A holistic look at surviving the economic uncertainty

The covid lockdowns and vaccine / mask mandates have had a profound effect on society here in NZ.

Since it’s become clear that the government is not interested in what we have to say, the way forward in part, for some of us, is remove any reliance and influence the government has on our lives.

This has led to small groups all over the country organising themselves to be as resilient and self-sufficient as possible. (a parrellel economy)

For those of you who think maybe this is all an bit nuts, I refer you to the picture above (I’m in the lower group)

So, if the ‘great reset’ theories actually turn out to be true, it will be too late organise anything. Below is a list of things to think about, if things go pear shaped. I’m not saying it will, but been prepared isn’t a bad thing.

Food

Food shortages have been happening all over the world lately, it is thought that NZ wont run out of food, rather that it will become more expensive.
There are quite a lot of different idea’s out there about food storage, and what to keep, and how much.
Lots of frozen stuff wont be a good idea if the power goes out for a long time, or if electricity prices go through the roof.

I’ve simply kept a bulk supply of canned food, flour, pasta,  etc.
These may need swapping out and replacing occassionally because of expiry dates on some items.

but don’t overly concerned about expiry dates in general as Adam explains in the link below….

https://snackist.com/2017/05/26/adam-ruins-everything-exposes-the-expiration-dates-myth/

Garden

Just do it already -I think the quickest way to get started is to just hire a rotary hoe for the day, unless you really like using a shovel. There are lots of gardening idea’s out there and I’m no gardener, so I wont go into specifics.

In short, anything you are growing sucessfully is better than nothing. I would tend to say you are better off to grow lots of the same vegetable, because it’s then easier to look after them and tailor to their requirements.
Fruit tree’s are a good option but can take years to mature.

One thing I am doing is composting food scraps in a bucket buried in the lawn to get our soil a bit healthier.

Fertilisers are still available, but it’s possible that NZ will go down the same road as Sri Lanka and ban fertilisers. (with disasterous results)

https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Organic-fertiliser-pivot-continues-to-send-shockwaves-through-agriculture-sector/273-245246

Cash

If there is a financial collapse, cash could be king, especially if electronic transactions don’t work and banks won’t allow you to withdraw your own money.

A reserve supply of cash in hand would be a good idea.

If cash ever becomes worthless due to hyper-inflation (eg Zimbabwe), tradeable commodities or silver could be a good alternative.

Water

An average person needs 3-4 litres a day.
I have about 40 litres of fresh water available via the toilet cistern and a few other containers.

I’m also collecting rain water in a rather small 200 litre tank.
If I need more storage I have 3 rubbish bins, a kayak and a bath for a total of 900 litres.
If I’m running short of water, there is a creek about 2km away.

As an aside, there is also 180 litres in the hot water cylinder, but this isn’t drinkable due to the bugs in there.

Power

An assumption I’ve made here is that power could go out for a long time, so I need to run the fridge off a generator a few hours everyday, until I’ve used up all the frozen stuff. I brought a generator to run the fridge, and 20 ltr of petrol to run the fridge a few hours a day.

As luck would have it, I’ve always had a passing interest in solar energy, so I have a 12V system setup which is big enough to run a few lights, USB chargers, etc

Cooking / Heat

Our fireplace works ok for cooking and heating water.
A BBQ will work as well, but getting fuel (gas) could be a problem in the long run.
Another option is to simply have a makeshift campfire/brazier outside and a good solid saucepan.
Old pallets can be found in industrial area’s if wood gets a bit scarce.

Transport

Petrol could get scarce and expensive. We already have small cars, and a few small motorcycles, so we are optimised as much as we can here.
Electric cars will need power (lots) to recharge, so I don’t think these are a good idea.

Communications

Worse case scenario is no internet or cell phone coverage. For us older folk it’s easy to adjust to this (just like the old days)
Our local group already has preparations for this eventuality.
Other groups have invested in C.B. radio’s or similar.

Entertainment

If you have kids, you need to consider keeping them occupied.
Set aside Board games, packs of cards for a rainy days, and skateboards, scooters, soccer balls, etc.

Epilogue

If it turns out I actually am nuts, and nothing bad happens, all I need to do is reinstate the lawn, and sell off the generator, water tank, etc.

That about covers it I think.