I am looking for ideas of where to keep money and gold. I would love to hear some real life solutions. I know not to put it in a safety deposit box. I have info on how to dry it and bury it, but I want real examples of picking a location ect. Have you recorded the location in a will? What if you die, will your children be able to find out where? I'd appreciate any insights and ideas. We are talking life savings here.

-- a mom (question@money.com), August 02, 1999

Answers

Oh darn, I should have put this on the preparation forum. Sorry about that.

-- a mom (question@money.com), August 02, 1999.

I bought a safe. Heavy as all get out, but solid. It bolts to the floor and can be covered with stinky underwear or socks to fool and deter those pesky burglars.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 02, 1999.

mom, there are of course a number of issues here: protection from fire, damage, theft, etc. In particular, paper currency is at the most risk from these -- burns easily, can be rendered useless from mold and mildew (beware of burying without taking a lot of care in handling), and would be the most likely recognizable and stolen by a thief (also the easiest to carry!).

A big sturdy fireproof safe would certainly do the job, but also screams, "Here is where everything is hidden!". Such safes are also quite expensive, and obviously if you decide to move your life savings, you are out of the protection of the safe.

Here is a reasonable compromise, IMHO: For $20-$50, depending on the size, strength, and fire resistant rating, you can get portable strong boxes that can also weather a fire for an hour. (Your local Walmart should have them.) This is, obviously, crucial for your paper currency.

As far as where to hide your savings, that really gets specific as according to your property layout, etc. You definitely want to make sure that you are not the only person who knows where things are hidden, perhaps via a handwritten map entrusted to someone else.

As I mentioned on another thread a few days ago, the questions that you have asked are very important and very serious. A lot of people (e.g., Gary North) act like its a trivial thing to just up and take your money out of the bank, with virtually no recourse if it gets destroyed or stolen. This is as important and serious as anything one can ever do! Good luck.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), August 02, 1999.

In a diaper pail, under the lining of my cat's liter box, in a Tampon or Kotex box, just think of all the different places you wouldn't stick your hand.......

-- handsinmypocket (handsinmypocket@handsinmypocket.com), August 02, 1999.

After buying enough supplies to hold us over for a few months, I'm afraid that all my spare cash can now be easily hidden under my mouse pad. :)

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), August 02, 1999.

Suggest you dig 100 holes. 99 of them are false finds with Mapped notes in them leading you to the next hole in line. By the time you've noticed someone digging in your yard, certainly they will not have reached the 100th hole. How do you like those apples?

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), August 02, 1999.

Arnie and Feller--I like your ideas better than mine!

-- handsinmypocket (handsinmypocket@handsinmypocket.com), August 03, 1999.

I also suggest you go to the rental place and rent a post hole digger one man machine and dig them all in a jiffy. I rented one last saturday and it took 10-15 seconds per hole (2 1/2 ft deep). Simply amazing machine for one person and cost 35 dollars for half a day.

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), August 03, 1999.

In any case, I would not put all, or even most, of my savings in any one place! I'm even leaving substantial portions in banks! (Multiple banks, not just one.)

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), August 03, 1999.

Feller,

What if they start with hole #99?

-- sigmund (justa@cigar.com), August 03, 1999.

hahaha....the 99th you say? Hopefully you have some acreage because what I'm suggesting is not for someone living in a duplex. hehehe. Chances might be slim to be that lucky. You might want to pack dirt over the secondary container which is below the first one (after you've dug a very deep post hole) and make them do it all over again. You might want to mix the sequence in the event you double stack. A thick plug of soil might seem illogical for the digger to persist through when they've already reached the container closer to the surface. They would be distracted by the map inside the upper container and be looking forward to advancing their search. They would have not figured the lower stash until they've reached # 100, especially if you've machined the holes real deep.

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), August 03, 1999.

I realize that once all 100 holes have been revealed, they would figure that they need to dig deeper in those revealed holes. 100 holes is still a hassle to dig deeper into and still they could get caught in that time-frame more easily than with only single stacked ones.

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), August 03, 1999.

Get a good (not a toy) magnetic compass. Hope we don't have a magnetic pole shift. :-) Pick a place that has at least four good landmarks more or less surrounding you (not all in the same general direction). Two landmarks is actually sufficient, but four makes for more accuracy and gives redundance in case one or two are removed one way or the other. Landmarks would be big trees, the highest mountain peak usually visible, a building foundation corner, a big rock, a windmill, etc.

From the place, note the landmark and its bearing. Measure carefully and take several measurements of the same landmark.

To test yourself, stick a stick in the ground at the place, move away several hundred yards in a random manner. Pick one of your landmarks and maneuver yourself so it is in the direction you noted. Walk along a line, keeping that bearing constant, monitor your other bearings until your other bearings become as you noted. Hopefully, you are close, within a few feet of the stick at your spot.

After digging the hole, you may want to put an inconspicuous small rock at the exact spot so you don't have to dig a huge hole when in recovery mode.

For recovery, you don't have a map, but a list of landmarks and bearings. This should be easy to disguise as to what it means, using steganographic techniques. Don't put the information on your computer or even on a floppy disk.

-- A (A@AisA.com), August 03, 1999.

HOW TO HIDE SILVER INSIDE A WALL.

Inside any closet is a shelf. The shelf is not attached, but is just resting on a small 1x2 piece of wood. Lift up one end and take a sharp knife and start digging a small slit, just above the 1x2, just big enough for a one ounce round of silver or a silver dollar to slip through.

Try to find a closet that has an outside wall with wood paneling. When you need to retrieve the silver, just peel the wood paneling back a bit nnear the floor and cut a hole in the wall and retrieve your silver. When done, simply nail the paneling back against the wall.

NOBODY WILL FIND YOUR SILVER!!!!!

-- Hide silver (Hide@silver.com), August 03, 1999.

NEVER PUT ALL YOUR MONEY IN ONE PLACE. Its plain and simple. Find more than one place to put your money.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), August 03, 1999.

..."in a diaper pail, under the lining of my cat's liter box"... Never underestimate the remotest of vandalism attempts. A neighbor kept her most valuable jewelry in a paperbag in her bathroom vanity, which she thought safe from vandals and easily grabbed in a fire emergency. She noticed one day that the paperbag had disappeared. After tearing her home apart several times, she decided that her young child must have thrown the bag into the diaper pail and it went out with the trash. I thought I had found a very safe location inside my home for my bundles of cash, until my cat found it and started ripping up the bills.

-- Do you (need@a.cat?), August 03, 1999.