Hidden Treasures

Each step of the porch was as high as she remembered. The burden of loss made the walk up more difficult. The potted plants were still much alive. They never did lack their needs and greeted everyone with bright colored flowers each spring and summer.

As she walked inside, everything was just how she remembered it. Each piece of furniture, cookware, and clothing told its story. It had been months since any of the furniture had been used, and the stories became faint whispers until they spoke nothing else at all. Now it’s time for everything to be re-homed.

The most tedious rooms to clear out are the closets. In life, her mother would never discard anything saying to herself, “You never know when we might need this.” Despite the long summers, her mother still kept a significant amount of jackets. As she looked through the items, she recalled a rainy day when she visited her mother in the old house and borrowed a jacket. As she reached into her pockets to warm her hands from the cold she felt folded paper. Bills? Yes, that’s exactly what it was. She told her mother thinking she might have forgotten them there. Instead,  she replied, “Oh yes! I hid that there.”

As she cleared out the home, she checked every pocket, every nook and cranny to find only more hiding spaces where her mother would hide her valuables. As one would expect a tree for Christmas, many families learned the importance of hiding their valuables for a rainy day.

It is definitely not the recommended method to protect a person’s wealth. However, it is admirable to see that in speaking with older generations, many of them learned that sometimes it rains, and it’s better when we’re prepared. Even if you never get to use it, you’ll be glad it’s there!

We are not financial advisors, and every piece of financial information should be taken at your own discretion, but I have found that leaving some funds in a place that is harder to reach is the best way to save for a rainy day. In 2022, 42% of Americans had less than $1,000.00 in savings. Here are some tips that I have found helpful over the years to stimulate savings.

Online Banks

Online banks generally have a higher interest rate which means that you can gradually generate money while the money sits in a savings account. It is a useful tool because the money is accessible, but generally take a few days to be transferred back to your regular account. The idea is to keep funds separate from money that you intend to spend.

Credit Unions

Credit Unions have also been helpful because they also generally have higher interest rates on savings and lower fees than traditional banks. An added bonus is that the funds can be more accessible than online banks since you can withdraw locally.

Cash

Although it seems less relevant in our day, having cash at hand is not a bad idea. Natural disasters may occur and paying for services in cash can be very useful. The main disadvantage to this method is that you cannot gain value over time.

The bottom line is, our grandparents knew that it was important to be prepared for a rainy day. Hiding our valuables under a mattress and in coat pockets is not the best method. However, the principal can be applied today by spreading our wealth into different baskets.