This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper. Check out Daisy’s newest book The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food On a Half-Price Budget.
Let’s talk about poverty.
I don’t mean the kind you’re talking about when your friends invite you to go shopping or for a night out and you say, “No, I can’t. I’m poor right now.”
I don’t mean the situation when you’d like to get a nicer car but decide you should just stick to the one you have because you don’t have a few thousand for a down payment.
I don’t mean the scene at the grocery store when you decide to get ground beef instead of steak.
I’m talking about when you have already done the weird mismatched meals from your pantry that are made up of cooked rice, stale crackers, and a can of peaches, and you’ve moved on to wondering what on earth you’re going to feed your kids.
Or when you get an eviction notice for non-payment of rent, a shut-off notice for your utilities, and a repo notice for your car and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about any of those notices because there IS NO MONEY.
If you’ve never been this level of broke, I’m very glad.
I have been this broke. I know that it is soul-destroying when no matter how hard you work, how many part time jobs you squeeze in, and how much you cut, you simply don’t make enough money to survive in the world today. Being part of the working poor is incredibly frustrating and discouraging
It is a sickening feeling when you’re just barely hanging in there and suddenly, an unexpected expense crops up and decimates your tight budget. Maybe your child gets sick and needs a trip to the doctor and some medicine. Perhaps a family member is involved in an accident and can’t work for a few weeks. It could be that your car breaks down and you need it to get back and forth to work because you live too far out in the country for public transit.
As our economy continues to crumble, these are the situations going on in more homes across the country every single day. It’s simple to believe that the people suffering like this are just lazy, or not trying, or are spending frivolously. No one wants to think that these things can occur through no fault of the individual. Why? Because that means these things could also happen to them.
Every time I write about crushing poverty, someone adds the comments section a smug declaration about how people need to get an education, hang on to a job, buy cheaper food…there’s a litany of condescending advice. I’m sure this article will be no exception, and please, if you’re in the situation I’m describing, let the criticism roll off of you.
The advice I have may not be popular, but let’s talk about prioritizing your payments when you can’t pay your bills. I am not promoting irresponsibility here. It’s just math. When you have less money coming in than you have obligated to go out, you will not be able to pay all of your bills. It’s that simple.
First, do a quick audit of your financial situation so you can see where you’re at.
This list of priorities assumes that you have some money coming in, but not enough to meet your obligations. When things improve, you can try to catch up, but for now, you simply have to choose survival. I suggest the following order of payments.
1.) Pay for shelter first
Your number one priority is keeping a roof over your head. That roof may not be the roof of the house you are in now, though, if your circumstances have changed and you can no longer afford it. If you can still manage to pay your rent/mortgage, do so in order to keep your family housed.
If you rent, and your rent is a reasonable price, make this the first payment you make from your limited funds. You really, truly don’t want to be homeless an moving is expensive. Try your best to stay put.
If you own, consider your property taxes and insurance as part of your mortgage, because if you stop paying any of these, your home will be foreclosed on.
If you can’t pay your mortgage, property taxes, and insurance, you have a while before the home gets foreclosed on and you are forced to move out. If this is the case, it’s absolutely essential that you put aside money for the place where you’ll move should you have to leave your home. You’re going to need first, last, and deposits in many cases, particularly since your credit isn’t going to be stellar due to your financial situation. When you are in this situation, it can be difficult to force yourself to save money when so many things are being left unpaid, but if you ever hope to bail yourself out of this situation, you absolutely have to do this.
The laws vary from state to state, (find the specifics for your state here) but basically, this is the timeline:
- When you make the decision to let your house go back to the lender, you will have a month or two before they send you a notice of default.
- From that point, you usually have 3 months before the foreclosure proceedings begin. During those 3 months, you should be saving the money you would normally be putting toward your mortgage.
- At some point, you’ll get a notice to vacate the premises.
- When this happens, you have two options. You can choose to move to a different home, or you can file for bankruptcy, if you feel your situation is such that there is absolutely no way out.
- If you file for bankruptcy, the home can’t be re-sold by the lender for 3 more months, giving you more time to put aside money for your move.
Should we all pay the bills that we have promised to pay? Of course we should. Our word is very important. Remember, though, that the information here is for people who are in a position in which they DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY.
So, the bottom line is this: either pay your housing costs or put aside money for future housing as your first expenditure.
2.) Buy food
You have to eat, and so do your children. If you don’t eat, you’ll get sick, and then your situation will be even more dire.
- Stick to simple, wholesome basics and cook from scratch. Beans and rice have fed many a family.
- Tap into your inner southerner and make inexpensive, filling meals like biscuits and gravy.
- Make soup to stretch just a few ingredients to feed a family.
- Save ALL of your leftovers, even the ones on people’s plates. Add them to a container in the freezer and make a soup from that at the end of the week.
- Clean up after the potluck at church. Sometimes you can take home the leftovers.
- Don’t skip meals to stretch your food further. You need your health and your strength to overcome this situation.
- Go to the library and check out a book on local edibles. Go foraging in the park or in nearby wooded areas.
- See if your grocery store sells out-of-date produce for use for animals. There’s often a fair bit you can salvage and add to soups or casseroles. (This is the only way we were able to have vegetables and meat during one particularly painful stretch when my oldest daughter was young.)
In a worst-case scenario, food banks are an option as well.
3.) Pay for essential utilities
You should be cutting your utility usage to the bare minimum and using every trick in the book to keep your bills as low as possible.
If your utilities get shut off, it’s going to be difficult to cook from scratch and you won’t be able to keep leftovers from spoiling. You need the water running from your taps to drink, cook with, and clean. Depending on the climate and the season, heat may be vital as well.
If you can’t ay the entire bill, call the utility companies and try to make payment arrangements. If your utilities are shut off, then you will have a hefty reconnection fee on top of the bill.
Another point to remember is that our culture believes it’s absolutely necessary that all homes be plugged in to the utility system. If you have a work-around, like wood heat and hand pumped well water, and decide that your utilities are not essential, you need to be prepared to face those whose opinions differ. Somecities have condemned homes which are not connected to the grid, and if you have children who are of school age, sometimes a “concerned” teacher or neighbor has been known to report your situation to the child welfare authorities. (Recently an off-grid homeschooling family had their children removed from the home by police.)
4.) Pay for car/work necessities
What must you have in order to keep working? For me, it’s the internet, since I work online. All of my clients contact me via email and the work I do requires that I be able to send it to them and research things online. I live in the country, so driving to the library on a daily basis would cost more than my monthly internet fees. For another person, this necessity might be the cost of public transit or keeping their vehicle on the road so that they can get to work. Choose the least expensive options to keep yourself working, but maintain your job-related necessities.
5.) Pay for anything else
After you’ve paid all of the above, if you have money left over, now is the time to pay your other expenses. These expenses include debt that you’ve incurred, contracts you are involved in (like cell phone plans, etc.) Choose very carefully how you dole out any remaining money.
- Keep one phone going, with the lowest possible payment. This is necessary for work, for your children or their school to contact you in the event of an emergency, and as a contact point for your financial situation. Compare the cost of a cell phone, landline, or VOIP phone. Every family member does not require a phone – you just need one. (I actually did go for a couple of years with no phone at all, but I’m uniquely antisocial and had email by which I could be reached.)
- If it’s at all possible, try to use the snowball method made famous by Dave Ramsey to pay off your debts and bail yourself out of your situation. Being free from debt will allow you to live a much freer life in the future.
- If paying off debt is not possible, try to make the minimum payments.
- If the minimum payments are not possible, you may have to default, at least temporarily, on debts.
- Buy some pantry staples. If you can add some extra rice or cans of tomatoes to the pantry, it will help see you through this tight situation.
- Be relentless in deciding what will be paid and what will not. This is not the time for arguments like, “But it’s our only form of entertainment” or “We deserve this one luxury.” Cut all non-essentials until things improve.
- Focus on the most frugal options possible.
Things will get better
I’ve been down this road. I really get it. It saddens me to see people I love in this situation now.
These books can help. I found them to be lifechanging when I was broke, and the lessons have stuck with me throughout my adult life. You may be able to find them at your local library.
Finally, if you are in a situation in which you can’t pay your bills, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry about…
- The embarrassment you feel when you can’t afford to meet someone for coffee
- The sick feeling of seeing the bills pile up on the counter and not being able to do anything about it
- The knot in your stomach every time the phone rings and it’s a 1-800 number that you KNOW is a bill collector
- The stress of knowing you can’t remain in your home
- The fear that someone will say you aren’t taking care of your kids and they’ll be taken away
- The humiliation when people don’t understand and think it’s all your fault
- The hopelessness of watching the bank account empty out the day your pay goes in, and still having a dozen things unpaid
- The overwhelming discouragement of having fees assessed on top of debts you already can’t pay
- The anxiety over what tomorrow will bring
It will get better. You’ll find a way to make it work. You just have to survive while you make it happen. Maybe you will pool your resources with another family, or get a raise, or find a cheaper place. But you will find a way.
Life may not be exactly as it was before, but it will be good again.
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]
Also From Daisy Luther:
How to Prepare for a Cyber Attack: ‘These Systems Could Be Completely Inoperable or Breached’
San Andreas for Preppers: 12 Essential Survival Lessons from the Movie
12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed
Lock and Load: Are You Prepared for Civil Unrest?
You’ve Been Warned: Why You Need to Be Ready for Total Grid Failure
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/08/19/the-reason-why-the-elite-are-hiding-deep-beneath-the-earth/
Try this for a start. Believe, its not the bills thats bothering me.
HCKS,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-14/why-hbo-netflix-and-amazon-want-your-kids
Cut the Cabal Cable Cord for starters. Its brain washing children to be slaves and weak. READ THIS ARTICLE.
You explain to your children that you love them so much you dont want them to be slaves or their minds controlled. Its propaganda, advertising and mind control to be stoopid slaves. You replace TV with a bike ride. You replace the Internet withbbacknyard activities like BBQ and horseshoes. Archery is a good one for the back yard. Make every day fun instead of a fat slob in front of the TV getting your paid daily helping of BS. I dont have any kids but if I did. They would grow up to be leaders not followers, damn sure of that.
~WWTI
Well said WWTI … then there are those kids / young adults who are addicted to on-line gaming who play for hours on end.
Not healthy!
Many of us have gone through difficult times. Our outlook and how we face the situation can make a world of difference for our family.
Thankfulness in Tribulation
from the story…
“I would like to say that after one experience of this revelation I am able to always be thankful. The truth is that being thankful is a daily decision—not just on special days surrounded by food and family—but every day through the highs and the lows.
As new challenges come my way, I have to again learn to look for everything good. In fact, the above story is one that has replayed in various forms several times.”
http://www.offthegridnews.com/misc/thankfulness-in-tribulation/
WWTI, spot on. I got rid of TV service 3 years ago and don’t regret it. I’m an internet freak. That’s the only place to get good information anyway.
Brave, I regret not getting to meet.
