Return of "cash in hand experiment"

mhammerman

We did this experiment in March of 2010. I would like to do it again, if you please, so that some assumptions can be made about the change between then and now, if any. Do we keep more, less, the same amount of cash in our pockets now as we did then? It will only take a minute or two and we can possibly all benefit from the information...or not.

How much USD cash do you have in your pocket right now?

Edited to add that I have 3-$10 and a $1 for $31.

I will offer a summarization of the responses on Sunday evening sometime.

Results of last years experiment.


Got CASH?

gsa1fan

$6.32

curly

Eleven Dollars and twenty two cent

1 five
5 Ones
4 Quarters
2 Dimes
2 Pennies

cone10

3-20.00
1-10.00
3-5.00
3-1.00

88.00

nibanny

Insteresting poll.
I have:
10 x $20
1 x $10
2 x $5
3 x $1
And one nickel.

Total: $223.05

Baley

1 x 100
5 x 20
1 x 2
6 x 1
_____

$208

gecko109

$37

fastrudy

10 x $100
1 x $10
4 x $1

Total $1014.

gecko109

Although I appreciate your efforts, I just dont think that physical cash in a person's pocket at a random moment in time is indicative of anything. For example, I personally fluctuate wildly, and in addition I have much more cash in my actual pocket on Monday than I do on a Saturday because the wife and I run an "allowance" system with the recharge occuring on Sunday.

A much more accurate....and possibly useful poll might be the total amount of actual cash on hand in bank accounts. Although somewhat sensitive data, it would negate the daily (even hourly) fluctuations certain to be found with just money in one's pocket.....and could give a useful trend on our tolerance to cash accounts. I have come to despise the USD and I now refuse to keep any more than about $2,500 in liquid bank account cash at any given time. The only exception being if I have a longterm planned expenditure such as a vacation for example.

Since I used to keep about $5,000 in the bank at almost all times, you can see what my personal trend is. The fact that last year I had $189 in my pocket and at this very moment I have $37 in my pocket indicates almost nothing about my financial situation other than pure randomness.

Take my comments with a grain of salt....its your survey. I just cant see the point really.

OldEastside

2 x 5's
3 x 1's

$13.00

Please Note one of the $1 bills has been a permanant resident
out of my last 4 wallets. Why? to tell the truth, I forgot

Steve

If you asked yesterday before we went to the market just add
7 x 20's

mhammerman

Just a slice in time Gecko...a slice in time. Got any money in your pocket?

Baley

I tend to agree with gecko's comment that the amount of cash "in pocket" isn't as important as the amount that the person could have on hand with 5 minutes notice, 5 hours notice, and 5 days notice

Besides pocket cash in pocket, maybe there's $5000 in a safe, and with a business day's notice, perhaps another $20,000 is readily at hand. With 3 days notice, the figure might be well over $100k CASH. (or might not )

roadrunner

$300 total today. $40 of small bills in the wallet, $260 in larger bills in my pockets.

Always like to have $200-$600 in cash on my person for "emergencies." Once home, I can find another $1,500 easily as well.
I think everyone should have ready cash in the event of a week long banking holiday or some other unforeseen crisis. And that means
not in the bank. Unless I have a few thousand nearby I don't feel as protected from black swan events.

roadrunner

FistFullOfDollars

$10 right now but going to see a movie

gecko109

<< <i>I tend to agree with gecko's comment that the amount of cash "in pocket" isn't as important as the amount that the person could have on hand with 5 minutes notice, 5 hours notice, and 5 days notice

Besides pocket cash in pocket, maybe there's $5000 in a safe, and with a business day's notice, perhaps another $20,000 is readily at hand. With 3 days notice, the figure might be well over $100k CASH. (or might not ) >>





Now you are talking about not "cash", but liquidating readily convertable assets. So your 5 days notice scenario would include the total value of one's bullion, stock, and bond holdings. Thats not a very good gauge on anything other than one's liquid assets.

I completely understand your point about having "access" to "cash", but I tend to think the OP's whole point is the "what if" scenario of all banks being shut down.....exactly how much physical cash would you have at your disposal right now. That would include all physical cash in your home, as well as any physical cash you have stored somewhere nearby that WAS NOT a financial institution (no SDBs).

Even doing it that way is a better approach than "in the pocket". I could have $37 in my pocket.....$250 on my desk...and another $1,000 under my mattress. So whats the more useful data.....$37 or $1,287?

LukeMarshall

I had

2- 20's

1- 1

1- Nickel

But I just lent a friend one of my twenties for lunch so I'm down to 21.05

FistFullOfDollars

Perhaps when hyperinflation hits we all will be walking around with thousands of dollars in our pockets

TIPPAHNUM

$300.76 cash in my wallet and pockets purposefully in smaller bills for ease of transactions...
11-$20's
4-$10's
6-$5's
10-$1's
.76 cents in change.
Cash is still king and having access to cash in case of a bank holiday or other scenario where access to my accounts
is limited gives me solace...So I always have $500.+ in $10's & $20's hidden in my SUV & P/U truck in case of emergency
events...

