An Emergency Twenty Can Be a Life Saver
Posted by Gail | Filed under Good ideas, Money Management
While shooting Til Debt, I was driving back to set one day with a bunch of my crew in the car. We’ve just had lunch and were heading through Timmies to get tea and coffee for the afternoon shoot. My then-producer volunteers to pay but it turns out she only has a five-dollar bill in her wallet. (Yes, this was before Timmies took debit.) I was aghast.
“Didn’t your momma ever teach you to tuck a twenty somewhere safe?” I asked as I watch her rummaging through her coins.
My mother told me about the Emergency Twenty when I first started dating. “Stick a twenty in your bra,” she said. “That way, if your date gets fresh you can take a cab home.”
“No,” laughed the silly woman as I shoved a twenty into her purse. It turns out she seldom has any cash in her handbag which is chock full of lipgloss, sunglasses, and myriad other “essentials”.
Ever found yourself at a check-out only to be told the credit card and debit card system is down? Sowwy. Cash only. Or worse, at a gas station when you’re running on air? Having an Emergency Twenty stuck somewhere safe just in case is the only way to be sure you can make it home.
An Emergency Twenty can also save you from tapping an ATM that’s not your own because you’re desperate for some cash. And it can mean you don’t become the mooch who is always borrowing a few bucks ‘cos you’ve got no money to split the lunch bill or pay for coffee.
Hey, people, cash is an essential. Everyone should have an Emergency Twenty tucked somewhere safe; not in the part of your wallet that you normally go to for spending, but hidden away, just in case. If you drive, you can stick it somewhere in your car. If you don’t plan to carry a purse, stick it in your shoe.
July 31, 2012 at 4:15 am
I can’t agree more with you on this topic. I have saw people pay a bottle of soda with their credit cards. Which to me is very silly.
July 31, 2012 at 4:58 am
I agree, having cash on you is always smart. I remember when I use to use my debit card for everything. Now I mainly use cash and spend a lot less.
July 31, 2012 at 6:59 am
My mom taught me about the Emergency Twenty. I would write the phone # of a cab company on it.
July 31, 2012 at 7:28 am
More like emergency 50 these days!! I keep a 100 stashed in the car!!! along with first aid kit, extra bag of clothes, When the debit machine is down lessens the pain of puting things back!! YOI!!! I hate those days!!!
July 31, 2012 at 7:36 am
Hmmm…my mom just said be sure to have a quarter so you can use a pay phone and call us for help… I’ve been preaching the emergency twenty to my daughter for years but it hasn’t taken.
July 31, 2012 at 8:03 am
I remember always stashing an emergency $20 in my wallet for ‘ya never know when…’. Once I became a parent I also hid an emergency $20 in a drawer – letting my kids know about it – emphasizing the emergency part. Lo and behold it did come in handy once for my son. I had not left him funds for his piano lesson and the $20 helped him out in a pinch that day.
July 31, 2012 at 8:17 am
I’m one of those people that will pull out a credit card for $0.21. I can’t stand change and I drive as little as possible so change weighs heavily in my pockets. I can also lose money like no one else, having lost over $220 in cash this year alone.
For those reasons, I’d much rather pay my credit card bill at the end of the day/week/month than deal with the hassle of cash. As soon as I get it, it goes right in the bank and I live off my cards.
With that said, I always carry an emergency $20.
July 31, 2012 at 8:34 am
I’m one of those people who when they carry cash, will spend it on stuff that I wouldn’t if I was using debit or credit – that chocolate bar or pop from the vending machine! So I rarely ever carry cash other than my emergency $50
I don’t know what it is about the $50 but I hate even the thought of breaking it for something as trivial as junk food, so that helps me keep it tucked away for true emergencies (I think psychologically I would have less qualms breaking a $20). It has come in handy a time or too when I was in a real pinch – great advice my dad gave me 
July 31, 2012 at 8:52 am
I usually carry some cash so when the debit machines are down, or I’m just buying something small it’s not a big deal. But I do keep a $20 in each of the vehicles and it does come in handy every now and then! Though no one taught me to do this, I have just always found it important to have at least a small amount of cash around.
July 31, 2012 at 9:18 am
Last month 2 places where I was shopping had their debit/credit card machines go down. I was very happy I could sale through the check out with cash and NOT have to leave my groceries behind.
I hate to be anywhere and not have a little dinero tucked away.
