Prep Genrl How much cash is the right amount to keep on hand?

[Roger Thornhill]

Fifteen years ago, I kept enough cash on hand to just meet expenses for twelve months. At that time, it came to $1400 per month. I kept the cash in twelve separate 5x7 manila envelopes in my gun safe.

When the ex jumped ship one day while I was at work, she took it all (along with any other valuables which weren't bolted down). [This is now ancient history.]

I still keep a smaller cushion of cash, but I'm thinking that just three or four months expenses would be a better amount than a full year. If there is a catastrophic change in the financial system (like hyperinflation), then cash may become worth much less in a short period of time. I don't want to be stuck with a six- or eight-month supply of green toilet paper.

What do you feel is the optimum number of months to prepare for financially?

Here's how I figured the monthly requirement for essentials:
- 30 day supply of food
- 30 day cost of water and sewer
- 30 day cost of gas and electric utilities (using winter highs)
- 1/12 of annual real estate taxes
- 1/12 of average annual total medical, dental, and vision expenses
- 30 day cost of trash pickup
- 30 day supply of gas for car and power equipment
- 1/12 of projected annual cost for vehicle and household maintenance
- small amount for consumables like cleaning supplies and toiletries

As of June 2026, this comes to about $2700 a month for me.

Of course, all those categories could be rendered meaningless in the event of a truly apocalyptic crisis, more than just financial turmoil.

I already have plenty of food, water, medical supplies, alternate heat sources, weapons, and so forth. After all, I've been prepping for almost thirty years. But I'm still mulling over how much cash to stash.

Your thoughts?

 

[West]

Enough to buy that homestead with good off the grid well water and fertile soil. And a established working sewer. Also a good fire suppression system.

Also some livestock.

I can go on and on.

If those and more ducks are in a row, in the same vain..

Would muse only enough money to bribe someone with superior power. How much I don't know. But I bet they would take lead if we had to give them some...

IDK

 

[jward]

hmm.

Good Question. I've probably got a years worth of basic expenses covered here, but that has more to do with my habit of keeping "x" amount of cash sales on hand, and having been at it so long that my "stashes" are somewhat diversified (meaning I don't always know where each piggy bank is, or what amount it has at the moment).

I guess I would say that you should always have enough for three months of breathing room: I like to tell myself "come what may, I know I will keep the lights on today, yesterday, and again tomorrow and all the systems' inputs are squared away for the property, me and the barn babies for a full rotation of the season. I sleep well knowing that.
Whatever helps you sleep well might be your goal?

I run a small holding so i also keep cash on hand in envelops for the random, odd expensive, but good purchase that might come along, like a trailer, breeding pair, building products etc that I can score if i am able to move quickly enough with enough cash on hand to close the deals first.

What my concerns are, besides security and absentmindedly losing track is that I've run into problems with humidity degrading the products in some storage situations, and I've also had some money nibbled by some orphaned baby goats i had to hand raise, but I'm fairly confident that is not a widespread problem

I have a fair bit of assets still in the bank accounts too, but I've never forgotten the morning long long ago when I went to my bank to cash a check to do my weekend running and the door was locked and the sign said it was out of business, or words to that effect. I'll never again need money from some third party or place for anything.

 

[Meemur]

Your list is very good, Roger!

One last thing that I have, not on your list, is a fund for when Mr. Murphy visits (Bad Poop Happens Fund) and bank funds are unavailable for some reason, nor will anyone take checks or credit cards. Let's say the Point-of-Sale machines are all down.

I don't want to get into specific amounts for obvious reasons. This fund could be a mixture of cash and PMs, IF people who can/will help you will accept them. I also suggest that there be regular coins and small bills in this fund.

One situation: a tornado has hit, the POS machines are down, and you suddenly have an infected tooth -- it needs to be pulled. A dentist nearby has back-up power and drugs. He will do it, but he'll need X amount of cash (or PMs). It's too dangerous to leave the area (you want to keep an eye on your place, anyway) so you need to stay local. Your area is going to be on a Cash is King system for awhile, so it would be better to keep some intact. That's where the Mr. Murphy Fund comes into play.

One other example: you run into a legit "once in a lifetime" deal. Maybe a neighbor you know needs to bail and he'll sell you his second truck for a fair price. Again the POS machines are down. He wants cash/PMs.

Just some food for thought. These are not "out there." In my area, when a large tornado hits, the local economy can revert to cash, which means that if you have some, you can get what you need to keep the household running, even when the regular supply has shut down.

 

[arks]

For years we’ve kept roughly $1,500 in cash, of which 300-500 is small bills. If SHTF and cash is no longer king, our backup barter is PM’s, tools, building material, ammo, or our specific talents (I’m a master carpenter and she’s a nurse). Lastly, I also keep 5 or 6 gas generators here, so they may be in the mix in the right circumstance.

 

[hiwall]

I would think 3 months worth would be reasonable.
Any bad thing lasting longer than that with banks closed would mean the cash would be almost worthless maybe by the 3 month mark. If banks were open then you should have access to your banked money by then.

