Financial Prep For Hurricane Season Without Panic featuring Jay Grymes

We get ahead of hurricane season with Louisiana’s state climatologist Jay Grymes, focusing on how storms create real and avoidable money stress. We map out practical ways to plan early, stock up smart, and protect our homes and families without panic spending. 
• why Louisiana faces tropical threats every year and why “no threat” seasons are rare 
• what a state climatologist does and how weather data supports real-world decisions 
• deciding stay or go based on extended family needs and medical power requirements 
• hidden evacuation costs like hotels, gas, traffic time, and meals 
• building a storm budget with a cash reserve that can double as a holiday fund 
• stocking essentials over time including water math, canned goods, and a manual can opener 
• avoiding last-minute price spikes and shortages for water, gas, and generators 
• low-cost damage prevention by walking the yard, trimming trees, and securing outdoor items 
• using plastic sheeting with sandbags to slow floodwater seepage 
• planning for power outages with chargers, power banks, and non-electric entertainment 
• understanding named storm deductibles and what homeowners policies may not cover 
• common after-storm financial mistakes like leaving cars in flood-prone spots 
Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future. 

Transcript

Welcome And Why Weather Costs

0:02

Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need, and save the money you want. Now, here is your host, Ms. Kim Chapman. Welcome to another episode of Money Matters. You know, we're just ahead of hurricane season. And you know, it's not just about the weather, it's about preparation. It's about those unexpected costs. So, you know, the weather doesn't just hit you at home. It can hit your wallet. And it's everything from the storm damage, those unexpected trips that we have to make to the store to get those supplies, or if unfortunately, you have to do repairs afterwards. But are there some things that we can do ahead of time to prepare financially so that we don't have to worry about spending as much money when the storm is right in our backyard? So joining me today, and I'd like to say he needs no introduction, right? It's an expert and the former what chief meteorologist from WAFB and now the state climatologist. I've watched him for years. You know, he's he's definitely giving me directions to when to get out the house and when to go somewhere. He's gonna give us some information to help us prepare for this, not just hurricane season, but just bad weather season. So welcome to Money Matters, Jay. Well, thank you. Really a pleasure to be here. And uh you're right. Uh hurricane season is uh less than 40 days out from the time that we're we're taping this. So uh uh if you want to be prepared, now's the time to do it, not that last week of May. Right. Or or when it's like a hundred miles out in the Gulf, right? That's right, or when it's coming through uh Cuba and about ready to get into the Gulf. Yeah, you want to be long ready and prepared to the degree that you can be beforehand.

What A State Climatologist Does

1:57

So for those that don't know, what exactly does a state climate climatologist, if I can say it right, do? State climatologist. Well, uh different uh most states have a state climatologist, and their roles vary from one state to the other. Here in Louisiana, uh I generally tell people they can think of me as the state's weather librarian. Uh my office and my team provides uh weather information to people that need it. And many times it can be something as simple as uh uh can you tell me what the weather was like on my 10th birthday? And we can look that up for them. To things that are really more relevant, more important. Uh uh one of our big client bases is uh the legal arena, because weather impacts a lot of legal cases and legal decisions. And so we not only can provide them with the data, but we can provide them with some uh uh expert uh interpretation of the data, what they can and can't do with the data, little nuances about weather data that you would think are really straightforward, but they aren't. Uh in my case, especially being now on my second tour of duty as a state climatologist, this go-around is much more focused right now on agriculture. So one of the things that I'm doing is developing a close linkage with Louisiana's ag community, and that includes not only uh uh you know, sugarcane and rice that we know about in South Louisiana, but it's the row crops in North Louisiana. And something that a lot of people aren't aware of is uh timber. Uh timber is actually the biggest single ag commodity in the state. So we are my my team is responsible, for example, for maintaining the uh U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly assessment of drought in Louisiana. And again, a lot of people in, especially in the Baton Rouge area, they know it's been dry, but they don't realize that 90% of the state right now is in drought. So that can be problematic too. So our role is not to supplant or replace the National Weather Service, but it's to supplement what the National Weather Service does. That's quite a lot. And I guess I'd be it should be embarrassed to say my takeaway is I want to know what the weather was like the day I was born. We can do that, and we can turn that around in a couple of minutes. So,

