Spooked about What Happened in Cyprus?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by aptprepper

Everyday we hear about the banking developments in Cyprus, where bank holidays were declared and a “tax” on deposits is being instituted. Depositors stand to lose a large amount of their accounts.

It seems preppers are not the only ones wondering about this – even at work, concerns about Cyprus are being discussed in conversations at the break room. Seeing the long lines, reading accounts from residents makes you wonder if this can happen here, and whether your money is safe anywhere.

It’s not something to panic about, but certainly something to think about. What can a regular person do to reduce your risk? I don’t have any large savings to worry about, am not a financial expert, but a regular person observing what’s going on and looking at ideas.

Consider Where You Bank

Many people are thinking about moving to regional banks or credit unions. They feel having a relationship with a smaller bank give them a bit more confidence in where they are keeping their cash.

Don’t Keep all your Eggs in One Basket

Don’t keep all your money and credit in one bank. This is prudent to do even in “normal times.” I learned this when my bank account got hacked and the bank froze all the accounts (savings, checking and credit cards) during a long weekend. Now I have savings, checking and credit cards spread out among different banks.

Reduce Your Dependency on Debit and Credit Cards

Many people have ditched using cash for the convenience of debit or credit. They just pull out a bank card for everything. But what if you lose access to these accounts? Even if you have direct deposit of your paycheck, get back in the habit of withdrawing the cash for your weekly needs: grocery, gas, entertainment etc. It seems inconvenient at first, but if you get into the habit, you will find out that you spend within your budgeted amount by using cash. Lowering or eliminating your debt will benefit your finances and peace of mind in the long run.

Have Spare Cash Available

I’ve always recommended having a cash stash to tide you over in case you cannot get money out of the bank. Even in “normal times” you should have enough cash to cover your needs for a few days.

Keep Hard Assets

Having emergency food storage, enough water, health and sanitation supplies for a few months will help you survive a bank holiday. Imagine if you can’t get to your money using your debit or credit card for a time period, and think of all the items you need to survive. Have a ready supply of these items on hand at all times.

Precious Metals

Keep a few gold and silver coins to diversify your financial portfolio. Do some research before jumping in. Save your nickels or trade paper cash for nickels. Buying coins minted pre-1965 is another place to start. Don’t forget about your jewelry-they have value as well. Jewelry is not as easily convertible to cash, but they can still be sold if you need cash.

Know Your Alternatives to Online Bill Paying

If you lose access to online bill paying, you may have to pay your utilities directly or through an authorized third party. Many grocery stores have a customer service desk where you can cash checks for a small fee, and they accept payments for utilities and cell phone providers.

ReadyMade Resources is a trusted source for your preparedness supplies:

Check out information and products available at SafeGuard Clothing, or click on the link below.

Find products that are equally functional for wilderness survival as well as urban preparedness:

Unintended Myth about Preppers from TV Shows

Posted on December 12, 2012 by aptprepper

CC Photo by_allison_john

I occasionally get requests for interviews from the media, but have only agreed to less than a handful of phone interviews. One recent interviewer told me she and her editor had been watching Doomsday Preppers and other shows about building bunkers and they got the impression that you must have a lot of money to be able to prepare. She said after seeing all the weapons, gear, precious metals and land that was being acquired, it was hard not to come to that conclusion.

The reporter asked me how I, an apartment dweller, can prepare for a disaster with lack of space and a limited budget. The rest of the conversation was devoted to discussing low cost ways to prepare, and hopefully debunk the myth that you need a lot of money to prepare.

People get ideas and form all sorts of conclusions about things they see or hear in the media. The impression that “preppers are rich” sounds preposterous but some may be coming away with this image. After reading Why are Preppers Hated So Much, I really hope “because they must be rich” (untrue as it is) is not added to the list.

Money saving tips for beginning preppers

Visit SafeCastle for your preparedness supplies:

Please visit Solo Stove today and tell them Apartment Prepper sent you.

Good ideas for building a food storage plan can be found here:

Monday Musings 10/1/2012 October Edition

Posted on October 1, 2012 by aptprepper

With today being the first day of October, I thought I’d do a quick post.

