Years ago I served in the Army. One of the first lessons that I learned in the Army is that there are people that talk about how to do something and there are people that DO something.

The people that do things and avoid talking about things too much are the ones that thrive and survive. The ones that talk about things are bureaucrats and usually cause more harm than good.

The world is rapidly falling into a global depression. When this site was started, that was not a fact and more of a speculation on the future. Now, there are few people that would argue to the contrary.

Unfortunately, the people that used to throw up walls about the reality of what was happening to the global economy are now all to quick to stand there and do nothing. They choose to belabor the question of “How did we get into this mess?”

Well the answer is that it doesn’t really matter too much. We are here and the situation is so dire that there is not time to stand around debating it. If you must debate it at all, then plug your ear into a ear bud on a cell phone and work while you complain and debate.

This is no time for anyone to sit still, sit at home, or mill around without a purpose. If you have a job, make sure you are spending your spare time tightening up your home, your apartment, your car, your possessions. Stock up on food, on batteries, on necessities. If you do not have a job, spend time finding a job, but do not neglect to make some money while you are doing it.

Think that President Obama or the US government is going to solve your problems for you?  Consider that the smartest people in the world just reviewed his plans over the last few weeks and no one thinks those plans are good nor sufficient. 

Need more proof? Here’s a simple number.  The US government has given or promised almost $3 trillion dollars to Wall Street.  This was for the mortgage melt down.  This week President Obama rolled out his BIG plan to bail out people with problems with their mortgage or home value.  It was $75 billion.  That’s $8k for the 9 million people that Obama thinks have financial problems with their mortgage.  That number is so pitifully small that it is insulting. 

Your average person that did nothing wrong and bought an average priced house in the last 8 years, has lost more than 5 times that amount already!

Yes it IS possible to earn money, even when you are unemployed. Leave no sacred cow hidden anywhere. While you are doing something, put together a quick list of ways you can turn your skills, work, or stuff into cash.

Actions You Should Move on Now Before It is Too Late

Get a PayPal account to Receive Money– If you do not have a PayPal account you are behind the eight ball and slightly unplugged from the global economy. PayPal is a payment transaction service owned by eBay. It can help you sell things on eBay. It can also help you get paid instantly when ever you do work for anyone around the world.

Quick Tip! Don’t put all you eggs in one basket, PayPal is US based, you should also consider an International account option. I recommend and use MoneyBookers also.

• 
• MoneyBookers – Online Payment transfers, a useful and cheaper alternative to PayPal, especially in the UK and Europe.

Sell Your Stuff and Useless Luxury Items – If you are reading this and you are American, then you have stuff in your possession that you do not need. SELL IT! Have an extra car, have extra toys, games, books, CD’s, DVDs, etc. Sell that junk. Its not going to keep food on your plate or keep you alive. Turn it into cash, and turn that cash into useful necessities that you will need to survive what is coming next.

Get Smart, Get Educated – A few months ago the potential for a Global Depression seemed remote (to some people). Now the break down of society seems like a remote possibility as well. Maybe it is, but if you are smart you will get prepared now. Do you know how to take care of yourself if your local services, support, government, stores fail? Can you purify water? Can you cook without gas or electricity? Can you grow your own food? Can you hunt? Can you defend yourself and your family? If you answered no to any of those questions then you need to help yourself now. If you can do those things already, you are ahead of the game but not out of the woods, figure out what you need to do next!

What to do with your remaining Credit? – If you are one of the people that still has that soon to be mythical tool known as ‘Available Credit’ you need to consider how you are going to leverage that tool to take care of yourself. Let me say up front, I am NOT a lawyer, I am NOT a financial advisor. I have studied both finance and law. I take no responsibility for your actions. We’re approaching the point where it will be every person for themselves. Its ugly and it’s the way things are going these days. That said if a bank is getting bailed out enough to risk continuing to give you credit, then you have power to protect yourself and arm yourself with more resources and necessities. Put that credit to good work for yourself. Get the necessities you need. Don’t be stupid. Don’t get luxury crap that you cannot use. Picture yourself in a movie where you have seconds and minutes to grab the most important things for your imminent survival and then go get them.

What to do about your Bills? – As I’ve mentioned before I am not an attorney nor a financial advisor. You have to decide how to deal with your bills. My advice to you is pay what you can afford, but consider with fresh perspective the definition of ‘afford’. Just because you have the cash to pay a particular bill, doesn’t mean that paying that particular bill is your top priority.

You need to hoard some cash like a Wall Street banker for a rainy day. If you don’t have your own private hoard, then consider paying yourself first, even if that means paying bills of lower priority last. These days everyone has slightly different priorities with their bills. I can not help you prioritize.

However, consider that cable packages, cell phone packages, even medical bills (for services rendered already) might be lower on the totem poll than your mortgage or more importantly even, your car payment. Credit card payments are a tough one. If you still have available credit, then your credit cards are STILL useful. If you do not have ‘available credit’, then your credit cards or not worth anything. Worried about your credit rating?

News Flash – Everybody has bad credit these days. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, but only while you are doing something because this is no time to stand around morning the loss of your credit.

Getting rid of that over priced car – If you are making a big fat car payment, you are in trouble. You need to find a way to unload that expensive car payment. Get a more affordable vehicle (and possibly one that is capable of driving through ditches). Get a car that you can pay cash for. One that does not require a payment and therefore will not be repossessed if you have to prioritize your cash flow away from a car payment!

Learn how to Make Money on the Internet – If there are no jobs in your area, odds are that will be a long term trend. You can consider moving to an area that has work (I don’t recommend it because you will find yourself somewhere without any local support or knowledge of the area.) That said, earning a living on the internet is possible. Will you get rich? NO. Can you make some money? Yes Can you make a lot of money quick? No It takes time to learn how to do this and build nothing into something, but it can be done. It can also offset your unemployment or savings. Do you have to report internet earnings to your local unemployment office?

I have no idea. Do what you have to do to survive. I know what I would do!

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The unfolding global depression is rapidly turning into a problem that the United States government can not solve.

Congress is barreling towards gridlock over a stimulus package that even if passed seems to be utterly devoid of any real stimulus. There are many notable and worthy social programs in the package but rarely any economic stimulus segments that will put people to work or back to work in the United States and nothing that seems to be strong enough to turn the economy around or turn the tide of the financial collapse that grows daily.

In fact if anything the stimulus plan seems to be both a step in the wrong direction and an expensive one at that that might just waste the governments remaining financial ammunition.

This is why the US savings rate has gone from negative to 4.6% and why many economists expect that rate to double or even go into double digits. People are learning to hoard their money and in some cases they are doing that literally in cash. There comes a point where if you know that the banks are corrupt and incapable of managing their money and that the government is incapable of supporting those banks or helping them recover, then it doesn’t make sense to leave your money in the bank.

This was one of the lessons learned during the former Great Depression. True, it did make things worse for financial markets, but there is a big difference between helping financial markets survive when they are corrupted to the point of failure in all circumstances and your own personal survival or the survival of your family.

This is the thing that is causing Americans to save money and in some cases even saving money at the expense of paying their medical bills, their house payments, and their credit card debt.

Let’s face it if you don’t have 6 months of emergency funds on hand in the form of cash, you are not in a good position to survive a Katrina like economic disaster. If 99% of your earnings are going out the door to pay bills and monthly expenses, then you can not save up 6 months of emergency cash.

This catch 22 can only be canceled out by paying yourself first and paying your bills later. Sometime later, assuming the banks are still in business to receive your payments after you have protected yourself.

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