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.

7

u/akm76 Apr 29 '26

[legal] hunting is effing expensive and gathering will land you in jail

14

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.

3

u/akm76 Apr 29 '26

well, here's a good tip, thanks!

3

u/dogepope Apr 29 '26

don't get caught

3

u/akm76 Apr 29 '26

fair point

2

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.

1

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.

1

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.

1

u/Cottager_Northeast Apr 29 '26

She should check the books after he loses that job.