New SARS threat bears watching. The World Health Organization is closely watching out for cases involving a virus in the same family as the one that caused SARS back in the early 2000s. This new virus starts out as a respiratory type infection but can cause pneumonia and kidney failure. See New Coronavirus Outbreak: WHO On Alert And Watching New Sars-Like Virus In Saudi Arabia. No need to worry, best thing to do is stay aware and get informed on SARS, by visiting the CDC website

And, with the regular flu season nearly upon us, it doesn’t hurt to check your First Aid supplies, chicken soup, herb teas and other home remedies.

Everyone needs a fire evacuation plan. At least once a week we hear about some unfortunate families who are victims of a house or apartment fire. I think apartment dwellers are vulnerable because the close proximity of homes contributes to fire spreading rapidly. A few units are affected by the time the fire is contained. Keeping our loved ones safe is of utmost importance. Here is an article that helps you create a plan: Planning a Fire Evacuation Route for Your Home

Fiscal cliff looming. Even the mainstream early morning news radio that I listen to, while sitting in traffic, was discussing the “global economic slowdown.” See Faber Warns “Everything Will Collapse” ; Five Mainstream Economists Sound a Warning ; America could be ‘taken over,’ warns Ross Perot If you have been holding off for a better time to get prepared, don’t wait. There is no better time than right now to get those emergency supplies and finances in shape. I hope these dire warnings never come to pass, but signs are hard to miss. These are worrisome times indeed.

Blog updates

Moved to a new server. My web hosting service has informed me that the blog just finished moving to a newer. faster server. The actual moved occurred this past weekend. I had a few issues logging in on Friday night when I got “server unavailable” error message but nothing too major. For anyone who wasn’t able to visit the site, sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience. Any issues should be fixed now.

New sponsors are welcome I receive a lot of requests for banner ad space but I am being selective by limiting sponsors to preparedness and survival companies that fit in with the blog content. It does help pay the blog expenses such as the aforementioned servers and for testing, ingredients etc, so if you know of anyone interested, please have them drop me an email.

New book giveaway. I will be announcing a drawing for a new book. Check back later this week!

Have a safe week everyone!

Check out the Legacy Premium line of storage foods carried by one of our sponsors, PrepareWise.

Get the real deal. Whether bugging out or sheltering in place, you can never have enough clean water for survival: For your water purifier needs, please visit:

Don’t let those expiration dates get past you. An inexpensive but helpful tool to keep track of supplies (Iphone or Ipad users):

What People Can Do to Prepare in this Troubled Economy

Posted on September 26, 2012 by aptprepper

Today is Day Three of Blog Crossover Week. If you missed the last couple of days, go read Monday and Tuesday posts.

The question is: What’s the most important thing people can do to prepare themselves in today’s troubled economy?

I’ve covered the stagnant economy and money saving ideas a number of times in Apartment Prepper posts. Although the media has been pointing out there are some signs of improvement, the economy continues to be sluggish. People are still worried about jobs, high food gas prices, and the ever increasing deficit. I think the most important thing people can do is be prepared for anything. Make a firm decision to become prepared and do everything you can towards this goal.

Buy food and other necessities now while the prices are still manageable. Even if nothing happens, you know prices are only going to increase so you really can’t lose by setting aside a good stockpile. Even if you are employed and are comfortable with your finances, save some money and avoid getting into new debt. Have a “worse case scenario” plan on what you would do if there were an economy collapse and the main wage earner of the family were to lose his or her job. What if you can no longer pay your rent or mortgage? Would you combine forces with your family and move in with them? These are not pleasant thoughts, but if you deal with them now, you avoid going into shock later. You will also be able to make a plan and take action now to ensure a better outcome.

What do you think? Please share your comments below on what you think people should do in this troubled economy. I’ve gotten many great ideas from comments as well as reading other blogs, sharing really does help our preparedness community. So be sure to check out the following sites participating and see what they think, in this week’s special blog crossover!

ModernSurvivalOnline.com

SeasonedCitizenPrepper.com

Check out the Legacy Premium line of storage foods carried by one of our sponsors, PrepareWise.

Get the real deal. Whether bugging out or sheltering in place, you can never have enough clean water for survival: For your water purifier needs, please visit:

Don’t let those expiration dates get past you. An inexpensive but helpful tool to keep track of supplies (Iphone or Ipad users):

The Debit Card Diet

Posted on August 22, 2012 by aptprepper

source: Freefoto.com under c.c.

