I cannot understand not having at least a couple hundred cash on you, and much more at home. What are people’s plans if the power or payment networks go offline? Earthquake, hurricane, ice storm, volcano, etc.

While having some cash is good, if you're planning ahead for a disaster it's better to have stuff than cash cause in the event of disaster your ability to buy things is likely to be decreased.

Or at least that's my experience from living in an area where hurricanes sometimes take down power for 2+ weeks.

When things shut down for a long time the government usually sets up free distribution of MREs and water and already having gas in your tank is more valuable than having cash to buy gas at the theoretical gas station with power to pump but not payment network access.

Plenty of us didn't always have 'a couple hundred cash' at all, much less 'free' to just carry around 'in case of emergency'. I can now, but don't for the most part, partially because of decades of not being in that position. We have a modest amount of cash on hand at home - we sometimes pay service folks in cash, or can tip a delivery person now and then, but those are rare instances. Neighbor kids selling door to door now and then too, but even then I wrote a check last time, directly to a school fundraiser, didn't just hand over cash.

If we needed to leave due to an emergency, some cash may help for a hotel, probably, assuming it's far enough away to have power/water.

If there's earthquake/hurricane/etc with resulting power outages, most of the places I'd go to wouldn't be able to even open their POS systems to take cash in the first place.

> If there's earthquake/hurricane/etc with resulting power outages, most of the places I'd go to wouldn't be able to even open their POS systems to take cash in the first place.

Businesses or anyone wanting to get paid will figure out an alternative. Dealing with cash is not complicated.

I worked at a fast food place where our power went out. They forced us to keep ... open and selling anyway. The 240v was out so no grill, but 120 outlets worked so we could make coffee/tea. That was about it. Cash registers didn't work. I was writing everything by hand, calculating tax, etc, keeping records.

2 hrs later, the regional manager - WHO HAD TOLD US IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT WE HAD TO REMAIN OPEN DESPITE NOT HAVING POWER - came in and chastised me for 1) not wearing the full uniform (we had no AC and it was July, so I took off the tie) and 2) handling money without a register. "You can't guarantee your numbers are right - that's what computers are for". "But... they're down, and you said to stay open and keep selling". "That doesn't change the fact that you might be making mistakes!"

Insanity.

Dealing with cash is complicated actually. You need to protect it from theft. You need to count it daily. You need a bank to deposit it. You need to have change because people don't bring exact amounts. Having change requires a bank or some other facility to exchange currency with.

Cards require a machine, some kind of network connectivity, and an account. It's actually a lot easier to deal with as a small business. Most of the people I know who go to conventions as vendors prefer cards because it greatly simplifies their logistics.

Yes, but I was talking about a scenario where there is no network connectivity and hence no ability to take card payments.

In the case of getting paid something versus getting paid nothing, I am guessing most merchants will opt to put in the work to accept cash rather than shut down.

Note that some retailers can and do store and forward transactions, for example with gas stations using satellite connectivity for payment processing. The amount one stores depends upon one's fraud tolerance.

There are attacks where bad guys will disable a gas station's dish (by covering it with foil among other methods) and then rack up a bunch of gasoline sales with a stolen card. They've got generally got a limited window so they have to hit a bunch of local stations quickly, but meth users aren't known for high dollar scores.

But if someone robs you then you have both zero money and less merch due to sales that day. I'm guessing a lot of places will err on the side of caution rather than some income.

I saw a supermarket operate with calculators ~10 years ago when power grid was off for days. I don't believe I will see it again at least not in any big store as financial conciliation is a PITA and the old ways are lost. But small vendors that are often marginalized by the market will.

You obviously have considerable wealth if you think most people have the savings to keep hundreds of dollars on them at all times and much more at home. A large percentage of Americans can’t afford a $500 emergency. Also, many people don’t carry cash because they’re worried, rightfully or not, about being robbed. Same idea behind leaving stuff in your vehicle.

I am suspicious of that "can't afford a $500 emergency" number that is thrown around.

It apparently comes from a survey [52] which says:

"53% could manage an unforeseen expense of $500 without worry"

What that actually means isn't directly stated - but people read it as "half of Americans can't afford $500" which isn't what it's stating.

https://www.personalcapital.com/assets/public/src/2022-Wealt...

I thought it would be obvious that my comment would preclude people who did not have emergency funds. Or who live in areas where the probability of robbery is high enough to negate the benefit of having some cash on you.

My intent was to show that while electronic payments are nice and convenient, I still like the peace of mind of knowing I have a resilient payment method like cash on me.

Carrying significant accounts of cash on you all the time seems like a good recipe for it to get lost or stolen.

There are always tradeoffs. Based on how much fuel and food costs these days, I would not say a couple hundred dollars is a significant amount of cash. Not even enough to get you a bed at night in case of an emergency.

What kind of emergency would:

1. leave me with cash

2. not affect the ability of shops, hotels, etc to process those cash payments and render goods and services

3. prevent me from driving to the next town, county, etc

When hurricane sandy rolled through NJ/NYC area, I remember the power being out for 4+ days, and we used cash to buy groceries and fuel.

I also did not have time to drive 1+ hours for supplies, especially when roads were not necessarily cleared of trees and whatnot, and I had elderly to take care of at home.

Also, gas itself was challenging to get with very long lines so driving an hour was not a guarantee to getting it (since everyone else has the same bright idea, you can’t just shift 10M+ vehicles worth of demand overnight to surrounding areas).

I’m surprised gas pumps and everything else still works without power. I guess if you’re effectively tethered to an area that is prone to widespread regional disruptions it makes sense, but that’s a lot more niche than the original “I can’t imagine not having at least a couple hundred dollars in cash…”.

I assume they were using generators.

I'd probably just drive somewhere that has power/payment networks (stay with friends, family, or airbnb/hotel/etc), especially since those point-of-sale systems are almost universally electronic anyway.

I'm expecting to rely on pen and paper IOUs in this situation. That's really no different than cash, presuming you and local businesses have already established some trust.

Why would you need cash on you? I can understand leaving some at home in case card networks fail, but day to day if I'm out and about I just pay with my phone.

My grandfather carried $3k in his wallet every day for the same reason.

I'd worry more about being mugged with that much in my wallet than an emergency happening that required needing that much cash on-my-person.

I guess he grew up in a different era and had other concerns.