9 Safest Places To Keep Cash Hidden in Your Home

Are you wondering about the viability of keeping cash in your home, and trying to decide where a good hiding place might be? A lot of people feel safest when they have at least some cash in their houses, but if you’re worried about break-ins, you need some good hiding places.

Key Takeaways

• Inside a dresser drawer or in a hollowed-out book are great hiding places for emergency cash.
• Between $500 and $2,000 is a good amount to keep in your house, but anything more than that you may want to open up a second checking account.

Blog Contents

• Taped to the Inside of a Dresser
• Hollowed-Out Book
• Fake Electrical Box
• Package in the Freezer
• Bottom of Your Flour Container
• Inside Your Plumbing Access Door
• Toilet Tank
• Dig a Hole Outside
• Safe

9 Places to Keep Cash Hidden in Your Home

There are lots of great places you can keep cash hidden in your home, and we’ve gathered up a list of the 9 best options, so you know exactly where to put your money.

Simple and effective, these will stop anybody from finding your hidden stash! So, let's find out about the safest place to keep cash at home!

1. Taped to the Inside of a Dresser

One of the simplest and easiest places to hide your money is on the inside of your dresser — but not just loose in the dresser drawer. Many thieves will open a drawer and take a glance inside, which is why you need to use this hiding place more cleverly.

By putting your cash in an envelope, you can tape it to the back of the dresser, or even to the underside of the drawer – where it will be nicely hidden from everyone. It’s also easy for you to access it when you need the money, making this a pretty perfect spot.

2. Hollowed-Out Book

No thief is going to waste time taking every book off your bookcase to look through them, which makes a hollowed-out book an excellent option for hiding cash. You can either DIY this project by gluing together the pages of an old book and then cutting out a square to hide the cash in, or by purchasing a fake book.

3. Fake Electrical Box

Did you know that you can also buy fake electrical outlet boxes to install on your wall? This is probably one of the best places to conceal cash because there’s no chance of a thief picking it up, turning it over, etc. Who’s going to check an electrical box?

Choose a product that matches your other outlets to minimize the chances of anybody noticing it, and make sure you put it somewhere that an electrical outlet box would be likely to appear.

4. Package in the Freezer

Thieves are very unlikely to go through your freezer, so bundling up spare cash in an airtight container or bag and stashing it there can be an effective way of hiding it. You can hide it under food for further safety. Make sure the cash doesn’t get wet, however, or it might deteriorate.

5. Bottom of Your Flour Container

If you have cash that you won't need for a while, consider stashing it in a clever spot: place the money in a plastic bag and hide it at the bottom of a flour canister, covering it with flour. This method offers a surprisingly secure way to keep your money safe from potential thieves, as they are unlikely to sift through flour to check for hidden valuables.

6. Inside Your Plumbing Access Door

Your bathroom may well have a door on the wall near the drain end of your bathtub, or tucked away in the linen closet. This door gives you access to a shaft that runs from the basement to the attic and houses the building’s pipework.

You can hide cash here by installing a shelf above eye level so that a thief opening the door won’t immediately spot it. If you don’t want to add a shelf (or there’s no room), you can just put the cash in a plastic envelope and tape it to the wall inside the shaft.

7. Toilet Tank

Although this may seem like a strange one, hiding cash in the toilet can work very well. It’s relatively easy to access, and it’s pretty unlikely that anybody is going to open your toilet tank if they’re looking through your house!

Put the cash in a watertight container and then submerge it in the toilet tank. However, make sure the container really is watertight, so there’s no risk of the cash getting ruined!

8. Dig a Hole Outside

If you’ve got an enclosed outdoor space and you want to hide cash for the long term, you may want to bury it! Choose a sturdy, airtight box, put the cash inside, dig a hole, and it will be very thoroughly hidden from any thieves.

This is a great option if you’re not going to need the money for a while, but isn’t ideal if you need easy access.

9. Safe

If you’re looking to hide cash in your home and prevent anybody from accessing it, a safe offers more security than any of the other options. Although it may be more visible, it is harder for any casual thieves to access.

