Disaster proofing our homes is an integral part of personal finance planning. The images of the small Jewish boy who was orphansed when his parents were killed in the terror attacks in Mumbai in November last year, is still fresh in my mind. It was like watching a rerun of the 9/11 attacks sans the airplane.

Being a mother myself of a fifteen-month-old, I could well imagine my child in the same situation and cannot but be scared. These are uncertain times and if not a terror attack, an earthquake or a hurricane or even a road accident is sufficient to throw our peaceful lives out of gear and life may never be the same again.

What occured to me then was that I have to make few arrangements to ensure that, even if something happens to me, my child is not left helpless to fend all for himself. So the whole of last week my husband and I took some time off our work to disaster proof our home.

We first made a list of all our bank accounts, stock market investments and term deposits. We made  3 copies of the list, kept one at our house, one in our bank locker and one at my mother’s place, just in case. We then checked the personal details that had provided in our financial/bank accounts and we realised that some of the details like address and contact details that we had provided were old and the nominee detail was missing in few accounts. We completed those details as well, so that in case there is a need for that information in case of an emergency, the updated information is available.

Only few weeks back my hubby was cribbing about the annual insurance premium payment which he thinks is useless and was eating up most of his money. But this time I did not have to persuade him to pay the premium so that the policy does not lapse. He did it by himself.

Thankfully we have the habit of keeping a sum of 3-6 times our monthly income as an emergency fund, untouched. We decided to continue with that habit of ours. We had already shot pictures of our valuables like jewellery, appliances and cars for our home owners insurance policy. We have now made  few copies of those CD’s and stored them in bank lockers and at my parent’s place.  We already have a fire alarm in our place. We still thought it wise to buy a fire extinguisher and keep in a place that is  easily accessible.

My mother thought we were being very pessimistic. My friends called it a knee-jerk reaction. But we never realise the importance of certain things unless they happen to us. And it is better to be safe than to be sorry.

I’ll never forget my first paycheck. When I was a kid, my parents gave me an allowance for doing chores around the house, although I think I spend more time trying to figure out how to get out of doing them. I earned additional cash here and there mowing lawns, babysitting, and I even had a paper route for all of a few weeks. But, I’d always been paid in cash or the occasional personal check. My first real paycheck was something different. All of a sudden, I was a wage earner and a tax payer and it made me proud. Made me feel grown up.

Of course, that first paycheck and the ones I collected for the next few years were meager and were usually spent in an afternoon at the mall and an evening of pizza and beer with friends. The days leading up to my next paycheck were usually pretty sad. I lived a duel life. I was rich, then poor. Rich again, and then poor…you get the picture.

Much to my surprise, when I finished school I was employable and joined the White Collar workforce. Now my paychecks feature a couple more digits and a comma separating them! What a time to be alive! The extra cash lifted me out of the boom and bust cycle I’d been in since that first paycheck. All of a sudden I had more money than I knew what to with. So, I did what any good American does. I went out shopping!

First, I upgraded my car and then I moved into a new, bigger apartment with a friend. Next, I furnished that apartment; flat screen TV with surround sound, sofa, chairs, tables and random things too numerous to list. My place is great and I my ride is ‘Pimped’, but guess what? I’m now back to that boom and bust cycle I thought I’d left behind forever.

Turns out, after I pay the bills my much bigger paycheck looks a lot like that first one. It feels like I’m now paying a lifestyle tax and that tax eats up a lot of my earnings. But hey, I’m college educated, I should be able to figure this out, right? Well actually, I have figured some of it out. Since I didn’t acquire and pay for my new lifestyle as part of some organized plan, when the major spending was over, the aftermath was just a bit shocking. But now I do need a plan. A plan for how to budget my money so I know how much I have left to spend after my bills are paid. And I need a plan to execute and track my progress.