K, I will give you a coke too. You supply the rum.

.

.

Naka,

Do you think that the German's actions might be related to a domestic issue and not necessarily spell the end for the American fiat currency? Said another way, is there any chance it is not all about us? I can think of a couple reasons why the Germans might want to secure their local economy in the face the mess that is the European single currency. What do you think?

Have been reading a lot of very credible information on Youtube lately warning of an impending economic collapse. It's not a matter of "if" anymore but "when". Even the experts are fortelling this. In the past few months, Chase and several other banks, have had a so-called "computer glitch" in which customers bank accounts were completely wiped out for a time. (You should check it online or in video reports on Youtube - it's all there). This recently happened with my bank, Home Federal. Of course the money "reappeared". But it leaves one to realize how quickly you can lose everything you may have in your account, when the SHTF - and it will! Best thing is to withdraw most, if not all of your money, and find a better safe place to keep it. However, when this all goes down, none of our money will be worth the paper it's printed on. The best thing is to gather any of your valuable jewelry (gold or silver) to use for bartering. You will be laughed at if you offer paper currency.

Since the "non event" of Y2K, I've made It my business to keep a few hundred dollars at home - in toonies, loonies, quarters, dimes and nickels (I had pennies, but since they are no longer used, I traded them in). The coin will be accepted everywhere (works in vending machines), and if you go to stores, they will be gratefully received, especially during lean times, What's better is how easy and relatively painless it is to accumulate them: at the end of each day, I clean out all change from my wallet and put the coinage in a non-obvious jar (out of sight, out of mind). When the jar gets heavy, I just roll the coin and stash it away for future use. This has come in quite handy over the years, by the way.

Hope this helps.

Long term, saving money is the most realistic prep. Short term, money is the prep that buys all other preps.

Y2K may happen 🙄 The Mayans may have been right 🙄 However, 1,000s have lost their job and 1,000s have been forced into homelessness since those 2 non-events that created so many rush preppers. Studies have shown that those who lost their jobs and are over 40, on average, end up being jobless for about a year before finding a new job. You want to save at least a years sum if you can and have at least 2 months of expenses in cash. I say 2 months because if you need to move you typically have to pay for that months rent AND 1/2 as much again for your damage deposit while your damage deposit is still locked in with your current house.

Do not spend all your savings/cash on toys for survival but rather pay down your debt, repair everything that is broken and follow that by repairing everything that is going to need repair in the next 1-5 years anyway.

Keep your cash in multiple locations: home, yard, the homes of friends and family. If your house burns down, is ransacked, or you are locked out by the owner for falling behind in rent (in case of rentals) then you will need more than just what you had at home.

Silver is nice for long term but in the short term, those who bought $1,000 of silver at $40oz only had $500 of value when silver dropped down to $20oz; whereas those who had $1,000 cash still have $1,000 cash if the landlord comes calling for last months rent. The avg Joe does not know how much silver is worth (even worse if you are trying to pay with silver dimes that look just like the .10 cent value pieces he has in his own wallet) but everyone knows what a $20 bill can buy.

Coins like loonies and toonies (quarters too) are more fire and water (and rat) proof than bills so have some on hand. They also work in vending machines as stated above, they also work on getting you over paid bridges and toll roads. A roll of toonies is a $50 value but takes up little space.

Crap books like Harlequin novels hold a fair bit of cash between their pages but you won't find any in my mancave

I think the major reason to keep cash on hand, is that electronic cash (bank accounts), can be accessed by someone other than yourself, and currently is, in the form of loans. If investors worldwide lose confidence in the growth of the economy, they will pull their investments. Money will disappear quick. There will not be physical money for you to withdraw.

The biggest unknown I read about on this forum and others, is what is worth what, and when. There are a range of scenarios that could render each good or currency useless, or invaluable. If you owe money, and the government or bank come to collect threatening you with eviction, a bag of corn or oats will not likely keep them away. Likewise, if banks or governments have dissolved, and food is in short supply, your money will not buy you anything.

I think diversity in investments is key. A certain amount of cash (to be determined by you and your situation) is appropriate to have on hand, but should mainly be seen as security during times of economic decay, and not a complete SHTF scenario.

With no debt, my wife and I have managed to put some cash aside. We don't keep any money in the bank. Every payday, we cash our checks, pay our bills and stash the rest in various locations. We also currently have about 250, 1 ounce, silver Maple Leafs stashed, again, in various locations. If it looks like it's about to hit the fan, we'll consolidate our cash and buy out Costco. The silver we'll save for other possible needs later in the event, if necessary.

All depending on where you work and proximity to your safe site is the question of how much cash would be nice or minimum to have on you at all times.

I feel 500.00 plus is decent amount to have on you so you can pay triple for a quick cab ride out of a downtown core, quickly rent a hotel room and buy up food in lobby if credit card system is down, pay a person to allow you into their car, get you past guard or building operator and into a locked down office tower...

folks working or living in a city and wishing to get out quickly or find a safe place to ride out a short term event would likely benefit from cash to help grease their way to safety or convenience.

I know if there was an incident and I was in a meeting downtown, I would look for nearest hotel and secure food and water along with a room or start walking out ( if I couldn’t access my parked vehicle) with my EDC bag and snag cab or ride to get my feeble legs out to a perimeter where I could then proceed to home or other safe spot on my own.

If I could entice a ride all the way home with cash, I would gladly do so and save the hoof on foot.

What are people’s opinion on safe amount of cash to carry with you at all times?

To clarify. When I say on you, I mean in your wallet when you are away from home/ at work in downtown office, yet fairly close to safe site / 30-60 clicks.

Personally, I would prefer more if further away or in a very congested city like T.O.

So is 500 in cash too high for a person working in a downtown location to much to carry at all times? Curious to learn what what would be minimum if one were forced to shelter in place or for a quick egress out of rapidly deteriorating situation downtown. Could be shooting, bomb blast or god forbid, a 911 type event