This article was written by Anna Hunt and first published at Off-Grid Outpost via Activist Post.
Editor’s Comment: The events currently ongoing in Venezuela are proof that the charade of big government cannot and will not go on indefinitely no matter what. Though most Americans are under the impression that it can’t happen here, it just isn’t true.
In fact, many Americans are facing a major squeeze at this stage in the game. What happens if/when things go to the next level? While the masses line up for handouts and “care” by the federal agencies during the next crisis, you can and should be ready. Preppers must make the choice to invest now in avoiding absolute misery later, and be wise in their pursuit of a plan for continuity during a full-on collapse or other major emergency. Will you be among the ready?
Top 5 Things to Do Now, Before Another Financial Crisis
by Anna Hunt
It is clearly evident that the U.S. economy is rapidly deteriorating, considering reports of declining business sales, increased commercial bankruptcies and Chapter 11 filings, accelerating employment problems, the largest Federal debt in the country’s history topping $19 trillion, not to mention mounting U.S. household debt (averaging at $15,762 in credit card debt and $130,922 in total debt). For many people, it’s easy to get excited about a rise in the stock market, but a look at the overall U.S. economy gives credence to the possibility of an economic collapse.
For now, many of us still have a steady income and live quite comfortably, and, luckily, find ourselves in a position to prepare for financial hardship. If you are ready to accept that the signs pointing towards the deterioration of the U.S. economy are real, and you realize that your local and Federal governments doesn’t really have to resources or plan to take care of your family should a financial crisis ensue, here are 5 things you can do today to start preparing.
1 – Reduce Your Debt and Expenses
Getting out of debt can be one of the most liberating experiences, especially if you’ve been in debt since you become independent of your parents. The first step to reducing debt is cutting out unnecessary expenses, which frees up some of your income so you can pay off any lingering credit card balances (or pay off large sums above your minimum payments), and pay off your car and small loans. Take other simple steps like stopping to use your credit cards – which may mean you only use the cash you have on hand.
A financial crisis doesn’t necessarily mean complete societal anarchy, but you are more likely to lose your job, and your living costs, such as groceries, utilities and gasoline, might increase significantly. Last thing you’ll want is the stress of repaying your debts during such times.
2 – Learn to Grow Food and Find a Place to Grow It
Food is one of those essentials that we often take for granted. But what would you do if your local supermarkets shut their doors or the delivery trucks stopped coming? Less than a century ago, nearly everyone know how to grow food and raise at least some type of farm animals. But today, many people don’t even know how to cook a healthy meal, much less actually grow food.
Start learning today. Get a few good resource books – Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space and Apartment Gardening: Plants, Projects, and Recipes for Growing Food in Your Urban Home are great for beginners – and start a garden this spring. Don’t wait until you’re desperate for a decent harvest. If you’re already got a good handle on keeping a garden, start a neighborhood garden, so you can help your neighbors, learn new skills from others, and make some friends along the way. During any crisis, knowing people in your community that you can depend will help not only survive but also thrive.
Another challenge when it comes to growing food is limited space. For anyone with a house, your yard can turn into a food producing garden within a short time as long as you’re willing to let go of the lawn and get your hands dirty. If you can afford it, perhaps purchase an empty lot nearby your home (although if you’re already carrying debt, perhaps it’s best to put your resources towards paying off what you owe, first). Luckily, these days there are many innovations in gardening, such as vertical gardens, that allow us to use small and indoor spaces to grow ample amounts of food. Get on YouTube, do some research reading the books mentioned above, and get creative.
3 – Store Water and Supplies
Ideally, in an emergency situation, especially one such as an economic collapse that might last over a longer period of time, having an alternate source of clean drinking water would be ideal. But, frankly, the majority of us don’t have access to a well or clean water spring. Storing water and using various water purifying supplies, such as germicidal tablets, are a good way to prepare for those times when basic services such as electricity and water are shut off due to shortages.
Long-term storable food and other supplies such, as warm clothing, alternate cooking method, hygiene products and basic medications, are other essentials that you might consider as part of your preparedness supply. This way you’ll be prepared should deliveries to your local stores be disrupted, if your economic situation has you struggling to keep up with prices, or if people around you start to panic.
