Food Storage could well be the most important investment decision you make all year.  In fact, food storage could be one of the most important decisions you make for the comfort, safety, and survival of you and your loved ones in the years to come.   Think of the warnings we are seeing to accumulate food storage much as you would the warning signals of the Tsunami in Thailand on that fateful day after Christmas in 2005.  At that time, although there may not have been a warning signal such as a blaring siren for all to hear, or a prediction beforehand of imminent destruction, there were subtleties that if one knew what to watch for, they had every opportunity to get to higher ground.  The warning signs came in the form of a receding ocean and frothing bubbles, as well as stranded fish and other sea life.  The warning signs that we are now seeing to accumulate food storage are firmly entrenched.  One of the best indicators of the need to acquire food storage is not only the instability we see in nature, but also the instability we currently are experiencing in the global political landscape and the global economy.

Food Storage to Become More Valuable Than Gold

We are fast approaching Thanksgiving, a time of showing our thankfulness and gratitude for all of the bounteous blessings that we have as a nation.  We celebrate this and many other ocassions with food.  It would be well for us instead of just gorging ourselves on food and thinking nothing more of it, to also slowly build up over time our food storage supplies and other neccesities that we will likely be in need of in the days to come.  As of late, one of the subtle warning signs that indicate a need for food storage is the price of the precious metals.  It has been said that precious metals are a guage or leading indicator of inflation.  While this quite often the case, it is also more true that people are storing gold and silver because of political uncertainty.  But surely gold and silver are sounding the alarm that prices of commodities (including your groceries) will be going up in the not-too-distant future, as the federal reserve wreaks havoc with the value of our money.  The true definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply, but it follows that too much of an increase in the money supply causes prices to rise.  Money cannot escape the law of supply and demand.  Owning gold and silver will help you to survive the financial storms coming our way, the likes of which we have not even experienced a small portion of in comparison to what will come, and owning food storage will help you to survive physically.  Firearms may become a necessity as well for the protection of life and liberties.

Food Storage and the Ten Virgins

If any person needs a better excuse to have food storage, this nudging or prompting may not come in time.  Like the parable of the Ten Virgins, we can wait and procrastinate until it is everlastingly to late.  Food storage will not be forced upon us.  Those who are ill-prepared, but who’ve had the chance to get ready have no assurance.  Those who have dutifully put their house in order and accumulated food storage by sacrifice and carefull attention will be rewarded with their very lives.  Although the price of gold and silver will reach heights that none could fathom beforehand, the value of food storage will be way beyond any other tangible items.  After adequate shelter, water is the most important thing for us to store.  If you cannot store water, have a water filter that can eliminate bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.  And have as much food storage as you possibly can.  Find creative places for it.  Honestly, how much would it put you out to thoughtfully and slowly gather foodstuffs for a good cause (your life and well-being)?  You are not being called upon to right now stop everything you are doing to stockpile enough food storage for every member of your family to eat for one year.  No, take it slowly, and as you can prudently acquire the food storage you will need over time.

The Food Storage Decision

The warning signs for food storage necessity are here.  What need have we for any more warnings than we have already had?  It’s simply a matter of deciding in one of three ways: either we decide that we will not get food storage (for whatever reason), and reap the consequences, we decide we will take on the responsibility and gather food storage, or we decide to be undecided.  Undecided, however, is usually by default a decision not to.  Take it to heart to get your food storage starting today.  A can of whatever nonperishable good you choose can be a start, a symbol, and your motivation to move ahead in the right direction.  Your food storage journey can and will gradually bring you more peace of mind.

Related Posts:

Emergency Food Storage Essentials
Adding to Your Emergency Food Storage – Building Without Burdening (That’s a Promise!)
The Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Survival Readiness Pyramid
Emergency Food Storage: Why All the Fuss?

This is the 4^th installment in a series of 16 articles on acquiring gold and silver for your investment portfolio. Professional  precious metals advisor, Pat Gorman will  share some of his expertise with you to help you make better investment decisions. The less you have, the smarter you must invest to protect yourself against loss and diminishing returns on your assets.
 

(Note: Information is given as generalizations of typical portfolios. Some of this information was provided by Patrick C. Gorman, President & Owner, Resource Consultants Incorporated, 6139 S. Rural Road Ste.103 Phone: (800) 494-4149 or 480-820-5877  Fax: 480-820-5905. Resource Consultants deals in all gold, silver, and platinum coins, and bullion. Pat sells 90% silver in bags, gold and silver Eagle coins, silver dollars, and can recommend a strategy to fit individual need. His wife, Linda, has been in the business for 25+ years, and is experienced in every aspect of brokerage and precious metals management. Mr. Gorman has been in the hard asset business for more than 27 years. For the past 19 years, he has also hosted his own live talk show, “Hard Money Watch” and has been rated in the area’s top 5 radio shows for the last 6 years. Further, Pat Gorman and his company Resource Consultants is the most recommended precious metals brokers in the country. They are recommended by more than 20 financial newsletter writers and investment analysts.)

Read and study this information carefully! You are responsible for your own money! Invest it wisely, and it’ll serve you well.

Pat will Keep It Super Simple!

