Many Aussies are feeling the rush of panic upon watching the news. Fortunately, Australia appears to be in a better position to ride out the worldwide financial crisis.

This article details the three things you can do now to handle any impending financial emergencies. Before you continue, read the Wisebread article on preparing for a recession. It details the financial impact of a recession and even more steps you can take to prepare yourself.

Prepare for the possibility of job loss.

No job is safe in a tumultuous financial climate. Sure, some sectors have more security but the company may not be able to afford to keep you on. Preparing for the eventuality will reduce any stress should it arise.

• Pay off debt. This helps you now, but also reduces the amount of expenses should your income be drastically reduced
• Have an emergency fund. Aim for enough money to live off for a couple of months.
• Look at alternate income streams. Even the interest off your emergency fund could be a nice little income earner.
• Get additional training. This could be in a field unrelated to your current employment. This could ensure you have a greater chance of remaining in the workforce.
• Have the relevant paperwork for centrelink. You may never need it, but make sure you have necessary financials and identification on hand should it be reqested.

Prepare for loss of disposable income.

A loss of disposable may not have a direct effect on many facets of your budget, but may affect your perceived quality of life. Qdequate preparation can make any several financial difficulties more bearable. Below are a number of sacrifices you may have to make and ways you can get around them.

• No more take out. Find a homemade alternate.
• Less money For socializing: Invest in cards or board games.
• Less money for hobbies: Look to see if you can find an online membership site for your hobby. You can find lessons for musical instruments, craft and income generating hobbies.
• Prepare for less money for travel. This includes transport to your place of work. Research alternate forms of transport.
• Less money for clothing and beauty. Look for cheaper alternatives for beauty products. Go to op shops or ebay for clothing.

If your after great savings tips, make sure to check out Simple Savings. They have loads of tips on saving money on every day items.

Prepare to cut down on your food bill.

A recession isn’t all bad news; according to Fox Business, companies may actually reduce food prices to get stock off the shelves. However this may be of little use if you have no money to pay for it. You can safeguard your family to a degree buy going back to basics.

Four Step Approach To Trimming The Food Bill.

See what food items you can grow.

Growing your own food can save a bundle. It is often thought of as being a costly and expensive exercise, but doesn’t have to cost a bundle. Even a small garden can save a family $50 a week. It is easy and simple to set up.

Look at your weekly budget and see what you could grow in your backyard. For many plants, you don’t need a formal garden. You could plant items in between your ornamental plants. If you have a love of weird and exotic fresh food, look to see if you can grow the plant. I grow rare herbs and fruit. I grow tamarillos. They cost around $1 per small fruit at the shop when I’m lucky enough to find one. I bought the seeds for $3 from The Lost Seed. A potential problem is moving the plants is if you had to move to find more job prospects or to find cheaper accommodation.

A few tips for a recession friendly food garden:

• Buy seeds where possible. Go heirloom - you can save the seeds and share them with a friend.
• Focus on plants you can easily propagate. This means that given enough warning, you can restart you garden should you move. Again, it also allows you to share your garden.
• Grow food that have short seasons in a dedicated bed. Things like beans, carrots and tomatoes can pay for themselves in a relatively short period of time.
• Research ways of preserving the glut. Alternately, see if you can trade your excess with a neighbour or friend.

See what you can buy in bulk.

Bulk buying may be costly initially, but over the long run can save a significant amount. I find stores that sell caterers quantities of my favourite foods.Useful items to buy in bulk are sprice, baking supplies and special treats. I buy from Campbells Cash and Carry. I like to stockpile food bought in bulk to ensure I have enough to last me through tough times.

Start by identifying what items you use the most. Then choose whether you want to stockpile the processed option or buy the basics. An example is stockpiling pasta. Ensure you have experience preparing the food from scratch before you actually need to.

For many staples it can be more economical to buy from coles. I like to stockpile items when they are on special. Homebrand items are rarely on special and can be the best value. Buying in bulk is also useful to cut down on packaging.

A few tips for a recession friendly bulk food stockpile:

• Stockpile some of your favorite foods. Luxuries are one of the first cutbacks on a strict budget. Having something special can prevent you from feeling deprived.
• Store foods that you will use regularly. This way you can rotate them and nothing is wasted.
• Compare the prices of bulk food. Even though you are saving by purchasing large quantities, you may have the potential to use later.

See what you can preserve to use later.

There are three main methods of preserving food for later use: drying, freezing and canning.

Freezing is often the easiest option. You don’t need any special equipment. I do this for a lot of fruit and herbs.

Drying is when you use the sun, air or a dehydrayor to preserve the nutrients in the dehydrated form of the plant. I do this for many of my herbs.

Canning is a processed where you preserve the food in an airtight contain. This can be tricky for the first timer and can require purchasing specific jars or kits.

I research preserving according to a specific food. I go to the shops and see what food I can buy in bulk. I also check out websites to see when foods will be in season. I can then purchase necessary equipment or take advantage of specials.

If money is really tight, this little tip could save on the initial expense of food AND prevent wastage.

See what you can make from scratch.

Making food from scratch is time consuming but may make the different between needing to get a second job if money is tight. With many storebought products you often pay for the packaging, marketing and processing that goes towards getting the products to you.

