Usually I prefer to focus on How to’s. As Paul Wheaton puts it “Building bricks”. Today though I just want to share some news. I am in no way a news junkie. In fact I’m terrible about keeping up with news, but I can’t ignore certain news. From what I’m seeing my gut feeling is that this coming year (2013) is going to be a rough year for the economy. I’ll share why I’m thinking this and urge you to make (common sense) preps a priority for a few months at least.
Keeping a Level Head
I just want to preface this by saying you will not see any fear mongering here at Survivalpunk. I have nothing to sale you here. I’m not going to tell you that the end is near and that you better buy a pallet of MRE’s now or your a goner. Hell if you eat a pallet of MRE’s you just might be a goner from stomach pains. I wont be like on idiot commenter I read about on a YouTube video that stated if Obama got re-elected that “There would be war in the streets”. If that’s what your looking for this ain’t the right place. What I think we are facing is much less grim.
When the Big Boys are Scared
The big piece of news I’ve heard is from the company I work at. I won’t name it but rest assurd you know it. It is a very big company that knows how to make and keep money. So when I see that the big wigs are getting scared I know something is coming. I have not seen anything to directly confirm this. No corporate emails stating that the economy is about to bust. However I have seen several that lead me to believe it will not be a great year for the economy. The big push right now is controlling costs. I have never seen a cost control this strict before.
First was the hours being cut for employees. Although this happens from time to time, like in 2008 when the economy crashed. I’ve not seen it happen when the stock price is soaring, not when sales are doing great and definitely not heading into the holiday season. This is normally the time when hours goes up and overtime is allowed. To help fill in the void salaried management are being scheduled to work more days. Basically getting free labor from them to make up the work lost from hourly employees.
Hours are not the only costs being cut. Are expenses are being scrutinized. Down to very tiny amounts. The company is putting a stop to traveling so millage money is not paid. Even to the point of stopping regional honchos from driving around to save money. Supplies are down to the bare minimum. Repairs are being pushed off till later. To be honest they are literally penny pinching. I’ve never seen this level of expense control before and I’m sure most of the measures being taken are above my pay grade.
Others Following
The other day I caught I news snippet about McDonald’s in anticipation of Obama care cutting full time employes below thirty hours a week. Doing so would let them avoid giving their full time employees Obmacare approved health care plans and by being below thirty hours they avoid the fines for not offering them insurance. From doing a quick search about this I found that McDonald’s is not alone. Many more companies plan to skirt around the fines and higher costs plans by screwing people out of both money and coverage. It’s a double whammy. Without this “New Tax” they would have more hours and some coverage. Combine this with massive layoffs that are happening. Bank of America plans on cutting 16,000 by the end of the year.
What you can do
I don’t see this year turning into Ralwes’ Patriots but it sure won’t be a great year. My advice would be to focus on basic things and shore up any holes you have in your preps. Try to copy the big boys action plan. Scrutinize all purchases, cut back on eating out or stop altogether. Work on your savings. Make sure your savings are diversified as well. This year my focus will be one increasing my Bank savings >Cash > Precious Metals in that order. I’ve stopped contributions to my 401(k) for now and will divert that into metals and food storage. If things are great I lose a year of contributions in lieu of hard assets that will not lose value. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. My only stock investment I’m keeping an eye on and will sale at the first drop. In other words I’m just doing some basic common sense preparations. Having more money in my savings account December 2013 wouldn’t be a bad thing. If I’m wrong I’m better off and I’ll take some of my savings and preps and throw a party. If I’m right then I’ll be better off and I can help myself, my friends and family to get through a rough year. Win win either way.
Have you heard any rumblings at your work or in the news. Whats your gut telling you? Let me know in the comments.
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Start canning this will help when the food shortage comes.
No warning signs here in the public sector, of course, this is where lunacy resides. I’m guessing some of the federal reserves QE 3 money will end up in bonds that fund my check. For a while…
Thanks for the interview with TSP, I like your style.
I’ve had a bad feeling for a while…I’m in the service industry, and in a location that has a significant number of the properties being second/vacation homes.
