I once read that 1 in 10 people don’t use banks for saving money. That’s hard to believe. Hiding your money is unsafe and unwise. But people do it all the time. I’ve done it. You’ve probably done it at one time or another. When my son was young, he used to hide his allowance under the couch cushions.
I knew a man that painted the inside of a Mason jar white and then used it to stash his money. He kept it right out in the open, on a shelf in his workshop. No one ever bothered it because they thought it was a jar of white paint.
In my locale, we call stash money by the name of Mason Jar Money. It’s a common practice here to hide your money for a rainy day. Some folks just don’t trust the banks and some folks are stuck in a time warp.
I had a great Uncle and Aunt who were firm believers in stashing their money. They lived like paupers, wearing second-hand clothes and buying food in cans without labels from the bargain bins. Their very modest home was filled with stuff. In one corner, stood a large stack of ancient National Geographic magazines which exuded a nasty, moldy paper smell. When they passed on at a ripe old age, their sons found thousands of dollars in cash and dividend checks. When they decided to go through the old magazines, they found thousands more.
Then there was the lady up north somewhere, I heard she hid $10,000 underneath her cat’s litter box. I hope she at least sealed it up in a plastic bag first.
Did you hear about the old bachelor who hid his money in the vacuum cleaner bag? His sister hired a maid to clean his house while he was away. She thought it would be a nice surprise. You guessed it. The maid threw away the money filled vacuum cleaner bag.
Of course you’ve heard of hiding money under your mattress or burying it in the back yard. The Walton family kept theirs in a coffee can on the shelf in the kitchen. My Granny was a little more creative. She rolled her bills up and stuck them in the barrels of a double barrel shot gun. Do you think there was a subliminal message there?
Why do people stash their money? Why don’t they use banks? Everyone has their own reasons. Some people, like Ebenezer Scrooge, enjoy surrounding themselves with money, just touching it and counting it over and over. Some people, namely the older generations, don’t trust banks. They think that somehow their money will just disappear and they will never see it again. Some people can’t be bothered and some people don’t want anyone else to know how much money they have. Sometimes folks only need to stash money for a short amount of time; maybe just until they can get to the bank or pay a large bill that requires cash.
Whatever the reason, you obviously have to be very careful where you stash your money. After all, someone else might find it or a burglar might steal it. I’ve heard of hiding money underneath the floor boards, behind a loose brick, taped under a drawer and in the freezer. I used to stash $100 dollar bills behind my son’s baby pictures in the frames. How about in the family Bible or that old copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare?
They even sell stuff that is designed for the money stasher. Ever heard of a money belt? How about those cans that are made to look like a real can of soup but it’s really a secret compartment? I’ve also seen hollowed out books and desks with hidden drawers.
Maybe the reason so many people stash their cash is because they don’t understand compounded interest or inflation and how it relates to their money. They know they have the cash. They know they can get to it at any time. They can spend it any way they wish or save it till the cows come home. It’s their money. Sometimes just knowing you have a bit stashed away can be a comfort.
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