However, you must make sure the safe is bolted down so that there’s no chance of somebody simply stealing the whole thing. It’s a good idea to put the safe somewhere that few people are likely to go in your home, such as in the bedroom – and consider hiding it with other furniture or decorations.

How Much Cash Should You Keep at Home?

This answer will vary depending on your circumstances, but a round number like $500 is smart. It’s a good idea to have at least a small amount available, so you’ve got cash if a natural disaster strikes, the local ATM stops working, or something else happens. Being able to buy the essentials if you can’t access your bank account for any reason is crucial.

Depending on how much you might be likely to need in the event of a disaster, you should consider keeping between $500 and $2,000 in your home. That’s quite a lot of money, which is why it’s important to have somewhere safe to stash it!

If you live alone and you have low expenses, you may feel comfortable with a smaller amount, but make sure you have enough to buy food, gas, and water. Some people only keep around $100 or $200 in their homes and feel perfectly happy with this.

It’s a good idea to sit down and figure out what expenses you’re likely to have in the event of an emergency, so you can put this amount of money aside. Add a little extra, so you’ve got some contingency money for anything you haven’t thought of.

You may want to split the money into small bills and consider spreading it across several hiding places. This reduces the risk of a thief finding all of it and makes it easy for you to just grab what you need.

If you need some extra cash because you want a supply at home, with a natural disaster on the horizon, or something similar, you can reach out to Simple Fast Loans, and we’ll be delighted to talk to you about your options. You’ll then have a fund you can put away, out of sight and out of mind, for the days when you need it the most!

Why People Keep Cash at Home

There are a few good reasons for keeping cash at home, with natural disasters being the biggest for many individuals. Remember that if you’re caught in a natural disaster, you may not be able to get cash out of your account, and you might not have your phone charged.

• Disaster preparation. If you live somewhere with unpredictable weather and the risk of earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, etc., there’s therefore a strong incentive to have some money put away in case the local systems near you are down. Having cash available will let you get medicine, food, water, and gas when you need it.
• Prevention. Other people decide to keep money at home so that they can pay for services when necessary, or so they’ve got a backup if something goes wrong with their credit or debit card. Having cash at home also lets you pay for things anonymously, without leaving a digital footprint, if you have reasons to prefer this.
• Savings method. Some people also find that storing cash at home makes it easier for them to save money; there’s no temptation to spend it while at the store. You can set aside a few dollars a week, creating a savings net that will help you out when times get tough.

The Risks of Keeping Cash at Home

There are, of course, some risks associated with keeping cash at home, even if you use all our tips for hiding it! Theft is one that people are most frequently concerned about, and it certainly is a potential issue. However, by hiding the cash in one of the 9 places suggested above, you can mitigate this.

The other main risk lies in fire or flood. If your home burns down or you have a flood – either because of plumbing issues or bad weather – there’s a risk that you will lose the cash you’ve got stored at home.

It’s important to note that many home insurance policies will cover cash in the event of a loss, whether that’s flooding, fire, or theft. However, you may be required to provide evidence that you had the cash there, which can be challenging. Not all home insurance policies cover cash, so it’s a good idea to look into this if you have a lot of cash in your home.

Another drawback of keeping cash at home is that you won’t earn any interest on this money. You only get interest on money that you have in your bank account. If you keep $20 in your sock drawer for 10 years, it’s still just $20 – and due to inflation, will probably be worth less overall.

Alternatives To Keeping Cash at Home

There are a few alternatives to keeping cash at home, and one of the best is opening a second checking account with a different bank. If your primary bank is affected by a power outage or you lose your card, access, or something else, you’ll have your second checking account to fall back on.

You could also consider depositing funds on a prepaid card, which will ensure you have cash readily available in case of an emergency. This is protected by federal law if somebody steals the card, but you may sometimes have to pay fees to replace the card.

Another option is to put cash in a PayPal account, which you can again access in an emergency. However, be aware that you won’t necessarily have access to your phone/computer if the power is out in your area. Some people feel these options work for them, but many others combine them with cash for maximum security.

As you can see, there are lots of great places to keep cash hidden in your home, tucking it well out of sight so it’s safe from thieves. If you’re going to keep large amounts of cash around, consider investing in a fireproof, waterproof, locking box to maximize its safety!