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Old 12-13-2012, 03:43 PM   #21
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We have enough food on hand (dried pasta, peanut butter, freezer food) to get us through a power outage. When storms are forecast I gas up the SUV, point it out of the garage so we can drive away if we need to.

I keep an emergency $20 and 20-euros in my wallet. If the Mayans come to get us next Friday, I don't think cash will help.

A friend of mine had his house burn to the ground last year. The contents of his fireproof safe consisted of white ash (paper contents) and melted jewelry.
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Old 12-13-2012, 03:48 PM   #22
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Some guy with a can of tuna who thinks that eventually paper currency will be good again someday (maybe) will sell it to you for $6,000. That is, if he thinks he has tuna to spare!

I agree with the few $k folks too.
They could really be in need of some toilet paper as well.
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Old 12-13-2012, 04:16 PM   #23
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A friend of mine had his house burn to the ground last year. The contents of his fireproof safe consisted of white ash (paper contents) and melted jewelry.
I was afraid of that. It'll be the bank for me!
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Old 12-13-2012, 04:16 PM   #24
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I think the financial gurus giving this advice have ownership in home safe manufacturing companies.
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Old 12-13-2012, 04:18 PM   #25
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A friend of mine had his house burn to the ground last year. The contents of his fireproof safe consisted of white ash (paper contents) and melted jewelry.

Just to be clear, there are no fire PROOF safes.... just fire resistent.... they give a rating on what kind of fire they can protect against.... such and such temp for such and such of time....


Here is an example...

ETL Verified 1/2-hour fire protection for CDs, DVDs, USB drives and memory sticks up to 1550°F
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Old 12-13-2012, 05:03 PM   #26
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Just to be clear, there are no fire PROOF safes.... just fire resistent.... they give a rating on what kind of fire they can protect against.... such and such temp for such and such of time....


Here is an example...

ETL Verified 1/2-hour fire protection for CDs, DVDs, USB drives and memory sticks up to 1550°F
yes, my use of the term fireproof was incorrect and the example was meant to clarify that whatever the claims that the safe manufacturers make, house fires are damn hot and a safe is unlikely to be much good.
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Old 12-13-2012, 05:15 PM   #27
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This year I had an experience at a hotel with the in room safe. My valuables were locked up and the safe battery went dead. I was unable to open the safe. The maintenance lady took about 20 seconds with a philips screwdriver and a hex socket to open the safe.
Next time I am in a hotel room with a safe, I will examine it more closely. From the above story, the hotel safe sounds like a placebo to me!

And talk about hotel rooms, I recently saw on the Web how one brand of hotel room electronic locks, the type with a card reader, could be opened through an auxiliary port that a hacker can access easily, using an electronic device small enough to be built into a marker pen.

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Old 12-13-2012, 05:30 PM   #28
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Old 12-13-2012, 05:52 PM   #29
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Wouldn't it be better to spend a few bucks so that you could harvest your own food?

That might mean trees that provide nourishment (oranges, pecans, mulberries, apples, pears, etc), edible landscaping, and a garden for other stuff. Then some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.
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Old 12-13-2012, 06:50 PM   #30
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Then some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.
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Old 12-13-2012, 06:58 PM   #31
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Wouldn't it be better to spend a few bucks so that you could harvest your own food?

That might mean trees that provide nourishment (oranges, pecans, mulberries, apples, pears, etc), edible landscaping, and a garden for other stuff. Then some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.
Plus maybe a small quantity of "junk" silver dimes, just in case.
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Old 12-13-2012, 06:59 PM   #32
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...some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.
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Everything tastes like chicken anyway. We are in a Matrix!

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Old 12-13-2012, 07:06 PM   #33
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I've thought about it but the risk is too great. This year I had an experience at a hotel with the in room safe. My valuables were locked up and the safe battery went dead. I was unable to open the safe. The maintenance lady took about 20 seconds with a philips screwdriver and a hex socket to open the safe. Your never as safe as you think you are.
When we travel, the night before we leave the hotel, we leave the safe open (after we're in for the night) just in case something like this happens. Last thing you want is to be ready to go and have your passport etc stuck in a room safe. Might be hard to find that maintenance lady at 5AM if you've got an early flight.
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Old 12-13-2012, 07:35 PM   #34
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Then some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.

+1
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Old 12-13-2012, 08:09 PM   #35
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Wouldn't it be better to spend a few bucks so that you could harvest your own food?

That might mean trees that provide nourishment (oranges, pecans, mulberries, apples, pears, etc), edible landscaping, and a garden for other stuff. Then some local animals like squirrels, pigeons, cats, and fish or whatever that you could catch and eat.
Fox squirrels are quite tasty and in fact are DD's favorite food (but they are a right bitch to skin). If I could figure out how to do so without DW being the wiser, I would regularly be harvesting the ones in my backyard.
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Old 12-13-2012, 08:37 PM   #36
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Ha! Way back when I was a boy scout camp counselor we would skin squirrels. Easiest method is called case skinning, should be able to find how on net. Cook em way slow or they taste like rubber!
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Old 12-13-2012, 09:18 PM   #37
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We've kept around $1000 cash at home since Y2K. No disasters, but it has come in handy a few times.
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Old 12-13-2012, 09:49 PM   #38
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Ha! Way back when I was a boy scout camp counselor we would skin squirrels. Easiest method is called case skinning, should be able to find how on net. Cook em way slow or they taste like rubber!
They are much more time consuming than rabbits.

I find the best way to cook most small game is moist heat over time. Next up I will be trying squirrel pot pie.
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Old 12-13-2012, 10:04 PM   #39
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Sounds like prepper thinking, and if you want tangible valuables to hold onto, why not keep some precious metals around the house? At least if your house does burn down, there's a chance you might be able to recover them.

I try to use credit cards for everything (balance paid off each month), so I keep as little cash around as possible.
I'm guessing that a prepper is different from a preppie?

Ha
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Old 12-13-2012, 11:45 PM   #40
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My home town was flooded in 08. I was able to evacuate but two banks and three credit unions that I used were flooded, ATM's were down. We only got by with a single credit card until a branch credit union was able to open and we could access our money. The last account to get opened was the safety deposit box after 18 months.

I keep cash in my house, but I won't use a safe for any more than chump change. (As my neighbor can attest, it was a burglar magnet.) The age old method of a hole in the ground is hard to improve upon. In my case, I keep some emergency money in a hole in my basement. I use a waterproof case (Pelican) that's buried deep enough to be a great heat sink and covered with concrete. I can get to it any time, any day in less time than it takes to drive to a bank or wait in the line at the bank.
I keep only enough to get by in an emergency but the peace of mind of the 'stash' is worth the inflationary losses. You never know when say your four dogs get poisoned, your neighbor meets an unfortunate accident and you need to take a quick extended vacation.
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