Could you find £300 in an emergency?

Apparently 47% of survey respondents in the US couldn’t find $400..

But the answer to one question was astonishing. The Fed asked respondents how they would pay for a $400 emergency. The answer: 47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all. Four hundred dollars! Who knew?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/

but a few weeks ago that would be me for the last 20 years or so.

I am now reasonably financial solvent for the first time since I left home.

My own fault entirely and I have lucked through but never again.

Half of America in below good income, heading for poverty line shocker….

I bet the other half are loaded….

Yes. In fact anyone on here has a bike or stuff they could sell quickly to raise at least £300

Yup, a few weeks ago I started a thread about “how much money have you in your wallet/pocket right now”
I got loads of replies, some honest, some piss taking, most on here seemed have now’t but change for a fiver..

I had £310..

I think I’d be ok.

A good lookin’ fella like me?

As long as there’re perverts in the world?

No problemo.

Yup, I’m always paranoid about this sort of thing so aim for 2months sallary in the current account, and 2 months mortgage and bills ontop of that in the joint account.

I don’t even have a wallet, got a money clip for cards and notes but ditched having a wallet a while back, haven’t missed it.

His downfall appears to be having children..

Some economists attribute the need for credit and the drive to spend with the “keeping up with the Joneses” syndrome, which is so prevalent in America. I never wanted to keep up with the Joneses. But, like many Americans, I wanted my children to keep up with the Joneses’ children, because I knew how easily my girls could be marginalized in a society where nearly all the rewards go to a small, well-educated elite. (All right, I wanted them to be winners.)

Yep,

But I think, like thisisnotaspoon, I’m pretty paranoid about this stuff so I have funds squirrelled away. credit cards get paid off at the end of the month, spreadsheets, that sort of thing

I could, but I can think of a few people I know that couldn’t so it’s not all that surprising a survey.

I got loads of replies, some honest, some piss taking, most on here seemed have now’t but change for a fiver..

I had £310..

I think I’d be ok.

you carry cash – how quaint. Big city type too…..

i dont carry cash often …its amazing how much of a precursor that is to not spending cash…..

I also keep my current account fairly empty for the same reason.

How ever finding a few hundred readies in a hurry. not a big issue – id just have to consider it first and decide if it was a real emergency.

Fortunately yes I could. But a few years ago I would have struggled.

Just about – but only in recent times.
I’ve had a lot of years when I totally lived hand-to-mouth.

Easily, I’ve started getting a lot more careful about tracking my money over the last year or so , and I don’t have kids which helps 😉

Yep, we’ve got a months take-home in joint savings and I’ve got more than that spare in my current account, ironically given statements above I’ve only got that because I’ve got kids.

When I was young free and single I was cash poor all the time, broke, living on borrowing and scraping by till pay-day. There was a ‘moment’ 6-7 years or so ago, not long after I first moved in with my OH – found ourselves 4 days from the next payday with no food in the house and no money in the bank – a total shock to both of us, it sort of crept up on us, I wasn’t earning much and she was a student back then but with a kid to feed and not really anything hiding in the back of the freezer I had to do something, luckily I had a massive pot of change and there’s those change counting machines in supermarkets now that count it all up and give you a voucher to spend which got us by, said “never again” and even with a lot of bumps along the way it’s been that bad again.

You don’t half feel stupid looking at a 32″ flatscreen and thinking “I can’t afford food”. These days we’ve got £10k or more of available credit on cards, but they have a way of making you think that despite spending £500 on consumer crap that month, running out of food money is an unforeseeable emergency and spending £30 with Just-Eat is a sensible thing to do.

Since I stopped smoking, there is always money in the account!

Most of the time yeah, but if anything happens a week before pay day (26th Every month) it’s a struggle.
But good planning and not over indulging means I have money to spare sometimes at the end of the month.
That includes all bills,rent, fuel and food plus money Towards holiday.

you carry cash – how quaint

I read something from a council/local authority disaster response planner person a while ago. He pointed out that a lot of people don’t have cold, hard cash with them any more.

If there was some kind of civil emergency/cyber attack/bank systems failure (see RBS) how much food and fuel could you buy with the cash you’ve got with you?

credit cards get paid off at the end of the month, spreadsheets, that sort of thing

I had a scare when we moved house last summer, realized that in the ~5months after the move I was living at a deficit due to all the ‘small’ bits of work being done, tools and materials bought, etc, which came to a head in November when the credit card didn’t clear and I had to empty my last remaining ISA. Now determined to get back to the point of having an ISA again!

As for spreadsheets, not that organised, I know roughly what all the big bills are, and how much goes out on food, and the float in the joint account is there to deal with monthly fluctuations. The only time I spreadsheet is when building up a bike or spending money on a hobby and need to work out how many months to spread it over (then split the components between wiggle/CRC/merlin etc and do one order a month).

Now, yes, no problem. I’m very fortunate to have savings at various levels of accessibility that would last me several years at current living costs. Go back to when I left home and no chance. At some points I was trying to live of literally a few pounds a week. At that point, butter on bread was a luxury!

I’d just mug bikebuoy, that sucker always has cash on him

I carry cash because many years ago I didn’t have 20p to my name, almost lost my home to the Mortgage company, lost my (then) job due to my two Bosses falling out, couldn’t find another job for 7months and lived hand to mouth right through that period. The only way to live was get cash out of the Bank, use that and nothing else and keep a log of what I was spending. Luckily I found another job and all was good, but that period has made me very, very careful about money and I still to this day get cash out, use that and not the card unless it’s too inconvenient.

