I’ve been praying for the people in the Gulf States.
Please take a second and pray for those trying to survive a hurricane? Thank you.
Hurricanes can lead to a flood of debt. When I was going through my first Hurricane, I spent money that should have been saved. Why? Because; 1. I’d never been through a Hurricane, 2. I was concerned about my family’s safety, 3. I had the money. Thankfully we were blessed to have survived 4 more and two deadly Tropical Storms (praise God). Second to that, I saved potentially thousands due to being blessed with the gift of couriousity. I asked people who’d lived through a Hurricane what they knew about surviving one. I watched Tom Terry on WTFV.com.
10 Tips To Save You Money During A Hurricane
1. Don’t take out cash advances on your credit cards. Cash advances have extremely high interest rates and they are terrible to negotiate. Many people take out cash advances during a hurricane to just in case they need cash. This is a mistake. An ATM withdraw is the same as a cash advance.
2. Don’t use store credit cards to purchase your supplies. I call store credit cards “sub-prime”. Sure, you can use your home depot credit card to charge for repairs. But it will cost you for years. Call around and negotiate for quotes.
3. Get the best deal you can. For example, if you want to board up your windows, check with the your local distributor first, and see how much you can save.
4. Beware of price gougers. During Hurricane Charlie, thousands of Floridians were charged up $10 per 16 ounce bottle of water. Price gouging can be a criminal offense in your state. For example, Florida states,
” Price gouging may be charged when a supplier of essential goods or services sharply raises the prices asked in anticipation of or during a civil emergency, or when it cancels or dishonors contracts in order to take advantage of an increase in prices related to such an emergency. The model case is a retailer who increases the price of existing stocks of milk and bread when a hurricane is imminent. It is a defense to show that the price increase mostly reflects increased costs, such as running an emergency generator, or hazard pay for workers.”
~ Source: wkipedia.org”.
5. Think Sustainably – Postpone Luxury. Deal with what you can do without. I remember telling my ex-wife, “keep it simple sweet hart” regarding Hurricane purchases. At first she wanted to fly back to Michigan. I considered it but decided against it. Next, she priced hotel rooms. She’d heard that water service is often interrupted during a Hurricane. The hotel rooms were sold out – thankfully.
We had the money but the rooms were going for up to $200 per night! We ended up without water and electricity for two and a half days. Not a luxurious living at all. But we lived at home, without water and electricity. Nobody in my family was hurt thanks to God. During that time our family bonded and saved money. We saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars by not spending the night in the hotel.
6. Fill your bathtub with water. If your water gets shut off, you’ll need to be able to flush your toilets. This can be done by pouring a big bucket of water into the toilet. You’ll need plenty of water to flush your toilets over and over again. Clean your tub with bleach before filling it.
7. Get plenty of charcoal and lighter fluid. You may be without gas or electric service. You may have to use your grill to cook your food before it spoils. Charcoal and lighter fluid is a must have for hooking if your power or gas lines go down.
Please Note: Do not grill inside your home? Carbon Monoxide poisoning can kill you.
8. Grill food before it spoils. Cooked food will last longer than uncooked food. We can thank our Native Americans for teaching us how to make beef jerky (seasoned and cooked meat). Almost any food can be cooked on a fire or grill – Just not in an enclosed non-ventilated area.
9. Share the burden – share the wealth. We were blessed to have wonderful neighbors and friends living nearby. We were able to share resources. For example when we ran out of toilet tissue, our friends let us borrow some. Like wise, we shared our charcoal and lighter fluid with them. We had sort of a pot-luck. We all saved time, money and the stress of running out in the storms aftermath to find essentials.
10. Go to the dollar store for supplies. You can find nearly everything you need to build a Hurricane Survival Kit (like the one suggested by the RedCross) at the dollar store.
These are just 10 of the many money saving lessons I’ve learned over the years when a Hurricane strikes.
If you have any money saving tips for Natural Disasters, feel free to leave your comment below.
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