Get short-supply stuff now

OK, so you’ve got your list. It’s a lot longer than you thought, right?
Where in the world do you begin?

Like everything else related to Y2K, you need a strategy. In this case, you
need a “supplies acquisition strategy.” Let me suggest that you focus on one
simple idea: buy now those items which will likely be in short supply later.
Why? There are two important reasons. If you don’t buy now, first, you will
likely pay more later, and, second, you may not be able to get the item at
all.

As I have interacted with various suppliers, I have targeted several items
that are already in short supply. You should consider purchasing the
following items as soon as you are able:

Food. If you are incrementally buying canned foods, dried pasta, grains and
legumes, you can probably continue with your current buying patterns. I am
not aware of a shortage on any of these items. However, if you intend to buy
a long-term food storage program — like the one I offer on my
website — the lines are already getting
long. If you have ever been in a grocery store before a hurricane or a
winter storm, you know what I’m talking about. I expect the lines to grow
increasingly long as we march toward Y2K.

I have heard from several people that the food supplier I recommend in
The Millennium Bug is so
overwhelmed with business that they are no longer taking orders. Much of
this is due, I’m sure, to recommendations like mine which have been made by
many others within the Y2K community. However, other food suppliers are also
becoming inundated with orders and already have waiting periods of several
months.

The problem is that the longer you have to wait, the more uncertain it
becomes that you will ever take delivery of your order. And if you find out
several months from now that your supplier can’t make the delivery after
all, you are left with even fewer options — if any.
Frankly, this is not a risk I am prepared to take.

The one thing I can guarantee you will find if you do wait is higher prices.
I fully expect these to escalate dramatically after the first of the year.
It’s a simple function of supply and demand. The current waiting period on
the food package I sell is eight to ten weeks.

Wood-burning stove. A wood-burning stove is one of the best options
available for heating a home. There are other options, of course, but I
believe a wood stove is, for most people, the safest, most reliable way to
generate heat. Still when many people begin contemplating the purchase of a
stove, they are immediately put off by the high prices. But guess what? No
one says you have to buy a new one.

In the current issue of our edition of The Traders’ Post (a local classified
ads newspaper published in many communities), I found 13 wood stoves for
sale. While new ones can sell for $2,000 or more, these used models ranged
in price from $150 to $350. Most were under $300.

This probably goes without saying, but don’t buy a wood-burning stove,
particularly a fireplace insert, that requires an electric blower (duh!).

Generator. Frankly, even though I sell generators on my website, it probably should not be a high-priority item for
most families. There are generally cheaper, safer ways to replace
electricity than by buying a generator (e.g., you can buy a wood stove,
solar or kerosene lanterns, candles, a Coleman cook stove, etc.) for much
less money.

Still, if you want to maintain a lifestyle that more closely resembles your
current one, and if you have the money to make the investment and a safe
place to store the fuel, then a generator may make sense. But already supply
lines are thin.

Precious metals. People often ask what they should do with their money,
particularly their investments. When you reduce it to the bare essentials,
most investments do not involve taking possession of real property. What you
get instead is a statement of what’s in your account, a stock certificate, a
bond issue, or perhaps a Federal Reserve Note. Boil it all down and you are
left with a piece of paper that represents a promise to pay.

But this promise only has value as long as two things are true: 1) people
are willing to accept the promise as a medium of exchange, and 2) the
issuing entity has the ability to fulfill the promise. If either of these is
impaired by the impact of the Millennium Bug, then the promise becomes
worthless — perhaps overnight.

Besides land and equipment, the only self-validating assets I know of that
are widely accepted are silver and gold. In other words, these assets do not
depend upon someone else’s promise to pay. Historically, they have been the
means by which people have transported their wealth intact from one side of
a crisis to the other.

Although it is true that both silver and gold are trading at near 20-year
lows, this could change overnight. Already coin dealers are reporting higher
than usual demand. Many of them are attributing this to Y2K-savvy investors
who are looking for alternative places to park their money. If you are
interested in researching this further, visit Franklin Sanders’
website. He is one coin dealer I can
recommend without reservation.

Finally, let me encourage you again to make your list, prioritize your
purchases, and, to the best of your ability, buy now.