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Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

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Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

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saved by laughing hyena on 2008-07-23

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Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash

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saved by laughing hyena on 2008-07-23

more fromwww.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

Prepare for Peak Oil on a Budget
To survive anything, including life, you must first adopt a "can do," "will survive" attitude. If you don’t believe you will survive, you won’t, plain and simple.
As they say in Army Ranger School, "Hard times don’t last, hard people do."
Basic physical fitness costs you and your family nothing, but pays big dividends not only in everything you do but in your mental attitude - remember, attitude is the first key to survival.
It never makes any since not to be physically fit and healthy. Staying fit and healthy should be a part of life whether you are preparing for peak oil or not. But for those who need some extra motivation to get in shape, find it in peak oil.
So, you had better be on your way to physical fitness or you will be swallowed up by the bear of peak oil. The more physically fit you are, the less sick you will be. Further, in a culture that will be more and more dependent upon physical labor, you will be prepared to take on that challenge. This means you start eating right and getting some exercise. If you smoke, quit. You don’t
have to join a gym. You don’t have to buy anything. All it takes isa little discipline to set aside a some time each day. Exercising a mere three times a week and practicing some discipline at the dinner table will put you ahead of millions of others. Do some pushups and sit-ups three times a week, and run, walk or bike three times a week and you will be okay - cut the deserts and fried foods.
Get out of debt! You should begin getting out of debt immediately. I say this as a lawyer. Everyday, I see people’s lives ruined because of debt they can’t sustain. One minute, they are happy thinking their world is okay. Then, they are suddenly and completely debilitated by an injury or illness, or they lose their job, and their financial house of cards comes crashing down on them. Peak oil will do the same. Get out of debt now.
The problem with the philosophy of spending like there is no tomorrow is that it’s unrealistic. There is always another tomorrow, and no one knows what it will bring. So, be prepared for that unknown tomorrow by getting out of debt.
Getting out of debt may mean down-sizing your life-style like selling a car that’s too expensive or a house that you can’t afford. The home and the car are the biggest expenses for most people. People can often downsize a home by selling one that’s too expensive, make a little money on it, and then buy a cheaper smaller house. Bottom line - get out of a lifestyle that you can probably barely afford now and certainly can’t afford in a time of crisis.

Learn to discipline you buying - before you buy anything, ask whether you need it or desire it. There is a big difference between need and desire. For example, you need to eat, but you don’t need to eat desert. Craving a desert is desire, not need. Save the money, don’t get the desert, and you get in shape and out of debt at the same time. In this way, you are preparing for peak oil and so far, you haven’t spent a dime. By recognizing the difference between need and desire, you are also working on your attitude, which is so critical to surviving a changing world.
There’s only one item I recommend you buy, and that’s a good sleeping bag. A good sleeping bag is worth its weight in gold. You need a good sleeping bag for many reasons. In a true survival situation, most people die because of hypothermia, not because of lack of water or food. A person can die of hypothermia in temperatures well above freezing. Just getting cold and wet at 60 degrees can make someone go hypothermic. In any survival situation, maintaining body temperature is critical to surviving. Further, getting sleep is essential to a good attitude and essential for making good decisions. Cave men would have killed for a good sleeping bag.
We all know that peers are an important part of growing up, but they are just as important to us as adults as they were to us as kids. Though I’ve been through many extreme survival courses, I have no illusions that I could survive alone for very long. Surviving alone in the wilderness is for movies. Even cave men lived in small groups and depended on the group to survive. Nations are just bigger groups. Peak oil will not be the death of us all, there will be survivors. To survive peak oil and life, you are going to have to be surrounded by good, honest, trustworthy people - people that help each other out. A group provides strength and security in many ways. For example, you cannot learn everything you need to learn. It would be impossible to know all trades or even know what trades to learn, so just find a community of people, develop good relationships, and you will be okay. The collective knowledge and power of your community is what will get you through peak oil.
Have a month’s supply of food on hand ($500). There are numerous websites dealing with food supplies etc. But basically, buy things you will eat. Remember, though, you are eating to survive, not for taste. When choosing foods, dry milk, white rice and dried beans will last almost indefinitely if stored right (and their cheap, a fifty pound bag of white rice costs about $13.00). Canned foods will last two years, longer if stored right. Honey is good food, stores for a long time, and is also a good home medicine. Honey is a natural antibiotic and can be used to treat wounds, even gunshot wounds and burns. Do an internet search on honey and wound care. Learn all about it. Iodized salt is a must and will last indefinitely. Pure sugar is a must, and lasts almost indefinitely. Peanut butter is the best all round survival food. You don’t have to heat or cook it, it comes in its own container, you can eat it with your finger, and its crammed full of protein, carbs and fats. It will keep you going. It lasts two years on the shelf.
Shelter is the first priority in a true survival situation - then water, then food. In a true survival situation, more people die of hypothermia than for lack of thirst or food. This will be true with peak oil. So, let’s talk about your shelter. Your shelter is your home. In a true survival situation, you need a shelter near a source of water and out of the extremes of the environment if possible. So, how do you select a home site meeting these criteria? Here are some considerations: