This article has been contributed by Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper and author of The Pantry Primer.
The bells are tolling on the American economy. Every day, another expert is warning us of the imminent demise of our way of life. If you’re paying attention, you can see it coming, like some huge storm system, bearing down on you. You don’t stand there and wait for it to hit you. You don’t have to be a passive victim of the economy. It’s time to sit down and take a long hard look at where your money is going. Lots of financial experts give tips about reducing your discretionary spending but what about those fixed expenses? You can free up some large sums of money by reducing your monthly output.
Most of us have a set of fixed expenses. Some of these are vital, some are not, and what is vital for me might not be important for you.
What fixed payments come out of your bank account every month?
- Mortgage/Rent
- Home Insurance
- Car payment
- Car insurance
- Cable/Satellite/Internet
- Gym membership/Exercise classes
- Loan payments
- Cell phone bill/Home phone bill
- Child support/alimony payments
- Tuition
- Extracurricular activities for the kids
Some of these, you can’t do anything about. However, some of these payments can be reduced or gotten rid of altogether.
The real question is, if your financial circumstances changed dramatically, could you afford your current lifestyle? If the answer to that question is ”No” then you need to figure out how to reduce your regular monthly output.
Keep in mind that what works for my family may not work for your family. It will depend whether your spouse is on board, how dire your situation is, and with how much importance you weigh your frugality makeover what you opt to change. Some of these measures would be drastic, and others would only cause a minor change in your lifestyle. Let’s take a look at each of these expenses individually and ask some important questions.
- Mortgage/Rent This is often the biggest expenditure that many families make each month. When you buy a house, realtors will nearly always show you homes at the top of your price range. When you are looking for rentals, most people search at the high end of their budgets. That’s fine in good times, but if things go awry, you’re stuck at that same level because banks and landlords don’t care that you lost your job or took a financial hit. Sometimes moving to a less expensive place is your only option if you wish to make big financial changes. This can free up as much as a thousand dollars a month for some families. Moving is expensive, though, and you have to figure that in to the potential savings. If you are only going to save, let’s say, $50 a month by moving, it will be more than a year before you recoup your expenses, and that is going to do little to change your overall outlook. If you are moving to drop your expenses, it needs to be a substantial monthly savings to make it worthwhile. If you own your home, consider refinancing at a better interest rate.
- Home/Car Insurance You have to have insurance so this is not an expense that you can cut out of your budget altogether. However, you can shop around for better prices. You can look into changing your coverage. Do you have duplications in coverage? For example, my insurance company offers roadside assistance for about $40 per year, but my vehicle came with 3 years of free roadside assistance. You can drop your rate further by increasing your deductible, but if you do that, be sure you have access to the deductible amount should an accident occur. If you have several cars in your family, you might not need to have rental car coverage on your policy.
- Car Payment As with a home payment, most people push the envelope and get the nicest vehicle that they can afford. What you drive is a status symbol in North America, and practicality doesn’t always come into the decisions. The best option is to get something that you can afford to pay for in full so that you don’t have a payment. Consider trading in the vehicle you are making payments on for one that you can pay for outright or make payments on for a short period of time. But if you made the decision in less frugal days, you might be what car dealers call “upside down” in your financing. That means that you owe more on your vehicle than it is worth. If that is the case, then you will basically have to pay someone to take it off your hands and that is not always worth your while. If you find yourself in that situation, the best thing you can do is use some of your freed up money to pay off your loan as quickly as possible. At least then, the bank gets less interest from you. If you have more than one vehicle, is it possible to become a one car family? This will drop your automotive maintenance costs, get rid of an insurance payment, and take away a monthly payment if both vehicles are being financed. If one of your vehicles is paid for, consider getting rid of the one that is being financed.
- Cable/Satellite/Internet This is an area in which cuts can almost always be made. We don’t have cable or satellite, but we do have the best internet available. In our home internet is vital for my job and also for my daughter’s school. Since we have internet, if we have the urge to watch something we can stream it for free online. For your entertainment needs consider something like Netflix. It’s a fraction of the price of a monthly cable or satellite bill and you can choose what you want to watch commercial free at any point in time, not just when it’s on network television. You have the added bonus of avoiding those pesky commercials too. Expect an outcry if you get rid of these services, but also know that your family will get used to it quickly. Trust me, they’ll live.
- Gym membership/Exercise Classes Being healthy is a top priority if you want to live a frugal lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend high monthly fees to do so. You can kill two birds with one stone by coming up with some productive active things to do: chop wood, build, garden or farm. If you live in a place where it’s reasonable to do so, walk instead of driving – you’ll get some exercise and save gas money and wear and tear on your vehicle.
- Loan Payments Look at paying off your debts as quickly as possible using the snowball method. Instead of just making your regular monthly payment, take the smallest debt and pay it off as fast as you can while still making your minimum payment on other debts. Once the smallest payment is paid off, take what you were paying on that and apply it to the next smallest debt, and on and on until you are beautifully debt-free! Then, once you have no debt, commit yourself to staying that way.
- Phone Bills Most people do not need both a home phone and a cell phone. One or the other will nearly always suffice. I actually don’t have either one. I use internet phone service which costs $2.99 per month for the odd telephone call I have to make and email for everything else. It takes some getting used to but you might find that you welcome the peace of people being unable to interrupt you just as you sit down to dinner. You can free up a lot of money each month by getting rid of the phone, but expect people to look at you strangely when they ask for your number and you say, “I don’t have one.”
- Child Support/Alimony Payments There really isn’t a lot you can do about this kind of monthly expense. These numbers are set by the courts and you will go to jail or have assets seized if you don’t make them. As a single mom, I can tell you that there were times when we depended on child support payments to buy our groceries, so the argument can be made that if you have children, it’s your responsibility to make these payments.
- Tuition If your child is in college or a private school, tuition payments are a fixed expense that you can’t really do much to reduce. You can apply for scholarships, but aside from this, the price is the price. You don’t want your child to start off adult life in debt if you can help it, so if you can find a way to make these payments instead of using student loans, you are giving your son or daughter the biggest possible gift: financial freedom.
- Extracurricular Activities for the Kids This one really depends on your family. If your child is just killing time, then the extracurriculars may not be of high importance. On the other hand, if they are a talented athlete or budding musician, you may find this is a very worthwhile expenditure. Some families who homeschool look to extracurricular activities as a way for their kids to socialize with their peers, and that is also very important. If the activity is not a serious pursuit, sometimes it can be replaced with lower cost activities through the local community center or YMCA. Some children are really over-programmed, with an evening activity every day of the week and two on weekends. Kids need downtime and the freedom to just go outside, climb a tree, and look at the clouds floating by.
It’s far better to make these changes before you’re forced to do so by circumstances. If you can reduce your fixed monthly expenditures, you’re less likely to default on things that are true necessities, like keeping a roof over your head and food in the cupboards. I would prefer to control the cuts myself rather than have the decisions made for me by foreclosures or repossessions.
Despite what the government wants us to believe, the financial situation in this country is not getting better, and it isn’t going to improve for a very long time. The economic storm is bearing down on us, and the most important preparation you can make right now is to figure out how to weather it.
Have you made any dramatic changes to your fixed expenses? What advice can you give to people who are just beginning to make these changes? Please share your suggestions in the comments below.
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: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months. 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]
If you enjoyed this article, please Vote for The Organic Prepper as a top prepping web site.
You forgot obongocare !!
More important than what expenses to try and cut,
is the will to say No to ones perceived needs and
wants.
Dandy article though, Daisy.
LOL!
http://www.callthecops.net/connecticut-halts-plans-round-firearms-finding-cops-state-list/
EXCELLENT!!!
You could have told us this was a satirical site when you posted this article. Not funny at all.
VENEZUELA RIOTING WORSE THAN UKRAINE AS CARACAS IS LITERALLY ON FIRE! warning, media blackout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3OiAuoH-lo
The point is not whether you register or turn in your guns, it is becoming a felon when you don’t. Then they can come and take them “legally” from a “felon” and there’s nothing anyone can do about it but shoot them in the driveway. Then, they can justify droning your home or whatever they want to do.
Once you become a felon, you’re done.
We can’t let this get any farther than it has.
Time to make history.
http //www.nationallibertyalliance.org/
If we build a “Common Law” Grand Jury, the people will come.
http //www.nationallibertyalliance.org/what-happend-constitution
NEW YORK IS NOW FULLY CONSTITUTED.
Florida looks like it will be second in the nation to be fully constituted.
All of the original 13 colonies will be fully contituted.
Then on to the rest of the 3142 counties nationwide.
