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With
schools closed for the summer and graduations
come and gone, it’s
that time once again for summer travels.
Do you have your “emergency stash
of cash” ready? When setting aside
money for emergencies, I think we could
agree that there are many different levels
of “emergencies”.
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For one reason or
another, we all have
motives for stashing
some cash. Some of
those include special
purchases, going
back to school, vacations,
or, for those unexpected
little emergencies
I like to call “uh
oh” moments.
No matter what your
reason, you should
always have a stash
plan in place. Make
sure that when you
have to tap into
it, that you also
plan to replace what
has been taken out,
even if your little
emergency this summer
is having to take
your family to Superior
Dairy on the spur
of the moment to
satisfy that homemade
ice cream craving.
Hey, that counts
as an emergency,
doesn’t it?
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When
planning your vacation, whether
big or small, don’t
forget to include that extra
cash on hand. As I have mentioned
in the past, having debit and/or
credit cards alone may not
be enough, especially if you
encounter a problem while on
vacation or driving in a rural
area. When planning for your
travels, try to think of those
scenarios where those cards
may not work. Yes, believe
it or not, it can happen! There
is a seemingly endless amount
of possibilities that might
present themselves when you
are away from home. Would you
be prepared? You might get
lost in an unfamiliar area
and use up more gas than you
intended to. If you do find
a gas station, they quite possibly
may not accept credit cards.
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You
should always carry emergency cash
while traveling even if it is just
several rolls of quarters. A good
idea would be to keep no less than
$30 to $100 with you, but you might
want to keep more emergency cash
on hand, depending on your circumstances.
For example, if you have a larger
vehicle that doesn’t get
very good mileage and you have
to take detours, or have trouble
getting to where you are going,
this may cause a miss-calculation
in mileage vs. gasoline. A good
way to make sure your emergency
cash is available when you really
need it is to use your credit or
debit cards when traveling any
time it is possible to do so. That
way you will be more likely to
have your emergency cash fund for
when you REALLY need it. If using
your credit card instead of the
debit, make sure you put all your
receipts in a safe place (glove
box or envelope) so that you can
pay off what you charged. You wouldn’t
want to set yourself up for a “disaster” of
financial worries. |
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My
grandma used to have a special “stash” of cash
she would put into a container she
called “the kitty”. This
cash was mainly used for those extra
things that came up during the year
that she hadn’t planned for.
As a little girl, I couldn’t
understand why she called a container
shaped like a farm animal a “kitty”,
but hey, that was grandma; or so I
thought. It wasn’t until I got
older that I learned that the term “kitty” was
that generation’s term for “rainy
day cash stash”. Anyway, my grandma
used to take in ironing (business people
in our community would drop off any
ironing they needed done) to bring
in extra money while she raised me.
Some of this money would go into the “kitty”.
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I wanted to order books from the
school’s Scholastic Book order,
grandma would say, “We’ll
have to get the money from the kitty.” That
was my early exposure to setting
funds aside for the unexpected, one
I still use today with my family. |
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No
matter what you are saving for, it’s important that
you come up with your own system of
setting funds aside for those “rainy
days”. This system should be
do-able and easy for you and your family
to understand and follow. When I take
money out, I like to document it on
a piece of paper kept in the “kitty”.
I document how much I borrowed and
date it. That way I am reminded that
I need to replace while continuing
to add to it.
As for that farm animal “kitty” that
belonged to my grandma; I have it today
and share that story and its lesson
with my kids. We use it to put our
recycling money and extra change in. Thanks
grandma! |
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GRAPHICS:
Flicker.com
Simplefinanciallifestyle.com
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A
FEW OTHER
REASONS
TO KEEP A STASH
OF CASH |
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You
can also keep a stash
for “other” emergencies
- You are going out to dinner without the kids
and they want to order a pizza to be delivered.
- You need a few extra bucks to fill the gas can
for the lawn mower.
- Your
friends come to your door unexpectedly
to fundraise for a good cause and
you don’t have any extra
cash in your wallet.
- Your
kids have been invited by their friends
to go the mall, fair, or movies and
you don’t have any extra cash
to send them with..
- You
are not feeling well and you need
to send your kids or a neighbor to
the store for 7-up, Motrin
and soup.
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