How Often Louisiana Really Gets Hit

4:50

what should we really expect this coming hurricane season? Well, the first thing you need to think about is the frequency of tropical weather in Louisiana. So I'll often go out in the public and I'll ask people what state deserves the nickname the Hurricane State? And most people get it right on the first go. They say Florida. Yes. And it is Florida, because Florida has 1,200 miles of coastline. They've got a coast in the Atlantic, and they've got two coasts in the Gulf, the Tampa West Coast and the Panhandle Coast. So Florida is the state that's telling Mother Nature, come hither. The poster child for bad weather. Absolutely. But when it comes per mile of coastline, Louisiana gets hit by tropical weather more than Florida. It's just that our coastline is only about a quarter as long. So our numbers are lower. But given the size of our coast, the frequency is higher. Why do I tell people that and why do I ask that question? Because the reality is you need to be thinking about tropical weather each and every year. There's no year where experts are going to tell you no threat to Louisiana. No year. We're hoping for it. And I'm good with it. I don't need the overtime. I don't like working the weekends. But the reality is if we look at the last 25 years, there have been 29 named storms that have had an impact on Louisiana. So you do the quick math, that's one a year. Now the reality is, like the last couple of years, we've gotten away unscathed. But you go back just three or four years, and we're talking about IDAs and Zetas and Deltas, and the fact that we've had multiple years in the last 10 years where three or more storms have impacted Louisiana. That's what I want people to be prepared for. The problem with that is that requires you to gear up with the possibility that you won't use any of those resources. But that's part of living in South, especially in South Louisiana. Absolutely, absolutely. And that's the thing, like you said, we've kind of gotten away these last couple of years unscathed. So, along with that, what else do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions we have about being prepared for hurricane season or storms?

Misconceptions And The Stay Or Go Call

7:31

Well, the first misconception is people that think there's nothing I can do about it. But it's true, there's nothing you can do about the storm, but you can position yourself, your family, and your business in a way that will at least minimize that impact. So part of what we're here to talk about today is how do I do that? And it part of that money matters issue starts off with do I stay or do I go? And that's not always the same answer for everybody. It might not be the same answer for you and your neighbor. Uh and so the first thing you really need to do is get with your family. And when I say family, I'm not just talking about the people that live under your house. Many of us are sort of the guardian for that single parent down the street. Right. Or we might be the caretakers of the parents who brought us up, but now they're in a place where they can't necessarily take care of themselves like they used to. Or maybe it's uh a sibling who doesn't have the ability to uh take care of themselves. So the first thing to do is to measure, evaluate, determine who is my extended family? Who am I going to be worried about if Louisiana comes under the gun? Once you've done that, then that next question becomes do I stay or do I go? Are there people in my extended family that have to leave even if maybe I don't? Right. They can weather the storm a little bit better than you. Maybe there are people that have medical needs that absolutely require access to electricity. Well, even in the biggest urban areas, the power is likely to go out for some period of time if the storm gets close enough. And that may be just too long for that uh uh medical equipment that you realize, you know what, we just can't take the chance. We've got to go. If that's the case, well, they're right there. You've got to build in the financial formula for leaving town for one, two, three, five days. And let's face it, um there goes your vacation money. But that's part again of living, particularly in South Louisiana. So the first thing is deciding do I stay, do I go? Right. And what are some of those hidden costs that are associated with if you have to evacuate?

Evacuation Costs And Leaving Early

10:24

Well, certainly uh if you're leaving, you've got to figure out where am I gonna go. Now, if you're lucky, Aunt Ethel can take you in. But for many of us, we really don't have family that we can go to. So now we're looking at a hotel room. Right. And are they even available? Because if everybody's going in the right same direction. That's exactly it. And one of the things I tell people: if you know you're getting out, go early. It may cost you an extra day or two in the hotel, but it's the difference between being able to stop in Alexandria or maybe Monroe or somewhere in the Shreveport area, as opposed to having to go to El Dorado or Jackson, Mississippi, or Memphis. Because if you're getting out, thousands of other people in Louisiana are doing it too. And they know the same thing you do. The sooner I get out, the less distance I've got to go to find a place. The later I get out, the farther I've got to travel. And the longer you've got to sit in traffic, that's more gas, and you've got to have food. And that's the other big thing is do not underestimate when you go. And you for many people they figure this out based on their vacation experiences. When you go to the hotel, we're also looking at two, three meals a day for everybody that traveled with you. So that meter cranks up very, very quickly. And so, you know, I I often tell people in the old days, for people like me, we used to do the little Christmas fund at the bank where you'd put in back then it was 10 bucks a week and you thought you were doing great. Well, it's going to take more than that now. But building up that cash reserve for that potential evacuation is one of the ways to make it at least less painful. Yeah. And the other thing I tell people is if you build up that cash reserve during the course of the year and you don't need it, well, there's your Christmas fund coming the end of November.