Finances are tight these days, and prices are increasing for necessities such as gas and groceries. I have a few emergency supplies on the list for which I am trying to free up some funds. In an effort to stick to the budget, this month, the Apartment Prepper household is trying something different: using cash for all shopping transactions. Bills are paid via online banking and that has not changed. However, to pay for groceries, gas, toiletries, meals out, we are leaving the debit cards at home and using cash only.

My problem was even though I had a budgeted amount, I did not have worries about going over as long as I had the debit card to fall back on. This habit threw me off budget most of the time. So this month, Mr Apt Prepper and I agreed, no debit cards.

On payday, I go to the bank and withdraw the specific amount of cash budgeted for each expense: gas, groceries, school supplies, entertainment etc.

It is harder than I thought. Standing at the grocery store, I watched how other shoppers were paying for groceries: most people were paying with some kind of card, either debit or credit. Very few pay with checks, and even less with cash. Shopping with just the flat amount budgeted, say $100 is not as easy. On the few times we’d gone out to eat, we checked the menu ahead of time to make sure we knew the costs in advance.

Here are other things I noticed:

The higher prices are really noticeable when you are adding up each item you throw in the grocery cart. I’ve had to return less needed items (will buy it when I really need it) to the shelf if I am too close to the limit.
You have to weigh all the produce to avoid overbuying
Paying with cash turns you into a very careful shopper
The store’s house brands are a lot cheaper than the name brand, but very close in quality.
Some gas stations give a cash discount
When eating out with cash, you get really picky about what you order
Coupons really help
When you are relying on cash and have to go to the bank for more, you rethink whether you really need something enough to go through all the trouble
You get a good feeling when you are under-budget and you get change back

I was pretty irritated about using cash only at first and actually had nightmares about going up the cashier and being short on cash. Now I am getting used to it and have made it into a challenge. We are on week three of the debit card diet and I can really see the benefits. We’ve stayed on budget and now I don’t even miss the cards. In another week or so, we’ll have funds to cover that water storage barrel and the Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook on my wish list!

Visit SafeCastle for your preparedness supplies:

For more preparedness tips, read my book:

Good ideas for building a food storage plan can be found here:

The Emergency Cash Stash

Posted on October 23, 2011 by aptprepper

We were going over the budget not too long ago and trying to find yet more ways to cut back on expenses. At the same time, we decided to take inventory of our accounts.

The last “account” we checked on was the Emergency Cash Stash kept in the house for emergencies. I’ve always recommended keeping a some cash in the house in case the ATMs suddenly become unavailable due to any of the following reasons:

power outage
your checking account gets hacked and is disabled
your debit card gets lost or stolen and the bank is closed
natural disaster such as hurricane, tornado, earthquake etc.
banks declare a “bank holiday”

Regardless of the situation, a cash stash is an essential part of any emergency plan.

Imagine my surprise when I checked what was in the cash stash and found $47.00.
This was well below what we had originally agreed upon to keep around for emergencies. See Can a Bank Glitch Ruin Your Weekend). I recalled we “borrowed” from the fund when a few emergencies came up and needed quick cash to pay for unforeseen expenses. I had intended to replace it, but life gets in the way of your good intentions sometimes. They were all good reasons, but the point was, I had forgotten to go back and replace what was taken out. We’d be kicking ourselves if some emergency happened and discovered we were low on cash!

Here is the plan to quickly replenish it:

Cutting the budgeted grocery expense in half for the coming week. We’ll be using up what’s in the pantry even if it means eating cereal for dinner (which I actually don’t mind) (+$50)
Found a few items to sell on E-bay and listing those items today Expected: (+$40)
Called the home improvement store to see if they would accept an item that did not work out for return even if it was opened. Was pleasantly surprised when I was told they’d accept it with the original receipt. (+$32)
Mailing in a rebate form that I almost thought was too small to bother with ($3)

We are working on the plan now, and hopefully the fund will be back to pre-depleted levels soon.

If you have built up your cash fund, what other tips were successful for you?

