Invest in...?

[Arch]

I was thinking about the thing in Cyprus, and the banks being closed for so long. I hink people did have some access to cash through ATMs, but if you couldn't get cash, or use a card, how long would you be able to survive on the contents of your cupboards? I reckon I could make for a fortnight, although it might get a bit dull towards the end. It would be longer, but I don't have a freezer, only a little icebox in the fridge.

It also set me thinking that the best investment against the event of economic collapse is tinned/non-perishable food, if you can store it. Physical cash is only valuable if you can spend it, and gold only if someone else wants to buy it. Neither may keep up with inflation, whereas a tin of beans feeds the same number of people no matter what the economy does...

I'm not about to turn into one of those Americans preparing for the Apocalypse, BTW. Although I do currently have 5 jars of pesto in the fridge....

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I have quite a lot of home wine maturing, and an allotment.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

...and more importantly I have a wife who is a proper apprenticeship served gardener who ran an organic garden and box scheme for a few years.

I would probably make more of an effort to spend time with my freegan/ foraging experts

 

[Dayvo]

I think a lot of us would become poachers, scrumpers, hunter & gatherers etc.

Bring it on...

 

[Monsieur]

interesting new series on sky 1 tonight - effects on civilisation after all the power goes off.
Money won't matter at all - its your initiative, common sense and your ability to kill others and steal their food that will matter most

 

[Arch]

interesting new series on sky 1 tonight - effects on civilisation after all the power goes off.
Money won't matter at all - its your initiative, common sense and your ability to kill others and steal their food that will matter most

That's my main worry. I reckon I could manage to scrape a living if I had to, foraging etc. But the meek don't inherit the earth, they get the earth taken off them by the ones with big sticks.

 

[derrick]

interesting new series on sky 1 tonight - effects on civilisation after all the power goes off.
Money won't matter at all - its your initiative, common sense and your ability to kill others and steal their food that will matter most

No problems there then.

 

[Globalti]

I would probably eat my neighbour.

 

[albion]

yup,

why we have to make the best of our bad lot of politicians.
Cause the alternatives are almost always far worse.

 

[Arch]

And I'm not necessarily thinking about post-apocalypse, I'm thinking about the 'current climate'. If your savings don't earn interest above inflation, or any interest at all, then you're losing money, really. But food holds its value in that respect.

Yeah, you can't buy a Kindle or a car or a house with tins of tomatoes, but perhaps it makes sense to invest a decent proportion of your money in them....

 

[coffeejo]

I'd be fine for a while, though it would involve finding out what's in those mysterious containers in the freezer whose labels have fallen off.

The dog's doomed though. She once caught a mouse but dropped it when it wriggled in her mouth.

 

[Arch]

I'd be fine for a while, though it would involve finding out what's in those mysterious containers in the freezer whose labels have fallen off.

The dog's doomed though. She once caught a mouse but dropped it when it wriggled in her mouth.

We found an empty plastic milk bottle in the recycling yesterday, with a label over the cap that said "This is not Milk".

Fortunately for our sense of suspense, we found another label on the side which declared "Leek and Potato Soup". Yeah, that would spoil your day, putting that in your first cup of tea....

 

[Night Train]

I

interesting new series on sky 1 tonight - effects on civilisation after all the power goes off.
Money won't matter at all - its your initiative, common sense and your ability to kill others and steal their food that will matter most

I have one of those tools that shoots nails though RSJs, if that would be useful....


I think non perishable foods and the know how to grow/butcher some more would be useful, as will knowing how to make fire and electricity.
Cyclists have an advantage in generating power with a pedal generator, and also for transport to forage.

 

[vernon]

I reckon there's enough in the house to last a month with a reduced calorie intake. There's plenty of pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes and pulses plus herbs and spices to create an interesting variety of dishes with the canned meat and fish.

I could even make a couple of pies. Then I could trap the wood pigeons, the squirrels , the neighbour's cats and the foxes....

 

[P.H]

Yeah, you can't buy a Kindle or a car or a house with tins of tomatoes, but perhaps it makes sense to invest a decent proportion of your money in them....

Yes, money is only a promise and people can break promises. But how much food would you hoard? How long would you be expecting it to last? Investing in some skills that might last longer than any food store might be a better way to go. That and making sure you had the biggest stick...
I think in the event of it all going pear shaped, the deciding factor between doing OK or not will be the people you know and how well you can co-operate together. I think that goes for big disasters or something like the situation in Cyprus. For example, if you always shopped at a hypermarket I can't imagine them being interested in anything other than your hard cash, if you had a relationship with your local farm shop I'd expect them to give you a bit of credit till the money started flowing again.