Yes. — Simply amazing.

bf

I do, but I'm a DIRTBAG too.

P.S. looks like agnut isn't taking the bait.

__________________



The president of a socialist nation (America)..
has to give a convincing speech saying essentially..
“We are not going to do.. what we are doing”

"No exports, No recovery"... Ponce

Don't look at ME I search through thousands of dollars of coin to get my silver. An ounce here, a few there, sometimes don't even find $hit- think of all the wasted hours I could spend doing something productive like watching TV. Two cents worth from the Hobo GIMer. HH Mark

Hi ME CO. I’m sure you know that nothing would happen if you didn’t try. It is this getting off our collective butts and following what we believe that defines us to some degree. And sometimes along the way, we discover greater opportunities. Getting out there and being open to possibilities seems to be a most difficult first step. It is a move in faith that there is a way to get better control of our lives.

Your silver coin searching is what I call an active form of bartering and horse trading. But there is also a passive form that may better suit some readers. Both types are good and I encourage all of us to pursue them.

I am going to talk about cars which are a major portion of our expenses and therefore should loom large in our thinking.

Buying cars and other vehicles for profitable resale is an active type of deal making.

Buying a car for one’s own use is a passive type of deal making and that‘s what I will focus on here and now. There is no plan for resale but there is a consideration of relative value when purchasing. There are a few categories, some of which will be unsuitable to your personal needs and abilities.

First, there is buying a car in excellent cosmetic and operating condition. This is pretty self explanatory; this car is at tip top condition. But the price is also tip top. There are pluses and minuses here. What if you buy a car at the high price and the engine gives out in a short period of time ? One way to overcome this is to seek a car that has low miles on it. It will take some searching but I have found them. Personally, I have learned that they are scarce. A cream puff is usually owned by an older person that has other primary cars they drive or they put few miles on it per year. Maybe they are retired and only use the car to go to the market; no daily commuting.

Second, there is buying a car that needs some paint and/or interior work. Figure what it needs and the cost to make it tip top, add the purchase price in and the total should be the same or less than if it needed nothing.

Third, there is buying a car in need of a driveline overhaul. That is, engine and transmission. The car is not running and you don’t know why. The first thing to look at is should be the body and interior. Is it rusty ? If so, don’t buy it. A rusty car usually isn’t worth refurbishing. Does it need a paint job or merely a wash and buff out ? Can the interior be fixed for a reasonable price ? Both paint and body work as well as upholstery can be expensive. These costs along with driveline rebuilding could be more that the car is worth even if you got it for free.

If for example, the car in question is worth $5,000 in tip top condition, you may be able to bargain and get it for $3,500 or $4,000. Maybe less. You had better be darn sure that you won’t need to put major repairs into it since this negates the good value you were expecting. Like buying a pig with a good lipstick job.

Being an auto mechanic, I prefer the third option. After the driveline is rebuilt, I am confident that I will get many miles as well as the resale price is much higher if I were to want to sell the car. Sometimes a car can be found that needs this major work and can be performed by a professional and you can still come out ahead. I see cars on Craigslist and in the local papers that aren’t running. Sometimes they can be had for almost nothing. I like having a car that has just been rebuilt as opposed to buying a cream puff since this cream puff usually has a lot of miles on it. Most cars around here have around 200K miles on them and we should anticipate that they won’t continue to run forever.

So what are practical cars anyway ? I like the Mercedes 240 diesel although the parts are expensive. I don’t recommend this for everyone. My 1981 240 motor is getting tired and I may have to rebuild it soon. I heard that the pistons and liners are about $600 alone. I will have to check into this and see if it will be worth the expense and effort. I bought it cheap enough that I could rebuild the engine and still have a good value.

The VW diesel Jetta and Golf get about 50 MPG and the parts are reasonable. However, they are light vehicles and would fare poorly in a collision.

I recently had a ‘89 Toyota Camry wagon and it was a great car. Only problem was, it had a V6 engine with an automatic trans and besides the lower miles per gallon, it would have been expensive and a pain to repair. So I sold it. I would recommend a 4 cylinder Camry as one of the best available. The 5 speed manual transmission is also my preference. The ‘88, ‘89 and ‘90 years are reputed to be the best. A factory mechanic told me this since Toyota was anticipating competition with their soon to be released luxury model Lexus and they tightened up all the specifications of their lesser models in order to boost their reputation, including the Camry.

Even though I have an ‘82 Datsun diesel truck that gets 40 MPG, I can’t recommend it. Too hard to get parts and there aren’t many around. 25 years old; maybe antique plates soon.

There are many cars out there that will suit your needs. I have given a few of mine. Any input from you would be appreciated.

You may want to sell your car and get out from under the monthly payments. Buying a less expensive car with cash may be one of the best budget savings you make. I have never liked making payments on a car anyway. And if the economy continues to worsen (which I fully expect; you may not want to know what I really think), monthly payments may prove to be an unbearable burden. After a recession, depression takes hold, do you think your car’s resale value will rise or fall ? Right !

There is an overview here that I should mention. We are going into some difficult times, probably for several years. You know exactly what I mean and have been getting ready for some time as I have. It doesn’t take much imagination to see what it would feel like to be driving in a fancy car while many around you are losing everything. The word “target” comes to mind. It is for this reason that I sold my two Jaguars and that I would recommend that you have at least one car that doesn’t attract attention. Well, maybe the “Look at that poor person with the econo box needing a paint job“ car is a bit extreme but that’s pretty much what I have done. I don’t care what people think as long as they leave me alone. This attitude will become prevalent later. Form to function.

The proper mechanical operating condition is most important. A pretty car with a blown piston or a bad transmission is little more that a huge lawn ornament. Right along with that in importance is the MPG the car gets. However, this significance varies with your own needs. I don’t commute any more and drive less than 2K miles per year. When I go into town to shop, about 5 miles, I also pick up wood pallets and other goodies, so a full size truck makes sense here. I try to only drive when I have multiple stops and make the trip pay for itself. I also have a trailer for larger loads and hook it up so that I can make it all in one trip. A trailer is cheap and registration isn’t much either. Also, a trailer doesn’t require insurance like a car does. My trailer has paid for itself several times over and I’ve only had it for a couple of years.