For your food storage needs, please visit Emergency Essentials:

For more preparedness tips, read my book:

A Personal Economic Crash Plan

Posted on October 8, 2011 by apartmentprepper

New economic indicators appear to have shown a small improvement as of yesterday, with new data that suggested employers added 103,000. However unemployment remains unchanged at 9.1% and it is hard to miss the abundance of bad economic news. The Euro-debt crisis is threatening to drag the U.S. economy. People are still worried about their own current or future unemployment. The small piece of good news is not enough to calm fears. Regardless of how the economy does in general, the personal impact is what concerns us most. When the “economic recovery” a year or two ago was being hailed by the media, people who were already unemployed and unable to get jobs did not feel any better.

It would be prudent to consider worse case scenarios in our own personal finances. I know it sounds pessimistic, but I believe that planning ahead is best to keep from being caught unawares: it may help you avoid the worse case scenario, OR to know ahead of time what to do if it happens.

What is your personal worse case scenario? For many of us, it’s the loss of income. If one spouse loses his or her job, then it’s time to tighten the belt and eliminate all discretionary spending. Some examples include: get rid of cable, eliminate all meals out, pay minimums of credit card bills (if any), lower or freeze contributions to 401k, eliminate the cell phone plans and use a prepaid phone with no data plan, eliminate Netflix or other subscriptions and substitute with free entertainment. Hopefully unemployment benefits are available and would help tide things over.

If both spouses lose their jobs then things are getting to the worse case scenario. Again, if unemployment benefit is available, that would help but the family would still need to cut back drastically. If things were really bad and there are no benefits then it’s time to put into effect economic crash plan:

How long would your emergency savings last- how many months or rent or mortgage can you cover?
Can you borrow from retirement plans? In a crash, you need to take care of the present and keeping a roof over your head.
Consider which relatives can you move in with temporarily if you had to. I know this prospect could be, depending on your relationship with your relatives, but not as scary as being homeless.
If you don’t have relatives you can move with, can you live in a truck or RV if you had access to one? Remember, these ideas may sound far-fetched, but these mental scenarios will help you plan and cope better should your financial fortune goes south.
Start using emergency supplies to avoid having to buy food. Since you are now in emergency territory now is the time to use the rice and beans to live on.

I know it’s hard to think about these things. It was difficult for me to think it through, but it is a good mental exercise so you know the “holes” in your finances. You can fix them while you have time:

Boost your emergency fund by using your skills to earn extra income
Cut down on discretionary spending now, and send the extra money to savings.
Build good relationships at work and in your industry.
Stop incurring new debt, pay down debt if you can, but place a priority on building your emergency fund
Stock up on food and supplies while you can
Get your checkups, prescriptions, eyeglasses and any elective medical procedures while you have health insurance

If you are lucky and nothing happens, then you are still in a good position financially.

At the very least, the above exercise should help you work through your economic fears. After considering the worse case scenario, you can step back into the present and feel grateful of what you have right now.

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The Apartment Prepper’s Blog Welcomes Survival Gear Bags

As you know I have written about the possibility of having to bug out of your home in the event of either a temporary or long term disaster, especially if you live in the big city. As apartment dwellers, the chance may be even higher. Therefore it makes sense to keep a “go-bag” just in case of such an emergency. After all even FEMA recommends keeping one handy, as we’ve seen in the commercial spots where a family has their “world turned upside down.” To this end we have affiliated with Survival Gear Bags, a well regarded and reliable company that provides a variety of bags for your needs. I am excited about this affiliation as we will be working with them to design a special Apartment Prepper’s bag in the near future. More details to come!

Click on the link below, or the one on the right sidebar to visit Survival Gear Bags.

Worried about Finances?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by aptprepper

As I write this, the stock market was taking another beating, with many factors contributing to the sell-off: high unemployment, European debt crisis, inflation fears, bad housing market… The list goes on. The experts indicate “we are dangerously close to a recession.” I don’t think it ever left. But if the “big players” are worried, should we worry as well? Instead of fretting, why not take some simple steps now to “recession-proof” your finances?

