'Do you have ‘secret’ cash in your wallet/purse?' blog discussion

rodo_2

I've done this for years. Unfortunately, my other half has discovered it, so will have to find another place to stash it. driving licence wallet, maybe?

Merkin

BW705856 wrote: »

and in case anyone is wondering, £100 notes ARE legal tender in Scotland

They are legal currency, they are not legal tender...

alja

my dad does this....maybe I should too!!!

I mean, I have been caught out when at a petrol station once with a car full off petrol...when the lovely cooperative bank decided to turn off my student overdraft but NOT TURN ON the new one....hence I had no money on my card to pay for the petrol that was in my car........thank god my friend and I had enough cash between us at that point in time to pay it off!
(and yes, I did moan at the cooperative bank and get £30 compensation! )

jeferey

I hate using cash - hardly ever have any notes in the wallet - OH keeps it all :rotfl:.
Always have a pocketful of coins for emergencies but use cashback credit cards wherever I can - I even buy 2 milks at Farm Foods for £1.50 and use my card.

Anodomini

Yes I do keep a secret £20, I started 5 years ago with £5 but due to inflation I had to increase it.
Also, as Gordon Brown was such an expert pickpocket I moved the note to my shoe and left the wallet in my pocket with a note in for GB saying ....off

LameWolf

My husband always keeps a £10 note stashed away, and also a small amount of loose change in an old film container (remember when cameras used film??):D

He also insists that I have at least £10 in cash in my handbag, even though I don't go out without him (I'm disabled and he's my Carer) - his rationale is that if we're in the pub and he needs to visit the loo, I can buy the next round!:rotfl:

A word to the wise - if you don't use your emergency £10 or £20 note for a long time, and it just sits in the back of your wallet or wherever, do make sure you replace it with an up-to-date one when the banks withdraw old designs of note.;) (Yes, I am speaking from embarrassing experience!):D

w211

I have £50 in my wallet at all times. Just as well as the other day I was locked out my car and had to catch a taxi back home to collect a spare set of keys, then back to the car. Fare was £40, could have paid by card but there was a 10% surcharge.

A further £50 is carried in my bag, which I take with me to work, and inside the car is another £50, plus change.

So if I'm out on the road, forgot my wallet (which I've done), run out of fuel and hungry, at least I have sufficient means to refuel and buy food.

I can't understand how people can just go out with just one card, with no spare cash or back up card, pay for fuel, and get stuck when it doesn't work.

seven-day-weekend

Both me and my husband have a secret stash - a hangover from when we lived in Spain where insurance companies and utility companies could just help themselves from your account without notification. We didn't actually keep much money in our Spanish account because of this.

We call our stash the Bank of Mattress (loosely translated from 'caja mi colchon' as that is what the Spanish call it.)

http://www.cajamicolchon.com/

(Agh! Just noticed the thread is three years' old! Still good fun though!)

Cloudane

Yep! Ever since about 2 days ago when I was caught short yet again. I don't have traditional 'emergencies' too often *touch wood* (actually I'm pretty much hugging the wood after saying something like that) but cash in my area is getting harder and harder to get hold of. The local ATM charges £1.75 so I refuse to use it on principle. The one half way to town has been shut down due to attempted robbery. The one in the supermarket is always empty or faulty (and max cashback being £50 doesn't stretch as far these days). Now the only way to get cash here is to go to the town centre, or go to the supermarket and build up cashbacks.

So now I have a 20 in a zipped wallet compartment (maybe I should make it 25, hah), which is to be used for the (sadly more and more common) "haven't been able to get into town for a few days" scenario. It's not a "dire emergencies only" stash, but more of a "try to avoid using it too much" one that will hopefully give me a sense of urgency about re-stocking it if I use it.

I have a Cash Stash (keyring thing, see previous thread pages) on its way, hopefully today, to help keep it even more compartmentalised for me and also act as an emergency if I lose my wallet.

Thinking about it, I imagine some people are probably disciplined enough to make sure they always have a "buffer" amount of cash (if it gets down to say 20-50, *then* it's time to draw more out, not when it goes down to 0) and not need to make a 'secret' stash. I can't say that's me though.

There's also the disadvantage of prying eyes if your buffer money isn't a secret, which also applies to making sure your secret stays that way (get it out in the toilet or something maybe? Sounds illicit, but hey, it's private - just don't get caught sneaking a rolled twenty out from a Cash Stash in private, who knows what they'll think!). It's just that if your friends know you carry extra wads of cash around, they're more likely to "accidentally" (if subconsciously) not bring enough with them and keep relying on your "emergency" stash. "Have you got that spare 20 on ya, I'll give it back next week". We all have friends like that I think :rotfl:

Oh and don't use a £50 note. Nowhere accepts them. It's like 100x more likely they'd accept a Scottish Fiver.


Edit: Wow, I textwalled. tl;dr version - yes. Because not enough ATMs. Make sure it stays secret and isn't a fifty.

iAMaLONDONER

I think I will start to carry cash now!