Why do you need to prepare cash for emergencies??
How much??
I have a cellphone…is that not enough?
I have some cash in my wallet.
Think about the times you have used cash to pay for things. Did you find that your wallet ever became thick? Too thick to close? Because you had too many receipts and small bills jammed inside?
Nowadays, we use credit cards and cell phones more and more, especially younger people. Lots of people in their twenties and thirties use their smartphone as a wallet. It simplifies transactions and doesn’t require the same cleanup and maintenance that a thick wallet requires.
Wait minute… How are you going to pay in blackout?
After big disaster, there is usually no electricity in affected areas. If you prepare your emergency stockpile well, you might not need to buy food or other daily essentials, right away. But if there is something you need to buy, you will have to pay for it somehow.
How are you planning to pay without electricity?
Your smartphone battery might still have juice, but how about the stores?? A functioning smartphone won’t do you a lot of good if the whole payment network is down.
After a recent, big earthquake in Japan, many stores used calculators, and people bought food with cash.
The purpose of cash in an emergency?
1. Using a public phone.
You might need to call your family from a public phone, and for that you need coins. You can only communicate with your cellphone and/or computer if you have power and a network connection. (See more info on this in post # 45.)
2. Using a vending machine.
If you can find a vending machine that’s still working (maybe on a battery), you’ll need coins or small bills to pay. The machine might not be able to give you change, but so what?
3. Buying food or other goods
Stores will try to open without electricity. But they will not let you use a credit card to pay. Just think of farmers’ markets and garage sales. Vendors will be not happy if you try to pay with a 100 dollar bill and ask for change. They might simply refuse.
4. Asking someone to do something
In the aftermath of a major disaster, at some point during recovery and reconstruction, you will almost certainly need help. If you need the help of a skilled worker, you have to find people in your area, and you probably have to pay cash. If you were a worker in an affected area, you would be happy to get cash, right?
Or you might need to get out of the affected area. If you can find a car and driver to take you out of the area, you can offer them cash.
Things you need to know
▪︎ In the aftermath, it will be too late to go to an ATM to get cash. ATM’s will not work without electricity. Even if an ATM does work after a major disaster, the armored trucks that deliver the cash probably won’t be making deliveries to affected areas.
Are you going to be in line for an empty ATM machine?
▪︎ After a recent, big earthquake in Japan, all train, bus, and automobile traffic was stopped. So many people tried to buy bicycles to get back home. They paid cash at the bicycle stores.
You might need to buy clothes to walk home.
Can you walk long distances in your high heels or sandals?
▪︎ Store owners also need cash in the aftermath of a disaster. Specifically, they need many small bills to make change. If you, the customer, don’t have small bills, stores might ask you to wait until they can make change. Or maybe you could just let them keep the change?
Are you OK if a store makes you wait?
▪︎ If you are lucky to find person who prepared their emergency supplies well, he/she might sell something to you for cash.
Honestly, if someone offered to buy my supplies, I would sell to them, but the price would be high.
I want to save my supplies for my family.
How much cash?
⚠️
There is no right amount of money to prepare for emergencies.
It’s totally up to you. If you can say “keep the change!!, “ you will not need many small bills. But be careful, even when you want to trade with someone who has coins, you will have to let them keep the change too.
Remember, you might have to evacuate from your home carrying your big emergency bags. Think about how much cash you can comfortably carry without stressing out. Your anxiety about carrying tons of cash might be a heavy load, in and of itself.
Be careful. Some people are easily confused by large bills, especially nowadays, when so many people rely on credit cards and phones. Stay sharp, and make sure you receive the correct change. Say you use a 100 dollar bill, but they think you gave them a 10. Maybe it’s an honest mistake, or maybe it’s a trick. Either way, be careful!!
I am very timid, and I try to avoid confrontation.
So, I try to prepare smaller bills (lots of fives).
Cashless payments are becoming more widespread nowadays, but do not forget how to use cash. I met some children the other day, who had never seen cash. I’m going to repeat that: they had never seen cash. Needless to say, I was shocked. I was also a bit worried. Is that okay???
Cash is king, but if things get really bad, the cash itself may become worthless. (You can’t eat it.) If the money system breaks down, what do you need next?? Barter.
Don’t forget to prepare your emergency stockpile in your home!!
Please check out my next post ( # 99 ) for more!!
See you next time
Remember, “Protect your life by yourself” （自分の命は自分で守る). You need to survive first, and then you need your emergency supply. No matter how well you prepared your emergency supplies, if you die, then all of your preparations will have been for nothing. First and foremost, keep your health up all the time. Build your stamina so that if you need to, you can evacuate as quickly as possible. Stay healthy
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