Preppers’ PING!!
Hmmm...How much air should I breathe?
Disagree about the plane tickets. If things are that bad, I am certainly not getting on a plane. It probably wouldn’t be an option anyway.
“...and if the banks happen to go down along with whatever is forcing you to leave, then what you have with you is all you have left.”
It would seem to me, that “if the banks happen to go down”, then the little green pieces of paper one has in their pocket aren’t going to be worth much for very long.
A few weeks ago I was at my large, name-brand bank in a large suburb on a Wednesday. Asked for some cash. The guy replied “We don’t have many $100 bills, are $50’s okay?” (WTF!?) I did get 6 $100 bills and a wad of $50’s.
My old man years ago would keep lots of cash hidden at three locations around the house. I know lots of folks can’t do that, but squirrel away a bit at a time for emergencies and it adds up. Heck, even enough money for a couple tanks of gas and food for three days might be a lifesaver depending on the situation.
I’ve got ninety thousand pounds in my pajamas
I’ve got forty thousand French francs in my fridge
I’ve got lost of lovely lira, now the deutsche mark’s getting dearer
And my dollar bills would buy the Brooklyn Bridge
There is nothing quite as wonderful as money
There is nothing quite as beautiful as cash
Some people say it’s folly but I’d rather have the lolly
With money you can make a splash
There is nothing quite wonderful as money
There is nothing like a newly minted pound
Everyone must hanker for the butchness of a banker
It’s accountancy that makes the world go round
You can keep your Marxist ways
For it’s only just a phase
For it’s money, money, money makes the world go round
A good balance of digital, cash, and metals are my recommendation. Who knows here this will go but there are some good guesses such as this thing coming down in phases and during each phase various financial instruments will be needed.
Cash is good as during the early part of the collapse, which we are in, really good deals are made to those with cash. Right now I am finding all kinds of prep deals based on having the cash to get them.
Well, I recommend, at minimum, "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash", but don't forget his other works, such as "Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian" and "Orange Blossom Special".
This should get you through any Cash crisis.
Yep, cash is king, but it boils down to two things:
* your personal situation;
* your tactical situation.
I concur with Ottbmare - you might not have the option of taking “the last plane out”. If you can, groovy. If not, Plans B & C should be filed for use.
/johnny
Have to disagree. In the words of an old blues tune, “Cash ain’t nuthin but trash.”
System collapses, I don’t care how much cash you have, it won’t be enough.
If you need widgets to live, and all you have is cash, and I have the widgets you need, I know that I can’t USE any of the cash you have, so I’ll just tell you, no deal. Unless of course you have something else I need and value more than cash, like can goods, freeze dried somethings, cans of gas, cans of oil... The little things that one needs to live.
Point of all this to anyone who cares, is to read the other posts here on this thread. There are some terrific ideas about what kind of assets you could (and should) acquire now, while cash can still buy them. Then, when everyone wakes up to the fact that paper money is just paper and not money, you will have the widgets, and the shortsighted will have piles of paper in their pockets.
Parting shot, study up on what happened to Germany after WWI. Some Germans survived nicely. They didn’t rely on paper currency.
In a temporary crisis, cash on hand has real value. But ...
Most of the concern is about a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI scenario — longer lasting.
What this implies is that CASH, coinage, precious metals has/have a limited shelf-life. Traditional currency will quickly lose value when needed items are disparately scarce — meaning barter takes over, I trade what I have (that you need) and I get what I really need and you can spare.
Cash on hand allows you to bug out or stock up in the first 36 hours. in the first day, travel will be OK. In the second day, travel will be difficult and risky. On the third day, travel will be treacherous and deadly. ... and traditional commerce will be gone for a LOOOONG time. No need for cash after four days.
SO ... cash is arguably valuable only for the period when banks fail/shutdown (for whatever reason, including grid-down) UNTIL “realization” sets in and rational, civil commerce ceases. After that cash and metals will not, in my opinion, be valued for trade.
As many folks here have suggested, security (arms, structures and tactics) food, clothing, water, shelter, health/hygiene items, work/labor skills and sex will be the currencies. Cash will only be good until people REALIZE the SHHTF. Once ‘they’ get past their normalcy bias and see the realiy ahead of them, the real currencies will immediately emerge.
IMHO.
If banking stays down, you can't pay your bills because nothing works, so don't need money to pay bills. Within one or two days, there's nothing to buy at grocery so don't need money for that. In the future, when stores may begin to open again, cash would be good to have to buy stuff as the whole system won't be up for a while and who knows whether your money can be found on a computer at the bank. The bank does not have a box with cash in it and your name on the box.
If some order comes about during the bank downtime, say after the zombies have all been killed, barter areas may appear. Then, be careful what you use for barter - don't use ammo unless you don't value your life.
In this situation, cheap items you bought for barber, are suddenly worth a lot of value. Say a man has a fine house but no water and he is dying. You have a quart of good water, so he trades you his house for your water as his house is no good to him if he is dead. The value of items now, change in the barter system.
I’d take most of it out of the bank. You’re not even earning anything (hardly) on it there anyway. Just hide it well but remember where it is.
Bring gold, silver or barter.
That is all.
In a limited SHTF scenario(think Katrina), yes, fiat currency will have value. Beyond that, currency will be in bartering skills, meds, and other things of practical value.
I see cash as a big advantage in the near short term during an acute financial crisis causing bank closures or in an unstable political situation like martial law or a civil war.
In an unstable political situation scenario, the key will be getting cash and gold out of the country. I can’t see taking it out via air travel because the TSA is very focused on this activity. The Canadian border seems like the best bet nowadays. The NW angle in MN has an unmanned US border post and there is plenty of wilderness along most of the border. The other option is by boat, jet ski.
I can tell you one thing, if Obama does win, every freeper will become a prepper to some degree and these discussions will replace the political discussions.