Stocking Smart Without Overspending

12:39

So, what sorts of things can they stock over time to be prepared for hurricane season? And then where do you kind of draw the line between being overstocked and understocked? Well, you know, uh canned goods are an easy one. Uh, you know, and and I, you know, I grew up in a household where we always ate canned vegetables, not so much fresh vegetables. And so that's not a big, big deal for some people. For others, it's kind of a unique experience. But the thing to remember is canned goods last almost forever on the shelf. So go stock up canned goods, have that ready. Um uh bottled water. You really can't have enough of that. In fact, most people underestimate how much water you need. Uh it's really optimal to have about a gallon of clean, fresh water a day per person. So then you've got to go back and do the math. How big is my extended family times one times no less you want at least enough water to get you through two or three days. And probably, especially if you live in a more rural area, you may be thinking about five or seven days because it's those rural areas where you're more likely to have compromised water systems. And even if uh the water's still running, many of those water systems will put you under a boil advisory. Well, that's going to be a problem if your stove is electric and the power's out. So you need to be thinking about those kinds of things. Um you need to be thinking about also, you know, a lot of folks don't realize you can flush the toilet by you pouring water in the toilet. But there goes another gallon a day. So uh it doesn't necessarily have to be as fresh, but you know, if you're gonna do that, uh you need to be thinking about that extra gallon. And that's where um, you know, a lot of folks laugh at fill up that tub. Well, that's not a bad idea, again, particularly in some of the more rural communities where you may have an issue with the water availability. So that's just the starting point. The first thing is making sure everybody eats, and making sure that you've put enough away in the pantry, in the garage, um, that you can get by. And by the way, it may not be the greatest, but you know, canned ravioli can be eaten cold. But why would you want to? Well, the issue is, you know, I mean, if you've got a gas stove, you may be fine. But if you're without power, that becomes an issue. Now you can go out and get Sterno, things like that if you want to try that. But to get your buy over the hump, it'll work. But what's the one thing you gotta have for canned goods? Can opener. And you'd be amazed how many people wake up with the power out and realize their can opener is electric and they have no idea if they even own a hand crank can opener. Somebody's going check right now. Well, and that's one of the things you want in the kit. That hand crank old style can opener. And look, if you're gonna go buy one, don't buy that dollar twenty can opener. Get a good one that you're gonna break your wrist trying to turn it around. Or the teeth are gonna grind off after using it four times. So get yourself a good one. And then it stays in your kitchen utility drawer and it's always there for any time, not just for hurricane season. And then how expensive does it get when we wait till the last minute? And I'm gonna help you answer that question because I can remember what, maybe two years ago we had a hurricane, and one of my coworkers here waited until the last minute to go get water because it was kind of a question, you know, is it coming? Do we need to get prepared? And so she waited and she went across the street to the grocery store and bought a case of water that cost her $18 compared to if you go get it today, you can get it for about three or four dollars. Yeah, unfortunately, there are those folks, and it's not always the store that's responsible, but there are those folks that take advantage of us, and uh price gouging is technically illegal, but on the other hand, uh your your neighbor there was actually probably fortunate to even find water. I mean, I've had people, for example, that for their generator, uh, when the power was out for more than a week, they had to drive clear across the Chafalaya basin just to find gasoline. Goofed off, I remember. Okay, so you know, preparedness is important there as well. Uh uh, so yeah, go ahead. Uh water in uh containers, uh, you know, bottled water lasts almost indefinitely. So go get it now. Or like we do in my house, we we run through it, but I always keep an oversupply available and then just turn it over in the garage. And then that way, whether it's without water or power for a day or five days, we're covered. What are some other last-minute things you can think of that really can cost a homeowner if they wait, you know, until the storm is in their backyard before they make in those make those purchases? Well, whether uh uh uh you know uh uh whether you're intending to stay home or not, uh, you know, I I uh there are a lot of big box stores make a killing on generators. And, you know, you need to decide today. If you don't have a portable generator, are you gonna be someone who's thinking, maybe we need one this year? And if you're thinking maybe we need one this year, April is the time to buy it, not you know, 40 hours before landfall. Because it's it's not even gouging, but they're gonna be hard to come by, hard to find. You're gonna have to get the premium generator at a premium price. So that's one of the things to think about. Of course, there are all the other things too. If you're a multi-car family, fill them all up. And that's gonna hurt, especially right now where gas is floating in that $350 to $4 a gallon range. But you want to have that done and done uh because if and when the local power goes out, you're not gonna be able to gas up at that gas station, even if you can get out of the house. Um but the other thing is, and this is a big one, uh, there are two that I think people sometimes forget about. We all think about the food, we all think about the water. We are slow to work on those. Don't delay those. But two other big ones are if you've got an infant, you've got baby needs there. You've got baby food that you need to be more than prepared for, and you've got all the other incidentals, including an abundance of diapers and et cetera. So you need to have that worked out. And then for your extended family, whether there's an infant or multiple infants floating around or not, but particularly for the elders, and in my case, that includes me, and in many families, that includes a lot of family members, is an adequate stock of medicinal uh needs. Uh for so many of us, we're taking a pill a day for this, that, that, or the other. And the last thing you want to happen is you realize I've only got two days of medication. And then I've got to travel to another state. Yeah, I mean, you know, chances are, and what if, you know, heaven forbid, you can't even get out of your neighborhood for a couple of days. So making sure you've got those backup meds really stocked up. And the one, I guess we'll call it a good thing about tropical weather is you get plenty of heads up. It's not like tornadoes or an asteroid. Earthquake where you just boom. Or an afternoon thunderstorm that, you know, it suddenly turns severe. With a hurricane, we're giving you, and when I say we, the the weather industry, the weather arena is giving. Giving you days of advanced warning. You don't have a real excuse not to be prepared. And that's why I tell people take an hour and sit down with a couple of family members and pencil these things out. What are your needs? Because your needs, your decisions, your, like I said, stay or go is potentially different than your neighbors. It may be potentially different than your brother or your sister-in-law's family. You need to figure it out for yourself and then work from there. There's no magic formula for getting prepared for hurricane season. The issue is taking some time, sitting down before you get into panic mode, and starting to pencil out what are those things that I need every day that, you know, many of us, for example, are in a bad habit of shopping almost day to day. I mean, think about it. Uh growing up, we went to the grocery store once a week and that was it. But now people go in the morning on the way to work and in the afternoon on the way home. Right. And and uh okay, it's built into your lifestyle, but that may not be an option, particularly if uh, you know, the hurricane is bearing down on your community. And in fact, it may not even be allowed. Roads may be closed, the uh law enforcement may have shut down travel in your vicinity. It may just be a terrible idea to leave your house uh because the storm is is just around the corner. So uh get that stuff done ahead of time and having your checklist, and there are tons of resources out there, including those. Yeah. I mean, you uh they're online uh uh everywhere. Almost every TV station, your favorite TV station, has a what they call the Hurricane Center that will help you with some ideas to run through their checklist to think about. I mean, and a lot of these things on there, you're gonna say, Oh, I don't need that. Uh, you know, uh some of them will say having a shovel. Well, I I'm not sure I'll need a shovel. But when you don't have it and you need it. But uh yeah, that's true. Uh but if I've you know happened to be at uh uh a store and I see shovels are on sale at 50% off, might not be a bad time to pick one up right now where you're not under the financial gun. But more importantly, you can look through those lists, and I would say go to a couple different sources and look through the list, because the lists will vary a little bit because they're built by people like me who think here's what I would put on the list. Um but if you look at a couple lists over a couple of different days, you'll come up with that array of items that apply to your household. Right. That will get you through the process. And of course, there's also get a game plan with GoSep, G-O-H, SCP, Governor's Office, Homeland Security, Emergency Preparedness. Just Google on your phone or on your P your your PC, get a game plan. And there is just a plethora of information there that will get you as prepared as you possibly could be for tropical weather. And

