How are you preparing for a deep recession or even a depression

originally posted by: litterbaux
a reply to: OGPatriot411

I don't believe it. MSM have lost all faith with me. That includes Fox news.

Did you go out for a doorbuster deal? I did, 9:30am CST, the door buster deals were still there. Usually you wait outside and get a ticket at 5 in the morning. We didn't have record sales, if you believe that, you've had too much to drink tonight.

What are we going to do in this environment? Buy gold? Silver? Land? Used cars? 1yr treasuries?

Right there with you on ALL msm, they STILL claim Trump lied about the democrat party spying on his campaign and administration (not Fox on that one at least).

I never left the house on Black Friday (as planned). I'm not really in the market for anything for myself, and my family has been doing only hand made gifts for adults for several years. I usually give cash to the kids cuz I like being their favorite uncle, I'm lazy, and mine are grown (not a grandpa yet). 🤞

I suspect that online sales that weren't reported until today were the reason for the early reports being off, but just a guess.

I bought single family houses in AZ after the housing crash that are mostly paid off now, and at least temporarily worth about 6x what I paid. Wish I would have sold more than 2 before sales crashed again here, but the rental income is more than enough to live on so I can't complain.

I don't have ANY investment advice at the moment, can't even figure out what to do with my 401k after retiring a few months ago, most of it is in my former employer's stock. They are a high tech military mfg company so stock is still good for now.

a reply to: litterbaux

Gold is overvalued right now. A lot of people are buying gold. Want to know how to lose your shirt in the markets? Do what everyone else is doing.

Silver isn't overvalued like gold, but like gold, it is just another type of money. One cannot eat or drink either silver or gold, and neither will keep someone warm in the winter. Besides, if you buy coins, those coins are only worth what someone else is willing to pay for them. If you buy ingots, what are you going to do with them? Shave a small piece off to get a loaf of bread?

Land belongs to whoever can hold it. Before 2014 Crimea belonged to Ukraine. Now it belongs to Russia. Ukraine just wants it back. The best investments in land will be in the cities anyway, and when the economy falls apart so will the cities. One could buy land out in the country, but it won't be that good for an investment. For a homestead, maybe, but not for an investment.

Treasuries are, at their core, just written promises. That's fine if one believes the promiser will still be around later and will be able to pay up, but I personally don't believe either.

Invest in yourself.

TheRedneck

I wouldn’t read too far into Black Friday sales. Retailers here have been pushing Christmas since mid-October; you can’t do that and still expect a tsunami of waiting demand for Black Friday…

Now looking around it seems like everything today is sold in terms of payments. Big-ticket items like a homes I can understand, but $40 cell phone accessories?? If people really are financing those, that sounds like late stage economic spiral to me.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: OGPatriot411

Take my advice and skip that part. They suck... seriously. I should know; I'm at 8 and counting.

I was born with a slight heart defect and early indications started about a year ago, which is why I decided to retire early. Doing everything I can to get healthier now, but sure isn't easy.

Ah! Thank you! I actually was thinking about trying to get a sawmill, but not sure if I could work it now. But around here, some people will practically give away old stuff that doesn't work.

All my big logs are still drying in the yard so I don't know how I'll move them around yet. Probably rig something up, or maybe invite someone over for 'beer & pizza'.

It doesn't really take much effort to actually run the saw though, if you can push a full cart of groceries you won't have any problem with that part. Also thinking about rigging up some kind of auto feed with an old 4x4 winch that's rusting in the garage.

I plan to cut them into boards when they reach around 35-40%, and then convert my shed into a diy kiln to finish them. I did some small boards in the shed already with just a small dehu, and then a space heater for 12 hours, and results were pretty good.

Take a close look at that crate pic and you'll see the very corner of an old wood chipper a neighbor gave me. It's a DR, but it's one of the cheaper ones and has been abused. The motor is an old Kohler and is pretty much beyond repair/rebuild, and the worst part is I haven't been able to find a newer motor that will bolt up right, even with what modding I can do here.

I was really disappointed, too. I have a ton of brush from felled trees (oak and cedar) that I would love to mulch... and the cedar can be used around the house to keep termites away. Trying to keep my eye out for a good used one cheap that maybe needs a little minor work.

The pics don't show for me

I paid off my car this month, last month I had to get new tires, so I went ahead and bought 4 new ones because with inflation and supply shortages, might as well get them now. I've always stocked up on items when they go on sale because that is how I was raised.

a reply to: Chuckles55

because that is how I was raised.

🎯

a reply to: Chuckles55

Star for you.

