Money, money, money

I've talked about the importance of storing both food and water in case of emergency. Today I want to address another very important part of your emergency preparedness, and that is, MONEY. I know in this economy, money is not easy to come by.   Shelf Reliance's Q program is a great example on how to work with budgets to slowly achieve your goals, and THRIVE foods can actually save you money, which money you can put aside for a rainy day. And trust me, when it rains, it pours, so that financial umbrella is important to have.

Personal example - I am currently typing this on my husband's laptop, in a hospital room. I'm not typing on my laptop because my 2 year old cracked the screen and I haven't forked over the money to fix it yet (the manufacturer's warranty isn't covering it). I'm at the hospital because my husband had bad stomach pains last night that took us to the ER and it wound up being impacted Gall Stones. They admitted him and12 hours later, he's in the O.R. to have his gall bladder removed. I can't wait at home during this process, because last night, our AC unit broke and the house is unbearably hot. So a technician is out looking at that right now. Between those three things, we're likely going to have to cough up a few thousand dollars. We had another emergency earlier in the summer that took up $2500. And now this. We had been saving up for years, and left a chunk in our savings account that we didn't spend on furniture or vacations, it was there just for emergencies.  How grateful I am now that we were disciplined enough to do that. Our savings will likely be completely depleted and we'll be living pay check to pay check, but he starts teaching again this coming week, so we will have pay checks again, and we'll be okay.  We might have to live off our food storage for a month or two so we can replenish some of our savings, but we have THRIVE foods, so I'm actually excited to do that!

When it comes to saving for emergencies, your goal should be to have three months of your expenses in the bank. I know, that's a lot, but don't let that daunt you. Start working just towards 1 month of expenses and go from there.

Another aspect of Money Storage I want to mention quickly is the importance of having some cash tucked away. A couple hundred dollars, dispersed amongst 72 hour kits, or hidden somewhere safe in your home. If there is a state of emergency in the community, and power is down, credit cards, ATMs, all our "paperless" ways of payment will be useless. Now, ideally, you will have stored up everything you'll need, and you won't have anything you need to buy. But you never know if there's something else you'll need, so to be safe, have cash on hand. And have it in small bills. You don't want to get stuck paying $20 for something that only cost $5, all because the power is out and they don't have change.

So there you have it. Store up the essentials like food and water, and do it on a budget through Shelf Reliance's Q program, so that you have a little money you can save as well for other emergencies that life may throw your way. How grateful I am we had our savings, and how grateful I am we have our food storage. Because we were and are prepared, I do not fear.