“Can’t eat gold.”
ctdonath2 : "Word is this was demonstrated in Japan in WWII.
People had kept gold for emergencies, but found it won’t buy bread when there isn’t any."
Who held out/made out, the best, in Argentina, when they went through their crash and societal breakdown?
What investments, there, were the best protected?
Thanks for the ping.
Paid for real estate. You can raise rents along with inflation, and the value of the asset is also going to go up.
So in 2008, I started putting the “escrow” amount into purchase of silver eagles. That should help to pay for the real estate taxes and Insurance on the home. So that’s enough for the next 12 years, which is about my life expectancy.
In 2009, we added storage space and invested in short, medium, and long term food storage. The long term is the type that is good for 20-30 years-staples mostly, flour, wheat, rice, beans, etc. Bought several of the LDS starter kits-those are food for 1 person for one month —made it easy to figure how many we needed. I hope that my kids will inherit it all-meaning-things don’t get bad enough that we have to use it.
Medium and short term, we bought items that we use all the time, as they were on sale. And when we use something it goes on a list for replacement, when the next good price comes along. So we would buy a case of whatever-12 cans, also makes planning easier. One case is once a month. Want to eat something once a week-for a year, takes about 4 cases.
So a case each of Tuna, Salmon, Clams, and Shrimp-allows for a different fish or seafood casserole or chowder once a week for a month for the year. (There’s only 2 of us), but we get a little extra in case our kids should happen to come back home for an extended period.
I also learned to grow a lot of my own food. I have several hardtimes garden plans which allow all the nutrients a person would need, and set about learning to grow those items, and how to preserve them. We also planted some fruit trees, and berry bushes.
We already had some nut trees that just happened to be on the property when we bought it. Black Walnut and butternut produces more than we can use. Also a lovely persimmon tree that we like to visit each morning in the fall for a breakfast treat.
So in addition to water bath canning, which I already had done quite a lot, I learned to use the pressure canner, dehydrator, and fermentation methods. One especially good thing was learning to pressure can meats.
Buy about 10 lbs of meat or chickens on sale, and can some beef in pints—it makes it very tender and easy to eat. Can half a chicken in each qt. jar bones and all. All of this can be eaten from the jar if necessary, but also makes a lot of quick casseroles or soup-fast food that is healthier.
OpSec-won’t discuss security stuff-did study and do what we thought we’d need to do.
And we ordered previously canned foods such as dak hams and chicken breasts, and chili for dip recipes. We have butter and yeast stocked and in the freezer-figure that will last about 2 years. Have read about how to make sourdough starter without yeast in case we don’t have any.
I consider food and necessities that will store as an investment that will be worth more when/if a big inflation hits again. And with gas prices rising-that always hits food-so get it NOW if ya haven’t already done it.
And consider how you can cook if certain modern things aren’t available. So we have a fireplace, fire pit, BBQ grill, Coleman camp stove, Rocket stove, Sterno Stove, and Solar Oven(which I need to spend some more time learning to use). And don’t forget water storage and access.
And I consider paying off debt as an investment too— worth 12-17% or whatever your current rate is. Remember when Prime Rate was 19%?—I sure do remember it.
I read a book on International Finance, and the guy asked some of the rich European Families, how they had survived through generations of financial woes.
The answer was weird somewhat, Art, Gold, and Land. When the enemy army was known to be coming, They took the pictures out of the frames, and rolled them up to take with them.
They took the deeds for the land and secreted it on their person, as well as the gold in various money belts. Hitched up the horse and buggy or car in later years, and off they went to somewhere else.
When things were over and normality returned, so did they-claimed their property, reframed the pictures, used some gold to buy furniture if needed etc. and went back to work on the estate—whatever business that might have been.
So that’s just a few of my thoughts—my 2 cents which is worth at least 98% less than it used to be.
I have had people misunderstand this so I want to be plain, I am not talking about being a community leader like some sort post apocalyptic novel. I mean you have to join with people who will give a damn if you live or die.
Family, church, neighborhood, club, does not matter.
I spent a lot of years overseas and one thing that held true in every country was expats stuck together. You needed something and someone would see you got it. We were strangers in hostile territory. No one was coming to rescue us if it went sideways. So we looked out for each other. We were not all angels but were a community.
Weave your own safety net or drown in the coming storm.
In re to the “can’t eat gold” thing.
It seems that folks are conflating disparate economic disasters. If we experience another Great Depression and gold is still legal, I would think that it would prove to have been a fantastic investment. Bread would still be available.
If it is an EOTWAWKI type of event where bread is not available, then not so much.
Am I wrong?