permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-practical-steps-that-you-can-take-to-insulate-yourself-at-least-somewhat-from-the-coming-economic-collapse

"1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, "the borrower is the servant of 
the lender", is so incredibly true.  The key to insulating yourself from 
an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as 
long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent.  You don't want 
a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get 
bad out there.

2 - Find New Sources Of Income: In 2010, there simply is not such a 
thing as job security.  If you are dependent on a job ("just over 
broke") for 100% of your income, you are in a very bad position.  There 
are thousands of different ways to make extra money.  What you don't 
want to do is to have all of your eggs in one basket.  One day when the 
economy melts down and you are out of a job are you going to be 
destitute or are you going to be okay?

3 - Reduce Your Expenses: Many Americans have left the rat race and have 
found ways to live on half or even on a quarter of what they were making 
previously.  It is possible - if you are willing to reduce your 
expenses.  In the future times are going to be tougher, so learn to 
start living with less today.

4 - Learn To Grow Your Own Food: Today the vast majority of Americans 
are completely dependent on being able to run down to the supermarket or 
to the local Wal-Mart to buy food.  But what happens when the U.S. 
dollar declines dramatically in value and it costs ten bucks to buy a 
loaf of bread?  If you learn to grow your own food (even if is just a 
small garden) you will be insulating yourself against rising food prices.

5 - Make Sure You Have A Reliable Water Supply: Water shortages are 
popping up all over the globe.  Water is quickly becoming one of the 
"hottest" commodities out there.  Even in the United States, water 
shortages have been making headline news recently.  As we move into the 
future, it will be imperative for you and your family to have a reliable 
source of water.  Some Americans have learned to collect rainwater and 
many others are using advanced technology such as atmospheric water 
generators to provide water for their families.  But whatever you do, 
make sure that you are not caught without a decent source of water in 
the years ahead.

6 - Buy Land: This is a tough one, because prices are still quite high. 
 However, as we have written previously, home prices are going to be 
declining over the coming months, and eventually there are going to be 
some really great deals out there.  The truth is that you don't want to 
wait too long either, because once Helicopter Ben Bernanke's 
inflationary policies totally tank the value of the U.S. dollar, the 
price of everything (including land) is going to go sky high.  If you 
are able to buy land when prices are low, that is going to insulate you 
a great deal from the rising housing costs that will occur when the U.S 
dollar does totally go into the tank.

7 - Get Off The Grid: An increasing number of Americans are going "off 
the grid".  Essentially what that means is that they are attempting to 
operate independently of the utility companies.  In particular, going 
"off the grid" will enable you to insulate yourself from the rapidly 
rising energy prices that we are going to see in the future.  If you are 
able to produce energy for your own home, you won't be freaking out like 
your neighbors are when electricity prices triple someday.

8 - Store Non-Perishable Supplies: Non-perishable supplies are one 
investment that is sure to go up in value.  Not that you would resell 
them.  You store up non-perishable supplies because you are going to 
need them someday.  So why not stock up on the things that you are going 
to need now before they double or triple in price in the future?  Your 
money is not ever going to stretch any farther than it does right now.

9 - Develop Stronger Relationships: Americans have become very insular 
creatures.  We act like we don't need anyone or anything.  But the truth 
is that as the economy melts down we are going to need each other.  It 
is those that are developing strong relationships with family and 
friends right now that will be able to depend on them when times get hard.

10 - Get Educated And Stay Flexible: When times are stable, it is not 
that important to be informed because things pretty much stay the same. 
 However, when things are rapidly changing it is imperative to get 
educated and to stay informed so that you will know what to do.  The 
times ahead are going to require us all to be very flexible, and it is 
those who are willing to adapt that will do the best when things get tough."