The person who made the luxury comment about greens was someone who refused to pay for poor produce and, given that most produce was in shortage, had decided to go without for the interim. I served a green salad because I grow lettuce and tomatoes and mini red peppers hydroponically, year round.
Yes, we do live in different realities.
In regards to the CD, I have contemplated 1) not being able to withdraw money from a bank, due to lack of transport or government-mandated bank holidays; 2) devaluation of currency rendering 6 months gross income equal to 2 weeks income in purchasing power; 3) extreme penalties and time impositions for early withdrawal from a CD. I have taken what steps I can to work around that, but it would be catastrophic for everyone. More importantly, it is not *outlying*. It is what happens when governments default and devalue.
The OP and Kart’s scenarios are not outlying. They are beyond our *normalcy bias*, that’s all.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to examine the sort of world many of us see approaching. It is intimidating and involves totally reordering one’s world view. I doubt any of us liked the conclusions we reached initially, but, being adaptable, we are making do with what we are being dealt. Denial is just a first stage, there may not be time for anger and depression in an emergency, so it is best, in my view, to get right to acceptance and prepare.
6 months to 2 years of staples for two older adults is not all that much volume. It means less visits to the discount store and more things I can forget about while concentrating on others. These are paper products and prepared foods, toiletries and my husband’s medications that have that long a shelf life. Luckily for us, his doctor is a prepper, a rancher and a realist. Many common meds are now experiencing periods of shortage. Doc has other patients who could use them, if it comes to that. If the emergency period is shorter, then we can help others. The shorter the period, the more we have to share or trade.
Since it is a bridge too far for you, I’ll say good-bye and good luck.
>> I’ll say good-bye and good luck.<<
And you you as well. If God wills it NEITHER of us will need to test our individual risk models.
Let’s hope Mr. Cain (my desire), Gov. Palin or one of the other (too darn few) Conservatives (no RINOs, please) win and we can just not have to plan so darn hard for at least 8 years.
With CDs paying so little in interest and then having to return part of that pittance back to the government at the end of the year and considering it might not be so easy to get to it when you need it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to dig a hole and bury it.