Connecticut is scheduled for next Saturday 3/15 at 10am in Hartford.
Rhode Island is scheduled for next Saturday 3/15 at 2pm in East Providence
Join us!
That article is B-E-A-UTIFUL if it is completely true.
This goes to show not all cops are pigs. Most cops hate a lot of things about their jobs and things that they are asked to do.
I guess it is understandable when you put your life on the line everyday, and have to deal with shit-bags on a consistent basis.
Bottomline is this….In a real SHTF/WROL scenario, I think that the majority of Cops WILL WALK…they won’t take illegal orders and they will STAND DOWN.
What we have to fear is the minority…the gung-ho, immature, and power enamored types, who probably haven’t been in a real gun fight, but are itching for trigger time. You see it in the military as well
LOL!
http://www.callthecops.net/connecticut-halts-plans-round-firearms-finding-cops-state-list/
Didn’t I say that many LEO’s would stand between you and the NWO? Not every cop is a pig. Not every government employee is a thug. Not every Representative of the People is a Traitor.
Make a list. Check it twice. Know who has been naughty and who has been nice in YOUR neck of the woods before you engage as all politics are local. You will know them by their fruits. They will expose themselves. You are responsible for the Republic where you live.
Organize, communicate, volunteer, donate, and vote. Form teams. Create a Freedom Cell. The Republic belongs to US if WE can keep it. Make every ballot count on Election Day. 🙂
The site states that it is satire. This article, unfortunately, is not real.
Actually in a DIFFERENT story posted elsewhere, a Connecticut Peace Officers Association sent a letter to the State with the signatures of 250 LEO’s who refuse to comply on Constitutional grounds.
(I thought the link was referencing THAT story. My bad.)
So while it would make the job of LEO’s easier and a lot safer, many Patriots in the ranks will refuse to enforce an UN-Constitutional order.
Praise God for these Patriots!!! 🙂
dk
“I refuse”!
“You will be terminated and loose your pension”.
“Ok I’ll do it”.
E-Gads. Did he just call cops, “Patriots”?
Talk about, Cop-Worship.
Just lick their boots already.
Making Cop-Worship Mandatory
http://www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2014/03/making-cop-worship-mandatory.html
DK, It looks like you are getting a good beating down. Keep smiling!
Sorry DK, but I’ll have to agree with kevin2. Still, there are a few that will say “OK, I’ll do it.” and then hopefully, during the raid, something will go “horribly wrong” and, somehow, that one or two guys on the “team” will be the only ones to survive, no weapons found.
Most cops have become the enemies of the people. They’re exempted from the firearms laws, or at least their buddies look the other way, and so they don’t care.
WTF is wrong with you? Go troll elsewhere asshat.
He’s not trolling, he’s just reading the article and the site its on. I read this last week. It is satire.
Conn. Cop: I Will Kick Down Doors To Confiscate Guns
“His words straight out were, ‘I cannot wait to get the order to kick your door in’”
http://www.infowars.com/conn-cop-i-will-kick-down-doors-to-confiscate-guns/
Yes, every cop is a pig.
People In Gooberment Service. A.k.a. in service to the empire and nothing but revenue collectors and enforcers for the power elite. Ya gotta be ignorant or PAID For to see it any other way.
durango kidd,
There is an exception to every rule, so based on that, I cannot argue that “not every cop is a pig”. When “push comes to shove” I won’t be betting my life on that cop being on my side. You live as you wish, I’ll do the same.
Fair enough. 🙂
My wife’s favorite saying…… Desire What You Have
Good thing!!! You get a thumbs up.
Most people are convinced they all those things, and they will sacrifice reality to maitain the illusion of luxury. Good luck convincing anyone to cut the unneccessary items from thier expenses.
“Give me convienience, or give me death” – The Dead Kennedys
On a serious note, this article on VT is very important, and one most people will never take seriously:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/03/10/mind-control-in-the-21st-century/
Anyone look at the article and notice practically all of it is NOT Truly required. Mostly it’s stuff people wouldn’t have if they used their brain, the big one. Mortg is paid, I saved, I had 1/3 down and paid extra every month. Car payment, didn’t own one till was 23 paid cash, GYM Membership GET REAL! Go to the Salvation army buy a $5 Backpack, steal 60# of dirt, walk. Loans? STOP USING CRFEDIT CARDS. alimony-Stop thinking with the little brain. A lot of the rest isn’t NECESSARY. Internet Vital? since when?
The internet is vital for me. I buy and sell stuff online. If I don’t have internet I don’t have an income.
That’s fine BC, in that case it’s not a personal expense it’s a cost of doing business. If the time comes it does not pay for itself then it can be a problem?
So you can tell us to get real
P, I agree 100%. Most of that stuff is fluff. …its why I don’t have most of it. I am a bit older but I never had that anyway. I always payed as I went. School. Cars. House (well, almost).
Most people love to “pay for the shine”. I don’t give a crap about the shine. Its like buying cows that have nice fur. YOU DON’T EAT THE FUR! You eat the meat. I’m interested in the meat.
But, modern society has brainwashed people into coveting the shine and they’ll pay for it before they’ll even worry about the meat. In this way, most people get really screwed on cars.
who would worry about
anything except food, heat, med bills and a place to live in an economic collapse??
all those other things are for people living in some dream world.
Folks,
The big trick here is to live frugally.
I make about 90K a year and live in a house I bought
25 years ago for 72K.
Is it a palace?… No. But it is comfortable enough.
I buy used cars with cash. No car payments. I have no
cable TV, but I do splurge on Internet.
I am getting a (small) bonus from work this week.
I am going to spend it on buying a Greenhouse.
I don’t own an iPod or a very big TV or Stereo.
My Friends and Family are my “Entertainment”
You DON’T have to spend much money.
Like the old commercial… “Try it, you’ll like it”
It just gets some getting used to.
But, you’ll have no “fiscal slavery”
Peace,
Dave
off subject
I see today where homeland is buying more ammo….it seems 308 sniper stuff what for??????
snake
They don’t want us to have it.
Or worse!!!
Oh they want us to ‘have it’ all right!
The way in which the prices of hogs has skyrocketed is an antecedent cause of SHTF. Pigs are flying, and nobody is reporting it. Pork is being contaminated by the PED virus. Major hedge funds are banking astronomical profits while the consumer public is in the dark. Mac Slavo, where are you?
That is not all She forgot
Four big ones…
1. Energy (electric, Natural Gas or Heating oil/Propane) This is fresh on my mind since this horrendous winter. And if you plan to cut expenses by using wood to heat, you may (in the not to distant future) get a fine or arrested by the EPA’s Swat team
2. Water Bills. Unless you are a rural dweller, many suburbs or municipalities outlaw the ability to drill for a well
3. Gasoline. At over $3/gallon since Obama has been in office, this expense is really killing a lot of families, not to mention independent truck drivers
4. Healthcare Insurance. Even if you don’t have Obozocare, your individual policy or your employer subsidized policy has become more expensive and covers less and less with higher deductibles.
We need to keep in mind that this is all by design…its the implementation of the NWO AGENDA 21 plan….make ALL of the things necessary to live on and consume….. unaffordable to the masses. Transfer/redistribution of wealth. Make more people beholden to the government.
And Of course the Fed conveniently factors out food and energy in their already fudged inflation statistics so that they can spread false propaganda and brainwash the sheeple…making things seem “not so bad”.
It’s time that WE THE PEOPLE call for the end of the EPA, The FED, The NSA, The IRS, and Take out this entire corrupt administration…either peacefully, or by armed force via a coup if necessary.
The Politicians will NOT aid us in changing things….I am afraid we will have to take back the Republic ourselves…and the voting process has rampant corruption.
You can drill a well yourself in secret and not tell anyone about it. I have the equipment to put in one whenever I want. There are lots of instructional videos online.
Good article Daisy. Thanks for contributing again!
God Bless,
NP
Re: Some of these, you can’t do anything about. However, some of these payments can be reduced or gotten rid of altogether.
I agree. For those people who need to make a lot of long distance calls (for business, family members living out of state, etc.), there are a number of options that could save money on telephone expenses.
We use a Vonage line in the office for all non-local telephone calls. The plan we chose provides for unlimited calls for about $37 (includes taxes) per month.
We can always sell a kidney. It seems in the UK that is the temp fix.
Call 1-800-ISRAEL
Since you got off topic, I will take the Liberty.
Not to offend but to offer GOOD NEWS!