Just this morning, I rolled into a gated airplane community, to a property on a private lake, and a house that is over 6,000 sq feet, custom built. The owner met me, we talked about his problems, and I found that he had a broken pipe in his pool system underground, requiring some excavation.
He said he would be doing the repair himself. Now either he’s just a very hands-on kind of guy…or he’s worried about something too, and is looking to cuts his costs as well.
“May you live in interesting times” sure sounds like a curse to me…
db
I’m just finding out about you as I’ve just started listening to the Survival Podcast. I’ve learned so much in the one week after being exposed to you both… I just stopped contributions to my 401k today even before reading this blog. I too am concerned things are about to get very uncomfortable for a great many people. Thanks for the information you provide with regard to getting and being prepared.
How sad that the big companies have found a loophole around a law that was made to help people get coverage that these companies should have been supplying in the first place. Greed is a dangerous thing.
Great article. Will think about the 401K stuff.
Big companies will always find a way to survive. I expect many more companies to follow this move. In the end it will hurt more people than anything
I work at a not-for-profit animal shelter so penny pinching is the norm. There will be no raises yet again this year but “maybe” a one shot year end bonus depending on our reviews.
I foresee a tremendous dump of animals on us soon after the holidays as the seasonal employees get laid off and since the forecast is for less snow than normal according to NOAA, it’s likely that the local ski resorts have lesser revenues. We are desperately trying to find a way to cut our feeding costs through grants and such. Our donations, especially on cat food, are waaaay down, and we have zilch on hand to “food bank” for local pet owners to try and help them hang on to their companions in lieu of turning them in or letting them loose. We have over 200 cats in the shelter and a waiting list for owner releases. 🙁
My acronym at this time is POCA- Previews Of Coming Attractions. It’s not going to e pretty.
I wonder if you’re extrapolating too much from what your company is doing. The mcdogshit stuff was totally predicatable with the obamacare bullshit. The company I work for is expanding actually. I think the fed bought themselves a bull. I really do think we’re gonna get a 2-5 year run up before the final crash. I totally agree with Jack over at tsp about this. Your plan though is excellent, you will be very well served to have as much cash/hard assets as possible, if you end up being a cost they cut or even if nothing changes.
I’ve been trying to prepare for the what I see to be as an inevitable economic collapse coming to the US soon. Every other country in the world has been hit hard, and our turn is coming a lot faster than we think. Not trying to scaremonger here, just laying out what I believe to be the truth. While I think having some cash on hand is good, it won’t do anyone a lick of good if it isn’t worth anything, and QE3 has only further devalued the dollar. So I’ve been doing my best to put any surplus cash I manage to scrape together into food preps, gear that I don’t have yet, and ammo. I’ve also been collecting materials that I believe will be useful to barter, as well. Clothing, durable/rugged work shoes/boots (I work at a big name shoe company that will remain nameless)… consumable goods that people will always have a need for and will more than likely be willing to barter for. My advice to friends and family has been to save up whatever they feel they will need for themselves, and to stock up on whatever barter items they have available to them in their respective industries/professions. If there really is an economic collapse, life will still go on. Continuity of free trade needs to be considered when making one’s preps. If everyone has something that someone else needs, we can all get what we need simply by trading with one another, as they are currently doing in Greece. Special skills will also be on the table for barter, as well. Welding, building, plumbing, medical skills… all of these specialized skills will still be needed. Just some food for thought.
Sounds like a pretty solid plan Chris!
i too am seeing a “penny pinching”” attitude at the company i work for which is a fortune 500 company with contracts in both public and private sector. it’s a manufacturing plant and not only have they upped productivity requirements they have cut our supply cost allowances. also the trend the last couple years has been the purchasing of smaller companies which we usually farm out certain jobs to. this is the most obvious sign to me ie; buying companies so we wont be dependent on said companies staying in business to produce our product. i feel this is a double edge sword though meaning job security but tough times might be closer than we think…
When we are in a strong bull market, and it seems like the market will not go down no matter what, you can get a great stock investing tip just from throwing a dart at the list of stocks in Investors Business Daily, and come out with a winner.An Investing Tip can come from an article you read in the newspaper or a magazine. Usually the time you read about it, the stock has already made it’s big move. That is when the smart money starts taking their profits and sells to the dump money.,
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