4 – Invest in Gold and Silver
Keeping all of your assets tied to pension plans, 401(k)s and saving accounts in the U.S. financial institutions won’t guarantee you a steady income during a financial crisis. These corporations are tied to a fiat currency, so your investments are not protected from inflation. Yet, gold and silver coins will continue to hold their value regardless of the Federal Banking System or the dynamics within the global monetary scheme.
5 – Take Care of Yourself and Your Home
Physical stamina, the ability to defend yourself, and knowing how to protect your home are all important aspects of preparedness. Taking care of your overall health and well-being, both physical and mental, are likely to help you stay competent in handling challenging situations, when life may not be as cozy as it is today. If you’re living in highly populated urban areas, it’s important to consider that others may not be prepared and are likely to turn to crime and violence to acquire certain necessities. Here is another reason why having friends throughout your neighborhood may become a valuable resource during difficult financial times.
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This post was graciously contributed by Off Grid Outpost. Please visit their site for amazing advice on how to build your self-reliant lifestyle, and avoid the grip of the crumbling system.
Anna Hunt is co-owner of OffgridOutpost.com, an online store offering GMO-free healthy storable food and emergency kits. She is also the staff writer for WakingTimes.com. Anna is a certified Hatha yoga instructor and founder of Atenas Yoga Center. She enjoys raising her children and being a voice for optimal human health and wellness. Visit her essential oils store here. Visit Offgrid Outpost on Facebook.
Sounds like five things to do in good times or bad
Very true
BUT
If the economy goes TU & the banks are closed any financial institution I owe money to can whistle for it. Not going to worry about what I owe to a bank that is closed. If cant get at my money or you have rehypothicated it away WTF makes you think I am going to pay ……YOU
Number one sounds great, but I’m with you. I would like to reduce my debt but if the banks close, I sure the hell aint going down there to make a payment. Right now, I am spending every extra penny on things I think me and mine will need. I will worry about the house payment, the same house that I might not be at anyways WTSHTF, later on, and all of that unsecured debt that everybody has in the way of credit cards. If things calm down, then and only then will I think about slowing down on prepping and start paying more on bills.
Lets look at it a different way, I can skip all of my prepping for the next 10 years and maybe get everything paid off, or I can prep and worry about the small stuff later. If you are a true believer, we don’t have much time left for prepping. After it is all said and done, you can pick the house you want for free.
Number two, grow your own food. Hahahahahaha. All of your vertical and hydroponic gardens require fertilizer. How much of that are you going to stock up on? Aguaponics would be one way to go on that. We have 5,000 sf of garden and 58 fruit and nut trees and a couple of vines, and my wife still goes to the grocery store every week. My guess is you will need around 10 acres per person to possibly to survive. That would be fruit, vegies, and small meat eaters like rabbits. Maybe a pig or two. You start getting into your grazing animals and you will have to up that property number for year round living. Then, the more property you have the more people you will need to tend, work, and guard that property, the more acreage you will need to support that property. Vicious cycle.
Number three, put in a surface water well while you still can. Water weighs a ton.
Number four, Say what you want. I have life experience in this category. Gold and silver are only worth what the next person is willing to pay for it. Beans, rice, bullets, salt, pool shock, and TP are worth a lot more. Only if you have extra money or you don’t think TS is GTHTF should you waste your money on precious metals. If you need to sell it right now, it is worth nothing. A smart person would have all the staples and extras in stock, and if you played your cards right, you could be rich on the other side of this. A bag of gold for a loaf of bread. Learn how to make flour out of acorns.
and Number five. I do agree on being healthy, stock up on meds and antibiotics now, while you still can. If you think you are going to get on that mountain bike or throw on your back pack and take off, I urge you to go and try it now. You are in for a rude, tiring surprise.
DO NOT use pool shock. MOST pool shock is loaded with carcinogens! What you want is a GOOD cal hypo, 73% or better. DON’T buy the solid either, you want the granular. Also, most of your shocks from China are loaded with chemicals that will do you in before any desperate hungry looter will. Be very careful what you plan on using post SHTF people. Just to let you know…..
You have to read the ingredients but you can you some brands of pool shock. You don’t just grab anything off of the shelf.