May all here be well…
I don’t even miss TV at all, though we still have it for my wife and to a lesser extent the kids. Losing the internet for me would mean the SHTF and the world has moved on. While I’m prepping for it, I hope it doesn’t come to that level of collapse.
As an aside, we’ve been as broke as Daisy describes here and learned to never allow that again. I once asked my wife if we loaded the kids and everything else of value into the pathfinder and rode out in the middle of the night for Mexico would she come with me. She said she would walk away from it all and go anywhere to start over as long as I went with her.
Cool to know that she’s with me no matter what. Fortunately we only had to declare bankruptcy. Student loans are still available even after bankruptcy and so I went to college, earned a few degrees, started a new career . . . and here we are.
You have a GREAT woman!Cherish her always…
Four years no cable here, saved about $3750 to spend on other stuff. Don’t miss it a bit. 150 channels, I watched about six of them, news, food, DYI, TCM, History, that kind of stuff. Nothing else was watchable, at least not by me.
Now my entertainment is watching a DVD film on some evenings, you can get them for a dollar and up at local pawn shops.
Good ideas.
Note to Mark:
WE NEED A THUMBS UP ON THIS SITE!!!
I’d give 10 for this comment.
Get out of the Cities and all their fees red light cameras high rent BS. Take any equity you habe and buy country land, Less than $1000 an acre up to $10K an acre. Country living is great. My property taxes are $110 a year per acre. Zero home ins costs, self insured. F-THEM. My city property taxes and Ins was like $4500 a year. Never filed an Ins claim ever.
Its a rip off. Own your property and your house in yhe country. Drop all that BS and be self insured. Just dont be stupid and set your house on fire.
All I can say is every decison you make every day, is it to accomplish your goals or grid BS?
So now we know that you must not have a job, unless it’s mucking out stalls for a farmer at $7.00 an hour. Or are you on welfare?
What does an urban or even suburban person do when the only jobs are in the city?
Coach, you know that wudda is a liar and a ass.
He probably has BS’ed us all.
Can’t even keep a woman.
Anon, sometimes I have some disagreements with WWTI myself, but this is one time I’m standing up for him. He made his decisions for his own reasons, and I’m sure his biggest reason is SURVIVAL. What he says about urban living is NOT BS. I was born and raised in an urban area so I speak from personal experience. It was only through personal luck in April 2013 that I made an arrangement with a relative in the mountains of north GA to move into her BOL when the time comes. I have other family that live close by to her and have their own homesteads. Some of the things I know about prepping came from them and I’ll learn all about homesteading when I finally bugout, which may be during the Sept./Oct. time frame, depending on events. I just came back from the BOL Monday after making another supply run over there. Once I bugout, I’ll only have left to carry what I can load into the truck. WWTI had the best reasons in the world for getting out of a city and I’ll have the same reasons to leave. He is a wealth of knowledge and gives some good survival tips. He may be a bit rough at times but I do respect him telling it like it is. If I want BS, I’ll go back to MSM sites. In your case, the apple falls directly under the tree.
Brave, anyone who hunts, knows the only time bucks have an interest in does is during sex season. Bucks usually do not hang with does and fawns this time of year. But maybe Fla. deer are different, and there are exceptions. Wwti sees a whole family together.
The yaun has been pegged to our dollar for years at 8.30 to 1 usd. When the dollar rises, so goes the yuan.
There are two examples of lying.
How does one know if he is telling the truth???
Good to see your voice, eppe.
We know the “real” wwti. He is a warped individual.
We all have our faults and I am no saint, but I will never take sides with a person that mocks God and calls Jesus and His disciples, homosexuals.
He/wwti, like whom he follows, is nothing but a lie and a deception.
That’s a pretty low cheap shot you just took.
As you mentioned, most jobs are in the city.
What do people like us country living folk do?
After the work day is done, we race back home quickly as possible.
That is what we do, then we tend to the things that need to be done at the homestead.
I live in the semi=country and work 6 months a year in a large city and go back and forth on days off. It works out good and make good money. I travel 180 miles one way because it pays more than local jobs and has full benefits. I can and do live in the country and make good money just not locally. Side work on off months does good too. I guess I am lucky and spoiled to a degree but it took a lot of living very poor and constantly looking for better work to get here. If you don’t like unions you are an idiot and you can smoke my helmet. Union work is how you get a living wage from big corporations.
Glad as hell I don’t have kids and never wanted them. Otherwise I might be in a poverty world of shit. Been poor, don’t want to be poor again. No way I will ever be homeless, I am way to smart to let that happen and way to setup. I didn’t waste my money when times were good, I bought land and built and stocked while the dummfukks bought mansions and new cars etc. They are bankrupt and I am great. Now get out there and have some more kids (a great investment lol). 🙂
Unions are a cancer and have become the very thing they sought to eradicate. Smoke my helmet Genius.
Amen! Unions may had had a place, once upon a time, but they have destroyed the manufacturing in this nation….
Sorry weedhopper, I choke on small bones.
And 55, perhaps we could have more manufacturing here if you want say 1.00 per hour which is more than most chinese make. If you want to be a manufacturing powerhouse youd better be willing to outbid the chinese. Better think about your statement a little more. In the world we live in today, making goods will always be in the cheapest, dirt poor shithole countries. A fact of life you don’t want to think about? I don’t work in manufacturing anyway. Maybe you could open a sweatshop!
What do we do? you make your own job. Why are you dependent on someone else to provide the workplace and employ you? Ive cut timber & firewood, Bailed hay, built barns. And $7 is ok if it cash and you dont have to pay the taxes on it. Ive made more money swapping & trading than I ever did working for another person. All it takes is Know How
I’ve only commented a few times here but I felt compelled to add my own money gathering endeavors. Two years ago I was injured in an explosion at work. Killed two people,injured one. I was the one. It left me unable to do what I had done for 33 years,drive a truck. While I was I the hospital we found out that my wife had cancer. While I was recuperating from my injuries,she was having surgery to remove the cancerous part in her. Then while she was recuperating from surgery,she had a heart attack in the hospital. We had no income beside the pittance workmans comp pays,and the whole while trying to manipulate your doctors into releasing you back to work. In my case it simply wasn’t possible because I could no longer pass the DOT physical. The doctors finally released me and the company I was working for at the time of the explosion,fired me. This brings me to the reason I’m leaving this comment. I now make a decent living that allows for the limitations that my injuries place on me. I buy broken lawn mowers ,weedeaters,chainsaws and various equipment and tools. I repair them and resell them. I’m not getting rich but it keeps food on the table and allows me to stay home and take care of my wife. It has taken extreme personal adjustments in that we have to be very careful with every dime we spend,but living without a paycheck is doable if you posses skills that can help you make,build or repAir.
The job part is a big obstacle to relocating in the country. I intentionally picked a job in healthcare that I knew I could commute 30 minutes to an hour into a small rural town almost anywhere in the country. However not everyone can do this.
Here’s some of the jobs/vocations that my rural neighbors do/have that enable them to live out here:
1) Work online/remote. Many computer programming jobs and phone operator/sales/collection jobs can be done from home.
2) Jobs that require travel anyway such as sales or trucking.
3) Professional jobs such as Lawyer, Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacist, Nurse, and Veterinarian that can be done in a town as small as 4000 and then drive 30 minutes outside of that (that’s what I’m doing from a small town in rural Idaho to begin with and we’re pretty isolated).
4) If you’re retired/ close to retired and can own your home outright.
It’s harder to find jobs out in the country, but the internet in particular is making it easier than ever if you get creative.
Anonymous will feed them lead if they try to collect anything of mine.
Even when making six figures I still live paycheck to paycheck. The more you make, the more they take.
I suppose 5 kids has something to do with that too. Being a grandparent at 37, I started getting kicked in the teeth at a very young age.
I’m not even Mormon! But I do recognize them as the first “prepper” influence in my life. It was not long ago I thought they were crazy and paranoid. Now I just recognize them as an organization that serves itself, using dogma and social controls, just like the beast.
There is only one thing you get to take with you when you die, and it sure as hell is not physical.
I think it speaks volumes when there is a highway to Hell, but only a Stairway To Heaven. It really shows the expected volumes, no?
You’re clearly not in LA. There’s no way in hell I could do 5 kids on 6 figures. Not even close.
2 is a stretch on 6 figures here, and by stretch I mean like Medieval torture-rack kind of stretch, financially speaking.
You should move to NJ there was a crack hoe reported on the news that had 21 kids there.
Steve, that must have been where some of the $5200 I paid in taxes last year went to. No surprise there.
Most of my friends raised 5 or more on 30 K a yr. no welfare, either. But they do have gardens, chickens, goats,etc, and have sought out skills like sewing, welding, woodworking, baking , etc.we were the weirdos with only 3. Not my choice but the others didn’t stick around. It all worked out…
Ever heard of a vasectomy? Cheaper than 1 child support payment lol.
Bah, made the wife tie the tubes. I like blowing my full load.
Or you could avoid child support like I do: I had all of my (ahem more than 5 kids) with the same woman and we’re still happily married. Sounds weird I know, but it’s working for us.
Making repetitive poor decisions isn’t getting kicked in the teeth, it’s referred to as shooting yourself in the foot or cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Either way being a grandparent at 37 says a lot about your decision making as well as your ability to raise children, since mathematicaly it would seem the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Yeah, making six figures shows a lot of my poor decisions. People like you will be the first ones to be culled.
We were married when my wife was 18, 1st child at 19. If our oldest does the same my wife would be 38 and I would be 42.
Nothing wrong with that. I watched my parents (still married) build an extra wing on their house years ago so my grandparents could move in. They made extra wide doors to accommodate wheelchairs if needed, handrails in bathrooms, extra kitchen, etc. A really nice set-up for their parents (all still in 1st marriage until death).
See my family is my “retirement” plan if all else fails. This is pretty normal throughout history and though my parents have done well financially their many kids are prepared to help them physically if need be. I expect the same from our many kids one day.
Family matters and when the SHTF ours always circles the wagons.
I also make six figures and like townsaver and others place a premium on family. We don’t mind a bit that at kids functions we tend to be about a decade to 15 years younger than most of the rest of the parents.
Ah, good old Disinfo Dave aka Dave Hodges. HCKS, please do not let this clown influence you. Dave has been proven to be a disinformation agent many times over. He is very persuasive and he mixes in the perfect amount of truth & fiction to give his writings a semblance of credibility. DO NOT believe his bs.
I usually believe that the people who cry “disinfo” are really just describing themselves.
Is that you Dave?
If you think that Hodges would come on here just for your sorry butt-your wrong and stupid!
Things may be survivable. But if a emp hits..if you need medicine to live, a lot of people are going to DIE. Or even a nuke.. Thats what they count on. The elite have designated themselves as God. But they are not.
The Bible says they ( and others who have been polluting and destroying the earth ) will have no place to hide. It is written. I take great comfort in that.
