How do you guys save money for economic breakdown due to coronoa virus?

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Foreverhappychan wrote:

...We have some emergency food set aside but for now, while the services are running, feel its best to live as 'normally' as possible, getting and eating fresh fruit and veg first and foremost. I don't suspect these services will go down in a hurry -- it's a low CFR virus (relatively speaking) and groceries/pharmacies are kept open at all costs, for fairly obvious reasons, even during 'lockdowns'.

Just my two coppers, but I am not planning on leaving the house in April, hopefully May too. By that, and I'm serious, I mean I won't be leaving my property and will be limiting contact with others to only what is critically necessary should such an occasion arise.

This virus is no joke. It's darn well a high CFR virus when compared to something like Seasonal Influenza. It's very likely it will be the most widespread deadly virus seen in many countries in like... forever? At least since the 1918-19 Spanish Flu epidemic. In comparison to other widespread epidemics in the modern age, it sort of kicks everything else's butt in terms of morbidity. (Fatality rate coupled with spread)

If you're older and/or have any of the possible contributing pre-exising issues then you're no longer at the bottom of the "least likely to die" list if you get it. You move into the "more likely to die" part of that list. All those healthy young people that get it make the numbers look "good." (Widespread)

And, according to most reports, if you get put on a ventilator... you're not likely to come off of a ventilator. (That's sometimes a truism for certain types of ventilator patients.) The reason everyone wants ventilators is because, well, there's a "chance" it could save a life as long as they didn't have to stay on it for very long. Other than that, your best bet is for doctors to have enough confidence in your case to send you home with an oxygen tank.

A bit more Doomsayer kind of a response than I'd like to make, and I apologize. I just got set off with the "act like normal" thing. :)

There are people out there complaining about not being able to go out to "party" and they can't get HD Netfliz or a fast connection for their video-pr0n... There are people upset that they can't go to work, so they'd rather "act as normal" and do the whole "herd immunity" thing even if that means "grandma" dies. Who cares, right? She had a good run...

I have a neighbor that follows a certain orange gentleman's advice very closely. She's about 70 years old and just loves to run around and go shopping and socializing and all that... She doesn't see what all the "fuss" is about and is pushing back against what many people are suggesting as realistic social-distancing strategies, especially for her age cohort.

"It's all just silly talk."

She believes that taking Vitamin C will protect her if there really is anything to this "silly talk."

I give her a 50/50 chance of seeing the end of the year.

Vitamin D mostly for inflammation, example arthritis... You need vitamin C to help your T cells. Unfortunately as you age your thymus stops producing CD 8 cells. You only get a handle if these T cells, once they’re gone... They’re gone. Your thymus by age 65 turns to fat...

Read up on GABA as well and most importantly zinc. Zinc can be found in cereals...


To answer OP question, I just have lots of money... I’m very comfortable. Frugality and saving...

Vitamin D won't bolster your immune system but it will help normalise it if it's not optimal. It will help. And daily doses is more efficacious than a burst, although I need both. I'd cite my sources but eh, I honestly don't care who believes me or not. I need it for my budding osteoarthritis anyway, given D helps calcium do its thing.

Morkonan: in short, yes. I know I'm very vulnerable; I knew it even before my doctor failed to tell me what would happen if I caught Covid-19 and could only offer vagaries like 'it'd be very serious'. I know most people aren't as vulnerable as me. I know some of them don't even care who gets it. I don't trust them to do what is necessary to make my exposure to them safe. So I'm being very proactive because even if I do get a bed in ICU, ventilators are serious business. It just seems more logical to do whatever I can to not get it than hope if I do, I get taken care of.

Regarding the act-like-normal by way of diet: it's how we're staying sane. Right now, I can hear a train hiss by outside my window. When I walk up and down my driveway, I see people going by, some coughing and not even covering their mouths. I fucking envy their casual inconsideration. As long as we can, we're not going to compound this strange distance with eating canned tuna, rice, beans and crackers for days on end. At least by eating 'normally' we can pretend we are not entirely unwelcome in this strange new world of healthies and not (an illusion, I know, but this is how it often looks from a vulnerable perspective).

My end-point is don't catch it until a vaccine is available. Plain and simple. Hopefully there'll be a much easier test before then, and we'll be much more aware of who has it and how to avoid them/how to treat them. But I hold no hope this will be any time soon. I am prepared to have only direct contact with my GF for the rest of the year, and she with me (beyond medical appointments). And frankly anyone accusing me of overreacting or being paranoid can go lick a toilet or throw a coronavirus party (yes, they're a thing) in defiance for all I care. This is my life, and this is how I'm taking care of it as best I can.

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MrSmiley21 wrote:

As luck would have it, the dealership is open. I dunno, if they'd give me at least 24k trade in on this truck, I might be rolling out of there with a 2020 Silverado. The one I want will be about $37,500, and I'd like a maroon one, TYVM. I got the cash to just buy that mother fucker. Gotta support the local economy.

Red and black cars are hard to see rust on. Just sayin'. ALthough if it comes down to it, black is easier to spot-coat with the anti-rust marker :P

If you're not absolutely hurting for cash, consider donating your old truck to a group that runs meals and Rx pickups to seniors: Meals on Wheels, Home Dialysis, etc. in your state/region may need it a lot more. You can claim the trade-in value quoted anywhere as your tax receipt amount. :)

You are supposed to have 2 to 3 months monies to cover expenses all the time anyway. Just sayin. I understand that if you have just come out of a bad time, like unemployment, or like me, you have had a major expense, this is a hell of a lot easier to say than do. I only have a couple of months now of savings to fall back on.

Hoping that people learn from this dreadful situation and take saving for a rainy day seriously in the future.

On a more hopeful note, I am going ahead with some planned landscaping purchases for new house this spring. Scaled back. :( I am dreaming of a jasmine and honeysuckle medley in my yard this summer.

Today is my birthday and I canceled all gifts. We are barbecuing, weather permitting and wife bought me a cake from a local business. She can bake, but her frostings and candy and such stinks. :( Her words.

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solwitch wrote:

Vitamin D mostly for inflammation, example arthritis... You need vitamin C to help your T cells. Unfortunately as you age your thymus stops producing CD 8 cells. You only get a handle if these T cells, once they’re gone... They’re gone. Your thymus by age 65 turns to fat...

Read up on GABA as well and most importantly zinc. Zinc can be found in cereals...

Vitamin D has a "slight" positive benefit for bolstering one's immune system. (At least from what I remember reading on it recently.) Vitmain C doesn't matter as long as you're getting enough of it. And, yes, old people generally have weaker immune systems. :(

Zinc... This is a lower respiratory virus. It doesn't present like the flu. There's not even a flu rattle and few upper-repiratory symptoms like runny nose, sore throat, etc.. What is apparent is lung efficiency/oxygenation in absence of directly noticeable symptoms that one would expect for the flu. ie: Low oxygenation of the blood, no rattles in the chest, a fever, no runny nose/similar = Covid 19 and the body killing off lung tissue... (AFAIK)

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Foreverhappychan wrote:

...My end-point is don't catch it until a vaccine is available. Plain and simple. Hopefully there'll be a much easier test before then, and we'll be much more aware of who has it and how to avoid them/how to treat them. But I hold no hope this will be any time soon. I am prepared to have only direct contact with my GF for the rest of the year, and she with me (beyond medical appointments). And frankly anyone accusing me of overreacting or being paranoid can go lick a toilet or throw a coronavirus party (yes, they're a thing) in defiance for all I care. This is my life, and this is how I'm taking care of it as best I can.

(Emphasis mine)

^--- This.

Just be extra-careful and that goes for anyone with pre-existing conditions. Half the people on ventilators don't come off of ventilators until they have no further need for ventilation of any sort. IMO, the best way for those with pre-exising conditions that impact one's survival rate against this illness is to not become infected with this virus.

(Note: Hard surface tests show about a 48 hr viability time, cloth and fabric types that could support the virus (not bacteriostatic) show significantly longer dwell times so wash clothes after any outside contact. These are "active" dwell times on these surfaces. Some reports just talk about very long times for the virus being "detected" and that means little right now as it's just "bits and pieces of it.")


In the spirit of this thread, here's a coping mechanism!

https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary

Archive.org has set up a National Emergency Library of almost 1.5 MILLION books, all available for FREE!

That's... a lot of reading material. :) Stuff from everywhere on subjects and in genres that include just about anything one could want to read!

Here some information on Zinc related to immunity...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702361/

In a nutshell Zinc is responsible for having a healthy immune system... People with Zinc deficiencies are subject to having a slower response with invading pathogens as well as other defects or ailments.

Vitamin D will help with inflammation which is what people are essentially dying from... It is extremely important to get it naturally, 10 minutes in the sun all you need.

Zinc won't kill you but if you OD it, it might give you the shits.

Oops. Wrong thread.

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solwitch wrote:

Here some information on Zinc related to immunity...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702361/

Thanks for that!

I can see that being the case for the elderly and others that could suffer from zinc deficiency. The most interesting bit there was the sequestration of free zinc during illness. That's kind of weird, but whatevs... :) So, "Yes, in the presence of a zinc deficiency, supplemental zinc might be helpful."

The key being a "deficiency." I wasn't assuming that when I made the above statement.

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Vitamin D will help with inflammation which is what people are essentially dying from... It is extremely important to get it naturally, 10 minutes in the sun all you need.

It's rarer for people to get 10 minutes in the Sun these days than it used to be. :) That's been one of the main forces behind renewed interest in vitamin D supplements. (That and old people falling and breaking their hips.. only to be force-fed "Vitamin D" and then told not to take calcium supplements for fear of kidney stones and urinary tract infections... like... WTF? I guess they should just get into power-lifting or something.)

It seems that Vitamin D "deficiency" as in people who could actually be said to be below recommended levels is pretty widespread. Even among "active" young people, it's been found to be low. For older people, it's very common. Cultural traditions, diet, general population health, obesity, etc... All of these seem to be impactful: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-56297-y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/

(There is a more recent study on vitamin D and the immune system relative to influenza, but I couldn't find it in the short time I took to look for it... Since I haven't played PoE in two days and need to go catch up!)

Vitamin D is also something that is not commonly found in certain diets and foods. You could probably eat dirt and get enough Zinc. :) But, dietary sources for vitamin D aren't widespread. That's probably why it's a more popular supplement and more tested for in the doctor's office.

In summary: If a Zinc deficiency threatens, getting added Zinc is good. Getting enough of any essential vitamin/element is important.

Taking a multivitamin is likely, without more research, about the best one can do. Higher vitamin D doses "could" have a beneficial impact on the immune system. Maintaining healthy levels of all needed nutrients is A Good Thing ™. :) Those with compromised immune systems likely already know this, but... keep on top of your dietary needs, please.

And, for the thread:

Free Video Games to Play While You’re in Quarantine!

https://www.denofgeek.com/games/free-video-games-quarantine-coronavirus/

Yes, PoE made that list. :)