Do you keep a stash of cash at home?

[6packofun]

Also, give me some good suggestions for a hiding spot!  (Obviously you don't have to share yours.  LOL)  I'm more concerned that it's in a SAFE spot than one that kids won't find, etc.

 

I don't want to open another bank account because I'm trying to save as much as I can short-term for a specific thing, but I want it out of our regular accounts.  We'll be using it within 6 months and I'm not looking for another option.  I'm just saving some cash.  (I'm not running away.  lol)

[Scarlett]

 The only cash I have is what I glean from doing laundry.  I get a couple bucks in quarters and then it somehow disappears.

 

I never have cash. 

[Garga]

I get $20 cashback each week when I grocery shop to put in our Christmas Stash. My dh really hates seeing a big chunk of money leave the bank at one time and he doesn't feel bad seeing only $20 a week leave.

 

Then when December hits, we put all that cash back in the bank and spend it on Christmas presents and it feels like free money came in to pay for our Christmas.

 

It's not the same as knowing the money is allotted for Christmas and keeping it in the bank. If it's in the bank all year, then DH sees it as money to be kept in the bank and he feels anxious to see it leave the bank, even if he knows that's its purpose. But if it's kept outside of the bank and then is deposited in to pay for presents, it doesn't give him the same anxiety.

 

As far as where...anywhere would be fine. Behind some slightly pulled out books on a bookcase. In the linen closet in a cardboard box. The back of the sock drawer. Top of the fridge. Anywhere.

[Cinder]

I don't have a stash of cash but if I did I might put it in an old tampon box in the bathroom cabinet. "Everyone" says put it in the freezer--supposedly it's safer there.

[Garga]

I think I didn't answer your question. My ideas of spots for money aren't safe. Do you suspect that theives will break in? Is it to foil theives that you need a good hiding place?

 

I think that a thief could find all my hiding spots. Unless you do something like an old mystery novel and hide it in the lining of a wingback chair or in the hollowed out leg of a table. :).

[Julie Smith]

Yes I do. But for a reason that most of you wouldn't have. 

 

Till recently once a month I would have to bring the float to a dance. (The Float is a pile of money so you can make chance when people pay for things.) So I always kept at least 160 dollars in small bills and about 40 dollars in loonies (one dollar coins) and twoonies (two dollar coins).

 

Till I needed to have a float, I didn't keep as much cash handy. If I ever needed any I would just borrow it from my boys. They run a small store at the dance hall selling pop, water, and gum. They just finished rolling coins and came up with over a hundred dollars in change. Eldest also always keeps a pile of bills stashed away. But he charges a lot of interest if you borrow money. 

[NorthwestMom]

We have a few hundred dollars in cash hidden in our home for a catastrophic emergency.  If we have a massive earthquake and lose power for days, electronic cash registers, credit card readers, and ATMs won't work. 

[Julie Smith]

My money is kept in my collection of math manipulatives. The bills are kept in a ziplock bag along side the division and multiplication flash cards. These cards are under a pile of short straws and elastic bands. (Used to make groups of tens and hundreds). The change is kept with the math counting blocks and dice. It is all kept in a fish tackle box kept under my computer desk - which is also used as a foot rest. 

 

To me the location makes lots of sense. Math and Money go together. It is also not a place someone would look it wanting to steal cash. 

 

But I now don't have much cash anymore - because I no longer bring the float to the dance. So if you were to break into my house you would be disappointed. Unless you like pennies.

 

[Garga]

If you're worried about someone taking the money, maybe you could put it in a bunch of places and hope they don't find all the places.

[Tess in the Burbs]

we used to.  However we found it too easy to just grab cash from the stockpile cash and now we have none :(  

I recently put some in the gun safe, but used it for snowboarding.  *sigh*

 

We also have a safe that can be screwed into a wall...like the garage where it's not finished and it fits between the boards.  One house it was in an eave of the house and no one could find it if we had a robbery.  

I have always heard never in drawers or bathrooms(even the toilet) b/c that is where drug users store their own goods, and look there first in homes.  I have heard kids rooms are safest.  

[AmandaVT]

I do. I've been saving up for a trip for the past couple of years and I've done what Garga does. I took out $20 once a week and put it in an envelope. My hiding place isn't all that special. We have a 9 block storage cubby with fabric boxes in some of the blocks. 

 

Similar to this, but in white. Anyway, in one of the cubbies, I have a big wallet that I keep spare gift cards and my cash supply. I'm leaving for my trip on Thursday, but managed to save up enough that I'm going to leave $500 in the wallet for just in case money. 

