Financial Survival Kit

What do you need to be prepared for the future financial turmoil? How can you survive?

Should I Buy Gold?

It seems like everyone is a gold bug these days, but is it the right thing for you?

What Are The Chances?

With all this "end of the world" hype going on, maybe we should consider the chances. What are the chances of a civilization threatening event?

How Much Insurance Do I Need?

Insurance is an extremely broad topic. Hopefully this generalization on the different types and amounts will help straighten things out a bit.

Iraqi Dinar: Scam or Scoop?

Some say it's an easy way to make a million bucks! But do you understand currency markets enough to take advantage?

The financial world we live in is just as wild, if not more, than the mountains and woods we walk through. We are told that the fundamentals of our economy are strong, but we can feel that something is wrong. My unique financial background and survival passion make Financial Survivalist and excellent place to learn and share.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Fayette Project


Description:

I purchased this property with the plan to flip it. I did a full rehab, remodeled the kitchen and bath, finished the basement adding two bedrooms and a bath, painted, carpeted, updated all the windows adding two egress windows, and re-roofed the garage. It took me seven months from closing to closing.

Purchase Price $65,000
Cost of Rehab $28,000
Financing Costs $7,000
Selling Price $127,000
Profit $27,000

Before



After





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Monday, July 30, 2012

Creature From Jekyll Island by Edward Griffin Review


No this isn't a fiction book. Parts of the history of the Fed seem like fiction, but they are not. In fact, if you're not into history and finance parts can be a bit boring. However, this book is very well organized and very well written.

The Fed was not the first federal bank. In fact it was the third. Each of the previous two had disastrous results in so much that it took secret planning and two attempts to sneak the Federal Reserve into reality. It's not conspiracy theory. It's a well documented conspiracy fact!

This book gives you the basics of banking, the history you need to understand the Fed, a realistic picture of the Fed, an idea of where we are headed if we stay on our current path and how to fix it.

Nothing about the fed is good. It is the largest and most powerful cartel in the world, built on the backs of the tax payers, and created to protect the rich bankers. The stated mission is to protect the economy from wild economic swings, but as we all know, EPIC FAIL!

This is the BEST BOOK ON THE FED I'VE EVER READ!  It is absolutely a must read for every Financial Survivalist. I wish everyone knew this stuff.

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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Don't Audit The Fed!!!

Anyone that thinks the world's important financial markets still believe that the Fed is using any kind of sane reserve ratio is mistaken!

The world knows the Fed is broke. They know that the game is a farse! So why do they still play it? Because it's the only game that is played! It's been played for 100's of years and if you know how to play it you can make lots of money!

The only thing auditing the Fed will do is WASTE TIME. The audit would be held up and lost in endless government bureaucracy. It would be an excuse for politicians say they are doing something. Years later we would find out what we already know and nothing would change, because no one cares and no one would be surprised.

Enter your email for: How To Eliminate The Fed!


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Friday, July 27, 2012

Emerlit Stove Review


While backpacking in the Absoroka Beartooth Wilderness, we took an Emberlit stove to cook with. Decided to shoot some vid and give my own opinion of the stove. It rained a lot and everything was wet, so we are lucky Dan from TheDailyPrep gave me some fat wood!

Much love to TheDailyPrep.com for lending the stove and to Melissa for filming.

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

North Face Tadpole 23 Tent Review

I did a review on this tent the first time I took it out. A few years later, we took it out and got rained on all day. So, being bored and stuck in the tent I made a video review for you.


Got stuck in rainy weather while backpacking in the Absoroka Beartooth Wilderness. I tell you, 7 hours in a tent, you have to be creative. I vow to forever carry books on my iPone. Decided to give a review of our tent because we were experiencing the first ever true test of a tent that was designed to keep you dry. The Tadpole held up strong, though there was some condensation in the morning.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Mt. Wire Hike


Just decided to share our hike to the top of Mt. Wire, UT. We ran into some Horney Toads. It was a lot of fun!

