Two Q's

[cletis]

1. How much money do you keep at instant accessibilty, say a safe in your home?

2. What is safer if things got really bad, as if alot of people made a run on a bank to pull all of their money, a mutual fund MM or a MM savings account at your local bank?

Just curious Cletis

 

[al_bundy]

FDIC rates banks. checked mine and it had a good rating.

keep less than $100 at home

 

[LOL!]

1. Usually $0. I often do not have any cash in my wallet. What for?

2. A money market savings account is insured by FDIC, so it might be safer than a money market fund at a mutual fund company. But suppose you kept $200K in such a place. With the MMA you would be over the FDIC limit and that would be bad. In contrast, maybe you use a MMF with only US treasuries in it, so I think it would be safer than $200K in a MMA at a bank.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I think I have 40 in my wallet. If things got really really bad probably having water,food and firearm would trump any amount of money

 

[retire@40]

I think I could get by with all the coins I have saved in my house over the past 10 years. I keep putting the coins in the jugs, but I never take them out. I'm not sure I can even move some of them now since they are so heavy.

If something really goes bad in the economy, my biggest problem will be getting enough coin wrappers.

 

[W2R]

1. I don't keep much extra around, normally. When I'm feeling ultra-organized, I have next week's money for the lawn guy tucked away in the kitchen (I always have this week's outside in a secret place where he can retrieve it after mowing). He charges $35/mow.

When a hurricane enters the Gulf, part of my routine is to have a full gas tank in my car and an extra $400 in my wallet.

2. I agree with "LOL!" above.

As long as you have less than $100K in your bank account, and it is FDIC insured, I think it should be safe. I keep most of mine in a MM fund, in treasuries.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

1. I don't keep much extra around, normally. When I'm feeling ultra-organized, I have next week's money for the lawn guy tucked away in the kitchen (I always have this week's outside in a secret place where he can retrieve it after mowing). He charges $35/mow.

When a hurricane enters the Gulf, part of my routine is to have a full gas tank in my car and an extra $400 in my wallet.

2. I agree with "LOL!" above.

Good point about the gas. My wife constantly runs down to E. Grrr

 

[Patrick]

1. How much money do you keep at instant accessibilty, say a safe in your home?

2. What is safer if things got really bad, as if alot of people made a run on a bank to pull all of their money, a mutual fund MM or a MM savings account at your local bank?

Just curious Cletis

1. $400.

2. $100K max at each of many banks.

 

[Khan]

In the summer, I carry about $50 cash (for farmers' market). Nothing else in the house but a mug full of coins, which go to the credit union in Dec.

 

[harley]

I still have about $1000 in cash leftover from the Y2K and 9/11 duct tape episodes. Also, like retire@40, I have a ton of coins, including a bunch of silver dollars I got as a wedding present ~30 years ago. We had at one point sewed them into the bottom of some draperies to make them hang right.

When we moved a couple of months ago I was going to do something with the coins. But I was too busy to roll them, and my cheapskate soul just couldn't pour them into the machine in Safeway. 9% fee? Not me. I just put them in the trailer and hauled them 150 miles, and stuck them in the new closet next to the shotguns.

As far as the MM accounts, I think the local bank MM is fine, assuming FDIC limit compliance. If the money is in a fund MM, they have to mail it to you, and then where do you go to cash it? Your bank is closed!

Harley

 

[SecondCor521]

1. $12.50 at the moment. I have a hard time using credit cards for the occasional donut or cup of coffee, so I use cash in those rare cases.

2. I don't even worry about it. Perhaps I am naive, but I am also very serene. I personally have >$100K at IndyMac, but I structured it so that it should be covered by the FDIC. I plan on calling them later this week after things have settled down a bit. Perhaps I am too trusting.

2Cor521

 

[RunningBum]

Regarding spare coins, those coinstar machines give full value for gift cards at places like Amazon and other retailers. You can see on the machines (and usually online) what cards they'll give, so rather than take the 9% cash penalty, get a card that you know you'll use.

To use my daughter's Target discount, I need to pay cash, so I try to keep some handy. I keep a $20 or two in the car for an emergency (if I need gas and it's not taking my card, for example). Other than that, I don't think about it too much.

 

[Purron]

I keep very little actual cash in my home or wallet. I do have sufficient funds to cover 6 months of living expenses in an insured financial institution.

 

[KB]

I keep between $300 and 500 in a safe.
I'm not concerned. I have less that $100K in any bank.

