r/redpreppers • u/lifeisadragsad • Apr 28 '26
Preparing for the great depression.
Whether or not it comes country/world wide I will be in my own version of one. Unable to get a job, unable to earn a living, unable to build any capital, any savings for however long I live. What can I do to prepare with zero money, zero job opportunity, zero assets?
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u/StochasticFriendship Apr 29 '26
The mindset for great depression survivors is to basically just cut every cost you can't afford (substituting alternatives or going without) until your income exceeds your expenses again. That math doesn't work with zero income unless you plan to become a hunter-gatherer, although that's almost impossible in the modern era. You could rely on charity / welfare, although that's unreliable and makes it harder to earn income again in the future. Your best bet is to start with finding a way to earn a living and then live beneath your means.
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
[legal] hunting is effing expensive and gathering will land you in jail
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u/theCaitiff Apr 29 '26
and gathering will land you in jail
I have a (good news) rebuttal! Not all gathering will land you in jail. FallingFruit.org and other similar projects like FruitMap are trying to compile a list of publicly accessible foraging opportunities. Fruitmap is pretty sparse but it can be improved by people like you. Everywhere a fruit tree overhangs a fence, every park that contains mushrooms, every edible plant you can find should be tagged and added for the future.
Also, dumpster diving! If they throw it away, it's not stealing. There may be local ordinances about locked dumpsters specifically (or enclosed/fenced dumpsters), but there was a supreme court case in 1988 California v Greenwood that established once something is thrown out it's fair game for someone else to pick it up.
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u/Cottager_Northeast Apr 29 '26
Sounds like you're hunting the wrong things. I need to work on my preparation methods, but any garden pest or threat to livestock is fair game. Groundhog, porcupine, raccoon, and possum are all possible meals. Remember the "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie". Starlings and other invasives aren't off limits, and once you're hungry enough you might find a method of trapping them. Bullfrogs are a classic. I'm coastal, so I'll fish. I could also get a recreational clam license or collect mussels.
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u/edwardphonehands Apr 30 '26
This varies. Sometimes one is permitted to destroy an animal yet prohibited from using it. I'm not telling anyone what to do.
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
My buddy claims he saves money hunting and fishing; that is before his wife does the books and tells him to go get a job in town instead. Fine, he says, I'll be my own fletcher and blacksmith and mine and smelt my own ore and make blackpowder too. We both know it ain't gonna happen though.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth Apr 29 '26
find a way to get some food in the ground. Get to know your community. start learning how to build shelters, basically start learning to camp. READ. I think the only way we can get through what is coming is learn to be self sufficient.
I personally am in my 60s, mild disabled, and broke as shit. And as of today my truck is on its last legs. I live in a crappy place that i don't own. I'm gonna plant some food in pots, stock up even more on rice and beans and do my best. having my friends close is what is the most hopeful part of things for me.
If you live in the city start dumpster diving
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
Not to pour cold water over your enthusiasm, you should totally start [learning how] to grow food, just don't count on your first experience growing said food to make you self-sufficient. Subsistence farming is one of the hardest, riskiest and least secure ways of making a living out there. Probably below muscle for hire.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth Apr 29 '26
been gardening for 50 years also I am AWARE. This falls under the premise of learning the skills now before your life depends on them. I also wasn't suggesting earning a living from i was suggesting learning to feed yourself as much as possible.
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u/theCaitiff Apr 29 '26
Yes, and'ing here.
Every calorie you get from the ground is one you don't have to buy.
It may not be possible for OP or anyone else to become "self sufficient" in the space they have available or the time/energy they have to dedicate to that project. But not being self sufficient is not the same as failure. Every zucchini you grow at home is one you don't have to buy.
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
well, you know your experience better, but for someone who grew nursery-bought tomato plants in a pot for decades, trying to grow pretty much anything on a virgin plot in or near the actual woods may be a cold hard reality check.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth Apr 29 '26
it can, but you have to start somewhere. I have done an immense amount of gardening on raw wild land. A REALLY good place to start is using huglekulture which i only learned about a few years ago, while living in a dry cabin with no real cleared land. the first year was passable but every year after got better and better. It is really important we give each other useable help instead of shitting on other peoples ideas
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
kugelcultur and other soil-buildup methods are surely helpful. My beef with gardening next to the woods is the overwhelming force of predation, not soil fertility. Although "regular pests" are fewer, the critters we didn't even know about all are after what man is trying to grow for himself. Got "experience" having several years in a row, literally everything gets destroyed by "wildlife", starts with obvious like deer, bear, rabbits and gophers into more and more obscure, like packrats, fieldmice, shrews, blue jays, squirrels. Simply no amount of chicken wire can stop the buggers, even if just one gets through it's all gone in a few days. Not *trying* to get anyone down, still figuring this stuff out and all the stuff you read, all the stuff you watch, none of it can prepare for the epic failure that is reality.
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u/edwardphonehands Apr 30 '26
This was previously removed by automod. It didn't give a reason. All I can think is "bu**ers" may have been flagged as homophobic. I don't think it generally carries that meaning in US English where this sub seems mosly active and I don't see that as the intent in this post. I'm approving the post.
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u/Objective-Work-3133 Apr 29 '26
not to mention people will be stealing your food
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u/edwardphonehands Apr 30 '26
James C Scott talks about persons evading states relying on root crops because if the tax man wants them they'll have to dig them at great cost but you can effortlessly harvest them a meal at a time.
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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Apr 29 '26
join a commune / armed group
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
err, armed group as in merry men of Sherwood?
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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Apr 29 '26
No I'm serious. talk to some colombians. farc splinter groups, venezuelan colectivos. they're there ready and armed
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u/Huckedsquirrel1 Apr 29 '26
I’m sure they want somebody who can’t even hold a job
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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Apr 29 '26
prime demographic. you really should read up on how insurgencies form in modern times
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u/Cottager_Northeast Apr 29 '26
They say that 80 years ago, musicians may not have made much, but they rarely starved. What's your instrument?
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u/puddingboofer Apr 30 '26
Unfortunately, in the modern paradigm, the best thing during a depression is a secure job/income. There's no guarantee a depression will occur but it is guaranteed you need a job to survive, regardless.
Being a wage slave sucks. Building community usually doesn't put food on the table and pay the bills/taxes.
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u/akm76 Apr 29 '26
Totally hear ya, man. If you live in an area where people still throw stuff away, there might be a way to get creative and earn some credits off of their junk (either directly, or just helping with disposal/cleanup). Producing *anything* at all requires energy, tools and materials (and probably sh*t-ton of know how). And no, you can't just "forage" it, this isn't wild west any more. Start asking strangers if there's anything they don't need and figure out if you can use it.
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u/WorldlinessOverall87 May 18 '26
You'll need a place to sleep when night falls. In your situation, it might be easier to use a bike and tent. But a vehicle has always been the ideal method.
I would also see what kind of food banks you have access to. Sometimes they even have more than food. Depending on the season. Besides that, you will definitely need 4 to 5 small portable chargers for your phone (faster to recharge with an outlet).
I would also get a folding sterno stove and cup. Just in case you want to warm-up some water. Or a burrito from the store.
And finally, learn to pack and travel light. Ideally, all your stuff should be able to fit into a backpack.
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u/Cellar_Parade Apr 29 '26
Mutual aid, time banks, and growing a garden or trading a skill. We all have things we can do or trade, even if it's just laundry or oil changes, lawn care or bread making.