Also, those who choose to believe there isn’t a true God…ONE God…
Many religions teach false doctrines. Find one that doesnt lie. If they lie, they are not the true religion. Satan is the ” father of the lie.” Remember that.
It isnt the end of the world..but a cleansing of it. No man can defeat God who made the earth. If you don’t believe this, you need to rethink it. With God, all things are possible.
Unless there is REPENTANCE TO GOD…there will be no getting better…we are a nation…a world of pagans and God will not tolerate it much longer..the warnings have been coming and no one is listening…time to get right with God and Jesus…if not you have no one to blame except yourself.
What a heartless comment. What god does tolerate very well though it seems is allowing a small percentage of psychopaths in positions of power to screw over the majority of people. Slavery was popular in the old testament. Which makes sense why new forms of it are now visible all over.
I guess we could make a list of all the things god has tolerated since man first walked the earth. I often wonder where justice is for those who have been wronged and harmed. For many it never comes.
All the praying in the world won’t make money drop out of the sky. People have gone through periods of starvation all over the world. This has nothing to do with god. Just a reality that some face living on this earth.
RJ, you are too blind about God and Creation to be advising anyone on anything.
When a person opens their heart to Jesus and believes, it is the beginning of a new life.
Sometimes, people have to become desperate in order to make those choices, but once they do, with sincerity, the doors of opportunity and blessings start opening up for them.
No, in these days, I seriously doubt they will go outside and see manna raining down from Heaven, but it is possible because it has happened before.
The point is, God takes care of His children when they talk with him. After the prayers, then they need to focus on acquiring the things that Daisy lays out above, or if they have them, focus on improving on them, item by item.
Things will get better “IF”, they do those things in the right order.
—————- SLAVERY ————-
Many believers will argue that God had to talk this way in the Old Testament in order to “fit in” with the dominant culture. This, of course, is silly. In Christian mythology, God is the one who created humans and human culture. In addition, a God that condones the beating of slaves and the enslavement of children at any time is an abomination.
A believer might say, “Well, all of those verses are from the Old Testament and no longer apply because of Jesus.” This line of rationalization prompts several obvious questions. Why would the Old Testament still be printed in the Bible if Jesus overturned it? Why would God EVER tell us to beat slaves?
The most important thing that this line of rationalization misses is that Jesus specifically states that the laws of the Old Testament still stand. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus says:
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
Then he goes on to say:
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
According to Jesus, the Old Testament is alive and well. According to Isaiah 40:8, “the word of our God stands forever.” The notion that these old testament verses no longer apply is completely untrue according to the Bible. Christians imagine that they “no longer apply” as a way of rationalizing their religion.
Other believers rationalize that God did not write these slavery passages in the Bible. The Bible was somehow corrupted by slave-loving men. In that case, the obvious question to ask yourself is this: If the Bible has been corrupted, how can we possibly know which parts of the Bible came from God and which parts were inserted by primitive men? You have absolutely no way to know.
It is when you start thinking about the Bible in this way that you understand something very important about the Bible. Either the entire Bible really is God’s Word, or the entire Bible was written by primitive men with absolutely no input from God. Here is the reason for this very strong dividing line:
If part of the Bible came from God and part came from primitive men, you do not know which is which. You dod not know if Jesus really is resurrected, or if that’s just a make-believe story inserted by primitive men. How do you know if God wrote the Ten Commandments or not? If any part of the Bible has been polluted by primitive men, you have to reject the whole thing. There is no way to know who wrote what, so the entire book is invalid.
There really is no middle ground and the Bible has to be an all-or-nothing book. Either the entire Bible came from God, or none of it did.
With this all-or-nothing reality about the Bible now understood, you can see that there are only two possible explanations for the slavery passages in the Bible:
The Bible is right, and God loves slavery. The entire Bible is God’s word, so these slavery passages must be God’s word too. The laws in the United States and other modern nations that make slavery illegal defy God’s word. Justice Scalia should be promoting slavery in exactly the same way that he promotes the Ten Commandments.
The Bible condones slavery because the Bible was written by slave-owning men, not by God. God is imaginary.
Chances are that you have a problem with the first explanation. God would not champion the abomination that is slavery. We all know that.
Therefore, what you are left with is the second explanation.
The Bible is a hoax and all made up BS. Go Study Reality. World history and slavery. On that topic. Religion is for those who have no concept of science, history, geology, physics, astronomy, or social science of reality. Religion is for the LAZY duped sheep. Dont be a sheep!. Be a Sheep Dog!!
~WWTI
You better be right, buddy. If not you will be burning in hell for eternity. Good luck.
WWT now you behave. You cant go around applying logic that don’t support folks preferred religious superstition. Quit being mean to the brain washed sheeple who believe some one elses star shine,s brighter than their own. The invisible guy in the sky is a much needed crutch for them.
God hates Slavery
Exodus 21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
– Deuteronomy 23:15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master.
– Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
Nehemiah 5:5&6 We bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are in bondage already: neither can we redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards. And I was very angry.
– Jeremiah 34:17 You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to all the earth.
You actually misunderstand the entire point of the Bible and the teaching of Christianity.
The Bible exists as God’s direct (using the prophets as instruments) revelation of Himself to mankind. The Bible points to Jesus Christ from all passages (‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God’ is inextricably linking scripture and Jesus).
So the Bible reveals in teaching the Creation of the earth and everything in this universe by God. On the 6th day (or period/epoch if you choose to translate the Hebrew word in that way), God creates man in His own image (which is to say mankind was given a special likeness or similarity to God in the way he chose to make and form us -which is not to say we are gods in our own right). As the Creation story goes, there was Adam, and God decided Adam wasn’t good to be all alone, so He made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. Adam and Eve are doing their Garden of Eden thing up until the time that Adam and Eve eat of the only tree in the entire place that God said should not be eaten (Sure there are thousands~millions of different plants that produce good food which is permissible to eat, but they chose to eat from the only single tree that God said not to touch. The act of disobeying God was a rebellious act on their part. A rebellion against God and his Sovereignty in the universe. By committing this sin act, Adam and Eve introduced to this perfect world the curse of sin and death.
Now because Adam and Eve both committed sin, they became separated from God (similar to a broken relationship). The consequences of the act extended far beyond the simple performance of that one act of rebellion. Adam and Eve and every offspring and generation that came into being thereafter has built into their existence a sinful nature that is naturally and eternally at war with God (always rebelling). This aspect of human nature is from God’s perspective considered a form of bondage. For no matter how much effort a person uses to try to overcome the sin nature, the rift is much too great for any man in Adam’s line to repair.
This bondage as God views it is a slavery that we are all as humans subject to. We cannot escape it on our own. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot choose a different master or choose to be our own master. The sin nature is a horrible curse that we cannot remove or get out from on our own.
If you look throughout the Bible at God’s revelation, He is constantly calling mankind to repentance from the sin that has beset mankind all the while knowing that mankind is unable to truly and completely repent on his own. When you understand the Bible from this perspective, there are quite a few things that become obvious:
1) Mankind is so beset with the sin nature that has cursed him that he/she is in fact already a slave or subject to the sin nature (there are varying degrees, but our sin nature is always at war with God).
2) Mankind is unable to free himself from this sin nature and is therefore unable to remove himself from the bondage of his slavery to it.
3) Everything on earth that besets mankind (famine, pestilence, war, strife, relationship problems, sickness, death, evil, lying, stealing, cheating, murder, infidelity, slavery, etc) is a result of the original sin and the sin nature that was introduced into mankind by Adam and Eve.
4) God’s desire for mankind was to exist in a perfect harmonious relationship with God, mankind, and nature. Because of the Sin Nature that enslaves mankind, this is not possible as God is Holy. Not only is God Holy, He is also the creator and rightful sovereign over the entire universe. Mankind’s failure to recognize God’s rightful place causes Mankind to focus and elevate many other things to the status and importance of God. Because God is Holy and Just, this continual rebellion against God’s sovereignty and ownership of the entire universe cannot be ignored or allowed to continue forever unchecked.
5) The slavery (of any kind) that exists in this world is a direct result of mankind’s sinful nature. When sin entered into the world through mankind, the original created purpose of everything within the world was broken or corrupted by this sin. Mankind’s slavery to sin would naturally cause one man to seek to enslave his brother or sister whenever he could force slavery on them. The slavery is not of God, for God desires that we be free from all bondage (which if you haven’t realized, the most significant of all bondage for every man, woman, and child in this world is our sin nature which we are powerless as humans to overcome of our own accord). So in the same way that we see war, strife, relationship problems, and hardship everyday in this world, slavery is also a natural thing to occur to mankind in a broken, fallen, sinful world.
Conclusion:
It is not God therefore that seeks to condone or be complicit in the abomination that is slavery. For all men are slaves to their sin natures and are hopelessly unable to overcome that defect which besets every single one of them. It is mankind out of the fruits born from Sin Nature that brought the idea of physical bondage or physical slavery of one man by another man’s hand to this world. God knew from the beginning that sin nature once introduced would bear out these results (Spiritual Slavery begets Physical Slavery). God did not desire that mankind should suffer this slavery forever without hope of salvation. So as John 3:16 famously tells us ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him shall have eternal life’. You see Jesus is our salvation from slavery. And the beauty of this salvation offerred to all of mankind is that there is absolutely nothing in the way of works or activity or action that a person can do or is required to do to receive the salvation offerred. Jesus Christ came into this world fully God and fully man. He lived a life free of sin (ie perfect life) and He taught the people of his time about God and the ways of God. For Jesus contributions to humanity, He was taken up by the powers of his time, condemned, beaten, and ultimately crucified until He was physically dead. On the third day thereafter, God raised Jesus from the dead as a demonstration to the world that Jesus is the Son of God, is the true Salvation of this world, and is the only way to repairing the broken relationship between mankind and God. This is the salvation and good news offered to mankind by God. The only thing that each man, woman, and child does to receive this gift of salvation is to believe in and trust Jesus Christ as their personal and only Savior. This is the ultimate freedom from bondage, the opportunity to be renewed in relationship with God through God’s Son Jesus, and the opportunity to be freed from the bondage of Sin which is a slavery common to all mankind.
Slavery has never been God’s choice or desire for mankind. It is mankind’s rebellion against God that brought about every form of slavery that mankind experiences. All discussions on the topic of slavery found in the Bible (old and new testaments) treat slavery as a consequence that exists due to mankind’s sin nature. Even so, God lays out guidance and limitations for physical slavery so that wherever physical slavery might occur, it is less abusive and never should it be permanent for a lifetime. Ultimately physical slavery is a stark ever present reminder that all mankind lives in a fallen and broken world and that all mankind is born into slavery and bondage to the sin nature that we all inherited from Adam and Eve. In this way, physical slavery can be a excellent reminder to mankind that we are broken and sinful and that we need salvation from our bondage through Jesus Christ who is the only person who can relieve us of our sin burden while redeeming our broken relationship with the God of the universe.
Thank you. That was well put.
