Well this may or may not surprise you, but I still haven't received my Chase debit card yet. So much for it arriving by the 23rd. Ugh.
Maybe it'll be in tomorrows mail. I wouldn't be able to get to the bank until Wednesday anyway.
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I've added my two new blogs to my sidebar. They're still not quite the way I want them, but they're close enough to where I'm ready to share and seek any suggestions.
Children's Books for Storytime and Beyond
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Yesterday after church I had lunch with some friends and then spent the afternoon with them chatting. One of the other guests is a financial planner. He was saying that he advises all his clients to be debt free, have two months expenses in cash, and 10 months expenses in silver coins. He also believes that the dollar is going to completely tank by the beginning of next year, and that the US is not going to remain divided by states, but be divided into ten districts.
I thought he was a bit off (more than a bit really) with all that he was saying, but then later I was talking to my dad and he said that he'd heard some similar notions.
This guy also was saying that he and his family have a one-year supply of food on hand, and he really urges everyone to start their own garden.
I'm not really sure what to think about all that. I don't believe that our media presents us with all the facts, and the ones they do give us are usually slanted to one end or another. So just because this info isn't in the mainstream media, I don't think that means much.
As far as if it'll really happen or not? Who knows. I don't see that there really is much we can really do about it, other than get out of debt as quickly as possible and maybe have backup plans.
I'm out of debt, but as far as a backup plan .. if the dollar fails ... then I have no clue, because what good will all my savings be then?
Oh yeah, and then of course there is the swine flu which has already killed people in Mexico - people my age - and has already reached the US, including Texas.
April 26th, 2009 at 05:44 pm 1240767893
April 26th, 2009 at 06:41 pm 1240771271
The idea of the dollar failing has so much fallout and far reaching repercussions it is more than my mind really wants to even think about. For me, I think the only thing to do is to go on the way I am, hoping for the best, but not accruing debt.
April 27th, 2009 at 01:53 am 1240797201
April 27th, 2009 at 02:29 am 1240799341
Honestly, that was kind of what I was thinking too. I knew many families who were really *well* prepared for the year 2000 "catastrophe" ... and well, they ended up having lots of food to keep them for a long time. LOL!
April 27th, 2009 at 03:08 am 1240801682
April 27th, 2009 at 03:12 am 1240801923
True, that is the conclusion you would have to probably end up reaching.
It'll be too bad for me, because I won't be in the silver toting group nor the gun toting group.
April 27th, 2009 at 03:47 am 1240804031
April 27th, 2009 at 04:03 am 1240805029
April 27th, 2009 at 12:51 pm 1240836712
Here's a chart on the nation's annual inflation rate. As we can see, inflation has actually been climbing since let's say 2002 to 2008. At 2008 though, we've experienced a tremendous downward drop in percentage, to the point where we were actually experiencing DEFLATION. So for it to spike back up again? Exactly as the Federal Reserve board predicts and hoped that it will? That alone will not kill our economy.
Plus, in a Mad Max scenario, there is no guarantee that silver coins would be accepted as legal tender. In prison, cigarettes are often used as currency, because people like to smoke. In Africa and similar parts of the world, many use rough diamonds as currency, because diamond companies want that and are willing to trade you goods and services for it. In other words, whatever currency that would substitute paper money in a Mad Max scenario would most likely be something that is of practical use. So, in my personal opinion, Spam is actually more likely to end up being currency than Silver, depending on the extent of this apocalyptic scenario.
Redrawing district lines versus state lines... I really have a hard time seeing that. Way too many state level logistics and services to change to do that.
Worst cast that I can realistically see is the Dollar losing its status as the world's currency standard (versus a diversified currency standard), but even then, I have doubts about that one.
So, how much cash is this guy willing to bet that it will not be around in one year? I wanna make some easy paper money.