Cash in hand experiment

mhammerman

File under: News from the front.

Reach into your pocket and please report how much paper cash you have in hand at this moment. This research will be used to get a sample of the denominations and amount of actual cash folk have in their pockets today. It has been reported that only 3% of the actual money in the US is in cash, all the rest is electronic. This sampling should be interesting. This experiment evolves from an experience I had at the bank earlier this week where I asked for 10 dollar bills and 5 bills and I was asked to sign a digital pad prior to receiving the cash.

Me: $62
3-20's
2-1's

Weiss

$191
$20 x 9
$1 x 11

Tomohawk

$76
3x20
1x10
1x5
1x1

Pretty diverse...I'm so pleased with myself!

RGJohn

For me: $161

7 * $20
1 *$10
11 * $1

keepdachange

$98

4-20's
1-10
1-5
3-1's

cjmezz

$551

(5) $100's
(1) $50
(1) $1

Ciccio

$115:
5 x $20
2 x $5
2 x $1
3 X $1 coin

konsole

$0

actually I don't have my wallet on me

From what I read there is around $800B physical dollars in circulation as of the end of 2007. Nice to know the national debt is like 10 times greater then the amount of money in circulation. You can bet that the TARP program didnt plan on actually printing all that $700B, just send it wherever electronically.

secondrepublic

Usually I don't have much cash in my wallet -- under $50 -- but today I have $191, comprised of:

One - $100 bill
Four - $20 bills
One - $10 bill
One - $1 bill

bestmr

$0
I almost never have cash unless I happen to go to a place that only uses cash. I'm a debit person.

bstat1020

$62 bucks

2- 20s
1- 10
1- 5
7 1s

konsole

<< <i>$0
I almost never have cash unless I happen to go to a place that only uses cash. I'm a debit person. >>



same with me I often have $20 or less because I can use my debit for 95% of my transactions.

DrBuster

Goose egg here, which is rare. Although I consider my $100 slot ticket that will be cashed at the bar for happy hour money money money. It's paper, it's worth a hundred, and will be $100 cash in about 4 hours.

to add: I loathe plastic for in person transactions. Cash is king.

PreTurb

$290

2 x 100s
1 x 50s
2 x 20s


Do I count the emergency 5 x 100s in the belt?

cohodk

A lot more than usual--$1525. Usually only about 2-300. Never heard of having to sign when receiving cash. I like small banks.

6-$100
11-$50
18-$20
1-$10
5-$1

dontippet

$66

3 - 20
1 - 5
1 - 1

And to think I wasted my 1,000 post on this.

tetradrachm

(3) $20's = $60 USD
(1) 100,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwe dollar note

also:
(1) 1922 Peace Dollar (silver, not paper, I know)

Flatwoods

$300.00


1-$100.00
4-$50.00

Kind of an unusual number. I usually have more small notes.
But that's what I got.

laserart

One $5, a quarter and one nickel.











But in my mind I am rich.

duxbutt

$5.00 and that is it. The wife went shopping and I was robbed. Thats fine she is going ot buyt me an ounce of AG in the big city later today.

dimples

$27

1-Ten
17- Ones

renman95

$ -398.00

roadrunner

$407

2-100's
9-20's
1-10
3-5's
2-1's

A little low at the moment. I usually have between $500-$1000 in the wallet/pocket ready to go for "whatever" pops up. If you asked me to count my hidden "emergency" stash it would be larger.

roadrunner

trozau

$58 broken down as follows:
2 - $20
1 - $10
1 - $5
3 - $1

ksammut

$63 but had $260 more an hour ago (just got back from my local B&M and bought some 90%

2 $20
1 $10
2 $ 5
3 $ 1

DrBuster

After cashing in my slot ticket, hitting happy hour, gambling $30, vodka at the liquor store, the gas station, I have the following:

1 $20
3 $5s
4 $1s

illini420

$760

6 - $100
5 - $20
3 - $10
10 - $2
10 - $1

for some reason I'm the guy everyone in the office goes to when they need to break a larger bill

57loaded

$4.00
all paper no $2bills no "golden" dollars

my ATM card looks like a very worn $20 bill

Stork

At the moment I am unusually low in US cash. I generally have around $40-$100 in cash starting in twenties from the cash machine.


Right now (and understanding by pocket, you mean purse ):

2 dollars ($1 bills, don't laugh, I get the $2 ones occasionally just to mess with people)

and

20,000 yen (I'm usually carrying between 10,000 and 50,000 as I hate getting hit with the foreign transaction fee on my cc for normal purchases and we pay our utility bills in cash at the convenience store around the corner).


(I live in Japan right now and work on the Navy base. US cash is pretty much limited to buying my meals)

mhammerman

oops

DoubleEagle59

0 US dollars

SilverEagles92

$8

$5 x 1
$1 x 3

Kameo

$9

1 - $5
4 - $1

(I had more this morning)

KUCH

Had $54 dollars today at 12 noon, took son to lunch at Fridays restaurant, brought back carry out for spouse after bill/tip now have 4 - ones ($4). And they say no inflation!

