STCS - NAME CHANGE

Hey Folks,

I have been getting some great responce as well as great emails. Many have appreciated the Biblelical Worldview focus I have as well as trying to put things into the real world vs Hollywood.

Because of this, I have decided to change the name of my blog. Because I am doing this, I have to open a new blog under Blogger.

The new name is    Survival4Christians 

You can reach it by clicking on http://survival4christians.blogspot.com 

PLEASE help us get the word out there by doing a few things for us...


1. Click on the FOLLOW link. The more "followers" we have, the higher we reach in the search engines and on Blogger.

2. SUBSCRIBE to our feed, this way you will be notified of our latest posts.

3. TELL OTHERS. Please tell all your friends, family and loved ones about our efforts here and encourage them to FOLLOW and SUBSCRIBE as well.

4. EMAIL ME with any questions you have. raygano@mail (DOT) com  <<< remove the dot part and put a period.

5. BOOKMARK our new blog so that you can come back often.

Thank you so much for getting involved and being part of our community.

In His Service,

Ray Gano

Survival4Christians

Q & A - Single Woman - Gun for Protection & Hunting

Hi, Ray:

I am a single woman.  I appreciate all the info on your web site.  My question is:  if I buy a gun for personal safety and hunting I'll have to register it and, when the government outlaws guns, I'll have to relinquish it.  Wouldn't it be better to buy a small bow and arrow for hunting food and a stun gun for protection?  Perhaps you can point me to a discussion of this issue on your web site. God bless you, M

Hello M,

Very good question.

There are several things that you need to consider.

First, find out if where you live are you able to get a Carry & Conceal handgun license? If you can, that is the route I would go first.

I am one that for personal and home protection you need to get a handgun.  But on top of that, go and get your C& C as well so that you can carry it always. Now the nice thing about being a woman and having your C&C, you can carry a pretty nice weapon in your purse and you don't have a "gun signature" under your clothes. For us guys, it is a different matter, that is unless you are one of those guys who carries one those "european hand bags." 

I can hear it now..."Cute purse there buddy!"

So get a handgun first,but more on that later in this article.

I want to address your confiscation / relinquish issue.

My mind set is that if they want my guns, they are going to have to pry them from my cold dead fingers.

Second, the FBI estimates that there are over 200 million privately-owned firearms in the US.

If you add those owned by the military, law enforcement agencies and museums, there is probably about 1 gun per person in the country.

Now, if you want to get a rough idea of how many guns there are out there just look at how many people you see out there then multiply by a factor of estimated ownership.

The last best guess was about 350,000,000 to more likely 500,000,000 - that is 500 million guns out there. That would easily be 1 weapon for every man woman and child living in the US alone.

Don't forget the average gun enthusiast owns several firearms which includes pistols, shotguns, and rifles of all makes and models. It is often estimated that about 1 in 4 people that own any firearms, the average number of firearms in the home are approximately 4 guns each.

SO.. that is a lot of guns to try to take from the American public. 

What I have to ask is who in their right mind would try to disarm the entire American public? 

No one could and no one in their right mind would attempt it. 

SO are we going to lose our guns? As much as the conspiracy folks want you to believe that, it isn't going to happen. Yes there are cases such as New Orleans and such, but on a nation wide scale, the do not have the resources to take all the weapons from every American out there.

NOW.. with that said, start buying ammo now. Because what they will do is put a serious curb on the purchasing of ammo.

Here is a headline from Venezuela sept -2009

Venezuela Attempts Gun Control by Limiting Bullets
By Jeremy Morgan
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

CARACAS – Legislators at the National Assembly are set to take what appears to be a rather unorthodox approach to law and order in a society notoriously renowned for gunslinging and one of the highest per capita murder rates on the planet.

The defense committee at the legislature has been looking at a proposed reform of the 70-year-old Arms and Explosive Law, which apparently has yet to be brought into line with the Bolivarian Constitution adopted by referendum at President Hugo Chávez’s behest in late 1999.

So we can see that if they are to control the guns, they will do it via the ammo. So buy lots of ammo now. Even if you do not own a weapon and are possibly thinking about it, get ammo now. Consider it a "wise investment" for down the road.

Back to What Weapon To Purchase.

I am one who believes that you first weapon should be a handgun. This is a home protection weapon and self protection.

Now, based on your question I believe you might have been thinking of some sort of rifle, shotgun or carbine.

If you are thinking long gun, the second choice would be a shotgun. It is funny, I am writing a follow-up article to the 22 article titled "why I like the shotgun."

For home and hunting, the shotgun is a great way to go. I am one who likes a "pump" shotgun.

There is just something about hearing that CLICK - CLACK of pumping a round in the chamber.

Believe me, the bad guys know that sound too and get out of Dodge quickly because they know that buck shot with there name on it is coming next.

