[EA]

Realistically, I carry about 100 on Sunday, 80 on Monday, 70 on Tuesday, 40 on Wednesday, 20 on Thursday, 20 on Friday, and 5 on Saturday.

[NDJeff]

I hate to have less than $100 cash on me, even though I pay for most stuff with Debit or Credit cards. When I travel for work I often pay cash for taxi cabs. Some places there are taxis that still take the carbon copy imprint of your card - no thanks! I'm pretty sure that's how one of my Visa cards numbers got stolen a couple years ago. If they use Square or the user operated touchscreens like many LV cabs I'm fine using a card.

[skugelstadt]

I usually use a credit card (cash back program) for over $10 purchases. I never use a debit card for purchases. I would rather have the credit card company deal with account breaches than have my cash siphoned out of my account and try to get it back. Why assume the risk/headache using a debit card?

[jtjtjtjt]

Another reason to love Vegas:

The Bank of America ATM at M & M world on the strip is the only ATM I've ever been to that dispensed $50 bills. $20 is the biggest bill I've ever received at any other BOA ATM I've ever been to. Getting $1000 in twenties is bulky, fifties is much better.

[Huckleberry3911948]

I am always concerned when someone a total stranger wants to know what I got on me
I sort of feel like asking about the 19% that are felons posting on cdf but that would be a personal question huh?

[AA702]

Originally Posted by jtjtjtjt

Another reason to love Vegas:

The Bank of America ATM at M & M world on the strip is the only ATM I've ever been to that dispensed $50 bills. $20 is the biggest bill I've ever received at any other BOA ATM I've ever been to. Getting $1000 in twenties is bulky, fifties is much better.

some new Chase ATMs dispense all bills. It actually asks you how you would like your cash. I'm sure if its out of certain bills you **** out of luck.

[Uralwaysonmymind]

I make it a point to keep a $100. hidden in my wallet. It has come in handy at times...

[C_A_Braun]

Only time I have more than 20 cash on me is when I am going to gamble. Then I only have as much as I am willing to lose. Sometimes 100 sometimes a few 1000.

[cowherjaw]

Must have a moderate amount of cash. You never know when a good sports betting or poker opportunity is going to come up.

[Merrily Gather]

I've never been over charged by a restaurant but we have had our debit card information stolen. They caught the guys doing it. It was a trio from Southern California using those readers they attach to wherever you swipe your cards. It can be at Walmart, a local restaurant, the gas station pump, your atm. Most of the time you can't tell they've attached the skimmers to the regular readers because they make it blend in like it's part of it. Once they have your account information they can duplicate your card information or sell it on the black market online. So once it's out there unless you close that bank account that information is always out there no matter how many times you change your pin number. That's why when large electronic account thefts happen like with the Target credit cards it's a huge headache because that information is out there forever. We assume and expect our electronic information is protected but when things like the recent "Heart Bleed" breach comes up you realize nothing really is private or that protected these days and it's going to take some time to sort it all out.

Now days there isn't much difference between a credit card or a bank's debit card with a visa logo on it since they have fraud protection and watch you account activity for any irregular spending. So the money drained from your bank account is restored within 24 hours and their fraud department is on it. I don't see much difference with that than disputing a credit card bill since it's all virtual numbers anyways and the fraud protection stops the theft almost immediately and calls you to verify any irregular or large purchases. In our case we learned that each time it happened to us it was always on the same bank account and they always started with a small purchase of $1 - $10 first. Once the little purchase cleared is when they'd go on a spending spree. We read up on this type of high tech crime and learned that they like to target larger banks because they're easier to counterfeit their cards in mass. Little banks like credit unions were more difficult because they're more local. Plus we learned the different types of skimmers they use and learned to scrutinize the machine before we swipe and our surroundings. If someone is over your shoulder cover your pin entry with your other hand or tell that person you're uncomfortable with them looking over your shoulder. I've done that at a Redbox getting a video and the guy finally left me alone.

I also don't check monthly statements because I follow my accounts regularly since most of our purchases are with cards and our security was previously compromises. When that happens you have to be your own fraud protection and catch any irregular purchase immediately to notify them to put a stop to it. The monthly statement aren't going to tell me anything that I don't already know. Eventually we closed our bank account at the big bank and went to a credit union and haven't had a problem since then.

Another reason I learned not to carry cash is because of muggers. They like to take advantage of people who have cash on them. They'll approach a person who is by themselves and ask for change. When they see you flashing the cash or digging in your wallet is when they go for it all. Some people suggest that you carry a few spare ones in a pocket separate from your main wallet in order to give them something quickly and not dilly dally digging in your wallet exposing all your information and money to a potential thief in a moment of vulnerability.

We only carry cash for long trips or if we know we're going to need it for something that we've planned ahead for. Otherwise we don't normally carry cash and we do everything online. One thing I noticed in visiting the casino's was that most of it's electronic now too. I was walking around a casino in Green Valley when we went to get the discount card for the buffet and I was shocked to see that everything was electronic from the craps table, to the roulette table to the slot machines. People are basically all sitting around playing video games. It was kind of at that moment I felt like I was moving to an adult theme park with a huge arcade. We don't gamble because it feels like we're just giving money away, but they gave you like 3 - 500 points to get you to spend because you at least have to put a dollar in to play and see if you won the 500 points. I tried it and felt stupid because I couldn't figure out how to use these new electric game card system. Plus it wasn't any fun when it's whittled down to push a button and give your money away. There's no pulling a heavy handle down and watching the whir of the slot machines, or the excitement of watching a real ball spin around a wheel and feeling like you have some pull with the fates to wield where it lands. We're from the generation that grew up on computers since kindergarten and learned DOS before it was dead. I guess because I know how computers work with binary code and the infinite possibilities that the magic is translated to mathematics and the mystery is lost in the game to me.

So yeah, that's our experience in dealing with money in the digital age.