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Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#61

Post by jonathanstrange »

ricardo81 wrote: post #49

What country are you based in? In mine (UK) one the biggest outgoing costs is energy, mainly heating. There are various government schemes to help people with recent bills and ways of reducing energy consumption.

The biggest outgoing cost? Are you sure? I would like to see figures for that.

I haven't checked the statistics but here in Portugal at least for me the biggest outgoing costs are rents (by a large margin), followed by food. Gas prices and car maintenance costs are also high, whereas public transport is roughly on a par with monthly energy costs.

Are people in the UK all heating their homes with electricity?

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#62

Post by xupybd »

Illniyar wrote: post #22
mckirk wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Everything points to 'economy is fucked for the foreseeable future', people are worrying about possible food and energy shortages, and your take is 'don't forget your FOMO though, stonks still go up'?

You mean like in 2020 when the entire world was shut down because of COVID? Or in 2018 when a trade war between china and US was just around the corner? Or in 2016 when Brexit was the fall of the EU and Trump just got elected? There's always something, and it's never clear that that something is going to actually be the real deal.

This is a good point. My fear is that thing just keep compounding.

If tensions rise we could see China and the west getting less friendly. I live in the bottom of the Pacific and we rely heavily on Chinese trade.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#63

Post by mav88 »

pm90 wrote: post #34

Quoted post unavailable.

The problem is not the midterms. The problem is that the world has been thoroughly spooked by the West cutting off Russia from trade and payment systems. Countries like India, China and Saudi Arabia are already moving to other currencies for international trade. When that trickle becomes a flood, then the dollar will crash - because there's nothing holding it up apart from its reserve status. You already have $5 per gallon gas. Then it will be $10 and you'll have to find ways to buy food without getting in a car and driving the few miles to the grocery store. It's going to be nasty.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#64

Post by Shadonototra »

vbezhenar wrote: post #58

Buy house with few dozens of acres of land. Buy tools to cultivate the land. Buy few sacks of potatoes, learn how to grow them. Buy few sacks of salt, ensure it's stored safely. Learn how to weld with gas, buy enough gas to be stocked. Buy medicines. Buy guns. Buy bullets and vodkas. There are many thing to do to survive in harsh times. But first thing you need to ensure: your own home where you can live; defenses ag…

When nobody has money, the first thing governments will go after is land/houses, you can't move/hide them ;)

It is a mistake, gold is the only safe bet

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#65

Post by k8sToGo »

xupybd wrote: post #31
blfr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to encourage you to waste money, and there's definitely benefit in reducing clutter, but saving $4/mo on a VPS is unlikely to make a significant difference.

You're right but if I can find 20 similar costs to cut out I can start to make a difference.

That is the right attitude. Spotify, YouTube, Netflix... it all adds up.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#66

Post by edent »

filipemcg wrote: post #32
edent wrote: post #20

Depends on where you are in the world. In the UK, there's this handy flowchart https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/ The essence is to have a budget. Understand exactly how much you spend and where you spend it. Once that's done, you can work out where (if anywhere) you can save money. It might be as simple as cutting out Netflix, or as complicated as refinancing all your debt.

Hi, that's a nice flow chart. Just one thing that I don't understand: Step 1. Make minimum payments on all debts. What does it mean? Isn't it better to pay all debts as fast as possible?

If you don't pay the minimum, that tends to make creditors unhappy. Paying the minimum balance stops them from "escalating" - which may mean anything from angry letters to court proceedings.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#67

Post by actually_a_dog »

ak_111 wrote: post #57
bluGill wrote: post #42

Work for a company that is protected and you will be okay. Food, soap, and other basic boring stuff will be in demand. Luxuries not as much, so games might be bad, or as cheap entertainment they might do good as people buy the games that will keep them all year to avoid the expensive entertainment they did instead. Really it is a guess as to what will do well. Most people have a job in bad times. The real problem is…

Paying off debt is usually good financial advice, but it is arguably the wrong thing to do if you expect higher and higher inflation (which you mentioned is your expectation). If you expect inflation to keep increasing, then one of the financially smart things to do would be to take as much debt as possible and purchase hard assets with the debt (such as land or commodities). For me personally, I wouldn't follow this…

Correction: paying off fixed rate debt is arguably the wrong thing to do. By all means, take a good, hard look at any variable or extremely high interest rate debt.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#68

Post by Hendrikto »

vbezhenar wrote: post #58

Buy house with few dozens of acres of land. Buy tools to cultivate the land. Buy few sacks of potatoes, learn how to grow them. Buy few sacks of salt, ensure it's stored safely. Learn how to weld with gas, buy enough gas to be stocked. Buy medicines. Buy guns. Buy bullets and vodkas. There are many thing to do to survive in harsh times. But first thing you need to ensure: your own home where you can live; defenses ag…

OP was asking about hard economic times, not doomsday.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#69

Post by ricardo81 »

jonathanstrange wrote: post #61
ricardo81 wrote: post #49

What country are you based in? In mine (UK) one the biggest outgoing costs is energy, mainly heating. There are various government schemes to help people with recent bills and ways of reducing energy consumption.

The biggest outgoing cost? Are you sure? I would like to see figures for that. I haven't checked the statistics but here in Portugal at least for me the biggest outgoing costs are rents (by a large margin), followed by food. Gas prices and car maintenance costs are also high, whereas public transport is roughly on a par with monthly energy costs. Are people in the UK all heating their homes with electricity?

I'd edited my post as you replied. Agree, food generally costs more.

Mortgage/rent, highly variable depending on where you live, house big enough etc and if a mortgage, how many years are you able to spread it over.

Most UK homes are heated by gas. My recent bill went up 50% to £1500/y. Is expected to increase by 50% again this year.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#70

Post by yossarian1408 »

Shadonototra wrote: post #64
vbezhenar wrote: post #58

Buy house with few dozens of acres of land. Buy tools to cultivate the land. Buy few sacks of potatoes, learn how to grow them. Buy few sacks of salt, ensure it's stored safely. Learn how to weld with gas, buy enough gas to be stocked. Buy medicines. Buy guns. Buy bullets and vodkas. There are many thing to do to survive in harsh times. But first thing you need to ensure: your own home where you can live; defenses ag…

When nobody has money, the first thing governments will go after is land/houses, you can't move/hide them ;) It is a mistake, gold is the only safe bet

Mate they'll go after your gold before they go after your land.
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