So first and foremost if you sense any kind of political undertone to my blog post today please know that it was never my intention. If you want to hear my view on politics, sit me down and do it in person. I don’t do politics online because it inevitably becomes a giant brawl – never before in history at least in my 41 years have people been so polarized on certain issues. No this isn’t about how we got here, this is about being here and I am going to share some insights, suggestions, and predictions regarding our lives in then “Endemic”

So Covid for better or worse is coming to an end, its still out there and will be for ever but the world has grown tired of living under restrictions mandates supply chain problems and totalitarian rule, so we are seeing some rapid changes and the narrative is changing. Germany, Sweeden, UK many “western societies” are reversing their course lifting mandates removing barriers and even the talking heads on TV are starting to drop the daily numbers and fear porn that has rippled across the airwaves for the last two years of “2 weeks to flatten the curve “. Well here we are…. And the world is realizing with the fog clearing the total utter devastation that is left behind. As they come out of their bunkers and open their eyes the reality of it all is rapidly becoming apparent. The truth is we have been lying to ourselves for so long and blaming everything on Covid that things like inflation, debt, supply chains and small business owners employment all these things took a back seat and now that the emergency is ending the disaster left behind is here to stare us in the face.

We all celebrated new years a few weeks ago with hope in our eyes and tears of joy to watch that calendar turn over but I am here to say we are in for a new year of fresh hell this time will be reminiscent of 2008. We are going to experience a total systematic collapse of the financial markets, the housing bubble will finally burst, the markets are all going to correct themselves and probably tumble. The feds will prop them up through mid terms the best they can but when the breakers trip its gonna be a mad dash and you can see it already in Crypto. If you are a crypto trader you are nodding right along with me right know because we are light years ahead of the general public in most of these things as we try to understand trends and make predictions in crypto. What we call a bearish market is unfolding and the important thing to know about crypto is that downward trends often precede stock market trends because day traders dump their riskiest assets first. the reverse is true when the stock market starts climbing you can just about bet your bottom dollar crypto will start climbing too. Anyway it doesn’t effect those of us who consider ourselves ” long term holders ” in either market because 2022 is just another year. Another footnote for future history books ” the year the worlds economy reset ” Thats also not what I am here to talk about.

LETS Talk about the things you can do NOW to help yourself get through these troubling times and I will share some of my insights.

FIRST OFF food is skyrocketing. if you havent been living under a rock you already know this. And not just or people, last night I was walking through walmart aimlessly looking in the $5 DVD bin because I was waiting for a prescription to get filled and I hear a man yelling a few isles down and someone crying and I heard ” cat food ” said over and over again. It intrigued me so I walked down there and found this elderly lady sitting on the floor crying and presumably her son or caregiver swearing at an empty isle. Not one single can of cat food remained. even the expensive crap just GONE. couple bags of frisky dry food I wouldnt feed any cat (its ground corn) and thats it. lets just say I finally figured out who deserved my extra sams club membership card and a way to kill some time while I waited for the prescription. Sams Club, Costco, Big box discount stores are more valuable than ever now as we go into this new fresh hell because they sell in bulk, and you can get 90 cans of cat food for example in a big box which counts as ” one item per customer ” and its far cheaper in bulk anyway. Sams club is cool too because you can use the app, scan your own items as you put them in the cart, pay, and walk out the door. no need to go through a self check out or see a cashier even alcohol as long as you are age verified and follow the steps in the app to set it all up correctly. it will tell you whats in stock before you even get there and what isles what shelf – I can clearly see where Sams is going as an IT pro they will be one of the first to adopt Augmented Reality shopping in the near future. you’ll have a few stock people and a door greeter and thats about it. less jobs. but more savings I guess. BUY BULK what ever you can and save.

Another hidden Gem you probably overlook is ALDIs. ALDIs has some EXCELLENT deals on a lot of things and if your into low carb/keto, non GMO Glutten Free foods they are stocked FULL of it. ALDI is actually a German company and overseas its their equivalent to our Whole Foods thats ALL They sell over there. They use supper efficient lighting and chillers with solar panels on the roof – they even make you deposit a quarter to get your shopping cart. WHY? because it ensures you – or someone – will return the cart to get the quarter back. youll never see carts laying around an aldis parking lot. The cashier will toss your crap into another cart off the belt faster than you can get yours on the belt super efficient checkout and then you bag your own stuff. bring your reusable bags or they sell paper bags. NY, California some states have started doing this by law at all stores but ALDIs has been doing it all along. You will be surprised and impressed with what they have to offer and the prices. Get on the news letter and sign up for weekly emails.

Almost All big stores have apps and points and ways to earn and save. Here in Florida we have WinDixie as one of the more prominent food chains and they have a fantastic app that you can save all kinds of money on things and weekend flash sales. This past weekend they were selling Ground Beef for $1.99 a pound. But you wouldnt know that unless you had the app and rewards card. All these big stores have them – USE THEM. WinDixie for instance has weekly super savings deals like this week get two dozen grass fed open range (brown) eggs for $5 and earn 200 points which is essentially $2 off your next purchase. 100 points = $1 savings so basically your getting 2 dozen healthy eggs for $3. That one runs through Sunday I believe if your interested. I have all the eggs i can fit in my fridge at the moment because I am still full time RV and have a tiny fridge but that too is going to change soon. I am in contract on a permanent house down here in Florida working through the process it will be my “Winter pad” ill stll be RVing somer months but anyway thats a blog post for another day…. Use your local stores apps, get involved in their rewards programs understand the terms and conditions and save money! all it takes is a little thinking reading and learning a new app on your phone.

