Comments on: Five Things You Should Have In Your Emergency Cash Stash at Home

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:11:12 +0000

@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).

By: John

John — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:54:19 +0000

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.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:22:50 +0000

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…

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:12:04 +0000

@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.

By: CanadianMoneyAdvisor

CanadianMoneyAdvisor — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:38:57 +0000

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!