Facing an Economy and Economic Indicators collapse is scary, however, there are things you can do. Here are five threats you’ll face in an economic collapse to be aware of.
Do you know what could happen if an economic collapse occurs? Not everyone is fully aware of the bad things that can develop over time when an economy takes a downturn and is no longer booming and boosting like it was before.
5 Threats You’ll Face When the Economy and Economic Indicators Collapse
If you’re not sure what types of threats you’ll potentially face during an economic collapse, check out this list of the standard five threats that can happen during these difficult times. When you know what can happen, it’s easier to prepare for the worst possible scenario while hoping for the best.
1. Looters
During the first note of an economic collapse, people tend to panic. When they’re worried about the possibility of running out of essentials, such as food and water, it’s common for people to start looting. In the beginning, they’ll loot businesses to grab items that they think they’ll need to have during the economic collapse.
However, looting can take a greater turn for the worse. Unfortunately, in some situations, people start looting the homes of others, creating a dangerous situation for everyone.
Prepare for the Worst
It’s essential to have a stockpile of items for emergencies. You won’t have to worry about rushing out to the store and dealing with the looters to grab essentials for your family because you’ll already have those items at home. The only worry you’ll need to deal with is the possibility of someone attempting to break into your property to loot it.
Security Measures
Take drastic security measures to stop people from accessing your property. It’s beneficial to have strong security locks, surveillance cameras, and multiple means of protection, including firearms with plenty of ammunition. While you may have no intentions of harming anyone, you need to have a way to protect your loved ones when dealing with serious threats from potential intruders and attackers.
2. Inflation
During an economic collapse, it’s not uncommon for inflation to occur. As a result, the currency becomes useless. Even if you have plenty of paper money, it may hold absolutely no value, making it impossible for you to buy things that you truly need during a crisis. Because inflation can occur, causing the currency to become invaluable, collecting other cash alternatives is an excellent idea.
Currency Will Become Worthless
This is pretty obvious when looking at and Economy and Economic Indicators failure. Investing in gold isn’t a bad idea. If you have the extra money to do so, you can begin collecting gold coins and bullion, both of which hold value in places all around the world. You may also want to think about what you can offer to others in exchange for their services.
Provide a Service Instead
If you need something from someone else, you might be able to provide a service that you’re good at doing. It’s a great way to get what you need without necessarily paying cash for those essentials. It’s a traditional form of bartering that existed long before currency ever did.
3. Food Shortage
A food shortage may occur as people begin looting and stores can no longer keep up with the demands of their customers. It’ll become increasingly challenging for stores to keep the shelves stocked as people continue to come to the stores and buy items on impulse because they’re in a panic over the situation.
When people feel that they won’t have access to food or beverages, they often rush out to buy non-perishable items and anything else they can get their hands on. Unfortunately, this leaves the shelves bare more often than not.
Know How to Prepare
Ways to protect yourself from a food shortage include growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs in a garden on your property and building a stockpile of non-perishable foods over time. You don’t need to rush out each day to buy more items for your family. Grab the items while they’re on sale and save them.
Store the Items Correctly
You can store rice, pasta, canned meats, and other items for extended periods without the food going bad. You might even want to think about canning to preserve fruits, vegetables, spreads, and meats for months or years at a time.
4. Government Shutting Down
Although it’s not as common in first-world countries, it’s a real threat for those living in third-world countries. The government shutting down is a big deal. If there isn’t enough money to go around, services that people are used to having access to all the time, such as medical care and policing, may no longer exist.
If there isn’t money to pay these people for their services, those working in different fields may no longer do their jobs, putting many lives at risk.
Prepare Where You Can
Not having police or emergency responders around is a significant problem. Without the possibility of getting caught for wrongdoing, it could lead to a major increase in crime, ultimately resulting in more lives lost. A lack of medical care could lead to widespread infections causing major health issues and possibly even death. While it’s not the kind of thing anyone wants to think about, a government shutdown could cause massive problems.
5. Service Shortages
A major economic collapse could lead to severe service shortages. It doesn’t just mean not being able to go to the store, but also many other things. You may no longer have gas to keep your home warm, electricity to keep the lights on, or running water to flush the toilet and take a bath.
A Turn for the Worst
When you don’t have water or power, things can take a drastic turn for the worse. So, what can you do to help yourself if service shortages happen? The best thing to do is to buy products that you can use during these emergencies.
For example, you may want to get a portable toilet that you can use in case of an emergency. Along with a portable toilet, you can buy a portable non-electric stovetop and dozens of candles to use if you don’t have electricity to turn on the lights.
Understanding the threats that you’ll face in an economic collapse is important. It’s not about trying to scare you but preparing you for what could potentially happen. If you know of the possible threats, you can take specific steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from experiencing turmoil amid an economic downfall.
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Potential Alternatives to Money? While most people think money rules the world, the truth is that there are several alternatives to money that are just as useful.
If you’re ever in a situation where you’re unable to use cash, having some of these alternatives to offer others could potentially save your life and help you keep your family safe, well-fed, and protected.
Top Five Potential Alternatives to Money
If you know what to offer, it can make a huge difference. After all, not everything revolves around the dollar bill.
1. Gold
This is probably the most obvious of all the Potential Alternatives to MoneyGold is one of the most valuable precious metals to exist on Earth. While the currency is different across the globe, gold is a form of payment understood worldwide.
It typically has substantial value. While the price of gold fluctuates from time to time, it never significantly loses its value. It’s a form of wealth and has been for many, many years.
Because it’s widely accepted throughout the world, it makes sense to have a collection of gold. You can work on collecting gold over time, especially if you don’t have a lot of money to invest in gold right now.
You may want to slowly but surely start to invest in gold coins and bullion, both of which will hold value. You can add these items to a portfolio and hold onto them because you don’t know when they might come in handy for you.
Silver is a great back up option if gold it too mush of a challenge for you.
2. Ammunition
If it becomes hard to come across in the future, you can expect ammunition to hold value. People want to have ammunition for different reasons. Some people want to have it to feel safe. They may want to feel like they’re capable of protecting their loved ones with their ammunition if it comes down to that.
On the other hand, some people like to use ammunition while hunting for food to bring back to their families. If you buy it now, you’ll have plenty of ammunition to safely store in a secure spot.
Besides using it for hunting for food or defending yourself and your loved ones, you may be able to use ammunition as currency to barter for different items that you need at some point.
If you are seriously looking at this as Potential Alternatives to Money for your SHTF situation, keep an eye on who you trade this with and do it subtly. No one wants the word getting out there that they have plenty of ammo – it can be a great way to invite trouble.
3. Services
This is an often-overlooked item with the Potential Alternatives to Money planning comes about. If you can offer something to someone else in exchange for what they can do for you, it’s possible to use services as an alternative to money. For example, if you’re skilled at sewing, you can offer to sew clothes for someone in exchange for fruit and vegetables from their garden. Use your skills to your advantage.
If you’re not sure which services you could provide as an alternative to money, think about what you’re good at and what you can offer. You may have a garden full of crops that others can eat.
You can offer to do yardwork for someone else or even provide other valuable services to different people who can’t do what you can do. Create a list of the services you know you can offer in times of need if it ever comes down to it.
4. Energy Sources
Can you imagine what life would be like without electricity? Most people stress over the thought of not having access to modern technology, but there’s so much more to it than that. If you’re without a power source, you can’t do most of the things you’ve gotten used to doing because of technological advances and access to power sources.
If you have coal or gasoline, you can always use it as a form of payment for services to those who could use these energy sources. You’ll find people who need coal or gasoline to heat their homes, get their vehicles running, or even allow them to cook a meal for their loved ones.
Because these energy sources come in handy during emergencies, it’s wise to start collecting them. You can buy coal and gasoline, but you’ll need to know how to safely store these products.
The worst thing to do is to improperly keep coal and gasoline because then it could go to waste, causing you to lose out on money and the chance to use these sources as an alternative to money when bartering with different people.
5. Food and Water
You can survive without gold, coal, gasoline, and many other things, but one thing humans can’t survive without for too long is food and water. So, if you have it, you know it’ll be valuable during dire situations where access to food and water is limited.
While most people don’t want to think of the worst possible outcome, having extra food and water could be a lifesaver in the event of an economic collapse that leads to a survival situation. It doesn’t mean you need to go out and buy a bunch of water and food to build your stockpile, but you can start storing these items little by little to get prepared for any potential emergency that occurs.
One way to make sure you always have food available is to grow a garden in the backyard. Start with simple crops that are easy to grow, such as green onions, potatoes, and carrots. Work your way up to planting more complex crops that will provide you with a decent variety.
Even after you’ve harvested your crops, you can preserve them through canning or freezing methods to ensure you have access to food in an emergency. You can also begin storing fresh filtered water in large, sturdy containers that won’t cause any leaks.
Use the Right Alternatives to Money in Emergencies
Did you know that there were a few good alternatives to using money? While the currency is different in countries all across the globe, these alternatives are widely accepted worldwide.
If you’re looking for a way to pay for services you’ll receive without spending money, especially during an emergency, you can use one or more of these alternatives as a form of payment. Use your skills and the things you’ve collected overtime to pay for the goods and services you need during tough times. You’ll notice that during emergencies, many other people will do the same.
Survival Prepping on a Budget? Preparation is always the key to surviving whatever life throws at you. Some people try to be prepared for short term situations because they usually think that life will go back to normal quickly.
