CARRY SOME EMERGENCY CASH
In the age of credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, Square Cash, BitCoin, PayPal, and every other new form of processing a transaction, it’s not a bad idea to also be prepared in case any, or somehow all, of those systems go down.
If the power goes out, it’s good to have a flashlight. If the credit card machine goes down, it’s good to have a little cash in your pocket.
In 2003, I was living in New York City when the big blackout took out power for most of the Northeast US. I’ll never forget how lucky I was to have just cashed my paycheck at one of those “check-cashing places.” Half an hour later, the entire city was without power. I watched people climb out of the powerless subway trains covered in dirt from walking the tracks. Everyday citizens jumped in to direct traffic at intersections, Ben & Jerry’s started giving everything away, and I was stuck with no way back to Brooklyn.
Cash was king for those few days and out of my group of friends all stranded and crashing at an apartment in Chelsea, I was able to get us what we needed from the few stores still open.
That whole story just goes to illustrate that you never know when you’ll need a more primitive but reliable way to get the things you need. It could be one store that doesn’t take cards. It might be that you’re late for something and the parking lot nearby only takes cash. It could be that you see someone struggling on a street corner and a few dollars could mean their first meal in days. (Yes, it could also mean drugs, but it’s not your place to judge.)
It doesn’t have to be much, but making sure you have at least a little cash on hand is a great way to be prepared. I generally use my debit card for everything and reserve the one $20 bill in my wallet for situations where I have no other option. It’s also good to keep a small quantity of emergency cash at home or in your car for large-scale situations as I described above. Don’t keep enough cash to make you a target. Just keep enough to be ready for anything.
