Do you stockpile funds?

**kae** · 01-08-2012, 04:02 PM

I've seen lots of posts about stockpiling money. How many of you practice this? Is this the same idea as a sinking fund? Do you do this along with BS2, if you are following Dave Ramsey's Money Makeover? Do you keep stockpiled cash in a separate savings account, along with your EF, somewhere else?

Lots of questions from a noob!

**hmcart** · 01-08-2012, 06:19 PM

well I dont know much about the Dave Ramsey system as I dont follow it.....Gasp....I know right? I do read some posts about it and have gained knowledge from them but back to the question. I actually had a conversation with Dh about saving money the other day. My dad is in his 70s and his method was to keep most of it in a savings account but to always have a small ef on hand in cash hidden somewhere. In fact when his house flooded in May of 2010 he stayed with us and when we went back to his house for the first time he sent me with a key and told me where the money should be and luckily it was still there. It was wet but there! Sometimes I think his way doesnt sound so bad! I do want to read more of what everyone else says!

**mndtrp** · 01-08-2012, 06:27 PM

Are you referring to having cash on hand at your residence, or a simple savings account? I don't think I understand what you mean.

If you mean cash at home, no, other than what's in my wallet or change jar. Savings account, yes. Emergency fund, which is in a savings account, yes.

**chris w** · 01-08-2012, 07:43 PM

My goal is to have my ef and to have a small ef at home in our safe. that way incase for some reason we can't get to the bank or atm we will still have cash.

**Cricketlegs** · 01-08-2012, 08:53 PM

2 savings accounts. One is on its own,one is at the same bank as my checking account, and I have money in my secret spot in my house.

I mean really, when the Zombies show up am I really going to have time to run by the bank??

**Ceashels** · 01-09-2012, 10:24 AM

I like the zombie reference, when the zombies come... I'll be loading the firearms.

We keep cash envelops here and the beginning of the month is when we have the most cash on hand.... last week... not so much.

I save my blow money and I refer to it as my stash. It is in smaller denominations and can be used readily if we are in a pinch.

What are you considering a stockpile for money? From DR's perspective everything goes toward staying current/getting out of debt or savings (whether it is sinking funds, that vacation you want or retirement).

**Uniwolf** · 01-09-2012, 10:32 AM

I am with Ceashels, in a zombie event, I am loading and setting up reloads on the weapons.
But on the other hand, I have lived in hurricane country, and have actually had the banks be closed (no electricity) and ATM's not working, and POS at stores not working because the network is out. Even though they would have elect. because of generators.
So yes, we always keep a few hundrad dollars in smaller denominations at the house, that we can use in the event of local emergencies.

**nodmicks** · 01-09-2012, 11:22 AM

I budget with YNAB. It keeps track of all my sinking funds right in the same account if I like or separate accounts. I kind of like seeing them in one place.

**khaski** · 01-09-2012, 03:09 PM

I guess I 'stockpile' money in different online savings accounts for various goals we have coming up. We have seperate accounts for: next car (both of ours are paid off, we want to go 'cash only' for vehicles from here on out), vacation, hubby's 'fun/project' car. We also have $350 earmarked in our checking account for snow plowing fees for this winter (and that, fellow New Englanders, is why there's been NO SNOW, 'cuz we're ready for it at our house!). We have an EF at credit union as well, that is simply for, well, emergencies. So we 'stockpile' by planning our spending on big items ahead of time and piling up the $ as best we can beforehand in individual accounts for each accounts. My brain works in such a way that it's easiest for me to have each goal set apart in it's own account, lets me know where we stand for each goal.

**NikoSan999** · 01-09-2012, 03:40 PM

[QUOTE=hmcart;1601528 My dad is in his 70s and his method was to keep most of it in a savings account but to always have a small ef on hand in cash hidden somewhere. In fact when his house flooded in May of 2010 he stayed with us and when we went back to his house for the first time he sent me with a key and told me where the money should be and luckily it was still there. It was wet but there! Sometimes I think his way doesnt sound so bad![/QUOTE]

I have a friend that a long time ago had a map of her back yard and where it was buried in glass jars and what was planted on top of it. No she wasn't old. She was young.

**Emjo** · 01-09-2012, 08:36 PM

I have an EF, and it's quite a bit more than Dave's $1000. We are a one income family so we need a backup if DH gets laid off. I also have sinking funds for the house and car, as well as a "general" sinking fund for things like vet visits for the cats, Christmas presents, etc. I don't have any cash in the house, but I really should tuck $100 away somewhere.

**sinopa27** · 01-09-2012, 10:05 PM

i need to learn to stockpile some money. You don't have to have a disaster of some sort to have problems with getting money from the atm or system failure at the store. I don't like being vulnerable to those type of situations. So, I am going to start stockpiling some money. Thanks for the idea

**peanut** · 01-09-2012, 10:16 PM

We stockpile money in the bank. We have a hefty EF in one bank. A fairly nice savings in another bank that includes tax, insurance, and vacation money. A very low chequeing account. Two investment accounts in different banks. And we're thinking of opening a 'capital account' for the house renos and cars in February.

As for in the house, no not really. We're not in hurricane country. Mostly snow and the odd tornado. But they rarely touch down here. We try to make sure we have enough money to make it through a blizzard or between paydays here...every two weeks. No cash over and above that though. It's well under $1000. Most everything is paid through automatic payments at the bank, or online. So there's no need to take out a big hunk of cash.

**TheresaRHPS** · 01-10-2012, 11:04 AM

I do, on a very small scale, I guess.

I keep a $20 bill hidden in my car's glove box. It has come in handy for gas, or the occasional drive-thru lunch. I also keep a roll of quarters in my car in case I need to park at a meter, turnpike tolls, etc. There's also a roll of quarters in my purse at any given time since I do a lot of research at the library and courthouse and need to make copies.

There is a roll of quarters and another $10 in small bills in each of our 3 bug-out-bags. My bug-out-bags aren't necessarily intended for hardcore wilderness survival. Rather, they're intended for smaller scale issues, such as being stuck at work due to weather. I have some change on hand to use in the snack machines, or to make a call from a pay phone if need be.

At home, I do keep about $50 in cash on hand in small denominations. I love my bank, but its a small, local business, so I can't always count on its hours matching up with mine. Other than that, I do have a normal savings account with my bank, a checking account, and then I have a special account that I receive my child support payments through that rarely gets touched.

**greekislandgirl** · 01-10-2012, 02:23 PM

I stockpiled cash for a while. I was worried about losing our money if our country changed currencies suddenly (which is still a concern for me). So we stockpiled paper money and kept our bank account nearly empty. I kept it on my body because our home was not secure. This was last year. Now, we keep our money in the bank. We spent most of our money furnishing our new apartment so honestly we don't have that much money in the bank anyway! The vast majority (lol - it's still not much) of our money is out of the country in a bank account in the USA.

If I were in a position to do this again, I'd probably keep no more than a few thousand in cash, and the rest in precious metals. I would probably spend a lot of energy worrying about the security of the stuff too.