If you’re prepared to rough it without electricity or being able to run down to the store to buy food for only a day or two, you’re probably woefully unprepared. If you’re like most people, you don’t have a lot of money to spend on things that you don’t need to use right now.
Survival Prepping on a Budget
That’s why it can be all too easy to push survival preparations to the back-burner. But you can take care of your survival needs even if you’re on a budget. You have to do it piecemeal and follow through with your plans.
Make a Plan So You Don’t Buy Haphazardly
Not being familiar with how survival prepping should be handled can lead you to make mistakes with the items you should have on hand for you and your family.
If you think that prepping means making sure you have enough supplies to make it in the event of a crisis that disrupts the ordinary way of life, you’d be right. But that doesn’t mean that you run out to the huge food storage warehouse and start throwing cans of tuna in the cart.
Not knowing for sure what you need to get is a fast way to end up short on supplies, not to mention it’s a way to waste the money you have. Having a successful survival method means that you have to plan it.
You can’t run to the store and haphazardly buy whatever looks like it’ll keep for a while. It would help if you had a checklist of what you should get. This checklist should always start with the items that you must have first.
Not every item for prepping is needed right away. You always want to start with the most important things first. These will be items that your survival will depend on.
Usually, what this means is that you plan to buy the basics. It would be best if you started with basic food and water supply since you can’t survive without either of these for very long.
If that makes you nervous, remember that you can start the short term with the plan to build toward a long-term supply. So your first step would be to aim to stock up a three-day supply of food and water.
These come in packets for easy storage, and you can get them in a three-day supply. That’s your first goal. Keep your plan focused on setting aside supplies for 72 hours, then move on from there.
Once you have your water supply set aside, then you’ll want to move to your food supply. Just like with the water, you’ll want to make sure that you have a three-day supply of food on hand.
Figure this for each person. What you’ll want to look for are the emergency food bars that offer around 400 calories a bar and come in different food flavors.
Be Picky About What You Splurge On
When planning for your survival, it can be easy to get caught up in what you think you have to have. This can lead to unnecessary splurging, which will then eat into the money you have to spend on what you need. Survival Prepping on a Budget is all about being concerned about how you spend that precious money.
As you start to prepare, you’ll find that you’re faced with many different choices on what you need. Some of these items will be worth you spending more money on, but some of the things aren’t.
If you’re faced with a situation and need to get out of your house, you’re going to need a way to carry a 3 day supply of food and water. You should have these items already set aside and waiting for you to grab and go.
These are often referred to as bug out bags or BOBs. These bags should be made of durable material and should be strong and should be water-resistant.
Buying cheap bug-out bags has the potential to ruin your supplies – so in this case, it’s a good idea to splurge on a good bag. What you want to look for are bags that have good load-bearing ability.
You’re also going to want to make sure that you have a good dependable communication system. This system could be your only link to knowing what’s going on, and it can be invaluable for helping you to be able to reach your loved ones.
What you’ll want to splurge on are communication devices such as ham radio or world band radio. You might also want to consider a short-wave radio. Splurge on a decent antenna and a solar charging system.
What you don’t want to splurge on are items that have many features, can’t be carried along if you need to get out fast, or don’t have a lot of bang for the buck. For example, you’ll need a camp stove.
You’ll want to splurge on a good one, but you don’t have to get one that has a ton of extras. A camp stove for $20 works just as well as the ones you can find for almost $100.
When it comes to your eating supplies, you do want to splurge on heirloom seeds. This will be the foundation of your survival once you have your short-term supplies in place.
This is what you’ll use to create your long-term survival garden as well as keep you and your family fed for the future.
Buying in Bulk to Cut Costs
It makes sense when you’re buying the way you usually buy your supplies to buy what you need until you can replenish your supplies. But buying supplies for survival prepping works better when you buy them in bulk. Survival Prepping on a Budget means getting more, for less, every time you can.
Retail stores and online stores will always offer a better deal on supplies when purchasing more of them. You can quickly pay around $15 for a month’s supply of emergency survival food bars – but if you buy them in bulk, you can often get a deal where you only pay $60 for a six-month supply, so you end up saving $30.
The best areas to look for savings on bulk items are going to be in all your basics. You can save money by buying your water in bulk. You’ll save if you do the same for your food or seed supply, too.
It’s cheaper to buy sees for a year than it is for a few months. Since you’ll need these items anyway, it makes sense to buy them in larger quantities. If you know you want to buy a bulk item, set aside a little money at a time for a larger purchase.
Also, watch for sales where you can buy items in bulk. Many stores will offer double coupons or bulk purchase deals on things you’ll need. Follow the lead of couponers who do strictly to save money.