Press Release
Public Meeting for the Purpose of Constituting for The Reinstatement
Of a Providence County Common Law Grand Jury
“Whenever people are well-informed they can be trusted with their own government”
– Thomas Jefferson
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT – We the People will be holding a meeting to Constitute for The Reinstatement of a Common Law Grand Jury here in Providence County at the East Providence Public Library 41 Grove Avenue East Providence, RI 02914, on Saturday March 15th at 2:00 PM. There will be a 35 min Presentation starting at 2:00 PM and a vote by showing of hands will be at 2:35 PM.
All participants will then be invited to register for the Common Law Grand Jury.
Weaver Memorial Library
41 Grove Avenue
East Providence, RI 02914
401-434-2453
NEW YORK STATE IS FULLY CONSTITUTED.
Florida is not far behind and will likely be second to be fully constituted.
RI has a shot at being third in the nation due to our small size.
Connecticut is scheduled for next Saturday 3/15 at 10am in Hartford. Rhode Island is scheduled for next Saturday 3/15 at 2pm in East Providence
Locations to be announced tomorrow.
We will first concentrate on the Original 13 Colonies, then —-
The rest of our Nation’s 3142 Counties will be constituted.
http://www.nationallibertyalliance.org/
HONOR * JUSTICE * MERCY
Ohedge: While central bankers and politicians alike celebrate the great recorvery in the UK, the nation is increasingly divided between the haves and have-nots (or Londoners and non-Londoners). In no way is that more clearly evident that a dreadful new trend that, as The Sunday Post reports, desperate Brits are turning to Facebook to advertise their organs for sale at up to $50,000 despite the medical and legal risks involved.
And this my friends is exactly WHY it’s a good idea to monitor the foreign news! thanks for the heads up.
I’m in the UK, I had NO idea things were getting that desperate for some! I myself only escaped Londistan in the autumn last year for a modest existence in a reasonable location.
No car or house debt, but online school fees & internet etc are ongoing. Also have to factor in therapy costs for the sprog.
Daisy – what about utilities? House we are buying has a woodstove to supplement the regular gas supply, and I need to save for a solar electric set up as my next big purchase. Property taxes don’t go away just cos you’ve paid off the note to the bank either.
Gym membership – do some WORK you fool! Garden, chop some logs, build a hen house, go catch some rabbits. You could even do the housework. Wanna do something “hardcore”? It’s spring so go wash all your curtains, rugs, sofa covers etc BY HAND as part of your annual household deep clean. (major prepping skill = maintaining a healthy living environment).
No to the TV bill, just NO. Clear your mind instead.
I cut firewood, garden,hike/backpack for days at a time, weld/fabricate AND have a gym membership (35$ a month) and I can afford it. I dont have cable etc, you know, couch potato stuff. I use my gym for heavy weight lifting. I can lift alot of weight. go to bodybuilding.com bodyspace user is bryantone there is a pic on my space.
@lonelonemum
would solar or wind be better, look into it before the initial investment. even placement of either is crucial.
Depends on the availability of wind in your area.
Today with solar panels, regulators and inverters being SOOOO cheap I would but in the best of wind areas go totally solar.
Lone, we don’t have property taxes in the UK…you know that so why imply we do. We have a council tax…is it that you are referring to?
With no respect to Daisy, who is a good friend of mine you would be better off sorting out how to reduce your own utilities as once again our system bears little resemblance to the US set up.
Daisy’s bills are way more expensive than mine are for a start. Domestic gas is also not common in the US, propane being more common.
I suggest you use some of your prepping skills to work out things as simple as reducing utility costs Lone, you may find the reason they were not in the article is because it’s so simple it didn’t need mentioning.
Burt
Yes I was referring to council tax Brit as you being from the UK are well aware – it’s the UK equivalent and this is a US site.
Fairly normal to adjust your vocab to match the majority of your audience rather than give a separate definition of sidewalk and pavement or program and programme each time.
Keeps it simple – both are compulsory taxes based on the value of your property to provide local public services.
This is a forum for sharing ideas, not a court room.
Cable/Satellite/Internet —– At least KILL YOUR TELEVISION!
Gym membership/Exercise classes —– WTF! If you have one of these, somethings not right. Go dig a garden! Walk! Cut Some Firewood! Stop Eating all the Shit! Stop Drinking! Stop Smoking! GET A LIFE! Think of all the crap that goes with this..?. Not just the “membership”! Gas to get there.. Exercise outfit. Cause you know you’ll get one. 2 Diet Pops after the workout to “quench” your thirst! More gas to get home and then your so damn tired you best just stop and get a couple cartons of Hung Woo Mew to go. And some rice…. Go home lay on the couch eat Mew and watch some boobtube……
Extracurricular activities for the kids.
Spend some time with them and teach they what they need to know. Make it fun. Go camping. They don’t need dancing lessons or soccer or tennis or football or skating lessons or anything else that cost money. What they need is you!
Private School?? (Cause that’s so much better?)
Here’s the deal. When I read this list I had to snicker a bit. Out of the ten up there I need to pay my taxes, insurances, phone and internet. With the economy as screwed up as it is now days you need to eliminate most of that junk. The pitiful thing is the list doesn’t even include FOOD or CLOTHING or MEDICAL or INCIDENTALS (busted car, busted HVAC, EMERGENCIES that cost money! ???????
Kill the TV. I did that once and my Pastor said you do not have a calling to destroy TV’s. I since try to leave it in a dormant state…
4 of the 10 are NA to me. A couple others could be trimmed somewhat. Losing satellite/internet will cause family mutiny….even though we have a bottom tier plan.
But there is always hope that they’ll realize the huge waste of time/money it is.
I’ll give my debt to anyone who wants it.
Forget it, wrong.
My lonely one thumb up for saying basically
the same thing tells me that road is going
to be a long trip for many folks.
As the tele-evangalists say “Put one hand on the TV, and your other hand on your wallet, and send all your money to me”….
In my best Earnest Angley voice…
Who was the married couple that always did that on TV. The makeup always ran on the woman… Tammy ???? She was gross!
Wrong, that was Tammy Faye Bakker, Jim Bakker’s wife, PTL ministry. Those 2 were so ugly. Must have been made for each other.
Jim and Tammy Baker, and he went to jail for wrongfully using church money on things like a air conditioned dog house, just saying…
Right… Now I remember that idiot. Air conditioning for the dog house. Maybe it was for Tammy. BARK BARK!
By the way, he went to prision for the misuse of money, his wife remarried, his son went into preaching…
Never judge a book by it’s cover, but in this case…
IRS is not a good book review to go by…
Eppe, I remember the tele-evengelists all too well. Nothing but crooks. Remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker of PTL Ministries? Remember the “air-conditioned doghouse” they had for their doggy? Now those were nothing but crooks, period!
They had a lavish lifestyle but what’s the big deal about an air conditioned dog house? Jim Bakker misappropriated funds and they had a lavish lifestyle. That was a big deal.
He’s back in the ministry. It’s smaller now. Maybe he’s changed since 1987. I hope so.
was he the one that got caught eating some p#$%$y (not tammy’s)and had to repent on tv? A couple of hookers too.
Tammy Faye shriveled up and died a few years ago. Jim has a new show and is now pushing survival food.
One tele-evangelist got through to me on my phone. I wasn’t paying attention to the caller-ID.
He made me feel guilty that I hadn’t sent him (and God) some money…so I took three 20’s out of my wallet and scanned them to my computer. I sent them to him via email because it is quicker, and called it good.
My other choice is—I’ll throw my money into the air, and what God wants, he’ll KEEP.
Wrong, excellent points. I quit smoking back in Dec. and it’s one of the best things I ever did. I do get involved in other activities. Can’t be on a computer all the time. I stay active. I quit drinking in 1982. never had any drug issues at all. I believe in keeping a clear head at all times; literally all of the time. I’m in good health; better than a lot of other people at my age or close to it. I take care of myself the best that I can.
@ky
if you already pay for internet, try magicjack. about a $50 initial investment, but free phone service for a year from the day you start using it. if you like it, about $20 a year after that. it is just voip, and doesn’t sound the greatest all the time, but basically free phone. I’ve used it for two years, and plan to do so from now on.
it’s not perfect, but it works good for me.
if you need a cell phone, buy a tracfone from walmart, skip the minute deals and buy a year for about $120. comes with about 1000 minutes which is plenty for emergency only type of calls.
my phone bill last year was $20, plus probably about $10 (electricity) to keep cheap laptop plugged in 24/7.
just a heads up on the magicjack, it’s not wireless.
Can’t use Magic Jack if you get your internet from the phone company. And cable tv costs too much, even for the smallest package.
Ever the practical prepper, huh Daisy?
Nice thought provoking article w/ a common sense review of our options.
Kudos girl!