Cut down on expenses. Even if you think you’ve already cut down, check again. I thought I all my subscriptions, I was mistaken. I discovered I had a subscription to a magazine that had not delivered in months, so I called and asked for a refund for the remaining issues. Every dollar counts.
Stop getting into more debt, and pay down your balances.
If you are employed, make an extra effort to be noticed as a valuable worker.
Learn some new skills that would make you more marketable. OR, learn some new skills you can use to have a mini side business.
Save money and build up your emergency fund.
Start your stockpile of food, water and essential supplies. Don’t neglect comfort foods like chocolate, wine or beer (if you like these); they are good for morale.
Start a garden and grow vegetables, herbs that your family will use.
Brainstorm on ways you can raise funds to build savings or increase your income: get together hold a neighborhood garage sale, sell stuff on E-bay or Craigslist, use your skills or hobbies to make extra cash.
Take care of your health; get your health and dental check ups, fill your prescriptions.

Check out this article”Personal Financial SHTF Experience” on FerFAL’s blog http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2011/08/personal-financial-shtf-experience.html. It’s a great personal account that shows if you plan well, you will weather any storm that comes your way.

For easy ways to become more prepared, read my book:

Consider Emergency Essentials, for a great selection of long term storage ingredients,

Should You Prep while Deep in Debt?

Posted on August 14, 2011 by aptprepper

According to creditcards.com the average credit card debt per household that hold credit card debt is $15,799 for 2011. This number does not include households that are credit card debt free, this is only households that hold credit card debt already. If you are among the debt free crowd, you have planned well. However, if you feel you are in a lot of debt, you are not alone. Many people are in denial about how much they owe, but a whole lot are trying to dig their way out.

If you are trying to recover from credit card debt, I recommend these sites that specialize on giving debt free living advice:

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

http://www.debtproofliving.com/

Both sites have a members area, however, the free side is excellent and gives enough information to get started. I am not affiliated with any of these sites, I just know countless people have benefited from following these steps.

Should you set aside cash for emergency preparedness if you are trying to get out of debt?

I would say as long as you are current on your bills, and are able to set aside a small amount for water, food and emergency supplies, then you should do so. I would not recommend getting behind or defaulting on your debt, or charging your credit cards to buy preparedness supplies if you are already deep in debt. If you are new to this site, please check out the “Getting Started” tab http://wp.me/P1dmhM-oh as well as “Preparing on a Small Budget” http://wp.me/p1dmhM-zU. If you do find you have some room in your budget, Ken over at Modern Survival Blog has some great suggestions in the article “10 Things to Do with Your Money” http://modernsurvivalblog.com/recession-proof-household/10-things-to-do-with-your-money/

Being prepared for emergencies and having an amply supply of your necessities is actually cost effective in the long run.

For easy ways to become more prepared, read my book:

Are We in a Double Dip Recession?

Posted on July 31, 2011 by aptprepper

The news today is cautiously optimistic that a debt ceiling deal is close at hand. That would appear to be a positive. On the other hand, I am seeing other in other news there are fears we are now entering a double dip recession. See “10 Signs the Double Dip Recession as Begun http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43946055/ns/business-us_business/

A double dip recession is when a country falls back into recession just when it was in recovery. As you will recall, economists proclaimed the recession was over in 2009 when the economy “officially” showed positive signs of picking up. Many people feel the recession never really ended, and it is just getting worse.

Prices for essential items are increasing, unemployment is still high, and the housing market is still in the dumps. People have not recovered from losing their livelihood and life savings. There seems to be a disconnect between what we hear in the news, and what we can see around us. See Living Out There Blog “Road Trip” http://ajournalofselfsufficiency.blogspot.com/2011/07/road-trip.html

Economists can quibble over their definitions, and whether we are officially in or out of the woods. I prefer to look around and make my own conclusions. Now more than ever, we have to protect ourselves from a worse economic crisis. I’m not trying to scare anyone, I like to stay on the positive side.

See “If You Haven’t Started Preparing by Now” http://wp.me/p1dmhM-vY.
Get out and stay out of debt.
Buy tangible items your family will benefit from (water, food, daily essential supplies).
Save some cash.
Trim the fat out of your monthly expenses.
Find a way to earn extra money.
Learn skills that help you less dependent on others such as cooking your own food, washing your own clothes instead of going to the cleaners, grooming your pet etc.
Find entertainment that is low cost or free.

You may be powerless to change the direction the economy is headed, but you we can choose ways to help yourself and your family cope with the difficulties a double dip recession brings.

The Apartment Prepper's Blog

Family Preparedness in an Apartment Setting by Bernie Carr

Tag Archives: Financial Preparedness