Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…
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A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Your final backup plan should include…
It
is the final backup plan for a lot of us in the case of a disaster. A generous
supply of cold hard cash to buy our way out of trouble, pick up as many
last-minute supplies as possible or to acquire resources that are unavailable
to anyone with a credit card in a world where the electricity is out and the
internet is down. We frequently talk about having cash for emergencies, but how
much cash should you have if the grid goes down? What will you be able to
purchase with your doomsday supply and how long would it last in the first
place?
One
of our readers made a recommendation the other day to have between $500 and
$1000 in cash for your bug out bag and at the time it prompted me to consider
again if this amount makes sense. In my personal preparedness plans I
have a supply of cash but I am always trying to figure out if what I have is
enough or too much. Will it even matter when TEOTWAWKI comes and how can I best
use the cash I have to survive?
Why do you need to have cash on
hand?
You
want to know the time when you will need cash the most? It will be when you
can’t get to it. How many of you right now have no cash at all in your wallets
or purses? I used to be the same way. I never had cash and relied on the ready
availability of cash machines or most often the ability to pay for virtually
everything with a debit card. How convenient is it to never have to make change
or worry if you have enough cash when with the swipe of a card your bank
account funds are at your disposal. This is a great technological advance, but
the problem is that this requires two things to be functioning. First, the card
readers and ATM machines require electricity. If the electricity is out,
neither of these two machines works. The second thing is a network connection.
If the network is down, even with electricity the transaction won’t work and
you can’t pay for goods or get cash from your bank.
In
a disaster, one of the first casualties is electricity. This doesn’t have to be
due to some cosmic solar flare that has rendered the grid useless, it could be as
destructive and common as a fire, flood, earthquake, tornado or winter storm.
It could also be from simple vandalism or perhaps terrorism. A major fiber
optic cable was cut in Arizona back in February leaving businesses without
the ability to accept payments. When the electricity is out, you aren’t going
to be able to access your cash via the normal means so having a supply on hand
is going to be a huge advantage for you in the right circumstances.
Even
if there is no natural disaster, you are still at the mercy of your bank. What
if your bank closes or there is a bank holiday declared because of some
economic crisis. In any of these situations, if you are dependent on access to
money that is controlled by either technology or physical limitations like a bank
office it is wise to have a backup plan should either of those two conditions
prevent you from getting cash.
What is cash good for in a
crisis?
I
think there are two levels to consider when it comes to keeping cash on hand.
There is the bug out scenario mentioned above where you would have some
“walking around money” to take care of relatively minor needs like food, a
hotel or gas. The second is for a longer or more widespread unavailability of
funds. Let’s say the economy tanks and the price of everything skyrockets but
stores are still open for business. Your bank is one of the casualties, but you
had a few thousand dollars of cash stored away that you could use to purchase
food, gas and necessary preparedness items for your family. In this scenario,
the government is still backing the fiat currency and vendors are still
accepting it as a form of payment. For this scenario having a few thousand
dollars makes sense.
But
what if we have an extreme event where the currency is devalued and is
essentially worthless? Your thousands of dollars might only buy you a loaf of
bread. Don’t believe it can happen? It did to the Weimar Republic after
WWI so it can happen again. That isn’t to say it will, but you should
balance how much money you have squirreled away under your mattress with
supplies you can purchase now that will last and keep you alive during that
same event. My goal is to make sure I have the basics I need to survive at home
for several months to a year without needing to spend any cash. This way, if
the money is worthless, I still have what my family needs to survive.
If
we have a regional disaster where you can bug out to a safer location, your
cash should serve you well. Of course if you are in a safer location, assuming
electricity was working your access to bank funds should still be working. If
this is truly the end of the world as we know it, how long will that cash you
have be worth anything?
How much cash do you need?
So
the million dollar question is how much cash should you have if the grid goes
down? I always try to plan for the worst case scenario. My rationale is
that if I am prepared for the end of the world as we know it, I should be just
as prepared for any lesser disaster or crisis I may be faced with. The way I
see it is if we do have a disaster, you aren’t going to be using that cash most
likely to pay your mortgage, student loans, rent, or your credit card bills.
Cash will go to life saving supplies and this will need to be used in the
earliest hours of any crisis before all of the goods are gone or the cash is
worthless. Once people realize for example that the government has been
temporarily destroyed, they aren’t going to want to take your $500 for a tank
of gas. They are going to want guns, food or bullets.
More
at:
https://earlking56.family.blog/2023/07/05/the-final-backup-plan-for-a-lot-of-us-in-the-case-of-a-disaster-how-much-cash-should-you-have-if-the-grid-goes-down/#like-1048
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SIDEBAR
Global take down
of the American empire shifts into high gear
The
U.S. dollar tanks under massive debt while the BRICS ready a new global currency…
We are living in the last days of the American empire. The No. 1
weapon of the empire -- the US dollar -- has been targeted for termination by
most of the other powerful nations across the planet, including China, Saudi
Arabia, Brazil and Russia.
The
end result will be hyperinflation (of the prices of goods and service) combined
with rapid devaluation of the dollar currency, which will ultimately go to
zero.
I
cover this in detail in today's article and interview with Dave Hodges of The
Commonsense Show.
Find the article and
interview link here.
The Two Causes of the Coming Great
Depression
How to Build the Ultimate SHTF Library
The human race is remarkably resilient. Throughout history we’ve
survived wars, natural catastrophes, and yes, even pandemics. But that survival
wasn’t without casualties based on location, circumstances or just bad luck.
But for many of the survivors there was another factor. The
knowledge and awareness of how to make the right decision at the right time to
not only survive events as they happened, but survive the aftermath sometimes
lasting for years, decades and even a lifetime.
The knowledge, skills, and abilities that many survivors possess
sometimes comes from experience, at other times upbringing, and mostly the
determination to learn self-sufficiency, practice sustainability, and master
basic survival skills...
How to
Build the Ultimate SHTF Library
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/electric-cars-are-a-scam_5399413.html?utm_source=o
Power Grid Down and So Is Your Heat? No More!
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Natural disasters don't wait for a convenient time
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