Ride sharing could halve your auto expenses for any of you who have to commute. Or even one fourth with four of you ride sharing. For instance, if your car got 30 MPG, you would effectively be getting 120 MPG with four of you ride sharing. Just a thought. Rising fuel prices don’t have to eat your income alive.
Remember that you would not only be saving on gas but also the total wear and tear on your own car.

A great deal of money can be saved by this passive adaptability to changes. Acting now is always easier than after the event. Captain Obvious strikes again !

Best wishes,

Agnut

Following a path can bring with it new opinions and thoughts, both obvious and those that are not obvious. You must always follow your own intuition. You must always do what you feel, rather than what others think. ---Sebastien Foucan

"Those unaware are unaware of being unaware."
Merrill Jenkins

The Best way to purchase a CAR is getting a REAL JOB then you can go to a REAL DEALERSHIP and purchase a nice car with service ! This is much better than being a SCAVENGER and looking to steal a cream puff from a old lady .
What comes around goes around !!!

No hunting cans / No dumpster diving / No Scavenger Hunts just good clean living !!

God Bless !

The Master Elmer Fudd !

Finally another good day at the silver mine. Got 13.7 ozt. for face value of $37-, pickins been slim lately, hope this is a trend in the other direction. I don't think the FED is gonna send ME any popcorn though haha. HH all, Mark

Good for you ME CO. Please keep us posted. Your successes are an inspiration.

Here’s an article on government inflation versus true inflation. I have been ranting about its relative lack of reporting but here it is in plain black and white. There is no denying what it portends. It is well worth the read as it clues us into what we should be making on our money.

Inflation Index Manipulation

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials...man121807.html

The advantages of bartering and horse trading are that we can save on a daily basis as well as make short term deals that can lift us above the true inflation figures. There are three types of people; those who make things happen, those who let things happen and those who wonder what happened. We shouldn’t be lulled into either of the last two.

In concert with this is that there are people who work for money, people who work with money and people who have money work for them. Now, most Americans work for money. Trouble is, they are sitting ducks with true inflation far outpacing their wage increases. This has the nasty stealth effect of evaporating their discretionary income. It happens over time and isn’t really felt until it’s well under way. And right now it looks to have been underway for some time. Note the screaming now while few were upset a couple of years ago.

I think we are coming to a time (probably already there for many citizens) in which few people will have any discretionary money available. So what is the prognosis after that ? Simple, with more expenses than income, borrowing or charging on the credit card. Like a bubble. And because of the foolish real estate lending, credit card companies are tightening up. But this is not just any bubble. When this bubble pops, the contents aren’t just hot air but rather of the TSHTF material. Phew !

In anticipation of this coming scenario, staying out of debt and getting out of debt should have been primary goals the past couple of years. We must be futurists; driving by looking in the rear view mirror is no way to get to our goals. That is one reason that since last summer I have been cautioning to be very selective and careful in buying deals for resale. The passive savings such as buying food and other items on sale and in bulk are however becoming more important in preserving what income we do have. This passive savings goes hand in hand with continuing to look for active deals.

Just yesterday my son and I went out and bought two 1986 Mazda pickup trucks. One is all together and needs engine tuning. The other truck has the engine in the back in a thousand pieces. My son paid $50 for the pair. So how did we find such a deal ? Funny you should ask. It was in a thrifty ad in the local paper. He was selling a table for $100 (bad deal) and these two trucks for $50. Most people would have missed it but I slowly read every word of such ads and envision what is described. Good deals literally jump off the pages !

If any of you play Texas Hold’em, you know a sure winner after the flop. But betting before that, when you only hold two cards is like having insufficient information. The name of the game in deal making is patience and thoroughness; bluffing won’t cut it.

One truck will be fixed up and the other may be parted out. It could also be restored but would take major expense and time in rebuilding the engine. Even with a rebuilt engine, it is only worth a couple grand, so it may not be worth the effort. However, the parts are probably worth a few hundred bucks. One truck even has a perfect canopy or shell.

This is a can’t lose type of deal and the kind I have been urging others to look for, even in a falling economy such as we are currently experiencing. So I have given it as an example of what can be done. The deals are out there waiting to be scooped up.

Maybe a better way to put this is that the overview is that with a poor economy, we must adjust our criterion of what is a good deal and what is a great deal. A great deal affords more wiggle room if things suddenly get much worse in the economy. In a downward heading economy, time is our enemy.

High mileage transportation, whether it be a coupe or a pickup truck, are good for the future. The only things to avoid are paying too much or underestimating the investment in money and time to get it into functioning condition. You may even find a great high mileage car to keep for your own use.

I’ll be the first to admit that having mechanical skills is a big advantage. But lacking this shouldn’t deter you from watching for running auto bargains that can be sold for profit. Remember that a used car dealer buys cars continually and usually doesn’t do major work before selling. Detailing and maybe a set of tires and minor upholstery work are about all that are necessary if he bought the RIGHT car.

Well, that’s enough for now. Any questions or experiences welcome.

Best wishes,

Agnut

This is a newsletter coming from Cathy Buckle in Zimbabwe. It illustrates what happens when a fiat currency gets out of control.


http://www.cathybuckle.com/thisweek.shtml


Not that we will see a similarly rapid devaluation in the dollar but it is undeniable that we are headed in that direction. The difference is that the bundles of dollars are going to Wall street and not to Joe citizen. Maybe the dollar will become worthless but most of it won’t get to us little people anyway. A recipe for hyper stagflation.

Also this thread on TB2000, A PREVIEW OF THE COMING CRASH... , urges us to prepare as soon and as best we can.

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=266276

Why am I writing of such doomer info in a bartering and horse trading thread ? Well, the overview is that we MUST get ready for difficult times and it takes money and planning. I don’t like these types of articles either but they must be understood in the context of our own lives so that we keep motivated in bettering our defensive position for the future.

