Doom on us

Timing is everything. I was pretty sure the 2008 financial collapse would happen. I did not know it would be in 2008. If I could time that sort of thing exactly, I'd be rich. I'm not.

However, I'm not eating out of dumpsters and living under a bridge. That's something, anyway.

On the drive home the guy on the radio said we were in the 5th year of a Bull Market. How's that been working for most of you? One of the weird things is listening to “financial experts” going on and on about how this is not really a bubble.

One thing that certainly hasn't happened is an increase in wages and benefits. Personally, my income has gone down during the last five years, not up. It has reached the point where I may actually have to do something on the income side rather than on the conservation side. It's not a pressing problem, but one that could be.

While I think of myself as being self-reliant and prepared, I can fall into the same trap that other people do. A prepper can see more potential problems and prepares for them. There, he thinks, problems solved. Then he can relax and not worry about anything.

That's fine if the prepper has prepared for the right disasters, at the right time, for the correct duration. My preps are pretty good for ice storms, blizzards, floods and other natural disasters. They are a huge help during times of personal financial difficulty. How'd I'd fair in a total world financial collapse? Not sure. How about something completely out of the blue? Zombie aliens riding ebola asteroids?

Sure, you say, that could never happen. Maybe not, but given enough time, something weird always happens. Like the markets, we don't know exactly when the storm will hit.

Don't think of your preps as solutions to specific problems. When some weird disaster hits, don't try to fit it into your list-of-things-prepared-for. Recognize that this is something different. It may have features of some more comfortable challenge, but will need a different response. At that point your preps are just one resource, and not the most important. A nimble and flexible mind is the most valuable tool.

-Sixbears