Prep Series Week 6: Finances & Documents

This is part six of our ten-part toolkit series providing a step-by-step guide about how to prepare for disaster. You can read Parts 1-5 in the Resources & Toolkits page of Cramming for the Apocalypse.

Some of the less “sexy” aspects of preparedness are addressing your finances and documents. Yes, yes, we all need to have an emergency fund (three months or more of necessary expenses is an ideal first goal). But financial preparedness is often slow going and requires a lot of self discipline over a long period. 

As we noted in the outset, you’re not going to “be prepared” the moment you finish this 10-week preparedness journey. But you will have the tools. Financial preparedness is one of those long-term preparation topics, but there are a lot of things you can do today which we’ll cover here. 

It’s not sexy, but we still need to do it! Lots of small catastrophes can be lessened by having access to liquid finances. For example, I (Brekke) had to replace my entire septic tank last month. It could have caused an emergency for our family. But, we’ve been diligently saving so we were able to manage this essential need (and avoid a pretty nasty disaster!).

So, be on a plan to pay down debts, start saving, and managing your income and expense flow. Not sexy, but essential. If you are looking for a tool, check out the “Budgetnista” Tiffany Aliche, Michelle Singleterry and her personal finance column, “The Color of Money” from The Washington Post, Financial Feminist and Lydia Senn (she also has a great Youtube channel that’s very down to earth).

Because there are so many long-term planning resources out there, we’re focusing on what you can do in the short-term to make sure you’ll be ready for you and your family to get by if you don’t have access to your accounts. This is not long-term financial planning advice, but in-case-of-disaster financial planning.