You can also use the shotgun to hunt as well. There are a whole mix of different ammo that you can purchase for the shotgun and you can very your loads.

Assuming you can carry at least 5 in the tube. You can make your first round bird shot for close range. They will not blast through walls and if it does, they loose there velocity.

Secondly you can put a couple of "00" buck shot followed by a couple of slugs.

Here is my reasoning.

First bad guy is going to be close range, the bird shot will take him out.

The second bad guy is going to be a bit further so, buck shot will take that person out.

IF there is a third, you have another round of "00" Buck.

Then if you have the bad guy driving the car who is going to fire upon you out your front/back door, you have some slugs that will go some distance and do a lot of damage. These will go through walls and if that person is hiding behind a car door, you can possibly still get him with the slug.

Gun Recommendations

Handgun - If money is a real issue, I like the hi-point Compact 9 0 AKA - C9. This shoots a 9mm, which is a round that I love. This weapon runs around $165.00 and all the reviews I have checked into, it is a great gun. Now the gun snobs out there don't like it but it is American made and has a life time warrantee no questions asked. Something goes wrong, you send it back to the company and they fix it or give you a new weapon. Hi point also makes a .380 and 45 acp version. But I like the 9mm for being compact and good for C&C. You can use it for C&C and home protection. The grip is small and fits nicely into a woman's hand.

I am also a big fan of the Walther P22. 10 rounds of 22 hollow point in anyone and they know that they are having a bad day. This is a great weapon for C&C, small, sturdy and has a weaver rail on the front so you can mount a laser sight or flashlight. I consider this more of a personal C&C weapon verses a home protection weapon.

Now for shotguns, I like the Mossberg 835 Ultra-Mag.

This is a great all around shotgun. Here you can see is the Turkey version which comes with a nice vented barrel to prevent "barrel rise" with adjustable choke and tapped out so you can put on a scope. This is great for general hunting Then when in home protection mode, you can put on a barrel that is made for slugs.

Great thing about the 835 is that there is a lot of third party accessories that you can purchase so it can be modified with a butt cuff shell holder, folding stock, bandoleer strap that holds 20 rounds of 12 gauge, front end flash lights, etc. All kinds of cool stuff.

These run about $250 - $350

Finally something to think about regarding a shotgun is the "legislative protection."

So if you are really worried about weapons being confiscated, the shotgun is looked at as a sporting arm by legislators and usually the last type of weapon to be banned or legislated against.  This is not always the case, but even in cities like Chicago it is legal to own a shotgun where handguns and large capacity magazines are completely banned.  This may be extremely helpful for the urban survivalist.

So I hope that I have answered your question here. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions that I might be able to help with.

How Would You Handle The "Brass Horde"

During the age of the Mongol Empire, the Mongol armies spread across Eastern Europe and Russia raping, pillaging and basically leaving whatever was left as a waste land. These invaders were come to be known as "The Golden Horde."

Fast forward today and we remember the LA Riots, New Orleans looting, I even experienced it myself during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. During all the confusion and the aftermath instantly after the quake, masses started stealing from the shops who's windows were broken and all within an arm's reach.  It got so bad that in some areas a "shoot to kill" order was issued. The earthquake struck at approximately 5:00PM, that night turned into hell on earth in some parts of the San Francisco bay area.

The horde was released.

In the prepper community we see " the Golden Horde" as a loosely organized mass of urban refugees streaming out of the cities in search of food and shelter after a natural disaster or social / financial collapse. Like locus, this mindless mass could possibly overwhelm local defenses,  "raping and pillaging" the country suburban area and stripping it of many of its resources while destroying everything in its path.

Now this sounds bad and is a situation that would most likely take place in the movies, but in real life a situation like this does not happen… in most cases.

But to be honest I am not worried about a mindless mass of people. These people are hungry  and pretty much are acting on instinct. They are not going to be very well organized, and lack really any true leadership. Some may be armed, but not willing to really "take a bullet" when it comes down to the rubber meeting the road. 

It is the group's "mass" that gives the "horde" its power. 

Aggressively confront then divide the mass and it will quickly give up and move on to another "easier" target.

But who I am worried about are the bugged out  Rambo wanna-be's traveling in their RVs who's idea of preparedness is cases of ammo, Spam & Budweiser. 

Let me introduce to you...The Brass Horde. 

The Brass Hordes are small groups of people, probably all deer hunting buddies who go out and play paint ball on the weekends and call it survival training. Now, nothing against deer hunting and paintball, I am a hunter as well; can't say I have played paintball though. Now airsoft wars are fun, but I am digressing here.

What these folks have neglected for maintaining good health and welfare, they have made up by being obnoxiously well armed. Thing is when the Spam and Budweiser runs out,  they will turn to what they love most their guns and ammo.

These are the groups I worry about.

Here is a very interesting story, one that is real world. The author who goes by the handle "BigBear" painted a very realistic picture. 

