Talk about being way ahead of the curve...
After September of 2008, when my 401(k) principal lost 45% of its value overnight, those "recommendations" became not an option, but a necessity. What I need now is survivalist suggestions to go beyond that. My current major discretionary spending is books. Any other suggestions besides buying used, which I am already doing?
The library? You're already paying for it; might as well use it as much as possible.
We are seniors here, and have been living pretty low on the hog because of that, and my husband’s parkinson’s.
Library for books, work on cutting down on all utilities. (we have a wood stove for winter heat), keep our lights off, try to use only one pot for dinner. Use a lot of rice and dehydrated veggies, and grow our own fruits and veggies for in season eating.
Buy silver bullion bars. Buy a little each month. Recommend 1 oz bars made by Engelhard, Johnson & Matthey, and Heraeus. These minters are well known world wide, just in case you need to sell your bars anywhere. One troy ounce bars/ingots cost about 15 to 17 bucks per ounce. Accumulate as much as possible. Reason is if high inflation/hyperinflation hits, your silver will keep up in value if you must convert silver to dollars. If we survive the inflation, there is only a five year supply of silver from mining before the industrial demand outstrips supply. Due to the low price of silver, most of our silver in the past were consumed and disposed. Prices must go up in order to encourage mass recycling like we do with gold. Many experts feel silver will be the second metal on the periodical table that may become extinct in practical terms. I am using two websites to buy silver bullion bars. They are www.apmex.com and www.bulliondirect.com. NOTE: I do not work for these sites nor own stock in them. Hope info is helpful.
Use the public library. If your local library doesn't have the book, CD or DVD, see if it is a member of a Library System which allows you to borrow from another library in that system.