Keeping Cash at Home

Hi everyone! I know a lot of preppers who are keeping tons of cash under their mattress or in a box in the clost. I would never because I would not want to get robbed! I once know a survivalist who did this and his trailer burned down. Over $40K went down with it! It was so sad. How will you guys keep your cash safe?

 

Well, it would be ill advised to say where I keep my cash in my home. However, I never keep over $300 in cash in my home because of burglary. If someone steals my money, not big deal. However, $300 is enough to top off my take and buy food on the road to a better place.

 

You can keep cash at home if you live in a high security neighbourhood or are discreet about it. The most convenient place to hide it is in nondescript places where a thief would not easily suspect like in the chimney. Make sure the money is in a sturdy container which is properly sealed. However, keeping large sums of money can make one paranoid. I have done it in the past and it takes some time for one to psychologically adjust.

 

For $170, you can get a mini-safe that will provided pretty solid protection for your cash, even in the event of a fire. One such safe is the 1.2 cubic-meter SentrySafe model that is heavy enough that it can be moved as needed but difficult for a thief to carry off (~90 lbs). I'd probably keep about a month's worth of expenses in cash in the vault along with a small amount of silver and gold coins. That should permit someone to weather any sort of natural disaster except the nuclear attack or asteroid impact variety. However, in the latter two cases, having an extra $10,000 will pale in comparison to the likelihood of your imminent demise.

 

I still think a bank account is a perfectly good place for your money. Of course it's always a good idea to have some cash around the house or on you for situations when a credit card doesn't function. For those times, I just have X amount in my wallet... anything between 10 and 200 depending on when was the last time I went to the ATM.

 

If you want to keep some kind of currency at home, I wouldn't recommend paper money. They can burn, they can rot, they can be stolen and robbed easily.
You need to keep something more durable. Can't be easily moved. And will still be valuable under most circumstances. I am thinking about gold, silver, or other precious metal. You can burn down the house, and they will still be there completely intact. At least in my opinion it is a better option than store paper currency at home.

 

I have always been a fan of keeping a well-placed "bug out" bag, a bag full of useful supplies and within it also including a large, but not obscenely large, amount of cash. Something in the ballpark of $200 - $5,000 depending on disposable income. It's always good to have cash on hand in case of emergencies imo. That being said I think keeping anything over $5,000 in cash in your home is just asking for trouble. As for money saving in general, don't keep all your eggs in one basket. Don't have all your money in your bank, in your house, in investments, etc.. Split it up so that way you are less likely to lose everything in a bad situation.

 

We do keep a supply of cash, in all denominations, on hand. We also keep precious metals readily available. Most of our liquid assets are in normal savings and investment accounts, but we keep some handy just in case. It is a good idea to do so for various disasters. ATMs may not work during some disasters and if you have to leave ("bug out") from an area during a natural disaster, greenbacks (or your nation's equivalent) are accepted nearly everywhere.

 

Our money is in the bank account, we have several in 2 banks. But we also have a little cash at home that we use for petty spending like for salaries of our housemaids and other contractual workers. We have a personal safety vault like what you see in hotels. That's where we put our valuables for safekeeping - jewelry, documents, collections, and even some cash that is for standby emergency. It is foolish to keep cash in the table or even under the mattress for thieves already know that old style. By the way, we also have some cash in the car that would be standby funds in cases of emergency expenses. You don't know what may happen on the road, right?

 

I wouldn't advise to keep large sums of money hidden at home. A smaller amount of about $200 tops can get you by if you need just a little bit of extra cash. I personally keep little stashes hidden through out my home. Whether it's an old notebook I have laying around, to the inside flap of my hat. Places where only I can really know there is money hidden in that specific spot. Another place can be the pockets of a pair of jeans you don't reach for as often are good spots. The idea is to place the money where you can know it's safe and not many people will know to look there.

 

I always keep cash at home but I would never let that amount grow up to $40,000 like what the guy you mentioned did. I think keeping money worth $40,000 in your home or in your trailer is just careless and stupid. Why not put it in the bank and let it earn interest? The best way to keep money in your house is to hide it in a place that's safe and not too obvious. I know of someone who stashes cash in what looks like trash can in his bedroom. It's genius when you really think of it. Who would go looking for money in a trash can, right?