After reading this, I want to ask you, how would you REALLY handle this situation?  

I would like for you to hear your "end to the story" comments, so please post them below. 

The Brass Horde 

The Brass Horde at least tried to prepare.  They had a plan to leave the city, some supplies and a large stockpile of weapons. Their intent was to relocate to a remote site as a group and hunt for food. The small group is made up of family and close friends occupying the trailers used to escape the city. Unfortunately their resources are limited and unwisely thought out.

At first they have good luck taking a deer and several rabbits for a stew, all looks good. But after a week or so their water rations are getting low and their expensive filter systems are useless on the frozen lake. They are able to melt some water over the fire pit and on propane stoves but this consumes critical resources. Most of their daily man hours are spent collecting and transporting ice blocks to melt for water. The meat is running low, they are exhausted.

The Horde elders decide that a couple of the women should visit a nearby cabin and ask to fill their water jugs. The established local, not wanting to seem rude, invites the ladies into the warm cabin...the aroma of fresh baked bread fills the air. Warm cinnamon rolls and hot coffee are served over light conversation next to the wood stove. The ladies fill their water jugs from the solar powered well, thanked the local and reluctantly venture back out into the cold, it was the first time they had truly been warm since leaving the city.

That evening the women huddled around the fire telling the others of their days experience. A strong north wind brought frigid temperatures and a heavy snow started around sundown...the Horde retired to their campers to weather the night.

Then the propane runs out!

The temperatures quickly plunge after the heater went out in the far north trailer of the circled compound. The father whose survival skills were honed by many hours watching the discovery channel, decided to start a small wood fire in the oven to keep him and his wife warm. The ensuing inferno consumed two of their trailers and damaged the other six as over 10,000 rounds of ammo cooked off in the conflagration.

In the blinding snow the elders huddled for warmth around the smoldering ruins of their grand scheme...they knew what had to be done. After arming themselves and securing the women folk in the remaining heated camper, the horde took off for the neighbors cabin. The howling winds of the blizzard masked their plunder as they made off with six twenty pound bottles of propane, a chainsaw and five gallons of gas. The blowing snow filled their tracks as they retreated back to the compound confident in their escape.

Unbeknown to the Brass Horde the local had witnessed the entire thing from the warmth of the bedroom after being alerted by his growling dogs. Shouldering his gun he realized that confrontation was dangerous against eight heavily armed men and there was a good change he would die if shooting started. The local also realized that this was the first of many visits by the armed bandits who, made confident by their guns, would steal what they failed to store through proper preparation.

So he….. started baking cookies.

"Good morning, I have fresh cookies and hot coffee" shouted the local from his truck as he pulled into the Horde's compound. "You all look like you could use a treat on this cold morning" he continued. The men leerily looked at each other assuming that the local man had not yet discovered the robbery and was just being a good neighbor. The local waved and yelled "God Bless You" as he drove away. Over their snacks and wicked strong coffee the Horde laughed at how easy a target this cookie baking fairy would be...

Looking through the rifle scope from his vantage point in on the hill he saw no movement...the last one fell several hours ago.

Later that evening the local man returned to the compound, collected the bodies and placed them neatly in the largest trailer. Gathering the stolen items plus the Hordes guns and abundant ammunition for barter he proceeded to pour gas in each of the remaining campers then burned everything to the ground. Cyanide in the coffee and cookies.

A heavy snow that night covered over the remains and the evident "mass suicide" was not discovered until later that springs. It was chalked up to collapse related hysteria...no further investigation.

My Own Thoughts

How would you have handled the group and the situation?

Remember there are no police that are going to come to the rescue.

What would you have done differently?

Now this one struck me hard. Why? Because I am a God fearing Christian who has submitted his life to the Lord.

Several verses in the Bible that come to my mind is...

1 Timothy 5:8(KJV)  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Exodus 22:2 (KJV)  If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

What Do I Believe?

In the simplest terms, a believer is absolutely justified in the use of deadly force if faced with a grave threat to him or his own family or members of his own church (his extended family). Not to do so is a violation of both Jewish and Christian's reverence for life.

Deadly force does not mean that the results necessarily ends in death. It may be simply the presentation of the weapon that provides the necessary deterrent against violence on the part of the offender.

Christianity is not pacifism. There are pacifists who are Christians, but a clear reading of Scripture doesn't imply pacifism at all. We seek peace and pursue it; we earnestly prefer to avoid violence, but we don't stick our heads in the sand. We live in a world where violence is commonplace; it's been that way since the fall.

Violent people have absolutely no restraint on their behavior; a believer needs to be at least as aggressive in defending himself and others. Whatever it takes. If you have to shoot someone and drop them to the ground, that's most unfortunate, but you didn't ask to be attacked. 

Please go to the "COMMENTS" section and tell me what you thought and how you would handle it.

Finally, do you have a pit in your stomach like I did after I read that?

