Don't "store" cash, how about food?

[shoe]

Not sure if this topic would go in "Other" or not but here goes. In relation to the "Change in at-home cash reserves?", since most of you don't have much in the way of cash at home, how about food? Ziggy mentioned that in a Mad Max scenario cash would not have any more value than credit (paraphrasing here). Seems like food would be the commodity. Something easily traded and life sustaining. I have quite a large pantry and I store about three months of food as well as a couple weeks of worth of water. I don't live in a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado zone so it's not overly necessary for me. I am not LDS.
It just feels "right" for me. How about you?

[REWahoo]

How many rounds of ammo do you have?

[shoe]

Ha Wahoo! We don't have any guns but I can throw a mean curveball and I know how to hurt a guy!

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoe We don't have any guns but I can throw a mean curveball and I know how to hurt a guy!

Weren't you a reliever for the Indians in the late 80's?

[W2R]

Before hurricane season starts I empty out (use up the contents of) my freezer and buy about a week's worth of canned goods and bottled water. When we are done with the hurricanes I fill up the freezer and usually end up using the canned goods over a few months so that the next year I have to replenish them. That's about it.

As a hurricane approaches I take a few hundred out of the bank, fill my gas tank, pack the car, and head north in the middle of the night until I get at least as far as Huntsville or West Memphis (this year we went to Missouri). If I lived in an area mostly above sea level in Florida like Rich_In_Tampa, I would take more money out just as he does so that I would have the option to stay. Since my house here in New Orleans is several feet below sea level, as is almost all of my community, I would rather evacuate and do.

So anyway, that is it as far as emergency preparedness, food, money, and so on. I guess I just don't have proper survivalist credentials!

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Before hurricane season starts I empty out (use up the contents of) my freezer and buy about a week's worth of canned goods and bottled water. When we are done with the hurricanes I fill up the freezer and usually end up using the canned goods over a few months so that the next year I have to replenish them.

We stock up on canned goods and bottled water as well, but we do the opposite on refrigerated stuff. If the big one is coming ashore we store the cold stuff in combination of coolers and the freezer. Ice and dry ice, coolers sealed with duct tape, and some careful planning can make it all last for a while. With a gas cook top and propane grill I can feed the family well for a week or so. The canned stuff supplements the real food and comes in play if the stores aren't opening back up.

And coffee - must have coffee or it could get ugly.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas We stock up on canned goods and bottled water as well, but we do the opposite on refrigerated stuff. If the big one is coming ashore we store the cold stuff in combination of coolers and the freezer. Ice and dry ice, coolers sealed with duct tape, and some careful planning can make it all last for a while. With a gas cook top and propane grill I can feed the family well for a week or so. The canned stuff supplements the real food and comes in play if the stores aren't opening back up. And coffee - must have coffee or it could get ugly.

After Katrina, my refrigerator was so foul that I honestly thought I would have to gut my unflooded house just to get the smell out of the carpets and drywall. Turned out that wasn't necessary, but the smell had gotten into the insulation inside the refrigerator walls so I had to trash it.

SO - - I got to buy the first brand new refrigerator of my adult life! Wow. I absolutely love the gorgeous black Kenmore freezer-on-top model that I bought. And now when I evacuate, I leave a completely empty refrigerator behind (as well as my completely empty neighborhood - - usually I'm the one of the last out and the first back on my block).

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas And coffee - must have coffee or it could get ugly.

Preach it.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire And now when I evacuate, I leave a completely empty refrigerator behind (as well as my completely empty neighborhood - - usually I'm the one of the last out and the first back on my block).

And to think you'll have to give that up when you retire. I"m always amazed at the sacrifices some people will make to avoid working...

[FIREd]

My grand-mother lived through a world war and many bad economic times times and she always kept large reserves of food on hand (food rationing can have long lasting effects on people's psyche). She always kept stocks of flour, sugar, coffee, rice, and cooking oil... All things she could not produce on her farm. Fresh eggs, fresh milk, and fresh veggies / fruits were pretty abundant on her farm. There was a lot of canning going on in the summer so she could have reserves of fruits/veggies all year round. She also had a well stocked root cellar to store reserves of potatoes and other root vegetables during the meager winter months.

Her habits have definitely had an impact on me as I tend to do the same, but on a much smaller scale. I keep stocks of flour, sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes and canned fruits/vegetables (store bought). I also have a small garden outback that could supplement those reserves in the spring/summer. I think we could probably survive about 2-3 months on our own, even without electricity (we can cook food and bake bread using a wood fire).

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire After Katrina, my refrigerator was so foul that I honestly thought I would have to gut my unflooded house just to get the smell out of the carpets and drywall.

