death spiral priority

DEATH SPIRAL PRIORITY
Proving once again that some people simply aren't happy unless they have something to worry about, I started wondering if perhaps I should include something a bit more basic for those overwhelmed and confused souls that just woke up to the fact that when Uncle Obammy proposes to cut spending a hundred million bucks ( which each and every Congress Critter is sure to fight tooth and nail ) from the budget and them sends another seven hundred billion dollars to the banks so they can post a quarterly profit so the stock market goes up five points and everyone's 401(k) only loses ten percent value that week instead of ten and one eighth percent, and are just now starting to realize we are in a death spiral. Am I not providing enough of the elementary stuff for them? Am I going to hack off the regular readers that have stuck by me through the years, earning their Loyal Minion merit badges? Then I figured, hey, I put out some good stuff yesterday and no one was impressed, just making Ho Ho comments ( although it is good to see the Ho Ho man is still with us ) so they can just suck it up and deal with this today.
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New to prepping? Overwhelmed by the sheer impossibility of it all? Not sure where to start? I'm here to help, always full of advice you can't use or lessons that don't apply to you. Don't worry, it's a lot simpler than you have been led to believe. Instead of looking at the impossible ideal of a twenty acre farm with garden and orchard and stream ( too expensive, you can't get a mortgage, even if you could you'll lose your job anyway ) and an escape SUV ( your payments will last longer than the oil supply ) to get to your retreat you can't afford ( see homestead example above ) which has a concrete bunker with fallout shelter and an arsenal of semi-automatic carbines ( good luck getting all the ammo you need for them ), just start out very primitive, very small and very affordable and then move up from there.
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First, buy everyone in the family a bag of flour or rice. That's it. Just a $9 bag of flour or a $15 bag of rice ( what the heck is rice going for now? no matter, I'm sure I'm close ). You now have almost a months supply of food for everyone. Yes, it's reduced calories, but not enough to kill you immediately ( 1500 a day ). Even if you hardly have anything else in the cupboard this will give you a months supply of calories which is better than the vast majority of the population. Make sure to have a way of getting your water purified, even if it is something as simple as an outdoor fire between a few bricks to boil the water or a jug of bleach. And some kind of fuel to cook with. A few propane canisters, a few pallets for firewood. You won't stop here, not by a long shot, but it will immediately give you a bit of breathing room to step back from the brink of panic. I would recommend an initial three month supply which surely won't break anyone's bank, but just that one month is certainly better than nothing. Why this first? You can improvise weapons and shelter and light and transportation, but you can't improvise food. Within twenty four hours of Wal-Mart emptying its shelves every deer, possum , rat and cat and every edible berry and root in the forest will be gone. And there might be some casualties getting those. Far better to stay at home with your already procured food.
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Next, get a weapon. Yes, food is more important but you still need to protect your food. Buy the cheapest weapon you can get. If you are a novice I would go with a single shot break open shotgun. Used, about seventy five and new about a hundred. If you are comfortable with more weapon, get a surplus bolt action rifle. They are one third the cost of even an SKS and the ammo is easier to find ( and it's a real rifle compared to the poodle shooters ). Leave aside the "best" weapon for right now. You need to be armed cheaply. You probably won't be able to afford too many boxes of ammo, so it's a good thing this is not a semi-auto and won't eat up all your rounds in one round of panic. Yes, a pistol will be nice to have for increased crime to come, but we are at a bare minimum stage here.
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Next, buy more food. Grains, either/or wheat and corn and a grain mill. It will expand your food supply rapidly, calorie wise. And provide vegetables through sprouting ( the wheat anyway ). Still not complete, needing proteins and fats but now you have a year supply of food per person for as little as $60 each. The storage containers will add to that figure, but once again, we are cheap enough for everyone. Remember, throw me a bone here and buy the grinder through my Amazon links at www.bisonpress.com .
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Now you need a bit more ammo, and start to give thought to shelter improvements ( to start, multiple supplies of warm weather gear, cheap through thrift stores and online surplus outfits ). Still nothing fancy or expensive. Go bare bones all the way. This is life and death, not time for luxury. That can come later. You are in a race with the banks and the oil exporting countries, the weather and the global food supply chain. If you fart around you could lose. If nothing falls apart you gained by buying cheaper food and weapons ( both will only go up ).
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Next, food. Legumes and lard. Protein and fat. Notice a pattern? Food first, then another necessity, then food again. Food is going to be a huge deal soon. I'm banking on it. Okay, that's about all the time we have today boy's and girl's. Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel.
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