You’ll need a checklist when you’re buying in bulk, not to forget how much of each item you have. Staples are where you’ll begin. Start by purchasing bulk packages of rice.
You’ll often find these in 50-pound bags. Make sure that you buy your sugar in bulk, too. You can find these in 25-pound bags, and often, they’ll be plastic wrapped together, enabling you to buy them in twin packs or more.
Get your flour in bulk as well, but make sure before you buy that you have proper storage containers in place to prevent pests from getting into your food items.
Buying coffee and tea in bulk will also cut your costs. Create a store of powdered milk as well. Stock up on different types of beans, too. Buy your canned goods by the case.
You can find these in 12 to 24 can packs. Any food that you normally eat that comes in a can you’ll want to stock up on. These canned foods are often useful for many years from the date when you purchase them.
What you’ll want to do is keep an eye on the expiration date and rotate them into your normal meal planning if you have to. Then replace your stock with a new batch that has a later expiration date.
Besides making sure that you buy water and food in bulk, you’ll want to get your hygiene items this way as well. Stock up on supplies like shampoo and soap, razors, toilet paper, feminine products, diapers, deodorant, toothpaste, and lotion for dry skin.
Stock up on detergent and bleach – especially bleach – because it can be used to disinfect. Getting your medical supplies in bulk will save you money, too. You’ll need to create a store of bandages, gauze, medical tape, disposable gloves, compress, thermometer, antibiotic ointments.
Make sure to add a first aid kit, wraps, medication to treat sickness or injuries, tweezers, eye drops, sunburn cream, insect bite, and poison ivy treatments.
Adding to Your Arsenal of Supplies a Little at a Time
Indeed, we often have an all-or-nothing mentality. When it comes to making sure our needs or the needs of our loved ones are met, we want to go all out. With survival prepping, being fully prepared can be expensive.
But fortunately, you don’t have to buy every one of the supplies that you’ll eventually need all at once. Buying what you would need to survive for the first 72 hours is a good start, and you don’t even have to buy all that at once.
You can start by focusing your spending power on getting enough water and food for everyone in your household for one day. Then stock for the second day and so on.
Once you’ve reached your store of three days’ worth of supplies, then you can start adding to your arsenal – hoarding enough for a week, a month, three months, and finally, a year and more.
As you start your supply, look at it like you’re going grocery shopping and get the items you would typically buy at the store but buy them in bulk. If you don’t have a food warehouse membership, that’s not a problem; you can buy what you need online.
And you don’t have to stick with one supply at a time, such as buying several bags of 25 pounds of rice until you have a reserve. You want to concentrate on getting some of each category of the supplies and then rotate back through it again.
So you would buy your staples one week, making sure you get a large bag of rice. The next week, you would buy the flour, then after that the sugar, and within weeks, you would have your staples knocked off your list.
That’s the way that you would handle every category. It’s probably wiser to buy your hygiene items while you’re buying your staples because you’ll need those things.
When you write your list of supplies, put a heading for each area you’ll need to cover for your survival. After food and water, you should have areas marked as tools, shelter, communication, purification, heat, and so on.
Under the heading of tools, you’d want to start stocking up on items like knives, self-defense weapons, multi-tools, axes, binoculars, shovels, and paracords flashlights, fishing gear, fire starter, manual can opener, cast iron pan, and more.
For shelter, you would want to make sure you have a supply of Mylar emergency thermal blankets, sleeping bags, a good tarp, and tents. Weather gear can go into that category as well.
These would be items like a poncho, rain boots, etc. Purification methods are needed because if you find water, you can use that if needed. Some of the methods used are filters or water purification tablets.
Buying at Certain Times to Save You Money When Survival Prepping on a Budget
It’s a well-known fact that when a crisis is raging, there’s often panic among the masses. One of these reasons is that the media will often excite situations to drive up the ratings.
This works because it whips people into a frenzy, and they make a run on supplies. You’ve probably seen empty grocery store shelves during times of uncertain weather.
When this is going on, it will often create a state where the demand will exceed the supply, which only fuels more panic. What retailers do in response to this panic is they will jack up the prices.
While it’s wrong of them to feed on people’s fears, it’s simply what they do, and it’s been done time and time again everywhere. So while you want to make sure that you get all the supplies you need to have your survival preparation supplies on hand, you want to be careful as far as the timing goes.
By paying attention to specific times and what’s going on in the world around you, you can save money. When the news is all about doom, gloom, and panic, you shouldn’t buy any of your prepper supplies.
You’ll only end up being overcharged. The time to purchase supplies for your survival prepping is when life is business as usual. This way, you won’t pay more than you should.
However, there’s also another time that you should buy your necessary supplies, and that’s during times when there are sales. Throughout the years, various retailers will hold sales.
You’ll see sales on holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other days. Watch for the supplies you need to go on sale then, especially if they’re the more expensive items.
Pay attention to in-store sales, discount sales, and bulk buying sales. You can usually find something on sale in every one of the categories on your list. Keep it handy (and updated) and carry it with you at all times just in case. You will find that Survival Prepping on a Budget is easier than you originally thought.
Survival and prepping is something every household should be doing, regardless of their level of income. Dire situations don’t discriminate when it comes to wreaking havoc on society, and you want to be just as ready as your neighbors (if not more so) when anything causes you to go into a bug-out mode.
No amount of prepping is too small. If all you can buy is an extra 3-pound bag of rice, then do it. A couple of cans of soup here and there is also a start. Don’t wait until you have plenty of extra money to buy everything all at once.
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With the way energy costs are soaring nationwide, more people want to find a cheaper energy source. You may be wondering, “What is a solar panel, and how it can help me cut electricity costs for my home?”
What Is a Solar Panel?
These panels are made from a type of silicon – and photovoltaic cells within the panel are what work to create the energy consumers can use. The cells in the panels are how the sunlight is collected and converted. Solar power occurs either through using the photovoltaic method or through a solar thermal set up.
You might think that you’ve never seen solar power in effect, but you may have and not realized it. Solar energy has been used in various devices for years. One such device is a solar calculator.
Solar calculators can run based solely on the power they get from the sun. The best part about solar energy is that it’s the energy that’s easily replenished and because it’s a natural resource. By using solar power, you’re saving financially and helping the environment.
It used to be that only businesses or the very wealthy used this type of energy because only they could afford it, but you don’t have to be a Bill Gates to have a home powered in part or wholly by solar panels.
It’s become a very cost-effective way to produce the electricity that you need. You can apply solar power benefits to your home and produce enough energy to say goodbye permanently to those staggering electric bills.
You can order solar kits yourself online and set them up to start producing the needed watts for your home today. You’ll want to get enough solar panels to take care of the electrical demands required for your home, so the amount that you purchase will be determined by the amount of wattage you use. You can figure that out by looking at your current electric bill, but ensure that you also check your seasonal electricity uses since it’s always more in winter and summer.
The panels that you buy can be used for recreational vehicles (like RVs), too. The sturdy panels can withstand some pretty intense weather – including hailstones. You can also use solar panels as an emergency supply of energy if you’re on the fence about whether or not you want to redo your entire home with solar energy.
When you decide to purchase these panels, you can find them separately or with a kit that includes everything you need for charging. A solar panel can save you money, provide your home (or vacation home) with energy, and help lessen your demand for fossil fuels. That’s innovative savings!
Why You Can Benefit from Solar Panel Cells
The cells in solar panels convert the light from the sun into energy that you can use as electricity. You can use this electricity to set yourself free from the rising costs of electricity served up through power companies, and you can use it to create a greener home.
Not only is a greener home good for the earth’s resources, but it’s a healthier way for you to live as well. You might think that solar panel cells are new and haven’t been around that long.
These cells first put in appearance back in the late 1800s. Of course, there was a lot that scientists didn’t understand about the power and convenience that could be harvested by using these cells, but over time, this way of producing energy has gained in understanding and popularity.
At their simplest definition, these cells are semiconductors. The semiconductors get the light from the sun and then, through electrons, produce the power you can use. Think of the process as a current – much like you’d find the current flowing through a circuit in your home.
If you touch the current, you’ll get an electrical shock because you’ve come in contact with the voltage – the amount of electricity running through that contact point. To understand how these cells work to create energy, let’s simply explain it.
The battery in your car has both a positive and a negative charge. Solar panels work in the same manner. The cells in the panels, acting as semiconductors, create a positive and a negative.
Electrons in the semiconductor are released when the sunlight hits it (the contact point). This current is what’s used to create the electricity. If you’ve ever looked at a solar panel, the cell is inside the square module, which is inside the panel.
Several modules make up the panel. The bigger the panel, the more modules, the more cells you’ll have. What these cells can be used to power is amazing. Not only homes – but boats, RVs, and more.
Suppose you have a vacation home and it’s a good distance from civilization, and you don’t want your vacation to resemble life-like Little House on the Prairie. In that case, the solar panels’ cells can produce enough electricity to keep you in comfort.
Now, the good news for anyone who wants to switch to using solar energy is that you significantly reduce or eliminate your electric costs. But, in many cases, because you’re going green, you might qualify for a tax break.
The federal government offers a tax break to people who use solar energy. In many cases, the state also offers tax benefits for those who use solar energy. You’ll have to check with the state you reside in to see if you qualify. Be wise about saving and harness the power offered to you by simple solar panel cells.