Don't take off full coverage till it's 5x the premium.

a reply to: OGPatriot411

I was thinking of actually building an A-frame structure on wheels that could pick up a 5000 pound log via comealong and that I could then drive around the place behind my tractor (1990 John Deere 318). For some reason, trees just don't like to grow right where the sawmill might be.


I could probably work one based on your comparison for a few minutes at a time. That's how I have to do everything now anyway... work 5 minutes, rest 30, work 5 minutes, rest 60, lol.

I have some time. I have about 250 board feet of rough-cut red oak still in the barn, probably 50 board feet planed and ready to use, and about 400-450 more board feet in logs in my backyard. I struck a deal with a logger to slice those up for me in exchange for some cedar trees. I'll probably eventually need a couple more trees dropped before all is said and done, though.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Pushing the sawmill seems more like a half full cart (at most) to me, but just a guesstimate of course. The challenging part is moving the damn logs. Most of what I have was dropped off by the tree guys and they just backed their dump trailer into the yard where I wanted them placed. I might actually move the mill closer to the logs when time to cut so I can just roll the logs onto the mill, not sure yet.

Wish I had a tractor.

I'll let you know if I get an auto feed working from common cheap components, it sounds like that would make the process easier for you.

I have Pecan, Apple & Citrus logs that I'm pretty anxious to work with, no Oak, Maple or Walnut here. Another ATS user tried to give me logs from her Olive trees last year but someone stole them from her yard before I got there.

Started to grow stuff at home, indoors, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce etc. But switched to more valuable, faster growing and more easy to handle plants many people ask for and which are legal to grow here in Germany from January 2023 on. Will help to pay the non-stop rising energy moonprices we have to pay for from January 2023 on, because of "Putin gas/oil is bad gas/oil" and "saving the climate" against the will of the majority of the tax payers here.

Then i started to re-fresh my "bushcraft-survival-prepping gear" a few months ago, very often by making my own gear, copying the expensive stuff you can buy as best as i could/can, using as little money as possible. Now i am doing every day something for my gear like having two different backpacks ready with all necessary stuff, one 30l for up to three days to a week, a 70l one for weeks or even months or even never coming back and starting new somewhere else. Only bought one "professional" tarp but created my own budget tarps by adding extra eyelets and extra ridge-line slops to LIDL tarps, build several different designed spirit burners from soda and whatever cans, build rocket stoves/hobo ovens from tin cans, cooking gear etc. But ended up buying some stuff after building my won gear because some of the bought things are really better, especially when it comes to weight and space.

But even then i found cheaper in price stuff that is designed like and of the same quality than all these expensive super-brands. Have two sturdy "bushcraft-survival" knives (for batoning and stuff), a few smaller swiss army knives, modified knives like the Fiskars K40 and sometimes i buy cheap Moras and Hultafors knives to modify them to my belongings. Bought an scotch eye auger, a 25cm blade folding saw, modified a DIY shop hatchet, build my own "Life Straws", my own tinder, my own storm proof matches, got medicine and pills you normally need a description for, bought a god slingshot for almost no money... there is so much more.

Then i started to gather and create long lasting food, i buy almost only food in cans since months, dry food, food you only need to heat but not to cook etc. Created my own ready meals (copied the German EPA for less money than the original ones with the rather exact same ingredients or i often used better tasting and better quality stuff than the original and added a few things). Thinking about ordering a food-dehydrator so i can cook and dry my own cooked and prepared meals and vacuumize them then to make them last even longer.

I am hording spirit, candles, warm and sturdy clothes (civil and military stuff), blankets, learned a lot of knots and started what i ever hated, i started to sew. I read a lot, ordered, downloaded and got gifted a few books to re-fresh my "boy-scout knowledge". For the fun of it watch Les Strouds Survivorman and Ed Staffords shows again and again, Mors Kochanksi stuff, YT channels like Waypoint Survival and all that, you never stop learning.

Then you have to change your mind set and really be ready to leave your home, the city, to live in nature, far away enough from other people but not too far away. Right now i am sitting in my room and have 16° Celsius/60,8 Fahrenheit and it´s falling a degree by everyday now. Because heating oil is too expensive right now and we wait with heating till it gets really cold. I see this as training and by that it doesn`t eff me up too much. It´s not comfortable but lifting some weights and drinking some hot drinks from time to time is really enough. While others say: How can you do that, i am dying at 19° in my office... xD

I know where to go when SHTF, where to find water there, where to find different kinds of food, where i can even hunt(who cares about stupid laws anymore in such a situation?) and maybe even still find electric energy nearby even if there are power outages for the average population. I am ready to do everything necessary to make the best out of whatever will come. I am ready to steal from those that have too much anyway and never shared a bit only took and took, i am ready to support a few people who will be with me then, even if they are not as good prepared as i am meanwhile. My mind is ready to live without computers, moble phones and electric energy, without a comfortable apartment around me and a supermarket around the corner, i am ready to deal with what i can create with my brain, my gear and my hands.