Mac if you could please help n.o.;Op get his web site off the ground. Maybe he will be like the pied pipper and lead some of these wolves in sheeps clothing away, before they mislead the faithful. Trekker Out.
Why. He is already censoring. He started it because he ran out of other people’s bandwidth to use.
But if you hate Israel. Just because they are Jews. And love to bash them it will be an in place to be. Like the gay bars of the 80s.
And you know there will be no origail content at all.
MT. I may of misunderstoog your true reason to promote the site. Had to read your post a few times. But I think it would be better to stay clear. Who knows what evils the Coco Puff Lord may spawn.
I hope too many don’t miss understand, but to make it clear. I won’t be spending to much time there. I do hope all those jew haters will spend more time there than here. But sure hope he don’t ban me. Trekker Out.
Facebook-
Ummmm….I wouldn’t advertise your past 1980s ‘gay bar thingy’ too much here.
..folks may draw the wrong conclusion!
There is a lot of unnecessary things that people do. Just ask yourself this, do I really need this? People can cut costs a lot. Using coupons are a pain, but they really add up on what you use. Also buying meat and other items that are reduced at the market is a big saver. Little things add up. Old grandma that said to turn off the lights adds up. So does water usage. There are all sorts of money saving ways in everyone’s life. One of the top things to consider is to avoid implusive buying. Always consider any money going out is not money coming in.
BI, got your email on the Flight 370 theories. VERY interesting points that Mike Adams brought up.
How does a plane with an indestructible black box that has an on board homing signal just disappear ?
Moreover, where is evidence of the wreckage?
It has… literally… vanished.
Mike Adams brings up the possibility that a new weapons system could be at play…
http://www.naturalnews.com/044244_Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370_vanished.html
They say they can’t find the “Black Box” Does that mean it’s true?
yes this could of been shot down by someone but they want to find out by who before they let the public know or how to add icing to the cake before they tell us or make something up. I think China could of shot that down with their weapons or a bomb on board. But no wreckage at all makes me wonder. Im sure they have recorders with the satallites basically to tape everything around the world they want to and review it later to see what they want to look at. Or someone that was on a hitlist on that plane or a high target. We wont know the truth.
Clint
Wasn’t there a movie about a guy that built and earth quake machine, and he used it to shoot down an air plane.
I can’t think of the movie, but the computer system was on a train and it used a satellite to shoot a beam to make earth quakes. HELP!
Just a thought.
Sgt.
Here is another look at the missing plane, YES I know it is a far out conpsiricy site, but sometimes they could be right, not saying they are, or not, just interesting to think about…
http://beforeitsnews.com/events/2014/03/malaysia-plane-crash-20-all-electric-car-linked-green-tech-passengers-on-board-names-released-2432738.html
wasn’t there also a movie about a high jacked jumbo jet that the terrorists sank full of people and air/ oxygen tanks and held its location till the ransom was paid ??
and the whole movie was one big rescue mission
just saying
and no i am not involved LOL
skittle shittin unicorn
Try this on for size:
http://criminalisewar.org/klwcc_palestine/
that plane 777 is almost all composite which means a huge debris field, so more than likely it was hijacked and the transponders invalidated and the plane went under the radar ( low altitude) this is not the first large jet to disappear, the others were not passenger jets, If so then i would say it will be used for some evil project in the near future. they know that the black boxes would be showing a signal and if they are not then, think about it? most logical
Agreed. Modern aircraft like the Boeing 777 do NOT ‘just disappear’ without a trace. Even with the long range enroute air traffic control radars tracking it, it would at the very least show what’s known as a ‘primary’ radar return, which is the minimum you can see without the fancy alt reporting, call sign, and 4 digit transponder numbers. Even if the plane exploded from high altitude, you would still get (excuse the phrase) ‘aluminum showers’. Parts and pieces WOULD come down, period. Where are they? Bueller? Anyone?
My guess is an explosion or detonation so complete…there were no major parts or pieces left. Particle beam anyone? Funny how the strange weapons come our right before the war drums start getting louder.
The big question is: If this were an exotic weapon strike, WHO used it?
The aircraft did not ‘just disappear’. It crashed for reasons yet unknown in the Gulf of Thailand. The waters there are shallow, less than 200 feet, and the bottom is planar silt. It’s down there, and will be found in a day or two, the pieces are going to stand out like stones thrown on a concrete slab.
I’m putting my money on the two stolen passports. The users of the passports were going to Beijing, then on to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a hotbed of Muslim fundamentalism, and I think terrorism is going to be the culprit once the plane and debris is found.
Sorry for the double post—I meant my comment for you, Smokey.
Here’s a link to the photos they say are the illegal passengers…look at the one on the left and notice that the bottom half of the pic is THE EXACT SAME as the pic on the right. You can even see the white line through it, it is a composite of two pics.
http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/885/8966/original.jpg?w=600&h
Rail gun from a loaded satellite?
New tech daily,really do not see”vaping “a black box a big deal,that said,like the idea of alternate universes,hope it is a nice one for passengers if that was the case.
Isn’t this a lot like that Stephen King movie, The Langoliers?
Might get way into fact being stranger than fiction and research the Russians last century and the Unified Field Theory. It seemed to me, before the websites I was following went dark, the Russians were opening portals. What I think might have happened is the jet fell into another dimension/portal.
could you imagine that plane landing at sometime around 1600 or something what they would think. Or even 200 years into the future. wish that would of been someone else beamed into the distance past around 1000ad.
Clint-
Actually, I’d pay for first-class seating for Obama, his handlers & all congressional democrats/RINOs, for a time-warp transport into the far future, per H.G. Wells “the Time machine”…
…just to see if the ‘MORLOCKS’..would eat SHIT!!!!
Be Informed…kudos to you! Just got home and read about he earthquake in California. I look forward to your forecasts because they are right!
Howdy, BI, and once again I agree. Another good article by Daisy. One thing I’ve always managed to avoid is using credit for anything, mainly because my income level is too low for it. no mortgage, no car note, no credit card bill, etc. for me. so I always have more money to save and/or spend on preps at one time than I would have otherwise. A credit card is something I vehemently refuse to hsve. I’m not about to sacrifice anything just to have a high credit score and make a minimum payment on the card balance every month. I like to be able to eat also. My money is invested only in the things I know will keep me alive. I’m not interested in any gadgets. Debt will become meaningless once TSHTF.
Sir(s),
Where’s the plane? it’s been 4 days now. :=(
warm regards.
D-
De plane..de plane!
..its hidden at the end of the runway..in a clandestine hanger disguised as a giant Tiki-bar..
..somewhere, on Fantasy Island!
@hunter,
no kidding..hmmm.
@BI, It all comes down to learning to distinguish what is yours and what is not. I was hunting with a license for exotics in Texas and I kept seeing all kinds of beautiful whitetails. Needless to say, I was sorely tempted, but, I was able to to overcome my temptation by accepting the fact that those whitetails did not belong to me. Next time, with the proper license, it will be a different story!
@Mac, I keep wondering if the plan crashed into the jungles of VN or Cambodia. The fact that there was not distress call suggests something sudden and catostrophic happened. Another tragedy!
shopping around for the best price for insurance is time well spent
personal examples
I had been with the same auto insurance for years
every year the price went up a bit
I never thought anything of it
prices go up ,right??
I was paying $160 a month
I switched to another company
same coverage $70 a month !!!
same was true for homeowners insurance
I found the same policy for $500 a year less
just because you have been doing business with the same people for years
doesn’t mean they are looking out for you
Many insurance companies offer a discount if you have insurance on your automobiles and your homeowners.
When we added our home insurance to the same company that provided our auto insurance, the homeowners premiums decreased significantly.
No offence, but if most of the people on this site did not already know this information then I guess we are nothing but sheeple too. This list of information sounds a bit condescending and juvenile in nature.
As for tuition expenses, how about the kid helping to pay for college by working part time? That might save a bit of money.
I think everyone should have a phone, cell or land line, especially if you have kids.
The kids are paying out $1000 a year for high-priced textbooks in college. That’s certainly one expense that can be cut, either buy them used when available, or, you can carefully select a few courses that you can get through without even buying the required text.
Some texts are available online or through Kindle-type applications.
Some kids are selecting courses solely to cut the textbook costs, though, taking useless credits to save a few bucks. Not smart, that can hurt you the rest of your life.
My son graduates in May from college. He’s gotten every one of his books used. Most online. In 4 years he says he hasn’t spent more than $750.00 total. He’s starts his new job end of May. He’ll be making more than his old man!
Congrats to you and your son, wrong.
To you for the tenacity to get him there.
