Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we lived in California, earthquake readiness was a big deal. We were told to always have about $500 in smaller bills in our emergency kit. In an earthquake (and other natural disasters, also), all normal systems could be down. No one is going to take your credit card and people are not going to be giving change.

I’m surprised more people are not aware of preparing for a possible emergency. I was a Girl Scout and an adult leader for many years, so it is second nature to me to plan to be prepared.

The last time we had an earthquake here, there was nowhere near enough damage to take down banking systems, and since we're nowhere near any known faults, I don't think I need to keep cash in the house in case.

when we had an earthquake here in 2011, cell service and cellular data was overwhelmed and no calls could be made for several hours. many ATMs and POS systems rely on cell networks to process transactions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, contrary to what you may believe anonymous is not anonymous. You can be tracked.

The master criminal will have an easier time emptying her bank account then robbing her house.

Anonymous wrote:
How does one get the medication they say to have on hand? My insurance won’t pay for refills until I have run out.

(Sorry, I know this is off topic, but related to disaster prep).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we lived in California, earthquake readiness was a big deal. We were told to always have about $500 in smaller bills in our emergency kit. In an earthquake (and other natural disasters, also), all normal systems could be down. No one is going to take your credit card and people are not going to be giving change.

I’m surprised more people are not aware of preparing for a possible emergency. I was a Girl Scout and an adult leader for many years, so it is second nature to me to plan to be prepared.

The last time we had an earthquake here, there was nowhere near enough damage to take down banking systems, and since we're nowhere near any known faults, I don't think I need to keep cash in the house in case.

Anonymous wrote:OP, contrary to what you may believe anonymous is not anonymous. You can be tracked.

Anonymous wrote:

I’m surprised more people are not aware of preparing for a possible emergency. I was a Girl Scout and an adult leader for many years, so it is second nature to me to plan to be prepared.

This.

We're not talking about preparing for the apocalypse, so $10k+ is likely unnecessary (and also likely not covered by insurance in the event of a house fire/flood/etc.). We're talking about survivng for a few days during a possible temporary interruption of banking services due to power or equipment failures, bank account compromise, banking errors, natural disasters, etc. It is definitely a good idea to have enough cash for 3-5 days' worth of food, housing (hotel, etc.), clothing, and limited transportation for you and your family. For most people, this is probably in the $1-5k range.

I don't understand people who don't carry cash. If you prefer to pay by credit card (etc.) for regular transactions, that is fine, but not having any cash seems like a personal safety issue in the event of a mugging (etc.), and also a risk in the event of an interruption in payment systems. Everyone should have $50-150 in cash at all times, in addition to whatever one would normally need for regular
spending.

Anonymous wrote:When we lived in California, earthquake readiness was a big deal. We were told to always have about $500 in smaller bills in our emergency kit. In an earthquake (and other natural disasters, also), all normal systems could be down. No one is going to take your credit card and people are not going to be giving change.

I’m surprised more people are not aware of preparing for a possible emergency. I was a Girl Scout and an adult leader for many years, so it is second nature to me to plan to be prepared.

How does one get the medication they say to have on hand? My insurance won’t pay for refills until I have run out.

(Sorry, I know this is off topic, but related to disaster prep).

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to have enough to cover 6 months of your living expenses.

I would say 3 minimum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we lived in California, earthquake readiness was a big deal. We were told to always have about $500 in smaller bills in our emergency kit. In an earthquake (and other natural disasters, also), all normal systems could be down. No one is going to take your credit card and people are not going to be giving change.

I’m surprised more people are not aware of preparing for a possible emergency. I was a Girl Scout and an adult leader for many years, so it is second nature to me to plan to be prepared.

The last time we had an earthquake here, there was nowhere near enough damage to take down banking systems, and since we're nowhere near any known faults, I don't think I need to keep cash in the house in case.

You do understand that there are other types of natural disasters, depending on what part of the country you’re in? PP was just saying that their awareness of needing to keep cash in the house was raised when living in California.

If some kind of natural disaster happens and you are not prepared, I guess you’ll find out whether or not it would have been a good idea to keep some amount of cash in the house.