Check Out The PZ Survival Kit

To order, Go to http://www.prophezine.com/survival

Why I like the .22

By Ray Gano

Yep, it is true, I like the .22 rim fire bullet for a survival weapon. Now I know that I will take a lot of flack, but in reality the .22 rim fire AKA 22 is a great all purpose round in many situations.

Yea, yea the first words that are coming to your mind are "stopping power" if I ever need to defend myself.

Hey, that is a great point and one that I agree with, but what I am talking about is all around survival not an all out war.

Most of the things that I am going to shoot are rabbits, birds, snakes (rattlers and we have a lot) feral dogs & cats, coyotes, chickens, turkeys, and other small livestock.

Now you and I both know that these critters listed above will be more likely be put within my crosshairs than the two legged ones, that is a fact.

So to start things out…

My Handguns of Choice

Ruger Mark III Target- all stainless steel so it will not easily rust. A 5.5 inch bull barrel which improves accuracy. You can shoot a fly off the wall at fifty feet easily. I like the fact that this also comes with a weaver rail so you can mount a "aim point / red dot" sight or better yet, a laser site for totally point and shoot accuracy.

This is a great "ranch gun" specially with all the rattlers we have out here at the Gano Ranch. You know rattlers are "good eating" to; they taste a lot like tangy chicken.

Second…

Walther P22 - This is a great carry and conceal weapon. Double action, which means you can pull the trigger and the hammer comes back and fires. Holds ten rounds with one in the chamber makes 11. Again the larger caliber has greater "stopping power." But you know what, eleven rounds at center mass will definitely not make a person's day. This is a great weapon to get your wife, I should know, because they come in pink too.

Now the reasons I like the 22 is that they are pretty inexpensive. The Ruger and the Walther both run around $300.00. So this is affordable and able to easily save for this amount. I advise that if you are going to purchase, check out a gun show, you will be able to shop around and possibly get one of these at a great price.

Both of these are pretty light weight considering a 9mm, 45 or .357. Now the Ruger Target is a bit heavier, but I know that my wife has no problem shooting the bull barrel Ruger, but she does like her Walther P22 better. It fits her smaller hand a lot better and more comfortable for her to shoot.

A real great point about the 22 is that ammo is dirt cheap. A box of Federal hollow points that come 550 rounds to a box run about $15 at Walmart. Plus just about anywhere you go, you can purchase 22s. They are pretty easy to find.

Now knowing that ammo is cheap, you can get out there and practice… a lot! You know what they say, “Practice makes perfect.” Since .22 ammo is cheap, I can run 200-300 rounds down range without feeling guilty about wasting money or worry that I won’t be able to find ammo to replace what I use.

The benefit is that I become extremely proficient with a smaller caliber handgun than so-so with say a 45 or 9mm that uses more expensive and possibly hard to find ammo.

In fact, just to emphasize this point. My Walmart right now does not have any 9mm or 45 in stock, but they have at least 30 bricks (550 rounds per box ) of federal hollow point on the shelf.

Other great points about the 22.

It is a pretty quiet round to shoot compared to a 45 or .357 which sounds like a cannon firing. The 22 also does not have that heavy recoil that many females and kids tend to be concerned about. If you have any sizable property, you can shoot it also and maintain safety. There are many targets with built in back stops that will handle a 22. So practicing is easy, just gotta find the time to do it.

Now for all you James Bond wanna-be's, what you may or may not know is that many professional assassins use the 22. In fact get on the web and go to You Tube. Once there type in "Ruger Amphibian." That is a modified Mark II or III with a fully enclosed suppressor / silencer. Average price for this little beauty, about $1200.00 plus. The interesting thing is that in many states, it is actually legal to own one, but you do have to jump through some legal hoops to do it.

Funny story, my friend who is a 20 year Special Forces and now works for a "private company" saw my Ruger and the first thing he tried to do is unscrew the front end to expose the internal section of the suppressor / silencer. I told him it was as standard MkIII bull barrel. He smiled at me and said that a lot of his buddies "at work" carried the Amphibian as a back-up. It looked exactly like my MkIII.

Finally another point about a 22 is that if it gets lost or stolen, it isn't going to set you back several pay checks to replace it. Again, we are talking a little over $300.00 to get a new in the box replacement. Sight it in really quickly and your are back in action.

So looking for an all around survival weapon, I like the 22. There are a lot companies and models to choose from. Me I am partial to Ruger, made in the good ol' US of A. Can't go wrong with that.

My 22 Rifle of Choice

Now if you are looking for a rifle, then it is hands down, the Ruger 10-22 semi auto rifle. It has got to be one of the best buys for your money.

The great thing about the Ruger 10-22 is that there are many third party companies that sell all sorts of add-ons, modifications, 20, 30, 50 and even 100 round magazines. The 10-22 is a pretty cool weapon, which if you want to have fun modifying it, then this is the weapon for you.

