Behavior
May 17, 2012
Americans Put Cold Cash on Ice
More than one in four Americans revealed that they put their “mad money” in the freezer.
The freezer strategy was more popular than socks and mattresses, according to a Marist College survey last month of more than 1,000 people.
More people with college degrees chose the freezer than did non-college graduates. But the second most popular hiding place – socks at 19 percent – was particularly popular in the Northeast where people own a lot of socks. Third was the proverbial mattress, and more men than women went this route. Wisely, 17 percent knew of “no good place” in the house to hide their mad money.
Several years ago, I put my credit card in a plastic deli container, filled it with water, and froze it. Just once, I was thinking, it’d be nice to get an American Express bill that didn’t break the $500 barrier. (My barrier is higher now.)
I didn’t admit this to anyone at the time, but maybe it’s alright to talk about our quirky financial habits. Apparently, many of us have them.
Unfortunately, Marist did not ask how much this mad money amounts to. Presumably we’re not talking about thousands. Are we? Squared Away readers, where do you put your mad money, if you have any?
My mom always hid her mad money in the freezer. Usually in an empty frozen waffle box.
I don’t have enough cash to hide, although I do have a giant size Heineken bottle full of pennies.
Empty frozen waffle box in the freezer – now that is funny. My question is about the 7% that’s unsure. Are they unsure where they think a good place is to hide their money or is the place they hide the money so good that they are unsure where it is?