 

My aunt recently found money that my grandpa had saved up from the 60's! He had $160 in cash in an old coffee container in the garage. Around it were other old coffee containers filled with nails and screws and other garage type stuff. Each of the 4 siblings now have $40 from that. :-)

 

Other ideas - in a DVD case (just remember which DVD you pick)

in a book

tampon box

band aid box

rolled up inside an empty spice jar 

behind a picture - you can put the $$ in an envelope and tape it to the backside

[Twigs]

I've always heard to stash cash in the freezer since it is the most insulated place inside the house (in case of fire). You could always store the cash in a empty freezer food box for camouflage. 

[Arcadia]

My parents generation kept cash in empty biscuits tin cans. The biscuits are high on fiber but tasteless so no one would raid those for food. I have kept a $50 Bill in my 9th grade religious studies textbook and forgot all about it. I found it a few years later.

 

My mom used to keep like $500 in her wardrobe's jewelry drawer. I was given $200 monthly food allowance for middle school so if she forgot to give me by the start of the month, I am to take the allowance from that stash and leave her a note.

[solascriptura]

Not really now, but in the past I've put it in the drywall.

[Guest]

We do. I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't want me saying where though ;)

 

 

My dad liked to hide his in pages of Steinbeck books. Worked really well and his library was big enough that nobody but us would have found it.

[Julie Smith]

I never worried about thieves. I did worry about Dh going, "ohhh cash. I'll take some" and then a week or two later, "Ohhh cash, I'm out... I'll take some". Then I would have to get ready for the dance, and not have enough money for the float. With the local bank closed on the day of the dance, it would be a big nuisance to go to another bank. (I need small bills, so a ATM wouldn't work.)

 

So I suppose I was worried about someone taking the money - but not a thief. That is why I kept it out of sight of my Dh. 

[Luckymama]

We've been keeping $500 in cash on hand since Sandy. We watched what happened just a bit north if us.

 

We have a small locked safe in the basement hidden among other things. Important papers and our passports are also stored in it.

[lllll]

nm

Edited April 10, 2017 by 1234

[Laura Corin]

Nope.  Only scads of change that we clear out periodically.

[Carol in Cal.]

A good way to save if you don't want another bank account but are afraid to have cash around is to double pay certain bills where that gives you a credit for your next one.

Like utilities, or phone bills, or credit cards.  NOTE!  This does not work for mortgages, do not make that mistake.

 

Anyway, by double paying, then the next month you don't have to pay that bill, and voila, more money!

Edited March 28, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[Night Elf]

I imagine it's easiest to hide it in a place of many things. Like if you have a closet full of shoe boxes you choose one. Or in between the pages of a specific book in a full bookcase. Or in the pocket of a piece of clothing hanging in the closet.

 

I only saved cash once for something specific and kept it in an envelope in a little used pocket of my purse.

 

You could buy a small safe. I had to buy one for my dd to use in her dorm room.

[trulycrabby]

Well, I learned the hard way not to put anything in anything that might get thrown away inadvertently. In this particular case, I had some lovely matched sapphire trillions squirreled away in an old vitamin container. :)

[Laurie4b]

After living through the Great Depression, my grandfather had a stash of cash he kept in a decorative tin can with a lid in the attic. The grandkids played in the attic a lot dressing up in old clothes, etc. I remember the day I opened that tin and thought I had struck it rich! I was so disappointed when my grandmother said I couldn't keep it!

 

One thing about keeping cash is that you have to consider a place that it would survive a fire. 

 

Here is a link about hiding places. https://www.nachi.org/hide-valuables.htm

I would think thieves would know about freezers since it's standard advice and doesn't take long to search one. (Unless it's a big old chest freezer. Ugh. Hated searching one of those when I knew what I was looking for!

 

Here's a link about where not to hide it. (They overlap!) https://blog.cammy.com/common-places-burglars-search-when-breaking-in

 

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by Laurie4b

[Liz CA]

I think I should but never have beyond a few dollars here and there.

I am wondering if we would have the same issue as Tess and keep "borrowing" from it. :)

 

My aunt had a sizable amount (several thousands) in a safe in her closet. One time I was visiting, I woke up in the middle of the night, heard something and immediately thought of all that cash and a burglar - but it was only her cat jumping off a dresser.

 

Dig a little hole in the backyard, hide cash in waterproof container, fill hole. Plant poison oak over it. :lol:

Edited March 28, 2017 by Liz CA

[Carrie12345]

I keep emergency cash with my emergency documents.

