With covid and hurricanes, we keep a few thousand in $20s in cash, just in case it’s useful for a prolonged power outage, internet failure or whatever. It lets us sleep well at night and could buy us some plane tickets if need be.
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Better for relationship quality at what stage? It may “help” for newlyweds, but I wonder how it goes at different stages of the relationship.
We married at 21 and were poor, and we’ve had joint everything all these years. We did separate credit cards (to accrue more air miles). That’s been nice because we have some amount of privacy with the separate cards. But spouse handed me theirs a few years ago and said “you need to keep this so I don’t spend too much”. I still have it.
We also have a joint credit card through our bank that gets autopaid in full, and has S23 as an authorized user. That’s nice and it functions as the family card and spouse’s main card (since they have less self-control with spending than I do). S26 will get put on it when we can trust him, which will be at an older age than his brother – maybe never.
We’ve each been the main breadwinner at times and have had periods of stark income inequality. It’s been convenient to have joint everything all these years, and we’ve had almost no disagreements about money for >25 years. I do get frustrated sometimes with my spouse’s spending (annoying but not too irresponsible).
However, if I had it to do over again, I’d do “yours, mine, and ours”. I think that would be a good balance.
There’s a study/survey. The amount of cash in a home routinely for different age groups.
I don’t think my kids have much cash at hand at all. I mean like AT ALL!
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It’s not only kids who don’t use much cash.
I’m late 60’s and my cash at hand is:
a spare $20 that has lived in my wallet for forever,
$50 in 5s and 1s for small tipping (eg. the assistants jar at the kayak boathouse),
a roll of quarters for parking meters in my town (I refuse to use the app due to the credit card surcharge).
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Cash is good for golf wagers and lottery tickets!
Pretty much the only reason we have to get cash. To pay for golf proxies and skins.
I think I’ve had the same $20 in my wallet since 2020 ; )
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Obviously those who don’t have a stash of cash on hand (in US money LOL) haven’t been in a real widespread emergeny with no electricity and urgent need to fix things. Cash is needed to buy food, pay workmen etc. Your CC and check doesn’t always cut it unfortunately.
We do keep a little cash on hands. When I go to farmers market weekly I like to pay them cash so they don’t have to deal with credit card fees. Kids don’t have cash on hand and when they do need to get it from ATM extremely rare I have to guide them how to use ATM
I do think joint accounts are better for newlyweds (even if each has a stash of “mad money”). It was for us at least. But it’s a leap of faith to put your money together and start to build what you want together. But getting married was a leap of faith.
It’s probably easier when you both start out poor with no expectations except to pool resources to get to a future goal. Then you make those decisions together and learn to manage money.
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LOL-don’t think that ATM is gonna work with no electricity whether you know how to use it or not.
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That was not for emergency. It was for things that don’t take cards. And who needs to keep emergency cash with parents leaving nearby ? 
I have $100 in cash on me at all times. I take money out weekly. My son went to Dairy Queen the other night and asked if I wanted anything. I gave him my order and he asked if he should put it on his card. Dairy Queen? Are you nuts? I handed him $20 and told him to keep the change after tipping.
We use our card even for a pack of gum. No cash anywhere at all. Can’t remember the last time I used an ATM.
I track every penny in and out via the card. Cash is a bear to track.
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We’ve strayed off the "newly wed " track but it is interesting how the thinking about how to handle money has changed.
What I’m seeing currently are restaurants that charge extra if you use a CC. They want cash to avoid the extra charges. No hidden charges–clearly on their menus.
As for newly weds (or singles) it is important to build that “emergency fund” for all the contingencies that derail life ( and a marriage) like repairs, cars, health bills etc. Again, it all depends on your starting point. A CC is not an emergency fund (nor the “parent bank”)
And some restaurants won’t even take credit cards.
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We always have about $1K in different bills in the house just in case. My mom and dad used to have over $10K in cash at home at anytime. I convinced them a couple of years ago to just keep $1K and they have been doing that.
I like to have cash for the vendors at the farmers markets I go to weekly. There are also a few small places in town that we go to eat at that are cash only. One of them is a favorite burger place. So I normally have $100 in cash on me almost all of the time.
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I have $7 in my wallet and $5 of that I found yesterday on the ground while getting gas. I never have cash. I’ve never had cash. Cash is dangerous for me. I have cash, I’ll find something to spend it on. It feels like free money. In college my Dad would be me an emergency $20 and it’d be spent within a week. I didn’t have an ATM for almost 30 years. I was lazy writing the transactions in my checkbook and got rid of it when I got married. I only recently got one because my new Capital One checking account sent it to me. H has never had a debit card.
So yeah, I’ll be in a jam if life went down. I could possibly see stuffing some in an envelope in a drawer. Maybe I wouldn’t spent it. Maybe. I have my doubts.
ironically, if I have to pull out the credit card, I think really hard about buying something. I’m completely the opposite from what the “experts” say.
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Restaurants aren’t avoiding the extra charges- they are avoiding taxes, and in many cases, engaging in wage theft (not paying their staff the required hourly wage plus tips), employing underage workers, and employing people who don’t have the legal right to work in the US. Owners prefer cash-- they can then use whatever creative accounting method they need to.
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Sounds like you need Dave Ramsey. His advice for an emergency fund is to put that money in a bag, put it in the closet behind your clothes or somewhere hard to get to and out of mind so it’s not readily available to spend unless a real emergency comes up.
My parents gave us some cash for our wedding to be used specifically as a “nest egg”. We used that as our fund for years until we really built up reserves. We borrowed from it and would immediately work to replenish it. Best gift ever.
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Laughing here because although I have cash around it’s gotten a little clunky to use it. No risk for me to overspend. Credit card is usually easier. And not it’s so, soooo easy to make purchases with Apple Pay. There is no spend risk to me having extra cash.