The 10 Most Asked Questions about Precious Metals

Many people have been conditioned to believe paper money is the ideal means of “storing” of their work’s value. They simply don’t understand the historic appeal and value of precious metals to those who are preparing for the uncertain financial future. Here are ten (10) of the most often asked questions about metals and coins we’ve encountered over the past 25 years.

Hopefully, the answers to these questions will provide both a working knowledge and some insight into the intrinsic value of precious metals, as well as why and how they provide long-term stability to their owner.

1. What Makes Precious Metals So Valuable?

2. What Determines the Value of Precious Metals?

3. How Much Gold and Silver Should Be in My Portfolio?

4. Do You Have A Suggested Portfolio of Precious Metals for Everyone?

5. I’ve Never Owned Precious Metals––What Items Do You Suggest?

6. What Forms of Precious Metals Should I Avoid?

7. Where Do I Store My Precious Metals and How Do I Protect Them?

8. What Are the “Rules of the Game” So I Don’t Violate the Law?

9. Just How Liquid Are Precious Metals in A Crisis Situation?

10. When Things Get Ugly, How Do I Use My Coins for the Things I Need?

The next blog post will start the explanations for the questions above.

It’s as simple as that!

Till next time…

Related Posts:

Should I Be Acquiring Gold and Silver?
Financial Preparedness: Why Gold?
What About Investing in Silver and Platinum?
Self Reliance: Make Sure You Have Some Junk
The Capstone of the Readiness Pyramid

Folks, sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do. In this economy, the unemployment rate is going up, the savings rate is going up, and your paycheck isn’t going up. The government is doing what it can to get people to spend (sorry if you missed out on “Cash for Clunkers”) by stimulating and restimulating. If you are a first time home buyer there is a tax credit of $8,000. You were even subsidized for watching the boob tube by the coupons that were doled out for digital. I don’t think the government is helping out this recession/depression, and the banks are crying foul over people actually holding some of their money back instead of spending it all and more. What is wrong with frugality and paying down some debt? It’s good for you, but bad for the creditor who wants to enslave you indefinitely. They don’t want you to see the light at the end of the tunnel, preferring that you continue being a debtor indefinitely and lining their rich pockets.

So it may be hard for you to even want to consider gathering a full year’s food storage supply. Especially when money is tight, and you worry about job security. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, hold your horses. Remember, this is one of the most secure assets you can have. What happened to your 401(k) in the downturn? You probably lost nearly 50%, and you’ll need to gain 100% to recover your losses. You buy food and store it, it is real and not paper, and you can eat it to stay alive. You needn’t worry about volatile food prices like the oncoming wave of inflation that will hit after this hiccup of disinflation that we’ve had. The prices of gold and silver are giving you an early indication of what will eventually happen to food prices. If seeing gold recently (in the last few days) exceed the $1,000 price per ounce doesn’t give you a swift kick in the pants to wake up, than you may be eternally sleeping.

I’m going to relate to you a simple and straightforward way of taking on some extra “work” so that you will be able to afford building up your food storage supply slowly (or quickly, you decide) over time. I am not just talking out my rear end here. I have participated in what I am about to outline for you in the following paragraphs. It’s fun, it will help you to reach your honorable objective of putting away food in your food storage, and about anyone can do it if they really want to.

I have been a Mystery Shopper now for nearly a year. I consider myself experienced because of the good reputation I have built with the companies I contract to work for. It’s a serious business that if you should decide to participate in, you should give it your all and do your best. You will be helping the economy by reporting on the goings-on of the various establishments you will evaluate, thus allowing for their improvement in their service and product delivery. This is an independent contractual relationship that I have entered into with the various mystery shopping companies I have signed up with. I am Silver certified with the (MSPA) Mystery Shopping Providers Association. It is quite simple to get started. You don’t have to be certified to begin as a Mystery Shopper. But by becoming certified, you add to your credibility and get more of the premium jobs. I have eaten out at various restaurants, stayed overnight in hotels, and gone to amusement parks. I was even involved in a forensics assignment that made me feel like I was a secret agent—and got paid $300 dollars for a few hours work! Once I got paid $150 to pose as a credible buyer of a Ferrari! I’m not exaggerating here, but I have put in time and dedication. It’s not all fun and games. I am providing a much needed service. In this down economy mystery shopping has actually picked up. And there is a real need to recruit more mystery shoppers. Businesses need to know from the mystery shopper what it is that needs to be modified in order that they may thrive and bring in new customers while retaining old ones.

When I started mystery shopping, I fell head over heels taking all of the jobs that flooded my email inbox, after I got obsessive compulsive and signed up with over 40 different companies. This helped me to establish myself, and show I was willing to do the work and do it well. I am now more selective in the shops I take, which is always at your discretion. You accept or decline any of the jobs. You are not obligated in any way until you sign up for a job. Then you must follow through.

Earning a bit of extra cash every month is a rush, especially if you can earmark it for something that you weren’t quite able to “afford” before, like food storage. Discipline yourself to save and spend this money only for food storage and nothing else. You will feel good about yourself by sticking to your objective, and you will feel more secure in your emergency preparedness efforts. Having a year’s supply of food storage is a real asset in uncertain times like these.

