How to Save Money While Preparing For The Next Disaster

October 23, 2018

When financial planners talk about emergency preparedness, they’re typically referring to emergency savings, insurance, and estate planning documents. All of those are important but could be useless in a natural disaster like Hurricane Michael. The news stories may have faded but the Gulf Coast is still reeling from this unexpectedly strong storm and its accompanying surge. For the rest of us, the time to prepare for an emergency is when there isn’t one in sight.

That’s why emergency planning should include a 3 day emergency kit of basic supplies. FEMA and the Red Cross also recommend having enough food and water for at least two weeks. Some preppers even like to keep a whole year’s supply of food. This may sound like a waste of money, but there are ways for storing food and other emergency supplies to make good financial sense:

1) Only store what you’re actually going to use. It doesn’t make sense to purchase food you wouldn’t want to eat, especially when you’re stressed during an emergency. In fact, your best bet is to simply purchase in advance what you would buy anyway. This allows you to buy in bulk, which is a great way to save money. It also saves you time in not having to make as many trips to the grocery store and we all know that time is money.

2) Shop around. By buying in bulk, you can take advantage of warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club. Don’t forget to compare prices with online retailers though. You can also take advantage of sales to opportunistically add to your supplies anytime you see a good deal.

3) Rotate your supplies. By storing what you’ll actually use, you can simply replenish your storage supplies as you use them. Just be sure to watch the expiration labels and make sure you eat food and use batteries before they expire.

4) Keep less in emergency cash. If you know you have food to eat in a financial emergency, you can keep less cash in savings and have more of it invested for a higher return. Of course, food supplies can’t fully replace emergency savings, since you’ll still want to be able to afford repairs without going into debt or pay your bills if you’re in between jobs. It’s a good idea to keep some actual cash on hand in your emergency kit too. But keep reading for more on that…

5) Be inconspicuous. If you let everyone around you know that you have food and other emergency supplies, you could be bombarded by people begging for things (or even worse, stealing) in an emergency. It’s up to you to decide who you share or trade with when disaster strikes.

You don’t have to be a crazy prepper to want to have some food and other basic supplies for the next emergency. You also don’t have to waste money doing so. Following the tips above can actually save you money…and maybe much more.