so I find out from my wife that some of her friends are quietly stashing away some cash and in some cases lots of it. these are yuppies (can they be yuppies if they're in their late 40's early 50's?). anyways-
they are putting this stuff in the freezer. I couldn't believe it! the first place a burglar looks! the freezer! But at least I found out why: they think that's the most "firesafe" place in the house. One of them is getting "fireproof bags" from her bank (like that's gonna help much) and then putting it in the freezer. oy!

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), December 26, 1999

Answers

You can make a good fire proof box by
lining the box with old telephone books.

The crawl space under the house is a
good hiding place. (I'm not using that
one so don't bother looking there :-)

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), December 26, 1999.

The first place my cats looked was under the living room rug.

-- don't (trust@those.cats), December 26, 1999.

On fireproof boxes: get a nice surplus ammo can, enough boxes of baking soda to fill the thing up and then place your valuable paper between the boxes. Concept: if things get hot the baking soda releases CO2.

On storing gold coins. Find a short piece of galvanized water pipe or black gas pipe the correct diameter for the coins. Cap off both ends. IF a fire occurs, the gold might melt but will be contained in the pipe.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 26, 1999.

I put mine into a quart jar, vacuum packed it with some rice, then put it into a PVC pipe with end caps sealed. Buried it deep!

-- (stash@cash.com), December 26, 1999.

I throw the stuff (cash and gold) in someplace relatively inconspicuous. So far so good.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 26, 1999.

From: "ASK MICHAEL (Hyatt):

Where can I stash my cash and other valuables?

Okay, so you've decided to stash away a little cash. Obviously, you want to be very careful. You don't want to become a target for thieves or other criminals. (The best way to do this, by the way, is to strictly guard your privacy. Don't tell anyone what you are doing.)

But once you have it, where do you put it? In general you want to apply the twenty-minute rule: Go through your house and ask yourself, "If I were a burglar with 20 minutes to clean out this house, what would I steal and where would I look?"

There are probably a million and one places to hide your money, but, according to experts, there at least four places you want to avoid:

1. Don't put it under your mattress. The image of grandma tucking a little money away in her mattress for a "rainy day" is almost a cultural icon. This is one of the first places thieves look. Moreover, it's not a very convenient place to put money anyway, so avoid it.

2. Dont put it in your dresser. This is also one of the first places thieves look. People often store cash and valuables there.

3. Dont put it in the deep freeze. The phrase "cold, hard cash" came from this practice. Maybe at the time it was a cleaver place to put it. However, it is now a primary target for burglars.

4. Dont put it in a safe. The problem with a safe is that it screams, "Valuables inside!" Most safes that can be purchased are easily cracked by professionals. If you are going to get a safe, buy a substantial one and hide it behind a false wall or floor.

-- Bill (chicago519@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

Michael Hyatt, in his latest book, "The Y2K Personal Survival Guide", Appendix F is "Where to Stash Your Cash". It lists 50+ (70? I don't remember right off) places. I can't list them here due to copyrights, but get the list from the book (library).

-- Bill (chicago519@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

I was thinking you could sew it inside of a pillow.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

How about hiding cash under a pile of empty boxes in the basement? I didn't do that, but it seemed like a good idea. Who would ever think of looking there?

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), December 27, 1999.

My mother's house was broken into 5 times. They never got her cash. She stuffed it in her vacuum cleaner bag compartment.

-- Tom O'Connor (y2kfoodnow@interspan.com), December 27, 1999.

Just a thought for a place to stash cash ! we all have bird feeders, put in there wrapped in plastic,or place in a babby bottle and place that insdie the bird feeder ??? I don't have any to really worry about it. but It's my idea !!! :)

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), December 27, 1999.