What would you do?

[bustedparts]

which would you choose given the state of the economy and the crisis in Japan.....

money in the bank?

OR

a year's supply of food?

[HappyMama]

Both....

Don't think I am being funny when I say this. Meaning keep your savings, and use your regular grocery money to stock up. Shop loss leaders, coupon, grow a garden, dehydrate, can and freeze this summer. Try to cut out more meat out of your diet, eat more whole grains buying them in bulk ( beans , rice, etc)When doing that stock your pantry , eat what you store, store what you eat and rotate. Once you start doing this you will have a full pantry and freezers , and you can do it off your grocery budget. I feed a family of 4 and others, mostly organic ( all organic grains, beans , rice) pasteurized grass fed beef and chicken etc on less then most families do it. But you have to be willing to shop in bulk, cook from scratch and bargain shop for things you will use. Don't stock anything whether free or not if you won't use it . It will waste your time, energy and space to store it. I am sure you probably do or know this just thought I would add for your thoughts. If you can add or concentrate on just a few things to buy each month before you know it , you will be stocked up. For instance this month for me was 50 pounds of oats, berries ( wheat grains to mill for my flours)

Look for the best prices, whether Sams, Costco, a co-op which I use, Azure Standard or bulk foods on line, or your regular grocery store. Know your prices. Buy only fruit and veggies in season. Cherry pick and know your sales ads and loss leaders.

Good luck to you.

[Dancing Lotus]

Money , I'm savvy enough to get the food

[Lady_V]

1 years worth of food AND cash money in hand -- never know if the food supply is contaminated AND you may not be able to access the banks to get to your money

[TigerGirl1226]

I'd split the difference somehow. Food and money are both important in a crisis.

[Nishu]

I've seen pictures of the supermarkets in Japan and they're pretty bare. I'm not sure how much good money will do you if you don't have anything to buy it with.

Plus there's the fact that in a major, world changing crisis, you never know how good our money's gonna be. Our money has value because our government says it does. It's not backed by anything and it doesn't hold any value on it's own. There have been times in the past when government's have printed money and no one was willing to take it because people they didn't trust the health of the government.

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You can always barter with food.

I suppose I'd choose food. I can't eat money, though I'd probably try if I got hungry enough.

[piney]

If it was food that i knew i would eat i would take the food for banks can go under.

[greekislandgirl]

I think a combination but I really like the idea of having a lot of food on hand. Of course, it would suck to have spent all my money on food, and then have it wash away in a flood (or whatever) and also have no money.... Balance is good.

[chowder]

For myself if I had to choose one OR the other I would have to say I did something wrong leading up to this.I am prepared with food and money as they are equally important.

[jas]

Well if it was not a situation where everything I owned was washed away or turned to rubble I would want the years worth of food. You can't eat money and if the store shelves are bare you couldn't buy anything anyway or it would be inflated in price for sure.

A combination of both, of course, would be ideal. You can't run a car or generator on food. Unless you barter if that option was available.

Watching the news should get peoples attention of what flies off the shelves first. Canned goods, water, batteries, generators. Those are the first to go here in Florida when the threat of a hurricane is looming. A full freezer is nice to have, but if you loose power you better be prepared to have one heck of a bbq to save at least part of it. And have the means to cook it. Grill with all the supplies needed.

[Joshin]

I already have two or three months worth of food on hand at all times, that I could likely stretch to six months if I had to.

Money in the bank is also important, as is cash on hand. The tragedy that struck Japan shows that cash isn't the only way to go, and some should be in the bank where you can access it later should your cash get washed away with everything else you own.

Both money and food is a gamble. The money could be worthless, the food could get destroyed or you may have to evacuate and you can't take it all with you. I personally feel that food is a good short term emergency investments, money is a decent mid-term investment, and developing the skills to survive a good mid- to long-term investment.

[Contrary Housewife]

I do not think the situation in Japan is going to drag us down the drain. These first few weeks are tragic, heartbreaking, uncertain and confusing, but the Japanese people are resilient and hardworking and they will recover relatively quickly. I think the recovery and reconstruction will be a boost to their economy.

Sure, there will be blips in the markets, investors will take advantage of any opportunity, but this is not the apocalypse.

The US economy is stagnant. Things are not going to get much better but neither are they going to get much worse. Your individual situation may vary, of course. Mine is pretty stable.

So I will take cash for one hundred, Alex. Cash is a much more flexible option. I can't get my car fixed with food. I can't buy medicines with food. The banking industry isn't doing anything stupid these days. I don't see the world banking community on the verge of collapse, either.

I've already got a good 3+ month supply of frozen and dry goods, so I'm set for a personal emergency. I don't believe we are at the point where we need to hoard sugar and booze and cigarettes for barter.

IMO, being debt free and flexible is your best option to respond to a crisis.

[Buc-O-Mama]

Food, cash, and ammo on hand. But that's just me.

[HappyMama]

For those interested I put this article up in money management:

Steepest Rise in Food in 36 yrs. Stock up

[greekislandgirl]

I personally feel that food is a good short term emergency investments, money is a decent mid-term investment, and developing the skills to survive a good mid- to long-term investment.

I totally agree with this comment, and would add that the more you have of the third, the easier it will be to get both the first (for obvious reasons) and the second (because these skills will become marketable to others).

Stockpiling both food and money have potential drawbacks (the food may be destroyed/lost, the money may end up never being used if there is never an emergency (or useless in extreme scenarios), and you can't take it with you) but there are no drawbacks to having skills, at least none that come to mind.