Of course, you need a cash Emergency Fund. One month's income is the minimum for that. But in many emergencies, it will be impossible to obtain goods that you desire, even if you can get to a store, due to problems with logistics. Think a series of blizzards, an earthquake of large magnitude, etc.
Here's the solution: Storage.
You should on every shopping trip
during which you find a sale, pick up a spare of the item if it is a
“consumable.” (Don’t pick up spare clothing or entertainment goods.) Stash the
extra consumable in home storage. You should make this a habit not just for
food and beverages, but also for paper products and personal-care items.
Your goal is to have a full year’s
worth of goods at hand. You can store the surplus over what fits in closets and
cabinets under beds and tables. (Cover the tables with full-length
tablecloths.)
This idea is fundamental to the
religion of the Latter-Day Saints (“Mormons,”), but I’ve lived with it for
twenty years, and its benefits are real:
·
When you are impecunious, you need only purchase
fresh produce (and that, sparingly.) For everything else, you can “shop” from
your storage. You can save your cash for such necessities as rent and
utilities.
·
You have an emergency supply that will serve you
in a disaster.
o
If you have stored some goods that will serve
for barter (matches, soap, and—even if you are free from these “vices”—beer and
cigarettes,) you will be in a position to augment your supply of what you want
should the interruption of the normal channels of trade in stores is extended.
·
When a given item, take milk for an example, is
in limited supply on the market due to some logistical or agricultural reason,
you can reach into your storage for a close substitute (shelf-stable milk or
dried milk.)
This commodities storage is the most reliable Emergency Fund
you could possibly maintain. You’ll be able to manage with lesser cash savings
and still feel secure in the face of an uncertain future.