Great minds think alike my friend
” If you need to sell it right now, it is worth nothing.”…..really?…..and a person that is smart enough to have GOLD, aint gonna NEED to sell it right away….he’s already prepped up.
Yes Really. Go right now, this very second and sell some so you can get gas to go to work or food. You will get pennies on the dollar.
why would i “sell it this very second”?….why don’t YOU take your “Beans, rice, bullets, salt, pool shock, and TP” and sell it this very second?….you think you’ll get more than pennies on the dollar?….i’m BETTING i will be able to…..ohhh, never mind….never argue with a fool, a bystander might not be able to tell you apart.(thanks sam)…..i assure you, i can go to the coin store up the street TOMMORROW, not right effen NOW, and i will get MORE than i paid for it….or i can put that one ounce coin on craigslist, and get CLOSE to what i paid….and after SHTF, i BETCHA i got more preps than YOU do…i won’t need that gold for a couple years if i’m lucky(I make my OWN luck).
It is a darn good thing that the coin store and Craig’s list will be open after TSHTF.
You win. You have more preps than me.
Have a blessed day.
i won’t NEED to sell it on craigslist or a coin shop, because i’m DI-VER-SI-FIED…i aint got all my eggs in one basket, and i just wish the simpletons would stop saying/inFERRING gold will be worthless, so we are stupid to own it. gold has always had value, in CONCENTRATED form, easily moved, unlike my room full of food..or my money in the bank, or my house full of antiques, or my shop full of car parts, or my skills at repairing cars, or first aid, or hunting, or processing food for preservation/canning, or gardening..makes my day when someone finally sees the light, apology accepted.OOPS, i just made a fool of ME TOO, didn’t i!
I never once meant the pm has no value but a lot of people push the crap out of it when most of us are just barely getting by. If you have plenty of money and all of your preps, then by all means buy pm’s. What I said was that pm’s are only worth what the next guy is willing to pay for it. If you need something right now, their is a good possibility you will get screwed on real value. I have had it happen to me. And you are right, you don’t have to sell, you can starve. Not me, just saying.
Da Yoop – One thing about owing debt is there will always be collectors if there is a Balance owed on a spreadsheet. In 2008 I had a WAMU Bank Credit Card, and when WAMU defaulted and went bankrupt and dissolved, they sold that debt balance to someone else. Most all debt Receivables are usually transferable. Read the fine print on your loan, under Re-assignable or Debt balance transfer.
I said back then if WAMU defaulted, then my debt should be erased and wiped out as well. But that’s not how it works in reality.
I feel sorry for College Kids Naive coming out of College with a $45K Student Loan debt attached to their back. My nephew went to dental school. He ended up taking out a 30 Year Loan repayment schedule. His debt is probably $80K or more… Like WTF, a Herpies Debt Scab on your back for life. He will be OK though both him and his wife are dentists and probably make $300K a year combined.
Debt can also be used as a leverage device to gain wealth, which if you are smart and know how to manage debt, you can be very successful and prosperous, using other peoples money. Those loser deadbeats who fail to manage their debt are cut off, credit FICO score destroyed and have to resort to paying cash for everything. Probably never be able to own property or a house. Having No Credit because you like to pay cash, is just like having bad Credit, because you never creates a healthy Credit History. My FICO score is over 800, I have just a small amount of CC debt, but keep the credit lines open and active. All my assets property, house and autos are fully paid off. That is Freedom and independence.
My Credit Union, gave me a $2300 unsecured signature loan last year in Nov, at ZERO % Interest, as they said I am a good customer, and because they Fucked up a check transaction, and I could have sued them, so we agreed to Zero percent interest with a 1 year payback. I took that cash money and went and bought another 100 Oz of Silver rounds. Brilliant move, as my Silver Buy rate with commission was only $14.99/ Oz. That is how you leverage Debt to your advantage to increase assets and net worth.
Who else do you know can get a Zero Percent loan from a Bank or Credit Union? I’m not bragging, but just saying this is how to do manage debt with a great credit score and worthiness.
~WWTI..
