Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
So far, in his second presidency, Donald Trump has made massive changes that have made a positive difference for Americans. The folks in North Carolina are finally (four months after Helene hit) getting the financial aid and physical assistance they need to rebuild. Armies of dump trucks, road work everywhere, and the sound of hammers hitting nails are widespread, bringing a new life to the devastated area.
He has upended many a federal agency, bringing in new leadership, forcing remote workers to return to the office, and changing policies. The confirmation hearings going on in Congress right now have one thing in common: none of the candidates are scoffing about “conspiracy theories” because most of those theories have turned out to be true. In fact, in the past, the nominees have faced the same kind of biased treatment from society that the rest of us regular conservatives and libertarians faced.
While I don’t agree with every single thing the new President has implemented (and I never expected to), I feel mostly positive about the direction our nation is going now.
However, one thing that is going to cause us some pain is the new economic policies. Let’s dive into it.
How will new economic policies affect us?
First of all, this book is excellent. It very clearly debunks economic myths, explains how our market has been artificially damaged, and discusses what it will take to fix it.
Between the tariffs and DOGE, things are changing dramatically. But this is one thing that will get worse before it gets better. We can all expect some financial pain over the next few months. However, this is not without precedent, so I know things will improve in a few months.
Tariffs on Canadian oil and Mexican produce in particular, will show up as higher prices at the gas pump and on the grocery store shelves. There’s no possible way around it. Grocery stores don’t have enough mark-up room to absorb these greater costs and neither do gas stations.
We can expect to see higher gasoline prices until we get our own oil production back on track. Things like fresh fruit, summer vegetables in winter, and our beloved avocados are going to cost quite a bit more for a while.
These are growing pains. I don’t believe these expenses will be permanent. We have the resources to produce our own oil and produce, but up until now it’s just been cheaper to get that stuff from other countries.
I think that after around 6 months, we will see prices dropping, once we’ve reestablished our domestic supply chain.
We have a recent example of changes like this.
In Argentina, President Javier Milei has also made radical financial changes and they were tough for folks, particularly in the first few months.
“The changes our country needs are drastic,” Mr Milei said shortly after being elected. “There is no room for gradualism.” (source)
The BBC reports:
In his initial package of measures, he devalued Argentina’s currency, the peso, by 50%, slashed state subsidies for fuel, and cut the number of government ministries by half.
The quick reduction in public spending has helped Argentina swing from a fiscal deficit – the difference between the government’s spending and income – of 2tn pesos ($120bn; £93bn) in December of last year to a surplus of 264.9bn pesos in April.
Argentina also reported a surplus in January, February and March, marking the first time it had achieved this monthly target since 2012.
It took about six months for Argentina to begin seeing a positive response to the dramatic changes.
After the initial shock, inflation has begun to decrease.
However, Mr Milei, who describes himself as a libertarian, has made cutting inflation his main priority, telling the BBC last year that it was “the most regressive tax that most afflicts people”.
Inflation has slowed – in April the month-on-month rate fell to 8.8%, the first time since October that it was not in double figures. This inflation measure is closely followed in countries like Argentina that have long had high inflation.
This hasn’t been without some pain, however. Consumer spending is down dramatically. Folks are still facing decreased wealth and high prices. Poverty rates have risen.
Milei has years and years of financial mismanagement to repair, and the fact he doesn’t have a majority in the Argentinian congress has slowed down his ability to make changes.
The point here is that drastic changes are painful, but eventually, they work. Going on a diet is also painful, but when you’ve lost 50 pounds, that pain disappears, and you see improved health.
How to handle the US financial makeover
I hope that our difficult times won’t take half a year to repair, but they likely will. There are a few strategies you can use to help get through this time.
- Use some of your preps. We built our prepper pantries for a reason, and this is it. While you don’t want to deplete everything, using some of the preps you’ve put back to supplement your weekly grocery haul will help to offset the higher prices.
- Work on growing your own. We’ve long talked on this website about the value of producing food – nobody’s preps can last forever. This year, more than any other, we need to grow food in pots on patios, backyards, and rural properties. We have a Home Agriculture Comprehensive course to help you get started no matter where you live, and we recommend Seeds for Generations, a small family business, for your needs.(Check out their free garden planning calculator here!)
