Britons are sitting on an estimated £24 billion in cash at home, with notes tucked into wallets, safes, jars, bedside drawers and even under mattresses. More than half of adults still keep physical cash around the house, and those who do hold an average of £822 each, according to a poll of 2,000 people by Investments by MoneySuperMarket.
Emergency Preparedness Behind Cash Stash
The findings come days after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urged households to keep some cash at home as part of basic preparations for an emergency. Families were also encouraged to consider having bottled water and tinned food handy in case they temporarily lose access to electricity or online banking due to disruption, including power cuts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks.
Judging by Britain’s large cash stash, millions of households may already have at least one part of their emergency kit sorted. The most popular place to keep money is a purse or wallet left at home, used by 35% of those who keep cash. Others favour more traditional hiding places: one in seven use a safe, 11% keep money in a jar, 10% use a tin and 8% tuck it into a bedside drawer. A small percentage even still keep cash under the bed or mattress.
Reasons for Keeping Cash
For most, there is already an emergency-preparedness logic behind keeping cash at home, with 34% saying the cash is for emergencies and 26% using it for everyday purchases. But Britain’s attachment to cash goes beyond the money tucked into kitchen jars and bedside drawers, research has found.
Research for MoneySuperMarket found the average Brit has £18,061 held across savings, ISAs and current accounts, but many stop short of investing out of fear. Kara Gammell, Personal Finance Expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “While the value of investments can go down as well as up, holding all of your long-term money in cash can also have drawbacks if inflation – or the cost of doing nothing – reduces its spending power over time.”
“Once you’ve got emergency savings covered, investing regularly over the longer term could help your money work harder towards your future goals.”
