Dystopian Survival | Resist. Survive. Thrive.: 2024

Monday, September 30, 2024

Index to National Preparedness Month Articles

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. In recognition of that, I've posted a long series of articles aimed mostly at people relatively new to preparedness, or who just need a good review of the subject matter. Here is the index of those 21 articles:

----------------------------------

Ad: Gas Can Spout Replacement Kit, 5 pack (Amazon Link) - An answer to those modern gas cans that spill gas all over the place - a return to normal spouts that actually worked.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Community - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. In this article, we look at the role of community in preparedness.

Community

Many preppers, survivalists, and even religious folks are looking to form communities to foster their prospects for long-term survival. This may mean building an intentional community from scratch, or simply creating a community of like-minded friends and neighbors for mutual assistance. This is a great idea. However, I still find some resistance to the idea of community by those folks who seem to favor the lone-wolf or small, isolated family retreat modes of survival. However, I believe a larger community is the better path to survival. Here are four reasons why:

1) Humans are social creatures. We are designed to need interaction with other people. This is why solitary confinement is considered such a severe form of punishment. We suffer mentally and emotionally when we are cut off from other people. Loneliness, depression, and mental illness will result from long periods of isolation, whether as individuals or even in very small groups.

2) We have physical limitations. We get tired. We get sleepy. We can typically only do one task at a time. Some tasks require more than one person. And there are time factors to consider. Security, for instance, will require full attention. You are not going to be able to pull security duty AND work in the garden or do other chores at the same time. You are not going to be able to pull 12-hour security shifts for any length of time. Try to do so, and you will become tired, distracted and ineffective.

3) We have limited skill sets. A truly self-reliant survival group will need a large variety of skills sets. Yet, we all have a limited number of skills as individuals. Remember, there will likely be no outside help of any kind during a long-term grid down scenario- no fire departments, EMTs, police departments, hospitals, grocery stores, pharmacies, tailors, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, or repairmen, except for that which we have within our community. We will have to provide for all our needs ourselves. Of course, we should all work towards becoming as self-reliant as possible, but no one person, no one family, will ever be able to truly do it all.

4) Safety in numbers. The idea many have is that a family in an isolated rural area will survive by hiding. But reality tells us something different. Fernando Aguirre in his book, The Modern Survival Manual (Amazon link), writes about the experience during the economic collapse in Argentina during the early 2000s. Far from being safe, small isolated farms were actually hunted down and targeted by well-armed gangs. This experience has been mirrored in other historical, real world examples, such as during the Bosnia War in the 1990s.

Why do we have such a difficult time finding community?

A large part of the reason is that we are looking at the issue in the wrong way, or at least in an incomplete way. We seem to focus on the external - Who should be in the group, who should be excluded, where to find group members, when/how to talk to them about preparedness, how can they be integrated into a group, and so forth.

We largely ignore the other half of the equation, the internal. We ignore ourselves, and our own attitudes and problems. It is these internal issues that may be blocking our efforts to find/build community. It comes down to our inability or unwillingness to trust others.

Let's face it: many of us are very independent-minded (I want to do things my way and only my way), cling to our own individuality, see "compromise" as a dirty word, and delegation of duties and responsibilities is difficult (what if they don't do it "my way').

Most of us are not very trusting by nature, which is part of why we are preppers in the first place. After all, if we really were trusting, we would trust the government and other authorities to take care of us in an emergency. Instead, we are suspicious of others by our very nature.

A successful community requires we trust each other, but most of us are not wired to be trusting of others. We end up looking for "perfect" group members, folks we can absolutely trust and feel extremely safe bringing into the community. Yet there are no perfect people, so we are doomed to look continuously without success.

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Understand that I am not advocating blindly trusting everyone and anyone. We do need to consider the character, trustworthiness, and compatibility of folks we let into our lives and community. But, if we are to be successful, at some point we have to be willing to say "This person isn't perfect, but they are good enough." Hopefully, they will be willing to say the same about you. After all, you are not perfect either.