There is another possibility, actually several that you have overlooked. The most obvious is that God can allow evil to exist without wanting us to be that way. Without the possibility of evil then there isn’t really free will is there?
Also consider the suffering of Job and others. Consider that have to suffer great hardships can still have a purpose. Joseph was a slave in Egypt yet still rose to prominence and saved many lives with his wisdom of seven fat years and seven lean years.
Matter of fact our government has claimed we’ve had seven fat years since 2008. Better prep for seven lean years.
Amen Brother.
Glory to God and praise Him and give Him thanks!!!
God Bless you Brother
Folks, read for your self what this poster pttw has said and then decide. Read his comment # 3433467, he’s officially proclaimed himself as one of Gods ” anointed prophets”, complete with the threat of huge monetary loss or brining God’s wrath down upon you and yours if you dare to doubt HIS divine words. If something gets to the point where you feel the need to threaten to sic ” God” on people who doubt you, it seems reasonable that you’ve lost any shred of credibility or sanity to support your argument. I could claim to be Winston Churchill but that doesn’t really make it a lucid statement no matter how many times I say it.
—-Look at who speaks for God—-
In Christian mythology, God is supposed to the the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe. God is supposed to have incarnated himself as Jesus and he is supposed to have written the Bible. And yet today God is completely and absolutely silent. Therefore, the only thing we hear from God comes from people who are speaking on his behalf.
If you would like to understand how imaginary God is, all that you have to do is listen to God’s spokespeople, because in many cases these people are lunatics. If there actually were a God, and if he actually had anything to do with love, he would silence these people because they are an absolute embarrassment.
If God were real, he would speak for himself. The fact that God does not speak, and that he allows any lunatic who comes along to speak “in his name,” shows us that God is quite imaginary.
WE allow it. Don’t shift the blame.
What did you do today to free yourself/the world from those psychopaths?
– Me either.
Its not about the money…its about eternal life in Heaven with the Father, the Son and the saints…or its about a life in hell with the rest of the sinners…which way are you headed…? as for me I’m on my way to heaven and would like you to join me if its in Gods will.
I would suggest reading the Gospel of John for starters to get to know Jesus…Once you get to know him you may be tapped on your heart…As the Holy Bible says…
Gospel of John
43Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44″No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45″It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
So there you have it…unless the Father draws you to Jesus, you won’t go on your own..and the reason for this is stated from the Apostle Paul.
Ephesians 2
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Get right with God and He will guide you if you ask…I was saved in dec of 2014 and he has answered every question I’ve asked of Him…the Word says this life won’t be easy, but we will have bliss with the Father and Jesus once we are done on this earth…or you can continue to serve Satan and worship your money and worldy goods…as for me they can beat me down and throw my ass in jail and I will continue to preach Jesus and the Father until my last breath. Amen
NOW REPENT FROM YOUR WICKED WAYS AND TURN BACK TO GOD OR FACE THE JUDGEMENTS COMING.
RUSS – To me, a person must have to get right with themselves FIRST, before they can get right with GOD!
If a person is unable to live their life morally and respectfully towards others (Atheist & Christians), is God going to give them eternal life? According to the Bible, that answer is clearly NO.
Understand Jesus’ Core Message
Simply take a moment to think about the following statement:
“Hello, my name is Jesus. I love you deeply. I have loved you since you were conceived in the womb and I will love you for all eternity. I died for you on the cross because I love you so much. I long to have a loving personal relationship with you. I will answer all of your prayers through my love. But if you do not get down on your knees and worship me, and if you do not EAT MY BODY and DRINK MY BLOOD, then I WILL INCINERATE YOU WITH UNIMAGINABLY TORTUOUS PAIN IN THE FIRES OF HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY BWAH HA HA HA HA HA!”
Yes, this is the central message of Christianity. See John 6:53-54 and Mark 16:16.
Think about this message. We have a being who, according to the Standard Model of God, embodies love. Yet, if you do not get down on your knees and worship him, you will be physically tortured for all eternity. What sort of love is that?
The utter silliness and contradiction of Jesus’ core message should make it obvious to you: God is imaginary.
RJ,
You have no understanding of God, his laws, his will, or man using his own free will.
An example of man using his free will to try substituting his own will in place of God’s will is your seemingly blaming him for what man does, and does in contravention to his laws for human conduct.
Religion is a lazy mans excuse book. All babble. Try getting off your A$$ ! And make change. You want to predict the future? Create it… Or just be lazy and pray for hopey and changy.
~ WWTI. Show me one Believer that got everlasting life. Sheep get sheared…
Thats the kind of thinking that will get you a one way ticket to the lake of fire…
your hope and change…are none other then the king obama that God raised up to punish us…due to the evil wicked ways as a pagan nation the US has become. Killing unborn children and now a nation of sodomites… obama is no different then the king Nebuchadnezzar that the Lord raised up to punish the children of Israel…if you would read the Holy Bible you would see the parallels… but then again you want to sit here spewing about change that never comes because of the UNREPENTANT heathens that you are a part of.
The Holy Bible says in the last days:
2 Timothy
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
Amen and Amen…Praise the Lord Christ Jesus.
Wudda is so full of Satan he is growing horns
Russ,
I really love your words and that you witness and are shouting the truth to such a wicked world. I see all the comments here and its so sad because the world and the devil have got just about everyone fooled and deceived.
It does break my heart to see the majority of folks headed strait to hell. I was a mormon for a long time and thanks be to God he saved me in 2014 too. And I still love the mormons but they dont even see that they to are following satan.
I to will praise Jesus name forever and forever.. Amen…
I just finished reading “Unveiling Grace” by Lynn Wilder where she describes her journey out of the LDS church and coming to know the biblical Jesus. Fantastic book for anyone and especially great if you are LDS and want to know more about the differences between Mormonism and Christianity.
I too love my LDS neighbors, they are wonderful people, hardworking, and honest. The LDS Preparedness Manual is truly awesome and I think it should probably be the second book in your library, right after the Bible.
Here we go with the religious shit again!Since I believe in gods(not a single one) I according to others religions burn in hell.Any god or gods who purposefully allow innocent folks/kids to suffer gets no respect/attention from me.
That said,do not believe god(or gods in my case)the bloodthirsty assholes some make em out to be!
Again,take it to a religion forum!
WCD: I must say your “multiple gods” spiel gave me the hearty laugh I needed for the day!! It appears that YOUR multiple gods all seem to be out to lunch at the same time – slackers!!!
Perhaps for you,but they are here for me daily,all I have to do is look out the window and see nature and realise while they are there need to do what I can for me self and friends/family/pets ect.,help others,pretty simple for me anyhow,the gods just show the path,up to me to travel it or not.
Yep Valla Halla and its multiple gods sounds OK to me. Heck the best moments are when you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. For me If everything always went my way and everything always turned out Hunky Dory It just would be miserable. Its through adversity and hard choices & hard work that a persons soul grows. It all makes a circle. What you do now will come back to you in the same measure sometime in the future. If not in this life then in another its called Karma. Karma can be a real bitch.
Which “religion” are you referring to?
Whenever someone criticized “religion” I find he (or she) is actually attacking Christianity because some personal hatred of it.
I notice Islam, Hinduism, Shinto, Buddhism, Atheism, and on and on are never discussed in a hate filled manner, only Christianity.
But it makes sense, why would the Old Snake lead his witting and unwitting followers to criticize each other for following him?
AT least be honest about it, it isn’t “religion” you have a problem with it’s Christianity.
You’re right anon. All those other religions you mentioned are never discussed here. It make sense because we don’t have people who try to cram those other religions down your throat. What we do have is an over abundance of bible thumping nutjobs who never miss a chance to hijack every thread to tell everyone that Geesuz will ” get” them if they don’t believe the whackjob poster who’s giving his sermon. So you’re right, lets be honest about it.
Note I said religions/not religion in the single.Any that advocate killing in religions name/non believers in their personal religion doomed here and in some the next life can blow me as far as I am concerned,seems all religions have their share of blood thirsty assholes,hope they got it wrong but if not then their religion sucks in my outlook.
So,how about some basic prepping talk and lets save the religious discussion/debates ect. for religious sites/forums.
Religion is a social control used to keep the populace in line. I have a better chance of seeing a leprechaun riding a unicorn that shits skittles, than I do of seeing “everlasting life”. If the Christians want to believe this garbage fine, but I wish they would keep it to themselves.
Hold on….the tooth fairy is knocking at my door. She wants to know if her, God, and Santa Claus can come to my BBQ tonight.
That would be a interesting dinner to say the least!
Smooth Criminal, you have something against the Easter Bunny???? Damn … ‘yo beez racist n’sheet!
Invite the Bunny … he’s whats on the Menu for your BBQ!
Thanks to you guys for posting some type of semblance of reason on this forum. Every God Damned thread is hijacked by religious nuts who see it as a fresh chance to cram their religious views down your throat. They can never answer a direct question with a direct answer, it’s a quote from their Bible to divert attention from the question they can’t answer to begin with. They can pray and believe all they want to, but just can’t get it through their thick fucking skulls that not everybody is going to believe them, one of them has now resorted to threats that God will ” get ” them if they dare to make fun of him, it’s pttw, the leader of the preacher core.
You are a freaking liar.
You speak like a true liberal jackass.
You take words and turn them around to benefit your lies and story line.
I don’t give a shit about you or what you think. I am no preacher, you dumbass. I am a man of conviction, just trying to live like a man is supposed to. I haven’t called God down to punish anyone. The liars like yourself do a good enough job of that on their own without any influence from me.
Take your atheist views and lies and shove them. It is evil people like you that have brought this country down into the muck. So go suck your thumb on that.
I’m not the liar here passin, all people have to do is pull up your comment #3433467 and read it for themselves. All your infantile ranting can’t change the truth, you’re the one who wrote it, not me. You make childish statements, of COURSE you said God was going to ” get” me, you simply made it into a little thinly veiled threat, like a small child, ” Better not pick on me, My brother ” might” come down on you.” I’m no atheist, but I hate sanctimonious jerkoffs who feel the need to shove their views on everybody. You’re a small minded old man, and sounds like you’re entering your second childhood more by the day. Grow up old man.
Lol. I will have to invite him next time.
BTW Daisy, Good article for those hitting bottom. Take action and get every person in your household working. ZERO EXCUSES. Been there in college. I’d have $40 bucks for the week to eat and drink. Rice and Log Cabin Syrup for a meal, brings back memories. Happy hours and free buffets, cheap beer to wash it down. The best deal was Sat PM. watching College football in a full strip bar in the A/C game on the big screen, no cover and beer was $1 dollar. And some nice looking entertainment I may say. Bagins everywhere.
~WWTI
Wudda not much change in 30 years?
Well, you had your priorities right, $40 a week for food and you spend it on beer.
@ DAISY….someone posted above me that this was a good article, actually, I was just about to say excellant article, but was going to check to see if I was on the right post, as was not seeing any reference to what you had written!!
