Do you have enough cash on hand for an emergency? While it depends on the emergency, if there’s no electricity so there’s no access to the internet and, therefore, your debit and credit cards, you might consider keeping a small stash in your home and even in your car.
Consider, for example, you’re away from home and the electricity goes out so gas stations and convenience stores will demand cash (assuming the gas station has a backup generator and can pump gas). Will you have enough cash to buy enough gas to get home? What about food for the road while getting home? Or will you have to resort to washing dishes in return for food?
Consider what you’d do if the electricity went out for several days or a week and stores required cash. How much will you need to feed your family and pets? It could be hundreds of dollars. And if stores are like farmers’ market these days, practicing “safe distancing with cash”, you will have to be able to “make change” or expect to not get any in return. Smaller denominations will be important.
One suggestion is that you calculate your gas and grocery bills for a month and keep at least that much on hand. Some would suggest you keep two times that amount if you can afford it. Keep mostly bills of $1, $5 and $10. Dealing with larger denomination bills will be a challenge for many vendors. To keep from raiding your stash you might want to “vacuum pack” it or store it in such a way that it will be safe from routine “pilfering” and to keep it from being damaged by humidity. Make a note in your cellphone contact list noting where you stashed the cash if it’s not in your fireproof safe. (We’ll talk about keeping valuables safe in a safe in another article.) You might want to vacuum pack $100 of small bills and hide that someplace in your vehicle(s) for gas money just in case.