It is known that I fell very low, economically speaking. For me it was normal to go a couple of days with no food, to pass cold, and there was only a barely functional laptop that I actually rescued because it was deemed too slow (it was), but that is not a story for this page. Some people may call it luck, but you and I know that luck played but a little role on it. During the process there are some things that I wished I would have prepared in advance (and some I did prepare thankfully), before everything went down. Here are some of those things:
Open and verify accounts in Online Payment systems
This one is probably the most critical. It was those accounts, mostly PayPal for me, that kept me afloat. Normally the verification process requires you to have things that you are likely to lose, so open and verify before you can’t. You may come across and opportunity and realize that your hands are tied.
Some of the Online Payment systems I recommend are:
- PayPal (Which you probably already have)
- Payza (also widely accepted)
- Neteller (virtual and plastic Prepaid MasterCard® cards available to dispose of your funds)
- Skrill (plastic Prepaid MasterCard® card available to dispose of your funds)
Get a USB or a DVD with Linux on it
Your computer may be your support during the worst times, but the day may come in which it becomes unusable, either by a virus, by a software update, or any of the reasons computers with Windows become slow and terrible. And you may not have the time or the resources to get back to your files.
Well, then put the USB stick or the DVD in, boot from it, and there you go. Full access to your files, web browser, office suite (Libre Office) and a fast functional computer to keep you going. There is a lot of help online for it, or you can always write me.
My personal recommendation: Linux Mint KDE, but there are many flavours.
Get familiarized with your closest Library, get a card
In the worst of times, Libraries can make the difference. And they have made it for many, a renowned case is that of Og Mandino, where he contemplated suicide and instead ended up going through a variety of books of self-help and motivation, and he became a successful writer and speaker. If you have never hear of him, this is a taste of what he wrote, who knows, it may help you: https://kathypilcher.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/og-mandino-scrolls.pdf
Find food banks or food sources
Keeping your health is extremely critical, and for that you are going to need food. If you see this collapse coming from the distance, prepare as best as you can for a worst case scenario. And you need food and shelter, and nowadays Internet could also help a lot, but there are many places where you can get it.
Learn the language of the country you are in
Yeah, I am kind of joking with this one ^_^, but it happened to me when I was half a world away. Thankfully I survived that one.
So, all the best to you, don’t give up. There are many problems that arise, but the biggest of them all may be how you handle it inside of you, because it is devastating to the moral to go through it, and how you view yourself may get twisted when it comes to eating something or dying. But don’t get that far, seriously, better be better prepared and try to not think about things that you have no control over, you need to have your mind working on the solutions and it won’t if you have it stuck on the problems.