Tips for Building Community With Your Neighbors

1) You don't need everyone. Not every neighbor is going to be like-minded, or even friendly towards your efforts. That's okay. You don't need to get every single person in your neighborhood on-board with your plans. Some community with some folks is better than no community at all.

2) Knock on doors. Or at least wave at mailboxes. In other words, you have to take the first step. Waiting around for your neighbors to come to you won't work. Go. Introduce yourself to them. You don't have to tell them your a prepper when you first meet. Just meet them.

3) Avoid religion and politics, especially in the early stages. Basic preparedness doesn't depend on religion or politics. You don't need to be of a certain religion to store food and water. You don't need to have a certain political viewpoint to learn first aid.

4) Don't talk prepping, at least at first. The preparedness talk can come later, for now simply get to know your neighbors. Find out what you might have in common. As things progress, you can start dropping prepper lines and see how they respond.

5) Form a Neighborhood Watch. It can official (working with your local police, posting signs, etc.) or informal (exchanging phone numbers and agreeing to keep an eye out for strangers or anything else suspicious in the neighborhood). The point is for you and your neighbors to get to know one another and to start watching out for each other. You can build from there.

6) Have a community yard sale. We have been doing this in our neighborhood for a few years now. About twice a year we'll get together and advertise a community yard sale. Not every household participates, but many do. Even many of those that don't participate in the selling walk around looking at what others are selling.

7) One by one. Two by two. Everyone doesn't have to get together at the same time. A neighborhood-wide barbecue may be too much to put together, but you can host a barbecue maybe once a month and invite one or two neighborhood families over. Barbecuing not your thing? Try a Game Night instead. Or a Movie Night.

8) Advance slowly but surely. Turning your neighborhood into a community is a one-step-at-a-time activity. Get to know each other. Then work on building friendships with those who seem willing. Then start talking preparedness with those that seem receptive. It is a gradual process.

9) Building community is about more than just preparedness. Preparedness for some future crisis might be your ultimate goal, but it cannot be your only goal, otherwise you'll scare people off. Community is about building friendships and relationships of trust. Community is about watching out for each other, encouraging each other, and helping each other. The cold fact is that you are extremely unlikely to get your neighborhood converted into a 100% prepared for doomsday survivalist community. But the more of a community that you're neighborhood is, the better off you'll all be if and when the SHTF.

----------------------------------

Ad: Gas Can Spout Replacement Kit, 5 pack (Amazon Link) - An answer to those modern gas cans that spill gas all over the place - a return to normal spouts that actually worked.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Civil Defense - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month, and I am continuing my series of preparedness articles (this is #20 of the series). In the last article we took a look at nuclear war preparations (article link). Next it makes sense to examine civil defense. Fortunately, I did a series of articles last year on Civil Defense that I can point folks towards (the one on Sweden is especially useful):

Civil Defense (part 1 of a series) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-part-1-of-series.html

Civil Defense: Sweden's Example / Prepare for War = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-swedens-example-prepare.html

Civil Defense in the United States = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-united-states.html

Civil Defense in the United States (Propaganda and Misinformation) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-united-states_23.html

Civil Defense: The US Government's Last Real Act of Civil Defense = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-us-governments-last-real.html

Civil Defense in Russia = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-russia.html

The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/american-civil-defense-association.html

----------------------------------

Ad: Gas Can Spout Replacement Kit, 5 pack (Amazon Link) - An answer to those modern gas cans that spill gas all over the place - a return to normal spouts that actually worked.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Nuclear War Preparations - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Please Subscribe to this website by Email.)

September is National Preparedness Month. For my general outline of preparedness, see my first article in this series (article link). The next 17 articles in this series are more detailed looks at various aspects of preparedness. In this article, I want to look at a much more advanced and scary subject - nuclear war preparations.

