[pollypurebred39]

Well, we are past the 2 year mark of my husband being under employeed and us barely scrapping by. Things are progressing out this way with new businesses and construction, however the people who've been hired to do the jobs are not Americans but illeagals It just blows my mind to see tons of construction going on and my husband whose in that field is NOT getting call backs because the positions are filled. What does that mean for the tax paying American construction worker???? Are they never going to get called back to work? Will my husband be delivering pizza and doing odd jobs til he retires? Is this all there is out there for him now? It's a scary thought because we can not continue to live like we have been, eventually we will hit a brick wall. If things get worse in this country then, well....I just don't know???

What I've been doing is stockpiling as much food as I can. I have no desire to go to the food pantry. I've had to do that before and I just never, ever want to go there again. I need to start working on HAB and things like toilet paper, I need to get stocked on laundry making supplies, making herbal tinctures and homemade cough drops (started, nothing new about this though) stocking up on things like collidal silver~Ivy syrup ect. Need to avoid doctors bills at all cost. I figure I'll add more blankets since our heat will be very low this Winter. I don't really know what else can be done. I'm just doing more of the same.

I try my best to maintain a positive attitude, but I'm feeling less and less confident about our economic recovery with every construction site I pass.

 

[Thevail]

DH has been umemployed for 3 months now, but we went into it pretty prepared. We're just paying the bills as they come in, trying to stockpile food whenever we can, and keepin' on keepin' on.

I'm pretty concerned about inflation going haywire as soon as things get better economically. The 80's were bad that way.

So I'm trying really hard right now to tuck in my horns and keep adding to the stockpile when I can. I'm also trying to learn new skills so that I don't have to rely on the mass produced stuff and the stores that sell it for everything.

Last month I knitted 2 dish towels and scrubbies from yarn I already had.

 

[frugalfranny]

If I thought I was 'frugal' before I have become even more so. Think, re-think and double think everything that I am buying, including some food items, if they are perishable.

Very aware of everything I am using and if I am using it at the most efficient level that it can be used......food, heat, etc.

Very conscious of things I have wasted in the past....mainly some food items, and making sure it isn't happening now. (IE: the juice from canned fruit, broth/liquid after using the crock pot, even BONES with meat on them when I have eaten the meals it provides, the 'zest' that lemons and oranges provide that I never saved, the celery leaves that I used to toss....this is all being saved and USED)

 

[melanies]

One thing I have noticed is that so many people are "business as usual". I really believe that hyperinflation will hit at some point, and I really want to be ready with the necessities. One other thing that I consider is that those of us that are prepared will have unprepared neighbors knocking at our doors for help. They can have my rice (I recently started eating low carb) and I will keep my canned meats and veggies!

I have some things stockpiled but not nearly enough. I need to quit stockpiling the hair products lol

 

[fixer]

I too fear inflation once the economy heats up. I am old enough to remember the early eighties. I borrowed money at fourteen percent. I had good credit and this was from my bank. It amazes me how people can't imagine high interest rates. We bought our first home in 1991. Our thirty year fixed rate mortgage was nine and one half percent. Now, it is assumed no one would by a house at those rates. We have been trying to save as much money as possible. If we do enter an inflationary period, the Fed will have no choice but to raise rates. I want to be in a position to take advantage of them.

 

[jontue]

doing not a thing. i live alone,stockpiling for me i think would be a waste. i won't use things that are past the expiration date and i think much food would be dumped. i don't worry too much about things that are out of my control. i just live simply and conscientiously. i don't watch the news. perhaps i'm just burying my head in the sand. time will tell.

 

[scooby8themall]

We are not eating out as much as we used to , I only buy groceries and Christmas gifts (clothes if needed from thrift stores) since shopping this way I put 100 + away. I take advantage of freebies (if I can use them) I do rebates for a little extra money. I use a lot of coupons they help further my stock pile.
In our news paper there are more and more places shutting down or laying off or cutting hours or agency's suffering from budget cuts.I think we are in for a couple of rough years, Those of us who are already prepared will fare well .My children (all grown up and on their own) do not believe in coupons or stockpiling or thrift stores it has to be The Mall or Take Out .Yes I will feed them worse come to worse and they know that so do my friends and family.
Thanks for the post.

 

[Tai]

We're reassessing everything right now. We are being extra careful to not be wasteful, grabbing the bargains as they come our way (bought several cases of tomatoes and canned veggies) and trying new things.

Just last week I ordered some seeds from Ebay for our indoor garden- swiss chard and herbs. We paid for the seeds from sales of little stuff around the house we no longer had use for! Yay, free food!

I'm also in the process of learning to sprout stuff. Right now I'm sprouting lentils- which, if it is a success, will be an EXTREMELY cheap way to get fresh veggies into our diets this winter- $1 for a lb of lentils, a mere 1/2 cup dried is currently growing its way out of a large pasta jar...

DH also picked up a pizza stone for me- so I'll start doing the 5minute artesan bread. Combine that with the free tortilla press I got from a friend, and we won't be paying for bread products anymore!

We are looking at all sorts of ways to cut costs outside of the kitchen- our gas costs have plummeted since I started combining trips and staying home a LOT more. We didn't turn on the AC all summer long, and we haven't turned the heat on yet (and its dipped below 40 a couple of times). We just bundle up and snuggle for warmth.

The kids have been in cloth diapers for a few months now, and I'm finally used to them. We still have a few disposables kicking around, for day trips and the like.

 

[ladybug96]

I continue to reasses the situation monthly when I do the budget. We have changed things a bit because we are expecting our first baby in March but since we are debt free except the mortgage, we have a little more wiggle room. I continue to invest in our 401Ks but we also save a significant amout each month (to take advantage of the higher interest rates if hyperinflation occurs and in case of emergencies) and I also pay more to the mortgage just to get it paid down faster. I still stockpile like mad and before garage sale season was over, I picked up several gently used baby items like clothes and toys. We are both pretty frugal people so each large purchase or activity is thought out and put into the budget - that's the biggest comfort factor by far - just knowing where you are and where the money is going so you can react at a moments notice.

 

[frugal-fannie]

doing not a thing. i live alone,stockpiling for me i think would be a waste. i won't use things that are past the expiration date and i think much food would be dumped. i don't worry too much about things that are out of my control. i just live simply and conscientiously. i don't watch the news. perhaps i'm just burying my head in the sand. time will tell.

If I were you I would only stock up on the stuff you use very frequently and maybe just keep a few extra of each item and see how it goes. So that it doesn't get old.

 

[NikoSan999]

I just found this older thread. It was bumped up once and am bumping up again as I find it fascinating. I'm seeing the "fear" factor has lessened or maybe should say not as intense as when started a year ago.

I'm wondering what has changed in preparing with some of the earlier posters if they are still here along with the posters now. Or is no one still preparing like a year ago.

I agree with another fairly recent poster that it is going to be a double dipper hitting in 2010 about fall. Alot of writers are predicting this also but not totally what I base my theory on. No, they do not KNOW however these have predicted various things in the past that have come true.

In lieu of the fact that our savings are no more what we are doing now is:

trying to save the business

paying down everything we can and hopefully some smaller things off before it hits

cutting back on everything we can without cutting out life itself

stockpiling groceries, HBA, anything we think we may need when the crap hits the fan worse for us.

Not worrying about the mortgage because it's not salvageable so concentrating on other things that can be salvaged. Yes, still current but unemployment is not going to last forever

 

[frugal-fannie]

I think a lot of people are on pay down mode like me,but thanks for bumping up the thread. I have built up the stockpile and medical supplies. I have had some rental emergencies, so unable to purchase a gun but will as soon as financially able, I will along with ammo. They are limiting ammo purchases here in CA not sure if elsewhere. I have continued to buy gold but may have to sell some scrap gold to cover expenses. With the executive branch overextending its powers it is scary. The unemployment numbers are a joke, they are saying it is at a lower level, at Christmas a lot of people are working in retail, what happens after that(double dip) I am continuing to pay down and have been using some of my older stockpile. Just glad I have a job.

 

[KeithBC]

As far as the economic situation goes, DW and I are convinced that not only is the recession not over, it is not ever going to be over. The economic party is over and recession will be the new normal.

So we are not preparing to "ride out" a short emergency. We don't have a stockpile, because what would we do when it runs out? Instead, we are trying to adopt a lifestyle that will survive recession.

Staying out of debt is an important part of this. We pay off our credit cards every month. While we don't deny ourselves the odd luxury, we don't buy things frivolously.

The OP on this thread mentioned earthquake survival. That is a major concern here - we live in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The last "big one" here (in 1700) was about a 9, just like the Indian Ocean earthquake / tsunami in 2004. The next one is due any time now. Living on a small island, when the "big one" hits, it will be at least weeks before help arrives. Maybe months, depending on how badly other communities are hit.

So individual survival for us is not as important as community survival. All our neighbours are going to be depending on each other. We are going to have to provide our own emergency services, food and shelter. There are community efforts under way to make the island self-sufficient in food, for example. And this community is full of people who built their own houses starting from nothing but forest.

I think it is a mistake to prepare for the future in a way that assumes that we will retain something like our present lifestyle. Yet, this so often seems to be the assumption when I read about other people's visions for the future. I think that survival in the future will mean doing whatever it takes, including major changes in lifestyle. A lifestyle that would be familiar to a farmer in the 1920s would probably be sustainable indefinitely.

DW and I are not there yet, but we are working on it.

 

[Pemberleyan]

Keith, I think you're right. I think we have become accustomed to a lifestyle that will be a thing of the past.

As far as stockpiling, I'd like to be able to stockpile prescription meds, but of course that's not possible.

 

[Imarachne]

I don't have any answers but I will keep abreast of what everyone else is doing to conserve and adopt the ones that I can. Since I'm one of the seniors they (the congress) want to reduce benefits for--I'll be even more diligent in finding ways to save.

 

[sue s]

I'd like to recommend a website I stumbled into. It's called www.bettertimesinfo.org. Has a lot if frugal tips and great recipes for cooking from scratch.

 

[Luckybustert]

As far as the economic situation goes, DW and I are convinced that not only is the recession not over, it is not ever going to be over. The economic party is over and recession will be the new normal.

So we are not preparing to "ride out" a short emergency. We don't have a stockpile, because what would we do when it runs out? Instead, we are trying to adopt a lifestyle that will survive recession.

Staying out of debt is an important part of this. We pay off our credit cards every month. While we don't deny ourselves the odd luxury, we don't buy things frivolously.

I tend to agree that the era of conspicious consumption is over. That said, it's very important to me that I appreciate and enjoy the things I do have, to be more mindful in buying things, and at the same time I want to make sure I don't get into a rut where I'm always focusing on lack and/or denying myself pleasure.

 

[ironmaiden]

May I suggest the following podcast:

By survival he covers everything from layoffs to sustainable living to gardening to debt to guns.
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/

 

[udwe]

And it's getting more and more expensive.

 

[NikoSan999]

Is anyone doing anything MORE than what they did a year or two ago to make themselves/family more self sufficient. To protect themselves even more against the economy and world situation getting worse?

Not JUST paying debt, meaning going to greater lengths to garden, can, stockpile, guns, ammunition, physically hold onto money for even harder times. Such as another poster back talked about strong camping gear, special blankets, candles. True survior type things.

Or do you think all that is behind us ...or just beginning?