How to Survive an Economic Collapse - Shelter is all encompassing and primary.

There are 3 primary things you can do to protect yourself.  Here is the short list that I have compiled through investigation, research, and most importantly family history.  If you do nothing else, do the first three.  I'll add a fourth to give you the means of holding the first three.


1.  Shelter - With shelter comes everything else.  Mortgage -Pay It OFF.   If you own your own home outright and it has access to water or water storage that is independent of the grid and public water then you are 2/3 of the way there toward survival.   Remember, if you have water you can bring in soil and create a self sustaining garden on even a small lot.  Of course it helps to have lots of space. This is also your best investment to survive a collapse since all paper investments and bank holdings are subject to fiscal destruction in the form of  government theft through devaluation and inflation.  Actual bank failures and closings may make all your paper assets unavailable.  Real estate on the other hand cannot just disappear though admittedly a home can go up in a puff of smoke unless it is made of stone, but the land isn't going anywhere unless you own a sink hole, a waterfront lot that is washed away,  or the side of a mountain that landslides away.  Other than that you can usually count on it being there long after your time is over.  If you have a wooded lot you have a built in source of heat that will allow you to avoid freezing during the winter.  Though harvesting wood and splitting it is a big effort it is nice to know you have the option.  If the electrical grid goes down it is also nice to have other energy options other than the electric outlet.

Here are some suggestions from another blogger for dealing with a power outage.

Living in a van is an option if you have a place to park it.  Cheap land is out there.

2.  Water - Water that must be available and safe.   A hand pump well is of course the final fail-safe option and in between that is a water storage bladder that will hold a thousand gallons ready to use.  A generator powered well is of course an excellent option until the fuel runs out.

3.  Food - Grow your own food.  Store food.  - My grandfather and great grandfather survived through multiple wars in Europe by having their own food sources during these wars and depressions.
Here are a few links for backyard food gardening.

Better Homes and Gardens on your first backyard garden.

4.   Weapons - Self defense and holding your property against takers is a good enough reason to own at least one weapon.  If I had only one choice and no other, I'd go with a 20 or 12 gauge pump shotgun preferably a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 500.   If you notice during the ammo shortage there is still plenty of shotgun ammo around.  You can defend your home and hunt with this unlike a handgun.  Second on the list would be a 9mm pistol and that choice would be a Glock 19.   As for rifles I'd add that you have so many choices that are economical such as military surplus rifles that second as great investments that I'd leave it up to you for research.  Buy ammo.

I left .22 out in both pistols and rifles until the shortage disappears.  If you go beyond the first two choices I would add a rifle and it could be a .22 if you find some bulk boxes.  Other than that it is hard to justify going with a .22 when the price is approaching that of centerfire ammunition.  Another great option might just be air rifles for practice and pests. You can still find AK ammo for .30 cents per round in some places so that extra ten cents buys you some real capability even if you just go with an SKS.

Do these 4 things and you probably have your based covered for most short term, intermediate term, and a few long term problems.  Beyond that, if you can still work then you can survive.

5.  After the other four are handled you can look at stocking up on precious metals to include lead, silver, and Gold in that order.  I'd keep some cash around but in the end we may all take a hit if they devalue the currency.

Here is an article that talks about the dollar value drop.

Doomsday risk of a market drop. 

Jobs are gone forever.  You had better come up with a way to make a living without a boss.  Self employment even on a small scale at least gives you some control over your income.


Recommended Books for self sufficiency

Possum Living by Dolly Freed