Groupon, Excellent app for random things. I recently ordered a 12X17″ canvas printed painting (you upload the picture) for free. only paid shipping. normally $79 so I saved 80 bucks right there. Groupon is a great tool and you can find all kinds of things around you on huge sales not usually food, well, they do food box deals all the time like hellofresh and that sort of thing but still youll be surprised whats in there. Check it out, get the app. https://www.groupon.com/ They have a special going on in my area for a 60 minute massage for $29 im tempted to buy. Never done that before never been to a place like that and I think I may just give it a go. Just all KINDS of crap you can find in there check it out.

GAS PRICES! OMG this is outrageous – ok so heres my coolest trick here. First off Gas Buddy is a great app to find lowest prices around you. BUT I found one even better that does the same thing and rewards you and the people you refer. So check this out this is my referral link to UpSide if you use this app sign up you and I will both get $2.22. Additionally I get 1c each gallon you save on just as you will get 1c on everyone you refer in addition to your own savings. On average i get back $10-15 per month with this app and I just exchange it for amazon cash to buy things I need like I just ordered a new seresto collar for my dog – best flee protection there is and they are EXPENSIVE. like $75 (last 6-8 mos) well I paid for it entirely with the money I have saved buying gas with UpSide.. Now it WILL ask you to ” store your credit cards ” yes. thats how it works. if you only use one card for gas then only store that one in it but be advised its going to ask for your CC info. I wouldnt suggest this if I didnt trust it. you can too. ttps://upside.app.link/ANDREW974393 ( ANDREW974393 – is my referral code please use it we both save more )

Have you ever considered Donating Blood / Plasma ? There is an ENORMOUS nationwide shortage of it right now and many places are strait up paying you to donate. I made $25 last time and then got a survey request from them they gave me another $25 for filling out the survey! $50 to sit in a chair for 20 min and give some blood…. Besides its a noble thing to do – you are saving someones life. Many of these places also give you free Cholesterol screening Blood pressure check etc maybe even some swag. I have a few Oneblood T-shirts I rock now and then. My newest one says ” this is what a hero looks like ” and on the back it says ” blood Donor ” lol. Its something to be proud of donating blood and why not take the free money they are giving out they need it right now, let them pay you.

When is the last time you shopped around for Car Insurance? I recently switched back to Geico from progressive dropped my policy down to $678 with full coverage on a Ram 1500. You see these companies are always offering incentives to ” new customers ” so every few years you switch back and forth and keep getting treated as a new customer. Geico also has the safe driving app that saves up to another %25 all you have to do is not touch tour phone when driving (or at least not when in motion over 5mph) and dont take corners hard dont speed dont hard break – it tracks all that and scores your driving then sends the data to Geico and they give you additional discounts for being a good driver. Note: if you live near the villages good luck with the plethora of round abouts it counts every one of them as a hard corner – I already yelled at them in tech support, but its only a small percentage of the overall driving score. Shop around ! You might be surprised call some new insurance companies get some quotes.

What do you pay for your Phone service ? Visible is a really cool deal it runs off Verizon and if you join a team plan (literally just join a group of random people you dont even know) they dont see your account in any way its just visibles way of using us to market them to eachother – its $25 / month. total. no taxes no fees no data caps no limits unlimited everything even hot spot. the catch ? if you live in a major metropolitan area or more specifically an enormous RV park with crappy wifi and every single camper using verizon your gonna get really crappy data speeds. good thing is they make it easy to port in and out no start or stop fees and no contract. I had it for over a year but it just doesnt work for me here in mecca RV people land all streaming netflix over hot spots. So I ported over to T-mobile and got on a family plan with some friends which is also an option…. T-moble has some awesome deals if you get a few friends together and get on a plan together. You also get the T-mobile Tuesdays app and get all kinds of free crap on Tuesdays. Free duncan Donughts coffee or free movie tickets always something every tuesday and chances to win prizes. Take a good look at your phone service and maybe a change is in order.

What are you spending on cable ? do you really need it ? you know you can get Philo for $25 a month. Granted it does chew up internet but I bet its way cheaper to have internet only than what ever you are paying for your cable TV bundle ! Also Philo is one of my fav of the bunch because its considered an actual TV provider and so you can use it to log into all the little apps all the channels have like paramount, History, Discovery etc. catch up on all your missed series. Besides they have unlimited DVR and tons of on demand content themselves. https://www.philo.com/login/subscribe Another good one is RedBox remember them ? you see them all the time and walk past them they still exist they have kiosk machines at walmart and grocery stores and crap all over the place. well its more than just that. if you get the app on your TV they have a ton of free content to watch (or rent) you DO NOT NEED CABLE. stop paying ridiculous prices for cable. cut the cable. get a smart TV or a firestick / apple TV or my fav ROKU and CUT THE CABLE. (well keep internet lol)

Its going to be a rough year my friends, prices will rise, supply chains will continue to buckle, jobs will suffer, the economy is going to recoil due to everything its been through these last two years. Now its time to pay the piper. If you ARE in a position to buy its also a FANTASTIC time to invest in crypto and stocks and realestate etc as the prices drop to historic lows I dont think we are anywhere close to the bottom yet. We are in a free-fall thats only just begun but you can look at it two ways. yes its a crash but its also an historic buying oppertunity. We know the values of stocks and cryptos will return to previous highs and surpass them so invest in them. Buy low sell high – thats the game right ?

Anyway these are my thoughts for the freezing cold (34F here in central Fl) Sat morning rambling. Stay safe out there, and learn to adapt to the changing times. Save where you can, buy smart, spend smart, live free and happy.

Happy Camping!

-ADUBZ