I too keep a spreadsheet thing, every week or so I update it, don’t quite keep all receipts but most I do….

bails – Member

you carry cash – how quaint

I read something from a council/local authority disaster response planner person a while ago. He pointed out that a lot of people don’t have cold, hard cash with them any more.

If there was some kind of civil emergency/cyber attack/bank systems failure (see RBS) how much food and fuel could you buy with the cash you’ve got with you?

Interesting point, I hardly ever carry cash, in fact it’s a bit of a PITA if I’m going to Cwmcarn or Afan because their stupid parking machines only take coins, so I’ve got to find cash-machine and then buy something to get some change.

If the banking system goes down I’d be hunter gatherer within hours.

If there was some kind of civil emergency/cyber attack/bank systems failure (see RBS) how much food and fuel could you buy with the cash you’ve got with you?

If that happens, surely all bets are off and you just take what you want?
If the family needed food, they are getting food regardless of the legal repercussions!

With no cash to buy weapons…..

If the banking system goes down I’d be huntered gatherer within hours.

😉

If the family needed food, they are getting food regardless of the legal repercussions!

Well, that’s exactly why from a civil order point of view everyone having a stash of notes is a good idea. If you jump straight to looting as soon as your ApplePay stops working then things get messy, quickly. If you can say “oh well, I’ll get that £300 out from behind the wardrobe and carry on while they sort this mess out” then you’re less likely to end up being shot/imprisoned/(eaten?) for looting.

I live near a border and spend enough time the other side of it to know that having enough cash in pocket for a coupe of weeks is a good idea. When your bank blocks your account for “unusual movements” how are you going to get on with a fiver in your pocket?

The wallet thing is just an indication of how much cash you might use day-to-day, which is potentially quite different to how much you spend. Just a bit of fun.

I have no cash at all in my wallet right now and rarely do, but if I whacked my carbon bike on a rock and the manufacturer refused to cover it under warranty, then as soon as I’d finished moaning on the internet about how unfair it all is, I would be able to go and buy another frame without worrying about whether there will be food on the table next week.

🙂

With no cash to buy weapons…..

If the banking system goes down I’d be huntered gatherer within hours.

I’ve got a shotgun and about 1500 carts under the spare bed for that eventuality!

I’d struggle

It’s not a good place to be

If there was some kind of civil emergency/cyber attack/bank systems failure (see RBS) how much food and fuel could you buy with the cash you’ve got with you?

I assume you have one of these

filled with tinned food, then?

Exactly sunday jumper . Just becase i dont have it in my wallet doesnt mean i dont have any in the house for random stuff- but equally i dont keep alot in the house

Bikebouy – we have similar attitudes then as i have little more than pocket change in
My current account anyway. If i want to spend money i activly have to move money online on in the bank.

Double post

3 months salary is the advice for the rainy day fund. Problem is for most there’s little incentive to save at the moment with virtually no interest, and so many people are stretched to the limit with nothing to save. Still, the odd sacrifice here and there, save what you can. Tricky bit is not spending that on bike stuff 😉

With no cash to buy weapons…..

Just take someone elses.

Well, that’s exactly why from a civil order point of view everyone having a stash of notes is a good idea. If you jump straight to looting as soon as your ApplePay stops working then things get messy, quickly. If you can say “oh well, I’ll get that £300 out from behind the wardrobe and carry on while they sort this mess out” then you’re less likely to end up being shot/imprisoned/(eaten?) for looting.

If the govt sees people starving because of whatever reason and cannot stop it, then they better expect some bloody looting! What do you think will happen to food prices, and how far do you reckon £300 will go?

The incentive to save is the stress it lifts from day to day life imo.

Always been a saver since my dad taught me an important lesson.

I ” needed” new forks for my bike when i was 13. Had a job payed 25 quid a week

My dad bought the forks for me – they were 300 quid for some used monster ts.

He then took half my pay for a long time. To the value of 300 quid.

Those months were shit it made life very inflexible even with no over heads . Eventually he told me he had put it in savings for me but it made me very debt adverse

Oh dear, the grab-bag having, shotgun owning in case of the zombie apocalypse survivalists have arrived 😉

I think I’m safe in saying that should a single banking system fail (RBS was a good example) having access to another account with another bank will probably see you right, there is thankfully no single banking system per-se.

But more importantly, should the whole system come crashing down, orchestrated no doubt from a lair hidden within a hollowed out volcano, then the usefulness of cash will be limited to kindling.

Yes now but for a long time I was hand to mouth in my travelling days and perfectly happy. Having worked in America though it is incredibly easy to fall through the gaps with one piece of bad luck unless your are in the wasp class.

Hmm, now we have touch pay with debit cards, I hardly ever have any cash on me (or in the house).

Maybe ought to rethink that strategy a bit…..

Could probably access about 6k right now without asking. But that’s credit cards x 2 and a 2 grand overdraft that I don’t use.

i’d be stuck paying that back for yonks though, and would most likely just service the interest.

I’ve no savings.

Saying that i do scud about 1k a month on not very much! 😆 my rent and bills are very low.

If I lived a frugal life I could probably save 500 quid a month quid easily, but whats the point in that! 😆

I assume you have one of these filled with tinned food, then?

It’s easy to put a couple of hundred quid (assuming you’ve got it) in a safe place (not a bank!) for an emergency.

Becoming a full on prepper and building a urine filtration system/storing 10,000 tins of corned beef in a hole in your back garden is slightly harder and more expensive, so only a crazy person would do that*.

*of course, someone who had build a urine extraction filtration system/stored 10,000 tins of corned beef in a hole in their back garden would say that to put scroungers off the scent. Mind, the autoturrets should keep nosy neighbours away… 😉