Tam on James Wesley Rawles’ new book:
It’s very well organized and focuses on plenty of seemingly mundane and practical things, like food, medicine, communications, dealing with neighbors and forming strong communities, unlike a lot of other “survival manuals” that are five chapters of gun wanking sandwiched between an introduction, two pages about beef jerky and astronaut ice cream, and the index. (Incidentally, my roomie, super radio alpha geekette extraordinaire, found no major nitpicks in the section on communications…)
Remember: Preparedness isn’t just about being prepared for Armageddon, it’s about being prepared for almost anything: blizzard, blackout, hurricane, job layoff… This book is an excellent look at the proper mindset and preparations for being ready for life’s curve balls.
Didja notice that one wild, out-there scenario – “job layoff”?
It’s amazing how many “survival” plans don’t make any arrangements for something as common as not having a job for six months. In this wildly unlikely apocalyptic scenario a mere mortal might be expected to somehow accomplish the heroic feats of not having the power cut off, reigning victorious against the forces of not having his car repossessed – not by shooting the repo man but by not getting behind on his car payment to begin with – and defending the sanctity of the family domicile by not having the mortgage company righteously and legally foreclose on his deadbeat ass.
Some online survivalists find it easy to rationalize mis-allocation of funds. “The UN invasion of the U.S. could happen simultaneously with a bird flu epidemic and an F10 earthquake. I’d better max out the credit card and buy a generator, 50 cases of MREs, another AR-15, and 10,000 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition.”
Going in debt to buy crap is not really a great plan for securing your family’s future. I’m all for reasonable preparedness, but preparedness involves insuring against events based on their likelihood and the cost of insuring against them. A power outage or a blizzard that lasts a few days aren’t uncommon events and they’re cheap to insure against. The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) is unlikely and it’s expensive to insure against.
A better bet for a rational person is to live in the economic reality they’re most likely to face. What’s your plan if you lost your job tomorrow?
- Do you have credit card debt and can you service it without a job?
- Could you make the payments on your car using your unemployment benefits?
- Could you pay rent or make the payments on your house with the money in your savings account?
- Could you keep up with other expenses such as gasoline bills, utilities and phone bills with your emergency fund?
If you answered “no” to any of the above you’ve got more pressing problems than surviving TEOTWAWKI. Act accordingly.
Previously - Where do you put money if you’re concerned about bank failures?
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Most people never stop to think that in suburban America, if you are living a paycheck-to-paycheck existence and DON’T have at least one paid-off motor vehicle, you are one pink slip away from TEOTWAYKI.
[rq=770356,0,blog][/rq]O. Emm. Gee.
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I’m glad *somebody* is pointing this stuff out.
Which is why my wife and I take care to live well within our means. The benefits are that we have no debt whatsoever, and no trouble maintaining a fund with at least a year’s (yes, a full year at minimum) worth of living expenses in liquid form.
She was recently laid off, and we laughed and bought a new car (one of ours was getting old and starting to be unreliable). Paid cash, we hate car payments. She can take some time off so we don’t have to put the little one in day care, and go back to work when we’re all ready.
If we had big debts and an expensive lifestyle, having a kid would have meant we were in trouble and my wife getting laid off would have been deadly.
Yeah, it’s crazy when I see gunbloggers who complain about their unbelievable debt buying more guns, ammo, and food for the cache. It really seems like escapism.
My wife lost her job this year, too. We’re doing OK. And like you say, it was nice that she was able to stay home with the kids for a while instead of rushing back to work. You can’t put a price on that.
I really don’t comprehend people with 2 car payments and a giant mortgage and maxed out plastic. Hey guys, you can buy a LOT MORE cans of beans and cans of ammo when you’re not shelling out most of your income to interest.
[rq=775962,0,blog][/rq]How Bad Ass Are SOCOM?
I’ll similarly express my appreciation for pointing this out.