To your son for picking up the ball and
running it to his ultimate goal.
I feel your Pride.
I give most of the credit (besides my son) to my wife for the excellent job she did Home Schooling! I worked my tail off so she could stay home and teach. Worked out pretty good. Next years Christmas present best be a big one from him. Maybe that new rifle???
Kudos to you/your wife & your son, Wrong!
..and to OutWest for being magnanimous enough to extend a congrats!!!
..some good folks here at Mac’s.
———————–
P.S.> ..ask for a killer scope too!!!!!!!!!!
@wrong, Congratulations to you, your wife and to your son! Sounds like he has learned to be frugal and wise already! Combine that with his book learning it should take him a long ways.
Hope you get what you wish for, including the scope!
The cost of textbooks depends greatly on what school and what program you are taking. Professional schools can easily have $200 per class in books and reading packets and that was true 15 years ago. Engineering, medicine, and finance textbooks for graduate courses and doctoral research are particularly expensive but those are ones you really want to own and keep. Individual books regularly run $100 to $250 each. Amazon does help though and always has better prices than college bookstores. I’m years past my MBA and PhD but I’m still paying $200+ per month for reference books related to mining and chemical refining but those are all work related expenses.
Daisy makes some valid points and yes…these should be commonsense to most folks. What’s not discussed is the continual ‘paring down’ and ‘whittling away’ of our lives in general. We are giving up more and more each year to make ends meet, regardless of our incomes. I found one of the biggest savers is getting rid of our greatly reducing ‘sin’ expenses like smoking or drinking. You’d be surprised how much money you can save by NOT going to the bar all the time, or giving up smoking altogether. (Don’t be hater…jus sayin!)
Other factors depend on geographical location rather than just money.
For instance, not everyone can use internet based phones reliably due to their connection speeds. Vonage, MagicJack and others all require a minimum connection speed to use the service. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to utilize those services.
As our grandparents (and others) who survived the ‘great depression’ we all need to become smarter and more frugal, whether we like it or not.
The good old days? That was yesterday!
Good article Daisy! Thank you!
As the economy weakens, more people will have to face stretching their income to stay afloat.
I believe learning to “do more with less”, will become a way of life.
If a person cannot use an internet based phone reliably due to their connection speeds, a TracFone is about $8.50 per month if you don’t go overboard yacking on it. Even then, it might cost you twenty bucks.
I Really don’t understand those who say giving up cable would cause a riot in their house. Who is the parent? Or, who wears the pants? And, yeesh, TV rots your brain. The least you could do is just rent a DVD here and there, or do some ultra savings and just watch films on VHS purchased used for 38 Cents at a yard sale.
It’s not being cheap. It’s being frugal.
off topic
kinda of
but expect energy costs to increase substantially in the future
example
NatGas Nightmares & The Descending Deep State
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-10/natgas-nightmares-descending-deep-state
excerpt
“Contributing to our own country’s excessive vanity in the arena of nations is the mistaken belief that we have so much shale gas of our own that we barely know what to do with it. This is certainly the view, for instance, of Speaker of the House John Boehner, who complained last week about bureaucratic barriers to the building of new natural gas export terminals, with the idea that we could easily take over the European gas market from Russia. Boehner is out of his mind. Does he not know that the early big American shale gas plays (Barnett in Texas, Haynesville in Louisiana, Fayettville in Arkansas) are already winding down after just ten years of production?”
in only ten years
these fields are already playing out
Satori
this was all predicted by OBOZO when he ran the first time he said and i quote
” your energy costs WILL necessary have to rise under my admin”
this is all planned out by him and the enviro wackos use up all of the US supplies and then go hat in hand to Russia and the EU for energy
skittle shittin unicorn
We flare more natural gas in Texas than we sell. That is: just burn it in open air. In some areas of west Texas the night sky is lit up Orange from all the flares.
Running out of easily obtainable oil and gas is an inevitability. If we were a little smarter about what we do with what we still have, would help delay that inevitability.
When the eroei for hydrocarbon extraction falls to negative, the entire world will suffer. The people or countries in control of a positive eroei on hydrocarbons will rule the world. No way to get around the facts. No sir.
Just saying.
I cannot believe there hasn’t been an article on the RFID chip being implanted in people in the great state of Wyoming. Another step toward the Mark of the Beast. Do a Google search on Hanna Wyoming. Amazing how many people that are OK with this. Irregardless of your thoughts on Tattoo’s it seems many have them on their necks and faces, so the mark on your forehead will also be pretty exceptable. Trekker Out. Ignorance Is Bless!
MT
I’m sorry but this is the first I heard of this. WTF!
Can you show us where we can find more info on this.
This pisses me off.
Sgt.
Sarg this the only way I have been able to find out anything on this. Heard it on Casper News last night. I did a google search on Hanna Wy RFID this is mind blowing to me. Maybe some one that is a little more computer saavy than I can come up with a link. Trekker Out. No Chip Or Mark For Me!
mt
that story is a hoax
Robert this story may very well be a hoax. Guess it ain’t the first, and won’t be the last one spread on the net. If so, hate it that I helped to spread it. Trekker Out.
MOUNTAIN- I aint that puter savvy , but i spent 20 min
lookin for something , even looked for Hanna,s twp office site for info.
Cant find anything .
Hammer don’t want to keep this going, I said Google but my search engine is Yahoo. But on your search engine just type in Hanna Wy and you should get the story. Trekker Out.
What is Mac Slavo giving up?
Jew hating, I hope…
+1 to that. It can’t be doing his site clickmeter any good to see that junk filling the forum. I Know when it gets bad I tend to avoid the site for days at a time.
How about power cost (Electric/Fuel) for heating your home?
Over all great article. Thanks!
It is all a matter of priorities. We will just have to do with out when the time comes.
What you should be doing now is taking a good hard look at thing and figure out what you are going to cut when the time comes and not wait until it arrives.
For Mrs. Sgt. and I we have already started cutting back and with the extra money we have been buying silver. Just an idea for you folks out in the world.
I have finally reach the goals I set on several items so I will not be spending any more money on them. I will for right now direct that money into other areas.
(FOOD, AMMO, SEED, PM, WATER, and POWER EQUIPMENT.)
A.S.M.S.
Sgt
Sarge,
I told my sweety if things get real expensive from inflation or something im just going to start turning stuff off,,, told her if she wants power and cable and stuff she can pay for it, needless to say it didnt go over too good,, but at what point is it just a waste of time and money?
So anyway, “will just do without”
Only outside expenses i can see paying for one way or another will be fuel for truck and tractor, misc food stuff or hygene stuff if its available and not able to be made or substituted, and medical when needed.
Everything else will be dropped.
Farmer, it is great to have a wife that hates the tv damn near as much as I do. We get free tv and wifi on antennas. I don’t have anything to do with the talmudvision but she likes judge judy and dr phil. (go figure) but she is i total agreement it is not worth ten cents a month, but free.. ok. The antenna was attached to the roof when I bought the place or we would have nothing.
Well sarge , you are gonna hate this as well.
EPA declareing war on wood stoves .
I will freeze to death , its all i got.
link below-
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/17776-epa-wants-to-snuff-out-wood-and-pellet-stoves
epa can suck a big donkey ….!
Really!! What the hell is next,
banning beachfires for roasting
marshmallows and hot dogs on a
stick in the evening.
They have already made me an outlaw.
DICK!! There fify.
Thanks for the help 🙂
Starve the Beast, go Galt.
Thats where Im at these days,,,
And am about to dive even deeper into that pool!
Uh……Kula,I seem to remember mention of a Hoyt recurve bow recently posted here by someone,hm….,who could that be?!
Yes, items 3,5,6,7,8,9,10 taken care of.
In regard to cable/satellite/internet, we will need in the future to be able to see events happening in the world. Must stay connected. You and I will be ordering more from the internet as retail stores close. Plus, another way to control your buying and keeping you at home more instead of driving and shopping.
In regard to road side assistance, WHO DO YOU WANT HELPING YOUR DAUGHTER, YOUR CHILD? If you have none, it is your call. Who do you want to come……?
Phone bills….I have a land line and I have a cell phone. There has been times one worked, one did not, but never both out at the same time.
And finally, if we all did a spring cleaning of our storage areas and such, we would all be amazed at the stuff we couldn’t find and thought it was lost and suddenly you have two of each.
But do not be fooled, prices are going to go up…….
May have to work all day just to buy bread or gas……
Everybody be safe……..it is getting dangerous in the world….
Seems to me the world got along pretty good for a long time without roadside assistance and telephones, and cellphones.
That said, some insurance companies offer free roadside assistance as part of their insurance coverage for automobiles.