Walk Your Yard And Reduce Damage

25:45

then then it's just a matter of riding out the rodeo. So, what might be some low-cost or inexpensive things homeowners can do to minimize damage when we know a storm is coming? Well, it may not be low cost, but let's start with the reality. And I call it walking your yard. First thing you need to do is uh have a good sense of what is the flood threat for your property? Are you high enough that you never have to worry about it? Are you someone who has had flooding issues before? Now, I'm not for people in the Greater Baton Rouge area and the Lafayette area. I'm not talking about August 2016, but I'm talking about other big rain events where you might have just had the inconvenience of not being able to get out of your house for a couple of days. Okay, well, think about that. Another reason why you want to have all those goods and the commodities in your house ready to go to ride out two days without being able to leave your home. So that's nunning your flood threat. Then you also need to know your wind threat. These are the two principal things we have to worry about rain and wind when it comes to hurricanes. Most people think wind first, but rain is actually and flooding is actually the biggest damage producer during tropical storms. The wind threat is a huge one. And this is where I tell people walk your yard. Because many of us out there, we've got that big oak tree that we know that we thought was wonderful at one point in time. Now we know it needs to be trimmed. Now, if you've looked around at uh arborist tree experts, if you've talked to any, your first reaction is no thank you. Because their first number never starts at under a thousand and it goes up quickly from there. But here's the thing I like to remind people even if it's two, three, four thousand, in some cases it can even be more, because that tree has gotten so big that they may need to bring in a small crane. But do you want to have a professional lay down those oversized limbs in a way that doesn't impact your house, or do you want to let Mother Nature do it in a way that takes out your carport, or worse yet, takes out your kids' bedroom, or worse yet, falls on your house in the middle of you hunkering down riding out a storm. So and the the problem with either of those is whether you bring in the professional who can do it in a safe way, or you bring in that tree guy after the damage is done, the tree's gonna cost you the same. Yeah. But the house damage is gonna add to it. Now you'll can get into the fight with the insurance company, and you might win that. Probably not. But even if you do, that's gonna be a year or more. You can't not be in your house for a year or more if you can help it. So the reality is bite the bullet, spend the money. But the other thing are those simple things like making sure the car is gassed up, making sure that uh you've got rain gear, uh, making sure that if you've got a flood threat potential, that you've got the ability to maybe do some sandbagging, which by the way, a lot of times people don't realize sandbagging doesn't do you a whole lot of good if you don't have this queen to put under the sandbags. Sandbags are porous, the water's gonna come through, but sandbags are a great way to anchor down plastic, which will really reduce the rate at which water comes through that that sandbag wall if you build it. That's good to know. We've put down sandbags many years, and I don't think we've ever, ever added the Visqueen to it. Well, it's it's certainly a low-cost investment that will reduce the rate at which the water gets through those bags. Because if you've used sandbags and the water came up, you know that they seeped. I slowed it down, but at some point you're still dealing with water on the inside of that sandbag liner. But he put down with this queen now, water still seeps through, but at a rate but at a rate that's less than 10% of sandbags alone. So that's another and and it's cheap, especially if you go buy those rolls at a large discount, big box kind of place. So there are things you can do like that. Um, one of the things that happens with power outage, and think about, and in today's world, it's us as well, but we live on these. We do. And one of the things you gotta be thinking about is what are you gonna do when this tells you five percent and the power's still out? So a smart investment is one of those little power boxes that are coming down in price to where they're very affordable, and they'll make the difference between a headache and not a headache. In fact, I have four of them because that way I know that if I need them for a couple of days. You got backup on top of you got backup for your backup. That's right. And and the other thing we have to think about is for the younger ones, how much of their entertainment today is not electric. Right. So it might be the first time your kid even ever breaks open a game box that's actually got monopoly pieces in it. But think about uh yeah, uh think about and you can pick these up at the at the at the local five and dime, Dollar General, uh uh uh thrift store. Yeah. Uh just get a couple of games that will entertain your kids to keep you, the parent, from climbing up on the ceiling. Because that's one thing for the youngsters. The first few hours are kind of exciting about a hurricane. Then there's the terror of no internet, and then there's the boredom, right? So uh so that and yeah, you can buy those games at those either a like a thrift store or at the discount five and dime, what we called five and dimes. Now they're the dollar stores, the variants down that named dollar stores. Two bucks and you're covered there. That also goes with uh uh big bags of candy. Now, you know I don't know about that one. Well, you know, you you don't want to create a new milestone in terms of uh uh, but you know, sometimes uh a lollipop or a sucker can at least tame the wildest junkster for a little bit of time. So there are small little things you can do that you might not ever do in a normal day-to-day Monday to Friday to Saturday and Sunday uh lifestyle. But you got to be thinking, how am I gonna deal with the power outage? And in fact, to me, I even tell young families, even if you don't have someone who requires power to get by those those medical needs, you might still think about getting that hotel room for a few days just for access to power, just to keep to be comfortable mom and dad sane. Because if you've got a a couple of little ones, they will make you crazy because they're bored. And and sometimes uh that's just the the simplest thing to do, regardless of the cost. These are some really good tips. So I want to talk just a minute about insurance. What should we be thinking