But i am afraid that 99.99% of the people around me have not yet recognized the seriousness of the situation. I am happy about the food i bought last week because this week the prices for milk products and average stuff like potatoes and much more rose again here where i live. And people tell me, no joke, that they are preparing too, buying toilet paper, electrically operated heaters and food you need a freezer for and all that, you can´t make that S up.

For me it will almost become like a longer planned adventure trip i almost can no longer wait for but for many, many prosperity spoiled people this will become the worst horror trip of their lives, maybe their last trip at all because they still believe that everything will end up good somehow. They are not prepared at all and completely helpless when the lights go out, most of them wouldn´t find their way back home without their spyPhone, couldn´t even start a fire with a lighter, gasoline and the driest tinder/wood on earth or defend themselves at all from whatever will come.

But hey, it´s not like they haven´t been warned by people like me and the reality that surrounds them, again and again.
Who does not want to see the clouds and grab at least a poncho will just have to stand around in the rain, getting wet and cold and demotivated. But that´s none of my problems...
Cheers

originally posted by: litterbaux
Paying off debt is obviously something you need to do right away.
.

Our only debt is our mortgage. We've been contemplating whether or not we should pay it off? At the moment,.banks are paying a slightly higher interest rate than our mortgage rate. No telling how long that may or may not last?

Buy Heirloom Seeds they are more than likely will sprout.
I have had problems with Hybrid Seed that i have saved
i Don't buy them anymore.

originally posted by: litterbaux
a reply to: OGPatriot411

There were a ton of people last year that said their seeds didn't sprout. I wasn't one of those people, the ones I planted in my pots mostly came up.

Not sure what's going on there, might just be localized issues or people gardening for the first time and think every seed will sprout. Something to keep in mind though, if you don't know what you are doing, don't expect every seed to produce a plant let alone a yield.

If all else fails then there’s this option….




Cheers….

da pirate

Bought a ton of gold and silver.

Stores value and, small bars, can be used for purchases and easy conversion when needed.

I don't want to profit off of a corrupt and immoral marketplace, they can keep their mammon.

Christ is value to me, nothing else.

a reply to: litterbaux

We got out the fake Xmas tree this year so we're not spending $75 and gas to get a real one lol

a reply to: litterbaux

Here are some things you can do.

1. Do some survival food prep. I am not talking about those buckets of emergency food you can buy online. I am talking about 20 lb bags of rice and beans, salt and pepper and bullion for seasoning. Not excactly gourmet eating but it will keep you alive and its relatively cheap and easy to store. I would calculate how much you think you would need for a year supply at least.

2. Become familiar with local food sources. IE do you live near lakes or the ocean? Forested areas? During the great depression people who lived in rural areas or near the woods, lakes or the ocean ate better than those in the cities because they had a renewable food source. If you don't have fishing equipment getsome, wal mart has a pretty decent selection.

3. Build up a survival library. Books on gardening, basic survival, electricity generation, etc,

4. Make sure you have some basic hand tools. You may have to do some basic home repairs or auto repairs yourself.

5. Store water and look into a good water filter system.

6. Get a hold of a bicycle or two. Its amazing what good local transportation they can be.
Thats

a reply to: openminded2011


Excellent advice!

I'll add #7: Get to know your neighbors. All of them (as many as practical), even though most of us aren't really interested.

These early 'recon' and 'relationship' efforts may save your life in a wide variety of ways when tshtf.

originally posted by: bluesman462002
Buy Heirloom Seeds they are more than likely will sprout.
I have had problems with Hybrid Seed that i have saved
i Don't buy them anymore.

originally posted by: litterbaux
a reply to: OGPatriot411

There were a ton of people last year that said their seeds didn't sprout. I wasn't one of those people, the ones I planted in my pots mostly came up.

Not sure what's going on there, might just be localized issues or people gardening for the first time and think every seed will sprout. Something to keep in mind though, if you don't know what you are doing, don't expect every seed to produce a plant let alone a yield.

Excellent Advice!

I probably would have bought Heirloom anyway, but slipped my mind when discussing earlier.

a reply to: litterbaux

I went and dug up a bag of coal. That’s my Christmas gift, with hand painted Christmas card, and a lump of coal, saying tough luck this year, the grinch won.

originally posted by: 38181
a reply to: litterbaux

I went and dug up a bag of coal. That’s my Christmas gift, with hand painted Christmas card, and a lump of coal, saying tough luck this year, the grinch won.

Are you sure you want to give away your coal?

Might regret that.