 

I do keep some cash at home, yes, and my silver stash. Majority of my dosh is in the local credit union, I don't save with any big banks anymore. Saying that, if I had any inkling that we were heading for a catastrophe, circa 2008 scenario, I'd just draw it all out to be on the safe side.

 

The bulk of my money is split between to bank accounts in two different banks, but I do also keep a bit set aside at home in a secure place just in case of emergencies, and I'd imagine that most of us do. I always keep around £200 in my wallet anyway for anything that might crop up but i have around £5000 in a safe at home as well, and while it's obviously not enough to start a new life with, what it will do is tide us over in regards to accommodation and food and they're probably the main things to consider.

 

Living out in the country, it is important to keep some cash on hand. If the electrician or plumber has to come out, they generally prefer cash. Really any worker would prefer cash. So we do keep some. This thread makes me think about best places to keep it. I suppose a fire-proof safe would be the best place.

 

It might, but imho, you need more if you are bugging out in some cases. For example, if you have to evacuate from an area that is about to be hit by a hurricane, $200 isn't going to go far if you can't use plastic. Gas, food, lodging, incidentals, etc., add up fast and, goodness knows, the dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to. I'd err on the side of at least $1,000 in various denominations.

 

If you have ten 10 dollars notes under your pillow, after one years you will have just a hundred dollar. However, if you keep it in bank, you will get at least 3 percent interest and you will have 103 dollars. If you invest it somewhere, you can have 110 dollars. Thus keeping cash at home is bad idea. I only keep little money in home mostly for petty expenses. Further more, you will also risk your life if you keep cash at home.

 

Who gets much interest from banks these days?

Seeing as depositors are now just unsecured creditors! I only keep enough in the bank to do the day to day stuff the rest is under the mattress so to speak.
Interest on your money is no good if the bank doors shut!

 

The quandary is keep your cash in the bank or at home? With the coming economic crash looming, impending failure of Deutsche bank, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays or look at the financial situation in Greece . Various banks are now announcing "banking holidays", U.S. banks as now here in Canada have adopted "bail ins". If the bank begins facing financial difficulty the have a holiday to reorganize themselves. If they begin failing your limited to your bank teller machine withdrawals and access to your main accounts. When they fail they bail in, they take 10% of their depositors money to pay their creditors. Greece has not as yet paid back fully their clients money. Safety deposit box? Nope, not insured. You can't prove what you had in them so the depositor's insurance doesn't cover them. People are already removing their funds from their accounts, the financial and banking institutions aren't saying anything as they don't want all their clients coming in and removing their cash. We know of banking people when pressed will admit there is a crisis looming. Investigate what is happening, do your research and make up your mind on what to do and what your comfortable with doing.

 

Money: Where to keep it and what kinds to keep there - definitely a very debatable question.

Having cash on hand is a good thing, but during an economic collapse (as some say is inevitable) what kind of money is going to be accepted when purchasing items?

Investing in silver and gold is claimed to be the better way to go - but what kind of silver and gold do you buy? That is where many are perplexed.

 

I would say that if you are going to be keeping money outside of a very secure area that you don't put all of your eggs in one basket so to speak. I would suggest putting small amounts in many places so that if one stash is found you don't loose too much money. Same goes for type of currency. if you live close to a border it might be advantages to keep some of both currencies just in case one decides to crash or you need to get over the border without much notice.
I would always say it is better to spend the time and find a very good hiding stop that to put money in a big safe. to have a big safe just screams "everything of value in my house is right here" to anyone who decides to come in and take what is yours. There are many youtube videos of decent saves being broken into with tools you can buy and your local home improvement store within minutes. not worth it. just hide it well

 

For $170, you can get a mini-safe that will provided pretty solid protection for your cash, even in the event of a fire. One such safe is the 1.2 cubic-meter SentrySafe model that is heavy enough that it can be moved as needed but difficult for a thief to carry off (~90 lbs). I'd probably keep about a month's worth of expenses in cash in the vault along with a small amount of silver and gold coins. That should permit someone to weather any sort of natural disaster except the nuclear attack or asteroid impact variety. However, in the latter two cases, having an extra $10,000 will pale in comparison to the likelihood of your imminent demise.

