Economy preparations

With the economic issues our world is facing, I thought it would be good to "pow wow" a moment and share info. If you have info to add, please share.

First of all, I am not one to be an alarmist, and am a calm and collected human being. However, the housing market circumstances that have resulted in the takeover/bailout of Government run entities like Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to happen. AIG, Lehman Brothers... it goes on into other countries all over the world struggling the same or worse. This bailout will not kick in and restore confidence anytime soon. Economists do not agree on what will happen, but ALL agree that our economic world has changed for generations and we are about to hit hard times. Our children's future is at stake, and that saddens me to no end.

Will it be a recession, depression, or all out economic collapse? I believe it will indeed be one of the three. Some economists state that a depression as seen in the 1930s could not happen today. Others, like Ron Paul have spoken of more serious prospects. The last President to raise taxes duringf such circumstances was Herbert Hoover. This is WHY we cannot vote in Barack Obama. He is NOT the President we need to pull us out of this.

Some, like Glenn Beck have been warning viewers to prepare for the worst for some time now. This week Beck wrote a somewhat non-partisan letter for his newsletter on how we got here, and his upcoming newsletters will address what is to come and how we prepare. It would be worth signing up for that free newsletter, or check out his site: www.glennbeck.com
Most predicted that something would happen at the end of September but Congress was able to hold that off a bit with promises of a bailout. September has been a typically tricky financial month in the past. But others have said that Congress, and the President are doing what they can to hold it off until right after elections. Still, there is no promise that anything big will happen, though the world as we know it HAS changed, and our country is in SERIOUS debt that adds up to over $37,000/ person in this Nation that we now have lost or owe to the Government for their guffaws. And why? GREED. Who's to blame? Congress, the President, and in my opinion, most of the blame lies with those neighbors of yours that were blinded by the prospect of owning more than they could afford. GREED.

What are we doing at our house to prepare:
It NEVER hurts to prepare but is a wise thing to do. the most important thing to do is PRAY and seek God's will for our Nation! Pray for the upcoming elections! Pray for sanity in the face of fire. Things COULD get very ugly if there is a panic
Number #1:
It would be recommended that everyone do their absolute best to pay off debt. Here, We are fortunate in that we only owe on our mortgage which was purchased on a single income (I stay home), with a fixed rate mortgage and a good size down payment. No credit card debts or loans. We own both cars outright, allbeit our newest is 6-7 years old. I feel I am an asset, in that if I had to work, I could as a healthy individual caring fulltime for my family. I am a commodity in a sense. More than ever, I am so thankful that we made the choices that we did. It will soften the blow a bit for us if something happens.

Number #2- save money! this is NOT the time to buy the new car and new TV. Some have recommended saving in gold. I admit we have not done that.

Number #3- stockpiling is NOT a bad idea. IF the worst case scenario happened, within a day, ALL energy could shut down. Electricity could go off, stores and gas stations could shut down as well as banks. Here is a list of non perishable things I have read on to stock up:

-dry beans and rice
-nuts
-canned vegetables (make sure you have a manual can opener)
-canned meats (spam, tuna in OIL, beefs and chicken)
-dry milk
-dry pastas, cereals.
-items to bake your own bread..flour, sugar, oil, yeast..)
anything you can not substitute at home- vinegar, oil, molasses, soaps, bleach
-WATER! We have a stockpile, but what I have been doing is for every empty milk gallon we end up with, I clean it, fill with tap water, and add a drop of bleach, then mark it with a date. They say to allow a quart per person per day to give you an idea that you need more than you think.
we also have three 300 gallon drums to collect rain water off the roof. This would help for non ingestibe water needs too.
-vitamins!!!!

Other items-
Garden seeds for growing your own. It's a smart money saver anyhow, and most last. I have been saving as much seed as I can.
Garden tools
start a compost pile

Things to barter or trade- seeds, coffee, tea, tobacco (I don't plant to have that, but I CAN see this being a good barter item), sugar, over the counter medications...
canning items and tools
can opener
firewood
candles
matches (lighter)
blankets
ropes
duct tape and plastic
Guns and ammo
storage containers
camp stove and extra propane canisters
tarp to cover firewood
cast iron cooking gear and metal utensils.
-survival guides for woods and country living
-paper and writing utensils
-batteries!!!!
-battery operated radio.
-Over the counter medications
-wash board,
-rags and cloths.
-keep those plastic store bags.
-animal food.
-twine.
- extra scissors
QUALITY OF LIFE ITEMS- life could change very quickly for our kids. I have given some thought to how to soften the blow for youngsters. Much of this may seem silly, and yes we already own these things. However, many kids in our country do not know how to live manually. An advantage to a crisis could be drawing families and communities closer together-
-books and puzzles
-crayons, and coloring books
-balls, jumpropes
-academic age appropriate education guides to keep studies going.
-toys.
-clothing for future use and sizes, boots (does anyone else have trouble finding kid's boots after the fall?)
-bikes, and bike repair items.

This list will be added to as time goes on through the next month! Stay tuned...