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Financial planning for the survivalist in a nutshell-
*Out of debt- gives more INITIATIVE to the survivalist, initiative being the FREEDOM TO ACT, rather than being forced to REACT.
*Six months or more living expenses in cash, yes FRNs. Means any hiccup in banking system does not affect you, means critical missing items can be bought at the proverbial "last minute" if necessary when most smart retailers probably wouldn't take CC or check or when that "system" is down. Cash also helps the "flee in the night" scenario and the coveted "bribe the guy to look the other way" scenario.
*Precious metals, have their place as a -SOMETIMES- inflation fighter, as a -SOMETIMES- decent investment. Some people, myself included, look at them as another way to save and squirrel away money to pass along. Subject to upticks and downturns like any INVESTMENT (I know, someone will say not an investment). Reason you don't relay SOLELY on these is that market can and does change- the 1 ounce gold Kangaroo that was a "deal" at $1600. an ounce is now a $400. LOSS if sold now. Which is one of the reasons why the CASH in your financial preps is there. I don't personally think people will "barter" with PM's after a collapse because their isn't that many of them out there in the hands of the GENERAL PUBLIC. But if that does happen, so be it, I'll be ready for that also. Best use could likely be paying your property taxes.
*Physical preps- year or more of food storage (someone will no doubt call that "extreme" also , defensive preps and a good amount of training for same, medical supplies, water storage and numerous water sources
*Land and homes- a place out of the way wherein you can hold your own, produce some (not all) of your own food, produce your own power, preferably debt free. Producing your own power = no power bill = more money in your pocket and less to live on. Producing some of your own food= lower grocery bill. Having your own water sources = no water bill. All this with no mortgage = very little money going out monthly which = more money in your pocket. In retirement means retirement savings go further and less money is needed to live on.
*Retirement savings- here's the most argued one. Yes you need to be saving for retirement. "But but but, the S is fixing to HTF and..." Trust me, you NEED to be saving for retirement. Do these other things yes, but save for retirement. I know a lot of people that pulled their money out of 401K's, IRA's, etc. in 93, 95, 98, 99, 2001 etc. thinking that "this is it!" that are still working. Most are old enough that they might not still be working if they hadn't made that move. Start a Roth IRA as probably sometime in the future, the gubmint will likely stop "allowing" them. You don't want to go into retirement with nothing but a stack of Mt. House cases and a few black rifles all because you thought the S was fixing to HTF tomorrow. Yes if the stock market tanks you will lose some, their are ways to negate this. Even parking the money in low risk things over time will help.
*Save up and pay cash for larger purchases. You can buy a new vehicle for cash. You can't probably can't tomorrow, it may take a few years as it does us every time, but hey we are survivalists so we should be good at PLANNING right? Also, when you pay cash for things like that, you tend to under buy, versus over buying.
When your not saddled with a mortgage, 2 car payments, student loan death, card from your master, American Excess, etc. you CAN DO MORE. That seems the opposite but it's true. We have taken more vacations, played more, etc. in the years we've been out of debt than in all the others combined.
Now the sucky part- getting out of debt is hard work and a lot of suffering. That's why few achieve it. Just like getting in shape it requires discipline, it requires WORK. It requires looking past the current day and well into the future. We "suffered" through for several years getting out of debt. When we began that, we had a much much smaller income to work with as well. I truly believe God was teaching us things.
Finally, adjust your spending based on your income. For those of us with variable incomes, spend based on what you have currently coming in, not "expected" sales, not last month's sale figures, etc. That was hard for me as I was 26 and making super big dollars and then the bottom dropped out for a time. It took me a few months- and a lot of $$$ lost- to adjust to the fact that the big dollars were gone for the time being. Anywhoo..
Guys, the financial preps are just as important as your weapons training, food storage, etc. More so in many ways as proper planning in finances opens up more possibilities for training, for preps, etc.
Good luck
Lowdown3
*Out of debt- gives more INITIATIVE to the survivalist, initiative being the FREEDOM TO ACT, rather than being forced to REACT.
*Six months or more living expenses in cash, yes FRNs. Means any hiccup in banking system does not affect you, means critical missing items can be bought at the proverbial "last minute" if necessary when most smart retailers probably wouldn't take CC or check or when that "system" is down. Cash also helps the "flee in the night" scenario and the coveted "bribe the guy to look the other way" scenario.
*Precious metals, have their place as a -SOMETIMES- inflation fighter, as a -SOMETIMES- decent investment. Some people, myself included, look at them as another way to save and squirrel away money to pass along. Subject to upticks and downturns like any INVESTMENT (I know, someone will say not an investment). Reason you don't relay SOLELY on these is that market can and does change- the 1 ounce gold Kangaroo that was a "deal" at $1600. an ounce is now a $400. LOSS if sold now. Which is one of the reasons why the CASH in your financial preps is there. I don't personally think people will "barter" with PM's after a collapse because their isn't that many of them out there in the hands of the GENERAL PUBLIC. But if that does happen, so be it, I'll be ready for that also. Best use could likely be paying your property taxes.
*Physical preps- year or more of food storage (someone will no doubt call that "extreme" also , defensive preps and a good amount of training for same, medical supplies, water storage and numerous water sources
*Land and homes- a place out of the way wherein you can hold your own, produce some (not all) of your own food, produce your own power, preferably debt free. Producing your own power = no power bill = more money in your pocket and less to live on. Producing some of your own food= lower grocery bill. Having your own water sources = no water bill. All this with no mortgage = very little money going out monthly which = more money in your pocket. In retirement means retirement savings go further and less money is needed to live on.
*Retirement savings- here's the most argued one. Yes you need to be saving for retirement. "But but but, the S is fixing to HTF and..." Trust me, you NEED to be saving for retirement. Do these other things yes, but save for retirement. I know a lot of people that pulled their money out of 401K's, IRA's, etc. in 93, 95, 98, 99, 2001 etc. thinking that "this is it!" that are still working. Most are old enough that they might not still be working if they hadn't made that move. Start a Roth IRA as probably sometime in the future, the gubmint will likely stop "allowing" them. You don't want to go into retirement with nothing but a stack of Mt. House cases and a few black rifles all because you thought the S was fixing to HTF tomorrow. Yes if the stock market tanks you will lose some, their are ways to negate this. Even parking the money in low risk things over time will help.
*Save up and pay cash for larger purchases. You can buy a new vehicle for cash. You can't probably can't tomorrow, it may take a few years as it does us every time, but hey we are survivalists so we should be good at PLANNING right? Also, when you pay cash for things like that, you tend to under buy, versus over buying.
When your not saddled with a mortgage, 2 car payments, student loan death, card from your master, American Excess, etc. you CAN DO MORE. That seems the opposite but it's true. We have taken more vacations, played more, etc. in the years we've been out of debt than in all the others combined.
Now the sucky part- getting out of debt is hard work and a lot of suffering. That's why few achieve it. Just like getting in shape it requires discipline, it requires WORK. It requires looking past the current day and well into the future. We "suffered" through for several years getting out of debt. When we began that, we had a much much smaller income to work with as well. I truly believe God was teaching us things.
Finally, adjust your spending based on your income. For those of us with variable incomes, spend based on what you have currently coming in, not "expected" sales, not last month's sale figures, etc. That was hard for me as I was 26 and making super big dollars and then the bottom dropped out for a time. It took me a few months- and a lot of $$$ lost- to adjust to the fact that the big dollars were gone for the time being. Anywhoo..
Guys, the financial preps are just as important as your weapons training, food storage, etc. More so in many ways as proper planning in finances opens up more possibilities for training, for preps, etc.
Good luck
Lowdown3
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