Only take on those mystery shopping jobs you have time for. Chip away at it, and you will find it is fun and worthwhile, because while you are helping the merchants learn what they need to from your reports, you are sometimes getting free stuff and being compensated for your time and quality work, furthering yourself to that goal of a year’s supply of food storage. You never know when you will need to draw upon food storage, and rotating it out as you go along will keep its freshness.

If you just did 5 mystery shops a month that paid an average of $10 per shop, and worked it into your normal, everyday routine by going to establishments that were on your route anyway, you would be $50 closer to a year’s supply of food storage! Once you get momentum on your side, and you feel this gig fits you, you can really get the ball rolling. Food storage, baby, here you come! Oh, and don’t forget to spice things up and reward yourself along the way by taking a few of the “reimbursement only” shops like some restaurants are. Let me say that I have never once had an issue of not being paid for my work or receiving reimbursement.

The caution is this: don’t sign up for a mystery shopping outfit that charges you money! You are the one that is supposed to be making the money, not them sucking it out of you, leaving you with only promises. Any reputable mystery shopping company will not charge you for being a mystery shopper. You are an independent contractor, not someone investing in some hyped sham. An easy way to avoid any problems is to check and make sure they are part of the MSPA. I will say that some of them require you make a purchase and reimburse you later. I have a separate credit card for my work as a mystery shopper. Again, I have never had any problems receiving payment from the companies aligned with the MSPA.

It is very easy to get a start in the mystery shopping world. Businesses that you pass by every day are using the services of mystery shoppers and you didn’t even know it. You’ll be excited once you become a mystery shopper and discover some of the exciting projects in your locale.

Ultimately, make a year’s supply of food storage your goal. As you mystery shop your heart out (and there are tons of available shops if you live near an urban area, believe me), watch as you apply your earnings to an ample food storage how it grows and grows like Jack’s been stalk. How can you lose in a worthy venture like this?

According to the comments I receive on this post, I will gauge what additional elements I will fill readers in on about the mystery shopping experience. Ask questions if you have them, any suggestions about specific mystery shopping topics will be entertained for application in future posts. What do you want to know? Would you like to know the best companies to work for? Generally which types of shops are reimbursement only, and which are cash payment? Ask away!

Related Posts:

Might You Possibly Perish Without Enough of These in Your Emergency Survival Supplies?
L.D.S. Food Storage: M&M’s (Myths and Misconceptions)
Emergency Food Storage Essentials
Adding to Your Emergency Food Storage- Building Without Burdening (That’s a Promise!)

Most people want to get rid of their junk. I don’t; not anymore.

I had just begun investing in silver. The year was 2004, and the asking price on the day I made my first purchase was $7.26 per troy oz. on the spot market. The spread was a mere three cents, and the price fluctuations were relatively mild from one day to the next. I was excited to share my newfound enthusiasm for what I believed to be the upcoming raging commodity (and particularly silver) bull market with a like-minded individual.

When I told a friend about my initial order of physical silver, said friend replied, “Oh, got yourself some junk silver?” Dismayed at the response, and feeling somewhat betrayed, I came to the defense of the precious and industrial metal—the best reflector of light, the best conductor of electricity, and the best conductor of heat. “It’s not junk!” I emphatically replied. Surely one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but I failed to comprehend how anyone could perceive silver to be garbage to be disposed of, especially since silver had once been considered money; that in fact in 50-some-odd countries around the world the word for money is the same as the word for silver. My friend calmed my nerves by explaining that she was not insulting my investment vehicle, and that junk silver merely meant silver that was coined before1965. No longer on the defensive, I decided to learn more about “junk silver.”

Junk silver is composed of 90% silver and 10% copper. Each “dollar” (whatever combination of coins it is that adds up to $1.00) of silver equates to .715 troy oz. of silver. At that point, I became less concerned with numismatic silver, and more attracted to the idea of getting more silver for each Federal Reserve Note (FRN) I spent—knowing that the true definition of a dollar was 371.25 grains of silver.

A great benefit of junk silver is that it does not yet command a hefty premium over spot. It is generally the least expensive form of silver on the market to buy. Gresham’s Law has been enforced with this medium of exchange. Silver coinage has been chased out of circulation due to its intrinsic value, and replaced by a weak substitute. Within the past few years we have also seen such an eclipse with the penny. At one point the melt value of a zinc penny was worth more than the one cent it represented itself as. The cost to the Federal Reserve for producing both the penny and nickel now exceeds their stated value.

A silver dime’s metal content is today valued at about 10 times what it is denominated as on its face. What else besides gold holds its value over time so effectively? Milton Friedman once stated: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” No civilization in the world’s recorded history has ever escaped the total debasement and eventual destruction of its fiat currency. Silver could indeed again be used as money. Something has got be used as a medium for exchange when the dollar and other currencies lose their full faith and credit and are no longer honored as anything of value. Got junk?

Related Posts:

What About Investing in Silver and Platinum?
Financial Preparedness: Why Gold?
Should I Be Acquiring Gold and Silver?
The Capstone of the Readiness Pyramid