Although I am not so poor now, I was born that way, just did not know it at the time. Living in Nova Scotia as a child, everyone seemed to be in the same boat. This of course was during the depression, but somehow we all made it through and grew up to be quite self reliant…..so good lessons were learned, just as you mentioned…….it does get better! Thanx Daisy, and sure hope we can meet again for another cup of coffee! Take care all, CC.
eh russ nice reply but its to late for the white man. sept 13 2015 is the end of daniels “seventy sevens” and beginning of the “jubilee” and the end of hebrew israelite (negro,latino,native american) captivity to the white man. when feast of trumpets rolls around (sept 13 2015). just enjoy whats left of your freedom and rulership of the earth if your a caucasian on your fathers side. but get ready for slavery to the hebrew israelites when sept feast of trumpets comes.
And we wonder why people are losing it and lighting themselves on fire? It is sad.
yea right the invisibile guy in the sky will pay your bill,s and keep you up? Get to work and spend less than you take in. The only person you have to out do is yourself. and everyone should paddle their own boat. There is no such thing as free. Being successful and working hard to make money isn’t evil. Its the reward you deserve from your labor.
If The bill collectors bang on my door, they will get paid in hot lead. Anonymous doesn’t take any shit off the bill collectors.
spoken like a true moron who has never had to figure out what to do when both your wife’s and your job go away at the same time. and you find the next three successive jobs each paying less than the one before and your poor wife cant find one at all. ohh, did i mention the wife’s health problems and surgeries. sorry i guess i didnt and of course the biggest blow of them all, the loss of our eldest son. believe me all of those problems was not due to our lack of education or planning.
Daisy Luther’s advise is good and points no fingers or makes no judgements on a persons personal dilemmas. She just tells you how to start working your way out of the pits. a family who works themselves out of a mess is in my book way smarter and has more character than any smug, self satisfied goof who has been lucky enough to work for a company which didnt cut back or go under during this latest financial mess. You sir, should not brag or condemn.
your luck might not hold up for ever.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…. Cry me a river. Somewhere in your life you made the decision to always be looking for the next job instead of working. Anyone can apply for one job after another, then whine that life isn’t treating them “fair”. You put yourself in that position. Why did you get lower paying jobs? Only you know for sure, but a good bet is that you are a very poor employee. If you were valuable, your assorted bosses would gladly pay you more to keep you with their company. They did not, they let you go, probably still wondering why they hired you in the first place. You need to be honest with yourself, think about WHY all your employers seem so willing to let you walk out the door. Stop wasting everyone’s time trying to convince the world that you just have had a worse time of it then other people. The other people just learn from their mistakes. You need to learn to do the same.
Rating your comment a -5
tt I would’ve agreed with you twenty years ago . . . then my wife and I both got laid off in the same week from totally different jobs in different fields. Then I got a medical bill from nine months previous for $12500.00 that the insurance company said they weren’t going to pay after all. Try fighting an insurance company that you no longer have since you lost your job because the company went out of business.
Oh and that company bounced your last two biweekly paychecks so not only did your wife not get paid for five weeks of 48hours a week, but you now have a slew of returned check and nsf charges to boot.
The jobs we lost were higher paying because we’d been promoted so often and been there for years. The ones we found paid entry level. Working 24hours a day at entry level wouldn’t equal just my pay at the previous higher wages, much less the combined wages.
It really can happen to college educated people who’ve made good decisions. Trust me there is such a thing as bad luck.
At the time I felt like a loser and a liar since I couldn’t meet my financial obligations. We lost the house, went bankrupt, and started all over feeling like miserable wretches. Were basically still young kids and got terrible advice.
Wish I had had Daisy’s article twenty years ago. Thanks
DriverDon…I can relate to a lot of your story, but I can’t even imagine losing a child ( I have 5). I am so sorry for your loss.
Duder.
I also lost a child. its something you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Its a thing that’s unconsolable. my child has been gone 23 years and its one of the first thing,s I think about when I awaken .
Hodges shows us in the article and said. If there is life after this event, then it will be life that is underground. You see my fellow sht-effers, all nuclear plants are built on fault lines. Its obvious that this was done intentionally to cause population fallout. As i get critized daily about my grammar, as if thats a gauge for the audience to decide if i am a liar or not. All you have to do is just crunch the data, and re-examine the whole entirety.
340,000,000/49 states=50-100,000 survivors per state. Could this be the very thing that forced me to post on this site. You see my people, i am doing my deligent duty by warning my shtf-effers to prepare. In fact is was you guys who helped me when i was in shtf. Why would i not give real information to people who need to know the truth.
EXPECT THIS SOON.
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/08/19/the-reason-why-the-elite-are-hiding-deep-beneath-the-earth/
Could this be what that free energy scientist was warned by if your remember the allnewspipeline.com article told us, about the elite are running underground and are doing everything to complete their preps to not let us find out so that we dont do a run on the grocery stores, and then pull the plug on the country, and according to his source, that YOU WILL NEED ELECTRICAL POWERE BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE NONE. EMP???? is this really planned. I am concerned. I think that David Hodges is on to something BIG.inot concerned about when or what the stock market does when it crashes, i just know that when it does, run and run like hell schedule your company vacations all in September and October to give you time to prepare and clear out. Besides, the air smells cleaner in the coutry that in the cities. 5 million decaying dead bodies all over my city because of EMP fallow out would not work out me. Guys, i am leaving. f…k this.
Aka,
HCKS
Get ready for one hell of a ride.
No thanks, me no ride roller coasters.
“I think that David Hodges is on to something BIG”
Not to come off sounding like a jerk, but…..
The things that Dave Hodges writes, is not “news” to a lot of us. I do like a few of Hodges articles and what he puts into them. That being said, … then there are some articles that are off base and in some cases some articles have been false due to … “theorizing”, which interns … become ‘doom & gloom material.
Dave is a good writer and researcher, but … not always reliable and accurate with his findings. Like anything, take the information for what it is, and configure your own research.
Dave is a disinfo agent. Plain and simple.
Yea .. well I know, he is no different than an Alex Jones.
I was just being polite to HCKS for once.
“BS”
That “BS” was to SC & FTW
Come on Dave, feel free to reveal your true identity. Anyone who post under anon or anonymous gets absolutely no respect.
Yeah, as if you’re posting under your real name and no, this is not Hodges-you are a moron!
HUCKS or what ever your name is. All Nuke plants were not built on fault lines. Although many have. Here is where to check your Nuke plant Radiation threat levels. RadiationNetwork. Com Updates every minute. Live upwind from these possible Nuke Blowholes. Stock up on Potassium Iodide.
~WWTI
Their water and air would be contaminated.
There isn’t a hole deep enough to go into, man. Cleaning up air and water requires consumables, which they’d run rapidly out of.
If all the nuke plants go, I sincerely hope we’ve got a “human genetic ark” in orbit, set to auto-“hatch” in 40,000 years.
HUCKS or what ever your name is. All Nuke plants were not built on fault lines. Although many have. Here is where to check your Nuke plant Radiation threat levels. RadiationNetwork. Com Updates every minute. Live upwind from these possible Nuke Blowholes. Stock up on Potassium Iodide.
~WWTI
I’ve found that the best way to pay bills when you’re broke is to throw them all up in the air, pay the ones that stay up there and buy food and bare necessities with the money, let the collector lose sleep over the money.
Great article. One other thing…don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are younger, ask someone older that’s more financially secure. Sometimes people like that struggled when they were younger and would love the opportunity to help someone else with a hand up. Like you, I’ve been there and it’s not easy. It took a long time, a lot of faith and hard work, but thank the good Lord I made it. Another thing, it’s the little things that make a difference…remember, pennies make dimes and dimes make dollars. Sometimes we don’t think anything of spending foolishly when it’s a small amount, but especially in the coming days, every penny will count.
Hey, life is what you make of it, and every decision you make counts. I have been self employed 23+ yrs. If I ever wanted something, I worked for it. And that means doing the hard shit nobody or thenlazynreduae to do. Persistance Pays Guarenteed. Be 100% Honest in all your dealings. You will receive loyalty and repeat business. So make sure what you say is true. BS’ers will eat dirt and bitch about everything. Set your goals, food storage or moving out of the City. Get rid of your friends and family that are losers and pull you down every time. Just replave tje loser time for positive time or learning a new skill. Replace religion bs with a new activity like exploring a new park or buying bikes or kayaks or food, Than dropping it diwn a hole of nowhere at a church. Get rid of cable and buy a rifle and ammo.. Get your concealed permit. Lots of priorities than Grid BS you do not need.
Just saying, forget wishy hopey praying, Go do it.
~WWTI. BTW/ Millionaires have at least 7 streams of income. So go get more multiple streams of income.
Who,agree yet at times “life happens” i.e. med catastrophe ect.
WWTI, DING DING DING DING DING! At 8 years of age, I started doing odd jobs for people in my neighborhood, raking leaves, cleaning out gutters, had a paper route at one time, anything possible to make a buck. I learned from my Dad about hard work and the value of a dollar as a kid. I’ve always bought my cars from private owners for cash only. Never bought from a dealer or had a car note in my whole life. never had a credit card or loan and don’t need either one for anything. I moved out of my parents’ home only a week after I graduated from high school and been on my own ever since, just as it should be. I’ve known a lot of tough times but never whined or bitched about anything. I just pulled myself up by my own bootstraps and kept my nose to the grindstone. I’ve always been 100% honest in my dealings with people and gone the extra mile for my employers. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m the kind of employee that employers can only dream about having these days. It’s just the way I was raised, ‘old school’ and damned proud of it. My extra money all goes toward preps and NOT toward any credit BS. Don’t want or need credit for any damn thing. My prepping is my top priority and I don’t let anything interfere with it.
Until that day you fall off a ladder and break your back, then you wife or child gets Leukemia, and your employer declares bankruptcy, you get laid off and a federal judge lets your bankrupt employer “borrow” all the money from your pension fund and then blow it so your “guaranteed” pension just evaporated too.
Then of course you get in a car accident with an uninsured motorist on the way home from one of your many doctors visits. When you finally do get home the remains are still smoldering from that fire and your insurance company refuses to pay on a technicality, so you of course spend you last few dollars left on that nice lawyer that will get them to pay . . . and of course you lose in court.
My focus would be on those causing the engineered poverty for the hardworking class.
I agree Stolz, but apparently discussing the tribe and its actions is now frowned upon on this site. Those in the know are aware of who pulls the strings.
I’m just a delousing agent and I have never killed anyone.
The Tribe[zionist] should not be frowned upon.
It’s an evil organization, and anybody who wants to suppress discussion of this class of people are against Freedom Of Speech.
If people are against Freedom Of Speech, then it should be noted that they don’t care for the rest of America’s temporary freedoms.
dont give up would be my advice,dont let let them win.cut and cut until there is nothing left to cut and things will get better,but it will take time.
I have never seen a poor person in the united states, and neither have you.
“poor” people have food stamps, HUD housing, medicaid, Obama phones and 65 inch TVs.
You want to see poor people go to the Dominican Republic or Honduras and see how they survive, then stop whining because you can’t pay for your $125 Dish Network bill.
Stop whining about not being able to pay your car note and buy a $2500 car instead.
Stop whining about being evicted and move in with other family members.
Stop whining about food when you are sitting in the McDonald’s drive though.
I have never seen a homeless family sitting on the road side begging for money. It is always some mentally ill drug addict or a drunk.
There is no poverty in America.
John, truer words never spoken. You’re as poor as you want to be.
Greetings,
I disagree. You have seen poor people.
See, all those perks you speak about are not for the flailing middle class. You can’t get all those freebies if you still have valuable assets like a home, car, jewerly or a bank account with “some” savings in it.
As someone that has traveled extensively, I know what foreign poverty looks like but the cost of living in, say, Honduras is not the cost of living in S. California.
For example, housing where I live starts at over $1000 per month for a single room or, perhaps, a place in someone’s garage. A person working a full time minimum wage job can not afford to rent a place to sleep. I see homeless people by the dozens sleeping on the sidewalks, at the beach or in their cars – not every day but everywhere I look at any given time.
Expect to see this more and more as we move towards a rentier economy.
The “rentier economy” you speak of, is the only reason there is an uptick in applications for new dwellings. Hence all the hype about the economy turning the corner. BS.
The dwellings are apartment complexes being built, not single family dwellings.
It is common sense that there is a demand for rental units because millions starting out can’t afford, nor want the debt of a mortgage.
All the older, affordable family units, are being bought up by immigrants, with a little help from their new ussag taxpayer friends, and neighbors..
I call bullshit on this.
I have been to Honduras three times. The last time I went to the grocery store where the locals go and was shocked to see that the basic staples were more expensive there than in the US.
The only rational I could apply to this is that all of the staples have to be shipped in rather than produced in their own country.
So you can’t claim that cost of living is more in the US.
Also, California has the highest pay out rate for welfare than any other state in the Nation. This creates nothing but welfare dependence.
By the way, if you get all the benefits the governments gives to welfare people, it equals a $30 an hour job.
Well John, You never grew up in the fifties and sixties in the Appalachians, then, if you have never seen poor.
I had a great Aunt that married a man that was from a very poor family in the forties. They got help from my Grandpa, when they got married and he helped them acquire about thirty acres of steep mountain land, of which they had timber cut to help pay for the land and used the lumber to build a four room, small house with gravity fed water to the kitchen.
They also built a small chicken house, a barn and a smoke house and pig pen. They acquired a mule, a milk cow, chickens and a pig. They never had a bathroom or shower inside. Their heat was from a wood stove, and cooked on a wood fired kitchen stove. They raised two girls, and never owned a TV or Vehicle.
My Grandpa hauled them to town once a month for provisions. He also worked the brother-in-law when he could afford it, so they had money for the girls to go to school and for some extra provisions.
My great Aunt never worked outside the home but sold homemade butter and fresh cow’s milk for a few dollars a month.
When those two died, they had never received a dime from the government nor asked for any help from any outside sources, except my Grandpa.
I saw them at times when their only meal was a small cake of cornbread and some old shriveled taters.
But, they never failed to give thanks to God for every meal.
They were dirt poor, but never knew it, because they were rich in blessings and freedom to stand in their garden and give praise to God.
In the 80’s I went to an area of the Appalachians to work for a bank..briefly. I went to a place to consider repossession of goods that had been financed by the bank through a Home & Furniture Center. Upon arriving I saw only a shack on a hillside, and thought it was the barn or chicken house. It was their home. Inside was the kitchen table and chairs, and in two rooms were the beds and mattresses, plus a few living room pieces, all financed.
The floor of the house was dirt, and the only insulation on the walls was animal hides and some newspaper. That was really poor. Needless to say, I never asked for a dime and charged off the stuff.
I would say having your own land and working with it with someone you love is a very rich life,challenging at times but what life isn’t.
Those people were not poor. They sound like regular homesteaders. Their wealth was through Jesus Christ.
What you don’t know: is you’re oblivious to the realality of not being able to make your payments. That’s good for you (@$$hole), because some of us working poor can’t qualify for food stamps because we make to much and we’re not illegals who get it handed to them; or consider those on medicare/cade and the elderly who paid into a system which takes care of a family of 6, which get 6 times the amount of monies. So I say and call BS on you. I also say shame on you, for not having compassion for your fellow man.
JS, spot on. I’ve always managed to pay my rent on time so I’ve never been evicted from a home. I’ve always bought cheap cars from private owners for cash only, so no car note. No TV service for me, just internet service. I don’t even touch mcd’s alleged ‘food’. anything in my food pantry taste better than that. Never begged anyone for anything in my whole life. always worked full time and paid taxes into the system, never lived on any tax dollars.
I was about the post almost the same words, ‘There are no poor people in America.’, then I saw yours. Thank you for doing it for me.
If you make more than $400 a year, you are the 1%.
If you have any money in your pocket, you are the 1%.
If you consume more than 1200 calories a day, you are the 1%.
If you have drinkable water at your kitchen sink, you are the 1%
If you have a kitchen sink, you are the 1%
If you consider a meal of crackers, rice, and syrup to be your economic nadir, you are the 1%.
If you are illiterate, uneducated, and performing menial labor every day of your short, nasty, brutish life, and your children and their children will do the same, you are poor.
You should get down on your knees and thank God every day that you are ‘poor’ in America.
Nonsense. When I was 18 I was homeless for six weeks, sleeping in my truck (with everything I owned in the cab) at 24hr truck stops and gas stations. I went in to work early so I could wash my hair in the sink, had to beg for change for something to eat, and just try to get a job with no fixed address or telephone number (this was pre cellphone).
I wasn’t crazy, on drugs, or anything else. See how well you sleep when you’re always worried the manager will come out and make you move along (and the tank is almost on E anyway) or that if someone steals your truck while you’re inside that really crappy job in the bad part of town or if you get robbed at gunpoint at night. I didn’t even know how to apply for any welfare benefits and probably wouldn’t have qualified anyway since I owned my old beat-up truck free and clear.
There are parts of town that aren’t safe, that you probably don’t visit often, where there’s plenty of poverty. Some of it is self inflicted, but not all.
I’ve never had a credit card, always paid cash. If I didn’t have cash I did without. Never owned a home. Yeah, it has led to a minimalist existence, but many would be surprised how little money is actually needed to survive with enough food and a roof over your head. Live in Florida, don’t use AC. Total income earned in my working lifetime is 104 grand. I get a grand on VA disability per month and meds through VA. I feel fortunate and thankful to be alive at 65, a basically simple life considered poverty. I don’t have far to fall if it all crashes.
God help you if that happens to you. I’ve been there.
what I have found was that I ask or help and got it for 3 months I didn’t make life style out of it. Started working 4 different jobs at a time for less than minimum wage. Told bill collectors that I was on hard times and told them I would send them what I could. Gas and Electric company worked with me. The other people I owed money to was told what was happening and that I would send them $30.00 a month until I got on my feet and if they didn’t like that I would send them $20.00. I had a good friend that is an Attorney and he sent them all a letter telling them I’m paying in good faith and to leave me lone. They did.
Things got better and now I’m living the dream!!!
Thanks to God Almighty. That is who I give the praise to.
Sgt.
Sgt Dale, I believe most of us have been on the down an out financially once or twice in our lives.
You are correct about the Utility part, been there and done that. Electric Bill may of been $80, but here’s a $20.
As long as a person makes a payment of some sort each month. The Utility Companies can not shut you off!
Sarge, in Nov. 1982 I got burned out of a mobile home I was renting, electrical fire. all I had in there at the time was a few clothes, the rest of my belongings, which weren’t much, were in storage. I lived in a 1972 Dodge cargo van I had at the time. this was before it started getting cold, but the experience still sucked anyway. other people got tired of me asking to use their showers after a week so they offered me the money to get another place. I told them I appreciate the offer but I’ll just wait until I get enough money saved up since I was still working. they forced it on me. I didn’t ask them for any help and still wouldn’t to this day. If it wasn’t for me having that van, I would’ve been in deep do-do.
Yeah we once got a notice on the door that our electric would be shut off in 2 days. So we rolled up all our change, closed the kids penny savings accounts (we really felt guilty about that one), and used those funds to make an emergency payment to a credit card to free up enough room to pay the electric bill by maxing the card back out.
We couldn’t borrow another nickel from anywhere and had 37 cents to our name in cash. Imagine just looking at a few coins on the floor (we sat on the floor to pay bills with them spread out all around us) and wondering how to feed the kids. Well we have enough in the pantry to stretch till Sunday when there’s a pot-luck at church . . .
I’ll never let that happen again (hopefully) but I fully understand how people can do what they think are the right things and it still not work out for them.
Amen Brother Dale…Keep praising the Lord and giving Him thanks…
God Bless you Brother!!!
Russ, i have to agree with you. God is the way, but make sure you have plenty of food, guns and ammo, and shelter. Its God’s wrath is what is concerning most of us. God only helps us when we help ourselves. I believe that it was literally Divine intervention that saved my sorry ass from shtf in the last calapse. God communicates to man through our gut instinct. Our gut instinct is what guides us in life and shows us to way, to follow the gut is to follow God. The word good, comes from the word God. My gut told me to do a search, i belive its was God communicating with me indirectly, i know its sounds strange, but i will survive whats coming. The fact that the cabal is trying desperately to remove God from schools, institutions is telling me that God is very powerfull, and that is God was not, then they would not be concerned. So thats what i look at. Alot of the holy rollers believe that God will literally come down from the heavens to feed them and give them eletricity, protection. That is not the way God works. God does not give out handouts.
Aka,
HCKS.
Amen Brother…God gave me a sign to get prepared and I haven’t looked back…been stocking food and water…along with protection and other necessities…
Thanks for the advice brother HCKS…Praise the Lord there others out there that see the True Living GOD and know His power and what His wrath can bring…
My wife had a dream that showed wide spread damage…A Big Rig went off a freeway in Sherman TX and went through a neighborhood in Kingsburg, CA…I asked the Lord to reveal to me what this dream meant, and with in the hour I was watching a news clip on fox news about the coming el nino and the image they showed of the possible damage was from Central Ca to North TX…We lived in Sherman TX and my wife is from Kingsburg…so you see the Lord has been showing me signs to see what may be coming our way this winter here in cali…and with all the wildfires here, it appears we are going to be in a world of hurt…
One more thing brother…the Lord wants you as a child of His to be walking in His will….and then He will help you…its not about helping yourself as much as it about walking in His will…thats not to say to have your storehouse full and prepared. So ya gotta be in His will for Him to help ya…don’t rely on the gov to help ya…as the Bible always describes the govs as beasts…and if you are a reader of the Word you will see the gov’s of today are no different then the gov of Biblical times…
Praise the Lord Christ Jesus!!! Amen and Amen
Amen again.