You might want to look into that, watching and waiting.
Other than rent, insurance and child needs a serious prepper would not have any of the other items on a to do list so I’m going off topic.
Has anyone seen the new black shopping channel(may not be new, I don’t watch much TV) on dish network, I believe it’s channel 221? Absolutely disgusting to say the least. Might as well bring this up since I’m on a race based discussion. Has anyone noticed the percentage of black’s in government? I thought affirmative action was to provide a workplace that is representative of the population though quota’s. Doesn’t look very representative of America to me. Just another thought about the continued fucking of America.
I can’t watch TV for 5min without thinking I must live in gay Africa. Disgusting.
GAY & black africa really don’t mix. In fact in many nations on that continent, to be openly gay is really to be risking your life.
Thumbs down WTF. Oh that’s right I forgot about the me-me’s. Me-me’s you say? You know hippies – yuppies – me-me’s give me give me fuck everyone else. They certainly would not agree with providing for children’s needs. Glad that’s cleared up.
Actually, maddog, I gave you a Thumbs Down because you wrote, “Might as well bring this up since I’m on a race based discussion.”
I saw banning wood stoves.
I saw TV & cell phones.
I saw roadside assistance.
I saw going Gault.
And I saw the word outlaw.
I even saw something about Tammy Baker or some such just below “Krugman” Kidd’s Cop-Worshiping.
I didn’t see much of anything about race. I don’t really care about race. What you seem to have written really had nothing to do with race either, really. It was more about consumerism and mindlessness and such.
Oh wait. There was a two-bit troll, Maranatha, with an out of place one-liner, but that wasn’t any kind of discussion.
That was just my take. I dunno about the others.
Maddog , we have DISH once again , off as soon as the weather breaks.
But yep ! lots of black entertainment and shopping channels . dont get it .
Well yes i do……….
Also alotta mexican crap as well , it never fails to amaze, OH and the muzzie channel and the commie channel.
(AL JIZ and RT ) AND i pay for it just to get a few childrens programming channels .
Go figure.
hammerhead the wife tells me we can get the content we want from the internet. We are dropping the dish/cable. Ah, no more limp dick/dry snatch commercials. That alone is worth any aggravation I might incur. I used to do the same for children’s programs. Mine are older now however I don’t think there is anything on TV that is suitable for young minds or any mind for that matter anymore. Well maybe for the ones that are a terrible thing to waste but that’s it.
You will be joining the millions yearly doing the same. If the media tribe don’t get a clue soon, they will be going the away of the printed news papers. I cannot believe the programing C R A P they try to pass off as entertainment. It is all based around sex. They cannot come up with even ONE sitcom without descending into the sewer.
You can cut expenses to Zero. The other option is to increase your income.
It’s nothing new to this or other prepper sites. But starting a hobby that can make you money is a good way to go.
Post collapse. Sewing is one way to make a living. Buy up as many spools and needles as possible. If you have the room. You can get literally store tons of clothing from yards sales for Pennies.
Shoe making will be a good one too. Will be lots of leather in abandoned cars.
Basic electronics and battery making will be useful. Turning Pennies into batteries with vinegar to power LED alarms will be valuable.
Good point SD
” The other option is to increase your income. ”
I grow veggies,
Even if i can no longer afford inputs ie fert or organic pesticides etc,
I know i can get a harvest,
That harvest will be worth more just like everything else.
So the income will go up accordingly,
Over 80% of all food consumed here is imported.
Guess im in a future growth industry!
@ Kula,
Now yer talkin’. You know who the people are that put us in this position, they live in your town and NEED what you can provide. Make them pay. Votes/Elections MUST have consequences. Don’t let the bastards get ya down!
Kula…sounds like you have a “captive”market so to speak…I hope you can cash in on it…here Im sorta outta luck in that regard…
pennies are zinc
And the old kind of dry cells that I grew up with were carbon, zinc, and an acid.
…speaking of “dry cells” have you seen hillarys face lately 😉
@gun Do your research. 1983 Pennies and newer are Copper coated Zinc. 1981 Pennies and older are 95% Copper. Then search Youtube for Penny Batteries.
On a side note. 1982 Pennies are both. You have to weigh them to determine which they are.
Use the computer at the library. Or use the free wi-fi at the Mall or other locations. I can and will move soon to get lower rent. Been holding out here for family reasons.
Electric bills in the Chicago area are set to go up 14% to 18% this summer.
maudy – Time to get out of Chicago!
Wrong, you’re right.
Actually,the time to bail Chicago was decades ago,as many corrupt cities.
maudy
what kind of work you do?
As mentioned above, there is real money to be saved in quitting smoking, drinking alcohol, using marijuana, and fast food. These things can add up to hundreds of dollars per month for just moderate consumers.
I just dodged an expensive bullet here. The gas furnace was fried one morning last week. Repairman came out next day and quoted $700 to repair. The repair was a burned-out circuit board controller. I could see the board was about a $30 board if it was on a computer, so I paid the $95 service call and went online with the part number. Found the board for $80-$140 online, paid the $80 and another $60 to ship it overnight, and installed it myself in 30 minutes. Savings : $460 minimum, $3000 maximum for a new efficient furnace, which I am sure a lot of folks would have opted for, including me.
If it had gone out in April and not March, I’d of paid a lot less to ship the board. Just wait a couple days longer. A week without heat except in one room is enough, though.
Car repairs are another good way to save big money. Change your own oil, plugs, coils, filters, etc., and keep your money in your wallet.
Cutting cable TV is a no-brainer. Now going on three years here, hasn’t bothered me one bit, and saved about $2000 in the process.
Expensive entertainment is something to cut out entirely. Sports tickets, movie tickets, concerts, that kind of thing, can all be severely curtailed and reduced to one or two special events instead of the multitude of events some folks seem to attend.
Man smokey your one tough cookie. You’ll have me working 80hrs/wk after I get home and then no fat food, smokes, beer or gongy. Sure am clad sex wasn’t included in the off limits entertainment list. Well it sure will save me money but I don’t think the wife will like you much after a week or two on our new budget when she’s having a hard time walking.
Maddog,you cut all the fun out on your wife,trust me,YOU WILL PAY!It will start with the sex being cut out!
I know but smokey’s budget doesn’t leave me much room to work with. Guess we could work on the car together, that should provide some fun for her. Thanks for helping WD.
OR WORSE !!!!!!!!!
just sayin….
Nah, I’m not that tough. Did quit smoking, and if I want more than one drink in the evening I’ll do it at home, it’s a lot less money, not that I do a lot of that.
I like to cook, so fast food is an easy giveaway.
I think I meant just go to one or two events a year, instead of the season’s tickets a lot of folks spend money on. If you go to the movies once a week, you’re watching a lot of trash. Be selective and save a bundle.
I know smokey. Just messing with ya. We do the same, hell whoever would buy an NFL ticket anymore would have to be crazy. Pay all that money to have the progressive agenda shoved down your throat while getting a cavity search on the way in. On your side all the way.
How come you guys all talk about quitting smoking and drinking but never mention making alcohol and growing stuff to smoke?
That seems kind of odd to me.
I’ve read that smoking helps to ward away many problems the elderly face. Not too mention that one former ‘world’s oldest man’ said his secret to living a long life was:
“Whiskey, Cigarettes, and Wild Women.”
Smoking will ward away the major problem faced by the elderly. Old age.
You know,believe in saving money/prepping and all that but I don’t go out and enjoy myself a few times,well,what is the fucking point!?That said,assuming it all doesn’t collapse beforehand going to a few concerts this summer,Black Crowes and Motley Crue with Alice Cooper both on the list!
We want to Sammy in Tahoe again this year.
Sturgis for me. Same bands this year.
“the fucking point” is, living through it all.
I mean, how many concerts can you go to and they don’t become the same ole same ole? [The same with watching sports].
Don’t get me wrong, concerts Are Great Fun, the first couple of times around, but after that, and in front of what we face, it seems like throwing good money after bad. And it’s not like there’s no fun in the less expensive things in life.
Dang, and how much are you throwing away? Last time I went to one forty bucks was enough for two tickets, the gas to get there (and sometimes back) a pizza and a six pack! What are you giving away to go? A 1/4oz of gold? It’s a bit much for what you get, imho.
Each to their own I suppose.
Smokey…Congrats on beating that overpriced repairman…nice markup he has going there…also good advise on fixin your own ride…Ive always done all my own…I paid a mechanic one time in my life and it took me months to fix his mess ups…never again…if I cant fix it it goes into my “parts pile”…I have the phone bill cause this internet thing is on that phone line and I have liability insurance on my old truck…other than that none of Daisys list applies to me personally…never been to a sporting event or an opera/concert of any kind so I got no high priced entertainment and watching movies is mostly out because I feel my brain cells melting out my ears viewing what most folks call entertainment nowadays dont have the time or the inclination to do so…watching the sun come up or go down…working the land or out walking under Gods sky is all the entertainment I need…Ive been told Im easily amused…guess thats true,God knows its cheap 🙂 thanks, REB
Mortgage/Rent – Home Paid for
Home Insurance – minimal
Car payment – All vehicles Paid for
Car insurance – drive carefully and not at night
Cable/Satellite/Internet – Monthly
Gym membership/Exercise classes – Bike every day
Loan payments – no loans (can’t buy it with cash, don’t buy it)
Cell phone bill/Home phone bill – Pay in advance by the minutes
Child support/alimony payments – no kids (pets, though)
Tuition – none
Extracurricular activities for the kids – extra dog bones
@ European,
I’m with you.
Since the world seems to be mired in a pile of poo, this would be an approprite time for this joke…
A US Air Force C-130 was scheduled to leave Thule Air Base, Greenland , at midnight during a winter month. During the pilot’s pre-flight check, he discovered that the latrine-holding tank was still full from the last flight. So, a message was sent to the base and an airman who was off duty was called out to take care of it.
The young man finally got to the air base and made his way to the aircraft, only to find that the latrine pump-truck had been left outdoors and was frozen solid. So, he had to find another one in the hangar, which took more time.
He returned to the aircraft and was less than enthusiastic about what he had to do. Nevertheless, he pumped the tank deliberately and carefully (and slowly) so as not to risk criticism later.
As leaving the plane, the pilot stopped him and said, “Son, your attitude and performance have caused this flight to be late and I’m going to personally see to it that you are not just reprimanded, but also punished.”
Shivering in the cold, his task finished, the airman took a deep breath, stood tall and said, “Sir, with all due respect, I’m not your son; I’m an Airman in the United States Air Force. I’ve been in Thule, Greenland, for 11 months without any leave, and reindeer’s asses are beginning to look pretty good to me. I have one stripe; it’s 2:30 in the morning, the temperature is 40 degrees below zero, and my job here is to pump shit out of an aircraft.”
“Now, just exactly what form of punishment did you have in mind?”
Have yall not read this that Daisy posted, before? I know I did about five years ago, not BASHING Daisy, but most of her writing have been taken from way earlier articles and she spruces them up with different jargon and adds a few up to date issues?
Notice how she has not posted here in a year or so?
I visit her site often, and see things that were written in the 1950’s in paperback books, and she just rewords them.
I really would like to see some ORIGINAL info from her, something that would be NEW and THOUGHT PROVOKING!!!!
AGAIN, NOT BASHING DAISY, but 95% of the artices she posts are just rehashed, rewritten, and reworked.
May the down thumbs proceed….
And all your jokes are original?
I never junk anyone…but I do upvote good comments.
Just stating the truth…
And yes, not all my jokes are original, NEVER SAID THEY WERE…
But you get a chuckle out of most of them, do you not?
But Daisy does a lot of plagurism, to a certain extent, and does claim them to be her own…
I have researched up most of her posts, and they were written earlier, just reworded.
DO your DUE DILIGENCE, like before putting money into a stock, and you will see what I mean….
eppe, I didn’t know that about daisy. sad to hear.
I wouldn’t accept someone’s word for that without proof.
What is the main cause for bestiality? Sexy animals.
I’m really pissed off at the airlines charging five bucks a drink. That’s $75 from here to Chicago.
Did you hear about the blind skunk? He tried to rape a fart.
Chicken Wing…
Eppe
That is an awful thing to say, to accuse someone of plagiarism with no evidence whatsoever. I read Daisy’s site too. Sometimes she does repeat the same information, but you can’t expect people who are new to prepping to have read every single post. Repitition is one of the most effective ways to teach anything. Plagiarism means you copied someone elses writing word for word, not that you repeat something you wrote yourself.
I think she is just trying to help people and for you to try to ruin her reputation like that just makes me think badly of you, not her.
And Braveheart, I’m surprised you’d just believe that. You’ve always been supportive of people here. I would think you’d want some evidence before turning on Daisy.
She does.
40 years ago I was reading an article about a guy who was writing down the graffiti in the pyramids and Temples in the middle East. He said there were no new jokes, the ones you hear are 3000 years old. I admit that was before Microsoft.
“If you help me find my chariot, we can DRIVE out of here.”
“How many Nubian slaves does it take to screw in a Baghdad battery?”
“Take my wives. Please.”
I junk just about everyone because 99.9% of people everywhere are total morons. I have been around for years and I was surfing the internet before it was called the internet. When me and Al Gore invented it, it was called the Innertubes. I am a true Genius and you stupid fucks are not. Too bad too, as I sure could use some intelligent conversation but it is obvious I will have to go back to looking in vain for anyone with even a shred of a brain. I come here and see a few posts and think, “well maybe this guy might have a clue”, but then he posts again ad I realize “nope he is a fucking moron.”
Yep and theyis badly inbread two.
Hey eppe? In defense of Daisy,I for one thinks she does and has done a great job! Sure maybe some things have been reposted, added to, from time to time as well as other articles? But this sight has been here for years and there is only so much stuff in these articles that you can retain and do,so imo maybe by doing repost is helping the new preppers that come on, and not having any information when we all have a tendency to get off topic occasionally .Complaining is kind of a downer that none of us need right now and the humor you post is something that is positive and helpful to the sight. Quite a few of the older posters have repeated things and i think it is all beneficial to the sight as a whole !!
Thinker
I have seen sooo many things posted here, and many are the same thing over and over. But what she is “posting” is old rehashed items. Would you like to see one I wrote in 2012? And I have tons more, but got busy.
Since you asked here we go….
Here are some of the small things that I do, that cost nearly nothing, but could help cut down cost, letting me use that money in other preps.
1) Keep your grocery bags, plastic and paper: Aside from putting together like items for storage, I take two plastic bags and they will spread around a 5 gallon bucket. Then I place a removable toilet seat on top, and take care of business. I was doing this for years at many deer camps, since getting up at 4am, going out in 32 or below coldness, was not my idea of fun. Then I would tie it up and place outside the door. Next morning it went into a pit dug for that purpose. I also keep a few in my truck, never know when you come across something, say blackberries on the side of the dirt road. Also we have not bought trash bags for small trash cans, like the ones you keep in the bathroom. Paper bags are great for coating meats with flour for cooking. I’m sure if you think about it you also can come up with multiple uses also, and it does not cost anything, since most people trash them anyway.
2) Any size soft drink bottles: I take a 2 liter bottle, wash it out and fill up with tap water, write a date on it and store in a cool dry place. Milk jugs can be used, but I have heard that the break down quicker, and do not survive as well if dropped on floor, like an earthquake would do. The 12-16 oz bottles I wash out, fill nearly to the top with tap water, and stack them in my freezer on the bottom. This serves a few purposes, once frozen, if you have a extended power outage, they will keep food longer, since it is ice. Also use them in my cooler when hunting or camping like ice. Saved two dollars on ice when on an outing. And if it gets down to it, you can always drink the melted ice water. If I do not drink it (rarely do I drink them) they go back into the freezer bottom to refreeze. Once while making a food plot for deer way out in the woods, a fellow hunter got heatstroke, and those frozen water bottles cooled him off enough so we did not have to take a trip to the ER.
3) Metal coffee cans with reuseable plastic lids: Many uses like keeping screws, bolts, nuts, etc. I can store other things like matches and fire making materials, keeping them relatively dry. At camp, I keep my toilet paper in one, because trying to use damp TP is not amusing. I even keep the plastic ones for other items also. I take my used coffee grounds and place them in one spot in my landscaped area. The worms crave used grounds, and within weeks you will have a multitude of worms. They eat and what comes out is “BLACK GOLD”, in terms of great soil for your plants, ornamental and edibles. I took a clay dirt front yard and transformed it into 3-6 inches of some great growing dirt, with zero effort thanks to worms. Great for fishing worms, can dig up hundreds very quick, since I know where they hang out.
4) Old telephone books: Aside from the fire starting usage, these can also be used as worst case TP. If you ever had to use a outhouse back years ago, old timers would keep the Sears catalogue, telephone books in the outhouse, just rip out a page, rough it up a bit, and finish the paperwork.
5) Used bread bags: I have placed black gold in the bottom, three inches deep, for seed starters. Once the plant is established, they can be planted, since the soil is settled somewhat, just cut away the bag and place in hole. I have heard that the ink on the bags are not good, so do not use for food storage.