As horrible as it is to contemplate, the possibility of a nuclear war, either all-out or limited in scope, is real. Unless you die instantly from a direct hit from a nuclear warhead, you will survive the initial nuclear attack and have to deal with its aftermath. How do we do so? How do we prepare for nuclear war and its aftermath? Here are some ideas and resources to get you started:

1) David Kobler (aka SouthernPrepper1) has a book, entitled Nuclear War Survival: A One Hour Crash Course - Learn the basics fast, just in case . It is a short book that is exactly what it says it is - a crash course covering the basics for nuclear war survival. Only $8.99 for the paperback at Amazon.

2) The 1987 edition of Cresson H. Kearny's Nuclear War Survival Skills is available for free download at http://www.oism.org/nwss/. This is the highly-recommended classic nuclear war survival guide commissioned by the US government. It is also a good idea to have a hard copy of this book instead of relying solely on a digital copy. The paperback of the 2022 edition is available on Amazon. This book is often recommended by Pastor Joe Fox (aka Viking Preparedness).

3) Potassium Iodine (KI) tablets are used for radiation poisoning. They are not expensive, and are available without prescription, but learn how and when to use them first*. Click here to find them on Amazon or click here to find them at Refuge Medical.

* According to the CDC "People should take KI (potassium iodide) only on the advice of public health or emergency management officials. There are health risks associated with taking KI." Learn more on the CDC website by clicking here.

However, get them now and put them somewhere you can quickly find them. Once the event happens, it will be too late to order them!

4) SouthernPrepper1 has done many videos over the years on preparing for nuclear, radiological, and EMP events. I highly recommend you look up those videos on his YouTube channel.

5) Nuclear fallout is survivable. Dust kicked up by nuclear explosions can travel great distances, but the good news is that the fallout dust is contaminated by gamma radiation, which degrades very rapidly. You will need to protect your homes/shelters, and especially your skin, eyes, and lungs, for the first 48 to 72 hours after a nuclear event. I recently bought some extra plastic sheeting, tarps, and gorilla tape to build dust barriers (covering windows, doors, attic access points, etc.) from potential nuclear fallout.

6) N95 masks and even those ear loop facemasks we all have now are actually pretty good for protecting against fallout dust (the dust being considerably larger than viruses). Long pants, long sleeves, shoes, safety glasses, ski masks, and gloves also can help protect your skin and eyes. Reduce the amount of exposed skin as much as possible. You don't have to have really expensive gear. If you do want to go the extra step, check out protective suits and N 95 masks on Amazon.

7) You do NOT need a gas mask to protect yourself from nuclear fallout. Again, the irradiated dust particles are quite large compared to viruses or gas molecules, and N95 and even earloop masks will suffice.

8) Keep Preppping. Any nuclear war, even limited in scale, will be disastrous for the economy and for supply chains. All other forms of prepping - from stockpiling food, water, and medical supplies, to establishing a family communications plan - will come in extremely handy in surviving a nuclear war, so keep up and even intensify all your current preparations.

9) Distance + Mass = Safety. This is the important formula to remember in preparing for a nuclear war. The more distance, and the more mass, between you and a nuclear event, the safer you will be. If you live in or very near potential targets (large population centers, important cities, military bases, etc.), you may want to consider moving further away. There likely won't be much advance warning of a nuclear attack.

10) Don't be far from home or your survival retreat when the event happens. Travel back home may be impossible for weeks to months to years, depending on where you are at, the extent of the event, and the scope of the world war that will certainly surround it. Watch world events closely. If you feel that the world is getting closer to a possible nuclear war, I suggest cancelling travel plans.

---------------------------------------------

TimGamble.com is my #Resistance website. I cover politics and current events from a "red-pilled" perspective, as well as providing strategies, information and resources for resisting the forces of tyranny attempting to enslave us all. Much of my attention is given to exposing technocracy, and building alternative systems to those being foisted on us by the technocrats. Please check it out.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

10 FREE Ways To Improve Your Health and Fitness - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month.

Health and fitness should be at or near the top of everyone's list of priorities. The good news is that improving your health and fitness doesn't require expensive sneakers, gym memberships, personal trainers, special exercise equipment, or over-priced "health foods." Here are some FREE ways to improve your health & fitness:

Drink water instead of sodas or sweet tea. You don't have to buy bottled water, as tap water works just as well (and the dirty little secret of most bottled water is that they really are just tap water).
Skip the desserts. You'll lose weight and save money at the same time.
Skip the late night snacks. Another way to lose weight and save money at the same time. A general rule of thumb for losing weight is "No snacks after 8pm."
Eat healthier. This doesn't have to mean buying special health foods or more costly organic foods. Instead, it means eating less junk foods, fast foods and sweets, and more veggies, especially leafy-greens and cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli and cauliflower).
Go for a walk. Walking is great exercise, and its FREE! Start with a 15-minute walk each day, and over the next several weeks try to work your way up to 45-minutes or even an hour. You can walk around your neighborhood, in your local mall (a great way to walk on a rainy day), or at local parks & greenways. I even know an older couple who walk laps inside their local Walmart most mornings, rain or shine. Everyone has somewhere they can walk for free. Once you start walking, don't quit. The key to walking for fitness is consistency.
Be active. Yard work - such as cutting grass with a push mower, gardening, raking leaves, chopping wood - makes great free exercise. In fact, anything that raises your pulse rate and causes you to lightly sweat counts as exercise.
Check out your local parks. Local parks often have walking/jogging trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, obstacle/fitness courses, and other opportunities for free exercise.
Stretching exercises and calisthenics are free. Jumping jacks, sit-ups, toe-touches, leg squats, and push-ups require no special equipment and cost nothing. You can also find lots of free YouTube videos with fitness exercises and workout programs.
Stop smoking. Yes, this is hard. But it can be done for free and it will even save you hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars a year.
Get plenty of sleep. Sleep is much more important to our long-term health than most people realize. Lack of quality sleep not only impairs our immune system, reflexes, and reasoning skills, but has also been proven to increase our risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and even certain cancers. We might be able to "get by" with less sleep over the short-term, but we are damaging our health over the long-term.

----------------------

Ad: Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants (Amazon link) - Excellent book for serious gardeners (or those that want to be).

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Fitness and the Aging Prepper - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article talks about your body's role in survival (Article link). This article takes a deeper look at fitness and the aging prepper:

Full disclosure: I'm a diabetic in my 50s. I'm recovering from stage 4 cancer. My knees aren't what they used to be, and my left shoulder doesn't work quite as well as it should. I'm no young whippersnapper who doesn't understand the difficulties older folks face. When it comes to fitness and the aging prepper, I am the aging prepper.

This article will address three issues when it comes to fitness and the aging prepper. First, what fitness objectives we should pursue as we grow older. Second, how we can meet these objectives. Third, how we can overcome the many obstacles we face in pursuing these objectives.

Fitness Objectives for the Aging Prepper

I have decided, as an aging prepper, to center my fitness plan around three main objectives. Here are those objectives in order of importance to me:

     1) To achieve and maintain a healthy weight. What is a healthy weight? It will differ from individual to individual depending on factors such as sex, height, build, and age. An even better indicator to go by would be body mass index (BMI). Consult your doctor to decide weight is right for you.

      2) To improve and maintain flexibility, agility, and balance. Flexibility is the ability to move your joints. Agility is the ability to change direction quickly. Balance is the ability to maintain a specific body position while either being still or in motion.
All three tend to decline as we age, especially if we don't take steps to maintain them.

     3) To improve and maintain physical endurance. Physical endurance is the ability to maintain effort or activity over extended periods of time. The better your endurance, the longer it will take before you become too tired or weak to continue your efforts. And the less sore your muscles and joints will be the next day.

Other fitness objectives, such as improving and maintaining speed and strength, may also be important, but these three are the ones I prioritize.

Meeting Fitness Objectives

Meeting these fitness objectives will take time and effort. Fitness is not something you can buy from Amazon and have it delivered tomorrow morning. You have to work at it. And the results won't be instantaneous. Fitness requires patience. But meeting your objectives will be very worthwhile.