Excellent article. It is heartbreaking that so many families live this way… and it’s getting worse. ‘Food insecurity’ alone is enough to keep one up at night.
I experienced this myself many years ago when my daughter was very young and I had to leave my husband, her abusive father, who made good money but got away without paying child support for many years.
It took me years to dig my way out of that mess. But I remember back then, people looked down on me for being impoverished with a toddler, instead of pointing a finger at him, the deadbeat, for failing to pay child support.
Now, 30 yrs later, he’s in prison for helping his son (from his 3rd marriage) cover-up the gruesome murder of his wife, the murder of his own daughter-in-law and mother of his grandchild. Good thing he never became a lawyer or a politician. He would have forced many more into poverty than he already has… and he wouldn’t be in prison for being an accomplice to murder. He would have gone free.
Here’s something people without a conscience all have in common. People without a conscience want us to part with our money and they all do whatever it takes to make that happen, both on a small-scale and mass-scale; committing crimes, causing property damage, putting us in a position where we’re forced to hire an attorney, raising taxes, jacking up already ridiculously high rates/fees, tacking on bs charges/surcharges with no explanation or valid reason – always getting us to part with our hard-earned money. That’s what those without conscience do.
Did you know that people without a conscience cost U.S. taxpayers $20 billion per year? NJ Gov Chris Christie is one example of countless; he cost NJ taxpayers $18 million in the investigation of his Bridge-gate corruption/scandal alone. My ex’s trial and that of his son all combined cost that state $12 million dollars. Who pays for all that? People without a conscience are often the reason why many decent, hardworking people are broke or going broke and systems are falling apart.
My ‘without conscience’ ex put many families into debt by gaining their trust and then ripping them off and now they are judged for being broke. He put people in positions where they had to hire a lawyer to defend themselves and ended up bankrupt. This is more common than many realize because that’s what people without a conscience do.
My point is that behind most poverty and many struggling families are people just like him — people without a conscience; CEO’s, bankers, politicians, lawmakers, policy makers, scam artists, corrupt community leaders, and delusional decision-makers who are untrustworthy and don’t have an ounce of common sense, yet they make decisions for honest, hardworking people. I agree with the author– people who are struggling are harshly judged when what happened to them could happen to anyone at anytime.
I think there needs to be more awareness of this because it is the truth. People without a conscience want others to be broke AND they are also untrustworthy — they all share these two characteristics. It is people without a conscience who are destroying families and society.
No, I am not suggesting blame others for our financial situation, nor am I saying it’s right to have more children than one can afford and then make it everyone else’s problem and/or abuse the welfare system.
I am saying behind most (not all, but most) families living in poverty and those struggling to survive, who can’t make ends meet when they work their butts off, are people who are without a conscience.
CommonCents, you are 100% correct. I just read the book,
“Without Conscience” about psychopaths among us. You are a survivor, be glad you got the hell away from that no-good husband. Some women aren’t so lucky, they end up dead. Thank you for your post!
The biggest piece of advice for people in this situation is to not go into any more debt, period, end of story. No more debt. No more loans. You are just digging yourself a bigger hole. Dave Ramsey may not be everybodies cup of tea but if you listen to and follow what he says you will overcome this. I did. I am debt free with a fully funded emergency fund. I have plenty of guns and ammo and food stored up. Its such a relief to not have any payments. None. I keep a cell phone but if that goes away, who cares? Listen to Dave, he knows what he is talking about.
“No more debt. No more loans.”
You’re spot on, Andy. I posted our story and my advice on becoming debt-free a while back at my site.
http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/start-new-year-right-downsize-and-throw/
It took us about a decade to kill all debt, including mortgage debt. It was totally worth the struggle. Never again. Dave Ramsey is the man.
GREAT advice, Daisy.
Daisy Luther writes the very best articles that have substance and very helpful information. Thank you for posting this article!
I’ve been there and it’s no fun. All of a sudden they tell a few hundred people where you work that you are done today, not at the end of the week but TODAY. You go home and start looking at your priorities. How much money do you have on hand and what are your major expenses that you must pay. Start looking at what you can sell, even at a loss, so you can at least eat. A few suggestions. 1: Pull all of your money out of the bank and put it away, it’s much harder to let go of cash that swipe a card. 2: If you buying a house, make that a priority payment. It is almost always cheaper to pay a mortgage than rent, unless you have borrowed way more than you should have against the house. If you must move, look for the cheapest rent you can find for now, but don’t move until they throw you out. It can take months to be kicked out of a home. 3: Get rid of the cable and cell phones. 4: If you can, pay up your utilities, so they will stay on. 5: Call all of the other creditors and explain your situation. Don’t send them another dime until you are back on your feet. 6: Always remember that your family comes first, and that if you keep trying things will get better. Learn from your experience and don’t fall into the debt trap again if at all possible.
Thirty years ago homeless and broke in North Carolina. I got to know the folks at the fast food restaraunts real well. Eventually I didn’t have to dig through the garbage for food that wasn’t sold, they seperated a few sandwhiches or a few pieces of chicken for me. I didn’t eat well, but I ate.
I can give you some preps that you can do now if you’re not yet poor. Downside to these is the major capital outlay. Upside is it’s once.
1. Fishing equipment. Pretty sure you can catch and eat fish if you’re anywhere near a pier or a lake. On the west coast… yeah it’s probably radioactive. But you’re toast anyway… I dunno man.
2. Ooma VOIP phone. I have one of these and as long as you can still afford basic internet, lowest speed… works like a charm. $3 a month. Unlimited long distance. Capital outlay: $170.
3. I’m pretty darned sure there’s a way to make a solar distiller that will work on salt water, out of crap you can get at Home Depot. Probable outlay: $200 in stuff. Slow. True. But probably enough to drink, minimally.
4. Grid tie solar system. Downside here: permits. Upside: I believe I could do my house for $800, plus $300 in permits. Me doing it personally. As in 100% of my draw. I pay about $85 a month in electric. Payback period is insanely good in this scenario. As an aside, most of the cost of a solar system is the off-grid version, and most of it goes into batteries and battery maintenance. If we’re talking Argentine collapse (or personal collapse), a grid tie version is perfectly acceptable, and has the added benefit of keeping the nosy types off your ass, because you’re still on-grid. You’re just feeding it back to ’em during the day and getting paid. It may or may not be an inflation hedge, it depends on whether or not the amount they pay to get electricity back is going to maintain a consistent distance to how much grid electric costs.
In conjunction with this, laptops or netbooks draw extremely low levels of power compared to a regular computer. I’ve always gotten mine as e-waste and rebuilt them. My latest cost $170 total after the rebuild, and I considered that insanely high for a computer. So… yeah, you can go a lot lower here.
5. The “feed 3 people on $300 a year” menu. Someone here linked me to this, I can’t thank you enough. For sure doing that one.
6. Garden… you already know this one. Haven’t tried it yet. For sure will.
7. Rent out rooms / rent yourself out as a taxi service. That last one’s a new thing, I forget the name of the company setting this up. This assumes you have a car. Having a car is in and of itself kind of sketchy in terms of cost – benefit, depending how bad this all gets. Motorcycle makes a ton more sense as long as you don’t go dying and stuff.
The taxi service is called Uber. You sign up and when you get a text requesting a scheduled pickup, you accept it or not and make the fare.
At the first sign of personal financial trouble cut the cable TV and Internet.
If you want TV there are do it yourself digital TV antenna designs you can build for about ten dollars, from there on out, TV is free short of the electric to run it. One of the best designs is called a “Gray-Hoverman” (just search on “DIY Gray-Hoverman TV antenna”).
I have built a couple and I found I could pick up digital TV with it by hanging it in a window that faced the city 40 miles away and could get a dozen watchable, English, channels. I made one for each of my adult kids, so it the SHTF they can get broadcast TV, if cable or Sat is down. They are both using theirs hidden behind a picture etc. so they get great FM reception on their stereo!
For Internet don’t be shy about using the public library.
Are you ready for the ultimate prep for free television including Fox News, HBO and others:
Buy a Raspberry Pi computer ($45) install the KODI operating system (free) then install the live tv streams (also free)
You can also download KODI for windows and try it without the Raspberry Pi. I have one TV running off a laptop and two others running on the Raspberry Pis.
Here is a video to get you started.
https://youtu.be/mJFnARZijeI?list=PL0wfV4toxrFBKafVQYdGVInUmA_6Qe7Tv
I have one of these running as a (slow as all hell) Bitcoin miner. I mean… why not… free money. As long as it’s beating the electric cost.
I have yet to figure out what else it can do… but that there is pretty cool. I don’t suppose there are other types of free streaming entertainment besides the usual TV crap?
Great cost savings idea. Many homes have several TVs, and with everyone watching something else, your internet won’t keep up, and you still have to pay for Internet!
Adding a central antenna with an amplified splitter lets several different things be watch while one is being streamed.
But the main topic here is catastrophic financial times. With someone getting laid off in a crash, cut the cable and Internet early, while that unemployment check is still coming in. Save that $120 a month for when you need food!
Attempting to continue a lifestyle you can’t afford, puts you in an unescapable hole faster. Having any debt trail you will haunt you when you do find work, and life rebuilds, so don’t let the cable bill go unpaid, just close the account and walk away whole as early as you can.
Denial can be your worst enemy. Lock up those credit cards, cancel that cable and Internet. Shut down all the subscription services that you can.
Building that ten dollar antenna still let’s you catch a movie or the news and will give some normalcy to your life without someone taking your money to do it.
Not only do libraries have free internet, they will let you check out movies and music CD’s as easy as books, all free.
If we have a depression style crash, and you will know it when you see it, if you think you might get laid off, or if you do it’s time to think tike this article is talking.
If I knew zombies were coming, I’d be barricading the doors etc in a financial crash a good prepper will barricade their finances!
But yeah I’ve been there.
If it went past personal collapse, to Argentine or slightly higher levels, I’d probably consider getting a busted down RV and living out of that. There’s a place called Slab City that would probably work. I eat at the moment on about $100 a month. I know for a fact I can cut that slightly more than in half and still live, and that’s before food pantry stuff’s taken into account, to say nothing of the fishing thing.
If it went past Argentina into full on fricking Zimbabwe / Mad Max levels, I’m serious, get a boat and get out.
I just purchased a 74 motor home. it has a 440 dodge engine. bought it at auction for $110. it didn’t run. Cleaned the fuel system and drove it home.I attend auction sales and have fun, buy bargains.
While cooking some range fed eggs for dinner(eggs from a friend)and thinking about this article while making egg sandwiches realise how lucky I have it.Sure,I work and am grateful for it,on a bitchy job but will try not to whine tomorrow while working.I know,grateful for eg sanwhiches sounds weird but just one of thousands of examples of how lucky I at least at moment have it!
Fried egg sandwiches are great !
Mom practically raised us kids on them, when the Spam ran low.
Fried egg, hard, salt and pepper, buttered bread. Served hot. I want one now.