What are you looking for in cost? Again, around $300.00 - $350.00. Very affordable. This is a great varmint weapon that you can use for plinking, hunting and even self defense.

As will all the benefits that I mentioned above regarding the 22, the same goes for the Ruger 10-22. You got cheap ammo, so you get so proficient that you can shoot a fly at 100 yards, or bring home some rabbit dinner if times get lean.

In fact, they sell what is called "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" which you simply attach to your trigger guard, and crank for simulated FULL AUTOMATIC FIRE!!!!!!

The "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" is easy to install and cranks out rapid fire. This little gem fits most semi-automatic .22 rifles. BUT it is NOT legal to own, carry or sell to residents living in California or other liberal states. So if you want one, move to Texas, then you can send all the lead down range you want. All you just have to worry about reloading your magazines. This little modification costs about $30.00 - $40.00. In fact, mount a Caldwell Lightweight Bipod to the front end of your Ruger 10-22 and with the "Ruger 10/22 Full Auto Simulator" you can do a lot of damage to that gang of rabbits down range that just keep gett'en in your cabbage patch. Folks, that is a lot of rabbit in the pot and a lot of lead down range.

So this is why one of my weapons of choice in a survival situation is the 22. Everyone can shoot and become very proficient with it. Ammo is cheap so you don’t feel guilty about sending 200-300 rounds down range plus you can find ammo everywhere. The cost of getting a 22 is really reasonable and if you are a first time gun owner, the 22 is a great place to start for all the reasons I gave above.

Shooting and hunting is a great sport and an American heritage. In today's political climate we need to be exercising more of our rights and passing on more of our heritage. Because if we don't, we will have neither.

Surviving The Emergency No One Ever Plans For

By Ray Gano

Hmmm, I am ready for earthquakes, tornadoes and floods. I even have NBC gear, KI Pills and my trusty radiation meter just in case of a nuke.

What can hit me now that I am not ready for?

Can you say Pink Slip?

I have been writing now about preparedness and stewardship for close to 6 years now and this is the weak link I see in most people's preparedness plans. They have not prepared for being fired, laid-off, or unemployed for long periods of time.

Except for suffering serious illness like cancer, that and unemployment for a long period of time seems to be never thought about.

Even most folks who are preparedness minded say "it can't happen to me."

See many folks out there have been watching way to many "Mad Max" or "I am Legend" movies and think that when "the schumar hits the fan" the world will melt down and turn into" apocalypse now."

Folks, history as well as what is going on currently in the world show it in a completely different picture.

Just look at the war in Iraq. People are going about their day to day business, kids going to school ect. But there is also high unemployment, high crime, terrorism, sickness, and in spite of all of this, life goes on.

The key question that you need to ask is what level of quality of life will you have if you get the pink slip?

Can earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and even nukes happen? Sure they can, but the odds of them effecting you are actually pretty slim. But the odds of you getting a pink slip are very good. In fact in today's economy, the odds are against you.

Person 1 or Person 2 - Which One Are You?

There are two types of employee. Ask yourself, which one of these people are you?

One has a good idea of what they do, who they are and what position they play in the company. They are alert to their environment, their position, their subordinates and supervisors. When they see the beginnings of the ship starting to go down they are under no delusions, and will no doubt have already had other irons in the fire; jumping ship for another job long before they are ever considered for the pink slip.

And then there’s the other kind people out there. You know who I am talking about. What about that person who lives to text, chatting on the phone to friends all the while surfing the web doing online shopping.

Or what about this scenario, you got Joe down in sales who is completely oblivious that the recent merger means his job is now obsolete.

How about the person who thinks they are the only one who can perform their job, therefore making them irreplaceable.

Is this you?

All these folks have what I call Ostrich Syndrome. They couldn’t see a pink slip coming if it was as big as the broad side of a barn screaming “you’re fired!”

Here is a little hint, you want to avoid being in that 2nd category at all costs.

To really be prepared, you have to keep an eye on the horizon. In the military there was an old saying that I still use today. "Stay Alert - Stay Alive"

One of the first things you can do is to is pay attention to your environment and watch for tell tale signs of a possible job loss.

Here are some things you need to personally look out for…

• Are you no longer in the loop about, well, anything?
• Did you recently screw up big-time?
• Are people avoiding you at all costs?
• Did your last performance review read like a train wreck?
• Has your company recently been sold or merged?
• Are you being given impossible jobs with no chance of success?
• Do you now have less responsibility than the intern?
• Has your office, cubicle or working space recently been down-sized?
• Do people whisper more, or does the conversation change as you approach?
• Did your recently receive a pay freeze or, worse still, a pay cut?
• Have you seen a job posting for your company that matches your job description?
• Does everyone hate you? I mean really dislike you with a passion?
• And sometimes there is no warning at all!