Insurance Deductibles And Coverage Gaps

34:47

about in terms of insurance? What do we need to know if we know a storm is approaching? Okay. Now I've got to start this off by saying this is not my field of expertise. But many, most slash all of us need to be ready for the fact that there is the uh a name storm discount that applies to most of our homeowners' policies, which means that you're going to pick up an added burden if you do get damage from a storm. And by the way, that doesn't mean that the storm center came through your neighborhood. That storm could hit Texas, but if there are rain bands associated with the storm, and that is determined to be the cause of the damage, thunderstorms with those outer rain bands, your hurricane named hurricane, named storm deductible kicks in. And the other thing is to remember that uh uh your policy doesn't count for everything. Most people think, well, I've got insurance. Uh if you get damaged, you're gonna end up coming up with uh a large bill before all is said and done. So just be prepared for that. And it's another reason to be at least thinking about building up that security because the last thing you want to do is to have to wipe out some savings or even just that checking account paying for uh things that have occurred. And you know, the damage can be really simple. It might just be a fence, but have you priced fences lately? Everything's expensive. That's right. So uh, you know, be thinking about, and it's a good time now. Call your insurance agent and find out what he means by that uh namestorm deductible. Does it apply does the uh apply in my case? What am I looking at as a deductible in general? Most of us don't even know what the real deductible will be. And just to put it in perspective, two inches of water in your house can easily cost you 15 to 20 grand for repairs. And uh you're gonna be maybe dismayed at how much your policy might not cover of that 15 to 20 grand if it is a tropical event. What do you think is the biggest financial mistake people make after a storm, after damage?

