How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 3, by Brandon

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No matter the crisis scenario for which a prepper prepares, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable. Items are necessary and they are costly. Most of us have very limited resources, but I know that we can still prepare. I’m sharing the lessons my wife and I have learned.

In the first two parts, I talked about budgeting, assessing your financial situation, saving, and now we have begun to talk about the step of living below your means. Saving and living below your means needs to happen concurrently.

Reason For Living Below Your Means

Living below your means serves several purposes. Yesterday, I shared that the first reason is having more income available for prepping and saving for disaster.

The second reason is that living well below your means will begin to teach you how to do without and how to manage with less than you would otherwise have. Depending on how far you take this, you could live as though you were in a SHTF scenario already. Many preppers and homesteaders live without the use of modern conveniences, and they are mostly self sufficient.

Continue reading“How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 3, by Brandon”

Letter: Comments on “How to be a Financial Prepper”

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Hugh,

I try to read just about everything I can find concerning personal and family finances, not because I am a prepper but because I have responsibilities as a husband, father, and grandfather. As it happens, I am also a prepper and have been one before there was a specific term for the practice.

Finances remains one of the single most difficult aspects of our existence for preppers and for those who are not. One of the largest problems is that many of us, as a society, have a dysfunctional relationship with money. Modern society has been constructed largely on a mountain of debt, in large part that debt is personal. It comes from the concept that every person should shoulder a massive mortgage, drive a car that may not make a lot of sense, and, worse still, participate in everyday life by purchasing an absolute truck load of “things” that may not even be necessary. I am unaware of any public K-12 school that teaches personal finances as part of core curriculum. We require training and competence to carry a concealed weapon or to drive a car, but most of society is silent on the topic of personal money management. These problems are not small in nature; they are bright red flashing warning signs.

Continue reading“Letter: Comments on “How to be a Financial Prepper””

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the effect of higher interest rates on stock markets. (See the Stocks section.)

 

Precious Metals:

Fed Does Nothing To Help Gold

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Video interview of chartist Gary Wagner: Gold To See “Fireworks” From Trade War

 

Stocks:

Stock Market Outlook: Choppiness Ahead?

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This thought-provoking piece was published by Forbes back in March: Higher Interest Rates Crushed Stocks Before, And They Will Crush Them Again

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“We’ve forgotten much. How to struggle, how to rise to dizzy heights and sink to unparalleled depths. We no longer aspire to anything. Even the finer shades of despair are lost to us. We’ve ceased to be runners. We plod from structure to conveyance to employment and back again. We live within the boundaries that science has determined for us. The measuring stick is short and sweet. The full gamut of life is a brief, shadowy continuum that runs from gray to more gray. The rainbow is bleached. We hardly know how to doubt anymore.” – Richard Matheson, in “The Thing”

 

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – August 02, 2018

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August 2nd was the birthday of Peter O’Toole (1932–2013). When his name is mentioned, Lawrence of Arabia immediately comes to mind.

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Praise the Lord! Tommy Robinson is Home!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 78 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 78 ends on September 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 2, by Brandon

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While skills and abilities are invaluable and arguably the most important part of preparing yourself for any disaster, it would be naive for a prepper to decide that it is unnecessary to have “stuff”. No matter the scenario for which you prepare, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable. In part 1, I talked about the benefits of living debt free and importance of developing a budget and sticking with it to better use resources for preparedness efforts. Now, let’s move forward.

Evaluate

What’s next? Now that you have your budget, what is the next step (whether you choose to try for a debt free life or not)?

Assess Your Financial Situation

This part is no new revelation. You will find this same information in other readings about financial wellness. You need to assess your financial situation and evaluate options.

As preppers we often focus our time and energy on our security. And one of the first things you learn is situational awareness or assessing the situation. You must take a hard, honest look at whatever situation you find yourself in to know how you may best act or react.

Continue reading“How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 2, by Brandon”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. There is a great deal on PVS-30s today.

PVS-30

I just noticed that Ready Made Resources has a sale on Mil Spec AN/PVS-30 clip-on night vision weapon sights. This is factory reconditioned sight from Knights Armament is only $4695 and comes with a new certificate of compliance. It has the latest Gen 3 light intensification tube and is appropriate for front line, long range scopes. This unit will mount on a rail in front of your normal scope so your carefully sighted scope will not be affected. Your existing eye relief and cheek weld are undisturbed. If you are looking for a unit to help you control coyotes and other predators on your property at night, this may be the thing for you.

