Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

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In a case of wanting it both ways, the Biden admin says to ignore inflation numbers because that date is from June and outdated..BUT…embrace the employment figures which are..uhm…also from June and equally outdated.

Can’t make this stuff up.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, inflation continues its march. What is interesting is that precious metals prices are down. Gold and silver are down to some pretty attractive prices if you can get past the premiums. Why so down? Dunno. The cynic in me says ‘market manipulation’ but it could be other things…cash strapped entities may be dumping their metals to raise cash. Who knows? I just know that this might be a good time to sink some of your devaluing dollars in bargain-priced metals.

Food prices are definitely on the upswing and you can’t convince me otherwise. Fortunately I have the pickiness of a stray dog, so I don’t mind eating the same thing over and over (if I like it) and i don’t need the top-of-the-line brand for most things (really, any pasta is just like any other brand…and rice is pretty hard to distinguish between brands unless you have epicanthic folds.)

I’m usually pretty cautious with my spending because I’ve been in some ugly situations, but as of late. In this economy (or any economy, really) you can’t take anything for granted. You have to be very aware that every day  is possibly your last day at your job and handle your finances accordingly…because one day that is exactly what is going to happen. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Reagan ran on the slogan of “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Someone should bring that back. A  couple years ago under the Other Guy gas was two bucks, I didn’t have to worry about ‘supply chain issues’, the market was doing well, and I didn’t feel like Ragnarok was right around the corner.

But…thats what being a survivalist is about, I guess. Stock it away during the good times so it’s there for the bad. I used the Trump years to clean up finances, buy guns and ammo, and improve my position. As a result, I’m probably well situated to ride out Bidenflation and the other lunacy him and his fellow travelers bring…but that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it.

2024 can’t get here fast enough.

30 thoughts on “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

  2. I’m better off now than 4 years ago, no thanks to any effing politician. We were still living in a seasonal rental (guh…) in 2018. Now we’re in the middle of an 80 acre forest with independent heat & water. I can do virtually *anything* I’d like out here and no one will ever know (heh).

    But yes sir, point taken.

    • Ditto. Both parties are corrupt beyond redemption and not going to work in my interests. I am better off because I have insulated myself a bit more from potential disasters.

  4. 2024? you still believe we can vote our way out of this? we didn’t vote our way INTO this…… am i better off? yes and no. better prepped somewhat, but i lost my job to the vax mandate. i have 9 months to go to get my other pension, if its still solvent when i get there. taxes and insurance were eating my savings already, now inflation. but hey, i’m saving a ton on gas not commuting over the mountain every day. fjb

  6. It is probably a multifaceted issue with the drop of precious metals. Silver for example is mostly consumed today by industry in the form of manufacturing of electronic, with a recession/depression, people are not buying as many new TVs, computers and such. Like you said cash strapped companies/banks dumbing their metals investments for hard currency. Individuals having to spend more on gas and food limiting monies for investments. I think we could see silver back in the 5.00 range before we climb back out of this recession, if we ever do climb back out. Unfortunately, when the greatest President ever asked that question back in 1980, we were not 30 trillion in the hole on top of everything else. Damn, I miss him!!!

  7. Am I better off? Recently retired, unwillingly due to Covid restrictions and my unwillingness to compromise my morals, so no, not better off. Damn glad I’ve prepped for decades though, because it’s really helping out now.
    2024 is probably gonna be more of the same. Trump’s probably gonna run, which means no change in the rhetoric and stupidity of the pols on either side. (Remember the bump stock ban-Trump was NOT your friend!). Damn shame there’s not a decent candidate out there, but all you can do is hope and keep prepping what you can.

    • Hi RB
      It says a LOT about politics today that the best we can hope for is to work out which is the least harmful of a bad bunch!
      Before long the most useful voting tool will be rope and a lamppost…

      Ceejay

      • Commander:
        Have you heard yet about the Indiana shooting incident?
        A man armed with a rifle opened fire in a mall – but then an armed civilian shot him dead!
        Want to lay a bet that the leftists try to have him punished, probably with a longer sentence than the gunman would have got?
        No good deed goes unpunished…

        Ceejay

    • I hope Desantis runs and gives a better option than Trump… Whether it’ll matter is the bigger question…

    • Trump isn’t and wasn’t a perfect choice but he was miles better than the alternatives, as we are discovering every day.

      I think the bump stock thing was him taking advice from “experts” who he didn’t know he couldn’t trust. There were several other things that looked similar. He seems to have expected people to be competent and do their jobs, and unless there was evidence to the contrary, he seems to have trusted that they were honest dealers. This is how construction and development work, and that’s the model of life he likely has in his head.

      No candidate is perfect, and I’d prefer him with his vocal support for 2A to any dem who has vocally called for limits or abolishment of the 2A.

      And hey, we got better than we expected with Supreme Court judges, and other judges too.

      n

      • I will gladly trade useless bump-stocks for 3 more originalist Justices on the Supreme Court.

        • It’s not the bump stocks, per se, it’s that he threw the 2A community under the bus at the first politically expedient moment. Slightest bit of pressure on his approval rating and boom- we were political baggage. And I have no doubt he’ll do it again.
          I honestly don’t think he was looking for competency in his appointments as much as “yes men”. The man had more turn-overs in his cabinet that a baker.
          I agree, though, the best thing he did was the judicial appointments- though Chief Justice Roberts (for good or ill) didn’t quite turn out ot be the yes man he wanted.
          I also agree DeSantis would be a much better choice- far less baggage than Trump.

          • Chief Justice Roberts was appointed by Bush II, not Trump.

            And Trump did NOT ‘throw the 2A community under the bus at the first politically expedient moment.’ He made a very minor concession to a massive hysterical demand for serious gun control. Bump stocks are garbage, and they are most certainly not the hill to die on — it was a matter of give up something trivial and useless, or face the very real prospect of gun control legislation that would do actual genuine lasting harm to our Second Amendment rights.

          • it wasn’t just bump stocks; Trump supported red flag laws, appointed an anti gun ATF head, supported silencer bans, and several other things. Despite his rhetoric, he didn’t do anything to help 2A and did several things to hurt it.

      • If Trump was 2nd Amend supporter where is the Constitutional Carry Executive Order? A 1970’s New York democrat is not my idea of a conservative.

        • The President does NOT have the power to do that. If he did. he would also have the power to issue an Executive Order forbidding concealed carry.

  10. True pms’ are down spot but premiums cover the spread,better for most to stack consumables that are sure to rise faster than they are used or even available. Rice is very distinguishable(jasmine/bismati/brown)unless you have severe lack of taste but long grain white is really ubiquitous

  11. Trump was WAY better than Biden. but although I was never a fan of Macain, he should not have disparaged his military service, also, his signature campaign promise was to “Build a Wall” only about 2% got built. Also, when he said something to the affect, “Get the guns first, worry about the laws later” (re Red Flag Laws) that’s not a Conservative talking. All things considered, though, I’ll take Trump any day.

    • Trump’s signature accomplishment was pushing the progressive juggernaut off the Cliffs of Insanity.

      He’ll remain my personal hero forever.

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