Good advice; although I think that $50 is more reasonable if you are trying to pay for a cab these days!
July 31, 2012 at 9:19 am
(sorry it should read “sail”, not “sale”)
July 31, 2012 at 9:23 am
And psychologically, if you have some hidden money, you never feel broke!
July 31, 2012 at 9:48 am
I love the idea of an actual $50 bill. I am very likely to spend a $20 on an “emergency” coffee whereas I would hate to do that with a $50. I think I will take up that practice and see if the psychological trick will work. Thanks for the tip Darlene.
July 31, 2012 at 9:56 am
I always kept a crisp new $5, $10, & $20 in the console of my veihicle I had many a friend laugh at my “emergency” cash once seen. I only remember using it once when I was low on gas and forgot my wallet at home (I commute as well so couldn’t just run home) having new bills keeps me from useing as freely for whatever reason.
July 31, 2012 at 9:56 am
I began to stash an emergency $20 in the car when my kids started driving my car so they could always get gas if required. I just kept it up and they now do the same in their own vehicles. Good for peace of mind.
July 31, 2012 at 10:04 am
I keep some money in the kitchen drawer for emergencies. The kids know it is there for emergencies only, they respect that. Now money in my wallet, not so much, it gets spent too easily. If the debit machine is down they can take my credit card the old fashioned way. I have never run into a problem that way.
July 31, 2012 at 10:36 am
I’ve taken this advice to heart to the point that I often don’t remember that I have a $20 waiting in a pocket in my satchel. Never having an emergency is probably a good sign. The more safety nets you have under you, the less your fear of falling.
July 31, 2012 at 10:36 am
Great advice!
I think $40-$50 is more realistic, but $20 would certainly be a huge benefit at times.
I think I better hide some cash in my wallet on pay day….
July 31, 2012 at 11:04 am
As part of emergency preparedness it’s good to have money stashed. In the case of an earthquake or other disaster the atms could be down for days, stores may not have debit machines, so its good to have it for your emergency kit.
July 31, 2012 at 11:32 am
Just last week there was a power outage in my city that blacked out several city blocks. My mom had just finished gassing up for her trip home when it hit. If she hadn’t had any cash on her she would have had to wait there until the power turned back on so could pay for her gas.
July 31, 2012 at 11:32 am
I normally carry a $20 in my wallet. It’s an old habit from my teens before debit cards, and before I had a credit card. The bill currently in my wallet has a little post it note on that reads May 27th. It’s a bit of a game for me to see how long it remains in my wallet before I’m forced to use it. I generally spend NO cash. EVER. So it will sit in my wallet for a very long time. Other than weekly gas and groceries I have nothing I need to buy most weeks, or months for that matter. Monthly utilities/insurance etc all go directly to my VISA. Gas and groceries also. I only carry the cash in case I desperately need gas and the VISA is down. If I arrive at the cashier with my weekly cartload of groceries, $20 isn’t nearly going to cover it. The only things in my life that require cash are vending machines at work (bad), group gift collections at work (less bad), my son goes to a home-based hair stylist who prefers to be paid in cash, and twice a year at the dentist the parking lot requires a $12 deposit which I get back when I leave (dentist covers the cost). I never carry coins if I can avoid it – they always seem to wind up in the vending machine around the corner from my desk. If I only carry a twenty I can’t use the vending machine. I don’t normally go out for lunch at work, but the last time I collected everyone’s cash and paid the whole bill on my VISA. On the way home I deposited the cash at the bank and then went online and paid the bill to VISA. Same cost to me for lunch, but I’m up 125 Aeroplan miles. I cut my old daily coffee habit down to 4 per month – every Saturday on the way home from getting the groceries. I have my Timmies card auto-reloading from my VISA. Whenever the balance drops below $5 it pulls another $30 from the VISA. They don’t take VISA at the store, I don’t have to have cash, and over the course of a year 52 coffees = $84.24 or 84 more Aeroplan miles toward our next trip. Every little bit counts. In a perfect world everything would go on my VISA. If anyone figures out a way to run your mortgage and property tax payments through a VISA I’m all ears! I pay off the VISA every Friday and never put anything on it I couldn’t have bought in cash, but boy I love the free flights we take almost every year. Yup, you initially fee silly paying for a $3 item with a credit card, but you get over it. Just returned from family vacation this weekend on free flights that would have cost us $5k ($1250ea). Any embarassment over making small purchases on credit was the furthest thing from my mind.
