I don’t think I’m an alarmist. You won’t find me sporting any tin foil hats, or stocking up on freeze dried food packets, building any bunkers, or anything of that matter. I like to think of myself of a prudent man, at least much of the time, if not most. When I look at the Western world and things that are happening I see dire economic times ahead for a variety of different reasons.
I see inflation growing by leaps and bounds, I see the average family failing to keep up with, I see the corrupt rich getting richer and the middle class becoming the poor, I see the average man having very little prospects and being denied prospects that were almost taken for granted by his father or grandfather’s generation. I see a grand need for adaption and understanding how the world actually works.
Without money we don’t have much. We don’t have freedom that’s for sure. And we need at least a degree of freedom to adapt and overcome whatever the world is going to throw at us. Hence we need money, more of it, in general, the better. And we can’t just expect to find a cushy job that we can work at for the rest of our lives. Except in very specialized fields that becoming a bit of a fantasy.
But what can we do? What can be done to prepare for the come economic woes?
Mobility Is The Name Of The Game
Become as mobile as you possibly can. Start saving money now in case you have to go some time without a job in the future. Look out at your city, state, district, nation and try to figure out where it’s headed, don’t be blinded by optimism, patriotism, or lying politicians. If things are trending downwards then they’ll likely keep trending downwards. If things are getting worse they’ll likely keep getting worse and so on and so forth.
So take an honest look at where you live and look for where the pastures might be greener. Look for places with low cost of living and relative safety, and more importantly what would be required to live there. Do the hard numbers. How much would you need to survive there and how could you go about acquiring such means? Could you work a local job there and be fine? Or do you need a specialized job tied to your location?
Look for countries with low cost of living and safer parts of that country. Or maybe not even another country. In places like Russia and the United States different parts of the country are very different. Moving from district to district or state to state can completely change things economically wise. If you have to learn a new language then start now, and start saving, travel places for as cheap as possible and live the local life a little bit if you can. Even a week “vacation” can give you some general ideas about the place.
Saving Money
In the past I’ve knocked the idea of “saving your way to riches” and the truth of the matter is you’ll never get rich by saving a couple pennies here or there. However at the same time I do think its important to keep your expenses down in whatever way you can. Especially when you may have to be mobile and fast. Don’t buy large houses or fancy apartments, get a car that’s practical, buy real food and cook it, it ends up being cheaper than prepackaged things, and just anything else you can do to lower expenses.
Be careful of getting too many things. I’m a huge fan of paperback books and if I ever found a place to settle permanently would have a huge library of them, however for in-between times a Kindle or other e-reader device works better. Find hobbies that don’t take much money. I go to an MMA gym that has fees that are half the cost of a BJJ focused place I went before and I get better training. I have a decent pair of gloves and shin guards I bought two years ago that are still holding up and a gum shield which was very cheap.
Just look for anywhere that you can cut down expenses. Don’t go into debt, very few things are worth going into debt for, especially not college. Look for ways to scrimp and save. Not because you’ll become rich by doing it but rather because if you have to get moving faster than you thought it’ll give you a little more room to move. You don’t want to wait until things hit a critical level, you want to get moving before then. Look for tensions and where things could be in a few months or years time.
Things change fast.
Look For Leverage
Look for places that can earn you decent money if even for a short time. Sales is always good for this. Even something like bartending or becoming a waiter is better than something that takes years to get into for what we’re talking about here. Learn all you can about sales in regards to bar tending and waitering and you can make a decent pay depending on where you work. Leverage everything that you have. In this case you don’t want to look too long term with things, look for quicker gains and take them.
Odd jobs here and there can add up. Look for people and companies that need help for certain periods of time or for certain jobs. I’ve made quite a few books hoping on a friend’s lawn crew and doing landscaping. I didn’t have to do much to get qualified for that job either. Little things here and there, you’re looking for leverage. Ways to earn more and make more.
Stocking away for when things turn. Now granted inflation is turning everyone’s money into worthless scraps of paper which is why we’re not looking too much long term here. You want to get out to where things are more stable and are leveraging the money you have now to do that. So earn the money while it has value but with the ultimate goal of going to a place where you can convert it to another.
Times Are A Changing
And they’re not changing slow. Keep your head up and don’t get caught in the tide going out. Adapt, overcome, and do yourself a favor by looking forward.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