This is no time to sit back and say, “I have done all that I can. And besides, not much has happened so far. So why shouldn’t I just enjoy life while I can ?”

Better to be prepared a year early than a day too late. Something like that but you get the drift.

Even though I already have 150 pounds of pasta in storage, I am planning to get another 50 pounds ASAP. Why ? It doesn’t take much imagination to see what it would feel like in the Zimbabwe scenario if I hadn’t bought that extra pasta before the price went wild as well as availability vanished. Sick to my stomach; an empty stomach at that !

Can’t happen in America ? Look around and smell the coffee (while you still can). Food prices as well as gas prices have gone ballistic and much more is predicted for 2008 and beyond.

I just saw a financial advisor on CNBC state that food is a great place to invest your money. He then laughed since this is hard to do. But he doesn’t look like a survivalist and probably hasn’t considered our stockpiling preparations. He said that gold is a wise place to invest your money. I love gold and silver even more but I can’t eat them. We may get to the point that we will be saying, “If you don’t hold food, you don’t own it”. The pitiful situation in Zimbabwe certainly hammers this home.

I look at a ratty one dollar bill and realize that I can trade it for 32 ounces of food, pasta in the form of spaghetti noodles. Stockpiling food should be a “gut feeling” in the most obvious sense.

This pasta is 2 pounds for a dollar (ridiculously cheap) and I don’t even know if they have any more but I‘m going to get to the dollar store toot sweet. It will keep for a long time as long as it is protected from bugs. Pasta is a basic staple like rice, beans or wheat. And since pasta is made from wheat, the prices are also predicted to rise in the near future. I compared the pasta in my local market and it was $2 a pound, 4 times the price at the dollar store. Of course, it does go on sale for $1 a pound but I wouldn’t count on that in the future. We are currently having a worldwide wheat production slowdown. Drought, frost and flooding as well as pests all contribute to the fragility of wheat growers’ situation. Australia, Ukraine, Argentina and other wheat growing areas are all having serious problems right now. China with its newfound prosperity is buying food stocks for their people. In fact, they recently issued a directive that their cities stock food and fuel for 10 days for the people. This wouldn’t be news except that China has 1.3 billion people to be fed. 1,300,000,000 people times 10 days food and fuel set aside from diminishing world food and fuel stocks.

Population increase, food production decrease; you do the math.

Making profitable deals is great but is a distant second to being prepared for calamity.

The purpose of this thread is to make and save money in order to afford preparations in the first place. Whether you stockpile gold, silver, dollars, stocks or bonds, remember that they ALL are not food but a transaction or two away from having food in possession.

I don’t know about you but I can’t help feeling that this Christmas and New Year’s period is being falsely propped up until the first of the next year. Wall street brokers’ bonuses and retail outlets’ sales figures are much of the reason for this. Imagine a crash in October or November and what a mess the following Christmas season would look like. And a devolutionary period beginning at the onset of 2008 could easily spiral into a depression.

Note all the recent talk of a potential for a recession. They are really thinking depression but can’t spook the herd until they are shorn to the skin.

Don’t ever forget what is highest priority; you and your loved ones’ security.

Your loved ones are depending on you even though they don’t know it yet.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. Maybe a few inexpensive food recipes would be a good idea in this thread. Money saving and delicious too !

Here’s a few from a lazy bachelor :

I take pork, about $ .89 a pound, and cut it into ¾” pieces and mix it up with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce. I then put it in aluminum foil and close it up. I put it on cookie trays at 325 degrees for an hour or a little more and it comes out tender and tasty. On a bed of rice and a bit more BBQ sauce and my sons can’t get enough.

Another time I take two cans of turkey from Costco, two cans of cream of mushroom and mix and heat them in a fry pan. Poured over a bed of rice and a bit of Spike seasoning sprinkled over the top. Delicious. My son said that he could eat this all the time. Sure !

Last night I took a can of beef (Costco again), two cans of refried beans and a chopped onion mixed them up in a fry pan. I microwaved flour tortillas for 20 seconds to make them flexible. The beans and beef were then rolled in the tortillas and held together with a wooden toothpick. Next I put them, one at a time, in a big fry daddy until slightly brown. When cooled enough, salsa can be poured on one end as you eat them. They sell these burritos at a 7-11 type store. They are good but mine are far better.

Next I’m going to try making machaca con huevos, shredded beef with scrambled eggs. Chopped bell pepper, onion and maybe some jalapeno peppers thrown into the mix too. Wrapped in a tortilla with salsa. A breakfast burrito. My favorite.

All of these recipes are cheap, quick and simple. The ingredients can be stored for a long time and can therefore come from prep storage. They are also a lot tastier than buying at restaurants or the fast food drive up. Also, do you REALLY know what kind of meat is in the commercial fast foods ? Notice that dogs and cats don’t hang around the back of restaurants any more ? Lady And The Tramp was a cartoon !

Got 2.1 ozt today for $6.50. Love addin silver to the stash. HH Mark

Thanks once again for a timely and informative post agnut. I've been stocking up on pasta as well. Seems alot of us are getting that “gut feeling” about adding to the preps.

All the Best,

randymatt

__________________



The president of a socialist nation (America)..
has to give a convincing speech saying essentially..
“We are not going to do.. what we are doing”

"No exports, No recovery"... Ponce

Hi

Are you serious ??? Me and my boys are laughing so hard we all cried ! You are saving pasta ! OMG That is just to much you can't be for real . AND BUYING $50 DOLLAR Trucks are a Great find OMG Please stop it !
Is this a joke ?? Thanks for a great laugh !

Elmer Fudd
The Master !

A fellow member just sent me a private message and I thought it would be a good idea to share his concerns.

He mentioned that, in his estimation, bulk prices in Costco have been rising at 17% within the past year. He wanted to know what to invest in rather than more of all the commodities he could personally use.

