We are experiencing indicators of long-term inflation that will last for a few years. But in the Black community where we do not manufacture or do not have supply chain logistics, we are expected to experience hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is when products and services become too expensive due to the lack of inventory for needed materials. This is what you see in Venezuela with empty store shelves and people starving and acting desperate.

While we are not expected to experience extreme hyperinflation in other countries in crisis, we going to be definitely hurting in our communities and we going to be as close to painful as it gets. Right now, you better be prepping for this inflation situation and that means you better be gathering enough resources like a squirrel collecting acorns for the winter.

There are YouTube videos of mostly rural preppers who are trying to tell you what you need to prepare for hyperinflation but these are not relevant to Black urban communities. This article is going to tell you exactly how we need to prepare in the hood for hyperinflation. You will see we have a whole different dynamic and have better access and landscape because we live in an urban society, not some weirdo in the Arizona desert or in the woods in Colorado.

Fundamentals of Prepping for Inflation

Inflation is an increase in the price point due to low supply and high demand. We all see at the grocery store and increase in prices and empty shelves of stuff, for example, you don’t see a lot of pasta sauce because folks are making big pasta dishes to last several days – that’s one thing folks are doing to deal with inflation and higher prices.

Your fundamental goals to survive during inflation is the following:

Sustain. You need to survive by having the ability to eat, drink and have shelter. That means maintaining housing, having enough groceries in your stock to eat instead of fighting for food, and having access to drinkable water.

Maintain.  You will need the materials and knowledge to repair and improve structures that are in low supply. That means knowing how to fix your own car, fix stuff in your apartment, build stuff like a wood fire stove out of bricks to work with what you got.

Barter. You maintain tangible assets that you can trade with others to obtain the tangible assets you need. This is going to be gold, silver, luxury bags, video games, unused prepaid card balances, bullets where you exchange these items for tools or food.

Share. These are collective efforts where you work with others to create commons. The biggest is a shared kitchen for potlucks where everyone brings something to serve everybody. Or access to tools because the tools can help others maintain and replicate each other techniques to fix and build.

Note: It is very important for you to understand that a pawn shop is a key essential business where you can barter assets for cash as well as acquire assets to share. You can create computer labs or co-working spaces buying cheap laptops and tablets to share among the tribe.

Focus on what you can stash for yourself, learn to fix and work with what you already got, trade for exchange for things you need, and share items with others to lower overall cost for everyone. These are the fundamentals in the hood to fight inflation.

One Key Prerequisite Before Prepping That Must Be Done

There is one very important step you must do before taking on the inflation crisis. You must get rid of the metrosexuals and sissy people in your life. Brothas, these are those sistas that can’t cook and want you to take her out to eat all the time. The sista who act funny about taking rideshares and want you driving a Range Rover. You need a chick that can buy a red snapper from the store and cut it up to be pan-fried and eaten over several days with a side of rice and peas.

Sistas, these are those sissy dudes I will be seeing you walking around with at Lenox Mall in Atlanta and you think we brothas are jealous of you walking with that sissy. Weak dudes that see a dead fish on ice at the food market and scream “Ah! Put it away” waving his arms like a lil sissy and stuff. You need a bare-chested real man that can fix stuff in your apartment, find a couch sitting near the garbage bin and be able to strip it down and refabricate it or take the wood and build a table or bookshelf and cook some jack mackerel cakes with eggs and green peppers and oatmeal like his grandma taught him.

Get real brothas and sistas that know how to make oatmeal swirled with peanut butter or topped with canned peaches, make meals at home for both of yall. If you cannot find someone who knows how to sit at the home and eat together like a family or tribe, then stay single and fend for yourself. But get all these losers who burn fish sticks in the oven and burn the creamed corn letting all the water evaporate – get them out of the picture because you don’t need dead weight around when you trying to fight inflation.

Top Things an Urban Black Person Should Have to Fight Inflation

Remember that we live in the 21st century and we are not Little House on the Prairie. We do not need to hunt squirrels and eat them and the acorns squirrels collected. We don’t need to be hunting coons unless they have been featured in TechCrunch, lol, you know I had to go there.  We have to look at modern solutions that already give up the easier way to fight inflation without all the minimalist and primitive living ways.

Here are the things we should prep for the inflation collapse but most of the items on this list are more about techniques to stretch out your resources and give you liquid assets as a hedge against being broke; something you should do.

Energy Sources. How do you power up everything? I recommend lithium-based power banks that are as powerful as a small generator. Then have smaller lithium chargers. I have one that works with solar panels. Gas generators are dangerous and I don’t recommend them in modern urban society. Buy up rechargeable AA, AAA batteries instead of spending on one-time-use batteries. Focus on solar during the day, rechargeable lanterns during the night. For heat, wood fireplaces, and fire stoves, avoid charcoal and oils that are dangerous as well.  

Structures. It is important to set up sections of structures such as the eating areas, bathing areas, and restrooms. We recommend using tents and sleeping bags to save on heating costs in your household. Invest in layers of clean blankets. Use steel pots they sell cheap on Amazon that works and clean well.