“Who else do you know can get a Zero Percent loan from a Bank or Credit Union? ”
do you really want me to answer this you clueless moron ?
seriously this is the internet think before ya type
…….silence does not attract attention &
sometimes it pays not to shoot your mouth off
If your credit card debt is sold, dispute it, in a letter within 30 days ask them for proof that you owe them-a copy of the agreement signed by you and them. They will not have it, so you do not owe it.
Be careful about how much PM you buy. During the depression the United States put a limit on how much PM you could own and you could not use it to pay for stuff. Look it up.
That picture was NOT taken in Venezuala …unless they switched to English in the last month?
Hmm, I think I’ll go check their website out…. I think we all have these 5 items well covered.
“If People Around You Start To Panic”…. STAY HOME!!!
You have your preps, you don’t want to be out in the chaos initially. Wait for the crazies to eliminate each other and for some semblance of order to settle in.
As we say here Slap…..nothing good happens when you leave the farm.
There seems to be something he left out.
6) be prepared to defend your stuff against your hungry neighbors.
The truth hurts.
Too many people still bask in the light of their ignorance.
They will not look behind the veil.
Accept fate…….or make your own.
Have a plan.
I might be a casualty, but, I will not be a victim.
Be safe….What’s in your lifeboat?…..BA.
5 out of 5 aint bad.
when people start to panic.
#6 BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE!
#7 Lock and Load your battle rifles and handguns that you have set aside for just this time.
#8 Aim Small Miss Small.
Sgt.
8. Review dates on Pizza Coupons
9. Secure Belly Button lint collection.
10. Obtain Change of address cards from Post Office for when I become homeless,
11. Stock up on Frozen Yogurt.
12. Pack my OBAMA for hope and change posters.
Anyone think of anything I’ve missed?
Get some knitting needles so you can knit that lint into a sweater before next winter. 🙂
Actually clothes dryer lint and Vaseline make excellent camp fire starters.
Kevin, hand sanitizer (liquid gel) from the dollar store is excellent. 10oz. bottle is, wait for it, A DOLLAR. Easy to carry and no mess. Much easier than stuffin toilet paper rolls with lint.
13. Stop reading the endless predictions of doom and gloom.
14. Enjoy your friends and family.
15. Thank God everyday for what you already have.
They are pretty endless arent they
THANK YOU!
I got a good laugh on all your points, Thanks! I agree with # 9. Hang on to those posters, they may actually become collector’s items and be worth more to the right people than silver or gold!
Heard Zimmerman got $120K for his PF9.He’ll be lucky to see much of that. I don’t see a gun that killed a common thug as having any real collector value.
You’d think Zimmerman would have enough sense to watch himself. You know the ‘authorities’ are just waiting for him to screw up.
You know you have something there Paranoid, If you need to make a fire and need some fire starter material, just dip into that Lint Belly Button trap and dig out a wad. Presto, instant fire, and there may besome belly button wax that helps in ignition. You can also make a flame torch with a few good gas farts, to help get that fire going. Just don’t get too close and catch your britches on fire.
~WWTI… See preppers are always thinking eh’.
I got it, Belly button lint and ear wax makes a good fire starter. Use each end of a Q-Tip to collect the fuel, fold the Q-tip in half and twist the cotton ends together and light. Presto… FIRE!
~WWTI…
Darts for your posters?
If things get so bad where you have to wait for/grow your own food, will we really have to worry about debt? If we have to grow our own food, I think the debt collectors will have enough problems of their own to worry about.
Was over at Zero Hedge site, saw the article about the “Death Cross” on stocks-article detailed the previous time this occurred was in 2008, and the market went south.
If anything-those that haven’t done anything due to normalcy bias are going to get hit hard this time-worse than it was in 2008.
Then again-the data presented and massaged may be moar lies than anything else.
Keep an ear to ground, keep prepping and get a bit more range time in…because sooner than later, it’s going to go to h3ll on deuce and a half with no brakes.
Be well.
Cat
yep, i saw that. my indicators just went south for the market yesterday.
i knew we were close, so i opened up a short last week. wish i had opened up a bigger one; s+p in the 1800s within a month is likely coming.
That death cross has appeared many times over last 4 years since I’ve been going to zero hedge. It is correlation, not causation.