Folks, if you can answer "YES" to three or more, you may want to drag out the resume and start bookmarking those job websites like Monster.com or Dice.com. Why, because the odds are that you are on the way out.

Something that you need to realize is that this has happened to the best of us and there are times that the odds are just against you, things happen that you have no control over. It is what you do about it that matters.

Or better yet, what contingency plans did you have in place knowing that sooner or later this would happen to you.

What you need to do is take control over those things that benefit you and your family now before you see that pink slip. Thing is that if you have said yes to at least three of those things above, you don’t have much time and should have been prepping for this when times were "good."

What you need to do now is address the coming problems that will be coming no matter what.

Problem #1 - Food & water

If you are reading this, then you are probably a "prepper" like me.

With that said, the odds are good that you have already started your food storage.

Folks, this is called "insurance."

We have car insurance, home insurance, renters insurance, health insurance, but it amazes me how many people have all these different insurances, and yet refuse to insure that their family can eat three square meals a day if the store shelves went empty after three days.

If you lose your job and you have no more money, what will you eat?

When money is short, 6-12 months worth of food is a wise idea. Is it too much to insure that your family has enough to eat?

It is hard, specially for a man to get fired or laid off. The stress is up there, add to that the problem of not having enough food for your family and having the problem of finding another job and the stress levels have reached stratospheric levels.

On the flip side of that, if you have 6 - 12 months of food stores laid up, that means you have at least that amount of "breathing room" time and that is less money going out that you can retain in your pocket.

Think that you could sleep a little easier at night knowing that you have this sort of "insurance / safety net" already in place? Would having the knowledge that your family will not go hungry help in lowering that stress level instead of it going through the roof?

The answer is clearly "YES."

Using the rule of 80-20-10-2, I can bet that 80% of you reading this do not even have a single months worth of food stored up.

20% have at least a month to three months…

10% have 6 months …

and 2% have 12 months worth of food stored up.

Let me spell this out for you.

For 80 % of you, the dreaded PINK SLIP equals NO MONEY which equals NO FOOD, which means you and your family will be standing in the soup kitchen lines, begging for food or eating out of a dumpster in less than a week.

This is not the movies, Mad Max or make believe. In today's world, this is reality and with the economy going south in the good ol' US of A, odds are very good that things are going to get worse and take you right along with it for the ride.

Solution… start today in creating that food insurance plan. You don’t have to go out right now and buy 6 months. Start out small with getting the basics.

• Buy 5-6 boxes of oatmeal and 5-6 boxes of Cream of Wheat - there… 30 days of breakfast
• 6 - 7 cases of assorted Rami-noodles -there.. 30 days of lunch
• 20 boxes of Mac & Cheese
• 10 lbs of pasta
• 10-20 cans of spaghetti sauce
• 2-3 spiral sliced Hams
• 2-3 cooked Turkeys
• Couple cases each of canned green beans, corn, peas
• Get 20-30 boxes each of instant pudding and instant jello
• 10 cans of Instant drink mix in different flavors
• 10-20 boxes of instant milk

This is just an example, but you see what I mean. Here is a rough menu that you could feed a family of four on for almost 30 days.

Now is it the greatest meal plan and menu? No it isn't, but it is a start and the total cost is about $200 - $300.00. The Ham, Turkey and Instant Milk will be the most costly. If you replaced that with other alternatives, you could probably get away with 30 days of food for around $100 - $150.00. If you used coupons and shopped the sales, you would save even more.

Now if you cannot purchase this all right now, then purchase a little every week. Plan it out and then work your plan.

Next, clean out that closet that every home has and that no one really uses except to store junk in. Add some shelving to it and that will be your food storage pantry. Once you have place to store your food, and you keep adding to it every time you go to the grocery store, you will be amazed how fast you can then fill it up.

The key is taking concerted steps forward and buying at least one item for your food storage every time you go to the grocery store.

Problem #2 - No Place To Live

This is already happening at an alarming rate. In Southern California, tent cities are popping up all over the place. Why? Loss of income / unemployment.

Because of very unwise lending practices coupled with personal greed and the need to keep up with the Jones's; people got in over their heads with huge mortgages that they could not afford.

Do you realize that most Americans today are one flat tire away from bankruptcy?

People have stretched their financial budget so thin that just about any unexpected event will cause a major cascade of financial loss. In other words, people are simply losing their homes because they can’t keep up with the payments. This is happening right here right now…today.

Local authorities say the number of families seeking help has risen in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Washington.

