Earthquakes. Hurricanes.
Why did I move to the D.C. area again?
We’re still being mocked by the west coast, but D.C. is not used to earthquakes, so we’re all still a little shaken up (har har) by Tuesday’s earthquake. I’m a midwesterner, and while we were drilled on what to do in case of an earthquake in school, I’ve never experienced one that felt like more than a big truck rumbling past. This one felt like a big truck, then things started to roll. Sure, it was only maybe 30 seconds, but it was certainly a scary 30 seconds while we all hoped that this wasn’t another terrorist attack and that if it was an earthquake, that it would be a small one.
And it was. And we’re fine. My beloved National Cathedral is less fine, and the Washington Monument suffered some damage, but no one was killed, and that’s what’s important.
We had a small aftershock last night that woke me up, but that was more annoying than anything. I’m just hoping this all passes quickly. At least before Hurricane Irene arrives.
As it looks, we’re just going to get storms, and that the worst of the storm is going to miss us, but she appears to be heading straight for New England (after battering the entire coastline). Mother Nature is not a happy camper right now. But still, this has all made me think about whether or not I’m ready for a major storm.
I’ve got a case of water, plus a bunch of Gatorade and other random bottled beverages. I’ve got plenty of cat food (probably my biggest worry – if things get bad, I could always nosh on some uncooked pasta, but the cats cannot). I’ve got lots of Clif Bars and granola bars and other things that don’t need to be cooked. I’ve also got plenty of things that could be heated over a fire. I’m low on firewood, but well, it’s the summer. I did just recently add six Java Logs to my emergency supplies – even though they might not put off a ton of heat, it’s an easy way to have some heat if the power goes out in the winter.
I’ve also got an official go-bag, which I must admit needs some work. It’s part of a starter kit I bought – designed for 2 people for 3 days. It’s got food and water and some emergency supplies. I need to add a better knife as well as pet supplies. It is stored right next to the cat food though, so it would be easy to grab both. Still, it’s better to have it all in one place. I also keep a small version in my car.
So really, I feel pretty good about the planning that I’ve done. There’s always room to improve, but I’m much improved as compared to this time last year. Let’s just hope I don’t need any of it.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