What Solar Power Energy Can Do for You
Aren’t you ready to finally set yourself free from the grid? Solar power energy can handle most, if not all, of the same electric wattage tasks that regular electric energy does. When you’re ready to take a shower or a soothing bath and want warm water to relax in, the power of solar energy is the source that can make sure your hot water tank is ready to give you the temperature you want with your water.
Are you sick and tired of dreading every single winter season because you know the heating bills are going to be astronomical? They don’t have to be if you’ll tap into the abundance of electricity available through solar panels.
Even if you don’t want to go completely solar, you can have a considerable reduction in expenses and watch your savings grow to the point that you’ll have extra money to do some of the fun extras that families enjoy.
Take a vacation, buy the boat you’ve always wanted – by saving on energy costs, you free up a lot more of your money. You can set your home up yourself to start saving, or you can hire an expert to get the job done for you. And even with the labor cost of installing the panels, this will still be a project (unlike some home projects) that will pay for itself.
By having and using solar energy, you won’t have to worry about being left in the dark again. If you live in a state that often has power blackouts, you can still be up and running.
You’ll be able to have lights (a dark home can cause safety issues for families), and you’ll be able to keep your food from spoiling. Generators use gas (which depletes the earth’s natural resources), and they’re loud – but not only that, they aren’t always ready to work the moment you need them to. You want usable power that’s ready when you need it to be – power you can depend on.
When you buy your solar panels, you can spend a little, or you can spend a lot. The type of panel you purchase will determine how much energy you can harvest from the sun. You’ll see labels like amorphous, monocrystalline, and polycrystalline used in conjunction with solar panels. These are referring to the different kinds of silicone within the panel, and the type you get does matter as far as energy production is concerned.
Solar panel energy comes from high-efficiency panels and can be purchased in single or multiple panels. You’ll need a charger for the panels, and you can either buy those separately or in a kit.
A small panel installed on the top of an RV can offer enough continuous use to last consumers for over 20 years. The energy can be stored and ready to provide power when you need it.
What to Look for in a Home Solar Panel
It seems as if everything is costing more today than ever before. Everywhere you turn, your pocket is getting tapped for you to fork over more money. Are you like millions of other Americans that are sick and tired of inflation in your energy costs?
If so, you might want to consider switching to solar energy created by using solar panels. You’ll find that not every home solar panel is made alike. They’ll differ in size, cost, and energy efficiency.
Some will only last approximately seven years, while others can last for 25. The long-lasting panels are not always the ones that cost the most. The best panels to buy are the ones that offer you the highest return electricity rate.
For example, panels that use amorphous silicone take longer to stabilize the amount of energy it produces, and it doesn’t make as much energy as other silicones. Many of these panels give approximately 5% in return electricity rate.
It takes more panels using amorphous than it does with other silicones, which means more cost to you. While these types of panels might be great for a smaller project, you wouldn’t want to use this type for your home. Plus, they’re just not a good bet if you live in a state where cold weather is an issue.
Amorphous silicone is one of three kinds that you can use. The next kind is polycrystalline. This is one of the most common panels used today. They’re very cost-effective and have a long-lasting history of dependability.
The most popular panel is the monocrystalline silicone. These panels are perfect for colder climates; they’re long-lasting and have a high return electricity rate. The return electricity rate is one of the essential factors that you want to consider when purchasing panels.
The type of solar panels you set up for your home will make a difference because some of the panels are specifically used with grid-tied systems. This means that your home is one that’s tied in with a utility company.
Most of the time, you can find systems that are tied to grids that end up costing you less and don’t require a rocket scientist to use. Not only that but if you end up creating more electricity than you need, your electric company can end up paying you because you’re generating electricity that can end up back in the grid.
There are a few things you’ll want to think about when you want to install a home solar panel. You’ll need to consider how many rainy days your area has versus good sunny days. Areas that have a more than average amount of rainfall aren’t good candidates for solar energy systems.
Solar Panel Cost – It’s Less Than You Think
There are a lot of questions about the bottom line of solar panel cost. Most people want to know the price of the panels when this isn’t an accurate way to figure out what it will cost you to set your home up on a solar panel system.
Before you do anything, look for your state’s energy office. Each state has one – some might be called the conservation office. When you find it, search their site for renewable energy links.
Use those links to see if your state offers any rebates or credits for outfitting your home with solar panels. If so, you can figure in that financial break as part of the savings for going green.
When adding up the costs involved with having a more economical way of getting electricity, don’t look so hard at the forest that you miss the trees. Because it’s what you overlook that can be where the real savings lie.
Let’s say you’ve decided to use a grid-tied system, and it’s going to cost you $1,000 to set up a small solar system. On your state’s energy site, you see that they’re offering a $300 rebate and a tax credit worth $75.
Your system now only costs $625 for you to buy. You look at your electric bills and see that your costs vary between $250 and $325, depending on the season. Once you have your system set up, your account drops to an average of $75.
