Aussie economy - 2017

What are the main threats that you prep for frostbite?

Every September someone predicts a Financial Collapse - I even bought into it a few years ago - but - being an avid reader of current events and world news, yes, I think that this could be a very rocky year.
Sure, the news on the radio was very positive with excellent returns on Super funds (yay), but the last financial meltdown, I took a 14k hit - doesn't sound like a lot, but it sure hit a nerve with me - I put 9.5% into my Super fund, and on top of my employers contribution, I lost all that years' contributions plus another 14k.

Yes, here in SA we are in BIG trouble financially - our govt spends, spends, spends, borrows more to spend, spend, spend.
And, the waste of money they throw about is ridiculous.
Sure, increase or add taxes, so we can spend more!!!

So, the solution??? Dunno!!!!

SA will be one blackout after another - I have to invest in a generator. The last big blackout, the 3 local supermarkets were giving away frozen/cold items to anyone who wanted them. That's fine, but who could cook them without power??? One servo here had it's own generator for fuel - cash only!!!!! (TIP - keep a hand full of cash about for emergencies like this)

China, EU, US, a lot of financial doom and gloom - I think countries will go further into debt, and then something will go "Pop" then the bubble will burst - in a bigger way than the last financial crisis.

Tip 2 - Prepare!!!!

Just my thoughts on this.

I keep plenty of canning bottles, gas, wood and charcoal so if power goes out for an extended period have means to preserve contents of freezer.  Gas BBQ and small propane gas cooker).  
Keep a number of bottles of frozen water in the freezer that gives a few more hours.   
Also have plenty of vinegar and salt to make biltong out of any meat that can be dried and preserved, does work better in the cooler months - drying meat that is.


 

I'm in China. The government wants everyone to think that the economy is motoring along like always, however we are seeing more and more things that haven't happened for years. Stuff like shops staying empty for weeks or months after going bust (used to always be waiting lists for empty shops), small business people we've been buying from for years talking about closing down their businesses and going back to their crappy little villages out in the boonies, retailers not being able to find staff (salaries have stagnated, but rent and cost of living is still rising), construction sites closing down for annual holidays and not reopening etc etc.
Once things start to really get bad, I imagine that the government will do what they usually do when they want the public to stop complaining -- manufacture a threat and get people's eyes looking "over there" (ie. black flag ops). There have been anti-foreign riots before over various things, but they've all died down after a few weeks.
The one thing I and other expats I know worry about now is that Trump will start that trade war (or even just a twitter war) with China, which will end up with all the expats paying the price. I actually know a French guy who paid the price for the Dalai Lama visiting Paris a few years ago - he took his wife and kids overseas for a short trip to Thailand, the DL visited Paris, and he then couldn't get his Chinese visa renewed for months. The fact that he had a business in China (that had been run by his family for 40 years) and had hundreds of staff was ignored, with visa staff basically just saying the French weren't welcome into the country. I dunno how this was supposed to help the Chinese government though, as it basically just sped up plans the family had for closing down all their factories and just outsourcing production as orders came in. So, loss of employment for hundreds of loyal staff, loss of tax dollars for the government, all becaus ethe guy happened to be French.

Long story short, a lot of expats are now getting there exit plans in place, funnelling their cash overseas, getting visas for their Chinese spouses etc. (basically extreme prepping).

"That said things are a little tight at present"

GN - I can see things are very tight atm - otherwise you wouldn't be drinking VB!!!!!

Good to see you're stocking up on those cans Gray. I suppose the wood is useful also.
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E.Collapse. - all economies go up and down. If you're a prepper, can you feed the people around you? I would hope you can. Do you have a roof over you head? What about a haphazard water supply? Can you protect yourself and do you have security measures if things got 'somewhat bad' but not SHTF? Isn't that what matters? The basics?

Taking stock of a Venezuelan or Argentina type collapse right now, do you have what you 'need'. I don't need to pay the power bill, nor do I need someone to keep the power on, I have enough solar to keep me going for most things, though probably not enough panels for the big fridge, though I have a small one that I can easily run. If food supplies are disruptive then I don't need to buy food at all for quite a while. Of course I might 'look' like I'm looking for food. Do I need a water supply? I have some saved and I can collect more than enough. If anything such an event would be disruptive for sure, though I'd get on with things just fine, even if I have to implement an increased security plan.

Yep, safety first, that's my moto.

Normally I find that logs are on the ground so I can't cut all the way through, I cut most of the way then roll the log over. In this case a lot of the log is off the ground, but my bar wasn't long enough to do it in one cut anyway.