Sorry, I was talking apples and oranges there. No, if I was leaving, the fridge would be empty when we left. But we live far enough inland that unless it's a cat 4 or 5 on a direct path, like Rita was looking like she wanted to be, we'll stay rather than deal with millions of crazy people on the freeways and no hotel rooms. Did that once, don't want to do it again.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo And to think you'll have to give that up when you retire. I"m always amazed at the sacrifices some people will make to avoid working...

Yeah, tell me about it! I am sure looking forward to moving away. Katrina made me "once burned, twice shy", I suppose.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas Sorry, I was talking apples and oranges there. No, if I was leaving, the fridge would be empty when we left. But we live far enough inland that unless it's a cat 4 or 5 on a direct path, like Rita was looking like she wanted to be, we'll stay rather than deal with millions of crazy people on the freeways and no hotel rooms. Did that once, don't want to do it again.

We lived in Houston when Rita came near. I packed up our valuables and irreplaceable personal items just in case, and when I saw an update forecasting for a cat 5 directly into Galveston (at 10 PM), we left and stayed with friends in Austin. We put the stuff in the car, gathered a few more things, put the cats in their crate and left around midnight.

It only took us about 4 hours to get there; we stayed off of the main highways and stuck to a lot of the lesser-known farm to market roads. That big detailed Texas road atlas certainly paid for itself that night.

As it turned out, Rita jogged more toward Beaumont and Houston only got a little rain and some decent winds. The only "damage" to our house, other than a LOT of downed tree limbs, was that our satellite dish was knocked over.

Of course, at some point in the future, we could be the folks that some of our friends in Houston want to come "visit" next time...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas Sorry, I was talking apples and oranges there. No, if I was leaving, the fridge would be empty when we left. But we live far enough inland that unless it's a cat 4 or 5 on a direct path, like Rita was looking like she wanted to be, we'll stay rather than deal with millions of crazy people on the freeways and no hotel rooms. Did that once, don't want to do it again.

Right! I would follow your plan if I lived in your location. New Orleans is another kettle of fish - - way below sea level with now seriously damaged levee system, so great danger staying, and fewer people to evacuate (especially now), so less traffic. I usually leave at 2:30 AM in order to avoid traffic and that worked out well even just 29 hours or so before Katrina made landfall. Same for Rita and Gustav. 60-65 mph all the way.

[OAG]

Lived in FL 19 years and never even thought of evacuating, never stocked food or money; when I thought about it I would fill up the tank if it needed it. Just stayed home and rode them out. Maybe just lucky. Actually none were really close to Jacksonville until 2004 or so and then just some mean winds and some power losses for several hours. Now we live in Central Ohio and the winds that accompany weather changes here are a lot worse than when I experienced in FL, and they last longer here than there.

[shoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Weren't you a reliever for the Indians in the late 80's?

Actually it was the early 80s. Already got my Indians tickets for Rickie Vaughn bobblehead night!

[Bimmerbill]

Well, I haven't fully embraced the paranoia. I do think if things really hit the fan paper money may not be worth anything. Years ago I used to collect junk silver coins, but not recently.

I've been thinking of stocking food. Trouble is, how much? If I really think things will get that bad I'd be looking at 12 months worth. Thats a lot of $$.

I used to work with a guy who was borderline survivalist. Grew his own food, etc. Kind of a kook.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 It only took us about 4 hours to get there; we stayed off of the main highways and stuck to a lot of the lesser-known farm to market roads. That big detailed Texas road atlas certainly paid for itself that night.

We left at 0400. A 3 hour trip to San Antonio took 15 hours. Had the atlas, never hit an interstate until Seguin, but maps don't do much good when every road is clogged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OAG Just stayed home and rode them out. Maybe just lucky.

I'm cool all the way up to a three - at a four I start paying attention. A five anywhere in the Gulf makes me seriously planning and watching the forecasts. If either one is coming right at me - I'm leaving.

I don't live that far from the water, and I know my house will not stand up to 150 MPH winds. Well, I don't want to explore it's capacity to take 150 MPH sustained winds in person.

My uncle, who lived on the Gulf most of his life (never farther than 20-30 miles inland) swore he would never ride out something like Camille again. He admitted to being scared, and he's the guy who called the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir a "tough little fight."

[JOHNNIE36]

Living in the Tampa area, we stock up on canned goods, bottled water, batteries, etc. Always wanted to buy a generator big enough to power a fridge and air conditioning system. Never sized it but would imagine it would have to be at least 8500kw. Have any of you purchased one that would do a job like this? If any hurricane hit this area I'm sure the power would be out for several days. DW couldn't live without A/C. Leaving the area is not an option with the animals. We'd look like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the highway. Anyway, every year about this time I start thinking about generator. They'll be sold out by the time I get around to it.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOHNNIE36 Leaving the area is not an option with the animals. We'd look like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the highway.

What animals do you have? Sounds like you have quite a farm.