However, it can be done. And it doesn't require a lot of money. You don't need a gym membership, or expensive equipment, or even fashionable workout clothes.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Go for a walk or a hike. Walking is great exercise, and free. Start with a 15-minute walk each day, and over the next several weeks try to work your way up to 45-minutes tor even an hour. You can walk around your neighborhood, in your local mall (a great way to walk on a rainy day), or at local parks and greenways. I even know an older couple who walk laps inside their local Walmart most mornings, rain or shine.

Yard work - such as cutting grass with a push mower, gardening, raking leaves, or chopping wood - makes great (and free) exercise. In fact, anything that raises your pulse rate and causes you to lightly sweat counts as exercise.

Stretching exercises and calisthenics are easy, don't require special equipment, and can be done just about anywhere. Just remember the exercises you used to do in gym class back in your school days - jumping jacks, sit-ups, toe-touches, leg squats, windmills, push-ups, and so forth. You can also find lots of videos on YouTube with fitness exercises and workout programs, ranging from basic beginner videos to much more advanced workouts.

Exercise balls (Amazon link) aren't expensive, with many under $30 and some under $20, and are a great for yoga, Pilates, and other types of exercise, as well as helping improve your balance. You can simply sit on an exercise ball while you watch television or work on the computer. You'll work on your balance and burn a few more calories at the same time.

Speaking of balance, walking around the house with a book on your head really does help. It'll improve your balance and your posture at the same time.

Consider yoga or tai chi. Both will help with all these fitness objectives. Again, you can find lots of videos on YouTube. Avoid the new age and eastern spiritual aspects if you are uncomfortable with them, but the physical exercise part is great.

Whatever exercises you choose, be patient. Start slowly, and gradually increase your workout as your fitness improves. And, of course, consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program or making major changes in your diet, especially if you have a chronic health condition.

Overcoming Obstacles

"I'm too old."
"I'm too out-of-shape."
"I have bad knees."
"I have a bad back."
"I don't have the time."

Excuses. We all have them. Often times those excuses are very real. But they are still excuses. They are still reasons we give to not do something that we know we should do.

Everyone has obstacles in their life. Those obstacles seem to only grow as we age. But an obstacle doesn't have to be an excuse. Instead, find a way around that obstacle. It won't be easy. It will take effort. It will take determination. It may take creativity. But you can do it. And it will be worth it.

The oldest person to climb Mount Everest is Yuichiro Miura, who did so at the age of 80 years and 224 days. At least five other people successfully climbed Mount Everest after the age of 70. Other successful climbers of Mount Everest include blind people, amputees, folks with chronic diseases such as MS, cystic fibrous and diabetes, as well as cancer survivors.

I am not telling you to climb Mount Everest. I am saying that if these folks found a way to climb Mount Everest despite their very real excuses, we can find a way to improve our own fitness despite our real excuses.

What excuses, real or imagined, are holding you back? What can you do to eliminate those excuses? Or to find a way around, over, under, or through, those excuses? Obstacles are real, but you don't have to let them become excuses.

Want a great in-depth guide to health and fitness at all ages? The American College of Sports Medicine's Complete Guide to Fitness & Health (Amazon link) isn't just for young people or professional athletes, but covers the entire life span - from birth through our senior years regardless of their level of athleticism. It has a chapter devoted to flexibility, as well as chapters on specific health conditions such as diabetes and cancer.

Regardless of the current state of your health and fitness, or your own unique circumstances ("excuses"), everyone can do something to improve their health and fitness. You might never be able to become a world class athlete, but you can still improve from where you are now.

----------------------

Ad: Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants (Amazon link) - Excellent book for serious gardeners (or those that want to be).

Friday, September 20, 2024

Your Body - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. This article covers the importance of having and maintaining a healthy and fit body, which will pay tremendous benefits in both normal times and especially in an emergency of any sort.

