How to Use Money in a Survival Situation
By Richard Maida
The Seven Sisters of Urban Survival (Part VI)
Sooner or later every prepping and urban survivalist discussion gets around to money in general and gold in particular, with silver jingling around in between. With all the hype, confusion can reign. Let’s keep it simple. There are three stages that money may be important in your urban survival planning.
- Now: This is money you have squeezed out of your budget as a prepping fund to buy items and especially to be able to swoop down on sales. A simple example of this was awhile back when we saw name brand pasta for 88 cents a box. Our fund let us scoop up plenty. It may be gear for backpacking or flashlights, ammo or paper goods, or anything on your get list.
Also, if there is some kind of foreseeable event coming (slow moving train wreck) such as a hurricane, blizzard, etc. You can get out and stock up on a few more items days ahead of others.
This money does not have to be in cash outside of your bank account as long as you can keep it separate from what you normally spend.
- On Hand: This is cash in small bills and coins on your person, in your vehicles on board bags, in your full bug out bags, and stashed away hidden in your home or safe haven. For many of us putting aside money is NOT easy, but try to do so every two weeks or so, even if it is only five or ten dollars. Get in the habit of getting cash back on your main grocery shopping trip.
This money has a number of functions. The cash on your person may enable you to get out of a situation with a quick bribe, or if caught away from your home without any gear. You might be able to buy some non-perishable food and bottled drinks, first aid items, and maybe some kind of carrying bag. Even if most stores won’t be able to sell because the power is out, small shops or even street venders may still take cash in the period between the event hitting and the looting beginning.
The cash in your bags may be able to be used to buy items from those small shops and roadside stands you may be able to get to on the way to your safe haven, or from those who don’t understand that in a short while such money will be useless. Besides, it’s paper and can be used to start a fire.
How much you put aside or carry on you is up to you, but do NOT let anyone else know about it!!
After the dust settles: I’m not some big finance person so I’m not sure if gold or silver is going to be of any more value than paper money if the situation goes full apocalypse, but I have collected a fair share of old silver coins. I may also look into what they call “junk silver” as a bit of an investment. As far as gold, I let my wife, Mama Donna “collect” it in the form of jewelry. (LOL) Overall, in my opinion, I’d advise putting your money into the traditional 3B’s (bullets, bandages, and beans).
There is also what could be called halfway events where cash can help. An example of this is where some computer virus has taken down ATM’s, bank systems and card readers in stores may take two to three weeks to get straightened out. When no one else has cash on hand and can’t get to what they have in the bank, you can still buy from those who are dealing on a cash basis.
As far as those who argue that gold will have value when paper money is wiped out by some hyper-inflation, all I can say is who is going to trade food to you for a $20 gold piece? Think about it. I feel it’s better to have extra food or “tradeable” goods like batteries than tying money up in some coin that no one may want. But then again, I’m not some economics major.
Lastly, remember that money is anything accepted as a means of trading. In a post-apocalyptic world, a roll of toilet paper could be worth a lot more than a $100 bill, and be a lot smoother, too. LOL!
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By Richard Maida
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People have throughout history relied on the “value” of gold and silver. I would say that it would take an unusual event indeed to cause someone who has EXTRA from trading it for gold or silver. But be aware, that that gold and silver needs to be in a form which is intrinsically “honest”. That is, something whose precious metal content can be reliably known, and which is difficult to counterfeit; basically, coins.
But as mentioned, “change” is a big problem with gold and silver. If you have 10 1 ounce gold coins, you may not get a proportionate benefit from those resources. Better would be to work from the bottom up. Start with silver dimes (possibly quarters and dollars), 1 ounce silver coins, 1/10th ounce gold, and possibly a few bigger for major things. This gives you a “currency” of singles (two and a halfs, tens), twenties and hundreds. With this methodology, you will be positioned to take advantage of any “extra” which is available. If there is no “extra”, then gold and silver probably won’t buy goods, but still may buy some services.
Thanks for your input. There are many areas each one of us are good in and others we are not. It takes all of us sharing ideas together to learn what can be helpful in our survival plans. I basically agree with you that as some form of normalcy returns there will have to be some form of currency once you get past the barter stage. Gold and silver have filled the need for centuries. We can get into this further as I do articles on long term survival. I’ll look for more input from you then I hope.