My answer would be to stock more food provisions. The type that can sit for years like coffee, sugar, rice, beans, canned goods, canned turkey, canned beef, pasta, spaghetti sauce, etc. The local dollar store may have some good deals; mine does and I use them for increasing my stash. Buy in bulk like at Costco and buy quantities on significant sales.

He also mentioned that he has CDs getting 5.5% and wondered that since they aren’t keeping up with real inflation, whether he should cash them in and get gold and silver.

My answer is that, if I were in his shoes, I would cash in the CDs and use some of the cash to increase food storage. Some of the cash I would buy silver and gold bullion. Maybe some 90% silver coins too. And keeping cash on hand is always a good idea. Not just to hold it outside of bankers’ control but also to have it for any great deals that may come down the pike.

Why let the bank have all the fun with your hard earned money ? It is losing purchasing power in a CD. If he bought food, he would be making 17% on his money. And that is tax free, unlike the 5.5% he is getting from his CDs. Probably netting 4% after taxes.

To bring it up close and personal, suppose someone had $100,000 in CDs and was getting $5,500 interest per year. Is one twelfth of this $5,500 taken out and spent or invested otherwise every month ? Or is it left in the bank’s hands until the year is ended ? In other words, is the bank using that accrued interest for additional lending for even more profit ?

Also, the principal of $100,000 is unavailable for opportunities unless cashed in prematurely. Penalties for early withdrawal ? I don’t know since I have never had a CD. All I know is that I would not want to have my money parked there.

At the end of a year the CD is redeemed but with much less purchasing power. If instead food were bought on January 1, the food (could be many things; just using 17% as an example) would cost $117,000 at the end of the year. There is still $100,000 plus after tax interest of about $4,000 for a total of $104,000. The $13,000 difference would buy 867 ounces of silver at $15 per ounce.

Right now it may seem trivial but you would have your money in your hands at all times. Always remember that the nature of calamity/chaos is that it catches almost everyone unaware and therefore unprepared. Any survivalist worth his salt (reminds me, gotta get more) is also a futurist, always thinking of what will be necessary in a future world.

In a normal world the survivalist is thought of as a kook. But when the world turns upside down, he is a genius. It is an ancient tale throughout history and the masses never get the message. Go figure.

What do you think the spot silver price will be at the end of that same year ? Are you willing to take the certainty of losing purchasing power with a CD rather than the possibility of increasing purchasing power with precious metals ? If this decision were a certainty, nobody in their right mind would have CDs. We can look back at the last few years and see that it would have been far better to have invested in silver or gold. But no one knows if this will be the case in the future. Another reason to diversify your investments.

Remember, you are not taxed on the money you save from wise buying.

What kind of work do you do ? Can you get overtime ? Maybe offer the boss to be paid in cash and only paid regular time ?

Instead of going out to dinner or fast food, make your own and learn how to make it cheaper and better (and probably more healthful too).

Instead of going to the movies, rent a DVD or borrow one.

Starbucks Coffee on the way to work ? You have got to be kidding !

Again, think of spending/saving in terms of ounces rather than dollars. It can be a fun game where you almost always win.

Don’t expect precious metals to go up in a straight line. In a long term bull market there are up moves, down moves and consolidations in between. The trend is your friend. Trading in and out will make you lose many of the advances that had you stayed the course, you would have reaped far greater gains.

“If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it.”

“To be ready is not.” There is always something more you can do to prepare.

Both by Ponce. Word.


I hope I answered your concerns. If you have any further questions feel free to ask.

Best wishes and JMHO,

agnut

There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.
– Goethe

Just got to say, Agnut, you’re a man I just have to agree with. I also have about 30-40 pounds of pasta squirreled away – that stuff will last forever. And, as my wife has told me “When you’re starving you will eat anything.” – voice of experience talking there.
I have been hitting the grocery store sales where they advertise $20 off if you buy 20. And that puts savings on some canned food items at over 50%! Often going to the right store makes all the difference price-wise. Your mention of the dollar stores is a good example. I would just like to know where you are getting pork for 89¢ a pound (and I like Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce myself). Thanks for the quickie recipes.
You can get a 50 pound bag of rice for $25 and rice is a good stable item. You only need to keep it away from the rodents here in the Northwest – bugs aren’t much of a problem. The main point to see is stocking up on storable foodstuffs. Buy a little to save on each trip to the market “… saving in terms of ounces rather than dollars”.
Me Co is doing his thing there with the highgrading silver. It’s a real inspiration to see someone getting almost fourteen ounces out of coin roll hunting. Tried it once or twice myself but it got old too quick. It’s a cheap way to pick up silver but going through $200 in halves and getting just one 40% was enough to spoil it for me. Opportunity cost was to high.
Whats happing in Rhodesia is just a crying shame. I have been following the news from over there for about 34 years now. Bread basket to basket case – sad. I pray to God that we never see anything like those conditions here.
Thanks for all your work in keeping this post active and informative. I wish everyone the best in the coming months.

bf

Hi ALL
YEAH PUT YOUR MONEY IN PASTA AND MAKE 17% OMG LOL THIS IS BETTER THAN GOOGLE ! Hell y pay for food when you can dumpster dive for day old food ?? Better yet Have the dumpster dumped at your house . You can feed the family for a year for free !! If I have to save noodles to feed my family they will be better off DEAD ! LOL

ELMER FUDD
The Master !

agnut,

Once again, nice info. The pasta I was getting in June of this year was around $1.34 a box, now $1.97. I did find some on a sale last Nov so we added another 60 boxes. I see that in some places around the world. it’s not a matter of what the price is, but rather, can you buy it?


Zimbabwean shoppers walk past empty shelves in a supermarket, after the Government ordered businesses to halve prices earlier this month.

Elmer,

This thread (Bartering and Horse Trading) was started Jan 5, 2007, since that time, it has had 19,042 views, 375 replies, and out of those replies, 362 positive and informative contributions. Also has a sticky added by one of the mods indicating there might be some important and beneficial information to some of us here.

You have been here since October of 2007 and out of your 26 posts 50% (13) have been to this thread with nothing but negative, ignorant and insulting bullshit, thus adding nothing.

