Keeping emergency cash at home

[Splash]

Only whatever happens to be in DH and my wallets which isn't much.

Sounds like a good idea though so I will be giving some thought to how much money, gas, and food to keep on hand for an emergency.

 

[scrabbler1]

Several years ago a windstorm knocked out power for three days. The local Quickie Mart was open for business, cash only, since all the electronic stuff needed to process credit cards did not work. Other small business were in the same boat - cash or no-sale.

Since then I keep a few hundred, max, in cash to buy odds and ends I might need.

The 2 times I have lost power in the last 30 years were the 2003 blackout and 2012's Hurricane Sandy.

The blackout was broad but in my area, brief, only 7 hours. I needed to buy a butane lighter to light my candles. The local mini-mart was open but took only cash. The lighter cost 75 cents. With Sandy, I lost power for 60 hours but the outages were very scattered. My ladyfriend, who lives only a few blocks from me, had power, landline phone, and internet but no cable TV (different provider at the time), so I moved in with her temporarily. I had some cash, but I didn't need to buy anything in those 2 1/2 days.

 

[candrew]

how much emergency cash do you have stashed in the house.

I'll let you know after looking under the cushions of our living room sofa....

 

[audreyh1]

Several years ago a windstorm knocked out power for three days. The local Quickie Mart was open for business, cash only, since all the electronic stuff needed to process credit cards did not work. Other small business were in the same boat - cash or no-sale.

Since then I keep a few hundred, max, in cash to buy odds and ends I might need.

This is the scenario I keep cash around for. Just to cover needs for maybe a week or two in case of multi-day power outage due to hurricane or whatever.

 

[jollystomper]

Anywhere from $20-$100. We have enough freezer food and canned goods to last us several weeks. I'm not too concerned about not being able to buy food. I would be more concerned about not being able to buy gas.

I'm trying to recall, I think in all of the areas we have lived, 3 days was the longest we and the surrounding community lost power. Even in those cases we could get to an area with power in less than 2 hours if needed, so it was more an inconvenience that a problem.

 

[Cobra9777]

I grew up on the Gulf coast. As a kid in the 60s, I can remember filling up both bathtubs with water right before hurricanes made landfall. It was not unusual to go 2-3 weeks or more with no utilities of any kind. We also stocked up on candles, canned and dry food, fuel for the camp stove, gas for the cars and chainsaw, cigarettes for the grown-ups, and yes, cash.

Here in my little patch of suburban North Texas, power outages are extremely rare and extended outages are almost unheard of. In the last 40 years, I can't ever remember being without water, sewage, or natural gas. Still, I have a specific jacket in my closet with $300 cash in the inside pocket. Just in case. Although it gets pilfered fairly frequently when I don't feel like driving 3 minutes to the ATM at CVS. I think it's sub $200 at this writing.

And yes, $300 is plenty for the reasons donheff stated:

I usually have about $300. If something happened to make cash unavailable for an extended period of time I'm not sure how valuable cash would be. Possibly sky high, possibly worthless.

 

[RobbieB]

A couple of grand in Benjamin's stored in the gun safe.

 

[Dtail]

Probably true in Toronto. Thankfully, not all of us live in Toronto.
Meanwhile, lots of regular Canadian homes house gunowners. Including mine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country

As I finding out, many in Florida own guns. Perhaps that is why everyone is nice to each other.

 

[Seagirt]

I hid $200 emergency fund in case I lost my wallet/power outage/disaster.

I found a hiding place I felt confident a burglar wouldn't find.

Wish I could remember where it was.

 

[Walt34]

Depending on what's in our wallets, $600 to maybe $800, plus a few loaded guns.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

A few hundred dollars. Many thousands rounds of 45 ACP.

I can tell you are a traditionalist.

 

[MRG]

I can tell you are a traditionalist.

Well you know there's barter or shooting for fun. We have a few 1911s[emoji41]. One 10mm NIB never been fired.

 

[powerplay]

I keep some cash on hand and an assortment of small bills seems good. In my area "the big one" as in earthquake is the disaster we keep hearing is going to happen sometime. No guns or ammo at my house so I would have to purchase or trade for what I may need in an emergency.

 

[Car-Guy]

Well you know there's barter or shooting for fun. We have a few 1911s[emoji41]. One 10mm NIB never been fired.

+1 on the 1911's. I have 2 series 70's Gold Cups. Looks like they could both be NIB's, except I do shoot them from time to time. Pic's on request!

 

[VanWinkle]

Golf winnings of 20-50 bucks, wife has bingo winnings of 300-500. Maybe I should start playing bingo instead of golf

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

As I finding out, many in Florida own guns. Perhaps that is why everyone is nice to each other.

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." - Robert A. Heinlein

 

[Gumby]

+1 on the 1911's. I have 2 series 70's Gold Cups. Looks like they could both be NIB's, except I do shoot them from time to time. Pic's on request!

This is the one I have. https://www.m1911.org/prodte26.htm

 

[retired1]

I keep $100-$150 on me (wallet) all the time just in case an emergency strikes (Taxi for example). At home, I try to keep $1K cash. It irks me if money is not working for me

 

[Car-Guy]

This is the one I have. https://www.m1911.org/prodte26.htm

Cool, not Gold Cups but any series 70's are nice. There's nothing like the workmanship of Colt firearms back in the later 60's to early 70's. I do have two blued "original" series 70's in 38 Super made back in the early 70's too that look like the ones in your link. Excellent guns.

 

[MRG]

Cool, not Gold Cups but any series 70's are nice. There's nothing like the workmanship of Colt firearms back in the later 60's to early 70's. I do have two blued "original" series 70's in 38 Super made back in the early 70's too that look like the ones in your link. Excellent guns.

Oh! I really wanted to do a 38 Super when DW ordered her Wilson in 9mm. I'm glad she's happy with the 9, but having an extra barrel in 38 Super would have been fun.[emoji1]

Two Wilsons in our house and we really appreciate the work that goes into them. I've said before I think I could shoot rock from the barrel of the 45 one day and match the next. They just eat anything and hit where they tell you, every time.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

$2K now, behind electronic and manual locks along with the passports and deeds and titles. It had been $1K, but after getting a few percent cash discount for a couple of home improvement projects, I decided it might be good to be able to pay cash for slightly larger projects, in addition to keeping it around in case of emergencies and natural disasters. But lately I've dipped into it as a "life happens" fund, in order to pay for some unexpected expenses without pulling back on anything else (like saving for retirement) or selling off investments. I'll probably have it topped off again by the end of the year.

 

[RobbieB]

I have one of those toys too;

Les Baer Premier II

 

[kimcdougc]

Rather not say here but enough to get out of town.

 

[gcgang]

Poker cash=$2,000-5,000.

 

[Car-Guy]

Oh! I really wanted to do a 38 Super when DW ordered her Wilson in 9mm. I'm glad she's happy with the 9, but having an extra barrel in 38 Super would have been fun.[emoji1]

OK, all this talk about 45's and 38 supers made me pull mine out to "look" at them again. I don't think I've picked them up in 6 mos or so. Here's a pic taken ~5 mins ago. The 2 on top are early 1970's series 70 Gold Cups and the 2 on the bottom are series 70's 38 Supers.

Sorry, we seem to be a bit off topic,,, but.....