I choose items that are expensive to purchase and find the cheapest option of making it from home. For instance, if I make homemade tomato paste and pizza bases then I can significantly save on pizzas.

Its all a matter of how far you are prepared to go to save on your food budget.

I’ve been doing heaps of research on alternate cooking sources lately and one product that came up repeatedly was the Cobb Oven. Many people had bought it for the emergency kit and camping, but a sizable number of people will use it exclusively to cook certain dishes.

It appeals to me because its versatile and very user friendly. It drains fats, can be used on many surfaces and is very portable. I’ll definitely be buying one, even if it takes a short while to save up the $200 required.

Weber offer a great range of BBQ’s that would be very useful in a powerless situation. Many run off gas, but you can also buy ones that use Charcoal.

I found two products that would suit me as a single person. They are the products called “Go Anywhere” or the “Smokey Joe.”

It you have a stockpile of heat beads or similar, you could probably use this as an alternate cooking source during an emergency or power outage. They are both under $120 and I intend to get one for my emergency kit, as well as to use for fun.

You can find out more via their official website

One major concern that is repeated on multiple forums and websites that I frequent is how to create yummy meals during an emergency. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to stumble upon Emergency Kitchen.

The recipes featured on Emergency Kitchen feature products made from canned or non perishable food. This means you have nutritious meals from your stockpile while developing alternate methods of sourcing food products in an emergency.

Lately I’ve been looking at my electricity bill. I operate a small fridge which I’m sure takes up a large percentage of my power bill. I only store cat food and yoghurt in there and have been wondering if it has been worth the expense of running.

I learnt about the Pot in Pot Refridgeration from Simple Savings. It wouldn’t be logical to use it here as the cats would get into the pots, thus defeating the purpose of the fridge. I have printed off the instructions and will keep extra supplies as part of my gardening storage. I’m sure it could come in really handy in a pinch!

An alternate article can be found here.

Finding applicable insurance was one of the most difficult tasks when I first moved out. At 18, I had no idea what plans were applicable to my needs. At 21, it hasn’t gotten any easier. That’s why I’m so thankful for iSelect. The site allows you to compare a wide range of insurance plans so you can find way that directly suits your needs.

I’ve used this on numerous occasions when choosing my health cover. I find that it simplifies the comparison process.

I have heard reports that you can get insurance for less with some plans that don’t advertise with iSelect. They are able to keep the price down by not paying to be advertised on the website.

I use iSelect when doing a basic comparison. I then go away and do more comprehensive of the available plans and my needs. If I don’t feel comfortable with the available insurance offers, I will look externally. I’ll always go back to iSelect when purchasing the insurance to double check that there are no new options.

 Seth Godin spoke some time ago about creating an Internal blog.

He said:

Use it as an internal diary, a way of tracking each day so that a month or a year from now, you can look back at where you were and how you dealt with the issue of the day.

This quote resonated with me. Since starting blogging I have little time to physically write in a diary. It was an expensive hobby due to constant replacement of pens and exercise books. It was also quite time consuming.

I have an internal blog. Its about my journey to hopefully become a professional blogger. I love being able to ramble not caring about grammar and use of space. Its quicker and more efficient. You can go back and check your progress more easily. Many thoughts and ideas don’t fit in with any of my blogs themes thus I can articulate them and solve problems quicker.

If your in need of organisation I highly recommend an internal blog.

Your going to have budget oopsies somewhere along the line. Whether its because you felt deprived, an emergency occurred or etc, it happens. Theres nothing you can do about it except be as prepared as possible.

The first step is to establish what level of emergency you are willing to prepare for. Think of the worst scenarios you could face: setbacks or financial ruin. Be as much or as little prepared as you like.

Once you’ve established potential problems, try to come up with ways to handle them should they arise.. Phone up or research all the welfare agencies that might be able to help you. Ask relatives or friends flat out if they’d be willing to handle certain responsibilities should you be hostpitalised for a period of time including house and pet care.

Emergency stockpile. Emergency stock can be used in an actual emergency (like losing job) to having a minor setback. You can as prepared as you like whether its for a couple of weeks or couple of years. This will be covered in considerably detail as the blog progresses.

Do you have any insurance? Insurance is something one should always be aware of, even if its making the informed choice of not getting it.

Having these plans in place means that you’d be prepared in any emergency and thus more likely to get out of the situation in a better position. There is nothing wrong with over preparing if it means you bounce back quicker.

There have been discussions on savings sites on how to be prepared in an emergency. I recall a relative joking about this preparation, saying you don’t have anything to lose in a fire.

Regardless, upon moving in I was rather quick to get both of these:

Post Office - $10

Extinguisher - Free

It was so cheap and easy to get both of these which now prepare me to protect my home.

The camp stove was brought from K-mart for $23. Since then, it is possible to pick them up for $15 at various sales. I picked up the gas cartridges during an Aldi sale for $5-6. This is mostly for use in a short term emergency such as a power outage. Should a greater emergency occur, other plans will have to be in place.

This solar shower was less than $10. It hasn’t been used, yet is there in an emergency. I have been toying with using just this rather than my regular shower and possibly turning the gas off. I wouldn’t do that however due to the severe frosts we get in the middle of winter. I’m not sure its worth the $30 saving a year in gas, but is there.