I may be mistaken, but in this case, they’re using the ‘100-day’ moving average, which has only occurred once in each crash instance, versus the ‘200-day’ moving average, which, as you said, has occurred multiple times.
Supposedly, the 100-day death cross happen much more rarely.
That’s how I’m reading it, anyway????
Numbah 6, learn to cook soylent greens.
Good one!
1, check
2. Check
3. CHECK
4. meh
5. check
Nice to see less Snyder on this site.
troll.
Simple things in the yard like tying snare loops to trees and bushes . To trip trespassers up at night . Gives good warning . Helps your dog out too. He knows wear the snares are. Chicken wire ready to tack over the Windows . Cheap and better than nothing . I’ve always been almost amazed at how people buy these big dead bolts . When a glass window is so easy to break and enter . I don’t get it. Are they all just not street wise I guess. Or just plain stupid. Solar powered motion sensor lights . Cheap and stick them anywhere . Tie them in your trees . Or duck tape. Have them ready to pul up in minutes. Or just lay them on the lawn. Four would cover back front sides. Warning is I think most important . They want to sneak up on you . And baseball bat you while your sleeping
The last thing I do, just before sunset, is to set my paracord warning system. I string it TIGHT from and to various spots, and it creates a chaotic “spiderweb” at different heights and angles. It takes me 3 minutes.
It runs amok between a 6 foot privacy fence perimeter, and a different chain link fence.
It is a pain in the ass, and I occasionally trip on it when it is limp on the ground when not deployed.
Battery powered motion lights are strategically placed to illuminate any commotion.
I stock up on C batteries, which fit in driveway alarm transceivers, also.
the smaller the dog, the less they EAT,….and the more they HEAR….and they let you KNOW IT! i got big dogs outside, but when shtf, i procure one very soon after….and it will stay in the house…for now, my BIG dogs gotta do(Meanwhile, eating me out of house and home)….big dogs outside let the zombies know there’s something being protected.
Anna,
The next crisis is already here.
goods moving at record lows, retail sales plunging, GDP at less than 1% last quarter.
i predict the usa will be in a recession(2 quarters of negative growth at the end of 1st quarter 2017 and maybe 4th quarter this year)
We had a saying in the army:
If you keep calm while all those around you are panicking,
it means you don’t have a freaking clue what’s going on!
We’re in SW Florida and fortunately have a lot of combat vets in the neighborhood. They have experience fighting Germans, Japanese, Koreans and Chinese.
@K2
Any vet who has fought Germans or Japanese is at least 89 years old and Koreans and Chi-coms they are going to be a minimum of 82 years old. Those who fought the VC and NVA are going to be at least 62.
No disrespect to those vets, but aren’t you expecting blood out of a turnip ?
<bb
I’d rather go up against some young fool that thinks he’s tough; than an old guy that knows he has only one or two good shots left
It was meant to be comical. Where is your sense of humor?
The great thing is we’re in a sweet spot. The crime is ultra low as the residents are ultra law abiding pensioners and have enough money to sustain a decent lifestyle but not enough to be a good criminal target for home invasion. No $50,000 in rings and diamonds, more likely a 80s vintage VCR. Racial demographics are good too. Actually about 20% of the population is German, some permanent, some 6 months.
You obviously don’t know any old vets personally.
I posted recently . I read a story about the revelutionary war . They ambushed the British . But had to run. A 65 year old fighter said . I’m to old to run . He stood and killed many British .they finally bayoneted him . But he lived . Tough old bastard. We need all the tough old bastards that can’t run . We can get.
Lone Wolverine, Samuel Whittemore was actually 78 when he killed three Redcoats. It would be nice to be able to run at 78, but you don’t have to run to be able to fight. You just have to have the WILL. Trekker Out.
Being serious the guys around me are pretty old. Not even Vietnam but WWII and Korea.
i’m 70 next month 71. damm im still here!
i be prepped with beans,bullets and bandaids
have many security systems….
SGT USMC 1966-72
Make that 58-59 for Vietnam …and quit aging me! lol…
58-59 for Vietnam? Bull ticky. try 65 on up for real action.
I grew up in SE Los Angeles county area and I learned to dislike cities and surrounding suburban housing divisions. Most the hell holes we read about in the news are where SHTF in cities and surrounding areas.