Coulport

In pocket:

$1 X 6
$2 X 1 (fun to spend & for tips)
$5 X 4
$20 x 1

Mad money in wallet

$50 X 5
$100 X 1

Barndog

this is sorry...

I have an Ike and two Kennedy halves. I have two bucks.

goingbroke

$1,172.58

pragmaticgoat

$97.20

melikecoins

13 $20
2 $5
7 $1

Total $277

Glen

tincup

Zero.

I'm sitting at my computer at home... and when I do so, my wallet and change are not in my pockets. I grab them when I leave the house. If you intend to ask what cash is at home... that is a different answer. Or if your question is how much is in my wallet at this time (even though I do not have it in my pocket this instance) that is another....

DNADave

$13.00 right now


But started the day with $100

(Estate sales and yard sales today)

Zubie

1 x $100 (hidden in wallet...emergency use only)
1 x $20
3 x $10
6 x $1

$156 ($56 usable...unless...)

bestmr

$14.96

1 $10 and 4 $1's. It was $19 but I went and bought some apples for my lunches at work next week.

CoinCoins

ok now what's everyones social security #'s?

what do you use for your passwords?

atm pin #'s?

renman95

$0. I'm wearing swim trunks. Gotta go...

Baley

<< I tend to agree with gecko's comment that the amount of cash "in pocket" isn't as important as the amount that the person could have on hand with 5 minutes notice, 5 hours notice, and 5 days notice

Besides pocket cash in pocket, maybe there's $5000 in a safe, and with a business day's notice, perhaps another $20,000 is readily at hand. With 3 days notice, the figure might be well over $100k CASH. (or might not ) >>


>>Now you are talking about not "cash", but liquidating readily convertable assets. So your 5 days notice scenario would include the total value of one's bullion, stock, and bond holdings. Thats not a very good gauge on anything other than one's liquid assets.

I completely understand your point about having "access" to "cash", but I tend to think the OP's whole point is the "what if" scenario of all banks being shut down.....exactly how much physical cash would you have at your disposal right now. That would include all physical cash in your home, as well as any physical cash you have stored somewhere nearby that WAS NOT a financial institution (no SDBs).

Even doing it that way is a better approach than "in the pocket". I could have $37 in my pocket.....$250 on my desk...and another $1,000 under my mattress. So whats the more useful data.....$37 or $1,287? >>

Actually, I wasn't talking about "selling" things like metals and stocks, but maybe emptying checking, savings, money market accts, consolidating sweep accounts, things like that.

I agree there are three main useful measures,
1. how much cash you got on ya
2. how much ya got at home or anywhere else you can get it if all the banks and businesses are "closed", and
3. how much you can round up given a day or two's notice without liquidating other assets at market [fire sale] values

I guess the 4th measure is total liquid assets including securities and metals, and 5th would be total worth including non liquid assets like real estate and "stuff"

the OP was just asking about #1, and I agree with you gecko that "I'm currrently in my underwear and so therefore $0" isn't a very interesting or useful answer.

AUandAG

3 x $1
2 x 25¢
1 x 10¢
1 x 1¢

total: $3.61

About as poor as I've ever been.

bob

ttown

I always have at least 100 to 500 dollars in cash. What I've learned about me is I need to protect me from myself! If it's in the bank and I get so much like everyone else I want that car, vacation, TV, etc. I take my money out before I see it and spend it and buy PM's to save since I'm not inclined to sell it since ti's more than signing my name to a withdraw slip. Knowing yourself is more important than how much money you have to blow. Money comes and goes and will if you take it for granted. Know who you are and your spending habits how much you have in your pocket for many really doesn't tell you squat IMO.

alifaxwa2

My wallet currently has $0 in it. Plan on hitting the ATM tommorrow.

yellowkid

I have just returned from a very successful antique show and in addition to all the checks, I have a nice middle four figure amount in cash, it is too thick for my money clip!! Check with me again after I go to the bank Monday

jdimmick

68.00

but, I close at 3pm on saturdays, and have the remaining $100's in my front side short pockets from the store which is an additional 1800. Actually I am glad you posted this thread, I probably would have forgotten it was there for a few days.

jim

BaronVonBaugh

zero

dontippet

$12 total in my wallet. This is on the low side for me. I typically have $20 - $50 in my wallet.

1 - $5 bill
7 - $1 bills

Bear

$10 - (1)

$5 - (6)


_$40 dollars total__

jeremym

Wow...

