Prepping on a Budget- Part 3, by The Newbie

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This article series is written to help people prep on a budget because an economic collapse is coming. Many people new to prepping struggle with where to begin. This article offer many ideas. We’ve covered a lot already, but there is more in this final part.

Oil and Fats

I haven’t done this yet, but I read you may can shortening. Oil has such a short shelf life before it goes rancid. If things really fall apart and you can’t eat without being totally self sufficient, you will use it all. I might try to use a food saver and canning jars for storing oils. I’d make sure they stay in the dark. Everything I’ve read gives us only a year or two with cooking oils.

Most people don’t know how to render fat. Those people who’ve hunted their whole lives might know, but I’m not sure they would. If you have a lot of meat stored, save the fats for cooking other things. I used to think bacon grease was seriously gross. It disgusted me to even think of saving it, if I even had bacon in the house. Now, the thought of a little bit of it in beans sounds better than plain beans. I found a link on here that sells canned bacon, cheese, and butter. It is now on our list.Continue reading“Prepping on a Budget- Part 3, by The Newbie”

Letter Re: Reliability of Stock Market Predictions?

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HJL:

I think prediction of a stock market crash are wrong.  The market is certainly inflated unreasonably and harmfully. They are right in that it is inflated unreasonably and harmfully. I believe the harm will manifest itself in the form of a general price level and not a crash. In other words, the DOW represents the new normal. Everything will rise to meet it and achieve equilibrium. It will be the inflation that the bankers want. The worst thing you can do is stay out. The second worst thing you could do if you are out is jump all the way in at one time. Ride the inflation or be crushed. – R.V.

HJL’s Comment:

I’m quite confident that the economy will continue it’s downward spiral. You are probably right. Barring any sort of outside influence, the congress critters and banksters  keep the system propped up and functioning. The transfer of wealth would continue. The middle class will continue to bear the brunt. The wild card is the outside influence.Continue reading“Letter Re: Reliability of Stock Market Predictions?”

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 quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):

Precious Metals:

First of all, let’s look at some metals market analysis over at Gold-Eagle: Gold: Summer Doldrum Tactics

Commodities Economics:

Next, over at FX Empire comes this: Commodities Daily ForecastContinue reading“Economics & Investing for Preppers”

Notes for Thursday – May 11, 2017

On May 11, 1949, Israel was finally admitted into the United Nations. In the fall of 1948, Israel had applied for membership in the United Nations but failed to win the necessary majority in the Security Council. In the spring of 1949, the application was renewed. This time, armistice agreements having been signed between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, Israel was admitted by 37 votes in favor, 12 against, with 9 abstentions.

Prepping on a Budget- Part 2, by The Newbie

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Costco Membership

Costco’s price for organic flour and bulk quality foods is unbeatable. However, the other things listed below are much less expensive at the regular warehouse. The Business Center carries both the higher gluten organic flour that is better for breads (red wheat) and the lower gluten/protein flour that is better for cakes muffins and pastries (soft winter wheat). I would buy these in addition to storing whole grains. It helps with your overall budget. Depending on how much you spend, it may benefit you to get an Executive Membership. If you have the money, it behooves you to do this regardless. If your rebate doesn’t come to what you invest in it, they will refund the difference. The membership prices are increasing by $20 in June. If you don’t have one now, it would be beneficial to invest in membership this month.

Costco Coupons

Costco runs coupons every month, so it is good to check. Once you buy a membership they send you the monthly coupons. It isn’t necessary to present them at the checkout. They are automatically deducted, unless it is a coupon code you have specifically for Google Express. If you already have a membership, you should have received a 25% off coupon up to $30 off of your first order when you join Google Express. These are just a few examples of the prices. There is no difference in the Costco prices online and in the warehouse, but the Business Center is a different story. They have to pay for diesel and pay the delivery fees, et cetera. It doesn’t look like there is hardly a markup at all, so this is understandable. They carry a lot of food items that aren’t available in the regular Costco.Continue reading“Prepping on a Budget- Part 2, by The Newbie”

Letter Re: EMP Protection Measures

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Hugh and James:

I’m missing something regarding EMP protection measures, and I could use some help.

I have researched EMP, how it’s created, and the common frequencies of EMP. I’ve looked into its relative intensity based on creation mode, altitude (in the case of nuclear devices), and the extended effects attributed to conductive networks. I understand what a Faraday cage is and how it works. And I’ve read numerous articles, lots of forum comments, endless opinions, a quantity of engineering documents, and several much learned evaluations on protecting against EMP.

