Old habits are hard to break. People who for generations have depended on cash for their necessities, will take some time to realize that it is actually worthless, especially during the first few weeks of an emergency situation.
Yes--- paper cash will become the "old maid" you do not want to be stuck with.. however, during the first few weeks of a grid down situation it may indeed be the king of the hill for obtaining those supplies you wish you had laid away for the coming dearth. It will take a while before people realize the truth that gold and silver is the only money which is long term viable.
Meanwhile, a personally held stash of paper is a sort of insurance policy which would come in quite handy if the first throws of SHTF is only a few weeks long.
A true prepper should prep for a time when society has not yet collapsed, and you are forced out of your job, illness or accident strikes the family breadwinners. It is a way to keep from digging into your long term supplies too early...
watchman
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There’s been a serious trend among preppers for the past few years to stock up on gold and silver. And while there are certainly advantages to having a gold bar or two in your possession, far too many people are neglecting to acknowledge the importance of having some good old fashioned cash on hand.
Granted, in a true SHTF scenario, even cash will soon begin to lose its value as people will eventually revert back to bartering and trading of services. But what about scenarios that don’t involve a complete and extreme collapse? When it comes to dealing with natural disasters or other scenarios that might take the electronic grid down for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, there are very real benefits to having cash readily available on hand.
And you don’t have to go very far back to see this theory in action, either. As recently as Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans and Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast, thousands (if not millions) of people found themselves armed with nothing but useless plastic cards as electricity went down, making electronic purchases impossible. That meant that people who didn’t have cash readily available had no way of purchasing basics like food, water, or fuel. There were no reports of local merchants and grocery stores accepting hunks of gold or silver in exchange for bread and cereal.
The moment the power grid goes down–locally or nation-wide–your credit and debit cards become nothing more than a hunk of molded plastic. Which is why you should keep enough cash safely and readily available to handle at least a few days in a hotel, groceries, gas, and any other necessities. Even in the event of a total financial collapse, it will take the public a while to accept that currency has become devalued, and people will be desperate to sell things for cash.
Cash Stockpile
So what can you do to build up a cash stockpile to match your canned goods and first aid supplies? For starters, remember that it will take time. You should never neglect to pay your bills to stash the cash. What you can do however, is take a closer look at your monthly expenditures and decide where you can carve out some wiggle room.
cut costFor example, switching from a full cable package to one with fewer channels, ditching the expensive cell phone plan for a more streamlined one, or even making the simple swap between eating out and brown bagging your lunch are all easy ways to carve out as much as a few hundred dollars a month. Tuck that money away, and make sure you don’t touch it unless it’s a dire emergency.
Additionally, you can take the budget you normally allocate towards prepping and redirect it for a few months. In other words, take a break from building up your stockpile for a couple of months and save the money that would normally go towards supplies in your untouchable emergency cash stash, instead. It will take some time, but by cycling the two stockpiles this way, you can build both up together.
http://www.myfamilysurvivalplan.com/cash-king-importance-cash-stockpile/