As the sole provider for a family of 5, this is the far more likely catastrophe than the collapse of civilization. And, like others, my wife and I live below our means so that our world won’t end the day after I lose my job. (Although I can’t claim the full year’s worth of liquidity that Greg can. I’m impressed.)
Maybe it’s time for me to go out and buy some MRE’s to keep our emergency water supply company, though.
[rq=780922,0,blog][/rq]Annoying
Good point. Some people spend entirely too much energy “preparing” (fantasizing is more like it) for totally unrealistic and unlikely scenarios while ignoring the dangers that are staring them in the face.
[rq=781109,0,blog][/rq]Health Care is Two Words!
One point, though. Stocking up on food can save money if you do it right.
Sure, if I go buy 3 years worth of freeze dried canned food I’ll pay through the nose, or some other, nether orifice. But keeping 3 months worth of more normal food is not a big deal.
Dry pasta keeps well, when it’s on sale buy a dozen boxes. You use half of them before the next sale, so you buy another dozen boxes. You’ve paid what you would normally pay for 12 boxes, you’ve bought 24, and used 6. Beats the heck out of “I want pasta tonight. I’ll hit the store on the way home.” Plus if you have it at home you’ll use it, and not going out to eat is (a) healthy and (b) a great way to save money. This week the canned soup I like is on sale for 4 for $3. I looked through the sales flyers, decided what I want to get, and tomorrow morning, early while the sale items are still in stock, I’ll buy a dozen cans or so.
Because I’m never _out_ of food, I can wait until what I want is on sale and buy a lot of it. You spend a bit more at first, then when you have a stock you spend a lot less.
When you get to this point, you’re saving enough money on food that you can work on that savings account some more.
Mike: I totally agree. I just got home from the monthly Sam’s Club run. We buy batteries in the big packs at Home Depot, too.
We buy in bulk to save money (sometimes as much as 50%), to reduce the number of trips to the store, and to make sure we don’t run out of staple foods. It provides some protection against inflation, too. In the event of an emergency we’ve got enough food for weeks and weeks.
Downsides? Not many. There’s a little up-front investment. You have to make some room. If you can swing that it’s a great way to go.
The distinction is that you and I are buying the kind of foods we like to eat everyday, rather than MREs or some such that aren’t of any worth if there isn’t an emergency.
All practical comments. I would like to add that I am writing a blog suggesting
moving to the country temporarily (http://survivemovetocountry.blogspot.com/)
This country has plenty of space yet we crowd into big cities and loose a job
in a high codt area,blow all our assets and then are really broke.Why not
move to a smaall town with internet access and search for a way to make a living while in a low cosy environment.
John Lynch -
I like the idea. Really. I live on Long Island and if the SHTF I’m not getting off the island. No bug out available, so shelter in place is the only way. If it comes down to it the neighborhood’s pretty tight, with enough nutjobs with ARs and shotguns to hold it if need be. (that would be my Mossberg and Ken down the street’s arsenal; I’m a geek, he’s a vet. He also has kids. He probably has MRE’s a plenty in the basement.)
But I have a couple items I’d like to add to the survival kit. I need a generator. I’d love a diesel I could piggyback onto my oil burner’s fuel, but they’re pretty pricey. The main threat is hurricane, I’m 20 miles from the south shore and well out of storm surge. No tornadoes here. A bad Nor’Easter is the likely threat, no power for a few days in winter.
My survival kit for a few days involves a chest freezer, and a vacuum sealer, the two go together hand in hand, at least one full propane tank for the grill, and a procedure to fill any unused carboys in the basement (I brew) with water if a real storm is coming. It’s enough to get through the first week or so. Frankly if things haven’t improved in a week the island will be toast anyway. And the way I fill the chest freezer, I can feed my neighbors for a week, easy. I’d rather feed them than shoot them anyway.
But I haven’t lost the job yet. To those who have, good luck. It’s gonna be rough, I think we’re about ready for another trip downhill on the roller coaster.