Once you’ve invested in everything you can get your hands on, it’s time to take stock of your own valuables. Jewelry made from actual gold, silver, and gemstones will retain value and be easy to transport, though in a pinch, people will likely prefer food or bullets to earrings or necklaces. These are more long term investments.

Camping gear is invaluable. Even if you’re in a stable, defensible house, camping gear effectively gives you a guest room for messengers or merchants as well as well as a place to house potential guests or allies if you run out of space indoors. If you need to move quickly, you’ll want your camping supplies and bicycles, so don’t succumb to the temptation to sell your gear.

If a crisis happens in July, your winter boots and coat may look useless in the heat of summer. However, in only four months they’ll be vital to survival. If you own books full of practical skills, like planting a garden, carpentry without power tools, or butchering animals, those are suddenly very valuable. Good cutlery such as Wusthof or Henkles knives will be small, portable, and some of the most useful things you can own.

Be realistic when assessing your own goods. Ask yourself what you’ll really miss in three years rather than merely asking what you can use tomorrow. Once you’ve made a critical assessment, it’s time to emotionally let go of things that other people will find more valuable than you. There will always be people on the hunt for a novel or board game to entertain them, for writing supplies, or for mementos of the way things used to be. If you can emotionally let go of your past life, you can trade it in on valuable resources for the new normal.