Do you always carry money in your wallet?
If not, you should consider doing so as part of your emergency fund and good money habits.
Having a little bit of money in your wallet can help safeguard you in the event you’re unable to use a credit card, there’s no access to an ATM machine, or you’re at an establishment that only accepts cash only.
When you need cash FAST, that extra money in your pocket will come in handy!
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I read an article on this topic where a group of people were asked what’s a good amount of money to carry in your wallet. Interesting enough, the amount turned out to be $200, which is a lot more than I expected most people would agree on for an emergency fund to carry around.
Having easy access to $200 on your person is a good amount to have and is enough to cover the cost of a dead car battery or a restaurant bill if your credit card embarrassingly declines.
However for me, I don’t feel like $200 is enough.
Not quite there yet, but eventually I want to carry $300 in cash.
I want to start carrying $300 in my wallet because I want to make sure I have enough money to cover at least two nights stays at a motel.
That may sound random, but would you believe I actually was with the group of friends when our car broke down…late at night…in the middle of a snowstorm… as we were driving back to college.
Crazy, right?
And guess what?
We had to get a motel room for the night because everything was closed until the following morning.
You may feel it isn’t necessary or don’t have a need to carry that much money around to get a motel room for a night or two for a “just in case” situation. However, you never know when you might have to leave your home during an emergency evacuation and need a place to stay at the last minute.
As someone who lives in California, an emergency evacuation is a very real scenario due to the frequent earthquakes and wildfires where in 2018, I actually did find myself needing to quickly pack and be prepared to leave because my house was located within a danger zone area when a major wildfire broke out close to my home.
In a situation like that, one may not have time to run to their home safe to gather the rest of their emergency fund or to run to a local bank to withdraw cash.
That said, having three Benjamins in your pocket can be a life saver.
Either which way…whether or not this scenario is realistic for you, carrying $300 or even $200 is still a good amount to have to help during a small financial emergency.
I understand that there are some people who are not comfortable with the idea of carrying that much cash on them because what if you lose your wallet, right?
Valid concern!
However, if you did lose your wallet with $100, $200, or even $300, it’s not going to break the bank.
It’s going to HURT!
And hurt REAL BAD too!!!
But like I said, it’s not going to break the bank.
Still, if carrying $100 or more in your wallet goes beyond your comfort level, at least have enough money on you to fill your car with a half a tank of gas. Preferably enough to fill a full tank.
Don’t get stuck in a situation where you don’t have the cash to cover a financial emergency. Always carry money in your wallet that’s easily accessible as part of your every day emergency fund!
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Thank you!
-Tanisa