USA TODAY found:

• In New York City, 2,747 families applied for shelter in September 2008, up from 2,087 in September 2007.
• In Hennepin County, including Minneapolis, 880 families were in shelters from January through August 2008, up from 698 in that period last year. At least 10% this year came from foreclosed properties where most had been renters, says Cathy ten Broeke, county coordinator to end homelessness.
• Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor of social policy, expects foreclosures to cause a "big increase" in homeless families.
• Mangano says a new federal law gives communities $3.9 billion to buy foreclosed properties or provide services to the homeless.
  Source - http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-21-homeless_N.htm

What is happening today? We are beginning to see multi-family homes come together. In other words kids and their families are moving back in with "Mom & Dad." And that is normal, family needs to help and work together. Times are getting tough and it is a strong family unit that will survive. Everyone brings their assets together for the good of the family. It is what our great grand parents did during the depression, we can do it also.

Now the real problems happen when you don’t have that family safety net and the need for some sort of shelter becomes more primal.

A tent isn’t much of a home but it is better than nothing for a couple days or even a couple of weeks. It is wise for every family to have several tents for "just in case." If you have a camper or motor home, then you are living in luxury.

Here in the Texas Hill country we have what we refer to as "snow birds." These are retired folk who come down from the north during the winter and leave back home in the spring. We see trailers, campers and RVs of all sorts and sizes.

So in a survival situation a family can get by for several weeks and even longer periods of time in an RV, trailer or camper. Living in one of these also are a lot more safer and solid than that of a tent. Living in one of these will also boost your moral verses having to crawl in and out of a small camping tent.

Bottom line is when you have no job, you have no funds; no funds mean no roof over your head. Go out and at least get a 7 man multi-room dome tent. Spend the money now for something with lots of room, compact and easy to set up. During the spring you will see camping gear start to go on sale, that is a great time to purchase a good dome tent for around $150 plus.

Becoming homeless is a real issue and it can happen to you if you got the pink slip. Is a $150.00 tent too much to spend for this type of "insurance" for you and your family?

Don’t believe it can happen to you?

Look at all the people who lost their homes due to foreclosures and living in tent cities all over the US.

Problem #3 - No Jobs To Be Found

The job just doesn’t appear. You pour over the daily newspaper, search all your on line job websites, but there’s just no job to be found.

In the corporate world when there are more workers than there are jobs, it goes in the favor of the company. In fact during hard times it works greatly in favor for the company.

• They can pay you want they want, not what you are worth
• They can make higher demands upon you for less
• They can cut back on benefits or have no benefits what so ever
• And the list goes on …

Basically they can turn you into a company slave and if you need the money, there is nothing that you can do about it either because there is a line a mile long of people who will be more than happy to do what you are doing and agree to do more of it for less.

So what do you do?

If you are one of those people who are proactive and alert to your environment, the best thing to do is create a home based business now.

Like food storage and having that "just in case" roof over your head, these are things that you do not need "right now" but need to put in place for "insurance" sake./

If you have not figured it out by now, self sustainability is what you need to work towards. You need to build a means of cash flow coming into your home right now.

What is the old saying? The best time to look for a job is when you have a job. Well, the best time to create a home based business is when you have a job already that can "subsidize" you while you are building this secondary form of cash flow.

This in and of itself is a whole article, which I will write at a later time because it is needed. But the key point of having a successful home based business is that you have got to truly love what it is you are doing.

For example, my primary source of income is writing about Bible Prophecy and World Events. I have a website that I started back in 1991 called Prophezine. I send out a 30-40 page newsletter, daily news and commentary, produce a weekly podcast and even produce videos I post on You Tube, I do all of this for a subscription of only $10.00 a month. Now I have only been working a subscription based model for a few years now and only have about 120 monthly subscribers and it is slowly growing.

In doing the math, you can see that I bring in about $1200.00 a month from subscriptions.

Does this cover our family expenses? No it does not, so I create more streams of cash flow.

For example, I try to produce an audio CD or video DVD once a month and then sell it to my website members and visitors.

My latest project is TEOTWAWKI, a data DVD that I sell for $30.00. On this data DVD I have written and compiled a lot of articles, have about 15 hours of audio lecture and "how to" videos. I have some e-books and other great information. It would take an average person a couple of months to really go through everything and in dept that is on this DVD. It is well worth the money and may people have purchased this.

On this project, I am only talking hundreds of dollars, but couple that with our subscription and you can see that one can start "eeking" out a living.

Now I love what I do and it is what God has called me to do, that is what is commonly referred to as a "watchman on the wall."

Because I love what I do, it is that love that pushes me to get up every day, commute to the computer, answer hundreds of emails, search the news, research the bible, pray for people, update my website, mail out products, write articles, blog, produce podcasts, produce you tube videos, ect, ect, ect.

On average, I spend from 7:00 AM to about 9:00PM working at my home based business. That is 6 days and almost 7 days a week.

Now, here is where the rubber meets the road.

As I stated I earn about $1200 in monthly subscriptions and about another $300.00 in product sales. That is about $1500.00 a month.

Let's just average and say I work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. That is 27 days in a month, 12 hours a day. That comes to be about $55.00 a day or roughly $4.62 an hour.

