Inch By Inch Preparedness

What will you do in an economic crash?

Have you ever thought of what you would do if tomorrow, out of the blue, the dollar value dropped right out and the whole economy came crashing down around us? Banks close. You lose your job because they don’t have money to pay you. People start to panic. Rioting and looting. Disease start to spread because many of the essential services are shut down. Okay, I think you are starting to get the picture.

It can take less than 3 hours for supermarkets to run completely out of food during a crisis … and up to 3 weeks or longer to start to fill shelves again, with any luck.

There is always chatter of exactly this on the horizon of happening, and soon. If you are paying attention, you will be hearing this as well. There are a ton of varied opinions about the matter. There are videos, blogs, and new articles full of the possibility of a collapse. So I decided to really figure out what might happen if … or should I say when, all of a sudden we find ourselves unable to pull out of the massive economic issues we are all facing. Now up here in Canada, we think we are sitting pretty and we are not in as much trouble as some, but I guarantee you that if anything happens, it will absolutely affect us, in fact the entire world, and it won’t be pretty.

There are definitely some things we can do to prepare for a situation like this, even though I don’t think we realize just how serious it might actually get.

First: Educate yourself and your family on what might happen. Educate yourselves on various survival skills like, first-aid, food storage, basic camping skills, and first aid skills.

Second: Find an area of interest you can use to make money in rough times. Possibly food production, raising chickens and eggs, any small business that you can produce a good or service that can be sold, or bartered for what you need.

Another: Learn now to minimize your expenses. Money might be tight for a short while, but if you can learn to spend less right now, it will help in two ways. First, you will be able to live on less when or if the times comes, and second, you could use some of that money saved to purchase tools, food supply, or other essentials to help prepare for what is ahead.

Get some food stored. Food will instantly become one of the most valuable commodities out there. Have at least a year of rations stored for each person in your family. I know that for some this might seem a bit overwhelming. You don’t know where to start, but start somewhere. Here on this blog are many different ideas on food storage so browse and see, with my 52 weeks plan posting weekly. There are also a ton of many other sites that are full of great information. Start small and work your way into a years supply. And share with those around you the urgency of doing the same. The more you share your knowledge now, the less you might have to share when the time comes, if you get my meaning.

Get your preparedness and survival gear in order NOW. Learn what you need and how to use it all. Again do some searching and find out what your family will need. Our needs will all be a bit different, yet survival is still survival, and we all have basic needs, so find out what you will need in your family if the above situation happens, and get it ready as soon as possible. I have listed below a sample checklist of what you should have.

Do you have a plan in place for water for your family? If you can’t get water out of the tap, what are you going to do? Is there a river, lake or stream near by? IF so, do you have a filtration system ready in case you need to use it? Do you have water stored? Water purification tablets and bleach will be invaluable, they are inexpensive and small, so get lots.

Do you have any garden seeds stored? If you can’t find any produce available, the stores are shut down, where are you going to find produce? you will have to grow it. Store some garden seeds and know how to use them. Make sure they are heirloom varieties as these will produce seed that will grow again next year. The new improved hybrid varieties are great, and produce abundant crops, but if you plant the seeds the next year, they will not grow.

Get in place an alternative source of power. It might be a solar power set up, or a generator, whatever is within your budget, but get it and know how to use it. Also know how to cook without power, heat without power, and wash and clean without power. It is quite likely that for short term situations, we may be without power.

Have you thought of the safety of yourself and your family, and how you will defend them in case of rioting or looting. People tend to get a little crazy, when they are hungry or have hungry children. Think defense, and how you could best defend your family and put a plan into action.

Warm clothing and/or proper clothing for your weather situations is important. Winters can be harsh enough with proper clothing, don’t be without them. You never know if you are going to always have heat in your home, or have to evacuate your home, so be prepared for anything. Snow, ice, rain, extreme heat, tornadoes, or whatever the situation might be, get prepared for it.

A good pair of shoes or hiking boots for each member in your family is essential. You may find yourselves in situations where you are walking everywhere and flip flops just won’t cut it.

Communication will be important to all of us when things really go bad. You will want to communicate with family, friends, doctors, and emergency people. Cell phones may not work for long. The internet may or may not work – what will you do? Have a plan, radio, walkie talkies, ham radios, or other. Have a bike in good working condition in case you need to get around quickly.

Personal hygiene items, and medical items will be essential for you to have on hand. We won’t want to be without any of these items, and we won’t be able to get them from a store, so have them in your home. Remember herbal medications also. They are invaluable if you know how to use them. Think of your prescription medications, and have on hand a 3 month supply of them in case of pharmacies being closed, or shortages on medications, which either could be likely.

Always have a backup plan. If someone steals your food – what will you do? If you can’t drive where you need to go – how will you get there? If you have to leave your home – where will you go? Crisis’ rarely happen just like we plan for. Always have a backup plan. Be flexible and be ready to do whatever it takes.

I found this possible scenario of what might happen the first days or weeks after a financial collapse. Of course this is just a hypothetical scenario, but it is good food for thought.

Day One: reports of the dollar collapsing, people start to get mad. Most stores taking cash only since bank machines might be down. No credit cards either. So if you want food or gas, or other supplies, you will need cash.

Day Two: Grocery stores will sell out of food. People will be stocking up on everything that they have cash for. Mobs at the grocery stores, and possible looting in other areas.

Day Three: Banks will be closed. If they are opened, they will be limiting the amount of money you can withdraw. The stock market will fall drastically and possible close. Most stores will be closed and prices will sky rocket. Cash, gold, or silver, will be the only form of currency. Barter will begin to take place.

Day Four: Panic will be in full force. Things will be out of control. Hyper-inflation out of control.

Day Five: Families will start to group together for support. Pension funds and other funds failing. Many work stoppages and emergency services halt.

Day Six: World wide mass demonstrations as the world economy collapses. Power outages, and other such events.

Day Seven: Army / National Guards are sent out to attempt to restore order. Martial Law. Cash is totally worthless at this point. Gold and silver will be accepted, barter society is in full force.

Day Eight: No power still and essential services limited. Radio perhaps still broadcasting as the only form of communication.

Day Nine: No water as services have stopped. Real panic sets in.

No emergency services – no police, no firemen, no medical responders, they are all staying home to protect their families. Neighborhoods start to organize group protection. Government falls. Breakdown of society, armed gangs, looting. Martial Law is the only force.

And then of course you can imagine the scenario to continue from there. Are you mentally and physically prepared for this? If not how can you get there?

We don’t know all the possibilities that could arise. We don’t know if there will be disease, pandemic, natural disaster, war, or economic disaster. What we do know is that there are some tough times ahead and we had better get prepared.

I don’t want to get caught unprepared for anything, and yet, I don’t know all of the things that lie ahead, so I can only prepare according to what I know and feel is right. Mentally and physically we all need to get ready! I want to be in the situation of helping, not being a burden.

Prepare, prepare, and prepare some more!

Happy and Healthy Prepping