you got to get ready

[marlas1too]

well here goes most will hate me for what i say but here goes i've noticed that a lot of people here are what most would call middle or upper class-dont get me wrong i think thats great.myself personally up till i retired this last jan i never made more than 35,000 a year and we lived very good (i was the only one working) you have to have a mind set for the coming very hard times ahead.get rid of the plastic as soon as you can ,stockpile food and water,stockpile necessities ,learn to grow your food and preserve it , ask your senior friends for advice as they have been there before you-i was one of the first baby boomers -after ww2- we lived in the swamps of fla. and the cotton fields of mississippi ,we grew most of our own food we hunted,fished,raised our own pork,beef,chickens and even goats and rabbits-im seeing more and more each day how the economy is going down hill and it worries me that more people aren't stocking up more even little things will help-sorry im ranting i just grew up in a more simple time i guess -i care for people more than most-ive done a lot of service for the community --sorry again you just have to prepare for you and yours---sorry if i make you mad -- feel free to ask me anything and if i can answer i will if not i will look for an answer ok

[lparker]

No one here should get mad at you...How many here said "That will never happen to me!"...mmmm, all of us? or we wouldn't be here. But there are some here that, well, the last time they planted even a bean was in the third grade..."don't have to plant anything because we can buy what food we need". Although hat may be the case today, what about tomorrow. I believe _everyone_ should have the experience of raising there own food, be it one pot of something on a window sill, a quarter acre garden, or something in between. NOT to do it is being in denial of the possibility of needing to do so.

If someone wants to get mad, they can get mad at me.

[Greebo]

Why would anyone on a site dedicated to the wise allocation of resources get mad at you for recommending that people wisely be prepared for potentially bad times?

[Siebrie]

My mum comes from a working class background, she helped in gran's fruit-n-veg store from age 5, just like her 2 sisters. She can run a household on practically nothing.

My dad comes from a middle class family, but not a happy one. Money was spent on 'luxury', but they never spent attention on their kids. Grandad was sarcastic in dealing with the kids. DIY was considered the poor option, 'beneath' them.

Together, mum and dad are a forceful frugal team. Dad worked as a hospital clerk until retirement.

I'm making more money at the moment than he ever did. I know how to make ends meet, and have the confidence that I can deal with most practical disasters or jobs (although I may lack the experience or tools :-))

Yep, definitely middle class with some strong working class roots.

[ladytoysdream]

I think most of us here have a good frugal mindset no matter what kind of money we have coming in, or what kind of lifestyle we had growing up. Are we all extreme frugal ? Probably not, but could get that way in a hurry if need be.

Me...
I grew up on a poor dairy farm, oldest of 4 and my parents thought we kids were the *hired man* . And we did not get paid for the chores we did. We had cows, pigs, chickens, and a bunch of coon hounds. And if Dad went hunting, we ate it. Mom said go gather berries, we did. Mom said get me kindling / wood for the wood stove we grabbed buckets and off we went. Canned food, froze food, and scratch cooked. Helped get wood in the celler for the old furnace.

Married my first husband, had 4 kids, and he thought a woman should be home with the younguns. I kept 2 freezers running, and averaged 600 canned jars of food a year. Chased garage sales for clothing, etc. His job did not pay a lot but was year round, steady, and had OT in the winter. He got stupid and found another woman and off he went.

A year later, I meet my second hubby. He had 3 and wanted to know if WE should have one more......OH NO.....we got 7 to raise , that's enough. I stayed home with the kids, did the garden , scratched cooked, baked, etc. We were on a farm, poor, and if the kids wanted a car / insurance, they had to get jobs early, and get their own. We did not have it to help them out. I also took care of a blind sister for 3.5 yrs in our house. Also managed to get a 2 yr degree while the kids were still home. And during the college years, I carried 12 credit hours a semester, and worked 3 part time jobs for a total of 45 hours a week. I never had time to even look at a clock.
We made it, and all 7 kids turned out great.

