Keeping emergency cash at home

[The Cosmic Avenger]

And in a pinch most of that stuff can double as fuel or if the zombies are coming, pretty effective weapons when combined with a rag!

Not pictured: a couple of cases of actual Sterno.

So if you need to sell that Maker's Mark, I'll have cash for ya ;-)

You mean that worthless pre-apocalypse paper? It might be good for tinder...

 

[street]

I would keep several thousand in the house, but where? I can't figure out a really good place for it.

In the freezer in a can. It is cold hard cash. LOL

 

[Ginny]

It took me 3 days to read all the replies. LOL They made me go to the banks to get about $600 in cash, which is protected by my Smith & Wesson. Are you feeling lucky punk?

And I buy my wine by the case and have a good supply of liquor too. I have a creek out back that I could drink in a pinch, just have to check for alligators first before I dip into the water.

 

[Music Lover]

Cash gives you options.......more options are always better than fewer option.

+1

I see no reason to limit your options in an emergency...whether it be cash, dried goods/water, or a weapon, they all have their uses. Not every emergency is the same so it's best to be prepared.

 

[brewer12345]

+1

I see no reason to limit your options in an emergency...whether it be cash, dried goods/water, or a weapon, they all have their uses. Not every emergency is the same so it's best to be prepared.

It is also worth paying attention to your weak spot. For me it is water. Lots of stored food, could probably arm the neighborhood, plenty of gas to split if necessary, etc. But being in the southwest water is always an issue.

 

[Music Lover]

It is also worth paying attention to your weak spot. For me it is water. Lots of stored food, could probably arm the neighborhood, plenty of gas to split if necessary, etc. But being in the southwest water is always an issue.

Agreed. I have a well, so in a power failure the well pump doesn't run. So, I always have plenty of extra water on hand.

 

[samclem]

Agreed. I have a well, so in a power failure the well pump doesn't run. So, I always have plenty of extra water on hand.

This is one reason I like having a water heater with a tank.


I'm on a well, too, and have looked into inexpensive ways to get at that water if the power crumps for awhile. There are some good plans for DIY manual pumps using PVC pipe and a valve at the bottom, they are good down to about 100 ft. I'd really like an inexpensive, small, 12vdc pump that could just be lowered down into the well and run from a small solar rig. I don't need 12 GPM, 5 GPH would be fine.


Something like this RV water pump might work: 12VDC, 36 watts, 1 GPM, less than $15. Cut off the mounting feet to make it smaller. It isn't submersible, so put it at the top of a 3' long PVC pipe filled with spray foam so it can't sink or get wet. It will pump up to 80 PSI, and 60 PSI is enough to push water to the top of a 140 foot column, which would be enough for me. I'm sure it wouldn't put out 1 GPM against 60 lbs of column pressure, but I'd be happy with just a few gallons per hour if I didn't have to tend to it. It could be a fun project--provided I don't destroy my well/pump while messing with it.

 

[Out of Steam]

This is one reason I like having a water heater with a tank.

Filling the bathtub with water is a pre-storm ritual, good for another 50-60 gallons.

 

[slowsaver]

We keep a few hundred dollars in our fireproof safe. I decided this this was a good idea after Hurricane Sandy. Lots of rich people in NYC couldn't buy gas, food or water because ATM machines and credit card machines were down. But people who had cash could still buy gas and food.

I also re-fill our car's gas tank whenever the needle hits 1/2 tank. I figure in an emergency, we'll need to drive out of the area and might not be able to get gas on the way.

 

[Aerides]

We generally keep hardly any cash around, but being in S. Fla, the ATM is one of the stops once a hurricane looks likely (in addition to filling the gas tanks). Our storm plan is hunker down, ride it out, assess anything major, then get outta dodge - drive to a hotel somewhere a few hours away, and stay there until power is back. Cat 4 or higher is going to be GTFO 3 days in advance.

Good news is we are on a grid with the fire station near our neighborhood, so power usually comes back to us quicker than most. During Irma last year we were still in TS conditions and the power came back and stayed.

 

[cyber888]

$40 bucks and 80 euros

 

[TheRunningMan]

Yikes...perhaps I'm a bit crazy, but I keep about $20K, along with everything else I, and my family, will need to take care of ourselves for a while. If gets really bad, and $'s help, I'll spread it around with my favored neighbors.

 

[Dtail]

Yikes...perhaps I'm a bit crazy, but I keep about $20K, along with everything else I, and my family, will need to take care of ourselves for a while. If gets really bad, and $'s help, I'll spread it around with my favored neighbors.

I guess you have money for a bunker...

 

[CaptCurmudgeon]

Living in coastal Carolina, the most likely scenario is a hurricane that knocks out power for a week or so. For that I keep $1k to $1.5k in the gun safe in $20’s and smaller. During those times you may need the service of a good ol’ Boy with a pickup and a chain saw, and he don’t take Amex. Nor does he give change. 4 cases of Costco drinking water in the garage and 15 gallons of fresh gas on hand to run the Honda 2Kw generator is as important as the cash. Power outages after hurricanes is a great opportunity to do do triage on your freezer. Consume the frozen tenderloins first; save the beanie-weenies for last.