Federal Reserve

Reader USP visited the Federal Reserve on a recent vacation and noted this:

I was visiting New Orleans a few weeks ago and stopped in to the Federal Reserve branch to tour their small museum. There were some nice displays and several videos that talked about the mission of the Federal Reserve. The one video that struck me was that the fed is the conduit for EVERY monetary transaction, large and small, that takes place in the USA. Here is link to the videos produced by the Federal Reserve of Atlanta. The one that woke me up was the one titled: “The Fed Explains the Payment System”

I would also note that this video should be watched as well when learning about the Federal Reserve.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Let me say for the record, Mr. Speaker, not one human death or injury resulting from a grizzly bear attack is acceptable to this Congressman. In fact, it should not be accepted by anyone who values human life. I do not want to have to stand up before a spouse, a parent, a child, brother, or sister who have lost their loved one because of a rare occurring brutal grizzly bear attack and explain that this tragedy would not have occurred had we not introduced this dangerous animal into Idaho in the first place.” – Congressmember Helen Chenoweth

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – August 01, 2018

August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291, which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2018, Switzerland has been free and independent for 727 years. Having a well-armed populace has assured that.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today marks the first entry for Round 78 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 78 ends on September 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Round 77 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

We’ve come to the end of Round 77 and these are the editors picks for the winners. If you are one of these winners, please make sure you have sent in your UPS and USPS addresses to SurvivalBlog so that the prizes can be shipped. Any article submitted but not published will be automatically rolled over to Round 78 of the contest. If you are the winner of any of the prizes this contest, please send us your USPS and your UPS/FedEx mailing addresses.

First Prize:

First Prize goes to B.M. for “Getting Home Long Distance in the Event of An EMP/Solar Flare- Part 1”, “Part 2”, and “Part 3”, published on June 28th, 29th, and 30th. He will receive the following prizes:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

Second prize goes to E.P. for “Traveling to Your Safe Haven During a WROL Event- Part 1”, “Part 2”, and “Part 3”, published on June 14th, 15th, and 16th. He will receive the following prizes:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

Third prize goes to JMD for “A Portable Water Distiller- Part 1” and “Part 2”, published on July 12th and 13th. He will receive the following prizes:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Honorable Mention

Honorable mention prizes ($30 Amazon.com gift certificates via e-mail and an autographed hardback copy of JWR’s novel Survivors) have been awarded to the writers of these fine articles:

How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 1, by Brandon

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There are many parts of being a Prepper that do not involve money, or much money. And skills and abilities are invaluable and arguably the most important part of preparing yourself for any disaster. But it would be naive for a prepper to decide that the stuff part of preparing is unnecessary, useless, or just something to be overlooked. No matter the scenario for which you prepare, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable.

Finances, A Very Important Part of Any Prepper’s Life

With this in mind, it would seem that having our finances in order would be a very important part of any prepper’s life. And to this end, I have dedicated this article.

Have A Plan In Place

When preparing, you should already have a plan in place for the potential threats considered. That plan should be well thought out, on paper, and easily accessible. Having a plan is the first step. But from there, a well thought out financial plan is crucial to the accomplishment of the prepping goal. It would be simple for a person, whether new or seasoned in the preparedness arts, to dive right in, start buying gear (whether necessary or otherwise), and end deep in debt, or at very least unable to make ends meet each month.

To Be Effective, Live Without Debt and Prep Your Finances

To be as effective (and not only in preparedness) as is possible, you must prepare your finances. In my humble opinion, the best goal is to live without debt. Either way, prepping your finances is crucial for prepping efficiency.

Continue reading“How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 1, by Brandon”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on 3D Printers. (see the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Bullion Rebounds After US GDP Data Released

o o o

GOP Congressman Investigates Undisclosed Gold Market Intervention by China and the Exchange Stabilization Fund

 

Bonds:

CNBC reports: This unusual move in the bond market could be signaling interest rates are about to break out

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Also at CNBC, this from Cramer, the market mad man: Cramer translates what US bonds are saying, and it’s not good for the…

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on firearms maintenance tools. (See the Gear section.)

Books:

Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man

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The How Not to Die Cookbook: 100+ Recipes to Help Prevent and Reverse Disease

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A book by one of my favorite analysts of Middle Eastern affairs will be released in early September: The Last Hour: An Israeli Insider Looks at the End Times. It is already a bestseller, more than a month before release! (Note: I have not yet read the pre-publication manuscript, but Amir’s reputation for levelheadedness precedes him. He is a reserve Intelligence officer in the IDF.)

 

Movies:

The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

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Shogun

 

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“You really don’t understand. We don’t worry about What counts is that many millions of people have the knowledge that they can go to a weapon shop if they want to protect themselves and their families. And, even more important, the forces that would normally try to enslave them are restrained by the conviction that it is dangerous to press people too far. And so a great balance has been struck between those who govern and those who are governed.”
Cayle stared at her in bitter disappointment. “You mean that a person has to save himself? Even when you get a gun you have to nerve yourself to resist? Nobody is there to help you?”
It struck him with a pang that she must have told him this in order to show him why she couldn’t help him.
Lucy spoke again. “I can see that what I’ve told you is a great disappointment to you. But that’s the way it is. And I think you’ll realize that’s the way it has to be. When a people lose the courage to resist.”  A.E. Van Vogt, in The Weapon Shops of Isher

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – July 31, 2018

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July 31st, 1921, was the birthday of Army Air Corps veteran David Thatcher, one of the Doolittle Raiders. Thatcher was the tail gunner in the rear of the Mitchell B-25 medium bomber christened the Ruptured Duck, the seventh of 16 planes. Returning from the raid, the bomber crashed into the sea from low fuel and the crewmen survived, in no small part to Thatcher’s heroic efforts. The five airmen washed ashore and were given aid by Chinese fishermen who found them. Thatcher bound their wounds and being the only crewman able to walk, joined with armed guerrillas to carry the other crewmen to a hospital while evading Japanese troops. He lived in Missoula, Montana.