Great article, Annaraven!
I think the key for stashing cash is, like everything else, diversify.
Don’t keep ALL the money in books. Don’t keep ALL the money in your freezer. Don’t keep ALL the money in a safe.
Keep some in a decoy can. Keep some in a decoy book. Keep some in a frozen dinner nobody in your family would ever eat. (Spinach souffle, anyone?)
A really ideal place, if you have a dog that you crate when you are gone, is inside the lining of the dog bed. (Assuming your dog does not chew the bed, of course.) Nobody is going to break in and let the barking dog out of his crate.