My wallet was stolen from me recently. I was pickpocketed in the plain of day in the middle of crowds in an urban transit station. I didn’t hear, feel or notice a thing. Suffice it to say, this identity theft can obviously happen to anyone.
Luckily, I’d previously heeded the good advice of not keeping all your cards in your wallet. Even still, it’s an incredible, debilitating, demoralizing hassle to lose all the cards that you use on an everyday basis (and more!). I was left in the middle of an urban centre with no way of getting home or even buying a coffee so that I could sit down and think. But I did have my cell phone on me. And the transit personnel allowed me a free ride back home.
I thought I should share with you some of my lessons – all quickly learned (and relearned?) within an intense 24-hour period. What helped most of all was my emergency envelope at home. It could have been better, though. Here’s what would have been really nice to have.
Why You Should Ideally Have 4 Emergency Funds
Must-Have Items In Emergency Envelope
.
You can keep all of this in one envelope or box or tin if you like, or perhaps you’d feel more comfortable separating these items. But I’d consider all of these things to be your “SOL” stash – if your bag/purse or wallet is stolen or you’re mugged, at least you’ll have this.
Enough cash for a week.
It’s going to take 7-10 business days to receive your new cards in the mail (unless you can walk into a branch right away and get a new temporary one – you’ll need some other ID, though). Plus, a week is a good chunk of time to ensure that you’ll be able to tide yourself over until things get back to normal. Perhaps 7 days is on the excessive side – you can decide. But I’d like to know that I had at least enough money to tide me over not only for the basic groceries and supplies, but also other unexpected contingencies and/or bills that come up during that week you have to live without your identity cards.
No Emergency Fund Yet? Invest In Dividends As a Bridge
An extra transit card, bus pass or set of keys to your car.
This is especially important if you live alone and rely on public transit. You’ll need a way to get around again. In my case, I had left my transit card in my wallet, so I had no way of getting back home. And once I was home, I had no way of getting around again to get to a Western Union for an emergency money transfer. I’d imagine the same is true for car owners – a second set of keys can obviously be very important.
The credit card you don’t use, but keep for emergencies.
A really important point about keeping your extra credit card: keep the expiry date valid! Make a note of the expiry date and write it on the front of the envelope if that helps. There’s no use finding yourself in a situation where you think you can rely on this card, only to find that you let it expire three months ago!
A secondary form of photo ID.
This will be especially helpful if you need to get to Western Union or some other PayDay agency for cashing a check. It could also help in establishing and getting your other forms of ID reissued wherever there is doubt.
A debit/ATM card from a different financial institution.
If there was ever a good reason to keep two different bank accounts, this is it. Keep your main, active one in your wallet, but keep a separate emergency checking or savings account at a second institution. This could be a lifesaver if your wallet is stolen. If you live and work in two different countries, this can also save you because someone at home can deposit money into your secondary account and you can still receive it instantly through the international debit networks (Cirrus, Plus systems).
Things You Should Have In Case You Get Locked Out of Your Apartment
These aren’t the only steps that you’ll need to take to get your ID back on track and protect your credit, etc., but these are a must-have foundation for getting back on your feet. They can save you time and a lot of stress.
It can be surprisingly traumatic to have one’s personal property stolen or to feel one has been a victim of a crime without one’s knowing it. Save yourself added stress by taking these precautions in advance. You can’t predict or ever fully prevent becoming a victim of theft, but you can control your ability to respond to it.
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life
If you liked this article, please retweet it on Twitter or consider linking to it from your site. I’d also love it if you subscribe to my RSS feed for free tips and posts like this one delivered right to your reader or by email (posts are not for duplication).
Related Posts - Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life - by Neil Strauss (Review)
- Money Lessons Applied to Life: How To Build Your Mental Emergency Fund
- How To Get Ready For Double-Digit Inflation
- Here's Why You Should Ideally Have Four Emergency Funds
- Carnival of Cashflow Consciousness #2 - "80's Yuppies" Edition: I Just Can't Get Enough
Related Articles From Other Websites
-
{ 5 comments }
Sorry to hear about that… that is demoralizing to say the least.
Amen to all of the preparation you’ve done. Having a cash stash is something I do… It gives me peace of mind. I must say I’m guilty of not having duplicates of everything.. but so far I’ve been pretty lucky with not being ripped off.. good points!
@Monty – lucky might be the right word indeed. It’s good to have photocopies, of course, but photocopies will not help you in the very immediate term – just extra cash and a real, secondary piece of photo ID that is kept at home.
Keep things like library cards and video rental (if anyone still does that) cards, etc., at home until you know you’ll be using them. These may not be life and death matters, but still a big hassle to replace and repair your account if they are abused.
And if you’re in a crowded place, or walking alone at night in an urban area, don’t keep earphones or earplugs in your ears and don’t walk while talking on cell phones – you’ll be very distracted and less aware of your surroundings, even if you think you’re paying attention.
But then what if someone steals your emergency envelope, since your likely rarely checking on it. Do you have an emergency emergency envelope if this has happened and you find out after your wallet has been stolen? I personally rent 14 storage units in separate parts of the country, each is stocked with emergency credit cards, cash, guns, food, and bottled water. I feel pretty safe with this, but I’m contemplating a 15th. You know, just in case…
Lol @ Jeff.
In some cases, I have contemplated having a storage shed somewhere with all sorts of emergency supplies. Perhaps it would house a 4WD vehicle with most of the emergency supplies already in the back of it. As an added precaution, you would rent this shed under an alias and keep it secret. When the time comes, you park your car inside and drive off to your escape destination. You may also need to have the car/insurance under someone else’s name (perhaps you can arrange to have a lawyer generate a shell company to pay for your vehicle and storage shed).
Seriously though, the envelope is a good idea. I keep my passport and $500 in an envelope in a fire proof safe that I have. My bank also allows me to maintain multiple accounts and transfer funds between them. I maintain a savings, a “bill pay”, and a “daily” account. I carry the “daily” card around with me and leave the others at home.
I also keep a spare house key hidden with a trusted neighbor. This works better than hiding it at my house. If someone finds the key at the neighbor’s, they will think that it belongs to the neighbor’s house.
As another precaution, hidden inside the vehicle is a spare key to the vehicle. Sure, I may be locked out of the vehicle, but if a way can be found to enter the vehicle (locksmith or broken window), I can retrieve the key and be on my way. I would store more backups (extra debit card, cash, or house keys) but I would be concerned about leaving those type of things in a vehicle that could be stolen. Suppose they steal it, and while parting it out a few days later, they find the house keys? My address is on the registration/insurance, so finding a house key would be a bonus.
@John – :) Some good ideas there. I like the way you have separated your bank accounts. In fact one of my biggest tips would be to keep an extra bank card at home that is linked through to a different account than the main one, preferably even with a different institution (in case your bank shuts online banking, etc. while you wait for your new card, or some similar scenario).
Comments on this entry are closed.