Foodstuff. The key to food is knowing how to cook. The best thing to do for food is to get a vacuum sealer. I also have a snack package sealer as well. Buy food in bulk like a 5 pack of steaks, cut each steak in half and vacuum seal them to stretch out your food for cheap. Same with chicken. The best way to cook is sous vide. Now canned goods are very good to have meals on hand. The key is to monitor the sodium level on the side of the can so most of the beef stuff is not good. Canned seafood should be stocked up like tuna. Canned fish is rich in vitamin D. Also look at storing pasta, and sauces. Canned vegetables are a good fiber source. List out a planned meal schedule for an entire month to save money and last.

Personal Hygiene. This is another inflation item to prep for. Feminine hygiene such as using period cups instead of tampons can help her boyfriend use the savings cost to buy video games. Another suggestion is to buy a liquid dispenser to pump out the shower soap, shampoo, and conditioner. You save a lot of money and liquid hygiene can last months because all you need is one or two pumps per use. Toilet paper should focus on quantity over quality and stash enough to last months because we saw what happened in 2020. For babies, look into cotton diapers that are reusable with liners.

Health and Wellness. This is medicine like cough syrup, aspirin, and also vitamins as well. You also want home gym equipment to work out or meditate during the inflation crisis. Also, stock up on things like insulin and other medicine for blood pressure because these will become scarce as well during inflation. Make a space where you focus on exercise, medical treatment, and self-care like stone foot rubs.  

Clothing. There will be many purposes for clothing. However, it is recommended you buy a week worth of clothes and focus on washing only once a week. You can wear jeans several times without washing and you can wear a sweater or hoodie over a t-shirt. Get a basic professional outfit that you can wear but to be honest, I got so much of that cheap in 2020. You can also look at used clothing to consider as well. The goal of clothing during inflation should focus only on essential and low-maintenance.

Toolkits. You will need a toolset to fix and maintain your household – I recommend you visit a pawnshop for used tools first. You will find quality drills, saws, and benches these items way cheaper than going to the big box stores. You are going to need socket sets, wrenches, duct tape, super glue, drill and bits, wire cutters, and more. You may have to focus on fixing your car, fixing your house, building something outside like a wood stove burner, or more. Fishing kits, fish cleaning kits are also needed stuff. One thing I always have is a paracord wristband and a Swiss army knife

Safety and Defense. You going to have a lot of enemies from all angles. We are talking bums, scavengers, thugs, and even internal saboteurs that you have to look out for and survive against. The first and biggest threat during inflation is the rats and roaches. Get traps and roach spray to protect your food stash and keep your household clean. Seal holes that you think rats enter to run around and borrow a cat out of the alley. The other most important is fire safety and an emergency plan – do you know how to escape a fire? Are your alarms working and you stock up on 9v batteries? Then you got to deal with people. The biggest is early detection and prevention with detection cameras and motion sensors. But the biggest thing and especially women – no one should visit your household and you meet them somewhere safe, never take anyone to your house unless you truly trust them not to tell others about your cans of tuna stash. One more thing and not to be missed – guns and ammo are good but to be honest, if you believe you need to be in a predicament where you have to pull out a gun, it is already too late – you need to work on additional security layers before they even get to you at the stage of pointing a gun.

Liquid Assets. These are items to barter and sell to raise quick cash. Always buy a high-quality bag like a Louis Vuitton or Hermes. Do not buy Coach or Fendi or Gucci or stuff you see at Nordstrom Rack because you will need an asset with high-value retention if you need to convert to cash. Silver and gold coins in the hood as a barter item may not work. In the hood, you need luxury and jewelry to barter. The best place to go is a good pawn shop in the hood like Jerry’s on Piedmont in Atlanta and see what they selling – flat screens, cameras, luxury coats, shoes, belts, purses, suitcases, game consoles, watches, computers – these are barter items that you buy and when you getting short on funds, don’t sweat it – pawn it or sell it and get that little cash to stretch you over and consider that item a throwaway for that moment in time.

To Fight Inflation, Go Back to Basics and Fundamentals

The most important thing to fight this upcoming inflation crisis is to change your mindset to deal with only what you need and convert everything to an asset you need or can trade or contribute as a collective item to share or rent out. It’s is the time to go cheap and frugal and get rid of people in your life still talking about going to the crab boil spot and spending money on eating crab legs. Find someone that is trying to survive through this just like you and got the same mindset.

Focus on quietly stocking up before inflation reaches a peak high watching people acting desperate at the stores. Learn to de-clutter and focus only on what you need and what spaces should be utilized for. One key point is learning how to cook, how to fix, and how to keep yourself safe. We are going to see a lot of people in the hood unprepared and your goal is to stay away from them and focus on your survival and ability to outlast the high prices.

One more thing before I leave – here in Atlanta we have free EV charging spots. I do not have a gas car anymore and bought an electric one on the cheap (75-mile range) that I charge for free. I do not know about gas prices and don’t care nor do I care about getting oil changes either. I have enough miles to get to everywhere I need to go and if I have to get out of town, public transportation will get me to the airport or I just rent a car to drive to Florida beaches. Just want to put out there I’m not going to be impacted by any gas price shock anytime soon. So, consider this option if you living in town and don’t drive a lot of miles as a transport alternative.

Once you learn to fight inflation, guess what? You actually learned to fight poverty and you got nowhere else to go but up because you already handled the being down part.