 

[BH]

I keep a few thousand in a lock box in a safe. I also have a much larger stash in a safe deposit box, granted it might become unavailable in the bank's vault, but hopefully any bank closure will be preceded by some signs.

I have always dumped pocket change. I think my coin stash, without any pennies, is around 25 pounds. No clue what the value is.

I have a new strategy that I do most of the time. I spend mostly cash in person and try to always break a 20 on every purchase. The remaining paper change gets stashed and rolled and rubber banded in $100 rolls when I can make the mix of, 3 twenties, 2 tens, 2 fives and 10 ones. That adds up reasonably quick.

I did have some cash stolen many years ago. It was buried inside the greenhouse and only 2 people knew about it so I'm pretty sure I who the thief was. That person (a relative) is no longer privy to anything other than an acknowledgement of their presence when they are around.

 

[Kathy in FL]

We keep enough to cover business expenses for 2 to 3 months primarily payroll as we have a back u inventory we kept rotated for mandary r&m type repairs. Anything that isn’t covered by legal mandates will likely be declared on hiatus until the emergency is over. Essentially we want to protect our preferred contractors where possible and maintain our properties and the teanants that reside in ghem.

For personal expenses we are completely out of debt and have been for years. We also have significant resources … food, water, medical, power, etc to pull from at our AO, BOL1, and BOL2. The nature of the emergency will determine where our residency is.

We will have my mother and are prepared to take in three or four other adults depending on location and situation.

We have a broad scope of financial coverage … cash, barter, skills, planned mutual aid, etc

It all depends on what the situation is and how it develops. The last two bad seasons of storms helped us to fine tune things, scratch off people that didn’t follow thru, getting a deeper view of how local and state gov will hinder or help and what they’ll expect in return, yada yada.

Amounts are particular to our situation but combined are significant.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We have several thousand in cash to cover all of our expenses for at least a year. Another cash fund for any emergencies that come our way, plus PM's. We have no debt. Both funds and PM's are locked away in a fire safe inside Cary's gun safe. We also have 6 qt. canning jars full of loose change, also inside Cary's gun safe. We don't keep much in our checking account, but we do have a sizeable savings account.

 

[Hfcomms]

Everybody is different of course. For me one or two months of cash is adequate. If TSHTF I don’t think cash will retain any value past that point. If a banking interruption, grid or comms problems or anything less than TSHTF two months should be enough time to unsnafu the bank accounts or find an alternative.

Besides that I keep two checking accounts in different banks so if one bank has a problem I can pay from the other one. Having as many options as possible are always wise.

 

[Kathy in FL]

As a planning note for people to think about but not to derail the thread …

For those expecting cash to fold and go away, war torn areas of the world say itherwise so be careful with assumptions and planning. Gaza is the best example of this at the moment. They are cash based with very little in anything else accepted except when money is transferred to individuals and there are high fees to get it from digital to cash. And small bills/coinage are demanded as opposed to large denomination.

So, when planning your stash, remember to make it primarily small denominations and couns.

 

[West]

As a planning note for people to think about but not to derail the thread …

For those expecting cash to fold and go away, war torn areas of the world say itherwise so be careful with assumptions and planning. Gaza is the best example of this at the moment. They are cash based with very little in anything else accepted except when money is transferred to individuals and there are high fees to get it from digital to cash. And small bills/coinage are demanded as opposed to large denomination.

So, when planning your stash, remember to make it primarily small denominations and couns.

Check this little nugget I just found...

"
The lack of a recognized currency, along with a pervasive mistrust of banks, have led to some interesting situations:



The Jerusalem Post reported that a Gazan dentist created lightweight gold coins as a form of savings for low-income individuals and families. This was to address a need for gold ownership amid tough economic times in their community.



"The idea stemmed from the community's need to own gold amid the difficult living conditions the people live in," the coin creator Ahmed Hamdan told the Jerusalem Post (JP). His 21-carat gold coins feature the Dome of the Rock Shrine located in Jerusalem and are licensed and stamped by the Hamas-run Ministry of Economy in Gaza.

From..

https://www.mideastjournal.org/post/currency-in-gaza

 

[Ogre]

How much is enough? I'm not sure, but I know it's more than I have.

 

[Rabbit]

This could start sounding like some of the Prepper fiction I've read. "Start with your half a million in cash and the other half in gold bars, and head out to your wilderness underground bunker equipped with everything".

Like I believe most here already do, use your best judgment and do the best you can with what you have. More than that is nobody else's business.

 

[hiwall]

If the banks ever close, shipping would stop immediately. If shipping stopped what would be available to buy with your cash?
If the banks don't close then you would have normal access to your bank account.
So certainly have a stash of emergency cash money but you could likely get by with not very much.

 

[Meemur]

So certainly have a stash of emergency cash money but you could likely get by with not very much.

It depends on where you live. There are dentists and other medical professionals in my area who would take cash/PMs/beef/alcohol in emergencies. We've already had those discussions. Outside of this area, who knows?