How much cash should you keep in your house for emergencies?

[Anonymous]

i've talked to people who keep anywhere from $500 to $10,000 on hand. It seems a bit much to me since I rarely carry any cash on my person. Should i really have a stockpile of paper notes in my house in case of local, regional or global calamity?

[Anonymous]

what good is cash going to do for any of us in case of calamity?

[Anonymous]

Shot guns and canned food will be the only currency that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what good is cash going to do for any of us in case of calamity?

Years ago when the derecho hit lots of places didn’t have power and could only take cash.

Still we *may* have a few hundred at most. We don’t keep a lot of cash on hand.

[Anonymous]

Stockpile? No.

Maybe $200-$1000 in mixed denominations? Not a bad idea, as long as you remember where you’ve stashed it. : )

[Anonymous]

I generally think in terms of having about three days' worth of expenses. Which is to say, what I would expect to spend in three days in an extreme weather event or such for minimal food, lodging, gas, clothing, etc. Normally, in such events, it takes about three days for government and private aid to arrive, so this seems to be sufficient. I'd think that $1-2k per person would be entirely sufficient (less for larger families and more for a single person). This would also be sufficient for temporary use in the event of a banking system failure or something similar.

My thinking extends to the idea that, in any event that lasts longer than a few days, cash won't help (there will be nothing to buy, anyway).

Obviously, consider your location and proximity of family and friends. I'd want more in a coastal or flood-prone area or less in a safe area with nearby (but not too near) family who would be able/willing to provide housing in the event of an evacuation.

I'm not a beliver in keeping guns at home or storing months' or years' worth of food. If things get that bad, just shoot me now and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Also, consider your renter's or homeowner's insurance's limit on cash stored at home. It is usually in the $500-$1k range. You would lose anything more than that if your house burned down.

[Anonymous]

We got $1000 before Y2K (yeah, I'm old), and it wasn't needed. That cash is long gone, we don't keep cash on hand at home

[Anonymous]

$0

But since covid we have kept a little more food than needed as we now like going to the store just once a week instead of once a day or two.

[Anonymous]

I was given a $100 bill several years ago. I keep that on hand, along with some random $20s from the ATM that I use occasionally for tips and other payments, then replenish.

[Anonymous]

Probably a couple hundred. It’s less for emergencies and more for random things that pop up.

[Anonymous]

usually a few thousand, one never knows if a really sweet engine or some mid-century chairs will pop up on facebook marketplace over a bank holiday.

[Anonymous]

Whatever cash my kids have accumulated from allowance and babysitting and whatever is usually the only cash we have either on hand or in the house.

[Anonymous]

I have $9 in cash. That’s all that’s in my wallet. I keep a jar full of change and thats’s probably worth $15 at this point.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have more than $1, but I should have around $50-$100 in case of massive power failure.