Every Prepper Needs to
Stockpile Emergency Cash

As important as food, water, and weapons are when preparing, having a stash of emergency cash is just as vital.

You know life is unpredictable. Cars break down for many reasons — yes, that car that you need to get to work every day. Do you have the cash to fix it? Children get sick or hurt. Medications get more expensive every day, as well as medical care. Not to mention the possibility of a long term disaster without food or water. Cash is still the best barter item, along with precious metals.

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According to a recent survey released by Bankrate, a very significant minority of Americans do not have the emergency savings to take care of a crisis that costs around $1000. How do people handle unexpected expenses?

Without an emergency fund, you are one missed paycheck from disaster. That's why it’s so incredibly important to always have a stash of emergency cash on hand.

Here’s what the experts recommend:

Have enough cash on hand to cover one month of living expenses. This is different for everyone — some may need $3,000 to survive for a month, while others need $10,000. Determine what’s realistic for your family
Don’t keep it all in $100 bills. You want to have a few bills of each denomination, with the majority of your money being in $20s. This will make it easier to spend if an emergency does arise
Don’t keep it all in one place. Split the money up in various places around your home. Keep half in the basement and half in the attic, or even half at your office, if that’s a safe option.

Where Will You Stash Your Cash?

This is where creativity comes in. You must store your cash as inconspicuously as possible; somewhere where it isn't easily accessible or identified. Never keep your emergency cash stored anywhere in a master bedroom — that’s the first place criminals go when they break into a house.

Possible examples:

A small fireproof safe inside an old box in your basement or attic that’s marked “winter clothes” or “painting supplies.”
Store inside a thermos or stainless steel water bottle buried in your camping gear.
Store in an empty freeze dried food can and put on the shelf with the unopened food.
A decoy safe, slightly hidden, with a little cash, some worthless jewelry and maybe an old gun.

The more creative you are, the safer your cash may be.

Amazon has pages of ideas for hidden safes. In browsing through these, I found many of them to be very creative. Now, if I could just decide which one or ones would be the best for us.....

A SentrySafe Fireproof Waterproof Safe, which I recommend, has five live-locking bolts and four deadbolts with a digital keypad.

Another of my favorite options is to hide your cash in plain sight by using a wall safe that’s disguised as a picture frame or an electrical box.

However you decide to store your cash is, obviously, up to you, but the most important thing is that you start building up your emergency stash today. If one day you turn on the news and discover the banks are closed and ATMs have run dry, or your car breaks down, you’ll be grateful that you planned ahead.