That's ok, the stash is hidden and growing.

renman95

<< <i>$ -398.00 >>



That was a credit card receipt for two gym memberships.

Now-

$710

6 $100
5 $20
1 $10

Rent was paid early in cash. I love that.

1201reset

$80
4 - $20

I've been robbed! I had $90 when I went to sleep last night!
Hooonneeyy!!! have you been in my wallet ...

_Reset

Baley

not any pockets in what I'm wearing right now... but there's got to be over $4000 in cash I could lay my hands on with a few moments notice.

brenda

about 9 USD in hand

sinin1

2 $1 bills

and a roll of WA DC quarters

fishcooker

$198

3 - 50's
2 - 20's
1 - 5's
3 - 1's

Since $20's don't buy anything anymore, I've moved to $50's. Tried $100's, but that's too much for me.

guitarwes

$163

1-100
1-50
1-10
3-1

usually carry in between 100-200 all the time, but use my debit card for regular purchases not involving something I'm going to keep (i.e. gas, food, etc). If I can negoiate ANYTHING down with cash, I'll use cash.

bigmansam88

$65

20 x 3
5 x 1

OPA

$266.03

11 X $20
1 X $10
5 X $5
6 X $1 (bills)
5 x $1 (coins-sac)
3 x 1cent

A lot of businesses in my area do not accept anything larger than $20 bills. The $1 coins are tip money.

gecko109

$189 total

$100 (1)
$20 (2)
$10 (2)
$5 (5)
$1 (4)

fastrudy

$25

2-10s
5-1s
and the lint covered gumball

JimDepot

$63
2 - 20's
3 - 5's
8 - 1's

mhammerman

Experiment called at 46 respondents.
RESULTS:

Sample=46
Sum $=6925
Av. $/sample=$150
Distribution of Sum $:
($)
100 31
50 21
20 123
10 22
5 34
2 10
1 143
(I know it doesn't add up exactly but they wouldn't give me a grad student and I have to do all this stuff myself and so there you go)

$1 coins=$8
$0=6
20,000 yen not in sample
Error of sample results +/-5% (wag but seems reasonable)

Summary of results:
The average PM Forum nerd has about $150 in their pocket, as cash, at any moment. Six had no cash at all, one had 20,000 yens that didn't count (About $160 if I remember correctly so it wouldn't affect the average either way.). Strange that folk seemed as likely to have a $50 bill in their pocket as they were to have a $10 in their pocket (smallest number in the sample by the way except the stray $2's and coins). People with a $100 bill in their pockets were as likely as someone having a $5 in their pocket. People were as likely to have no money in their pockets as they were to have $60 to $70 in their pockets. People were almost equally likely to have more than a $100 in their pocket as they were to have less than $100 in their pockets. By an almost 5:1 ratio, folk had $20's and $1's in their pocket. The biggest guy had $1525 in his pocket and the smallest guys didn't have any.

Samplings of results:
21% had greater than $200 in their pocket
23% had between $100 and $200 in their pocket
15% had between $60 and $70 in their pockets
20% had less than $10 in their pockets
13% had no cash in their pockets

Conclusions:
Not many $50's or $10's circulating. A lot of $1's and $20's circulating; probably because of atm's and change from cashing one of 'em. People had enough money in their pocket, on the average, to buy a tank of gas, a few beers, and dinner with the wife or husband or significant other. Almost enough to buy a weeks worth of groceries or enough to go out on Sunday to a major market ball game. Enough for a half a car payment, months worth of taxes on a middle class property, a very nice silver coin or a smallish gold bar or maybe just enough to stash a little for the great crash of cash. All in all, the dividing line was $100 in the pocket as half the sampling had more and half had less.

Extrapolations:
If 3% of the money supply is in cash and $150 is the cash part of one's where with all then we all must have an average of $11300 in credit and readily available money (in some form) at any given moment. In the case of a banking holiday, coin nerds would have about $150 till they ran out of rope unless they had put some physical cash stashed away in some place where that they could put their hands on it at a moment's notice.

Got cash?

Weiss

Interesting survey, mhammerman. Thanks.

I'm surprised by the number of $100 bills in the survey. I appreciate they pack a punch, but to me they're a hindrance. Aside from my coin dealer (which might be why we sampled so high with them), almost nobody wants them. $50s are about the same way. The grocery stores in town make you break them at the customer service department rather than have the cashiers accept them. Fast food, gas stations, even lots of sit down restaurants here in town won't take them or give you grief about them.

goingbroke

25, one hundred dollar bills and .47 cents in change and 1 silver eagle

curly

For God's sakes brother, I'm settin' in front of a computer at home. I ain't got any pants on to reach into. So I guess zero is my answer.

drei3ree

$1