have you got a 'cushion' of cash behind you for 'just in case'

pineapple

I know our savings are protected up to a certain level but that will be no comfort if everything goes belly up and we are locked out of our banks/cash machines and we need money NOW. In such an extreme situation credit cards might stop operating as well.
I think if you can afford it, it's best to try to spread the risk.
I have a stash at home (check how much if any, is covered by your insurance), some bank savings and a stock of food with a long shelf life plus non food items. That includes the dog food too!
We are in uncharted territory here - including the possibility, albeit tiny, of conflict. In a civil emergency you don't want to be queuing up with half the world trying to get cash in a bank run scenario. Plus in a panic situation, shops could be bare in a matter of days.

valk_scot

I keep a £50 float in the house, for emergencies. Last year when it snowed I would get milk etc from the local shop and I needed cash for that, also to give the kids for odds and ends and it was useful not to have to need to trek down to the cash point. I'd never keep several months worth of money in the house though. So not safe.

Anyway, global economy collapse/the banks running dry of cash is far less likely than some personal misfortune overcoming an individual, like being made redundant or the chief breadwinner becoming ill. What then? It used to be recommended that you try to have enough savings to carry you through one year of no income at all without starting to go into debt. Is the current recommendation the same, or should it be more?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I like to have a couple of hundred quid in cash in the house in case my purse is lost/stolen and I can't get to the bank. It would also cover any sort of emergency taxi.

When I worked in Poland my housemate and I would secrete a 100 zl note inside our shoes to cover a taxi ride home in case we lost our purses in a vodka-fuelled haze. It seems foolish to keep all your cash AND your cards in one place (purse/wallet). Likewise to have all your info only on your mobile phone; I have a small notebook at home with a written record of everyone's number in case I lose the handset.

About 12 years ago I was on a course with someone in his early twenties who it was claimed did not have a bank account and kept all his money buried in his Devon garden. I hope this was true as I do love a proper English eccentric.

maryb

Back in 2008 I was working in the City and picking up a lot of rumours and reading the papers and I got quite a large amount of cash out of the bank and made DH do the same. He mocked me a little but he took me seriously enough to do it and doesn't mock me at all since we subsequently learned that RBS came very close indeed to having to shut its doors as big institutions were removing all their money. (Just because it wasn't like Northern Rock with people queuing round the block doesn't mean it's not a bank run). We didn't need the cash, fortunately, but I found that it was useful having a reasonable float in the house. When I saw some tree surgeons in the road taking down an elm tree I was able to slip them some cash to deliver the wood to us. They were happy as it saved them having to landfill it, the men got some beer money and we got seasoned wood (it was a very old tree) for a lot less than we normally pay. Also if there are a lot of strikes and power cuts, which I think is entirely possible while we are still well short of the end of the world type scenarios, shop tills won't work. But there are plenty of farm shops near me where I could get most of what I need with cash. So I am maintaining a float of a couple of hundred pounds.

DH still mocks my Armageddon cupboard but despite what he thinks, most of the time I only keep enough to take advantage of special offers etc working on the Pantry Principle which I first read about in Amy Dacycsyn's Tightwad Gazette. The point being you buy enough when it's cheap to last until it goes on offer again then you buy more regardless of whether you need it immediately or not. In between times you use your stores and it reduces the average cost of your groceries quite significantly over just buying one of something every week. I do up my stocks at the start of winter and fill any space in the freezer with bread and milk, which I don't bother with in the summer. I also have a sack of potatoes and onions plus I have found carrots keep really well in a paper bag in the cool garage.

Food and the means of keeping warm are as important as cash for short term disruptions whether it's snow or power cuts. Longer term disruptions are not likely to be acute beyond the initial period, more grindingly awkward - think queues and shortages rather than something out of The Road. But who knows? If any Euro fallout gets bad enough to affect us, I'm not sure there's anything we could do and we'd be in completely uncharted waters. But tension in the Middle East is more familiar from history and that led to queues, power cuts and inflation last time round

D&DD

who broke HSBC??? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15593670

maryb

Imagine being stuck at the petrol pump behind someone who has just gone to pay and found his card won't work.

seafarers_wife

I do keep some money in the house but not as much as i used to as wedding, buying a house and finding out we are having a baby in a 2 month window this year pretty much cleared out our in house emergency cash reserves.

I do keep around £200 in the house, plus approx £100 each of dollars and euros so that if DH needs them well they are there I dont have to remember to get them before he goes away.

I feel more comfy with £500 in the house, but that has to wait as NEED to build up our emergency savings in the bank again as they took a hit with everything thats happened this year, but at the end of the day its just money and if everyone's in the same boat then so be it. I will just keep stockpiling food and loo roll when its on offer and that way if things do get bad well my stock cupboard should see us going for 6 weeks - 2 months at a push.

tori.k

D&DD wrote: »

who broke HSBC??? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15593670

I had to laugh when i saw this thread as i've never thought about stashing cash untill today, as i got caught out at the till at Asda's when my HSBC card was denied think the whole town must have been in the queue behind me

kazd

We do have some savings behind us, my advice for the poster who said they do have surplus but usually end up spending it is to treat it like a debt. Set up a standing order to go out the day after your wages go in and that is then a 'bill paid' - then forget about it!

I have several jam jar accounts set up, Car, Ex Curricular (for school trips), Xmas (includes xmas and birthday for kids) etc

I initially started with the car one and I used to divide the car tax over twelve months, then I added in the insurance so that now I can pay the insurance up front saving about £30 - £40 per year per car. Then I added the ex curricular in when I had the first major school trip (ski trip), I worked out that I needed to save £60 per month to have enough money by the time the bill was due and I have carried on ever since. I have now upped it to £90 per month as dd had started secondary and had a school trip, now ds2 is at secondary but have told ds1 no more school trips - he is in 6th form and has a paper round which pays a better rate now he is over 16 and can pay for his own trips. Which actually he had done, he paid £350 for a trip to Cornwall with the school.

Then I added in the Xmas pot, I initially saved £25 per month per child but then increased it to a total of £125 per month which gives me £200 each towards their birthday costs.

We don't have any debts apart from mortgage oh I suppose technically we have a debt for Leather suite which we took out over 4 years interest free. There was no reduction for cash which we do have but as we offset our mortgage decided to keep the money in there.

Savings wise we do have a bit probably about 18 months of my net salary - not hubby's. Mind you in this climate, it would not take long to go through it.

I realise compared to some we probably seem fairly comfortable but even so I still standby my jamjar savings. You might say you can't afford to save that much money but what do you do when the birthdays or Xmas come around - you find the money some how.

patchwork_cat

We have a rainy day websaver at the bank, although earning too little interest so may move it. Also we have an offset mortgage with a fair bit in the offset, but as far as cash in the house we each have a £20 emergency fund on our keyrings, but beyond that not much in purse/wallet!