Emergency Fund Challenge

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Emergency Fund Challenge
10
Sun, 09-04-2005 - 9:03pm

In light of the tragedy that has happened in New Orleans and surrounding cities along the Gulf Coast, I would like everyone to step back and take a look at their own emergency funds. Do you have an emergency fund started? Ultimately it should be a minimum of $1000 but as much to cover 3-12 months of living expenses.

Many of the folks in New Orleans did not have the financial means to protect themselves and their families. Maybe more people could have evacuated if they had better funded emergency funds.

At this point you are probably wondering why the title says challenge. So here it is...

Emergency Fund Challenge:

1. Start an Emergency Fund if you have not done so already.

2. If you donated money to victims of the hurricane, please deposit the same amount of money plus 3-5% to your own emergency fund.

3. If you did not donate to the victims, you can choose from the following options...

a. The amount of your smallest minimum payment on a credit card.
b. 3-5% of this months net income.
c. The amount of money for two nights stay in an inexpensive hotel.
d. Any other amount that you feel is appropriate to your budget.

Ideally a time frame would be within the next 30 days.

There is not need to ever post what you donated, but please post when you have completed the challenge if you decide to participate.

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2005
Sun, 09-04-2005 - 9:10pm

Shannon,

this is a great idea and i like the idea of us motivating each other in this way!
Count me in (i've actually already started working on mine!)

Shannon

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 12:24am

Hi, Shannon. :) You raised some valid points. DH has about $11K in checking account. My own emergency fund dwindled to nothing, but am pouring in $200.00/month to it now. As a reminder, people should also have the following:

l) Portable radio with back-up batteries
2) Flashlights and batteries
3) Bottled water for 6 wks
4) Canned food and nonperishables, and pet food
5) Medicine (3 months worth)
6) A can-opener and bottle opener nonelectric
7) Emergency First Aid kits (car, etc.)
8) Tent and supplies--cooking stove, lantern
9) Portable generators (2)

We purchased portable generators after the '03 fires in S. California. We have used them from time to time. The only thing we lack is up-to-date firstaid kits. Whiz.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2003
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 4:39am

Great idea for a challenge!

My emergency fund is tiny, but at least it is at a steady growth of 10 €/month :-)

Would insurance against loosing our belongings to a catastrophe like this count as kind of an emergency fund? Apart from the skies literally falling in on us there is not much risk of natural disaster where I live, but when we bought the insurance a few years ago, we thought "Better have it, you never know what the future will bring".

BTW: I do not know who comes up with all these lists what to have to be prepared for an emergency. But there is absolutely no way to store enough bottled water for 6 weeks in a rented flat of normal size! Do all of those list-makers live in large houses with plenty of storage capacities? Wonderful for them, but pretty far away from real life, if you ask me /rant off

Sorry, I just feel pretty annoyed about some of the talk I hear which basically leads to a minor version of "Well, they should have been prepared better." Many of those who didn't leave New Orleans didn't because they couldn't - even though it was not a voluntary evacuation like so many times before but an ordered one. And if you have not enough money to have a car, or buy a ticket out of town, how are you supposed to stock up on all those items? Medicin for three months or more? Generators???

We have food and water for about a week, food is maybe more if you count in the pantry. There's a tent, an ample supply of sleeping bags and camping matresses, four cookers with fuel (two running on gas, two running on anything liquid and flammable), three 1st Aid kits (stored in different locations in out flat), torches etc. - most of that coming form being outdoor afficionados and loving to spend the summer camping.

What I do have packed - always - is a set of photocopies of the most important medical records, all insurance policies we own, passports, the lease and degree certificates. Even if we had to leave our place within five minutes, that envelope I'd be able to grab. And knowing from a former collegues how difficult it can be to provide proof when you have lost everything due to a fire or some other situation, I guess that's one thing I can do. Oh, and a small amount of cash.

I will put that extra amount you suggested into our emergency fund right now :-)

Greetings, Jordis

ivy_jordis

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-21-2004
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 8:34am

I love this idea! I am starting an emergency fund this week. I am going to transfer 5 dollars per week to an ing account. (i know it doesn't sound like much.. but its all we can afford ) I am trying to pay off our credit cards right now and we are keeping two cards frozen in ice for emergencies as well. (because god forbid if we ever have to evacuate town and stay in a hotel for weeks... that's the kind of emergency we are talking about here.) I know that may sound dangerous to some and there is always the danger of racking up debt again, but until we can get a thousand dollars in our savings i want to keep this cards open in case of catastrophe. We have so little money to play with right now, it would take months and months to get that amount in savings.

kel

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 9:16am

Thats great. ING will give you $25 when you open the account if you are referred by someone. If you need a referral email me, shannonsmj29@msn.com. And then you can refer your friends & family and earn $10 for every person that opens an account.