Costly After Storm Mistakes To Avoid

37:42

As for damage, uh, you know, I I I go back to my walk your yard. I think that's the biggest mistake people make. They just figure, okay, I'm gonna take my chances. Well, this only works so often. And, you know, again, having that tree limb, or worse yet, that tree drop on your house when you knew ahead of time you had to take care of it, that's that's a big one. The other thing, and I've even been bitten by this one, is uh the flooding comes along, and my house was fine, but I left my car in a susceptible location. So uh I lost a car in a flood event. And you know, the insurance company said, okay, we'll we'll we're gonna pick up some of that, but we're not gonna pick up all of it. And so there are these incidentals that you think, okay, uh that didn't cross my mind. Well, that's why you sit down and you have this talk on a Sunday afternoon with your family members. Where are we gonna put the cars? How sure are we that water won't get in the house? What does that backyard look like? By the way, the backyard, it's as simple, some things are as simple as uh those folding lawn chairs, fold them up, take them down, maybe put them in the garage, because when the winds start to kick up and get into that 40, 50, 60 mile per gust, not even sustained wind, but gust winds get that high, though that lawn equipment, I mean lawn furniture suddenly becomes big projectiles uh projectiles. And all it has to do is ding the siding of your house. There's a few hundred dollars, easy, maybe a thousand or more to get that repaired. So it's simple things like that that we don't think about that can save us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars just by going out and being proactive before the storm arrives. So and that's the thing. Like you said, for all the natural disasters, we get the warning, we have the time to prepare.

Final Advice And Blueprint Building Blocks

40:06

So if you could give one, what would be your best piece of advice in terms of being prepared for this next hurricane season? My best piece of advice is assume that your neighborhood is going to get hit, spend the money, and then buy things that if that storm doesn't come, you can still use them anyway. Be careful about sort of spontaneous purchase, purchases. And again, I mentioned that uh portable generator. Think about that one before you go out and spend the money. Do you really, really need to make that investment? If you do, of course, go do it and do it now while they're on sale. But many people will go out, they'll spend five, six, eight hundred dollars on that portable generator and never use it again. And they found out they only needed it for four or five hours. Absolutely. I've been guilty of that. Uh you could have gotten away without it, right? I mean, yeah, it would have been a little uncomfortable, but it would have been uh um it it wasn't really necessary. The other thing is listen to your local emergency management and professionals. And if you live in a place where they say evacuate, don't second guess them. They're not saying that to create angst for you. They're saying that to protect you. Uh yeah, maybe. You know, look, these storms, even at the very last minute, can divert left to right. And in the end, you're upset because I didn't really need to leave. Well, that may be true, but the alternative could have been disastrous, maybe even deadly. So when you hear your local and parish experts recommend evacuation, take it to heart and don't wait to that very last minute. Thank you so much, Jay. This has been very, very informative, and I really hope that our listeners can appreciate this good information because, like you said, now is the time. Catch those items on sale, get prepared. And we know that I wanted to catch you before June 1st because who knows what's gonna happen after that. So thank you so much for taking the time to stop by Money Matters. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to interact with your audience.

Storm Budget CTA And Sign Off

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It's time for blueprint building blocks. Small changes that lead to big financial wins. Let's stack up for success. Build a storm budget. You know, set aside a small emergency fund that is specifically for storm prep. Start with even $10 or $20 a week and make sure you're catching those items on sale. Don't wait. You want to prepare early. When you wait to the last minute to buy supplies, yes, you might experience price gouging or just there not may not be enough supplies for you. And then know your coverage. Review your homeowner's or your renter's insurance now so that you'll know how to prepare when a storm is coming. That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building Block. Stay on track with your financial journey. Subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast, and visit neighborsfcu.org slash financial wellness for more tools to help you build a strong financial future.