 

[cletis]

I don't think things will ever get that bad, mostly curious as far as "What if". Not sure where I received the info I have on FDIC, but I believe I was told that yes your insured but theres no telling "When" everyone would get their $ from the gov. if something were to happen. But I haven't really looked into just how FDIC works. Cletis

 

[SecondCor521]

I don't think things will ever get that bad, mostly curious as far as "What if". Not sure where I received the info I have on FDIC, but I believe I was told that yes your insured but theres no telling "When" everyone would get their $ from the gov. if something were to happen. But I haven't really looked into just how FDIC works. Cletis

FWIW, like I mentioned before I have money at IndyMac, which failed last Friday. So far it appears to have been a complete non-event. I logged into my account yesterday afternoon at the same URL, same userid, same password, and my account balance was correct to the penny. I scheduled an ACH pull yesterday (USAA <- Indymac) and everything went fine there.

If one has uninsured deposits, or if we have a whole slew of bank failures, then that would be a little more of an issue. Avoiding the former is trivial with a little bit of research and care. As for the latter, I guess I'm still an incurable optimist in that regard. I tend to think the federal goverment would step in in the unlikely event that the FDIC used up their assets.

2Cor521

 

[Purron]

FWIW, like I mentioned before I have money at IndyMac, which failed last Friday. So far it appears to have been a complete non-event. I logged into my account yesterday afternoon at the same URL, same userid, same password, and my account balance was correct to the penny. I scheduled an ACH pull yesterday (USAA <- Indymac) and everything went fine there.

If one has uninsured deposits, or if we have a whole slew of bank failures, then that would be a little more of an issue. Avoiding the former is trivial with a little bit of research and care. As for the latter, I guess I'm still an incurable optimist in that regard. I tend to think the federal goverment would step in in the unlikely event that the FDIC used up their assets.

2Cor521

Thanks. It's really good to hear from someone who has accounts at IndyMac and know it is a "non event" for the typical depositor. During emotional times like this, your calm voice of reason and experience is most welcome.

 

[SecondCor521]

Glad to help. Of course, I wrote in a different post that maybe I'm naive or too trusting. I doubt it, but it is a possibility.

I do think that in general it's good to have an independent thinking cap on and view the mass media with a bit of healthy skepticism to see if what they're saying makes sense. To me, some of it does, a lot of it doesn't. Almost all of it is biased one way or another.

2Cor521

 

[Sue J]

I start every 2 week pay period with $30 in my wallet. I rarely spend it and usually just give it to hubby when his wallet cash runs out before the 2 weeks is up.

I keep about $300-$350 in cash in the house, stashed away in an unlikely place. I keep small bills so that if someone here needs change for a $20, I have it available. It's nice to have cash handy if we want to go to our town's summer festivals or an airshow or some other event that does not take the debit card.

My stash started out as rebate money and I add to it if I have anything left over from the previous pay period when a new one starts.

We have most of our savings in online savings accounts and more at our local bank. They have a "Gold Savings" that used to pay 4% but now it's down to 2%. I keep it there for the ease of transferring money in and out of the checking accounts. I use a rewards credit card for groceries and gas and when I put something on the rewards card I transfer that amount to the savings until the bill comes.

 

[HFWR]

Usually $20-$100 in my wallet, plus some coins in the can, and a 1/2 tank or more of gas. And a couple of propane tanks...

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Always be prepared..

Amazon.com: "Zombie Survival Kit"

 

[Nanita8140]

1. Being that I live in Fort Lauderdale(hurricane alley), I keep about a $1000 or so at home.

2. I have CD's with less then $100,000. each in different banks(as it should be).

 

[Bimmerbill]

I had $800 until last week when I took it all and deposited it. I heard stories of runs on ATMs and gas stations that couldn't take ATM/credit cards due to commo issues during hurricane evacuations. As a result, lots of people ran out of gas and couldn't evacuate.

I want to be sure I can evacuate/leave, for whatever reason, and have enough cash to get far enough away if needed.

I started stockpiling again, DW found a $100 bill from a few Christmases ago in an old card (pack rat!).

Only bank account I have over 100K in is my TSP. I'm not quite sure what it is, but IRAs have 250K protection limits so hopefully the TSP does too.

 

[USK Coastie]

Just hit the ATM at our local Bank 55 miles away. Usually keep $200-300 around in the safe and spend it $40.00 into the wallet at a time. Once the stash is below $40.00 back to the ATM. Also write down date and amount removed on a piece of paper in the envelope containing the money to track spending. Like: 7-15- 08 -40 160 remaining. Meaning I took $40 from the envelope and put it in my wallet on 7-15-08. Make an ATM withdrawal 2-3 time per year.

Kinda like Dave Ramsey envelope money system but only for my cash needs.

 

[harley]

Always be prepared..

Amazon.com: "Zombie Survival Kit"

Costco - Complete Emergency Preparedness Kit