My #1 rule is get out of the city! Have acreage and a home at least thirty miles from a major population area.
Live in a rural area more than three days walk from city…check
Bullets and Beans…check
Chickens and rabbits and goats and pigs…. check
Constant supply of fresh water….check
Abundant Game………Check
Good to go
Mutaint,
Great list. Ditto here (and for many @ here). Feels good to have neighbors who know which way’s up.
6. If you are white and the social order breaks, all the pissed off minorities will attack without mercy. So, if you want to protect yourself and your children, live with other white people. It is harder to move if you own a house, but if you can, get out of areas where there are people who you know hate you. Some of these haters are keen for an excuse to kill white people.
Obama trying to break up white communities is his way, under his Zionist bosses, to make white’s as vulnerable to victimization as possible. Resist.
It was meant to be comical. Where is your sense of humor?
The great thing is we’re in a sweet spot. The crime is ultra low as the residents are ultra law abiding pensioners and have enough money to sustain a decent lifestyle but not enough to be a good criminal target for home invasion. No $50,000 in rings and diamonds, more likely a 80s vintage VCR. Racial demographics are good too. Actually about 20% of the population is German, some permanent, some 6 months.
B from CA
OOPs Wrong Spot.
B from CA
“So, if you want to protect yourself and your children, live with other white people.”
Thats a good call regardless.
Got ’em.
I bet most folks on SHTFplan have all these bases covered.
I hope I do.
I have been thinking about “what if” I am unable to fall back to BOL/hideyhole, and the prospects of bugging in.
So, I am adding to my wish list of defense multipliers.
I want to get some of those tire flatteners that law enforcement uses to impede vehicle progress.
I have a concrete block first floor, and covert sandbag fortifications, but I imagine that a truck could be driven INTO my home for a breach point.
There’s only one road into my deadend, and an alley that intersects it 60 feet from my house, from the south. My north, west, and east are protected from vehicle traffic by natural obstructions.
I think I want TWO sets of those things.
You can make those stop strips with 3/8″ rebar,
Better yet, during the old horse Calvary days they made a thing called:(SP) Caltrops? You bend two nails with the heads cut off at an angle and bent around each other so that when dropped on the ground one point stands up. Takes out horses or tires, I’ve seen them at gun shows, no doubt a U tube movie somewhere.
A caltrop is an antipersonnel weapon made up of two or more sharp nails or spines arranged in such a manner that one of them always points upward from a stable base (for example, a tetrahedron). Caltrops were part of defenses that served to slow the advance of horses, war elephants, and human troops. They were particularly effective against the soft feet of camels. In more modern times, caltrops are still effective when used against wheeled vehicles with pneumatic tires.
a spiked metal device thrown on the ground to impede wheeled vehicles or (formerly) cavalry horses.
I’ve often told people . If you came over a hill with your family. And you saw thre separate camps . One was playing hip hop music . One was playing rock . One was playing mariachi. One was playing country . Which camp would you lead your family to?
I’d turn around and go the other way. Anybody stupid enough to [lay anything is to stupid to survive,
While many will run off to food stores to fight over the last loaf of bread and can of soup, I think I’ll be going the other direction to the home store to buy some gardening supplies, some fertilizer, peat moss, etc for improving and expanding gardens.
One rule in a panic is to move away from panicking crowds.
If your pantry and weapons locker isn’t already full you aren’t ready.
I’ve been considering a 3-D printer and dedicated computer for it. The ability to make spare parts for just about anything sounds like a cool idea. I know I could harden it against EMP, and it requires little power. To be able to make needed things in a long term disaster for barter and my families use is golden.
Why not a wood and metal lathe then? Much cheaper since you are limited in what ‘raw material’ is at your disposal to ‘form’ thing with a 3-D.
I have a pretty good one, Over $3k, and have already determined it would not be able to make ‘sights for a Glock’, nor anything metallic/electronic (not that I’ve found yet anyway).
I love my lathes…
My wife is so afraid of this problem, she is throwing out all the supplies. Like maybe it won’t happen then.
I guess I will be on the bus after all. Although not willingly.
Arbite Macht Frei or something like that.
Get on the bus.
The freedom comes after they kill us.