For some of you newer bloggers out there, you might ask, "what's this with baselle and change?"
Four years ago in mid July I needed a distraction along with a goal to exercise so to combine them I decided to blog about how much change I found living and walking throughout my day. Turns out I found, well, surprising amounts. Nearly $50 the first year, just a hair over $90 the second, a hair over $90 the third, and a hair over $75 just this last.
I need the distraction less ... the condo is plenty distracting, and while I love the hunt for change as a motivation to get me to exercise, I think I've become a hair OCD about it. So after 4 years, its time to re-adjust the change finding project a bit.
I'm finding change, but I'm not going full out and putting on a spreadsheet and tracking how much I find, etc. I find, then I have a little tub I put the findings in. My project is to slowly develop an intimate emergency fund. What's an intimate emergency fund, you ask? Well in a true emergency, like the "big one", the power and the ATM are going to be out. Need money, you'll need the intimate emergency fund.
Because a few pounds of pennies aren't really going to be that helpful, I make reverse change (25 pennies for a quarter) to keep my developing emergency at its most useful. So far a bit over $2.
new project
August 7th, 2013 at 03:41 am
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When I get on an airplane - and I get on a lot of airplanes - I count the number of seat backs between me and the exit/exit row both forward and back. I also note if there are any walls/partitions between my location and the exit. That way, even without lighting, I can find the exit.
No, I have never needed this information, but if I ever do, I'll have it.
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There is no set amount that works but I recommend having the cash on hand you would normally spend in two weeks. That is two tanks of gas, a couple trips to the grocery store, miscellaneous spending. For most folks that should be between $300 and $500.
And it is important to keep it in small bills. During an emergency you may not get change back for a purchase that was under $5 if all you pay with is a $20.
Keep this cash locked up but easy to get to, and close to your gran and go bag that if you had to evacuate you have a bag ready to go and just need to grab financial paperwork (if you don't have a copy in your G&G bag) and the cash from the safe.
And I urge people to get in the habit of filling their gas tanks a minimum of once a week. Then you know you will always have the gas to get out of town if you had to evacuate for some reason. I fill up my tank every Sunday, whether I need it or not. I also do not let the gas tank get below half a tank.
Great idea for your found money!
August 7th, 2013 at 05:19 pm 1375895994
@MEC - I'm thinking in the $200 - $300 range. I love finding change, and frankly once I reached "goal" I'd just continue on.
@scfr - Finding change is a lot of fun for me and the possiblity of finding some a much better driver for "one more block" than the classic then-I'll-get-a-muffin. Part of this is that I'm finding less in my new neighborhood than I did in my old neighborhood, so the old goal of finding ever increasing amounts is really not going to work.
@CB - You are doing a great job. We are in the same league! Some of this was trying to verify Jeffrey's findings that he could find over $100 in change. I came close. I think you can, but in the U.S. I think you run the risk of what I call "d!cklike behavior". As soon you pick out money from fountains, or you interfere with personal space nabbing that floor coin, you risk it. My big rule is "don't be a d!ck".
Oh, and while I don't have a car, I did buy a Red Cross preparedness backpack. In the condo, I have interior storage with its door right by the door, so that's where it goes. My financial/personal paperwork is imaged on a USB drive. I'm keeping the spare cash in a nondescript plastic grocery tub. I used to joke that the best place to keep spare money is a slightly damp tampon box. (at 51 tampons are in the rearview mirror). Believe me, no robber is gonna dig around in that.
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I keep about $1000, because I'm anal-retentive, and we had to go two weeks after Ike without any electricity. We couldn't get gas without a two hour wait in a very, very long line, so there was no driving across town to use ATM's that were working again. Gas was cash-only for the whole time, to my memory.
August 8th, 2013 at 12:30 am 1375921806