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Forum Thread

How much emergency money do you keep?

8,038 649 March 25, 2011 at 07:56 PM in Question
Just wondering approximately how much cash people keep on hand in the event of an emergency…

not talking about the 20 behind your drivers liscense…


i am referring to the money burried in your sock drawer, under your mattress, in a box in the back yard etc..


they money you keep on hand for the earthquake, flood, riot, hurricane, etc…


I am refreshing my emergency supplies and just am not sure if I have enough cash on hand (yes I am making sure i have it in smaller bills so i can make change in the event others cant)

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Joined Oct 2006
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Demosthenes9
03-26-2011 at 12:28 AM.
03-26-2011 at 12:28 AM.
Quote from pricelessC :
Dick watches TV on the couch
Dick complains about the house on his couch
Dicks falls asleep on the couch

and for some reason, Dick is surpised that Jane wants a divorce!

You left off the most important thing:

Dick enjoys the beer and and sandwich that Jane brought him while he was on the couch.



Big Grin
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Joined May 2004
Redneck with a computer
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ericcartman
03-26-2011 at 12:39 AM.
03-26-2011 at 12:39 AM.
Quote from lowpro :
http://www.ready.gov/
Don't forget the guns & ammo. You might need to hunt for food or defend yourself. In an emergency, ammo could be used for currency. .22s come in real handy to stockpile.

Quote from PaintTheSkyGrey :
Quote from pricelessC :
so which is better? cash or a stockpile?
If you have to evacuate then cash...but if you can bunker down, then it's a stockpile.
Both...

You don't know what you're gonna be able to do, or if you're even gonna be able to come back to your stockpile.
Exactly, and you might want to consider having items stashed elsewhere if possible too. Say at your office/desk at work, a vacation home, or at friend/family homes.

Quote from z2g :
We generally have around $50k-100k in cash between our personal and business bank accounts. That'll change soon though since we're in the process of refinancing.

At home, we usually have $1k-3k cash in our home safe.
Amount in the bank is irrelevant in an emergency. If there's no power for ATMs or the banks aren't open, your SOL.

Quote from z2g :
Yes.....and celery.Big Grin
Good point, better make sure your stocked up on celery too. laugh out loud

Quote from nutter218 :
How do you store the water? I mean we have 5 gallon jugs but they're "in the way" I can't imagine 12 of them just sitting in a room with your other supplies. Unless they're half liter bottles.

p.s. i can't determine whether you really have this much supplies or you're just saying it.
Almost everyone has a stockpile of water in their water heater. For example I have a 50 gallon water heater, that plus a few jugs of bottled water would last a while. Just remember to turn off the supply going into the heater in case the outside water supply is contaminated and the electricity or gas that heats the water. Then all you have to do is connect a hose to the drain and open the pressure valve to get water out.
Of course for those of you that have a tank-less water heater, you're pretty much out of luck.
Quote from IVIal :
None.

What exactly kind of "emergency" are you guys preparing for?
That's certainly going to depend on where you live. What types of weather and possible natural disasters happen in your area? General emergency prep will be fairly similar no matter what you may encounter but there may be other "specialty" items you may need. For example, if you live in a flood prone area, you may want an inflatable raft. Or if you live in an area that gets ice storms or hurricanes that knock out power for days/weeks at a time you'll want a larger stockpile of items.
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pricelessC
03-26-2011 at 12:41 AM.
03-26-2011 at 12:41 AM.
Quote from Demosthenes9 :
You left off the most important thing:

Dick enjoys the beer and and sandwich that Jane brought him while he was on the couch.



Big Grin

It depend on your priorities. Are you okay w/Jane brining a beer to Dick while he sits on the couch and she thinks of the best way to leave him??

How about this?

Dick sits on the couch
Jane tries to speak to him about how he's a douchebag,
Dick shuts her up before she speaks asking her where is his "sammich"
In the morning Dick has no coffee
Dick has no wife
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Last edited by pricelessC March 26, 2011 at 12:52 AM.
Joined Jan 2010
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pricelessC
03-26-2011 at 12:56 AM.
03-26-2011 at 12:56 AM.
Quote from pricelessC :
It depend on your priorities. Are you okay w/Jane brining a beer to Dick while he sits on the couch and she thinks of the best way to leave him??

How about this?