Health and fitness is a skill, because it is something that doesn't come naturally, especially in the modern world. Like any skill, it must be learned, and takes time and effort to develop. It can't be bought from Amazon and delivered to your front door the next day, like you could buy your food storage. Developing the skill of health and fitness requires work, sacrifice, and time. Perhaps that is why its still on many preppers' "to do" list, waiting to be checked off when we finally get around to it. Well, its time to get around to developing this fundamental survival skill.

Being sick doesn't just feel bad, it is expensive! In our emerging dystopian world, healthcare will only get more expensive, more rationed, and more intrusive to our private lives. The technocrats plan to use healthcare to control the general population. Don't forget, the Left wanted to use Obamacare to force doctors to ask about and report on the presence of guns in their patients' homes. More recently, we have seen a push for vaccine mandates, even to the point they are willing to deny life-saving healthcare to the unvaccinated. Vaccine passports, not only for travel but even to enter your local stores and other businesses, still loom as a possibility as many on the Left have not given up on the idea. And it won't just be Covid-19 vaccines that will be required, but many others, too. Expect even more of this healthcare tyranny from government in the future.

The less you need the healthcare system, the better off you will be. This should be one of your top priorities for you and your family as you prepare for the future.

You probably already know the basics of what you should be doing, but are you actually doing them? Here is a checklist to start you on the road to health and fitness:

Stop smoking and abusing drugs or alcohol.
Get adequate sleep on a consistent basis.
Learn to relax and manage stress.
Eat healthy.
Eat less sugar (a lot less!).
Build your strength and endurance.
Be physically active every day (walking, hiking, gardening, yardwork, biking, swimming, tennis, yoga, Pilates, and exercise videos are just a few ideas).
Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Maintain tight control of your blood pressure and blood sugar.
Take care of any issues with your health, teeth or vision, sooner rather than later.
Early detection of disease is crucial to successful treatment, so please get regular health check-ups.

The next article in this series will be on Fitness and the Aging Prepper.

Note: Tim Gamble is NOT a medical professional. Nothing in this article is meant to diagnose or treat anyone. Rather, it is meant a "food for thought" and a starting point for your further investigation. Please consult with an appropriate medical professional regarding your particular concerns. Early detection of disease is crucial to successful treatment, so please get regular health check-ups.

----------------------

Ad: Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants (Amazon link) - Excellent book for serious gardeners (or those that want to be).

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Training - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article talks about personal finances and preparedness (Article link). This article takes a look at the importance of training in preparedness.

You have to practice your plans. You have to practice your skills. Otherwise, when you need them you won't have them. What do I mean? Simply this: In an emergency situation, you will NOT have time to open up your survival notebook to review your plans. You will NOT have time to open up a first aid manual to find out what to do. You will NOT have time to watch a video on defensive shooting. When you face an emergency, you will either know what to do, or you won't.

Training, which allows you to actually practice your plans and skills under controlled conditions, is the best way to deeply instill those plans and skills into your brain. It also allows you to find the shortcomings in your plans and skills before you need them, and gives you time to adjust and fix those problems.

So, practice your bug out plans. Practice bugging out. Practice what to do in case of a fire, especially if you have young children. Practice first aid and CPR. Practice situational awareness. Everyone in your family should take a good self-defense course (you can find age appropriate courses), and practice those skills on a regular basis.

Practice your hiking, camping and bushcraft skills by actually going hiking and camping. Practice your fishing and hunting skills by actually going fishing and hunting now.

Practice your gardening skills now by actually growing a garden. Practice your canning skills by actually doing some canning (even if you have to buy the veggies at the farmer's market until you can grow your own).

If there are firearms in the house, everyone should take a gun safety course (age appropriate ones are available). Teach your children to respect guns, not fear them.

Practice make perfect, as the saying goes. So, practice, practice, practice.

-----------------------

Ad: Wrangler Authentics Women's Stretch Denim Jacket (Amazon link). These classic denim jackets will keep you warm and fashionable on a cool day or night. They make for a great gift, too!

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Personal Finance - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article is a look at the problems and solutions for when the electricity is off (Article link). This article takes a look at the role of personal finance in preparedness.