I don't think I've ever seen a thread such as this, having to do with income/finances or what have you, without at least one or two people diving ultra-deep into it. It's a simple question. Don't like it? Don't participate. I setup a poll on a BMW forum asking the income level of my fellow forum-mates and provided ranges such as $0-$25,000, $25,001-$50,000, etc. One guy just about had a stroke. I, anticipating such replies, stated twice in my OP about how if you don't like the idea, then don't participate and it was just a curiosity thing. Is it insecurity? I've always tried to remain open minded and nonjudgmental on forums but sometimes some people make me wonder.

To answer the question, i have $64 in my wallet right now.

SnakeDoctor

$1.00

morgansforever

$27 units of debt
1 - 10
2 - 5's
7 - 1's

Baley

Wow...

I don't think I've ever seen a thread such as this, having to do with income/finances or what have you, without at least one or two people diving ultra-deep into it. It's a simple question. Don't like it? Don't participate. I setup a poll on a BMW forum asking the income level of my fellow forum-mates and provided ranges such as $0-$25,000, $25,001-$50,000, etc. One guy just about had a stroke. I, anticipating such replies, stated twice in my OP about how if you don't like the idea, then don't participate and it was just a curiosity thing. Is it insecurity? I've always tried to remain open minded and nonjudgmental on forums but sometimes some people make me wonder.

To answer the question, i have $64 in my wallet right now.

Thank you jeremym for scolding us for putting some thought into our answer and generating discussion. it's probably because gecko and I had the benefit of reading 7 years of mhammerman's interesting posts, and have an inkling of what he is driving at in this kind of poll... some of it is apparent in the other thread he linked in the first post of this one. A quote from a post of his in that thread:

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?


should I count rolls of presidential dollars? a coffee can with about 5 years worth of pocket change? a $100 brick of 2005 buffalo nickels? Guess I'll start a different poll asking, "How much face value [not "collector" or "precious", just spending cash] do you posess in physical form that you can spend in case banks and atms go dark for a while?

it's just a better question, imo, to consider than strictly how much is in your pocket or wallet, considering hammer's quote above. The poll should also probably be anonymous to have the best chance of accuracy

gsa1fan

OP clearly asks how much $$ in your pocket

Baley

... and then draws conclusions about a different question

Konahead

$46

mhammerman

OK, I'm callin' it with Konahead as the last responder. THANKS TO ALL WHO RESPONDED.
I'll spare our readers the conclusions to avoid any philosophical diatribe regarding intent and disposition...just the facts.

32 respondents
total of $4998.14 cash in the pocket

28% with greater than $100 in pocket
62% with $0 or less than $100 in pocket
12% buckless
6% with indecipherable responses
2% lost in translation

Round numbers suggest that 1/3 of us have greater than $100 in pocket at any given time.

There, now that that's over, some observations:

Compared with last years submittals:
About the same percent are buckless
About the same number of people have greater than $100 in their pockets
Interesting that 34% had less than $20 in their pockets

To put things in round numbers: Just under 1/3 have more than $100 in their pockets, a little more than 1/3 have $20 or less in their pockets and the rest lie in between.

Interesting that such controversy was generated over a simple question. No hidden agenda or ulterior motive, just a simple question, I promise to not do it again.

The retest of the question from last year was spawned from viewing the recently released movie "The Empire of Silver", a Chinese subtitled film about a folk tale from China from just before and then during the Boxer Rebellion in the late 1800's until the early 1900's. Back in that time, the banks started issuing paper in lieu of actual physical silver because it was so dangerous and expensive to move physical silver between the banks across China.

All was good until some banks got taken out by the rebellion and some folk wanted actual silver instead of paper. All the peasants had paper and only the rich paper had physical Taels of silver. The problem was that no one would take the paper for things like food so the peasants were in a bad situation. Well, the hero was the #3 son of the head of the banks and he wanted to take all of the silver from the family bank vault and give it to the peasants that held paper so they wouldn't suffer. The father of #3 son said that this would break them but #3 son did it anyway...and that's the story of honor that has been sent down through the ages.

OPA

13 x $100 ............. 47 x $20.. ( Just got back from Atlantic City..normally don't have that much cash left over)

vann

Cash in hand? How about 64% of Americans don't have $1,000 for an emergency expense.

OPA

<< <i>Cash in hand? How about 64% of Americans don't have $1,000 for an emergency expense. >>



With only 2700 people polled, I find this survey to be "suspect."

vann

<< <i>

<< <i>Cash in hand? How about 64% of Americans don't have $1,000 for an emergency expense. >>



With only 2700 people polled, I find this survey to be "suspect." >>


The bottom of the article shows the findings are in-line with similar reports:


<< <i>An earlier study by the same organization found that 30% of Americans have zero dollars in non-retirement savings. A separate study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 50% of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 in a pinch. >>

Baley

Vann, OPA, we've learned that the thread is not about that, it's about the amount in the pocket of the clothes you're wearing RIGHT NOW.

I want to change my answer to "one 1985-D dime"