Dick sits on the couch
Jane tries to speak to him about how he's a douche-bag,
Dick shuts her up before she speaks asking her where is his "sammich"
In the morning Dick has no coffee
Dick has no wife
What too rough?Dontknow
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Joined Nov 2007
Finish Him!
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sublevel
03-26-2011 at 01:17 AM.
03-26-2011 at 01:17 AM.
You think physical money is going to be worth something if a serious emergency happens?

Its all about Survival of the Fittest and money has nothing to do with it, chief.
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Joined Jan 2010
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pricelessC
03-26-2011 at 01:27 AM.
03-26-2011 at 01:27 AM.
Quote from sublevel :
You think physical money is going to be worth something if a serious emergency happens?

Its all about Survival of the Fittest and money has nothing to do with it, chief.
It depends on the emergency. If it is something major, that effects the whole nation, then no, the amount of cash will probably only help you out a little.

BUT, I can see how in the event of a crisis, where you just need to get out of town. Cash would help you out. It would get you to the check point.

As I mentioned before I think it is about moderation, and what you are comfortable with.
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Joined Nov 2007
Finish Him!
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sublevel
03-26-2011 at 01:36 AM.
03-26-2011 at 01:36 AM.
Quote from pricelessC :
It depends on the emergency. If it is something major, that effects the whole nation, then no, the amount of cash will probably only help you out a little.

BUT, I can see how in the event of a crisis, where you just need to get out of town. Cash would help you out. It would get you to the check point.

As I mentioned before I think it is about moderation, and what you are comfortable with.
As long as I can breath air and drink water I will be fine. If there is seriously a major emergency I will be fine with my knife and survival pack.
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Maleficent
03-26-2011 at 02:56 AM.
03-26-2011 at 02:56 AM.
Quote from ericcartman :
That's certainly going to depend on where you live. What types of weather and possible natural disasters happen in your area? General emergency prep will be fairly similar no matter what you may encounter but there may be other "specialty" items you may need. For example, if you live in a flood prone area, you may want an inflatable raft. Or if you live in an area that gets ice storms or hurricanes that knock out power for days/weeks at a time you'll want a larger stockpile of items.
Yeah I don't really get much of any of that. No hurricanes, no flooding, I'm 1,000+ miles away from the nearest ocean. Rarely ever see tornadoes. Occasional snowstorm but I can't remember the last time anything caused a power outage for more than a couple hours. I guess I'd be more concerned about it if we had more natural disasters here. Dontknow
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drsketch
03-26-2011 at 05:53 AM.
03-26-2011 at 05:53 AM.
about 5k liquid is sufficient
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Joined Jul 2004
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Scampsters
03-26-2011 at 06:08 AM.
03-26-2011 at 06:08 AM.
It doesnt matter the zombies will eat your brains anyway.
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cupcake42
03-26-2011 at 06:25 AM.
03-26-2011 at 06:25 AM.
Quote from Scampsters :
It doesnt matter the zombies will eat your brains anyway.
You assume OP has a brain.
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PaintTheSkyGrey
03-26-2011 at 07:12 AM.
03-26-2011 at 07:12 AM.
Quote from IVIal :
Yeah I don't really get much of any of that. No hurricanes, no flooding, I'm 1,000+ miles away from the nearest ocean. Rarely ever see tornadoes. Occasional snowstorm but I can't remember the last time anything caused a power outage for more than a couple hours. I guess I'd be more concerned about it if we had more natural disasters here. Dontknow
It's not just about natural disasters directly affecting you. If something like what happened in Japan occurred here, do you think Americans would react as calmly and rationally? Katrina says "Hell no."

When people are looting, robbing, raping, and pillaging because a certain section of the population believes it's the rapture, apocalypse, end times, etc... You're not gonna just be able to run to the store to get basic supplies.

As for the zombie talk earlier, I feel it's necessary to point out that many people talk about zombies, but it can be used as an allegory for any type of disaster/civil disturbance. If you're prepared to face hordes of the brain-eating walking dead, you should be able to have a cogent enough plan to survive most things.
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z2g
03-26-2011 at 10:37 AM.
03-26-2011 at 10:37 AM.
Quote from ericcartman :


Amount in the bank is irrelevant in an emergency. If there's no power for ATMs or the banks aren't open, your SOL.
The cash in the bank is for our business cash flow and "rainy day" fund/buffer. The buffer is for when money is tight, if we were suddenly unemployed, or other emergencies. The money we have in our safe is more like for disasters where banks are closed and electricity/utilities is out all over the city or area.

But, as others have stated, money isn't that important with such disasters like what is happening now in Japan. You need food and water to live. That's why we always have a stockpile of non-perishable food (canned foods and, since we're Asian, A LOT of instant noodles) and water in our garage and basement. Also, in my home, we have an extra fridge and a separate freezer in our garage. And, it's full of food too.

So, in the event of such disasters, we would go through our perishable food in the fridge and freezer first. Then, we would then go through the non-perishable foods and rice that we always have. We should have enough to last us a month or two at the least.
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ericcartman
03-26-2011 at 11:10 AM.
03-26-2011 at 11:10 AM.
Quote from IVIal :
Quote from ericcartman :
That's certainly going to depend on where you live. What types of weather and possible natural disasters happen in your area? General emergency prep will be fairly similar no matter what you may encounter but there may be other "specialty" items you may need. For example, if you live in a flood prone area, you may want an inflatable raft. Or if you live in an area that gets ice storms or hurricanes that knock out power for days/weeks at a time you'll want a larger stockpile of items.
Yeah I don't really get much of any of that. No hurricanes, no flooding, I'm 1,000+ miles away from the nearest ocean. Rarely ever see tornadoes. Occasional snowstorm but I can't remember the last time anything caused a power outage for more than a couple hours. I guess I'd be more concerned about it if we had more natural disasters here. Dontknow
I meant to mention that "general emergency prep" applies to everybody. It's not just natural disasters you have to worry about. What about industrial accidents or even terrorist attacks? Honestly, it sounds like we are in similar situations weather-wise, except I'm more like 200 miles away from the ocean.
But the bottom line is, whatever level of preparedness you feel comfortable with and are able to do, that's what you should do. It's not going to be the same for everybody.

Quote from PaintTheSkyGrey :
It's not just about natural disasters directly affecting you. If something like what happened in Japan occurred here, do you think Americans would react as calmly and rationally? Katrina says "Hell no."

When people are looting, robbing, raping, and pillaging because a certain section of the population believes it's the rapture, apocalypse, end times, etc... You're not gonna just be able to run to the store to get basic supplies.

As for the zombie talk earlier, I feel it's necessary to point out that many people talk about zombies, but it can be used as an allegory for any type of disaster/civil disturbance. If you're prepared to face hordes of the brain-eating walking dead, you should be able to have a cogent enough plan to survive most things.
Exactly.
Did you, by chance, catch last week's episode of "Shooting Gallery" on The Outdoor Channel? They did a zombie defense scenario, which put some basic techniques in a (somewhat) practical application.

Quote from z2g :
The cash in the bank is for our business cash flow and "rainy day" fund/buffer. The buffer is for when money is tight, if we were suddenly unemployed, or other emergencies. The money we have in our safe is more like for disasters where banks are closed and electricity/utilities is out all over the city or area.

But, as others have stated, money isn't that important with such disasters like what is happening now in Japan. You need food and water to live. That's why we always have a stockpile of non-perishable food (canned foods and, since we're Asian, A LOT of instant noodles) and water in our garage and basement. Also, in my home, we have an extra fridge and a separate freezer in our garage. And, it's full of food too.

So, in the event of such disasters, we would go through our perishable food in the fridge and freezer first. Then, we would then go through the non-perishable foods and rice that we always have. We should have enough to last us a month or two at the least.
I get what you're saying, money in the bank for personal emergencies vs cash at home for "crap hits the fan" emergencies that effect everyone.

Going back to the OP's original question, another thing folks might want to consider when keeping cash at home is your homeowner insurance. I just got my renewal and was looking at limits, I only have coverage for $200 cash. I usually carry more than that in my pocket on a daily basis, not counting my stash at home.
I also have a $10,000 limit on firearms, which isn't nearly enough. laugh out loud
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z2g
03-26-2011 at 11:34 AM.
03-26-2011 at 11:34 AM.
Quote from ericcartman :


I get what you're saying, money in the bank for personal emergencies vs cash at home for "crap hits the fan" emergencies that effect everyone.

Going back to the OP's original question, another thing folks might want to consider when keeping cash at home is your homeowner insurance. I just got my renewal and was looking at limits, I only have coverage for $200 cash. I usually carry more than that in my pocket on a daily basis, not counting my stash at home.
I also have a $10,000 limit on firearms, which isn't nearly enough. laugh out loud
That's the one thing I think we need......a gun or rifle. But, since we have kids, my wife is scared to have any type of gun in the house.
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