Don’t Get Caught Without Emergency Cash
Why you need emergency cash and how much you should have on hand.
Emergency cash isn’t just a luxury, it’s an absolute must. Why? Imagine a world where you couldn’t use your credit card or your ATM card. Imagine a cash-only world where the only thing that could get you what you need is cold hard cash. It’s not just make believe. It’s a very real scenario that could very well happen if you were suddenly caught in a disaster with a serious need for emergency cash.
Emergency cash isn’t just something that the rich keep tucked under their mattresses. It’s something that everyday, average people like you and I should have stored away somewhere.
You don’t need thousands of dollars in emergency cash (although if you have it, that’s great). You just need enough to get you through some very hard spots in case all lines of communication for credit card companies and ATM machines were to go down.
How Much?
Emergency cash is a controversial subject. Some people say it makes you a target while others say it’s a must-have. I tend to lean to the side of it being a must-have. I suggest having $100 of emergency cash for each person in your family. That means if you have a family of four, you should have $400 of emergency cash on you at all times.
Break It Down
In cases of natural disaster and other emergencies, stores have been known not to give out change, so you’re going to want to break down your emergency cash as best you can.
One dollar bills are best (even though that means carrying around four hundred, one dollar bills in the case of a family of four). If you can’t break your emergency cash down to one dollar bills, just make sure that you don’t exceed ten dollar bills.
Coins
Also make sure that you have enough coins on you. As I said before, establishments have been known to stop handing out change in times of crises, so you’ll want to have a couple of rolls of quarters on you to ensure that you’re not losing too much money when you go into the store.
By keeping emergency cash on hand, you’ll be prepared for the worst and if you never have to use it, at least you’ll know it was there had the need arisen.