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Monday, July 23, 2012

Grandeur Peak Wilderness Walk



My wife and I hiked Grandeur Peak in Utah. I decided to shoot some video as if it was a survival situation. I think it's good to get outdoors and at least think about survival situation, what you can and cannot eat, etc.

We found a surprisingly large amount of edibles including a rattle snake.

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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties

Characterized by Jazz, Gangsters, Prohibition and the Great Gatsby. However, you can also include automobiles, phones, electricity, refrigeration and television. All of these things were propelled into the publics daily norms as an increase of quality of life. 

I feel the roaring twenties is an excellent example of how capitalism increases our quality of life. You may say, "but it caused the great depression." Capitalism did not cause the great depression. The fed caused the crash after which no one outside of investors and bankers had lost jobs. The economy was still good and employment was high. Then socialism and socialistic policies implemented by politicians supposedly to combat a recession caused the great depression. It caused the loss of productivity and stretched out the eventual recovery. Capitalism, when left alone, always bounces back quicker than government intervention, AND when it does quality of life is increased even more.

The government cannot and does not, nor has it ever been responsible for the increase of quality of life. Electricity, computers, medical advances, energy advances and any other advance you can think of is the result of capitalism. Remember this as we head into an even greater era of depression (ie socialism) than that of the "great" depression.

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Friday, July 20, 2012

Emotional Real Estate Roller coaster

The #1 rule for real estate investing is to not get emotionally attached to the property. It's hard to apply that rule when you're not buying a property, you're buying a home. I have broken that rule.

I have bought and sold real estate before, but the property I have under contract now is going to be the home I raise a family in. No, we are not pregnant. However, we do plan to have children, and buying this home is a step in that direction.

It has been an up and down ride. At first we weren't sure we even wanted it. It's very hodgepodge and has a sagging beam in the living room. Then we loved it. Then we realized how much work it needs. Now we're waiting to see if we even get it (there are deed problems).

It feels like our life is on hold, like we are waiting to do anything and everything until we close. It's seems like it is this house or no house. To keep perspective we keep looking at other properties, but none seem as good as this one. Lesson? Never break rule #1.

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

How To Decontaminate Water With The Sun

How To Decontaminate Water With The Sun

Did you know that you can decontaminate water with the sun's radiation? In fact it's used in many parts of the world on a daily basis. Todays survival tip is another eHow.

Step 1: Fill Clean and clear water bottle.
Step 2: Place in full sun on a preferably reflective, none flammable or easily melted material.
Step 3: Leave for 2 days of full sun.
Step 4: Cool and drink.
(Source)

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Amusing Planet

More like AMAZING PLANET!

AmusingPlanet.com is a website dedicated to making you appreciate how amazing our planet is. The site is full of art of all kinds and several categories. It's pretty amazing what you might find. Our planet is fill with endless wonders. Imagine how incredible space is!

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Triplex Project

You may have noticed that I am in the middle of redesigning the website. As part of that you will find new sections and menus. One of the things I plan on doing is talking more and more about real estate. As part of that I am going to post all of my real estate projects and investments. The first of these is the

"Triplex Project."


Description: We purchased this property in 2010 as our first investment. The goal was cashflow. It originally was a duplex, but in the 1970's someone finished the basement and turned it into a tri-plex (ie three apartments). It will cashflow a lot better after we move out and rent the third apartment. We have put about$10,000 into it including down payment, repairs and updates. We've already gotten that back.

Purchase Price: $156,000
Closing Costs & Down $8,000
Gross Rents: $1,925/mo
Payment: $1,050/mo
Maintenance and Utilites: $200/mo
Cashflow: $675/mo


If you have any questions on this project at all, please comment below.

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Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith


The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Published in 1776, The Wealth of Nations is the Magnum Opus of Adam Smith, a Scottish economist. This book is the original argument for the free market.

I decided I wanted to start reading the works of great economists. I started with Adam Smith because he was one of the first. It amazed me how basic and ground breaking some of the principles like supply and demand were and still are. I think most politicians would benefit from reading these works.