You’re saving between $175 to $250 every month. Within a few months, that $1,000 system is paid for just by rebates and energy savings alone. Many utility companies also offer savings for people who want to set up their home with solar panels. When it’s time to file your taxes, you might discover that you get more savings from the federal government, too.
But before you decide which panels you want to buy, figure out how many kilowatt-hours of electricity your home uses and buy your system based on whether you want solar energy to cover all of your home electric output or only some of it.
Take into consideration too the location of your home and the number of daylight hours you get. Some solar systems can be expensive, but keep in mind that when you buy your system, the cost of living will continue to rise.
Electricity rates will rise, but with a solar system in place that takes care of all of your electric demands, you won’t have to be concerned with those increasing costs. What you pay for upfront will last you many years.
The solar panel cost you pay for your home gives you back dividends in energy resource savings, convenience (having power when a storm knocks out power to your neighbors), and financial savings. So the real question isn’t, “What does it cost me to get a solar panel system for my home?” but rather, “What will it cost me if I don’t?”
If the world becomes infected with an airborne illness or highly contagious disease such as Ebola, you may find that it’s impossible to do many of the things you would normally do for work. A List of Home Based Businesses might be just the thing you need!
Start Building a Work at Home Business to Support Your Loved Ones
It may be too hazardous actually to travel to an office, and you may find that you need to look for alternatives to work at home. Working online can be a simple way for you to earn a basic income when you’re not able to keep your usual routine. That is why I have A List of Home Based Businesses for you.
If you have a good computer and Internet connection, there are many things you can do to create some income while you’re waiting for life to return to normal. The easiest way to make money online quickly is to provide a service.
So start creating a list of any type of service that you can provide to other people through online methods. You may need to have multiple streams of income to meet your needs while working at home.
A List of Home Based Businesses to consider when it comes to working online include:
Writing – Many people need writers who can create articles and web content for their online businesses. You can work with people all over the world without ever having to leave your home and provide a service that is in demand.
Taking Orders
Many companies hire people to take orders through online services and the phone. Just about any business that needs to take orders can utilize people who work from home to do it.
Graphics and Design
Many businesses need people who can create graphics and design web pages. All of this work can be done from home using websites such as Elance, ODesk, or Fiverr to reach out to new clients. It really isn’t that hard to even start a digital Etsy store! How I Made $200 a Day From my Couch talks more about what I learned and put to the test.
Affiliate Marketing
You can create blogs and websites that help to promote other people’s products. In return, you can receive a commission for any product purchased through your personal link.
Just about every retailer has an affiliate program online that allows you to earn money for reviewing products and making recommendations. Recommend things you use at home!
Hidden Talents
It can help to think about what it is you can do that not many other people can. There are all kinds of opportunities online for you to share your talents.
For example, if you’re skilled at something such as building, sewing, or cooking, you can make money teaching others how to do it – or creating things to ship out from home, too!
Creating an income stream from online work can help you get through difficult times when it’s impossible to get to work outside of your home. But you’ll want to begin as soon as possible so that you have time to build your business before you need to depend on it 100%.
How to Prepare Your Family For a Financial Emergency? To prepare yourself for financial trouble, you need to have at least 3-6 months’ worth of expenses saved up.
When I say expenses, I mean your bare expenses. Take all of the luxuries out of your bills and you’ll know exactly how much money you need to survive each month.
How to Prepare Your Family For a Financial Emergency
How much do you have in the bank right now? No wait, don’t tell me. Instead, just look for yourself. Then ask yourself one question:
“What would happen to my family if all of my income sources went away?”
Do you have an answer? Is it a bad one? Is it a good one? Would your family be able to survive only on what’s in your bank accounts right now?
If you’re like most people, the answer is, unfortunately, “probably not.”
Why you need to save money
Preparing your family for a financial crisis is honestly the single most important prep that you can do. You can prep all you want for weather-related incidents, but in truth, if the weather is bad enough, all of your preps might not make a difference.
Failing to prep for a financial crisis though can literally tear your family apart at the seams though. Loss of income can cause loss of your home, kids going hungry, marital fights, and more.
So how do you protect yourself?
You save. It really is that simple.
What are your expenses?
Your basics are household costs, food, utilities, and any school costs that your kids have. Everything else should be considered a luxury and if you’re living with no income coming in, unable to be paid for.
These are the items that you pay extra to have in your life so if you don’t have extra money coming in, then doesn’t it make sense that you can’t have extra items in your budget?
Three to six months is the absolute minimum that you should have, but if you want to be really prudent about it, save a year’s worth of expenses. Loss of a job can sometimes be a very long situation and if you have a year of expenses in the bank, you’ll know 100% sure that you’re covered.