This is how I started my ef, and now I fund it with $20 per week, plus I am scraping up $100 to add to it this week. That would be enough to put gas in the car and a night in a hotel if need be.

Ivy: The emergency fund would just not be for natural disaster. God forbid you have a fire in your house, a funded ef would be able to pay for a couple of nights of room & board, and clothing while you wait for the insurance company to get money to you.

Shannon


Pregnancy%20ticker
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2003
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 9:29am

" while you wait for the insurance company to get money to you."

Good point, very good point. I keep that in mind and stock up our emergency fund as soon as possible.

Thanks for reminding me.

Jordis

ivy_jordis

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 9:30am

I was thinking about the medicine thing the other day....I don't know about you guys but my insurance company is a pain in the rear about refills-you don't get them until you are out. I can't refill BC pills until the next to last day usually and DD's medicine gives us fits on refills all the time anyway.

In terms of water, one thing I do (but I've wondered the same thing about small apartments) I use mine to fill up the freezer/fridge when they aren't full already so they kind of rotate in and out. However, my freezer is in the garage and our biggest natural disaster risk is tornadoes so I'm not sure how that would work....

For food, we camp in the summer so I have a cabinet where I store camping food. This is usually starting to fill nicely by tornado season but is pretty depleted right now.

Oh, and don't forget (I always do) not to store the batteries in the flashlight but near the flashlight.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-07-2003
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 12:29pm

The reason that organizations like the red cross recommend those things is because in a natural disaster, money is pretty much useless when you need it most.

Which is not to say I dont think you SHOULD have an EF! hehehe, in case it reads that way. An EF gets you out before the natural disaster hits. And in case of fire, flood, tornado or "smaller scale" disaster that hits you, but not your Entire community, it is a Godsend.

But...if you were IN New Orleans for this tragedy, or anyone who has been in harder-hit hurricane areas....Miami for Andrew, or even, as I was, on the Florida coast last year for the hurricanes...money is more or less useless once the hurricane has hit. Stores aren't open, so its not like you can run out for bottled water on day 3 of no running water or electricity. And those who HAVE water arent going to sell it...at least not for cash. I did see water traded for gasoline to power generators, etc. Stores and restuarants aren't open so no amount of money is going to put food on the table. And hotels in the area are hit with the same troubles, so going to a hotel isnt always a help... and until gas stations reopen (with power restored) you can't buy gas to get out, anyway.

Once the emergency personnel come to the area..they're not selling supplies, they're giving them away, either on a first come/first serve basis, or on an as-needed basis. The line forms for bottled water/ice, and when the truck arrives with the supplies, they start handing it out. Often times its gone in the first 2 or 3 hours, and the people still in line have to wait til the next day to try again.

In fact, money from FEMA began arriving to those hit long before power was restored. As soon as we found a working phone to call in our report, the check was mailed the next day. Of course, the bank wasnt open to deposit it. and the ATM wasnt working to get more cash out. and no one was accepting CCs or ATM cards since they didnt have power. . . .

So that's why for *major* natural disasters, they make the recommendations that they do. Because the piece of mind of HAVING enough bottled water that you DON'T have to waste fuel by going and waiting in line for the HOPES of bottled water is priceless. If you remembered to fill your bathtub with water before you lost running water...and can therefore still flush your toilet...THAT is also a godsend!

Even if you have the money, some supplies are gone quickly....as people panic and start buying things.

I hear what you're saying in regards to "where to keep these things"....Here's some thoughts:
When I lived in a tiny apartment in Florida, my roommate and I had a laundry basket, in which we kept the first aid kit, copies of the essential paperwork in sealed waterproof bags (including copies of all the info for her pets..pics, vet records, proof of vaccinations.) a small tool kit, matches and a box of candles. flashlight & batteries, 2 gallons of water, some canned food items and a can opener. It was kept on the floor of the coat closet and had we ever had to leave the house, it would have been easy to grab and take with us. It was also kept next to the pet food, so we could grab some of that. Since it was in a closet in the center of the building, we stayed near it for tornadoes, as well.

It would NOT have been enough, and whenever our town recieved warnings of hurricanes headed our way, we tried to stock up on water, filled all the sinks and tub, etc. BUT, it was enough that we werent running around like fools the day before hurricane's came, possibly forgetting something (like a can opener!) and it WOULD have been enough for Absolute SURVIVAL for us, (1 gallon of water per person could have been preserved until we could get to help).

