How much cash aboard?

[montigre]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Yeah but I bet your account was frozen so it would have been better to have cold hard cash to buy yourself an icy pole...

Someone had to do it....

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

When I climbed Mt Everest i was really surprised up at the summit. I knew there woukd be a flag there - its in all the photos... but also theres an ATM!

😊

The sherpas requested them so that you could pay them for the trip back down.

[akprb]

Here is what you DO NOT DO!!!!!

Do not store your cash is a "soda can safe" and then ask your girlfriend to clean the boat.

Trust me ;-)

[donradcliffe]

ATMs are best, but we had about $1000 in US$ on the boat in most remote areas, and upped it to $2000 coming from Thailand to the Med.

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by john61ct

A hidden stash of a few thousand USD in $20's can really come in handy sometimes too. . .

===

That's what we do. My wife has her stash and I have mine. Neither of us knows where the other one is. It has come in handy a few times but normally we rely on ATMs which have become ubiquitous. Our biggest issue has been with having one or more of our cards put on "fraud alert" hold even though we always keep our banks notified regarding location and plans. I'd recommend 3 or 4 different cards, all from different organizations, and keep your customer service numbers handy.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by wayne.b

===

That's what we do. My wife has her stash and I have mine. Neither of us knows where the other one is. It has come in handy a few times but normally we rely on ATMs which have become ubiquitous. Our biggest issue has been with having one or more of our cards put on "fraud alert" hold even though we always keep our banks notified regarding location and plans. I'd recommend 3 or 4 different cards, all from different organizations, and keep your customer service numbers handy.

Why do you have your own stashes secret from each other? Is this some kind of protection against robbery? I can't see the benefit.

[onavegador]

Remember that ATM's may be out of working order that happened ofter in the 3rd world. May your next ATM is in surrounding where you do not feel save or because it will be dark soon.
As now you have to pay more and more fees for cashwithdrawels I had a allways a reserve of about 1000 US$ on board most of it in 1/5/10/50 $ Bills.
I payd most with credit cards but for handy men, on market you have to pay cash.
I had never much local currency aboard if this was not US$.

Smooth sailing

onavegador

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by indiana_ct

Why do you have your own stashes secret from each other? Is this some kind of protection against robbery? I can't see the benefit.

===

If one stash gets compromised for one reason or another, we still have a backup. Often times the best thing to do in a robbery is to offer up some, but not all, of your cash.

[Tasso]

Originally Posted by akprb

Here is what you DO NOT DO!!!!!

Do not store your cash is a "soda can safe" and then ask your girlfriend to clean the boat.

Trust me ;-)

So I guess we're all wondering if you guys a still together....?

Seriously - I was thinking that some cash in a wallet and more in a secret stash was a good policy. Any thoughts on this?

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by wayne.b

===

If one stash gets compromised for one reason or another, we still have a backup. Often times the best thing to do in a robbery is to offer up some, but not all, of your cash.

So why keep it a secret from each other, why not just from the robbers?

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by Tasso

So I guess we're all wondering if you guys a still together....?

Seriously - I was thinking that some cash in a wallet and more in a secret stash was a good policy. Any thoughts on this?

Yes, I agree you should have multiple stashes including a false wallet, I.e.the one you give away if compromised.

[buzzstar]

If you can do it, about $1,000 US in $20s US very well hidden on (substitute another currency if you, and where you will be going prefer). Another, perhaps $100 - 200 US in you wallet, purse, or on your body, in assorted smaller bills. Also some local currency and maybe coinage. Plus credit card(s) and at least two cards that are good for cash. Above all, be flexible. You need some money, in the form or cash and credit in some accessible location, but it is not an exact science, and no system or amount is right for everyone or their individual circumstances. Me, I prefer about $5000 in cash and a $million in a decent bank, but have not managed it yet. I've gone from So. Cal. to Baja del Sur with less than $200 available from any source, and spent almost none of it, but also to nearby Catalina with more, but spent all of it plus some. The biggest change I've seen over the years, aside from inflation, is the advent of the ATM and the demise of travelers checks.

PS Nothing wrong with most of the suggestions here, In eluding the one by indiana ct about false wallets and separate locations on board and on the person. Crime, official and otherwise, is a concern.

[john61ct]

Yah in the old days I used to stash 10-20K USD in Amex TCs, but never actually used them, just an emergency reserve.

They got stolen TWICE, twenty years apart, the second time in Phnom Penh the local Amex agent told me I was banned from using them anymore!

Cambodia didn't have any ATMs at that time (15 years ago, but still doesn't out in the countryside), but I found a place that sold Thomas Cook TCs. Pretty sketchy place to be carrying that much in cash, dollars were worth a lot more then too.

[indiana_ct]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Yah in the old days I used to stash 10-20K USD in Amex TCs, but never actually used them, just an emergency reserve.

They got stolen TWICE, twenty years apart, the second time in Phnom Penh the local Amex agent told me I was banned from using them anymore!

Cambodia didn't have any ATMs at that time (15 years ago, but still doesn't out in the countryside), but I found a place that sold Thomas Cook TCs. Pretty sketchy place to be carrying that much in cash, dollars were worth a lot more then too.

I stopped using travellers cheques a couple of decades ago. I think I took US dollars to Cambodia back at the beginning of the century and changed it at a bank for a shoebox of local currency but paid in USD quite frequently. Large value bills were a pain. I vowed if I went again I would take a pile of $1 bills. In most countries I have been able to draw cash on a credit card over the counter, or to pay large bills by direct transfer from my UK bank
The point is to have multiple options, multiple stashes, whatever your budget.

[thruska]

Also a good way to keep your cash is not telling strangers how much you have and where you might stash it ! Duh!
Does a false wallet contain false id's also, false money?
How about counterfeit money?