P.S.
It is sometimes better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

__________________



The president of a socialist nation (America)..
has to give a convincing speech saying essentially..
“We are not going to do.. what we are doing”

"No exports, No recovery"... Ponce

Hi ALL

Well you did not read my post about getting a real job than ! This is to help all the DIRTBAGS so they don't have to DUMPSTER DIVE ! This was a POSITIVE POST !

ELMER FUDD
The Master !

little tip ! If you are Dumpster Diving Tomarrow you can get alot of FREE Wrapping Paper for next year !

now 14 :D

__________________



The president of a socialist nation (America)..
has to give a convincing speech saying essentially..
“We are not going to do.. what we are doing”

"No exports, No recovery"... Ponce

It will be a great time here soon to BUY wrapping paper as the retailers will mark it down to a fraction of what it has been selling for. No need to hit those dumpsters!

Hello Elmer,
Sir, I am interested in your point of view.
Please assist me and also please describe a "real job".
Again, I am seriously interested in quantifying your point of view as it pertains to this thread as it would assist folks like me to see
a different side of the situation at hand.
Regards,
Haystackneedle

Pretty sure Elmer is just a disinformation junkie- kindof a Jeckyl/Hyde thing. Maybe its a good thing- he keeps us in check so we don't really talk about dumpster diving and hopping freight trains to travel etc. HH Mark

Had a good night percentage wise. Got 5 ozt for $11 face, woohoo. Also just topped 350 z's found since July. HH all, Mark

Hi Bottom Feeder. Pasta is a staple that can be added to many other foods to bulk out for caloric intake. My older son even likes spaghetti noodles with nothing other than butter for a bit of flavoring. A bit too plain for me and I have cases of cans of spaghetti sauce.

The 89 cent pork comes on sale periodically but I have to buy 10 pounds or more at a time. I usually buy 20 pounds and break them up into 5 pound bags to freeze. One of these bags will make enough for my two sons and me to have two meals each, and with 6 meals divided into about $4.50 for the pork and $1.50 for the Sweet Baby Ray sauce and rice, our cost is about $1 per meal. I do expect the price of meats to go up soon but can only store so much in my freezers.

I expect a continuation of price increases as we have had in 2007 and am buying more quantities. Canned peas won’t always be 50 cents on sale and spaghetti sauce won’t always be $1 a can. But purchased now, they will hold their value as the dollar loses still more of its value. Besides, you can’t eat a dollar or the paltry interest the bankers offer. By buying food and storing it, I am my own banker. I have a vault of goods that I and I alone invested in. Making 17% or more tax free on my money is hard to beat. Anyone ridiculing this would have to be an absolute moron.

If you don’t drive many miles per year, it would be wiser to focus on your food expenditures rather than to get excited every time the gas price rises a dime at the pumps. I may use a couple of gallons per week in auto fuel, so that may cost me an extra 20 cents a week. But buying food on sale and with coupons will save many, many times that per week.

It depends on where your money is going out. The money you take in is like a financial blood transfusion and the money you waste or spend thoughtlessly is like a bleeding wound. There are huge obligations like a new car purchase that can cripple you for years no matter how much you scrimp and save on food and clothing expenditures. And NEVER rationalize that you are saving money in one area like food and therefore deserve to splurge in another.

When a stagecoach driver pulls in the reins, he pulls up on ALL the horses, not some of them. Reining in your spending should be in all areas that you can.

If you have a long commute, ride sharing can cut fuel costs in half or more depending on how many are in your group. Also a high mile per gallon car can help tremendously. I wrote about this in a previous post.

Now that Christmas has passed, it may be a good idea to think about next Christmas for gifts. I buy throughout the year and find many special items for each person. This holiday season I didn’t buy a thing except a couple of boxed candies for my sons. Besides, I avoid crowds as much as possible. Leisurely buying bargains through the year seems like a more sensible way to approach the Christmas mayhem.

It would be interesting if we could agree to exchange only gifts that we had made with our own hands. Carvings, pottery, knitting, woodwork, art and many other such items have a very personal touch. Just a thought but you can imagine what retailers would think of such a suggestion. Horrors !

I agree that bags of rice are a bargain as well as a necessity. I have over 100 pounds and plan to get more. I have read that a combination of rice and beans is a complete meal nutrition wise. I noticed that Mexican meals usually have this and I bet that they have long ago learned of its importance.

Me Co is having pretty good success with the coin sorting. My bank won’t get the bricks of coins for me, I don’t know why. Maybe if I had a lot of money on deposit they would treat me differently. I have considered another bank but with all I am doing I don’t have much free time to sort coins myself. I’m focusing on my new business and fixing up the property right now.

Oil is at $96.45 this morning, Dec 26. A rise of over $2.32 per barrel. Right after the Christmas shopping ended except for the after Christmas sales. Coincidence ?

We can’t store vast quantities of fuel and must defend ourselves in other ways like high MPG cars, ride sharing or driving less if possible. A move to save money is like a vote against the system. A protest. It isn’t easy changing one’s lifestyle but once you do you will be wondering what the heck you were doing all the past years. Most people complain about rising prices and will continue to complain until they are FORCED to change their habits. It is a mature adult move to foresee the future and ACT on that belief. Most everyone can do this; it isn’t rocket science.

Sad what is happening in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Either you get the implications or you never will. Unbridled issuance of fiat currency gone wild. Cheaper to use it as toilet paper than to use it to BUY toilet paper ! So few get it and are preparing that I fear for my fellow Americans’ security. Our dollar has been losing purchasing power for almost 100 years; it is a slow cancerous process but I expect it to accelerate in the next year or two. This subprime lending debacle isn’t going to go away. In fact, it doesn’t even reach the peak for a couple of months. And it will take several more months to worm its way into the already weakened economic system. By summer/fall, we should be in the thick of it. A quote from Ponce is appropriate. “The government will only tell you what they want you to know AND what they can no longer conceal”. The year 2008 will be a volatile year with lots that can no longer be concealed. My avatar is from the Wizard Of Oz and the scene is of the man exposed behind the curtain. I thought it most fitting for the times we are in.

