Eurogedden Part Four

It's easy to forget that before fiat or paper currency, people still bought and sold various items and services. They used a Barter system. Farmers traded their food-goods for labor, for materials and for other items. Others traded services for items and vice versa. When the Euro collapses, life in America will continue on as normal for perhaps as much as three weeks to a few months. The dollar will collapse when the reality of a zero export rate comes in full force. We can prepare for a Barter Economy by stocking up on the simple conveniences of cheap (sadly mostly Chinese manufactured) items. Simple one-dollar items will become valuable when the semi’s and trains stop filling store shelves. Here are ten relatively cheap barter items to begin stockpiling.

1.Lighters
2.Matches
3.Cigarettes, Dip
4.Aluminum Foil
5.Liquor of all sorts
6.$3.00 propane tanks
7.Pain Meds and anti-biotics
8.Bandages, isopropyl alcohol
9.Nuts, Sunflower seeds, any non-perishable snack.
10.Tools (non-powered) screwdrivers, hammers, screws and nails.
Here are ten (somewhat) simple skills you will need to learn to survive the barter economy.



1. Gardening (keep 10% of what you grow to seed future harvests, trade 10% for something else you need and eat the other 80%)

2. Animal raising (chickens, ducks, rabbits, fish) choose one or choose all and get proficient at hatching and harvesting eggs, meat and hides)

3. Building pens, coops, cages, hutches. I am the WORST builder ever but to date have constructed four pens that to date have stood up to attempts by raccoons, bobcats, and coyotes to get inside.

4. Canning: can for your food, and for others trade a good canning job for a portion of what is being canned.

5. Hunting and Trapping: to date I have surpassed Elmer Fudd as being the most unsuccessful hunter in the world. I'm still working on it. (Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbit.) {little known fact, Elmer Fudd is actually Barney Frank's father}

6. Reloading ammunition - if you know how, great! If not, get the equipment now while you can.

7. Mechanics - basic vehicle maintenance will be extremely good skills to learn. I have gotten to be an expert in filling the car with gas, the rest is a blur.

8. Recycling - reusing what you already have for other purposes. We aren't recycling to save the planet from a hoax theory, we are doing it because those plastic bottles that held soda, juice and milk can be repurposed to hold detergents, water and more.

9. Cooking without electricity - Whether it's smoking, curing, salting or dehydrating this will be a skill that all those who upon snagging their first hog or deer and rejoicing that they have meat will need. Especially when they try to figure out how to preserve a whole deer without a freezer.

10. Distilling - a little sugar, some yeast and corn meal or grape juice and you can make your own liquor. Knowing how to do this can give you a decided advantage and something to trade that many will find invaluable. It's been said that one of the two industries that survive disastrous economies is liquor the other I'm not even going to consider.



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