In my car I also always had a large tarp, tie down ropes, another first aid kit (which included a snake bite kit and a fire ant kit).

Now, I live in Kansas City. There's a possibility of tornadoes ~ and during tornadoes it often IS money that is the greatest help, because the devastation isnt so wide-spread, and you can get to stores that are open still, etc. there is also the possibility of blizzards in the winter..ice storms that can close the city down, or at least make it difficult to leave..so in the winter here I do try to make sure I have emergency items on hand, because I have lost power for a week in the dead of winter here. But I dont keep the same basket as I did in Florida.

My recommendation then, aside from the monetary EF...which is unquestionably good on so many levels...is to look at the red cross supply lists, think honestly about WHAT disasters could strike you....absolute worst-case scenario....and make a list of the items YOU want to have.
In terms of medications they're really talking about the true life-or-death medications you might need...insulin, heart medicines, blood thinners or clotters, anti-seizure, etc. also some sort of benedryl or other allergy medicine is good...because you never know. I had a bit of a sinus infection for Charley last year, and I would have killed for something to unclog my sinuses...3 seperate times during that storm the pain in my ears was so bad I thought my ear drum had burst.

Once you have your list, seperate into things you would NEED, and things it would be nice to have. If you dont have any medications needing refrigeration, a generator, for example, is optional. You can survive without the power from a generator, however uncomfortably.
Then, I would recommend putting the list in something....a storage container, a shoebox, even, along with those things you can easily store in that box...a first aid kit, copies of important paperwork (also a great spot to keep copies of credit card info where you can find it if your wallet is stolen). and then, should they ever say they're expecting a blizzard or hurricane...you have your shopping list right there to run to the store for water and canned goods...

Incidently...especially in your in an apartment building...I highly recommend storing the paperwork in a waterproof bag inside a firesafe box. :)

The point of all that rambling being that you would be surprised how much you CAN store, in, say, a shoebox, set it in a closet or under the sink, or even keep it under your seat in the car.....and how that piece of mind will help should disaster strike. :)

As for the challenge, I have a yard sale next weekend, from the profits of that I need 2 tanks of gas for a roadtrip later this month..and the rest is all designated EF. I have also depleted mine to nothing right now, which is nervewracking!

~ Teresa

Teresa
http://www.affordingpickles.blogspot.com

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2004
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 1:06pm

That brings up a good point.

In addition to having money in the bank, how much cash and bottled water should we keep in the house in case something like this hits? I know that cash might not always be useful, but if there are stores open that have no power, then it would be. I remember shopping at Kroger two years ago after Hurricane Isabel, and it had no power but was open. I think I had a few hundred dollars in a secret place just in case, but spent some of it then and the rest later. Every time I get money from the bank, I'm going to put $20 away until I have a few hundred again. And I'm going to get some gallon jugs of water for home and for my classroom. We were "locked down" last year due to a false alarm (somebody called 911 and said there had been a shooting), and we were stuck in the room in the dark for two hours. If it hadn't been a false alarm, it could have been longer. Thankfully nobody said he or she had to use the bathroom!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-15-2005
Mon, 09-05-2005 - 6:40pm

There is some great advice here about how to prepare for emergencies. Everyone has to assess the potential risk in their own area and assemble emergency supplies accordingly. If space is a problem, such as in a city apartment and storing several weeks' worth of water and other supplies is just not possible, one should aim for 72 hours' worth of supplies. Except for areas of complete devastation such as in New Orleans now, it is very likely that water service will be restored within 72 hours, though it may have to be boiled. If you're in the middle of the area of devastation and have the means to get yourself out, 72 hours' worth of supplies could get you over the first few days while you figure out what to do next. Of course, if you have the room to store more supplies, then you have more flexibility. However, even if there isn't a lot of room, 72 hours worth of survival supplies could make all the difference.

In less dire circumstances, such as blizzards, ice storms, situations where the power might be out for an extended period but everything else otherwise intact, having a small stash of cash at home to make essential purchases is a good plan. Without power, stores and gas stations might not be able to process credit-card transactions. There might not be any way for stores to get small bills to make change, and you may find yourself exchanging a $20 bill for a gallon of milk or other essential item because you need it and there are no small bills to make change. For that reason, part of my emergency cash is in one-dollar bills to use in just such circumstances.

There have been some really good suggestions here. Thanks to all who offered advice.