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Change in at-home cash reserve?
Old 03-10-2009, 01:15 PM   #1
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Change in at-home cash reserve?

I would love to know if others here have upped the amount of cash reserves they keep stashed in their $30 Sentry fire chest. We currently keep $1000, give or take, but we are wondering if we should up it a bit. I know this was discussed some time ago but maybe there are those here who have changed their minds. You?
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:21 PM   #2
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Whats a Sentry Safe? I keep a PPK handy. $0 always! Just a few bucks in wallets and ash trays in the car full of change. Emergency money is a $100 bill in wallets hidden in the pictures.
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:22 PM   #3
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That's right - - I was intending on keeping several thousand in a cash reserve at home, but forgot about it.

I don't normally keep cash at home, other than what is in my wallet. When my wallet is empty, I get $200 from the ATM.

I can't remember why I thought I should start keeping a few thousand in cash at home, but there was a good reason of some kind. Maybe for hurricane evacuations. But my ATM card works in other states, so that can't be it. Maybe it was to avoid those %^()&* ATM charges. I'll bet that was it.
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:22 PM   #4
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I don't keep "reserves" at home -- I usually have $20-40 in my wallet, but other than that I don't keep any "mad money" lying around.
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:22 PM   #5
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I don't keep "reserves" at home -- I usually have $20-40 in my wallet, but other than that I don't keep any "mad money" lying around.
Same here.
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:24 PM   #6
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What is this "cash" that you refer to?
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:26 PM   #7
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The thought kept coming up in my mind that I should have some cash at home, but the frugal side of me wanted to earn interest on that money.

But now, it's a different story..... I might just flip a few bills in the coffee can.
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:26 PM   #8
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What is this "cash" that you refer to?
The king -- or so they say these days...
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:39 PM   #9
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We usually have about $40-$100 stashed in a drawer. It will go down when don't feel like hitting the ATM, and go back up if I don't spend my weekly allowance by a multiple of at least $10.
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Old 03-10-2009, 02:16 PM   #10
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Keeping cash isn't very safe in my 'hood' (AKA Oahu). Still, we lived through an 18 hour power outage, island wide, that made me thing a few extra bucks on hand would be sort of an "insurance" policy. A neighbor said he typically kept about $100 in singles and a mayo jar full of change for just such events (e.g., hurricanes). The logic is that you always have the exact change to buy something (e.g., food, water, duct tape) when the credit system and cash registers shut down for what EVER reason. Turns out local stores DID accept cash during the power outage for essentials (e.g., canned goods, TP, etc.) On that basis, I've been keeping my singles and change. Probably cheap insurance and if some meth head finds it, he'll probably drop the jar on the way out. Serves 'em right!
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Old 03-10-2009, 02:20 PM   #11
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It's common in these parts to keep some greenbacks on hand in case of an evacuation. We do that during hurricane season. Once the power is down, the credit card gizmos are down, the internet is down, etc. Cash talks

We keep $500 in a safe place, and it's on our grab-and-run list along with sentimentals and our hurricane-box of food, water, batteries, etc.
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Old 03-10-2009, 02:24 PM   #12
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What Rich said. And we don't have hurricanes here.......
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Old 03-10-2009, 02:34 PM   #13
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The coin jar was overflowing a couple weeks ago ... so I rolled up ~$40 worth of change and brought it to the bank. So we're low on cash now.
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Old 03-10-2009, 02:35 PM   #14
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We usually keep about $200 on hand and haven't changed this in years. My grandmother, who lived through the great depression, used to keep several thousand dollars in an empty mayo jar in her deep freeze. She never learned to completely trust banks again.
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:06 PM   #15
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I have $0 in cash reserves at home right now and exactly $2 in my wallet. Last time I went to get cash at the ATM was last November and it was only $40 and the $2 I have left will probably last me another month.

I did freak out a bit last September/October when the credit market froze up and large banks started to fail. At that point I had about $5,000 locked in the safe. I put the money back in the bank in November.
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:11 PM   #16
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Currently over 8k at hand, stashed in a pretty fair spot. Never know - might run into one of those deals where cash talks. or a relative/friend needs bail $. That hasn't happened much, but we're in a better position than most of our crowd to be the bank. Unlike most, we have a good chunk of our monthly income come in as cash (from rent payments). I like physical cash better than numbers & promises. Just like we like physical property better than stock certificates. Sometimes that works out for us, sometimes not.

ATM? Debit card? never use them, no idea what my PIN is.
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:21 PM   #17
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Currently over 8k at hand, stashed in a pretty fair spot.
My ammo and MRE's don't leave enough room enough in my safe for that kind of cash...
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:29 PM   #18
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My ammo and MRE's don't leave enough room enough in my safe for that kind of cash...
Safe? Why would i put up a sign that says "good stuff here"?
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:40 PM   #19
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I dunno man a quality safe bolted to the foundation will be a tough puzzle for 99% of your opportunistic dash in and out burglar. If someone is determined enough to break into one of those they're probably determined enough to find the wad of bills in the Minute Rice box too.
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:43 PM   #20
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I dunno man a quality safe bolted to the foundation will be a tough puzzle for 99% of your opportunistic dash in and out burglar. If someone is determined enough to break into one of those they're probably determined enough to find the wad of bills in the Minute Rice box too.
Well, a well-bolted quality safe will deter crimes of opportunity, but it also means that if a criminal *really* wants what's in there, you're looking at a potential armed home invasion robbery instead of a burglary in a vacant home.
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