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Sunday, September 8, 2013

Bailing out? Going Galt?



You've all heard about bugging out. The organic fertilizer hits the rotary cooling device and it's time to head for the hills.

Bug out plans are great fun and all, a fascinating game of “what if?”

More likely than a bug out disaster is a situation where your financial situation suddenly takes a turn for the worse. It happens all the time. Jobs go away. Houses get foreclosed on. Bills pile up. Stuff happens.

Saturday I flipped out when I got a letter in the mail from the very same credit union I've been complaining about. Not to get into any details, but suddenly a payment schedule of mine got a lot more compressed and urgent. This new company is full of unhappy surprises. They are giving me a hard time over something the old company never bothered with.

I said bad words. With feeling.

Then I asked myself if this was time to bail out of the whole system. I'm not going to wait for things to get progressively worse to the point where I can't liquidate and escape. The system will not pull me down to where I'm dependent on luck and the mercy of strangers -again. I lucked out once, playing by the rules, but how often does a person hit a hole in one?

Everyone's financial situation is different. Putting the details of my personal bail out plan on-line might be a bad idea so it's not going to happen. Let's just say I have a plan and leave it at that. Thinking outside the box is what I do.

One thing to remember is to not give all your money to the debt collectors. Heck, it even takes money to file for bankruptcy -that's how messed up our system is. Keep some funds available for a financial escape plan.

I've seen people cope in a number of ways. One family decided to quickly liquidate the house, cars -everything but the boat. They moved onto the boat and found they could live debt free for a lot less.

An older couple jingled mailed their house keys to the bank and took an early retirement to a small condo they owned. Better to sacrifice one property than lose both.

James M Dakin is a big believer in putting an old trailer on junk land and getting by on a minimum wage job. He's living it.

A college buddy of mine actually did use the last of his money to pay for bankruptcy, and it gave him the fresh start he needed. Well, along with a divorce, but that's a whole different story.

Once I calmed down I figured my personal red line had not been crossed quite yet. Of course, the letter arrived on the weekend, and there's nobody in the home office until Monday. We'll talk and I'll find out what exactly is going on. If I have to to I can move funds around and take care of the problem. It's not how I wanted or planned to deal with it, but it's doable.

Every year I get a little less connected to the dominate system. That's been my plan. Progression has been gradual but steady. Then there are tipping points where things could go seriously sideways. I didn't quite reach my tipping point, but maybe I got a glimpse of what it might look like.


-Sixbears



24 comments:

  1. I managed to get things paid off while I still had a decent income. If I hadn't, these six months on unemployment would have cost me my home.

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  2. No offense intended to James M Dakin, but I'm generally suspicious of those who blog about self reliance, yet put a solicit "donations" via Paypal on their blog.

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure he's not exactly getting rich from his blog.

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  3. I hope you get things all worked out to your satisfaction, buddy!

    Nobody likes those kinds of surprises, that's for sure!

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    Replies
    1. It will work out. Just not what I'd planned on doing. Thanks.

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  4. I sold my house in 2010, bought a used double wide with an acre of land. Immediately planted figs, grapes, and blueberries. Built a chicken pen and developed a garden. I got out of debt! I am currently in the process of opening a gunsmithing/ gun shop. NO REGRETS HERE !

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  5. Where is John Galt when you need him?

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  6. It is always good to prepare for every thing. You are a prepper, right? That means keeping a goodly sum of money on hand in case you have to leave your area in a hurry. It could be a forest fire that runs you out or something worse, like man-made trouble.

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    Replies
    1. Problems happen when those emergency expenses happen too close together. Even so, good to have walk away money.

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  7. Been on the "tipping point" several times. It ain't fun. Anything we can do to become independent of the system is a good thing...

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    Replies
    1. No fun at all. At least I've got options. Not at the tipping point yet.

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  8. So far these 5 years my co workers have had divorces, foreclosures, bankruptcies, arrests, addictions to alcohol and others.
    I guess the poor way of living I had gave a edge to put up with all of this crap. Never have much, have my vasectomy at age 20, after witnessing from people the results of having a family, (kids in drugs, stupid, drop outs, girls pregnant with newborns addicted to drugs, biracial kids, young girls working the streets, tattooed all over the body, etc.) I'm just doing fine. If tshtf I already have where to run. I believe what general Patton said to his troops, " to die for your country is an honor. give this honorable act to your enemies, you continue living while the other SOB enjoys his sacrifice". I'm just expecting a couple of more signals to bug the hell out.
    Cant tell you much more due to OpSec.
    Thanks for your good service, I know that you have a lot more but you just can't say it, I admire that, just have to figure out ourselves how to do what we must do.

    cheers

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    1. I wouldn't give up my family for the world, but they do keep a man broke.

      You are right, I've tales I can't tell.

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    2. What on earth is wrong with biracial kids?

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    3. Nothing, but I guess Anonymous is asking the other Anonymous.

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  9. Sixbear sorry to hear your bank waylaid you.I can only guess what it was but it can happen to anyone.People think a bank is a safe place for there money.WRONG a bank is a place where anyone has acsess to your funds and can get to it.Old tax bill a judgment debt child support even old consumer debt.I once had been making payments on an old debt under an agreed plan someone filed papers for an account garnishment and siesed my accounts.I now use a mason jar for savings and a checking account as a sweep bill pay account.Money deposited bill payed in 48 hours balance back to 20$.Banks are not their for depositers they are there for other lenders the courts and the tax man.The bank of mason jar is safest!!!

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    Replies
    1. At least they didn't hit me with this while I was on the road. Still, the clock is ticking.

      I had a very stable good relationship with my credit union before it was bought out. Now . . . not so much.

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  10. I'm reading more and more about Banks not standing behind their word even when an agreement was made early. Be careful and good luck on Monday.

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    Replies
    1. I'll find out what the heck is going on and deal with it from there.

      I've heard a lot of horror stories lately. Seems like contract violation has become normal business.

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  11. In responce to the PayPal button and self reliance: I make about $100 a month after having written for over ten years. That figure includes book sales, 80% is Amazon commissions, and almost never is it PayPal. The button was actually put up after a request by a reader. I have a very long day job-my lunch hour is writting the blog. It doesn't pay any bills. You were polite in your comment, I'm just responding to let you know how horribly these things pay. We publish, most of us, out of a labor of love. Peace.

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    Replies
    1. I'll second that. Bill, a lot of time goes into publishing a blog. If a guy can make a few bucks from the effort, more power to him.

      Delete