FYI – we do keep $200 cash in our emergency kit at home, along with flashlights, candles, etc. Remember the black out of August 2003? In our area bank machines and many stores were intermitently without power for several days. When we were finally able to find a working ATM we pulled out cash to cover gas and groceries for the week. Now we just leave $200 tucked away permanently for the next ice storm/power outage. We also always keep gas on hand to power the generator.
July 31, 2012 at 11:45 am
The day my oldest got his license and started to drive, I taught this lesson to him. Always have a $50 stashed in the car. I have been caught with a tank of gas and technology down and that $50 saved me. He just smiled and nodded and humoured me until a few months later he experienced filling up only to find the station’s debit was down and he was a couple hours from home. He called me in panic until I reminded him of his stash. I was mom of the year then. I love it when they realize I am right LOL
July 31, 2012 at 12:07 pm
I keep $60 stashed in the garage. That way my teens know they can always get home and pay for the cab fare.
July 31, 2012 at 12:38 pm
On a similar note… If anyone has any opinion/suggestions…
How much do cash should you keep in the house for “emergencies”?
For those emergency blackouts, no ATM, evacuation, etc.
July 31, 2012 at 12:40 pm
I put everything I can on my Mastercard and pay it off for the cash back option.
But I do keep at least a $20 in every jacket and purse(only 3) that I have. I never spend those except in a real bind.
July 31, 2012 at 1:21 pm
We have $1000 in cash (small bills) in the house for earthquake/power outage/midnight plumbing emergencies. We also each carry a $50 bill in our wallets in case of small emergencies on the road.
July 31, 2012 at 2:49 pm
I keep an emergency $100 in my wallet and we have a few thousand in cash in the house at any given time.
July 31, 2012 at 2:55 pm
My dad taught me this lesson when I was younger and to this day I still keep a $20 in my wallet. I have NEVER had to use it but I’m ok with that I know it’s there if I do.
July 31, 2012 at 3:09 pm
This is a great reminder, thank you Gail. I don’t leave the house without cash, but love the idea of a special something tucked away. I think I would be more reluctant to break a 50 also, so I think I’ll do that. Sadly, 20 seems like nothing when you mention emergency gas!
July 31, 2012 at 3:56 pm
I read you’re blog everyday but hesitated to write. Today, I couldn’t help myself. I thought I was the only one that kept an emergency $20 hidden in my wallet! It has saved me hundreds of times over the years…..taxis, lunch,coffee, food, you name it. And yes people have made fun of it until they’re short cash and use my
emergency $20 !!
July 31, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Heh, when I was pregnant with our daughter I took this exercise way too far. WAY too far. $50 under the TV, $200 in hubbies wallet behind his driver’s license that he didn’t know about [what if I went into labor and something happened on the way to the hospital!], 9 months worth of $5 bills in the sock drawer.
Once our daughter was born the Mum Dumbs took over and I forgot all about the cash. Oddly enough we would find it when things got really tight.
I’ve heard that women in the East use their savings to buy gold coins, which is kept in a satchel under their pillow incase of dire emergency. Not the worst idea, I’ve heard Oprah sleeps with 50 Million in a duffel bag under her bed!
July 31, 2012 at 6:41 pm
As usual, a great idea, Gail. Hubby told me that when he was young, he learned that he could count on his mom’s secret “cash-stash” to tide the family over in emergencies. There was not a lot of money in his family, just a lot of love.
July 31, 2012 at 6:45 pm
JMK took your advice and went to the bank, got my emergency cash and put it away. And I have a 50 in my wallet, in a separate place as well now. This makes me feel better, thanks all for the good advice today!
July 31, 2012 at 6:46 pm
I think keeping a $20, or any cash for that matter, in my car is stupid! My car has been broken into twice. Leaving any cash in the car just encourages these thieves. They get nothing from me.
July 31, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Cash is King!
July 31, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Well Gail, I am one of those dummies who was never taught the “Emergency Twenty” rule LOL! What a great idea! I do it for travelling (more mind you) but never thought about a stash at home!
I like the ideas of the $50 bill and keeping emerg cash on hand in house for my kids when they get older.
Thanks!
July 31, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Talk about ironic – today I went to pick up dinner (grocery store chicken) and realized I forgot my wallet and had to head home to pick it up.