I think that the Sudan yesterday decoupled from the dollar and will convert to the Euro as their reserve currency. Another domino falls.

Right now I am faced with a decision of whether or not to buy a diesel 5.5K generator. I had one many years ago and it cost $3,600 new. The one I am thinking about is offered for $1,200 used. Is it better to have electricity in an emergency or more silver or food stocks ? I already have a gas 5K generator but I like storing diesel a lot better than storing gasoline. I will probably lose the deal as I haven’t been aggressively pursuing the owner.

I just realized that such decisions are neither fun nor tragic; they just are. These are adult decisions and carry the responsibility of preparations not only for ourselves but our loved ones. I’m sure it weighs heavily in our decision making. I admit that I make mistakes from time to time and there are others who are wiser than me. Dealing is best approached with humility and a sense of humor. The overview gives one perspective. Many are the times when I am in the middle of a deal and I stop and consider how this fits into the whole scheme of my life’s goals.

I wrote that sometimes a simple deal leads to other deals. This just happened to me yesterday and I am not sure if I made the right decision. It started with my seeing a thrifty ad for a Mazda pickup truck for $50. Well, yesterday we trailered not one but two of these trucks home for $50 total. When I was there I asked what else he had for sale. He took me into his garage and there sat a pair of huge industrial bead/sandblast cabinets. It will take four or five men to move them onto a trailer. They were almost new and had only been used a couple of times. One is large enough for three people to get inside and the other is automated. He said that when the military bought them 7 years ago, they were $10,000. They are huge and I’m not sure why I bought them except they were so cheap for what they are. Only time will tell how I come out on these machines but that is one of the exciting things about bartering and horse trading. I had a gut feeling and listened to it.

I now have to do some research on the brand name and model and find the current price of these machines. Next I have to find a buyer; it won’t be a general auto repair shop. More an industrial outfit with a need for a high volume blaster. The price is right at $300 because most people don’t have a place to store these behemoths. But I do. HaHa I’ll keep you posted as to whether I trade/sell these blasters or get stuck with them. I haven’t picked them up yet but the agreement is made. Remember as Ponce says, “If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it”. A deal isn’t concluded until you have the item in your possession. It happens rarely but agreements do fall through. It is best to strike while the iron is hot. Pay the money and get the item into your possession as soon as possible.

This is just an example of how a small thing can lead to big things. Note that I almost always ask the seller what else he has for sale. You can’t believe what they sometimes offer. Remember that such items haven’t been offered before and you have just made the seller think about such items, maybe for the first time.

I have bought trailers, boats, cars and now sand blasters merely by asking “What else do you have for sale ?”

If you are deal making and DON’T do this, you are literally missing the boat….. And trailer….and cars….and maybe even sandblasters. So for goodness sakes, make your asking sellers questions an integral part of your deal making. You won’t regret it.

Best wishes,

agnut

P.S. My son and I were laughing last night when I said that maybe we could trade the sandblasters we are getting for $300 for the diesel generator, wood chipper and weed cutter he is asking $1,370 for. We both realize that this is the way the bartering and horse trading comes into play; someone has to have what I want AND I have to have something that he wants. Additionally, we have to come to some mutually agreeable relative valuations. If enough difference, maybe some cash or a pig or cow will be thrown in the mix.

Anyone remember the late 1959 movie, The Mating Game” ? It starred Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall. A great comedy centering around a father who barters and horse trades for just about everything. And of course, the IRS is hot on their heels.

Hi RandyMatt. I especially appreciate your photo of the empty shelves in Zimbabwe. It illustrates that government interference with the supply/demand equation can’t be legislated. The people will act in their own best interest. Your photo also shows that preparations are vitally important. In the past I wrote that the chain of delivery from food in the fields to the local supermarket will likely be broken at the supermarket. In other words, it may be an almost instantaneous reaction to bad news. There won’t be days or weeks to stock up preparations after such a catastrophic news. Better to be a year early than an hour too late.

The general public hasn’t even begun to seek the security of the precious metals. I question if they ever will since the PMs have been so manipulated and denigrated for so many years. How many of them have ever even SEEN precious metals ? Millions of them are deeply in debt and with the further sucking sound of a tightening economy, less potential investors seems the prognosis. The general public will miss the PM train; in fact, they won’t even hear the whistle blow.

I just saw the report on CNBC that the Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated (shot) by a suicide bomber who then blew himself up. Sad news. Gold jumped $4.50. It will probably settle back down as the markets absorb the impact. The size of the news’ implications is relative to the responding size of the price change of precious metals. Imagine an attack on Iran and you can figure what would be the size of impact from this for yourself.

We live in a increasingly fragile world and therefore must tread carefully. This is no time to be catching a falling knife. I hear of many people who want to buy real estate and I cringe. This is just my opinion but I feel that real estate prices can fall to what a buyer is willing to pay in cash. Try to imagine how little that cash would be in such a scenario. It happened in the last depression and houses were literally given away for the taxes due. And some couldn’t even muster that; they were vacant for years and deteriorated. Isn’t this what is happening in parts of Detroit now ? If bought poorly, a house can become like a prison. It already has for millions of folks.

Sure, banks are reluctantly lending now but if their balance statements continue to worsen, they may stop lending altogether. Well, maybe lending to a few people who have the backing to not fail. And I have to wonder why these people would borrow in such circumstances. I sure wouldn’t.

This coming May through summer traditional moving period will be interesting for us who are settled in but tragic for many families who have to sell their house and move to a new city in order to follow their employment. Buying a house on contingency of one’s last house selling is an accident waiting to happen. So watch for this. Nothing is moving in my area and hasn’t been moving for many months.

I remember being on a business trip to Houston in the early 1990s and while cruising the suburbs, there were several McMansions standing vacant and boarded up. I asked one of the locals and he said that people had gotten a bit of money from working in the oil fields and built more house than they could afford. Too much building and a glut of these houses on the market. Some weren’t even completed and were exposed to the weather. To read about this has nothing like the impact of actually standing among the carnage. I never forgot that lesson; it was branded in my mind like a brand on a cow’s hindquarter.

