In light of all that has transpired these past few weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss emergency preparedness. This is something that P and I have thought about and discussed at length these past few months.
After yesterday's post, you guys brought up some great points. While acknowledging that we don't have control, most of you agreed that we should do something, that we should prepare, while not allowing this type of situation to consume us. Lets be honest, when the sh&t hits the fan, we are not going to simply care for ourselves, but our neghibors, family, and friends. Cell and internet(technology)service could go down at a moments notice, and we will need to be prepared to help ourselves, and our community.This was a great reminder, especially for someone like me. I know myself, and if I were to go down that road, I know that preparation could consume me.
In the event of a natural disaster, the Federal government suggests we be prepared to care for ourselves for a minimum of three days. Given the state of our government and how inept many of our politicians are, it is my belief that we need to be prepared for longer than three days. The people who were in the path of hurricanes Katrina and Sandy had to wait for help for much longer than three days. P was actually in New Jersey after Sandy, and saw first hand the choas, destruction, and need in the following days. If it were a man made disaster, I fear that response time could be even longer.
The first step in our emergency preparedness plan is to have a cash reserve at our disposal. If or when something happens, we don't believe that paypal, bitcoin, or our debit cards are going to get us anything, especially if power is lost for several days.
We have a steady amount of cash on hand. We feel like it is enough to see us through several weeks. It could pay for a hotel room, food, gas, or supplies if necessary. Just enough to provide the bare minimum.
Please know, that we are not going down the path of Armageddon here. We are simply trying to take precautions to ensure that if a disaster occurred, that we would be able to provide for ourselves if necessary.
How much cash do y'all think a family should have on hand in case of an emergency? Do you think cash will buy anything in an emergency situation?
4 comments:
This is definitely interesting to me. I never have any cash on hand. Just the trusty emergency plastic :-) I have been thinking about how uncertain our online world is. Especially with all the recent cyber attacks on banks. I think keeping some cash on hand is a good idea. But, my mind does go to Armageddon, at which point I'm not sure paper money would be of much use either...but it would definitely be a start, and probably work in a short term emergency. Good food for thought!
We have a little cash on hand but not much. It's enough for bare emergencies.We try to be prepared and have enough food, water and other supplies at home too.
Right now I have next to no cash on hand... it's all in my bank. lol! But yes, I think everyone should have a good stock of cash/food on hand. I definitely need to get a water stash, etc.. as well. I'm not sure how much cash i'd want to have on hand, not a *tonne* but probably around $1K'ish "just in case" I guess.
we don't keep cash, but its something to consider. you make excellent points. although j would say that gold/bit coins would be more useful. personally i think if cash isn't useful, then the only things that would be are food/water/ammo
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