July 31, 2012 at 10:52 pm
I keep $400 in small bills ($50, $20, $10, $5) in the filing cabinet at home in case of emergencies/blackouts/Armageddon.
I usually keep $10 or $20 in my wallet most days and I always have a few dollars American cash (living in a border town I never know when I will be going over). Cash is king and in a bind the U.S. cash is as good as any cash, in my opinion.
August 1, 2012 at 12:02 pm
I typically put everything on my credit card, no matter how small (unless there’s a minimum purchase to use credit) – because I get 1% cash back on all purchases. I’ve never done it before, but I love the idea of an emergency $20! I’ve just hidden one in a deep compartment of my wallet. Like others on here, I think an emergency $50 might be a better idea, both because you often need that much for taxi fare or a tank of gas, and because you’re much less likely to break it for a coffee or something else frivolous. Will make a trip to the bank in the next few days to get myself a crisp new emergency $50
I also like the idea of keeping an emergency stash somewhere in the house, well-hidden, in case of blackout or midnight plumbing issues, etc. I think I am going to take about $300 of my emergency fund out in small bills and keep it hidden at home, in case we need it. Thanks, everyone, for the great ideas!
August 1, 2012 at 12:05 pm
My daughters each have their emergency $20’s inside the case of their blackberries (they don’t always take a wallet with them) they also each have 2 emergency Bus Tickets in there.
We have a Taxi Twenty in the hall closet, so if they even NEED to get home after being out with friends, they can take a cab and pay with that. No questions asked.
August 1, 2012 at 4:23 pm
I never leave home without my emergency $50.00. I also have a swipe card which we have to use at work with a $20.00 tucked behind it for a emergency.
You never know when you may need it.
I remember when everyone owned and wore a charm bracelet and most people had a charm on the bracelet shaped as a purse which you actually could fold up a bill and keep it inside for such emergencies.
Oh those where the days.
Great post!
August 1, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Just thought of a word of warning though and I don’t know if anyone has mentionned it:
the new 50 dollar bill (and 100) apparently melt if left too long in heat (think hot car in summer). This has happened to some people so if it’s true, the $50 bill kept in the car for emergencies may not be a good way to go.
August 4, 2012 at 2:11 pm
My mother is 77 and has ALWAYS had an Emergency $20 in her wallet or cheque book, sometimes both. She has always also had Emergency Travellers Cheques stashed. Problem is lately, she forgets her purse!! My nephew puts all his toonies and loonies in his console, had $90 in there when he made a trip to visit grandma and forgot his debit card – had enough for a tank of gas to get home. A friend had a side job cleaning houses and put the cash payments in a can in her kitchen. Her sons knew that if she was at work and they ran out of bread or something, they could take money from there and walk to the store. The problem with that plan was that once when her mother was watching the boys for a week, she found the money and went shopping! My friend had a fully stocked pantry and did not need anything, but still came home to an empty can!! I have discovered that my oldest son has an Emergency $50 and was quite surprised and proud of him. I agree with most posters, 20 won’t cut it for most things these days, 50 would be better, and more incentive to not have an emergency. I also like the idea of emergency cash in the home, especially with the crazy weather we have had lately. Our debit machines at the stores have been down a lot this summer. I guess the idea of meal plans, and not driving till you are on fumes would have a big impact on the need for debit also. I just came back from a week at a Lake community. Most of the local stores/outlets did not take debit at all – cash only! Always something to think about, as usual – thanks Gail!
August 4, 2012 at 2:13 pm
BTW, my friend’s can usually had about $400 in it, so her mother’s shopping trip, while totally unnecessary, was a bit devastating to return home to…
August 4, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Since the 80’s I’ve always stashed something in the back of my purse, in my desk at work and in my car. In 1988 my car was broken into and the $10 cash taken along with the broken radio/cassette player. No matter, I never worried about not having cash to buy gas and my little Honda Civic filled up for $5 back then. I now have my daughter’s doing the same thing so they are able to get a cab or pay their share should something come up.
August 22, 2012 at 8:05 pm
I didn’t listen to my mother when she told me to always have an emergency $20 in the car… and forgot my wallet at home. I drove to work on fumes, was too embarrased to ask any of my new coworkers to loan me gas money and ended up digging through my car for ‘reward dollars’ from one of the local gas chains and praying that I had enough gas to make it to one of their stations before asking the kids to put $5.20 and no more into my tank… Learned my lesson that day!