I am more inclined to not think of my stash of cash as being at least X number of dollars, instead I try to carry at a minimum four or five days of anticipated expenses and a maximum of maybe two weeks of expenses. Thus, if your are spending less you need less cash. And you are likely going to go past an ATM in three or four days of travel.

In small communities you are more likely to be in small owner operated restaurants, camps and some grocers and they often prefer cash because they have to pay high fees for credit card transactions. But in bigger communities I generally use credit card for everything except fast food or at ATMs because credit cards are more widely accepted in large communities than in rural small businesses.

My one debit card, it only gets used in ATM machines, all of my other plastic transactions are credit cards. I never use credit cards in ATMs due to high fees, but I have PIN numbers for one or two credit cards in event my debit card stopped working and I needed emergency cash advance with a credit card.