Here's a Lesser-Known Reason to Always Keep Some Cash on Hand

It's an important thing to have.

Some people prefer to pay for purchases with cash. But many consumers have a tendency to charge every single expense possible on their credit cards.

I happen to fall into the latter category. Of course, I make a point to not charge more on my credit cards than I can afford to pay off by the time my bills come due. But using credit cards means I get rewarded for the purchases I make, and it also means not having to worry about hitting the ATM to refill my wallet.

But not long ago, I learned the hard way that not carrying cash could have consequences. And now, I make it a point to keep cash in my wallet, just in case.

When the system fails

Recently, I stopped at my local supermarket to buy some groceries. Because food costs are up these days (thanks, inflation), even a small grocery load can add up for me.

That day, I loaded up my cart with essentials and headed to the checkout line. When I got there, I was hit with an unpleasant surprise.

It turns out something had gone haywire with my supermarket's credit card processing system, and so the only form of payment they were able to accept at that time was cash. As someone who commonly has less than $20 in her wallet, that wasn't a good thing -- and I started to panic.

Making matters worse, the grocery store's ATM happened to be down at the same time the store couldn't accept credit cards. So at that point, my purchasing power was limited to what I had in my wallet.

Thankfully, I had two things going for me. First, I'd purchased something for a friend who had just reimbursed me in cash, so I happened to have an extra $40 on hand. Secondly, I happened to be checking out at the same time as an acquaintance who had plenty of cash on her, and she offered to spot me whatever amount I couldn't cover.

Fortunately, I wound up having just enough cash to pay for my groceries without having to borrow money or put any items back. But I learned a valuable lesson that day, and it's to not assume that swiping a credit card is automatically an option.

Being careful with cash

A big reason I don't like paying for purchases with cash is that I find it difficult to keep track of what I'm spending. With my credit card, I can simply log onto my account at any point and track my monthly purchases to date.

Since that supermarket incident, I've taken to making sure I have cash on me at all times. But I also have to be disciplined in how I spend it.

Nowadays, if I'm making a small purchase at a local store, I might hand over a $10 bill instead of swiping my credit card -- especially since more and more smaller businesses are passing credit card processing fees onto consumers. But in that case, I have to make sure to replenish that $10 for what I call my emergency wallet stash. And, I can't just go handing over $10 here and $15 there without keeping track, because I don't want small purchases to cause me to bust my budget.

But all told, that supermarket incident was a big wakeup call. And so now, my days of only having $12 in cash in my wallet are behind me.