing your card.


I guess i can see the appeal of keeping a couple of quid in a draw though cash, i just done think i ever needed to do this in the past 5-7 years? and I am always loosing stuff ( i have been in situations where i have lost bank card or damaged it before)



I think the only time i ever pay cash is maybe to save on paying VAT when paying for things like car service. If I am doing this though its a quick swift visit to the cashpoint before picking up my car

I think your missing the point that the average age of this thread must be 60.

 

[Bluecube]

No, I get that point, but in that scenario, I'll stick with my current "emergency" plan of having some food etc. in reserve at home, and so eliminate the need to worry about being able to buy anything in the first place (the supermarket isn't going to be open with no lights on, no fridges/freezers etc. running anyway).

That’s an apocalypse scenario! I mean a general occasion in the context of civilised life

 

[Gredawarha]

Again i dont really see the point in that these days


google pay on phone?

Apple pay on phone ?

second bank account with a different bank (keep the balance at zero ?) just have online banking, and keep the card at home?


hell if you loose your card, its unlikely you will lose your phone at the same time

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your wallet , and your phone at the same time, and your keys to your house so you cant get a backup card in the draw

you could even go to a bank these days and withdraw emergency money from them without needing your card.


I guess i can see the appeal of keeping a couple of quid in a draw though cash, i just done think i ever needed to do this in the past 5-7 years? and I am always loosing stuff ( i have been in situations where i have lost bank card or damaged it before)



I think the only time i ever pay cash is maybe to save on paying VAT when paying for things like car service. If I am doing this though its a quick swift visit to the cashpoint before picking up my car

Unless you're like my partner who insists on keeping her bank cards in her phone wallet!

 

[Nasher]

I usually keep about £60 on me.


I had a £270 transaction declined trying to use google wallet in sports direct.

luckily I had my physical card on me, something I wouldn't normally do.... or I would have looked a right tit. so I guess relying on a phone isn't practical

the google pay wallet doesn't seem to have any easy way of confirming a transaction was you. or doing anything about it at all


I experienced that once, no one in the store mentioned it on arrival..

so everyone at the checkouts were being told to travel 3 minutes away to a cashpoint up the road...

The amount of times I see people holding up a huge queue because paying via their phone just isn't working is enough to put me off. Just use a card all the time :/

A women in my local shop tried for about 10 minutes before the cashier finally told them of move over.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Again i dont really see the point in that these days


google pay on phone?

Apple pay on phone ?

second bank account with a different bank (keep the balance at zero ?) just have online banking, and keep the card at home?


hell if you loose your card, its unlikely you will lose your phone at the same time

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your wallet , and your phone at the same time, and your keys to your house so you cant get a backup card in the draw

you could even go to a bank these days and withdraw emergency money from them without needing your card.


I guess i can see the appeal of keeping a couple of quid in a draw though cash, i just done think i ever needed to do this in the past 5-7 years? and I am always loosing stuff ( i have been in situations where i have lost bank card or damaged it before)



I think the only time i ever pay cash is maybe to save on paying VAT when paying for things like car service. If I am doing this though its a quick swift visit to the cashpoint before picking up my car

If you're going to go to the bank to get cash why not just keep a few notes in a drawer in the first place? Why all this "Look at me I'm with the kool kidz I don't keep cash" talk in general? Its bizaare. For the record I havn't used cash for a long time either must have been a couple of years ago but its handy to know its there.

 

[robgmun]

Of course i do, i don't fully trust the banks and you'd be a fool to

 

[Malevolence]

I do. Can't remember the last time I used cash to pay for anything, but I like to keep £500 and €500 in the house just in case.

 

[PlacidCasual]

You only have to look to Canada where Trudeau used the banks to punish people protesting his fool policies to see the risks of an entirely cashless society.

 

[stuman]

You’re missing the point @PlacidCasual is making. It doesn’t happen often but there have been occasions when card systems at a supermarket go down and it becomes a cash only system.

Also I get many occasions when tradesmen prefer cash - debate the reasons if you wish - and they get it. Means that any time I need a follow up, I’m top of the list.

Or not on a list at all as you paid cash…. And if they are as avoidant of tax rules, they are probably lax with others and will probably just vanish if pushed.

 

[Haggisman]

That’s an apocalypse scenario!

Exactly!

I mean a general occasion in the context of civilised life

I'm struggling to think of an occasion (for me at least) where having a few £ of cash in a drawer at home would pose less of an inconvenience than not.

If I get to the checkout and the card machines are down, I still need to leave the shop, go home and grab the cash. At which point I'm already at home, with food, and will most likely think "meh, this will do until tomorrow".

Meanwhile, I have £X in a drawer which is never going to realistically get used, potentially getting lost/damaged/stolen/forgotten about/going out of date/losing value

 

[Werewolf]

I tend to keep a couple of hundred cash, mainly because it's useful for taxis (it's weird how many taxis have broken card readers), the barbers, and things like the local bakers or market.

Oh and when a shop's card handling system is down, I've had that happen at the local Tesco*, Boots Optician and several times at smaller stores.


*The number of abandoned trolleys when the announcement came over the tannoy that they couldn't take cards, I suspect they had a massive amount of wastage in the frozen/chilled food section that day.

 

[Andrew_McP]

I can't remember the last time I went to the supermarket or other mainstream retailer and didn't see people, including myself, using cash. Not sure it's going anywhere in a hurry, no matter how convenient that would be for banks and shops, which could sack even more people and raise their share prices.

I'm 61 though and I've had cash in my pocket since I started my paper round at 11 (I was even paid in cash by Asda up to the early 90s). So I'm in no hurry to lose that option, and I've always found it easier to keep my optional spending down when I can see my wallet emptying. It can't be a coincidence that (non-mortgage) debt "slavery" has increased dramatically in the screen money era, surely? Or maybe I'm cynical and a financial control freak.

At home, there's a reasonable chunk of cash left out of sight, but easily discovered by burglars. I'd prefer a passing druggie made a quick exit, feeling he'd had a good, quick haul than spent time wondering which of my cupboards was worth ransacking. No reason why they wouldn't do both, but my understanding is that they prefer not to hang about.

 

[Efour]

No because any scenario where ill need a "large amount of cash" is World War 3 and money wont be worth much after a week or 2.
The swedish government recently pushed a campaign of crisis preparedness. Putin fear, Ukraine nonsense.

Usual rubbish like have 3 days food, a large amount of water stored, Cash on hand and the grab bag for when Russian paratroopers are raining on your lawn.

I opted to die fast.

 

[koolpc]

I always keep a £1 at home in case of an emergency!

 

[Jim99]

Did almost get scuppered by lack of a £1 for a trolley this afternoon

 

[builder22]

after the card machine double counting a button press (that was the conclusion anyway!) and locking out my card at the petrol station after filling up I always have enough cash to cover petrol/diesel, it's not like you can put it back

that card problem has only ever happened once in my entire life but it's left me scarred

 

[Gray2233]

Did almost get scuppered by lack of a £1 for a trolley this afternoon

You can jiggle them open with one of those corned beef tin keys.

I know this because an Aldi employee gave me one and showed me how when I was caught without a pound coin and asked if she could unlock one for me.

 

[Jim99]

You can jiggle them open with one of those corned beef tin keys.

I know this because an Aldi employee gave me one and showed me how when I was caught without a pound coin and asked if she could unlock one for me.

Ah, this was Lidl and the employee gave me a plastic coin for it.

So on the plus side, got a free trolley now.