“I foresee terrible trouble and I stay here just the same” – Steely Dan
There was a gun show in Hamilton last weekend and…I didnt go. I thought about going but it would be $20 in gas, another $10 for lunch, and then whatever I spent on overpriced panic-driven stuf. And, this is the key part, I didnt really need anything. I mean, really, as far as gun stuff go I’m just gilding the lily at this point. The only thing I need is a scope for my .338 Lapua (leaning towards this one, by the way) and that’s really about it. :::shrug::: I’ve had thirty years to get my gun buying needs satisfied…at some point I was gonna hit the “I think I’m okay” stage. So why piss away thirty bucks I could use for other purposes?
Certainly there are small non-gun things I’d like to get..a few more LED MagLites, some more gas cans, that sort of thing. But…nothing hits the ‘urgent’ chord.
And, somewhat, this carries over to a few other things as well. Food, med stuff, fuel, etc. In fact, so many things are ‘in the green’ that I’m really just focusing the majority of my efforts on the financial stuff. By the end of next year I need to have enough money in the bank to buy a chunk of nowhere. As a result, between now and 12/31/22 most of the financial resources that have been going into guns, ammo, and food will be going into saving and investing.
No, this isn’t going to transform the blog into some sort of financial blog. (Although, to be fair, I’ve been reading a few of those on and off for the last year.) It just means that I’ll probably cut the posts about gun buying by a large percentage and there’ll be more posts about the more mundane things in the wide world of preparedness. And, really, who needs financial advice beyond “spend less than you make, save and invest, think before you buy, contemplate the future”?
The Free Money Machine in DC seems to be in overdrive as it pays people to underachieve and that’s gotta have some consequences somewhere. The music hasn’t stopped yet, but it’s slowing down. Folks would be smart to spend a couple hours in a quiet room with a notebook, pen, and start making lists and have an honest reckoning with themselves about what they need to do to come out the other side of things in one piece. But, really, thats good advice any time.
So, for now, the vast majority of my ‘prepping’ is getting money in the bank, into investments, and hitting WinCo/CostCo every weekend to keep things topped off. And, of course, keep a weather eye on the news. As convoluted, biased, and ‘steered’ as the news is, it’s still worth paying attention to…at least, as long as you get the same story from at least three disparate sources. As the saying goes, theres three sides to every argument – your side, their side, and the truth. I’m not a news junkie but I always check the news first thing in the morning after I power up.
Whether its a straight-up LARPing of the Carter years, or if its a more Fabianistic approach to Directive 10-289, the solid bet is that four years from now things are going to look a good bit different than they do today. Reagan famously asked “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” and I suspect that in 2024 the answer will, for most of us, be a pretty strong “No”.
By the by, if, like me, you occasionally have lapses of discipline and you ‘fall off the wagon’ in terms of keeping up with your preparedness, I highly recommend reading this book. It is, of course, fiction but it isn’t hard to see yourself in some of the situations outlined in the book. Every time I read it I feel like taking the day off and doing nothing but loading up my truck with food, gas, gold, ammo, and heading for a quiet place to raise chickens and vegetables while the world eats itself. Good read.
“Folks would be smart to spend a couple hours in a quiet room with a notebook, pen, and start making lists and have an honest reckoning with themselves about what they need to do to come out the other side of things in one piece. But, really, that’s good advice any time.”
You are so right! I hadn’t run into a disaster in so long I let my tp/paper towel stash dwindle – and then the pandemic hit. Fortunately I’ve been prepping for so long that I wasn’t short on anything else, but it’s been a hassle trying to restock when there are limits on how many packages you can buy.
Next question – what are you reading from a financial standpoint. I’m not at the point of really cleaning up that mess that most of us are in (clearing credit card debt, paying off all loans, etc.) Next is buying a house in the next year. (YEAH!! – home ownership, BOO!! – debt). but other than Dave Ramsie I don’t know didly about finance. Where to start and where to go from there? Whats your advice about educating myself.
Really, the only finance stuff I’ve read has been textbooks which don’t really tell you anything you can’t already figure out – avoid debt, save money, spend wisely, etc. I’ve read the Dave Ramsey books and wile I think his advice is good, and I think he’s a great motivator, I’ve kind of soured on him since the revelation about his rather hypocritical episode with his #2 man. I recognize that the validity of his advice stands regardless of his personal failings, but I still feel rather let down.
I suppose a better question to ask is what you mean by finance…are you wanting to educate yourself on just basic budgeting and getting out of debt? Then I’d go ahead and read the Dave Ramsey book. If you’re interested in something more technical like how to invest or that sort of thing, I can only suggest Googling a bunch of basic ‘how do I…’ articles online. Personally, I just experimented… I started out just buying mutual funds that had long track records of above average performance (Ramsey’s advice), and have lately moved into options trading (which I pretty much self-taught myself from reading Investopedia.)
From one Mr. Jones to another, Dave Ramsey is a very solid place to start. But in addition to reading “Financial Peace,” I strongly recommend you find which radio stations in your area carry Dave’s show. You can learn A TON by listening to Dave’s advice to his callers, plus you get a feel for his personality, for who he IS. I do read and pay attention to other financial advice, but Dave’s advice to “get out of debt as fast as possible and then STAY out of debt.” When you get your first $1,000 Emergency Fund built, you’ll sleep better than you have in years.
For lack of a nail is what keeps me busy. Who knew that the rising prices of shipping 40 foot shipping containers from Asia to the West Coast of the Former USA would jump so much (snip edited) A standard 40ft maritime container can hold about 5,000 pairs of shoes. At last year’s shipping rate of $1,686 per container, that translates to a cost per pair of shoes of only $0.34. However, at $14,000 per container, it’s now $2.80 per pair – and that’s just for the sea voyage from China to the USA. Add in (also rising) transport costs from the factory to the port in China, and multiple transport legs by road and/or rail from the US port to wholesalers and distributors on the way to the retail establishment, and suddenly a cheap pair of shoes (say, $20 at Walmart or an equivalent store) is soon likely to cost $25, just to cover shipping and delivery costs. (That ignores any increase in the cost of the materials used to make it, or wages for the workers who do so.)
The same container can hold up to 40 average-size household refrigerators (not the largest models – just the typical middle-of-the-range top-freezer unit). At last year’s rates, the trans-Pacific shipping cost per unit would be just over $42. However, at today’s rates, it’ll be $350 apiece, plus higher costs for every other leg of its journey from manufacturer to consumer. The price of that refrigerator will also go up by about 25%, solely due to transport and shipping expenses; but that’s starting from a much higher base price, so that a $650-$700 refrigerator last year will shortly cost about $1,000.
Like a dumpster fire thing just get MOAR Interesting as the weather from the past two years has badly harmed our grain-soybean production and THIS year looks to be as bad or maybe worse as the Gov.com hides the bad news.
Bug slurry “Hamburgers” anybody? Maybe Hunger Games or Soylent Green perhaps? It’s Beans, Then Bullets Then Band-Aids OK?
I would mention the major logistical nightmare currently present, as noted above, in the shipping segment. But add in the recent bridge closure as well as the mid-US rail hazmat situation and things are very spicy, indeed. An associate notes, “Importers are pulling late-year purchase orders forward…and labor negotiations await in 2022…”
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/west-coast-ports-rush-clear-record-ship-congestion-peak-season-arrives
Haven’t heard “mid-US rail hazmat situation” please elaborate/link
I was thinking of the “due to concern about ammonium nitrate being transported by the trains.” issue in Sibley, Iowa crash a few days ago. Quite near a moderate creek, at that. “The Union Pacific train was carrying fertilizer and ammonium nitrate, multiple local firefighters said.”
And…”40,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled when 28 cars on a Union Pacific Railroad train derailed in Albert Lea, MN over the weekend.”
While perhaps not a “run for the hills” scenario, it shows how easily rails are out of service with a very long projected date for return to service if/when EPA is involved…
Thanks for the response.
The Albert Lea issue isn’t overly far from here. I don’t recall hearing about the hazmat issue locally, just that people were advised to stay inside…
Steelheart
Yes, we’d like more info on this rail haz-mat situation that I at least haven’t heard anything about.
Steelheart
Guns; ‘have enough guns. ‘Have enough ammo. Guns are like any other tool; you can get carried away with them, chasing quality, quantity, or both. I have enough, and they’re good enough…
Food; ‘have enough to get us by for a while, but there’s always room for more. Use one, buy two… or three… That’s how I stay ahead of it.
Money; there never seems to be enough of that, or is there?… That “whatever” you’re looking at buying; do you NEED it, or do you WANT it? Are you buying tomorrow with today’s dollars, or are you buying something today that will be worth next to nothing tomorrow? Ask these questions to yourself every time you buy something… and BE HONEST!… If you DO need it, can you get it used on Craigslist? Can you get it at a yard sale? Think of the mundane things, too. I haven’t bought a bottle of 2-cycle oil or motor oil for the mower, tractor, or tiller at a store in YEARS. Why? Because it goes for PENNIES at yard and estate sales. I bought eight sealed bottles of synthetic gear oil for the tractor for a dollar per bottle. That stuff goes for around $9.00 per bottle in the store. If someone’s “clearing quarters,” they don’t want to deal with hazmat. Movers won’t move it, and it costs more to take to the dump than regular refuse. Yeah, it might have been sitting around for a while, and might be an older formula, but for yard equipment it’s fine. In a SHTF situation, I wouldn’t hesitate to put it in the Jeep. This isn’t being cheap, folks. This is being frugal. This is being SMART.
The news; you need to stay abreast of what’s happening. Go to Fox, and you’ll hear “STAND WITH ISRAEL!!!” Go to CNN, and you’ll hear “DEATH TO ISRAEL!!!” What you need to know though, is what’s going on in Israel, and start grokking its implications on your personal situation. Unbiased “news” if it ever existed, is a thing of the past… For the record, I stand with Israel…
America was in a nosedive when Obama was in office. Trump came along, got the engines running, and leveled the country off. Biden has resumed the nosedive. You KNEW this would happen. Stand by for heavy rolls as the ship comes about… and be READY for them…
If you think you spent a lot on guns and ammo wait until you start improving your chunk of nowhere. By far I have more invested in the home, barns, sheds, fencing and the newest edition an out door pizza/bread oven. Having been a prepper since we were called “survivalist” I have put away stuff. I really long for the days of $2.99 Norinco 223. Dirty but it put holes in paper. Oh and let’s not forget the steady stream of Mil-Surp guns and ammo. Not so much of that anymore either. Oh well now a days I buy things with “means of production” in mind. I don’t buy canned hams, I buy pigs. No more buying dehydrated scrambled eggs that are like eating a dry sponge that got Shredded in a blender. Nope I buy chickens and incubators. Amateurs talk tactics, experts talk logistics- buy stuff that you and others can use to “Make stuff with” that is truly how you stay ahead of the post-TEOTWAWKI world
It will soon be back at $2.99, only it will be for a round.
Natchezz Shooters Supply is having their Spring Optics sale. I got an email to that effect yesterday. They also have their Master catalogs about ready to mail out. I’ve been doing business with them for a few years and haven’t been disappointed yet. Good service and goid folks. You can go to the website and order a Master catalog.
Oh guns. The law of diminishing returns is a thing. Guns matter but past a fairly low point more guns don’t really help much. If I can’t win a fight with my choice of pistol/ Shotgun/ rifle a dozen more of each won’t help.
Sure a spare set put away for a rainy day and another at the cabin makes sense but tons of guns are a waste of resources that could better go elsewhere.
Ramsey has never had a single replacement in mind, he believes he’s irreplaceable. The “replacement” will be multiple hosts. If you read his his book Entreleadership, it outlines his plan for transition of his Empire. He is a good friend and a terrible enemy. And he sees his speakers/personalities as business investments, so when one either messes up OR embarrasses his Brand there is hell to pay. There are a couple other former personalities out there that left for undisclosed reasons. DR makes them all sign a confidentiality agreement as part of their hiring process. I love his advice, but he’s gone a little overboard.