Now we are looking at retirement in less than 5 yrs for the both of us. Only a small home equity loan, and 2 yrs of one truck payment left to go. My last job was 2 yrs ago, and I currently have no income. My hubby's job is low income, close by, and steady work. We garden, raise chickens, and I pinch pennies till they scream.
I have gotten creative with solutions when we need something.
Two freezers running, and I will be canning soon again. Dehydrate a few things.

A couple of our kids not only have full time jobs, but also do things on the side for extra bucks. My one son calls himself cheap. But I bet he gets a good tire for his truck this week out of the junkyard, so mom doesn't read him the riot act, when he picks up a nail again, and we are a hour from home and he has no spare and mom's spare from her truck don't fit his And we stop at 6 different gas stations to get air, so he can make it home on a wing and a prayer.

We do have a small cushion in the bank, and enough to pay taxes in the fall already waiting. Also next winter's supply of wood sitting next to the outside wood boiler.
Are we rich or famous.....no....will we ever be....no.....are we making it.....yup.
Nothing beats sitting on our deck with a pan of peas in my lap and watching the 2 dogs, and a few chickens run around the yard.....I'm grabbing my cup of coffee and will catch you all later

[nodmicks]

Not mad here either. I think everyone needs skills to survive hard times. We have land, do garden, could do meat if we had to besides the hunting and fishing. We can burn wood if we had too for heat. I feel fairly confident we could survive a big down turn using our land, barn and learning and bartering with our farmer and Amish neighbors. Would it be hard work. You bet!!

I never really noticed if most posters were upper, middle, or lower income wise. I don't even really know what is considered middle class etc. I once joked that I thought we might have made middle class but it changed.

I grew up with parents who were middle class I guess. They were never flashy or waste full but didn't do the black tightwad stuff. We never heard much about $ period. Dad made a good living and mom managed it.

I don't stockpile much food anymore because of the way we eat as far as canned on packaged food. However I have a freezer full of garden goodies. I really should learn how to can some of the bounty.

I generally have a few months worth of TP and toothpaste etc but if sales are sparse I can get down to nothing.

I don't think anyone can predict the economy or the future. I do not want to put life on hold and live in fear of what may happen. Everyone should have some skills though because besides economic circumstance weather and disasters could require us all to need to pull up our boot straps.

[marlas1too]

ty for your answers fv i was depressed --now i feel better that even a few are prepared for the worst -i guess im lucky at the present as im retired and my SO is too i get some income from the government to and basically we are better off than some others -thank the great spirit that we live in wv where the cost of living is so low,cars paid for 2nd mortgage is down to 6,000 and then we will start hammering on the 1st .still will be hording till the day i quit breathing--hugs to all in fv

[frugal is fun]

I think I would consider myself lower to mid middle class. But that doesn't mean I'm wasteful! Actually I live much better on the money that I make because I take the time to care about me, my surroundings and how to prepare for bad situations.

being prepared is never a bad thing.

[Rhiamon]

I agree with you 100%. It is hard for us right now because we are trying to get ourselves back on our feet and live with DH parents. I have no say in groceries, gardening etc, and I have no place to stock pile. I think those are great ideas and when we get a place of our own that is what we will be doing. Something, anything could happen, and it did happen to us, and we lost everything when DH lost his job, we now live below the poverty line and are technical considered the hidden homeless. I have learned so much these last couple of years. That I know once we dig ourselves there is so much I will do different

[mauimagic]

Good discussions!! Don't know where we fit in the scheme of things - don't think it matters. We are learning, but still have a long way to go.

Don't know that we can ever retire, just trying to be smarter at all that we do.

Dehydrating more. Would love to learn to can too - may do that in July.

Am one of the first baby boomers also - glad I love what I do so I can keep on doing it!!

[Rhayne]

I grew up in what I consider a poor house and once we moved to NJ we just squeaked into middle class. My mother comes from a poor family with 12 kids and only my grandfather worked. I've heard all the stories of hand me downs and nothing new unless it was absolutely needed. They raised chickens and cows and a few other animals. No TV til my mom was almost in her teens and it was only turned on at night for my grandfather to watch the news because it was a waste of electric. My mom started working in the school cafeteria when she was 13 to start make a few dollars a week just to have some money because my grandparents couldn't afford to give any of the kids money. All of my aunts and uncles moved out when they were 15-16 to start living life. My stepfather was on the lower end of middle class. My grandfather was in the Army and worked and my grandmother stayed home and raised the 4 kids. My parents got married and my stepfather was a trash man for the city and my mother stayed home. We were blessed with the opportunity to come to NJ when the casinos came to our county in Ohio and offered to relocate us for jobs. All the while (and still to this day) my mother is frugal. Made ALL of my halloween costumes til i was about 15, All homemade meals from scratch, stockpile that I still envy and pinching pennys.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I grew up pretty much poor for almost all of my life until I moved out on my own. My mom worked really hard and my father wasn't around enough to make an effort, so it was just her and me and my two siblings. I guess it was easier back then because there wasn't so much back then that there is now, in terms of electronics and gadgets and processed foods.

My mom taught me how to stretch a food budget and how to use coupons, but a lot of what she taught me is not applicable here. No matter what, we had food in our stomachs and clothes on our backs.

With our upcoming financial bind, we're learning now how to prepare for what may or may not happen. That means cutting back and doing without on certain items, reusing ones we have around the house and reducing the amount of things we bring in to compensate for that. We may have to put the retirement deadline on hold, but it'd be for the best. I want to make sure we get back into a situation where we're able to fend well and have the basics before I extend out to something 33+ years from now.

[sunshine]

We are prepared for most things -- always something you can't think of though.

We live on a farmette - with meat animals (I tan the hides, spin fur, etc.), gardens, nut trees, fruit trees, berries . . . I can, freeze, dehydrate and root cellar. . . .

We have a 1 year + stockpile of most necessities, and I can make or barter for most other things.

We have a well, a cistern and a pond for water - and one has a hand pump. . . the others we can dip with buckets.

My grandmother was full blood Native American, and I know lots of natural healing methods, food foraging, etc.

[sunshine]

I have to add, that I don't really see the connection between economic status, and being prepared. ? ?

I know lots of wealthy people who have even greater knowledge and experience in the survival techniques. . . and some of the drastically poor that don't have a clue of how to even clean a carrot and cut into carrot sticks (they only buy the "baby carrots"). . .

[pollypurebred39]

After the last three years I will never feel safe again. We did everything you are supposed to do to prepare for the worst, only the worst was never 3 years and ongoing by any stretch of our imagination.

We had a stockpile, an EF, savings, investments, and retirement. We gardened and froze our vegetables & fruits. We have fruit trees, a nut tree, a raspberry patch, lots of medicinal herbs. We made/make herbal medicines. We now have no real stockpile to speak of, no savings, no EF, all investments that could be cashed in have been. Still have some glassware and antiques, but it's a slow market. No real job on the horizon, but the bills and needs are ever present.

The lesson we've learned is, our life is never certain, we can never be sure that what we've done to prepare for the worst is enough. So to that end, I'm learning how to can this Summer, I'll be learning how to dehydrate, I'm determined to learn how to use my sewing machine, my husband's learning how to fix machines (not his thing, more comfortable with wood) We've become great at bartering, and reducing $ outflow.

Will there ever come a day that I feel that enough cash socked away is enough? Or that I'll look at my stockpile and feel confident? I don't think so. This is the fear that the Great Recession built. I will never be free from it, this fear was built brick by brick over the last 3 years.

Now others may say that this fear is a negative emotion, I see it as a warning to self to be prepared. I chose this path because to do otherwise would be unthinkable.