 

These safes are designed to keep money and some valuables save from a fire or water damage but they are not designed to keep things safe from other people. if anyone wanted to get into one of these safes they could do it in 5 minutes with a drill. unless you are spending serious money on a high quality safe do not rely on it to protect your things from a robbery. if anything it makes them less safe because if I were to want to break into your house and saw a safe I would know that that is where you keep anything of any value and would focus my attention on getting into the safe. go on youtube and look up videos of people breaking into these cheap safes.

 

It is always useful to hide cash in more than one place, just in case your secret location is found, you will always have a back up. In India all houses are built with cement and concrete so they are fire proof considering the houses built with wood in western countries, its easier to hide your money safely . We(humans) are very creative to come up with innovative stuff all the time and when it comes to money we are extra innovative.

Better to have safe locker if not
1. In an envelope taped to the bottom of a kitchen shelf
2. In a watertight plastic bottle or jar in the tank on the back of your toilet
3. Inside of an old sock in the bottom of your sock drawer

 

Well I don't live alone and other people are often at home, so I feel safe about not getting robbed. I leave money at home (won't say exactly where on the internet, you never know) well hidden, just in case I need some economic base when I get back. It's never really much money however, just a few hundreds for the very basic necessities

 

I always have cash on hand! When hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit near us, the ATM's were down for a week!
Relying on the government to give you food and water is not a good thing!
I have never been without cash since then.
I have a fireproof safe in my home where I keep $1,000. No more than that! I do know a few people that have buried safes in their back yard.

 

I agree with this statement. If you have things that are harder to actually take it works as more of a deterrent. I hate the idea of my money staying in the bank for a different set of "thieves" to get their hands on it, but also wouldn't keep cash at home in paper form. You definitely have to plan ahead to secure what is valuable to you.

 

I agree with having a great safe in the house. I can only imagine how that experience would have been to lose the ATM function in a situation when you need to be able to get to your money. Having to wait for food and water would be scary as well. Makes me want to keep a constant stock of back-up canned food and water in addition to the money just in case. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

In order to watch you, they would need to follow you to the bank, watch what you take out (max is $500 per day at an ATM) and then follow you home, meaning they would have to follow you to all the stops you make and watch what you spend in order to know whether or not you would be worth robbing or not.

And when the power goes out? No bank, no atm, no money.

 

This would be too risky for me. In an event of a robbery, I could lose everything I've worked for. Aside from that, there's also the household accidents that may occur, like fire. Keeping your money at home at small portions would be alright, be keeping your life savings at home is just a terrible idea considering all the risks you're taking just because you don't trust a bank.

 

Having at least one fire safe is a good idea. Wish I had the economic ability to put cash back. Our health deductibles plus unforeseen catastrophes have eaten our income down to the dirt -- like a flock of death sheep. And funerals are too expensive to be born by the living.

 

While keeping cash for an emergency is a great idea, I don't think we should keep too much to avoid being robbed or losing it in an accident. Perhaps if we could keep 1-5k for an emergency I think it would be enough. Also, we should play close attention to the place where we put it. A safe or other secure location would be ideal.

 

One would hope, however neither FDIC nor FSLIC could cover deposits in the event of a economic collapse.

 

Why not vac seal your cash, put it in a waterproof jar, then bury it in the garden?
It's for emergency use only, so it's not like you need to access it very often.

 

It's good to keep some cash at home in case of emergency. If you don't have any vault then just put in your cabinet drawers with lock. Others hide it in less expected place like display jars. Even in the old times, my mom told me that her father put a cash of coins inside their bamboo fence. It's difficult to guess that a bamboo fence will have lots of coins.

 

Although printed money can be easily damaged, it wouldn't hurt that you keep some at home. I keep some of my cash hidden in a metal box in case of emergency, along with it is my trusty knife too since it has to be only for emergency. I just learned last month that my parents are keeping lots of coins inside a large ceramic jar. It actually paid off when we were in a tight budget and didn't have much money to buy for dinner. My parents tilted the large jar sideways and took some coins. I felt at ease that at least my parents have some precautionary measures in case of situations like that.

 

The key is to have two safes in your house. One super cheap one that you keep in an obvious place, and put token money inside. And another fire proof safe in a hidden place where you keep most of your cash, passports, precious metals, etc, preferably in your panic room, if you have one. Like, who would think you have two safe in your house, right?

 

I don't think keeping cash at home is a good / profitable idea, except for having some money as a form of emergency reserve for some unforeseen... After all, we'll never know when they will happen in our lives.

The best place for money is always the bank.