Although there's nothing wrong with that if it's what you prefer.
I'm no expert, but I'm willing to share what I know and hope you'll do the same.
For most people, "precious metals" are gold, silver, platinum, and (sometimes) palladium, and even copper.
For preppers, the list is incomplete without lead.
Lead, as in ammunition.
All government-issued money has a real value of 0. It's only worth anything as long as people believe it is worth something. While people will still take it in trade, you might as well use it, but as soon as people stop accepting it, you also need to stop accepting it in trade for labor or products. You'd be working for free in that case. I've found that this is a hard concept for some people to understand, but it's true.
In this case, you can trade for food, toilet paper, water, firewood, or anything else you want. The problem comes when what you need isn't what someone else has to trade. If you don't want a goat, but goats are all they have to trade, what do you do? How can you trade with that person then?
This is why you need pocketable money. If government money is no longer accepted as money, you'll need some other kind of pocketable money. It will be easier if you already have some metals to trade.
(what is money? http://blog.kentforliberty.com/2009/11/requires-no-government.html )
Just as you don't only carry $100 bills or only carry pennies, you need different "denominations" of money depending on what you're trading for.
Gold is good for big items. Silver is better for most everyday trades. Silver is more manageable. Copper, too. And ammunition is sometimes even better.
If you're a gun person you have probably noticed how hard it has become to get ammo. Wouldn't you accept ammo in exchange for work or stuff? I would. Even ammo for guns I don't have, just because I know it still has value as a trade medium. Someone wants it, even if I don't.
To prepare for the possibility of government money becoming worthless, I'd recommend getting precious metals of any type whenever you can. Beware of "gold" and "silver" that originates in China; they are a hotbed of fake coins. I know-- I got a fake Morgan "silver dollar" off of eBay that seems to link back to China. Get ammunition for the guns you have first, but if you see a good deal for some ammo that someone else might need, don't automatically reject it.
And once the value of federal reserve notes falls below what you're willing to accept, stop accepting them. Insist on real money instead. "I'll trade you two 'junk silver' dimes for a sandwich"-- and if you're up to date on what things are worth, you'd probably accept the trade.
One of the more fun things (to me) that qualifies as prepping is stocking up on ammo.
While prices are better now than they have been in a while, I was still having to travel an hour and a half to find prices that made sense. Locally, ammunition was 2 or 3 times the price that I could pay in the bigger city 90 miles away.
Fortunately, that situation has recently changed, but I found a great way to deal with it before the change, and I'm sticking with it, too.
It's a business called Ammo Squared. You sign up and subscribe for a set dollar amount and they set up an ammunition account for you. Then you can have it shipped to you.
If you use my link-- https://ammo2.me/dullhawk --and spend at least $20 in the first month, both you and I get $25 in free ammo. That's a pretty good deal. Then, after you've set up your account, you can share your own link with your friends and both of you can get free ammo the same way. It's kind of awesome.
If you wait until you have an account value of over ...
Every little bit adds up.
Due to medical situations, I've found myself without money to spend on larger projects such as firewood-- which might be a problem-- but there's always something you can do to prep.
A recent project for me was getting all my oil lamps ready to go. That's not the only alternative lighting I have, but it's my favorite.
I checked and changed the wicks (where needed), cleaned off any dust that had accumulated, and topped off the kerosene. You may prefer liquid paraffin since it stinks less, but I have gallons of kerosene on hand. I only broke one chimney, and I had a spare. (Note to self, keep an eye out for more chimneys at thrift stores and yard sales.)
I also decided to try to address a minor problem with the lamps. If you have oil lamps that you don't use all the time you'll know that the oil evaporates. This time I did something I hope will slow that process.
I covered the wick slot (don't know the technical name, but look at the photo) with aluminum foil I had...
