Will The US Dollar Collapse?

baymule

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A friend of mine was raised on a farm in Arkansas during the depression. Everyone was poor. They always had to plenty to eat because they raised vegetables, had a milk cow and pigs. They raised cotton and corn for cash crops and farmed with mules. Her mother canned vegetables and fruits in quart jars that lined the wall in the basement which also doubled as a root cellar. In town was another matter. She had a friend that invited her to spend the night and she still remembers there was practically nothing to eat. Another girl stole her lunch at school because she was hungry.

So if hard times come, at least we can have something to eat. At least we'll have something to trade or sell. So bleak though it might sound, we will be waaaaay ahead of people living in towns or people that have no idea where real food comes from.
 

NH Homesteader

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I was just thinking about that. In the city it is more common to get dinner on your way home or shop multiple times a week... That is going to run out fast.

We might get bored eating the same thing all the time but we have plenty of food in our house (and backyard) to survive a while.
 

k15n1

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Will the US dollar collapse---don't know.

If you're afraid of your cash losing value, buy things that you can re-sell or that have utility for you. Real estate, or a hella rototiller, for example. Can't do anything about the economy as a whole but your individual holdings are under your control. Just don't do all of any one thing. Don't buy all land or all gold or all industry.

There's no way to store up wealth without some risk of losing it. But there's no reason to think that wealth is the only security, either.
 

baymule

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I'm not afraid of losing wealth-ya gotta have it to lose it. :lol: I have a little, make that very little, 401K. But we have been buying tools, (I am a tool freak) and stocking up on things we use. Real estate is in a bubble and will take a dive, so the idea of parking one's wealth in real estate is probably not such a great idea either. Our place is paid for, but there are many who are making payments on their homes and it could get very hard on them.

If our dollar collapses, then prices on imports will go up. Real estate is likely to bomb. People will have a hard time making ends meet. Inflation or hyperinflation could make us all unhappy. That's why I am posting these economic type threads, so we can discuss the possibilities of financial storms and what can we do to weather the storm. If we are warned, it is better than waking up one morning to panic in the streets. We can stay home, eat our stored foods, gather eggs from our chickens, tend our gardens and help our families and communities.
 

k15n1

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I wonder if it would be informative to read about history of other countries where terrible inflation has been experienced.

Real estate is probably the wrong term. I meant arable land, whether for farming or timber. If you own land, you have some security. The best would be to own land in different areas of the country, which is a hedge against geopolitical problems and climate changes.

BTW, if you've got the house paid off, you're ahead of most of us!
 

Jshubin

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I live in a rural suburb area (not even close to paid off lol), but it would be nice to own land in different regions of the country for those geopolitical or natural disasters mentioned above...
In recession type of situation, having an alternate paid off (or cheaper) piece of land with a mobile or house on it would be a nice get away in case you lose your main home due to economic losses. In most cases this 2nd property would be further from civilization for the benefit of cost, extra land and potential security.

But depending on how desperate things get, its hard to say if the title in your hand is worth anything. In SHTF scenario the owner may be whom ever is occupying the house with protection... Your second property may be occupied by squatter if left unattended.

Having good connections with Family could save you the cost of owning second properties. I have family about 4 hours from me, with enough acres of farm to feed a small town.
 

baymule

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We lived in a small town 75 miles north of Houston, Texas. In 2005, Hurricane Rita came blowing in and Houston evacuated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Rita
scroll down to Texas

A 1-2 hour drive turned into 22-28 hours. People were supposed to go past our town, but they ran out of gas. Cars overheated, people actually died in their cars from the heat. We, as a town, opened up our churches and schools. I was a member of the Red Cross and I spent the nights in an elementary school behind the house. I also spent a couple of nights at church, staying awake, so that the evacuees could sleep. There was no power, it was hot, no preparations for the masses of people. We ran out of food at church, so I went scrounging. The owner of the Sonic (a fast food drive in) opened up his freezer and loaded my truck up. After giving the church all they needed, I spread it around the neighborhood.

It was pandemonium. Luckily, gas deliveries were made and people could go back home. If that had not happened, things could have gotten real ugly. Our Junior High campus was beyond vandalized by the people sheltered there. They even rubbed human feces on the walls. WTF?? WHY turn on the very ones trying to help you?? :he The school was closed for two weeks, scrubbed, cleaned and sanitized. Animals.

I saw enough to realize that I never wanted to be in the path of millions of scared, fleeing people again. It was a real eye opener. We couldn't just quit our jobs and move, but I began preparing for just that. We bought our place in September 2014. I spent several months painting the house, ripping up flooring and putting down new floors. With the help of a neighbor, built enough fence to hold our horses. We moved in February of 2015. We sold our house and paid for this one. We sold some land and paid for the improvements here. We have 8 acres. It's enough to sustain us and our daughter and her family if push comes to shove.

I get these scare-you-to-death-buy-my-newsletter things in the mail and they recommend buying a second home, get another country's passport and blah, blah, blah. Dude! I have ONE home and I don't even HAVE a passport of any kind. Gheesh. This IS my prep and we are working hard to get it all fenced, structures built, garden site improved, fruit/nut trees planted, berries, small livestock and connecting with our community.

If our dollar collapses, things will get tight. We will have the ability to raise chickens and sheep and a garden. We are stocking up on things that will be useful, collapse or no collapse. At the very least, we can live a very good life in a great place with wonderful neighbors.
 

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