 

 

[Pawz4me]

I don't think of us as having a stash, but I guess it depends on how you define it. DH and I are doing good if we have $20 between us. DS18 usually has a couple of hundred in a wallet (not the one he carries with him). We call him our personal ATM. ;)

 

In general we've never seen any sense in keeping much cash on hand.

[Tap]

Yes, I do. Not a huge amount, just enough to get a weeks worth of groceries/gas for the cars in case of emergency or if my purse gets stolen and I don't have my cards for a bit.  

 

Obviously,  I'm not saying where lol.

 

I have also stashed money in the kids savings accounts at the bank when I needed an out of sight, out of mind place for money for the year. I would just set up a savings account attached to their account and named it 'Mom' so it wouldn't get mixed with their money.  It was usually the tuition money for private school which I liked to save one year ahead, so I could pay tuition in cash up front and get the discount from the school.  

Edited March 28, 2017 by Tap

[Dynamite5]

 The only cash I have is what I glean from doing laundry.  I get a couple bucks in quarters and then it somehow disappears.

 

I never have cash. 

This won't help the OP at all, but don't you LOVE it when you find, say, a $5 bill in the laundry?! You are suddenly rich!! LOL!

[flyingaway]

Why does it have to be hidden somewhere weird? We keep ours in the firebox.

[kewb]

Yes, I have a small emergency fund.  I wish it were a larger emergency fund.

 

I have it in the safe.  Which is an antique incredibly heavy, took 3 men to get it to it's current location, safe.

 

I also have a few little knipples (yiddish word that basically means a cash stash) hidden throughout the house.  Probably easily located by thieves which is why they are small amounts of cash.

[Scarlett]

This won't help the OP at all, but don't you LOVE it when you find, say, a $5 bill in the laundry?! You are suddenly rich!! LOL!

 

 

Oh but then the conflict wondering if it belongs to a teen boy who worked hard for it.   LOL

[marbel]

I try to keep some money around for an emergency but it usually ends up getting used.  Right now there are a bunch of 10s, 5s and 1s in various places in the house (I won't forget where).  And, a lot of quarters.  At one time someone told us to always keep a hundred dollar bill in our wallets, and some at home, for an emergency, but I figure that a hundred is going to be useless when the grid goes down and I need to buy water. 

 

If I was keeping a lot of money in the house, I'd get a safe. 

 

I did see an article suggesting that if you have an aquarium, seal the money up well and bury it in the bottom or hide it behind your plants or other aquatic decor.  I like the book idea.  I've heard the idea of the feminine product box for years; I think that has gotten enough press that it could be one of the first places thieves would look. 

[Bambam]

Having been in a town after a hurricane with no electricity and no gas, cash was a handy accessory as no place took anything but cash. If you had plenty of food and water, you were good, but if you needed supplies to repair anything, you'd better hope you had plenty of cash. 

 

[6packofun]

Why does it have to be hidden somewhere weird? We keep ours in the firebox.

 

My kids would never take money from my stash, but dh would.  I think it's just better if he doesn't know it exists.  lol  So the hiding IS in the case of burglary--not something I'm terribly afraid of, but we have crappy luck--and to a much lesser degree to keep it out of sight out of mind for dh.

 

The reason I'm saving is to either move (to another rental, yay) or put a down payment on a used car.  Dh is just NOT good at saving and until recently we haven't really been able to anyway!  But he got a nice raise and I think I can save up fairly quickly if I'm smart and have the will power.  I really dislike the house we're in so I think it will be pretty easy.  lol  I'd love to hold out for a house that we could rent to own or that the owners will want to sell to their tenants after a few years.  That would be ideal!

 

Anyhow, thanks everyone for the ideas!

[Laura Corin]

Can't you open a secret bank account in your name only? You are hiding the cash from your husband anyway. You could opt for online statements only,so nothing comes to the house. Having cash around makes me nervous.

[matrips]

If you're worried about someone taking the money, maybe you could put it in a bunch of places and hope they don't find all the places.

I would never find all the places again either! And then I'd even never know if someone else had gotten to it :). My poor aging memory.

[Annie G]

Our cash is in our lockbox in our closet. It's where we keep our passports, birth certificates, and car titles.  It's kind of hidden, mostly because my closet is a mess.  We've always kept it there so in an emergency we can grab all the important stuff in one fell swoop. 

 

I'm not worried about theft.  If someone wants to break in, they easily can. We have no security system or anything. Just a nosy neighbor. 

[Ottakee]

Don't do like some of my relatives and put it in saran wrap and wrap that in duct tape and then hike it all over the house....in boxes, bags, books, clothes, etc. and on and on.....and then pass away before you tell someone where it all is.

