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Monday, October 6, 2008

Some Q and A


Ami said...
Thanks for the list! :) I have a few questions about shopping while/after SHTF. I know right now, I can stock up very cheaply using coupons and store sales. After the collapse, were coupons still available/useful? How about store sales? Also, are there any particular items you stay away from buying out in the open of a store for fear of it "marking" you as having money?

Also, and this has been bothering me for a while, but how do you unload groceries safely? I know you said to always have your guard up, but if you shop weekly with extras, it's quite a bit of stuff. Plus handling a little one and well, it makes me an easy target. How do you/your wife do it and stay safe?

Thanks!


You have to understand that after the crisis, and even now, people try extremely hard to take advantage where possible and reduce expenses as much as they can.
Coupons and special promotions are carefully managed here because they expect pretty much EVERYONE to take as much advantage from them as possible.
That’s why we don’t have coupons like the ones you lucky guys in USA have :)
The best thing you can get is usually a 10% discount if you pay with debit card one given day, usually Sunday.
Other than that, you get few coupons sometimes, but they are totally worthless.
DISCO for example usually gives a 20% discount on solarium sessions at the other end of Buenos Aires.
I’ve never heard of anyone bothering to use such a coupon.
The other trick is giving discounts on useless or already ridiculously expensive stuff.
For example, 20% discount… on towels that are priced at about 100 USD each.

Even if they have these discounts and sometimes sales, what they do is increase the price at the very least the same amount they are discounting it.

That’s the kind of trickery you end up getting used to.
Other than the 10% or 15% discount on Saturdays, you usually don’t see a coupon worth the paper its printed on.

Cant think of a particular item I avoid getting seen shopping, except for jewelry.
Gold has become a precious commodity and thieves easily sell it for profit. Fashion changed due to the terrific amount of gold jewelry robbery and most women now prefer silver for everyday use.

You are right to be worried about how you unload groceries.
Maybe not now, but maybe in a future you’ll find yourself dealing with the kind of crime we have here, and it’s in those moments when you are most exposed.

You must try by all means not to stay outside with the door opened for long periods of time. It has become clear by now that that’s when robbers attack the most.

What I do. I have a front metal gate apart from the wooden garage door, both operated by remote control.
I open the gate and garage door and right away start getting in , closing the gate behind me as soon as I have space.
Most of the time I am armed, and I’m extra cautious at times like these just in case.

The entire door opening/closing takes just a few seconds, and as far as I know, it’s the safest, fastest way to do it.

My wife, she does not go shopping large quantities on her own. She buys small amounts and always keep OC spray handy.


FerFAL

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What happened to personal debt in Argentina through the crises? (credit cards, home loans, auto loans, etc)

FerFAL said...

It was a pretty good deal for those that bought a house worth, say, 100.000 pesos or dollars ( at the old 1:1 rate) , and all of a sudden they own a property worth 300.000 pesos (the new 1:3) but only have to pay back at a rate of 1:1,4 ( the gov. fix rate for debts in dollars)

So yes, in some cases being in debt wasn’t bad.

Of course inflation kicked very hard, so owing any amount of money was a real pain in the back. But if you could afford it, it was good business.

FerFAL

Anonymous said...

Let say I'm in France, I've got money on one hand and a loan on the other. Given the current suspicion arround my bank and the financial crisis, would it be better to repay the loan with the money or to use that money to stockpile some essentials (food, water treatment device etc) ?
As I understood, inflation kills debt, and interest rates cuts promote inflation. So I guess I should stockpile food, right ?

Personnaly, I'm debt-free but unfortunately my relatives aren't that lucky...

Thank for the time you give to the survivalists' community !!

FerFAL said...

No doubt, keep as much money as you can. Get most of it out of the bank too.

It’s not the time right now to go around spending money, not in these circumstances.

Keep the money, buy a at least a month worth of food, more being of course better, as long as its the kind of food you eventually eat, and nor some junk you’ll just throw away 10 years from now.

I hope you have some kind of weapon, hopefully a firearm and some ammo.
If you don’t, I’d buy a nice short machete at least in the meantime, and work towards a proper firearm as time and money allows, but making it one of my top priorities.

What kind of firearms can you buy ( and keep at home) in France?

FerFAL

Staying Alive said...

I am gld your blog posting is picking up. You have good things to say. I disagree with your ida of living in the city as opposed to moving to the country. People should move to the country and then band together, not try to stay isolated.

Michael

Anonymous said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4979VW20081008?sp=true
Criminals targeted in U.S. "kidnap capital": Phoenix

Thanks for you blog, FerFAL. It looks like us USAians should get used to being aware all the time...

I'm applying for my pistol permit next week.

FerFAL said...

Good for your!;)

FerFAL

Anonymous said...

No doubt, keep as much money as you can. Get most of it out of the bank too.

I see your point : cash at hand. I still have about 80% of it in the banks :-(

It’s not the time right now to go around spending money, not in these circumstances.

These days, I'm buying books and equipement for my preps. I'm trying to build a food stock at my potential retreats.

I hope you have some kind of weapon, hopefully a firearm and some ammo.
If you don’t, I’d buy a nice short machete at least in the meantime, and work towards a proper firearm as time and money allows, but making it one of my top priorities.


I do have a kukri (nepalese machete), and I'm planning to buy a rifle (maybe .222 Rem). I may have the opportunity to salvage some old firearms in my family though.

What kind of firearms can you buy ( and keep at home) in France?

Since the November 2005 riots, the only guns you can buy without a licence are black powder pistols and rifles. You need a licence or a hunting permit to acquire anything from .22LR to .308, and in the case of handguns (even in .22LR) and semi-auto rifles or military calibers, you need a special authorization :-D
So, it's not impossible to acquire a semi-auto AR15 or Steyr AUG, but it's a lot of paper work and you appear in a list.

Maybe on the black market one can find a decent firearm without leaving tracks.