This is why you have got to love what you do with great passion, because otherwise, you will not work yourself hard for $4.62 an hour. But it is the passion that you have that will get you through the hard times and it is your passion that will help you grow your home based cash flow.

Add more forms of cash flow into your home and you can see that you can create a home based business that you can live off of.

Another thing that you can do is get the whole family involved and create a family run home based business. Invest in your kids and help them create a home based business.

For example my son enjoys doing yard work, mowing and such. We are going to help him get his business going and then he can start chipping into the family funds that all the family benefits from.

The Catch - Lowering Your Expenses… A LOT!

I need to caveat all of this by saying that one of the primary things that you need to do is also cut way back on your family expenses. You need to go through your budget and really ask yourself do you really need 250 cable channels or will 150 do just as well for half the price. Or better yet, do you need cable at all?

Do you need a land line phone as well as cell phones? Can you get rid of one over the other?

Can you sell that car you still are making payments on and go out and get a "cash car" for a couple thousand dollars that you then own outright?

These are just some of the things and there are even more that you need to start doing now while you have a job that can "subsidize" your home based business.

You need to also realize that it take years to grow a solid cash flow home based business. That is why you need to start now instead of being behind the "8-ball" and trying to start one when you are out of work.

Finally, you need to have patients and allow your efforts to compound.

Often I tell people I advise that you cannot go out into the yard this week and plant tomatoes and expect next week to go out and harvest tomatoes.

It takes time and patients. You have got to nurture your cash flow and allow it to grow. You will have set backs, obstacles and even lose money. But it is the love of what you do that will help you push through a lot of this and keep going on growing your home based cash flow.

In summary, if you have been prudent and you have created these multiple "insurance" plans such as food storage, a "just in case" roof over your head, and home based cash flow. You are well prepared for that one emergency that about 95% of the population says "can't happen to them."

Please, start today.

For those who wish to get started today and want a jump start, order my data DVD, TEOTWAWKI -The DVD . This stands for "The End Of The World As We Know It" and you pronounce it "Tee-oh-tah-wak-ee."

Here is just some of the 280+ Files we have on TEOTWAWKI - The DVD...

- 52 Week Food Storage Plan
- How to Grow Potatoes in a Garbage Can
- How to build a cheap temporary smoke house
- Plans for Building a Greenhouse
- Finding Wild Edibles
- Facts on Dirty Bombs
- How To Prepare For The Coming Influenza Pandemic
- Trench Medicine-Advanced Field Procedures for Emergencies
- ARMY FM 21-76 - SEAR Guide (Survival, Evasion and Recovery)
- How To Shelter In Place
- Sustainable Poultry
- Profitable Poultry Raising Birds on Pasture
- All About Worms
- Wi-Fi Toys - 15 Cool Wireless Projects For Home, Office, And Entertainment (2004)
- The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments (banned in the 60-s)
- Understanding Surveillance Technologies Spy Devices Their Origins and Applications
- Rainwater Harvesting
- Rock Plant Filter Operations, Maintenance, Repair

Subject Folders are - Alternate Energy, Christian Finance, Food Storage, Living off the Land, Man Made Disasters , Medical and First Aid, Odds & Ends, Preparedness, Raising, Animals, Special Ops - Kitchen Warfare, Water & Compost.

15+ Hours of Audio Lecture - examples are...

* How to start a Home Based Business
* How To Buy Silver
* Living in God's Economy
* Wilfred Hahn - 13 guideline to Christian Finance
* Credit Cards are dangerous
* 40 files in all

Videos on

* Building a fire w/ flint
* Makeshift utensils
* Trapping game
* Nuclear Preparedness
* How to Make Cheese
* 23 videos in all

We have even included some great freeware to help you survive the coming years.

* Bit Torrent 6.3 - UNDERGROUND NET You need it, find it with this.
* Nero 9.4 (Free Version)
* Debt Eliminator Loan Calculator 1.3
* GA7 Stock Forecaster 1.0.145
* 9 files in all

COST = $30.00 (US) with Shipping and Handling included - International Orders $40.00

You can order it at http://www.prophezine.com/pz_store/

Finally, for all that have read this, I pray that you heed my warning. The Pink Slip is not a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN.

You can act now while you have the time, money and ability.

When you boil all this down, it is just practical and biblical stewardship put into action.

Do the right thing, hold a family meeting and put goals in place and then start taking baby steps to achieve those goals. It is amazing how far you can go when just taking baby steps forward and not look back.

About the Author:

Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine (www.prophezine.com). Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. They currently serve close to 70,000 (and growing) people worldwide with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website and Internet radio shows. Ray recently released his latest project “TEOTWAWKI the Data Library. This DVD covers how to escape the trappings of mammon and learning how to live simply in God’s abundance. Order it at http://www.prophezine.com/pz_store/

God's Word says …

Ephesians 6:13 (KJV) Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all,
To Stand.