The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis

by Sean Brodrick

From the investment experts at Weiss Research, the ultimate guide to preparing for and profiting during a disaster of any kind Life is unpredictable. Economic and natural disasters can happen anytime and anywhere. The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis describes the simple things people can do today to prepare for anything and everything that life might throw at them tomorrow. It also offers comprehensive advice on how to profit during a market collapse, energy crisis, or natural disaster. The guide
Panicking during a disaster won't solve anything. Be prepared for any number of potential economic calamities and natural disasters with The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide .

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction, Money, Reference, Finance, Business, Economics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2009

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had a few good ideas, but mostly it made me feel like a crazy nut wing for even being interested in this topic. Surely there are some books on this topic that give good information on preparing for a natural disaster that don't make me feel like I'm turning into John Goodman's character in 10 Cloverfield Lane?

[Bill Seitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good.

Like having a fair amount of focus on current-living situation (suburb).

Semi-useful section on investments.

Decent amount of detail on gear selection.

Shortcoming: while he talks about events that might make it appropriate for you to evacuate, he doesn't discuss how you change your mindset over the course of a given scenario (e.g. you start out thinking you'll just be without power for a day, then "any day now", when you do change your expectations and what do you do about it?).

[Nathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A whole lot of fear mongering in my opinion. Also, outdated info that hasn't aged well (published in 2010). I would say pass on this one.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a read along, my opinion changed from like it to really like it to really really like it. This book is not so much about making "the smartest money moves" (maybe the publisher though up that title?) than it is about preparing a suburban home for short and medium term disasters. It is written in a way to get you started on further learning, that is, it will tell you that being able to bake bread is important, but it won't tell you how. What makes the book great is that it covers everything and explains what to do to adapt in place rather than the typical survivalist books which in many cases focus on milling stored wheat on your goat farm in the hills. It is a nice break from the cold-war mentality of heading to a bunker in the hills and instead focus on what one can do locally.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shows people how to attain varying degrees of disaster preparedness. Even the most cash-challenged can do some of the things he talks about.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd say this book is about 90% fear-mongering and 10% useful info. Of that 10%, about 7% is information that has been parroted in every "thrivalist" book ever, and is presented better elsewhere. The remaining 3% is an actually-useful bibliography that I'm interested in working through.

I find it interesting that the author emphasizes Internet survival resources, which would undoubtedly be inaccessible in a real disaster, and relies upon link shorteners (tinyurl in particular), which forces the reader to go through the author's portal and leaves the link more susceptible to linkrot.

The core of the book is scaring the reader by emphasizing horrible scenarios, and selling "the smartest money moves" (i.e. ETFs, investment in gold, and lots of guns). Brodrick, from his personal anecdotes in the book, seems to be the worst combination of super-sized gun-toting suburbanite and MSNBC talking head.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised at how useful this book was. While it includes some of the standard info - saving water, buying canned food, etc - it also had several lists that I prefer to those found in other books. There were resources listed for inexpensive options on basics, such as solar ovens. What won me over, however, was the section on bikes. I'm so convinced that I'm adding a 4th bike, a bike repair book and basic bike supplies to my emergency plans. Other useful ideas: using spices for medical needs, signs that it's time to get out of town, preparing food outside, making car kits. Often, it was the little details that other books/sites skip that impressed me. For instance, I need to add hiking shoes to my trunk as I usually wear heels to work. Little details but they added up. Excellent book.

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

An "ok" guide book on surviving in the suburbs. The book includes the usual stuff on food and water storage, home safety, first-aid etc. It also includes a chapter on USA-centric finances, which isn't generally included in survival/emergency guides.

[Philski · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much fear mongering and twisting the facts both ways, but some practical suggestions. decent place to get an overview and then drill deeper into relevant areas of interest with more specialized books.

[Kelly]

Lots of great ideas to get your family ready for any emergency situation.

[Abdullah Alwardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you live in the city or if you don't consider your self a survivalist but you wanna be prepared .. Then this book is for you.