[Wheres Toto]

We keep some cash in a lockbox with our passports and important documents.  It's in an envelope and I know once or twice dh has set up a 2nd envelope and stuck it at the bottom or in his passport so he "hid" it from me.  We hardly ever go through the whole box so I wouldn't have noticed it easily.

 

If I just wanted to hide it from dh, I'd probably keep in an envelope or old coin purse in one of my drawers or in my jewelry box.  He doesn't ever go into any of those.   Or behind books on a bookshelf, or in a small vase on our knickknack shelf, or in a currently not in use purse (I have a bunch).

[Murphy101]

I keep emergency cash with my emergency documents.

I keep an envelope of cash with our emergency documents in a fire/smoke/water safe box. It's not much though.

 

I also have another stash. But again. Not much.

 

Won't say where mine is. But the stash should be where you can grab it fast and where it won't accidentally get thrown away or discovered.

 

Some ideas

 

Makeup bag. Cut a thin slit in the bottom seam and stuff a small packet there. (Same thing for diaper bag or vehicle emergency kit kept in the trunk of the car.)

Inside or with wedding dress that's being stored. Or some similiar item, such a baptismal gown, or a thick wedding photo frame.

A flower vase, stuff money in the bottom, fill with fake flowers. Or even real ones as long as the money is water sealed up.

Underneath or inside pet crate

Bottom of filled coffee container

Bottom of ashpit of fireplace. (However there's a pro/con if you have an exterior pit door for easy cleaning. Also, obvious sealed container required both bc of termites and heat.)

[DawnM]

Our dressers have top drawers that are narrow, they are for things like jewelry, ties, etc.....

 

We keep a stack of bills in one of those.

[Murphy101]

Don't do like some of my relatives and put it in saran wrap and wrap that in duct tape and then hike it all over the house....in boxes, bags, books, clothes, etc. and on and on.....and then pass away before you tell someone where it all is.

My husband's grandma put hundred dollar bills all over the place. You'd open a book and get a 100, pull out the guest sheets to make a bed and get a 100, lift the foliage of a plant in the kitchen window and find a 100, pull a pitcher out of the China cabinet and find a 100...

[TeenagerMom]

I used to keep mine in a bank envelope taped to the underside of the hermit crab aquarium tank. 

[The Girls' Mom]

Sometimes.  It depends if the vampires, er...teens, have drained me.  

 

Good hiding spots....books, in an envelope taped inside the top of a drawer, in the freezer (preferably in a box of beets or something..lol.) taped to the back of the toilet... 

[Anne in CA]

If you always lock your car religiously under the trunk mat is good. Then you know that if you are stuck somewhere and need a tow or whatever that you have the cash. That is where I put money, but again, that works because I lock things up like an OCD nut.

[wintermom]

I do, but not for emergency purposes as in catastrophic emergencies. It's for paying for farm eggs and other small things that pop up and need to be paid for by cash (kids coming by selling yummy chocolate and cookies).  :laugh:

 

I should have a bigger fund somewhere for real emergencies. 

 

I LOVE the idea of saving $20/week for Christmas presents. That is brilliant!

[Anne in CA]

My husband's grandma put hundred dollar bills all over the place. You'd open a book and get a 100, pull out the guest sheets to make a bed and get a 100, lift the foliage of a plant in the kitchen window and find a 100, pull a pitcher out of the China cabinet and find a 100...

My grandmother was such a "saver". She froze several hundred dollars at a time in freezer jam. When she passed away the entire freezer had to be defrosted and examined. But she at least told her daughters where the money was so they would know to do that, lol.

[Murphy101]

My grandmother was such a "saver". She froze several hundred dollars at a time in freezer jam. When she passed away the entire freezer had to be defrosted and examined. But she at least told her daughters where the money was so they would know to do that, lol.

When it was pointed out to her the possibility of all that money accidently being thrown away or lost when she dies, she gasped in supreme annoyance and said she worked to "find" it and so can everyone else.😆

[historically accurate]

My Grandma taped money to the back or side of drawers. She taped money underneath countertops (so you had to take the drawer all the way out and stick your hand in the drawer and run your hand under the counter to find the envelopes). She stuffed money in her files. She kept money rolled up in extra rolls of toilet paper. When she died, we spent half our time cleaning out her estate trying to make sure we found all the secret stashes of money before we sold the house.  So, if you do keep money, please make sure at least one other person knows where it is.

 

My mom kept her money in an envelope in the cat food container. 

[alisoncooks]

I only keep enough change to fulfill any surprise Tooth Fairy duties... :o