Here is a bit of foundational advice for preppers and everyone else: Eliminate debt and build savings.

We've all heard it before, but how many of us actually follow that advice? My gut feeling on the matter is that most folks, preppers or not, don't. It is difficult, takes time, and requires a certain amount of sacrifice. In other words, it isn't fun.

Yet, bad economic times are a part of most collapse scenarios that worry most preppers. And even if a full collapse never happens, can be certain of economic downturns and recessions in the future. Bad economic times are especially difficult for folks who live paycheck to paycheck (which is most of the middle class in America today), are in debt up to their eyeballs, and have little or no savings. Debt – whether personal, business or government – is bad for many reasons. So, my personal advice to you (and to me) is to make paying of debt and building your savings a major part of your prepper activities.

In your personal life, work quickly towards eliminating consumer debt – credit cards, car loans, payday loans, personal loans, and installment plans. This will mean you have to put yourself on a budget and stick with it. It will mean putting off major purchases, avoiding impulse purchases, and denying yourself luxury items. It may mean taking bag lunches to work. Or selling your car to get out of the loan, buying an older model with cash, or perhaps making do with only one. Consider having a major yard sale to raise some money, or try to find a second job. It will take time and sacrifice to eliminate debt in your life, but the benefits will be more than worth it.

Debt Busting Idea #1 - Making payments on your vehicle? Sell it and buy a more affordable vehicle with cash. Downsizing your vehicle to get out from under the loan is an idea Dave Ramsey often suggests to his listeners. If you can't get enough for your vehicle to pay off the entire loan, you will need to raise some extra cash, perhaps by using this next debt busting idea:

Debt Busting Idea #2 - If you own any "big toys" such as ATVs, boats, sports cars, RVs, pool tables, dune buggies, hot tubs, motorcycles, or other big ticket items that you use only for recreation and entertainment, consider selling them and dedicating the proceeds to debt repayment. Same goes for any pool tables, home gyms and exercise equipment that you don't really use. Depending on what you have to sell, you may be able to raise anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. That's a lot of debt you can pay off.

Building some emergency savings will have to be done at the same time. Yard sales are a great way to bring in extra cash to do this. So is a second job in the evenings or on the weekends. Put the money somewhere safe, such as an insured CD or money market account in a stable bank or credit union (do your own homework, or check with one of several companies that offer ratings on the soundness and safety of various financial institutions). Don't worry about getting the best possible interest rate. Safety and liquidity are the goals for your emergency savings, not growth.

Pro Tip: Check out Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps and read his the book Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money for more on getting out of debt.

Once your debt is paid off and you have accumulated some emergency savings, you can then turn your attention to saving for long-range goals. Use common sense, avoid overly-risky investments, and, if needed, seek professional advice of someone you can trust.

No investment is perfectly safe. Cash savings are subject to losing value to inflation. Stocks and mutual funds are subject to the ups and downs of the market. Land is subject to property taxes and eminent domain. Converting all your money to gold & silver and burying it in the backyard is subject to thieves. There are no guarantees in life. The best you can do is use reason and common sense, to remain vigilant, and to take responsibility for ensuring your own future.

Why pay off debt if we are headed towards high inflation? It may be true that by waiting to pay off debt, you will be paying it off with cheaper dollars. However, there are other considerations. For one, debt puts you, your family, and your assets at risk. Pay off your debts now while you are employed and you run less risk of losing your home or other assets if you become unemployed later.

Debt can be very stressful, especially in difficult times, which can be a real detriment to your health and your ability to make calm decisions at a time when you most need both.

Proverbs 22:7 "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." (NKJV)

Another reason is that debt can shackle you to your current job and circumstances, when what is really needed at a time like this is freedom and flexibility.

Additionally, people tend not to realize how fast interest, late fees, and other penalties can add up. You may be paying off your debt later with cheaper dollars, but still end up paying more in real terms because of all the added interest and penalties.

Finally, debtor's prisons are a thing of the past, but depending on what a future collapse looks like, they could return. This is particularly true if the future includes a true police-state phase in which the Constitution and Bill of Rights are suspended or done away with completely.