Building an emergency fund is critical for financial security and, more importantly, peace of mind. Many Americans admit to being kept up at night, losing focus at work, and even struggling with anxiety because of financial stressors at home. If you’re one of them, I hope I can help you find peace in building your emergency fund – even if you don’t have loads of extra money just sitting around.
3 Steps to Build Your Emergency Fund FAST
In the financial world, everyone talks about getting out of debt, buying a house, and building an emergency fund. Whether your emergency fund is a “baby” fund at $1,000 (the bare minimum), or looks more like $10,000, evaluating where you’re at and setting goals will help you achieve them much faster.
Prepare Your Family For a Financial Emergency: Evaluate where you’re at.
You can’t move forward unless you know where the starting line is. The baseline is where you’re at right now, with everything else being UP from here. Start with an evaluation, and be honest with yourself. If you’re spending way too much money on fast food or makeup, don’t beat yourself up over it – just fix it.
To do a thorough evaluation, check your bank account, Paypal, Cash App, etc. This includes prepaid debit cards or any other accounts you may stash and spend money from.
How’s your money situation? Is your income higher than your expenses? How much extra do you have each week, or each month? Write all these numbers down, as they’re equally important in figuring out where you’re at, and fixing the leaks. We’ll talk about that in a moment.
I like to print off my bank statements and go through everything line by line to see where my money is going. You can print 1, 3, 6, or even 12 months off at a time. It all depends on how in-depth you want this financial audit to be.
Check out these great books to read on how to change your financial situation:
Prepare Your Family For a Financial Emergency: Fix the leaks.
After I’ve printed off my bank statements, I go through and highlight necessary expenses in one color, and unnecessary expenses in another color. This is an easy way to see what’s going on at a glance. I like to call unnecessary expenses “leaks”. If you want your boat in tip-top shape, you must repair all the leaks!
How often did you purchase fast food? How expensive was your last date night? How many last-minute grocery trips did you take because you didn’t have a meal plan? How many times did you buy a soda or snacks from the gas station? How many coffee runs did you make?
Everyone has their own budget leaks, so take some time to sit down and figure out what yours are. While going through your bank statements, the leaks will usually become clear pretty quickly! Many of us have expenses each week, or even every few days, that we don’t consciously take into account when evaluating our financial situation. These are the most dangerous leaks, because we don’t even realize we have them!
Fixing the leaks is a must, no matter how much money you make – or how tiny the leaks may seem at first. If you add up all the “little” leaks over a 6 or 12 month period, you’re going to notice your boat is sinking much faster than you may have realized. Either way, the leaks need to be patched, right? Small or large, they’ll still cause problems.
You don’t have to go from 100 all the way down to 0 overnight. What I mean is, if you’re used to a coffee run every morning, you don’t have to quit cold turkey. Buy coffee to make at home and see how close you can get it to what you’re used to. Then, start cutting back.
You may realize you like the coffee you make at home even more than the stuff you get at the coffee shop. I know when I cut back on coffee runs, I loved that I could make it at home and choose my favorite brand of syrups. Plus, plant milk is an additional $.60 when I get it added to my coffee at Starbucks. At home, I can have a gallon of it and it’ll last forever! 🙂
Next, we will talk a little about adding income to your budget. Even if you make a large salary, you’ll need to fix the leaks to find extra money to build that emergency fund.
Prepare Your Family For a Financial Emergency: Make more money.
Building an emergency fund comes down to a simple principle: more money in, less money out. If your income isn’t already covering your bills with some left over to add to your emergency fund, changes need to be made. The good news is, these changes aren’t painful. The bad news? You’re not going to build your emergency fund overnight.
There are hundreds of ways to make extra money to build your emergency fund faster. Whether you start a blog as a semi-passive long-term income stream, or you deliver for UberEats after your 9 to 5 job, the amount of extra income you can earn from a side hustle is endless.
Even if you can cut expenses, most likely you’ll still need more income. YouTube is a wealth of information, complete with full videos (all for free!) about how people just like you and me became millionaires because of their side hustles. While the millionaire life isn’t everyone’s goal, you can easily make an extra thousand dollars a month (or more!) with side hustles.
The next steps…
No matter how intense you are with fixing your financial leaks or making more money with a side hustle, your journey is your own and you shouldn’t feel bad about any setbacks.
Life happens, things get in the way, and paying off debt can be painstakingly slow. However, you’re on the right path and you CAN do this! Keep reminding yourself of that! Negative self-talk can set you back even more, so keep it positive.
As I said at the very beginning of this post, not preparing your family for financial stress and trouble is just asking for trouble. If you don’t feel as if you can save even 3 months’ expenses, that’s fine. Just try to do something. A little bit in the bank is better than nothing in the bank.
Leave me a comment and let me know what your emergency fund plan is! I’d love to hear it.