Book 1: Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Powers of Labour
Book 2: Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock
Book 3: Of the Different Progress of Opulence in Different Nations
Book 4: Of Systems of Political Economy
Book 5: Of the Revenue of the Sovereign of Common Wealth

I started to get bored after Book 3. Though Book 4 would especially be valuable for politicians, most of it was obvious to me, and I don't think politicians do what they do because of ignorance. I wouldn't recommend this for the average Financial Survivor. Either you know this stuff or you don't. However, I did learn a lot in the first three books.

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    Monday, July 16, 2012

    What Are The Chances?


    I've been thinking lately, "What are the chances of of global or massive catastrophe?" It seems like the number of people that are prepping for some kind of catastrophe increases every day. But how realistic are these fears?


    So I did some research. The best source I found was Wiki (Risks To Civilization) of course. It is a very good article that goes over several different possibilities and the likelihood of them occurring. I did my best, but of course wiki is better. The answer I found is that there is less than a 20% chance over the next 100 years that a large scale catastrophe will hit the earth.


    But does that even matter? Personal catastrophes happen every day! Cancer, car accident, job loss, fire and weather; you name it and it happens to individuals every day. To prep for an asteroid or nuclear war and not prep for a fire in your home or even a job loss is ludicrous! Many of these preps go hand in hand, but it is important that we keep perspective.


    Notes and Sources:


    Super Volcano Every 50000
    Yellowstone
    Toba Catastrophe Theory


    Giant Asteroid Every 1 million years.
    Other Source


    Massive Solar Flare 12% over the next 10 years.


    Economic Collapse


    Pandemic


    Nuclear Fallout/Global War


    Global Warming / Climate Change


    World Crop Failure

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    Tuesday, July 10, 2012

    Obama's "Recovery"


    I'm calling this  "Obama's Recovery," because he claims the recovery is strong. This is recovery to him and this is what we will get four more years of if he is re-elected. This is a graph of the number of americans employed.

    The "unemployment" rate reported by the government is manipulated and does not reflect an actual number. However, how can you argue with the percent of americans employed, especially when the source is government data? This is how many jobs are out there. No manipulation. Pure data.

    This graph was put together by Greg Mankiw of Harvard University. See his website at http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

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    Monday, July 9, 2012

    Stringham Real Estate School!

    I fell in love with real estate my last semester of my bachelor degree. I took a real estate class and loved it. Since then I have honed my skill at analyzing real estate deals. I have bought and sold a few properties and manage a total of 6 units right now.

    I have been planning for a while to begin following my passion of real estate and getting my real estate license. It's not as easy at you think. It will cost almost $2,000 (including all classes and licensing fees), and will require:
    • 120 hours of classes (max of 8 hrs/day)
    • Licensing Exam
    • Background Check
    • Board of Realtors Fee
    I am currently about 1/2 of the way through classes at Stringham. Stringham provides licensing classes for numerous occupations. Though live classes are an option, you can do it all online as well. Stringham makes it doable for anyone. The online classes keep you envolved with quizes, presentations and videos. It's probably one of the best online courses I've ever done.

    To be honest, I haven't learned too much. Granted, I'm not the average candidate. I have done a lot of self educating ahead of time. Nevertheless, I am super excited to be able to officially help others in their real estate endeavors.

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    Friday, July 6, 2012

    Speedy Recovery Massive Fail! Just 80,000 New Jobs!

    Imagine you take your car to a mechanic, and he really screws it up. It's clunking, squealing and smoking, etc. So you take it to a different Mechanic and he says he can fix it in a week. You get your car back in a week and it's not clunking or squealing, but it's still smoking. Only some of the problems are fixed. The mechanic says, "Sorry, the other guy screwed it up so bad we couldn't fix it in a week. Just bring it back and give me a little more time."

    What would you do? I would probably find a new mechanic! Well, that car is the economy and the mechanic is Obama. This is an excellent analogy presented by Rick Santelli from CNBC (video above).

    Did you know government spending is counted in GDP? Did you know that when they give money to corporations and public institutions it trickles down into the economy and shows up as apparent growth? What happens when the government stops spending money? Let's face it. This is not a recovery. This is government spending their way into oblivion. 

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