Preparing for economic collapse

[Ecclecticmum]

We're slowly workin our way to the "almost self sufficient" lifestyle.

 

Our first plan is to buy a house, we are planning to put all our money towards that, to pay it off as soon as possible.

 

We only have tank water here, plus irrigation allotment for the garden, our next step is to turn the back paddock into a permaculture circle of mandalas, we also plan to get a few smaller farm animals.

 

Our eventual hope is to cover not only our food expenses, but to have a hobby business that will cover the rest. People can come in with their familys, pet the animals, feed them, and collect fruit & veges to take home. A nice little day out for a family and some lovely just picked food. Thats still quite a while away though.

 

Even if you live in a unit with a balcony, there are inside foods you can grow, you can have a pot of runner beans growing up the balcony wall, stuff hanging from the balcony.

 

I can't offer much advise, but in the way of food, use every available surface to cover, hang stuff from the carport, have upwards growin plants growing up the side of your house. use trees for food and for stopping winds, cutting on your heating bills, if you house is on stumps, retrofit insulation under the house.

 

hth xxxx

[Mama Geek]

Do you have any evidence for this?

 

For the last year is has been discussed by a lot by conservatives. Rush has addressed, Worldnet Daily and Free Republic, among others. Here is a link to the Worldnet Daily site that I think started it.

 

I have been watching it, although not as closely as I should. I would rather take the money out of the retirement plan and pay the penalties rather than be forced to buy US Treasuries.

 

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=121891

[Melissa in Australia]

Gold and silver wont physically feed people but when money notes are worthless, the thing that maintains it's value historically tends to be gold and silver. They are "real" and universally valued, wheras money notes are not, in fact- they are just promissory notes, especially in modern culture.They are no longer even based on anything real. Something "real" that is of value is still of value when paper money itself becomes worthless- to many people, anyway.

And there are many grades of economic collapse. Who says it has to go all the way ? There could be a partial collapse, a limping along for a while- so many possibilities. I wouldn't discount the value of things that have been shown to hold their value over time. If all you have is to barter the food in your garden or some livestock, and you get a hurricane...what then.

:iagree: everytime that there has been a collapse of a civilisation, gold has been a very useful thing to have.

 

I live a very self sufficient life. we always have at least one month food at hand, we grow all our own veggies and produce our own milk and meat. have solar hot water, collect all our rainwater and store it in concrete tanks ( common practice in Australia in rural areas), have wood combustion cooking stove etc. etc. We live this lifestyle not because we think there is going to be some sort of collapse, but just because we think it is the very best way to live our life.

[DianeW88]

Well, I'm LDS, so we have a year's supply of food already. I don't know about an economic collapse, but I do feel you should be prepared in the event of personal disaster...job loss, natural disasters (if you live in a place where they occur), etc.

 

One great tip is to make sure you have about $100 in cash in SMALL bills. When disasters occur (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) and you need to buy bottled water or something like that, and all you have is a $20 bill....guess what? That's how much that gallon of water just cost you. Nobody will be able to make change and if the electricity is out....your debit card is useless. That was something that people pointed out during Katrina. So small bills are essential.

 

Personally, I've stocked up on toilet paper and tampons. I figure there won't be ANYTHING I won't be able to trade those for!! "Why yes, I'll be happy to give you a box of Playtex regulars in exchange for your RV." :lol: