My t.v. hasn't been on in three days so I don't sit around watching anything even the news. If we decide to watch t.v. we do, but it's a show we all want to watch and it will take up maybe an hour or two some weekend night. I do spend time on the internet. I feel you can get the cliff notes of any worthwhile happenings and if it does interest you research it further. So to my point. I don't understand economics very well. I do just fine with my household finances but the government spending, wall street, all that is just over my head. I do know we as a country are in and have been in a financial crisis. I do know as a consumer prices for EVERYTHING have gone through the roof while my husbands pay is still the same. I do know that my cellphone bill went up $15/month and when I call the provider they told me to contact my state representative. This really ticked me off. I didn't sign a contract with my state representative for X amount of dollars only to be raised three months in. TAXES went up. For what I don't know. What I do know is I am in a contract for another 18 months and I will downgrade all services to a reasonable monthly amount and when the contract is done to hell with my cell phone and the damn taxes! Okay done ranting! I came across an article yesterday about total grid failure. I know this isn't new but sometimes it takes reading something again to get me thinking about my preparedness. The hubs has reassured me that we are better off than a lot of people. I see that, but there is soo much more we can do. So I dusted off the book that I had won from a blog contest. Just In Case How to be Self Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens by Kathy Harrison and I'm starting it today. Chapter One~ Organize.
This one will take awhile :/
Oh yeah! My MIL informed me that THIS was on the news this morning. HMMMMM
I think it is going to be real hard to be self sufficient unless expectations are really low. The early settlers made it through similar situations but they were somewhat like-minded which is something we don't have. Our country now celebrates diversity instead of unity so it will be hard to find anyone to band together with to not just survive but to prosper.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Most people don't want to even think about a different way of life, much less live it. I do have two neighbors that are similar minded and would be good to have in a bad situation, I think LOL
DeleteIt's good to get started on self sufficiency. I've been at it for a long time. I never wasted a penny on my equipment, supplies, etc because I can use them all if things are fine, and I have them if the unexpected happens. You might enjoy J.W. Rawles "Survival Blog." People write in on different topics and share their experiences. I share your anger on increasing taxes, but there is little to nothing you can do about it. I've tried , with my ATT cell phone bill. They just give you the run around until you give up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Harry for the comment and I will check out that blog. We are striving for self sufficiency, we've come along way in the last three years. There is just so much more we can do, my brain gets on overload. One thing I've learned in doing this is it all takes time, hard work, perserverance and patience and I wasn't born with patience LOL!
DeleteKelly,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Harry on the blog by JW Rawles, "Survival Blog". JW has a book out called Patriots, excellent book. Another couple of blogs worth following are Patrice Lewis at Rural Revolution, and Enola Gay at Paratus Familia.
The best thing one could possible do to be more self reliant is to make sure you have no debt. Have plenty of food (garden, canning, meats, hunting), water, security, first aide, and a place to stay. It sounds like to me you have a real good start on being self reliant.
Think in terms of low technology, and what your great grandparents did to provide for their family. Your husband is correct, you are way ahead of the curve on preparedness. Keep it up!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree Kelly, it gets harder every month to pay for the things that are really not needed. I have 7 lines on my phone bill and I told everyone that as the contracts come due I will be shutting them off one at a time.
ReplyDeleteI tried to cancel the TV but they hooked me for another 2 years by giving me one heck of a deal.
Other than that, that's really the only luxuries we have.
Hi Kelly, As you know through reading my blog here at Rocky Oak Self Reliance is our number one priority...We are now off-grid to boot!..Cell phones, well, that's one of my personal rants and we are looking at shutting ours off...I would really miss the conveinence but certainly not the bill...we have no debt at all other than our land...we are working to convert everything to propane since we have a 1000 gallon tank that would go quite some time on running our hot water heater(just switched from elec. to propane)...we cook on propane, heat with wood/propane and are looking for a propane run fridge...I wont get into the food storage thing online, but suffice to say, we are good...Community is a great thing and I think will be needed(think Amish) I think they have so much to teach us if we would watch, read, listen and learn from them(minus the religion)...I am certainly no pro at this self-reliance thing, but we are in a good place and it has taken years(13.5 to be exact) I would certainly be willing to answer any questions you may have or help you in anyway possible..if you still have my number feel free to give me a ring...I am never to busy for a friend...
ReplyDeleteKelly, how did you see that show SOL is talking about? I can't find it on Amazon, and the web page she gave me won't work in the U.S. Did you find it on line?
ReplyDelete