People living the high life with big houses, expensive vacations, credit card debt and new cars on credit actually piss me off when I think about it. Since buying for credit what you can’t afford to pay with cash is highly inflationary, I am also a collaterally injured victim of these inflating prices even though I pay cash on the barrelhead for everything.

So when the house of cards comes crashing down, I won’t have much sympathy for these profligate borrowers who drove up the prices for us cash buyers. Why is a new car $30,000 or a house $300,000 ? Easy credit.

Why is a house not affordable for the working man as it was in the 1950s ? Easy credit. And easy credit always causes inflation far beyond wage increases, engendering increasing unaffordability as time passes.

The destruction of the middle class looks orchestrated to me. Of course the destructive power of unbridled fiat currency issuance weighs heavily on the rails leading to its ultimate demise. Nothing seems to derail it and fiat currency has historically ALWAYS ended its journey in worthlessness. What I am trying to say is that once an economy uses fiat currency, it is inevitable that it will end up this way. There is no other option.

Isn’t anyone at the Feral Reserve aware that all previous fiat currencies ended in worthlessness ? Or is that the price to pay for their making untold billions from the use of fiat currency ? Or in a sinister way, was that the plan all along ?

Amazing isn’t it that we can still trade paper fiat currency for food, tangible goods and precious metals ? Shhh… don’t tell anybody ! Wouldn’t want to spook the herd. After all, it is just a CON-fidence game.

Best wishes and JMHO,

Agnut

P.S. Here’s a good article on fiat currency :

Fiat Currency: Using the Past to See into the Future

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/rpt/fiathistoryWP.html

Hi ME CO. I just came across this thread on coin roll searching and thought of you :

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=270850

Best wishes (and that includes coin roll searching),

Agnut

Somehow I don't think that was a Freudian slip, eh Agnut?

For you aspiring Coin Roll Hunters out there here is an interesting site on Treasure hunting that includes an area on that subject:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...05&board=224.0

Also lots of good info there on metal detectors, prospecting and other interesting stuff.


bf

Hi bottom feeder. More like a fraudian slip. Heh

Thanks for the website. A friend said to get the best metal detector you can afford. The depth and sensitivity as well as identification of objects will pay for itself in short order.

He also said to look for meteorites while metal detecting. Apparently some of them sell for a fortune. Look on Google or Ebay and you will be surprised.

He also advised to look in areas that aren’t known to have had a lot of human traffic in the past; places that other prospectors wouldn’t think of. These are virgin territories.

He used to prospect with a metal detector in northern California and found gold around and in stream beds. Some of these stream beds had changed their direction and it was wise to look for ones that hadn’t been used for a long time. What the clues are, I don’t know. Probably have to scan a wide area and zero in on results.

Another person used to look around the forestry areas north of LA. He found gold nuggets in some of the old cement pilings around the gold panning fields. Apparently, the pilings used sand and gravel from the streams with no regard for the gold they contained. Just another interesting place you may find gold.

By the way, my son and I picked up the sand blasting equipment. I checked and the shipping weight is 1,600 pounds for the two machines. It was quite a job loading them but the unloading went quickly and they are safely stored in the barn. I have decided that they are too big for my use and will photograph them and put them up for sale or trade. They both look brand new and I was told that they were only used three times. Ex military equipment, our tax dollars at work. I called the manufacturer and the machines are $5,550 plus $800 for shipping for a total of $6,350. Not as much as the seller told me but I expected that. I will try to sell them for less than half the new price and/or get some equitable trade. See, another deal that I didn’t know what it is worth but looked like a great deal. Hard to lose with this huge a potential price spread between new price and what I bought it for.

My son and I plan to keep the two Mazda pickup trucks, at least for now. His truck needs the engine checked out. We suspect timing problems and will start with simple diagnostics. If we can get it running, it will be quite a bargain for $25 plus $25 for trailer rental costs.

My truck, on the other hand, has two disassembled engines in the back bed. There is a Brahma canopy that came with it and I understand that they are high quality and cost about $900 new. A little added bonus. A complete engine overhaul will cost about $300 in parts. And while in there, might as well rebuild the 5 speed transmission. About $200 in parts. So for about $550 and a week’s work, I should have a high MPG truck with a rebuilt drive train. I would estimate that it would be salable for $2,500 to $3,500.

If my son’s truck can be made to run without much work, he will be in a better profit position than I will be with my truck. Time is valuable and my week’s rebuilding may be more profitably invested in searching out better deals. Oh well, a bird in the hand…

I hope these examples give some perspective into how I think and make deals as well as how I find these deals. I would appreciate anyone to add their experiences. The more readers see, the more they may be encouraged to join in themselves.

Believe me, there are more deals out there than any one person can handle. The getting out there and beating the bushes and asking questions will open the floodgates of deal making. And think of it, with the weekend newspapers, garage sales, estate sales, bulletin boards, Craigslist and other selling sources, there are new opportunities every week.

Best wishes,

Agnut

Wow ! Nothing posted in a week and still here ? Pretty sticky sticky.

I noticed that this bartering and horse trading thread has just passed the 1 year milestone.

Truth is, I’ve been busy with a gazillion details. The devil is in the details; remember that ? Sort of a Hell of my own making. HaHa

I have a rather long post to post but haven’t finished making it sensible yet. Or at least sensible to me, which could be certifiable to some of you.

So as to not disappoint your anticipated disappointment, I’ll post it ASAP.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. You know, any of you can jump in any time and post what you know and think you know. I’ve gotten away with it for years and they haven’t hauled me away yet !

P.P.S Ain’t the silver (and gold) price rises getting interesting ? And wouldn’t it be hilarious if Jason Hommel’s prediction came true ? $408 per ounce of silver ? Gotta go and check in the mirror for the size of my dental fillings.... I’m RICH, I tells ya !