Damn, that makes my mouth water. Best if Mom used Wonder “bread”. I liked a thin slice of onion on mine!
A staple at the orn rez. With onion, raw garlic, mustard and hot sauce. Cain’t find that at Burger Doodle! Man, that’s eatin!
Money Matters & How to Manage Your Money ***
http://www.crown.org
Just do like everyone else and board the gravy train, that should put you at about $34,400 a year. No commuting, no daycare, free phones, housing, food, healthcare and more. By the time the unemployment runs out your SSDI should be approved.
All this should take you right to retirement or the financial collapse; which ever comes first!! Why starve and toil? All aboard……
Right on old guy get a job people. It’s easy just go and seek work and you will get something this is bullshit if your an adult and you don’t know your prioritys by now shame on you. Got my house paid off. I could pay the taxes cleaning toilets. I just do see any reason for people to be poor but you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. If your listening to your friends that are in debt you will follow that path. But hey you will be driving a nice car. Tired of the poverty fear porn. If you don’t want to clean toilets get a in demand skill or shut the fuck up and do menial work without complaining everyday either. If your life sucks it’s your own fault. Lazy bums.
Been there before, headed there again, currently, im tired of getting new skills to find nobody but mcdonalds is hireing anyway. army 13 years, journeyman welder, bricklayer, now class one truck driver, no job, yay for me.
It sucks to be so poor that you can’t evdn pay attention
The wife and I worked together and still work together. Sometimes it means to tell yourself no and wait for better times. To many people feel that it is OK splurge because they deserve it.
Sell meth! Sell pot! Sell something that will hurt someone else and make you stinking rich! All the Alcohol companies do it, the Tobacco companies do it! All the Pharmacy’s do it! All the medicine companies do it! All the food companies do it! And they all have the government backing them up! So even the government is doing it! So why starve when you can become an entrepreneur for a little while and make enough money to then start a legitimate business backed by the government like your very own liquor store or Walgreen’s where you screw people up with the governments green light! Screw all this eating from the trash! B.S! This is America! If your poor it’s because you don’t have the balls enough to screw someone else over and take it for yourself! Our politicians are perfect examples of it all! Hollywood even gives you step by step video instructions on how to become exceptionally wealthy. All these different programs on TV can show you how to overcome your poverty! So many opportunity’s to become super wealthy and powerful! There’s just one little catch! You have to sell your soul to the devil.
I have been poorer than this article with a small child in tow with nothing but a guitar and a box of clothes I dragged behind me for weeks on end. No work available, no home, no gov’t. assist, no food, no car, no money, Never again.
Although this thought won’t help someone who’s already in the financial crapper, it might be good to realize that many of us have been taught to “live within your means” – this is WRONG! You need to live BELOW your means.
If I had my daughter I’d be rich.
When I was not a full-time Deputy yet my family was on a very strict budget. My wife got an appendicitis and while the doctors were in there they found a tumor. My wife was a very sick woman for awhile, but she made it. While she was bedridden, I worked my two jobs, and worked her cleaning job for her. Because of the excessive medical bills it still was not enough. I liked the part of the article about grocery stores giving away animal feed. We were already getting about 10 gallons of outdated produce every two days to feed to our animals. I took a good look and realized about half of the vegetables were edible if you trimmed them. We saved probably 200 bucks a month that way…that got us over the top…I might be a reviled cop on this site, but I ain’t too good to dumpster dive.:)
One of our local food banks won’t take home-grown food anymore, it hasn’t been inspected. Seems the lawyers have taken over everything.
Thanks for being a cop, why we have them is becoming more obvious every day.
The common theme here is that most common people have common problems. Some were caused by “poor” decisions.
I know some of the women get a raw deal with their man that turns on them, especially after having a kid or two. I know a lot of that was not foreseen, and could not have been, but in a lot of cases, the woman just didn’t take time to get to really know the person well enough, before hooking up.
If a man is not a God fearing man to begin with, then it is a good bet that he will not have the woman’s best interest at heart.
I feel sorry for all the women that fell for a “stupid” man and ended up miserable, and hurt.
A good friend of ours was a joy to be around. She had a voice like a song bird. She met a boy in high school in the seventies, that had a band and they played music together (rock band) for years and then married. She came from upper middle class, but never acted like she was better than others. Her mother and father were christian and tried to raise the kids that way. She sang in the choir. He came from a poor family and never really had a whole lot of money until he was in his forties. He got lucky with his brother in business, and began to make a lot of money.
In the following years, he and I became friends through his brother. Once we offered to take him and his lovely wife on a week vacation that included motorcycle riding and having a good time. The husband gave his wife all kinds of material things, but didn’t show any respect for her christianity because he continually cussed and every other sentence was God****. We don’t use that word and it hurt us to hear it.
Anyways, he started the vacation by cutting down the moderate hotel accommodations, and acting like he was too good to stay there. Then he only wanted to go to restaurants that were upscale and expensive. We both were making good money those years and played along, but had never spent $125.00 on a meal for two, and was not pleased about his acting way above his raising, plus the bragging.
Finally the G’d’ing, got the best of us and we made a comment about using the Lord’s name in vain. He only got worse. His poor wife just listened and could not say anything. We were so belittled by him that I told the wife we would not be making anymore plans with them, of which she quickly agreed, but said, “what a shame because I really do love her as a person”.
We did do a couple more day trips on the bikes with them, but he was the same ole big feeling ass, that bragged about all his money and big house that was paid for. He would go into the Harley shop and he would drop $3000.00 on chrome and leather just like it was pocket change. That was a regular thing for him.
Finally, I told the wife that his continual use of G’d would come back to bite him. I said his big feeling ways would change someday, and that it could happen in “one” day. Also, that the best thing we could do was pray for him, and let God work it out.
That change in one day came from a routine visit to the doctor.
She was diagnosed with Uterine cancer. She had just changed jobs and her insurance to cover both of them was set to kick in. Because she was diagnosed, prior to the actual kick in date, the insurance Co. would not cover any bills, because of the pre-existing clause.
That was five years ago. About a year ago I visited him at his business and he was as humble as a 100 year old man getting ready to die. The medical bills were in the hundreds of thousands. The big house was mortgaged and the Harley sold for a fraction of what he had invested. I just listened as he poured over the changes from the high dollar/fast living, and then I heard it…. “I prayed”. It went from the previous ten years of G’ding all the time and I did this and that, to..”I prayed”.
She was called to Heaven this summer, and her warm friendly ways have left this world. She was a joy to be around, for so many people. Her husband did love her, but just not enough for many of those years to “humble” himself. Now, he is humbled, and alone.
I tell this story to inspire people that your situation can change in one day, so remember to be humble and realize where your blessings come from. To always praise “self” and leave the Creator out of the equation, never ends well for the prideful.
God will eventually bring all to their knees, willingly or not.
So all you mockers, atheists and women abusers, go ahead and have your fun accusing and criticizing us Christians, but you are not helping your cause, for in one day, your world could be turned upside down.
Right, another one of your ” stories” about how somebody mocked one of Gods chosen prophets, { you} and paid the price financially and God also s fit to kill off his wife because he didn’t listen to ” you.” While normal people are asleep at 3.00 Am, you’re here conjuring up more bullshit. You’re sick, get the professional help you so desperately need.
Well, when you are on your knees, begging for forgiveness, and you will, you will remember all your mockery and shit slinging.
All i do is tell the truth, of which you obviously can’t handle.
have a good trip, because it looks like it may be a hot one, ole Json D. btw, does D stand for dumbass? Yea, that’s what I thought.
This is what I’m referring to preachy boy. What does D stand for, dumbass? What the fuck? Are you six years old? Sounds like you belong in the nursing home where somebody can change your wet diapers granpa, your arteries are getting harder by the day, you likely won’t remember this comment in a month. Yeah, I’m fucking shakin about you sicing ” Geesuz” on me, get professional help, you need it a HELL of a lot more than Acid, that speaks volumes.
whew I gave up on trying read all the comments – the intense personal beliefs and squabbles over little, unimportant details really ruins it for me.
1 brief comment on topic:
One issue I recognized in myself is the problem of wanting to wait and make a full or more substantial payment on big bills.
I’d juggle different bills/responsibilities for a period of time and then pay one off or send a nice big payment in.
I’d feel better about making a good payment but then be frustrated by pressure from other bills, and eventually realized that often the unpaid months were rolling up huge late payment fees and very little good will from the bill collectors.
Everything is computerized and all they do is look at the payment schedule. I was better off sending in a small token payment EVERY month even if my random big payments knocked down the bill total more. This keeps you off much of the automated phone call list because it simply registers you as having made a payment. #1 that regularity seems to be more important to the bureaucrats #2 many laws keep you from being harassed if you are making a good faith payment every month – no matter how small.
Good luck
“So all you mockers, atheists and women abusers, go ahead and have your fun accusing and criticizing us Christians, but you are not helping your cause, for in one day, your world could be turned upside down.”
Don’t forget to add in those Priests, Rabbi’s, Ministers, Preachers,…etc. that have sexually abused children since the creation of religion.
To put a post out that demonizes others for not following your christian beliefs, and yet at the same time makes Christianity out to be the purest, moral, and ethical form of life to live by – is in itself full blown HYPOCRISY!!!!!
You are just like the rest of them….them mockers and naysayers.
Just remember, there will come a time of reckoning, and every eye shall see truth. Right now you are blinded by your own hatred.
There are about a half dozen that post here that have that ole root of bitterness growing inside them…sad.
I am happy all the time, especially when I get to call out the mockers, so thanks to you and Json D, SC, WD, and wwti, etc etc.
You pukes have made my day again.
” I am happy all the time”. Really, I guess you never read your own posts than, if that’s your definition of ” happy”, somebody should be fitting you for a straightjacket and teaching you to eat with a plastic spoon.
I know what it is like, don’t ever what to be there again. There was a time when I was working full time just to pay the mortgage on the house and trying to live off what I made as a reservist. My ex had recently walked out on me. I was determined to keep the house so my kids would have their bedrooms to sleep in when they can to visit me.
Since I was living alone (BTW, it is damn near impossible to find a room-mate who will pay their rent like an adult). I lost money having a room-mate. During the winter (in MN) when I was home I kept the temp set
at 60 or so just to save money. My Army sleeping bag saw a lot of use. I sold ALL of my guns, to help the mortgage
I was without phone and internet for a while. I made heavy use of my church’s Wed night community meals, and their donated food items. It was by the grace of God that I survived that time and some how managed to keep my house. The irony of it all was I that since I was working full time, I made too much money to qualify for any of the welfare/public assistance programs. WTF! Not fun, let’s NOT do this again.
My male ego came into play here as well. I did have some credit card bills that I was so far behind in, that they called to offer a payment settlement. I turned down their offer. As I saw it, I had an obligation to pay them in FULL. So I was able to get very small monthly payments on what I owed. Yes it did take years to get it paid off, but I did pay back every penny I owed them.
I pray that I will never have to go through some thing like this again.