______________________

AD: Proverbs 22:3 T-Shirt - "A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Available in men's, women's, and youth sizes, and in multiple colors.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

No Electricity? - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

(Become a Dystopian. Join the free email list!)

September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article is a look at family communications plans (article link). This article explores the question of what happens if the grid goes down, and there is no electricity or other utilities.

In any emergency, be it long-term grid-down after a nuclear war or a few days without electrify due to a winter storm, we will loose most of the modern conveniences with which we've grown accustomed. We will be without electricity, running water, and other utilities. We will be without the Internet, cable TV, smart phones, Amazon, Door Dash, and a throw-away economy of cheap disposable goods. We will suddenly be thrust back into a world in which our great grandparents lived. This will be a hard adjustment to make. We need to start thinking now about how people used to live back in the "Olden Times," and to start planning how we can live there ourselves, whether for a few days or perhaps forever.

No Electricity? Having alternative ways to cook, stay warm, and light your home is a good idea. But the inconveniences, and your planning, doesn't stop there.

Take something as simple as entertainment. Modern entertainment typically revolves around screen time: TV, movies, video games, smart phones, and so forth. But our grandparents, and definitely our great grandparents, didn't have these options. They had to entertain themselves. They read books made of paper. They played card games and board games, told stories, made their own music, and got together with friends and family to celebrate holidays and special occasions. To go old school, pick up some classic board games (Amazon link) and a few decks of cards (Amazon link). Or learn a musical instrument. Personally, I want to learn to play the harmonica (Amazon link). Maybe have a basketball goal (Amazon link) in your backyard, or a badminton set (Amazon link). The possibilities of non-electricity based entertainment is boundless.

Modern: Cooking with electricity or natural gas.

Old School: Cooking with a wood stove (Amazon link, Amazon link) - don't forget a good stockpile of wood and the ability to collect more.

Modern: Heating with electricity or natural gas.

Old School: Heating with a fireplace or wood stove (Amazon link). Using heavy blankets and wearing warm clothes, gloves, and toboggans.

Modern: Lighting your home with electricity.

Old School: Lighting your home with candles (Amazon link) and oil lamps (Amazon link).

Modern: Riding lawn mower for cutting grass (requires gas).
Old School: Reel mower (Amazon link). Or better yet, do away with the lawn entirely, letting it go wild, planting vegetable gardens, herb gardens, fruit and nut trees, berry bushes.

Modern: Washing machine and dryer for clothes.
Old School: Handwashing clothes (Amazon link) and using clotheslines (Amazon link).

Modern: Electric mixer.
Old School: Manual hand mixer (Amazon link).

Modern: Electric can opener.
Old School: Manual can opener (Amazon link).

Modern: The Internet, Wikipedia.
Old School: Physical copies of reference books (Amazon link) and maps (Amazon link).

Modern: GPS, Google Maps.
Old School: Road Atlas (Amazon link), folding maps.

Modern: Baby formula, store-bought baby food in tiny jars.
Old School: Breast feeding (Amazon link), making baby food at home.

Modern: Disposable diapers.
Old School: Cloth diapers (Amazon link).

Well, you get the idea. The possibilities are endless. Now for an interesting free resource to explore this topic further:

The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA) has a video lecture entitled "No Water, No Sewer, No Electricity, No Gas...What Will You Do?" The 1 hour 10 minute long video features Paul Seyfried, and addresses "infrastructure vulnerabilities in your home are a crucial piece in civil defense preparedness. One week of down time would cause a family much distress, let alone a month or year or more, as people in war-torn countries are experiencing. Learn how to prepare for loss of power and other services we depend on." Direct link to the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2zWQu-_2_0

--------------------------------

AD: Bathtub Water BOB (Amazon link) - 100-Gallon Emergency Water Storage Container for the Bathtub, Comes with Hand Pump, BPA-Free. Great for preparations for hurricanes, tornados, winter storms, and other disasters.