Agnut,

I was looking through craigslist today and I noticed that diesel VW trucks are going for around $4-5000 in this area! Maybe importing them from a cheap area might be worth something, if you have a source. It seems like some of the best buys on c-list are in 80s turbodiesel Mercedes. They can be had for around $1-2000 in varying condition.

As for silver, I wish $400/oz could come true but I don't see a reason why that would happen. The Hunt Bros peak was only due to market manipulation. I think gold might be better but it's so expensive to buy ounces right now!

__________________
"Belief is the wound that knowledge heals."
- Ursula K. LeGuin

Another good night at the silver mine- got an old box that was the twin to one I got in October- 22 Bens bright and shiny:bull-buddy-icon:. Two of the other three boxes put out good compared to recent history with (7) 90%'s and (16) 40%'s. The other was a skunk. All said I got just over 14 ozt. for a face value of $24.50. I'm just shy of 25 ozt. since the first of the year. HH Mark

Hi buff01. Yeah, these diesel VW trucks are pricey if they are restored or in top condition. I have been seeing them in my local Craigslist and they can run from anywhere from $400 to $5K or so. These trucks are so old that most are badly in need of total restoration, a very time consuming proposition.

The price differentials between my area and yours isn’t worth the effort. Many years ago I bought cars in Denver and caravanned them back to San Diego for resale. After a couple of years, the differential decreased so much that I discontinued and bought locally instead. Some things are only good for so long and we have to be alert to the tipping point as it arrives. Or trend watching, if you will.

As for the Mercedes diesel cars, the 300 diesel with an automatic transmission is really slow accelerating. Need a turbo diesel instead. A 300 diesel with a manual transmission was probably only personally imported or a special order, that is, rare. And these 300 diesels don’t get the greatest mileage. However the 240 diesel with a manual transmission gets the best mileage, about 30-34 MPG, as well as acceptable acceleration. Around here, most of the 240 diesel Mercedes have 200K to 350K and may be overdue for an overhaul. I was told that the pistons and liners are $600; the other rebuild parts are similarly expensive. Maybe $1,000-$1,200 would be enough to buy all the parts for the do it yourselfer. You have to ask yourself if finding a 240 diesel for about $1,000 and paying another $1,200 while taking about a week to rebuild the engine is really worth it. And it would be best to consider it well before you spend a dime. This may not be the project for you.

Don’t be taken in by a seller who offers an immaculate looking Mercedes 240 diesel. Sure, it may look like it just came off the showroom floor. But the most important thing is the odometer reading. No matter how good a Mercedes 240 diesel may look, the engine and possibly the transmission may be about to go south. And if the car looks cosmetically pristine, the seller may be asking $3,500 to $4,500. It’s what I call a pig with a pretty makeup job.

I prefer to find a non running or poorly running 240 diesel for under $1,000 and either rebuild it myself or having it done. To spend $3,500 to $4,500 only to find that it needs an engine overhaul later is a sucker’s game.

Occasionally, you can find someone who has just rebuilt the engine and now has to sell their car. It happens and is better to pay a bit more to avoid all the hard greasy work. That’s as long as the rebuild was done properly. That is where I have a problem; I know too much about how many things can go wrong in the human error department. And that is the primary reason that I prefer to rebuild an engine or transmission myself, even if it is not always cost effective.

A couple of weeks ago my son’s 4X4 Toyota truck needed another engine. We had one out of a later truck so no rebuilt needed there. But the transmission bearings were getting noisy and the gears were grinding when shifting. So we rebuilt it. I hadn’t ever rebuilt this model and it was an education for both my son and myself. Had to heat some gears and bearings to 330 degrees in hot oil in order to press them together. A cooking thermometer was used to keep the oil temp in control. Even the repair manuals were incomplete; sometimes it takes some ingenuity.

Transmission rebuilding isn’t for everybody, even for some who think they are qualified. Part of the reason is that this is a perfectionist business. One little mistake and the whole transmission has to be removed again and totally disassembled again and the problem rectified. There isn’t much that is as disheartening as having to start all over again after having put many hours into rebuilding and installing a transmission.

I hope this long explanation of the pitfalls of automotive care and feeding will cause you to tread lightly and to envision what your actions now will cause in the future. I will be the first to admit that I sometimes get too swept up in the excitement of the deal to see what my actions now will create in the end. What I am trying to say is that having the presence of mind when making a deal is something we should all make a conscious priority to have at the very beginning of making that deal. This is business; the business of life.

We make many decisions every day but some have long term consequences. Buying a house is generally the largest cost decision and buying an automobile is the second. The difference here is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money nor obligate yourself with burdensome loans when buying a car. Think of all the millions of Americans who now have house and car payments that will overwhelm them in a serious downturn. You don’t even want to go there.

The wages of debt are financial death.

Are you getting credit card offers in the mail ? I get them weekly. Something stinks here; it seems to be more than lenders wanting to make more money. Maybe to enslave the masses for the foreseeable future. I wrote of this some time back and called it “debt man walking”.

A distinct benefit of bartering and horse trading is that people may be able to get out of debt with the profits made. I wonder if, at some time in the future, those without debt will be considered rich. Peace of mind a luxury; it seems this has always been desirable but lately not as much desired as having things before they can be bought without credit.

Oh well, I have rambled on enough for now. I am still writing the next post and this one was just off the top of my head.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. I don’t see $400 silver either but the number of dollars needed is relative to the dollar‘s purchasing power. It is the future purchasing power of the dollar that would see silver at $400. If they continue to issue more billions, the dollar will in time become worthless. And how many dollars would you trade one of your ounces for ? At that point, the bundles of dollars would be valued as fire starter or toilet paper as in 1922-3 Germany or today’s Zimbabwe.

If that extreme were to happen, paper dollars exchanged for silver would have to be weighed by the pound in bundles, much like kindling or toilet paper. See, the dollar will always have some value; its paper utility.

So we can’t say how many dollars it may take to obtain an ounce of silver. Fiat currency is a con-fidence game. Run by con artists. If the con were to be understood by the masses and exposed for what it is, maybe the con artists will become con-victs. One can hope.