- Return to a more seasonal diet. We’ve long been spoiled by being able to have fresh tomatoes in the winter and butternut squash in the summer. If you focus more on eating seasonally, it will help you to keep costs down while still eating fresh produce.
- Assess your budget. Are there places you can cut? I recently ditched nearly all of my subscriptions to cut costs over the next few months, freeing up a couple hundred dollars that I can apply to groceries or other expenses.
These measures will help us get through the next few months. We can’t be as picky as we’ve been – we have to change with our times – but we can and will succeed.
Savings and value of the dollar
President Trump has made no mention of officially devaluing our currency. However, if you’re still getting the same paycheck but paying more for gasoline, groceries, and other needs, it’s pretty much the same thing.
If you are fortunate enough to have savings, you do NOT want to see it take a hit. The best way to do that is to roll your savings into things that hold their value:
- Physical items like food and tools
- Paying off debt
- Precious metals
I’ve long promoted the purchase of precious metals to maintain the value of your savings. Gold and silver fluctuate somewhat, but unlike our currency, when times are harder, their dollar value goes up. If you haven’t switched some of your savings over to gold and silver, I would recommend doing it before those prices increase so that you can hold on to the wealth you’ve worked so hard to build. I have worked with ITM Trading for a few years now, and I really like their educational approach and personalized strategies. Setting up a consultation with them is absolutely free, and you’re under no obligation.
Now is the time to take action.
I know that some folks expected to see an immediate difference in their grocery bills and other expenses, but I don’t think that it’s going to be that way. We can prep for this, though, just like we prep for other emergencies. But I wouldn’t wait to get started because the pain at checkout will become very apparent soon.
What are you expecting economically? What strategies will you use to weather the storm? How will you prepare for this?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
3 Responses
Excellent article. Common sense. Thank you.
I encourage people to heed this warning. Even though I’ve livedthe first hall of my life under high inflation, countless economic plans (slashed zeroes, confiscations, devaluations, etc.) what brought me into preparedness and survival was the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.
The economy and finance are the foundation of pretty much everything else in the modern world. A downturn will turn everyday life more unstable and volatile, Jose’s second-to-last article here brings this very clearly and he’s absolutely right. So is Daisy.
There’s no silver bullet to the issues plaguing the system, even if Trump and his collaborators are capable to pull a miracle the measures to restore some balance will bring severe consequences. Tariffs have only made every problem worse in my country, in Argentina, and every other who resorted to such expedients. The lower and middle classes always bear the brunt of these policies, make no mistake.
Fixing what’s wrong will take a lot of pain and austerity, a lot of sacrifices. The standard of living always suffers. We’re still in the good phase because there are jobs and money printing. Wait until unemployment picks up for real, that’s when things get serious.
Thank you for this. I’ve already had to start dipping into preps the past year to stay afloat. In a couple months we lose half our social security income and I’ve been working non stop to raise monthly income to meet that but am falling short. An additional increase in prices will be extremely difficult for us. I will be relying heavily on the garden in our short growing season and when the little beef remaining in the freezer runs out we will be eating goat and lamb since that’s what’s “growing” this year. Haven’t had bacon in months, but we will survive. Will raise some meat chickens and have a handful of turkeys growing out. Fresh produce in winter is scarce for us already. But Ive been able to keep some lettuce alive on the covered porch this winter. A winter garden will be a priority this next season. Eggs are not an issue for us since I raise chickens and quail to sell eggs and meat- during winter the chicken eggs are saved for customers since the hens slack off dramatically. But I gather 60-100 quail eggs a day so we are never out of eggs- plus quail eggs are higher in protein.
When my grandmother passed away, it was my task to clean out her house for selling. She had drawers of neatly folded grocery bags, stacks of washed tv tray dinner containers, and lots of washed glass jars from anything you can imagine. Reuse was important to her after learning to live like that during the depression. I find myself saving and washing containers of all kinds, saving dryer lint to stuff into toilet paper rolls for fire starter, and this year I saved the corn cobs after shucking popcorn for firestarters. I’m grateful for lessons learned by older generations. I think those lessons are important now.