The Problem

So here’s where I keep running aground: Protecting from EMP is, at its base, a simple affair. You provide a conductive shell around what one wishes to protect. Grounding that shell, or not grounding, is a subject of debate. However, my experience with electronics indicates that if the shell is doing its job, grounding it is not a problem. It may or may not be required, or even useful, to electrically insulate sensitive contents from the conductive shell. That answer depends on to whom that question is addressed. But consensus seems to indicate that it can do no harm.Continue reading“Letter Re: EMP Protection Measures”

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.

Wow! Mrs. Latimer informed me of this jewel. A self-proclaimed far left liberal writes about the accuracy of conservative social predictions and the refusal of college campus professors to even discuss their offenses to block conservative voices and debate. While he disagrees with conservatives about what is good and bad, he admits we have some things correct.The professor is concerned about the lack of discussion. The conservative voice is being shut out and no one is allowed to discuss it. Furthermore, he states that it would be difficult to be a conservative professor on today’s campuses, particularly in humanities and social sciences. What does that tell us about sending our young people off to college?

Excerpts:

“Social cons said that no-fault divorce would read to vastly higher divorce rates, and it did. Social cons said that ending the norm of the two-parent family would lead to more single-parent households, and they were correct. Social cons said that widespread access to birth control would lead to sexual licentiousness, and they were right. Social cons said that legalized abortion would decouple sex from procreation, and that happened. Social cons said that decriminalization of gay sex would lead to social acceptance of gay people, and so it was. Social cons said that social acceptance of gay people would lead to gay marriage, and that was true. Social cons said that efforts to end stigma against trans people would lead to a general rejection of the gender binary, and so it has… Again, these are mostly all good consequences, which is the difference between me and them.”

“The number of boilerplate conservative opinions that are taken to be too offensive to be voiced in the campus space just grows and grows, and yet progressive profs I know are so offended by the idea that they could be creating a hostile atmosphere, they won’t even discuss the subject in good faith.”

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

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

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“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Notes for Wednesday – May 10, 2017

May 10th is the birthday of the late Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006).  It should be a National Holiday!

May 10th is also the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born 1925, died 15 June 2007). He was one of the last of the Forest Brothers anti-communist resistance fighters. He came out of hiding, after five decades, to obtain a Latvian passport in 1994, after the collapse of eastern European communism. (He was never issued any communist government identity papers and by necessity lived as a nonexistent ghost during the entire Soviet occupation of Latvia.)

Prepping on a Budget- Part 1, by The Newbie

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It’s good to prep on a budget, as economic collapse is coming. I believe many people are new to emergency preparedness. It is hard enough to come up with the funds to get a good start of just having enough food for your family and yourself. That’s alot without all of the things you need for a bug out bag, cache, and all the tools to be self sufficient. We would need a homestead and a thousand other things, if we were without modern convinces and technology. We take so much for granted, including that we can just run to pick things up at the grocery store. For those of us newer to prepping, preparing is all quite overwhelming.

Certain Economic Collapse

The economic collapse isn’t like a “possible” Y2K thing. It is 100% for sure going to happen. The question is when. It is going to start when our debt clock hits 20 trillion. Forecasters have more firmly established the date as 2021. This means we are running out of time. We don’t have to just worry about the dollar being worthless. We need to realize we could very well face hyper inflation. So being prepared, even if order is kept, is critical.Continue reading“Prepping on a Budget- Part 1, by The Newbie”

Letter: Faraday Cage Question

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Good afternoon!

I have a question on adapting a homemade Faraday cage. I am getting a little paranoid about these two North Korean satellites in orbit over our country.

Would a metal mailbox, such as can find at the local hardware store, be acceptable protection? I am trying to put together something simple for really, really cheap! It has a larger size and is easier to obtain. It is also cheaper than some of the other options I have been reading about on constructing a Faraday cage.  T.B.

HJL’s Comment:

Most any metal container will work as a Faraday cage with a few simple preparations. The metal needs to have a good electrical connection between the various parts. If you are using painted metal, you will have to remove the paint where the electrical connection needs to exist. Galvanized metal works really well. If a metal mail box is not large enough, you can consider a 30 gal trash can with a metal lid.Continue reading“Letter: Faraday Cage Question”

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:

Books:

The Mobile Internet Handbook

Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: Living Beyond the Grid with Renewable Energy Technologies

Movies:

Gone with the Wind (Two Disc Edition)

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

(Note: Three of the Indiana Jones movies are now on Amazon Prime. Ditto for the entire Young Indiana Jones television series.)

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

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, and derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):

Precious Metals:

First of all, let’s look at our recommended metals market analysis: CPM Precious Metals Outlook of May, 2017

Commodities Economics:

Next, over at The Business Standard: Commodity Picks: 8 May, 2017

Forex:

On to the foreign exchange (Forex) news: Dollar Higher But Sensitive to Growth of US Economy in Q1

Continue reading“Economics & Investing for Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

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“Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.” – Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper