Keep Our Service Free-Donate

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Are You Prepared-the Alpha Strategy

 

 

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources



 


Are you prepared?

We urge readers to rethink the entire process of working for a living and preserving purchasing power: “Instead of converting labor into money, money into investments, investments back into money and money into real goods once again, convert your surplus earnings directly into real goods. Simply stated, invest your savings in those real things that you will be consuming in the future. Save only real wealth.”

The Alpha Strategy entailed three levels…

1. Invest in production. If it’s something you need to make a living — education, a skill set, tools — this takes priority over anything else.

2. Save consumables. This is the stuff you use on a day-to-day basis — razor blades, pasta, tires — if you use it up and it has a decent shelf life, it falls under Level 2.

3. Save real money. If after Level 2 you still have savings left, then you can put it into precious metals and other tangible assets.

Note well: The Alpha Strategy is not a “prepper” or “survivalist” plan for the end of civilization as we know it. You will not — indeed, should not — load up on No. 10 cans of Mountain House freeze-dried meals.

“While you may choose to put away freeze-dried foods,” Pugsley wrote, “remember that they do not fall within the definition of good savings assets… The Alpha Strategy is a means to protect purchasing power, and is not intended to be a means to defend against social collapse.”

Although under present circumstances in 2021, it can’t hurt. Heh…

The best part about the Alpha Strategy is you can start with any amount of capital. “If you have only $100, you can protect it completely against inflation and all investment risks by simply buying things now that you know you will have to buy next week, next month or next year. If you have $1,000 or $10,000, the same thing holds true.”

Better yet, all your “gains” are tax-free.

More about Level 1: “The greater the investment you make in education and tools, the more you will produce and the higher your income and standard of living will be,” Pugsley wrote in The Alpha Strategy.

By education, he was careful not to specify a college degree. For purposes of the Alpha Strategy, education means “the acquisition of knowledge that will enable you to produce a product or service that will be in demand by others.” Or it might entail learning a second trade, in case your current skill set becomes obsolete.

Meanwhile, think of the tools you use to earn your living. “Whether you are an accountant whose only tools are a calculator, an accounting pad and a pencil; a mechanic who uses wrenches, drills and hammers; or a manufacturer who needs warehouses, lathes, presses and automatic screw machines, the principle is the same.”

OK, the accountant of 1980 undoubtedly had to spend money on ever-increasing amounts of computer power in the decades since, but you get the idea: If it’s something that won’t go out of date quickly, stock up.

On to Level 2: “Once you have invested as much of your available capital as you can in education, tools, supplies and facilities for production, the next logical place to put your savings is into those goods that you and your family will consume in future years,” Pugsley wrote.

Whether it’s toothpaste, light bulbs or antifreeze, goods that have a long shelf life and won’t become obsolete before you use them are all fair game for the Alpha Strategy.

It might sound daunting at first. But it’s much easier to accomplish now than when The Alpha Strategy was published. Then, Pugsley had several pages of advice about how to dicker with retailers to get bulk discounts and how to seek out wholesale suppliers. In the age of the internet and wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s, you don’t need to resort to such measures.

So… let’s run down a shopping list.

Food: “Foods are the No. 1 consumption item for most of us,” Pugsley wrote, “but because of their perishable nature, they must be carefully selected.” So forget about meat and produce. Even with a freezer, “the storage cost is high relative to other goods.” Consider instead…

Canned goods: Shelf life varies, but figure on using them up within 18 months. Even a one-year supply will insulate you against rising prices

Sugars: The shelf life of sugar is just on this side of forever. “Jams, jellies and other preserves will last indefinitely, as will most fruits that are packed in sugar syrups.” Honey and molasses will keep for years; even if they harden, just heat and stir

Grains and legumes: Wheat, rice, peas and beans will all last for 10 years or longer. Beware: If you grind the wheat into flour, that shelf life turns into mere months

Tea: A “near perfect” savings asset, Pugsley said. Bulk buying gives you significant savings, and tea takes up little space and suffers little if any loss of quality over time

Pasta: It can keep for five years or longer.

Coffee? At the time Pugsley wrote the book, debate raged over its shelf life. A casual search of the internet today reveals that’s still the case. You might want to experiment.

Health and beauty aids: “Items such as deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste will keep indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place, and mouthwash will keep up to three years under these same conditions… Don’t forget razor blades, toothbrushes, sanitary napkins, combs, brushes and first-aid supplies.”

Cleaning supplies: Depending on their chemical makeup, not all detergents will last indefinitely. “The best Alpha items in the cleaning equipment category are brushes, brooms, mops, vacuum bags, pot scrubbers, trash bags, compactor bags, sponges and scouring pads.”

Paper products: Yes, they last forever as long as they’re not exposed to light, bugs or mice. But there’s a catch: “The biggest drawback to some of these goods is their low cost per cubic foot, as this makes them costly to store.” More about this shortly…

Clothing: Yes, fashions change. But men in particular could easily load up on 10 or 20 years’ worth of socks, underwear and T-shirts.

Automotive: “Storage space and styling taken into account,” Pugsley wrote, “you may decide to buy an extra new car this year and put it up on blocks.” Five years on, you might be very satisfied with the purchase. If that’s too out there, consider stockpiling replacement parts, motor oil and tires.

Around the house: Here too, spare parts for furnaces, water heaters and such might be useful. At the very least, consider small hardware items and garden supplies.

Wine: Pugsley was an oenophile, and he waxed eloquent about wine storage for four pages. “The investment in a substantial personal wine cellar,” he wrote, “offers the best of everything: low risk, protection against inflation, no taxes on the gain and an interesting and pleasurable avocation — in other words, it is the perfect asset for saving.”

Don’t take this up without some basic knowledge about which wines store well and which don’t.

Also beware the temptation to deplete your stash faster than you expect: “My first adventure into stockpiling,” Pugsley wrote, “came when I bought what I thought would be a two–three-year supply of wine. The convenience of having it on hand each time we had a nice meal turned it into a one-year supply.” Which defeats the purpose of keeping your cost of living low…

Most hard liquor, by the way, can last 10 years or more if you store it properly. Beer? Forget it.

Ah, but where do you keep everything? And how much room do you need in the first place?

“The amount of room you need,” Pugsley wrote, “will depend on the amount of money you have to invest and the type of goods you decide to stockpile.”

A helpful tool is to figure the cost of an item relative to the amount of space it takes up, the value per cubic foot. This is why we encouraged you at the start of today’s 5 to stock up on razor blades — a large supply takes up little space — so you wouldn’t find the idea intimidating!

At 1980 prices, Pugsley reckoned the average value per cubic foot of the goods you’d store would be $25. Thus, a $10,000 stockpile would require 400 cubic feet of space. “It could be kept in a space 4 feet deep by 7 feet high by 14 feet long, or roughly a 4-foot-deep storage area built along the wall of your garage.” That said, a garage might not be the ideal choice, he said: You want a space that’s cool, dark and dry.

Don’t forget to think about insurance if loss of the goods would affect your standard of living for the worse.

Then you get to Level 3 — saving real money.

Still have some cash left after building up your stash? “You are ready to explore the third level of the strategy: the accumulation of real goods that you can eventually sell or exchange.”

Pugsley’s preferred vehicles were raw commodities. Granted, pork bellies and barrels of oil are problematic… so he leaned mostly toward metals, and not only the precious variety. “Copper, zinc, lead, tin, nickel and aluminum are all metals that can be stockpiled, are universally used and can be expected to be in demand for centuries to come.”

Forty years later, his words take on new relevance as copper and nickel will be cornerstones to a “greener” economy — one that will surely be more expensive to live in.

Eager to explore more? It’s easy.

Late in his life — he died in 2011 at age 77 — Mr. Pugsley posted a free PDF file of The Alpha Strategy on his website. And while his site is long gone, fans dutifully reposted the PDF. Here’s a link.

If you prefer a real book in your hands, prepare to shell out. A few years ago, used copies abounded on Amazon and used-book sites — often for a penny plus shipping. Now you’re lucky to find a copy for under $50.

And yet it might be worth it: Only the real book contains an appendix listing the shelf lives of literally hundreds of consumer goods.

 NOTE: Given how fast inflation is costing you with food; an investment in food is money in the bank!

SIDEBAR



Thanks to stupid Biden policies…Energy Natural Gas Prices Rise with Colder Weather, Utility Bills Will Too Other factors have put pressure on gas prices. A lack of coal supplies has caused generators to conserve coal stockpiles and boost natural-gas-fired generation, said Bank of America analysts in a recent note…Food Prices Continue to Surge Mayonnaise, soup and more get expensive as inflation accelerates

Thanks To Omicron, The Price Increases Of 2022 Will Be More Painful Than Anything We Have Experienced Before

Most people simply do not understand that we really are moving into a long-term economic emergency.  So much of the economic optimism that fueled rallies in the financial markets throughout 2022 was based on a belief that the COVID pandemic would soon be brought to an end.  Well, that obviously has not happened.  After everything that has been done, the COVID pandemic in the United States is now worse than ever.

 

Food Prices to Climb Next Year
General Mills Inc. is raising prices further in coming months as it grapples with what it says is an unprecedented combination of cost inflation and supply-chain disruptions


In our 40 years of polling for presidents, prime ministers, among others, we have seen some startling numbers in our...Share        Read more

 

CREATING AN EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY-FOOD SURVIVAL REPORTS-FREE

Compliments of: The PoorManSurvival team

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgMpmQI6plfXiBqUHg-8SkA59L8f?e=YJZavA

 

Better –Safe- Than- Sorry Super Emergency Survival Kit



No one believed Noah until it was too late…

Natural disasters don't wait for a convenient time

And you shouldn't wait to prepare either. In some cases there is little to no warning.

Prepare now to lessen the impact of disasters and emergencies

Better –Safe- Than- Sorry Super Survival Kit

Your Emergency Survival Kit Includes:

 

  •  Solar phone charger
  • 72-hour 4Patriot emergency food pack [25 year shelf life
  • 4Patriot Greens sample pack [Power supplement]
  • 3 Luna Nutrition bars [assorted]+Sunmaid raisin pouch
  • Cleaning Wipe Pack
  • Steel River Emergency Tent
  • Mini  First Aid kit
  • TRS 5N1 EDC folding tool
  • 3-package meal sampler
  • Paracord bracelet w/ compass
  • Reusable Face Mask
  • Personal Water Filter Straw
  • 11-Piece Emergency Survival Kit 

More at:

https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Better-Safe-Than-Sorry-Super-Emergency-Survival-Kit/1143536466

 

FREE e-books…Includes the original book by Libertarian Harry Brown’s ‘Live Free in an Unfree World.’ We had the honor of meeting him at a political function in MI before he passed away…PLUS a guide to surviving inflation!

 Download at: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgMpmQI6plfXiE2M3af5iSABRbKo?e=9eKaUr

Inflation Report: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AgMpmQI6plfXh1RsZVn1Sl-qx_kO


4 FREE Digital Reports:

  • The Water Survival Guide [Download]
  • The Survival Garden Guide [Download]
  • Top 10 Items Sold Out After A Crisis - [Download]
  • How to Cut Your Grocery Bills in Half [Download]

 

URBAN SURVIVAL HANDBOOK

https://cdn.4patriots.com/downloads/pdf/reports/4Patriots-Ultimate-Survival-Handbook.pdf

  

Free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom!

 

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

You Can’t Buy Life Insurance After You’re Dead

Not Prepared? 

That's Bad News...

You Can’t Buy Life Insurance After You’re Dead-Prepare NOW for Emergencies…Small radios, books, emergency power cell or solar/battery radio weather radio!

 

Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…

http://RetroGuy.net

 

 


 

 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production

 

3 comments:

Rick said...

I've tried convincing my brother for years about stockpiling & the pinhead ignores it...guess who he calls when he's got problems?

PepperPete said...

Most have their head buried in the sand...nose stuck on their phone; dumb masses.

Frank said...

There are some bottom dwelllers in our community who feel it;s foolish to be prepared...