Get Some

Get some cash aside folks.

The way that I would approach it would be to sit down and figure out how much your true basics cost.  Now, be ruthless here.   Your bank/landlord won't be able to kick you out for a month or so (bare minimum) and it will take a while for folks at the electric and gas company to shut you off (months if you play "the pay some money and promise" game).    Same with your car, same with your credit cards.

I think that the true basics are food, and to a certain degree fuel.

Get some cash set aside to navigate a month or three of uncertainty.

The global economic system is looking pretty sour right now.  Truth be, it is as bad as I have ever seen it.  2008 looks pretty easy compared to what we will be going through, if worse comes to worse.

The banks are held together with bubble gum, baling wire, and accounting tricks.  Governments are in huge debt, and there appear to be ominous rumblings coming from any number of sources.  For the first time, I would start thinking seriously about the possibilities of bank runs in the year coming up.

Now, I am not saying pull out all your savings and put them in your mattresses, makes for poor sleep, though in my case it wouldn't even cause a bump in my pillow, let alone a lump in my mattress.  What I am saying is have some actual cash money to navigate strange times.  The technical word for one of the likely scenarios is deflation.  Getting hold of cash is difficult in this setting.   Having a bit of cash about will make it easier to navigate the oddness that may well come our way.

I used to be a silver bug, but got out of the game.  If things stay smooth for a while, I may go and buy a couple of rolls of quarters and dimes.  But that is all.

I hold by my premise that a full pantry is the best savings.  I wouldn't recommend going full-LDS just yet, but being able to get through a month or so with only minimal grocery shopping will allow a lot of flexibility in your life