 

[gooddog]

Yikes...perhaps I'm a bit crazy, but I keep about $20K, along with everything else I, and my family, will need to take care of ourselves for a while. If gets really bad, and $'s help, I'll spread it around with my favored neighbors.

I'm with you on this. I keep a lot of cash, a year supply of dehydrated food, a variety of guns, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 rounds of ammo in the house. It is all in a safe room, which is protected with some stuff that looks like it came out of Indiana Jones.

 

[mtpisgah]

I keep $500 in the car and house, and $100 minimum in my wallet. I have a couple of gold coins fior true emergencies and then some guns and a bunch of ammo. We have a 40k pool and a filter, so plenty of water so long as it is not severely contaminated in some manner. If it is, there are ~800 bottles of wine to hold us over.

 

[morriss003]

Almost all us depend on accessing our money via the internet but what your internet is down or even worst our internet gets hacked and is down locally, statewide or even nationwide for an extended period of time so no ATM or credit card use, how much emergency cash do you have stashed in the house.

PS: To improve my emergency plan, please message me your address and location of any loose cash lying around.

Between two and five hundred, but more important is to buy a home safe. They don't cost that much nowadays, and they are a great place to store important papers, deeds, car titles and other things besides money. Now this is if you don't have a safe deposit box at a bank. If you have a two story home, lug it upstairs and camoflauge it.

 

[Tracer]

This cashless guy keeps $20 in my wallet. That's it. There are B of A ATM's everywhere just in case.

 

[Mdlerth]

Beer is like water, only better!

If water is unavailable then you are going to die anyway in a few days.
Cheers!

That's why I will do like some of the earlier posters and rely on my stash of beer, wine and liquor. If I have to face death, I wanna do it with a good buzz going.

I might have six bucks in cash or I might have a thousand; depends on what month it is. I usually draw some currency in preparation for Christmas so Santa can put a Bennie in each offspring's stocking. Any left over gradually dwindles throughout the rest of the year.

My house used to lose power on an average cloudy day; a hurricane or ice storm could put us in the dark for two weeks. We got tired of making coffee on the grill so 10 years ago we bought a generator. Haven't had a power outage more than an hour ever since, so the only use the gen gets is when we lend it to friends.

If the emergency lasts a few days, no big deal. We've been through those dozens of times. If it's a true SHTF crisis, I expect to be weeded out with the slow and weak. I'd make a crummy survivalist. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, I'm not certain of the benefit of either cash or guns. Having to eat grubs, drink urine, and fend off brain-eating zombies every day sounds an awful lot like my current j*b, and I'm hoping to leave that behind soon!

 

[pc95]

About $1000 for emergencies. I hardly ever use cash for anything when alone, and only occasionally use it when going out with friends or family members. For normal spending I employ Credit Cards for additional benefits and pay as cash online.

 

[always_learning]

My house used to lose power on an average cloudy day; a hurricane or ice storm could put us in the dark for two weeks. We got tired of making coffee on the grill so 10 years ago we bought a generator. Haven't had a power outage more than an hour ever since *snip*

Isn't that the way things go? We endured a week without power due to a freak tornado. On day three of power loss, one store had managed to truck in a generator and was open for cash-only people. Luckily, I had some small bills and coins left over from a garage sale that I had never re-deposited and was able to use that to buy a grill-safe griddle (we melted the handle on the frying pan I donated for the cause) and an all-metal kettle to boil water for coffee. That was over six years ago and we haven't needed them since. We're keeping them as 'insurance' in the hope that we will never lose power like that again.

First lesson learned from that experience ... I now keep a couple hundred on hand in small bills and a roll of quarters. Had I brought 20s, the store wouldn't have been able to make change. They were thrilled to get my ones, fives, and coins.

Next lesson learned is to not let the tank on the car get below 1/2. Had we wanted to leave, we would have been stuck in the lines of traffic on the way out. There was no gas for miles and miles around (because of no power) and my gas light was already on.

 

[Blueskies123]

I keep several thousand dollars hidden away. It amazes me that because people have not gone without electricity, gasoline, cell, and phone for a few weeks they think it will not happen to them. Without power, stores cannot validate your credit card so they only accept cash.
If your house is damaged and there is no power how are you going to get cash to stay in a hotel and buy food.

 

[Dtail]

I keep several thousand dollars hidden away. It amazes me that because people have not gone without electricity, gasoline, cell, and phone for a few weeks they think it will not happen to them. Without power, stores cannot validate your credit card so they only accept cash.
If your house is damaged and there is no power how are you going to get cash to stay in a hotel and buy food.

I think it also depends what are the typical disasters in your area. We do keep some money around, but since hurricanes are the main threat for us, we had ample time last year (Irma) to get monies from the bank plus gas for the car.

 

[Junior]

I have a couple of thousands inside an iron box hidden on an old book shelf of a relative's home. I can only think about having to use them in case of an unexpected political conflict (quite improbable). Why? That place is not strategic at all (old secondary roads are the only way to go there). And the climate is quite stable in my region. So it is the only situation in which I can picture myself needing the money.

 

[street]

Agreed. I have a well, so in a power failure the well pump doesn't run. So, I always have plenty of extra water on hand.

Could you buy a small generator to run that well and a few other things?