Wasn’t going to jump in here but, geez, if you’re gonna gripe about her reposting/plaguerising etc. why not give examples of THAT in relation to THIS article? All you did was copy and paste another article she sis that had nothing to do with THIS one!
I would think that most people who’ve already read this would move on. How much NEW prepping advice have YOU come up with?
I love your jokes, best to stick to what you’re good at!
Ukraine is in big trouble. Obama called the current leader of the Ukraine and told him if he likes his Crimea, he can keep it.
You guys need to read some logical articles like Dave Hodges or listen to ME …..this economy isn’t even close to collapse because they aren’t even close to being ready
How do you make five pounds of fat look good? Put a nipple on it.
Mortgage/Rent: built home ourselves, cash as we went. Never had a mortgage on it.
Home Insurance: I keep an eye on it. Went to $740 this year, I raised the deductible to 2500 and that cut it back to $522/yr Erie Insurance.
Car payment: We save up, pay cash.
Car insurance: We drop full coverage after 5 years, and shop.
Cable/Satellite: Dish bill is 17/mo after I called and threatened to go to Direct. ( Been with Dish for 15yrs ). They knocked off 50/mo for 6 months. I’ll be calling again.
Internet: Free. ( except a few watts to run radios ) I built a tower years back, then a neighbor moved in that needed high speed and he pays for 30mb cable connection on the other side of the mountain, and radios it to my tower and back down to us. He pays for the connection and equipment.
Gym membership/Exercise classes: Between gardening, firewood cutting, sawmilling, etc, WHO has time to go to a gym ??
Loan payments: None
Cell phone bill/Home phone bill: No cell phone (total waste of money unless you have a business, IMHO) Basic home phone, no LD, we use a 5cent/min card for the few LD calls we make.
Child support/alimony payments
Tuition
Extracurricular activities for the kids: No kids.
Unmentioned items:
Food: We grow or raise most of ours….most meals are 50% or better ( often 95% ) off this place.
Water: Gravity fed spring
Sewer: Private Septic
Heat: Wood off this place
Electric: 11kw solar. They owe us $1065 as of last ‘bill’. I usually have them write us a check after March, because if I don’t keep a balance, sometimes I owe them 20-30 bucks in winter months ( made that mistake by taking it for Christmas one year ! )
Propane: Use 300-350gal/yr, but have enough storage we only buy in summer low. Own tanks, so we can shop all companies.
Vehicle Maintenance: I do nearly all…..car, truck, tractor, ATV, lawn mower, whatever. Only goes to a ‘real’ shop if I can’t get in the ‘black box’. Put a grease pit in my shop when I built it, and got, as my wife will testify, ‘every tool known to man’.
Any other maintenance: Same thing. The Maytag repairman would starve out waiting on me to call.
Entertainment: Wife teaches several line dance classes at the senior center…and takes all our excess eggs folks buy at the same time. She will come home with 50-75 bucks in her pocket from her “night out”….ahahahaaaa I install solar now and then for folks (working up a 10kw system for guy today), or do some custom saw milling, my hobbies, and make a little pocket change at it. Hobbies are great, and even better if they pay for themselves !
Life is good.
Andy,
Life IS GOOD! You have made smart decisions and they are paying off. Good on ya.
Andy,
Excellent job!
My dream shop has a grease pit and an air hoist in it.
Smokey,
I hear ya. The hoist would have been really nice, but was a little out of my price range, but the grease pit was easy to do before I poured the floor…..just dug the hole, poured a small footer, and laid 9 courses of block for a 32″ wide, 14′ long pit. Held the floor concrete back couple inches to give me a lip that support 36″ wide pieces of 2×12. Plumbed lights and air line in down there before the floor was poured. Darn Handy…..especially to reach those oil filters they like to hide on the back side of engines now days to (I’m convinced) discourage DIY.
TN Andy not sure I understand the free internet thing. What kind of tower, if you can explain a little more for the dumb women here. We are right there with you except we went to an antenna for TV. Thanks.
Anon,
Yeah, I’d go that route too, but antennae for TV doesn’t work here…..about 1 1/2 channels….ahahaaaa….mountains block the signal too much. That’s why we’ve been with Dish for so long. TV is about our only real vice.
On internet:
We have no cable/internet access up where I live, just REALLY crappy DSL from the phone company ( like 500k speed…AND they charge us 30/mo for what town folks pay 20/mo for, and get 10Mb service….how’s that for lack of competition ? ).
There ARE wireless providers out there, and about 12 years back, I built a 100′ tower at the top of my mountain, and could pick up signal from one of them. That signal was repeated to a small antennae on my roof from the tower. (using radios) Well, that provider went out of business about 5 years back, and we were back to DSL again…..no more YouTube….ahahahaaaa
Then I sold some property next to me to a geek that works from home, and needs high speed internet. So, we went to a buddy of mine that lives over the other side of the mountain, where they have cable internet (30mb….60 times faster than the 500k DSL from the phone company), and got his permission to have a cable drop installed at his place. The cable internet feed goes into a cable modem there, and then into a radio that sends the signal to/from a radio set at my tower ( line of sight, about 2-3 miles away ), then back down our side of the mountain (1/2 mile) to radios at his house and mine. My tower, My power supply (maybe a dime/day in power….radios are low watt), he pays for the cable connection and radios/support…..so my cost is about 3 bucks/mo for 30meg service.
I don’t drink that much. I spill most of it.
that makes life good.
Sounds good!
To get by during a collapse, I’ll go back to the old ways. Growing up in the inner city of Chicago we didn’t have much. We lived in an apt. 2nd floor rear. My view of the world was the alley. I slept on a fold out cot with a 1 inch thick mattress in the kitchen by the space heater until my older brothers moved out. All my clothes were hand me downs. Ate the same drab food for years. Gave me character. Never had a bike of my own. We always knew other kids had it worse, so we didn’t complain. We actually thought we were middle class! I didn’t know I was considered poor until my high school teacher told me. We didn’t have a car. We walked every where. We were all skinny back then. I broke my right leg when I was 12. I walked the 4 blocks to school carrying my own books. Didn’t bother me at all. I didn’t know a different way to do it. I figure I have an advantage if the collapse comes.
Hell you didn’t have it tough, now days it is all that and the four block walk to school everyone is shooting at you.
And you will make it cause youre tough…good on you! 🙂
Andy,what size mill you got,my friend next state over has a huge one,multiple 100’s of acres of land,mostly soft woods but still,has made a few barns of good size already for his property.
Warchild:
Woodmizer (band mill) LT-40 manual. Bought it in 1991. Finest tool a small homestead can own IF you have a decent amount of timber. My guess is it paid for itself (15k) about 10 times over by now.
Pretty much everything on my place has been built from timber on my place….plus I built 3 NICE rental houses ( oak trim inside ! ), a 40×60 and a 50×200 post framed building for a pallet operation down the road. Sawing white oak this week for more fencing around my place. I built cabinets and furniture as ‘another’ hobby in the winter….in my 35×75 shop building I’ve got about 8k in…..most of that the concrete floor. When you find yourself with lots of inexpensive lumber, you find things to build !
Nice,sounds like you have a abundance of good hardwood,perhaps any black maple?Will say on side probably wouldn’t cut black maple unless diseased,saw one on a job site years back,cut into 16″ firewood,I almost cried!
TnAndy wrote, “plus I built 3 NICE rental houses”
Suddenly, I’m reminded of a farm in N. Illinois. The farmer’s wife wrote on their website the state was raising their taxes so much, the tax was now more than the mortgage. Thus, the farm was no longer profitable.
They decided to sell and move to a small business friendly state.
Are you in a small business friendly state, TnAndy?
Are things going to get a whole lot worse before they get better? Even in the ‘small business friendly” states?
We’ll find out soon enough, eh?
Sounds like a nice setup though. The bureaucrats think so too, no doubt.
Tennessee is fairly friendly to small business.
The rentals, I sold off, the last one in 2006….right at the peak of the real estate boom ( or was it bloom ? ).
Got tired of dealing with renters, even the more “high end” renters I was hoping to attract by building NICE single family homes are often flakes and dirt bags that tear up your property and are late on the rent. ( I could write a book ).
Took that money, invested in more preps, solar power, farm infrastructure, and so on, and now avoid a LOT of taxes due to home produced food, water, power, etc.
Life is good.
Not often I get envious but Id sure like me one of those…good on you!
I don’t have half of these so it puts me way ahead of the masses but these expenses will bankrupt 90% of suburbia:
1 Mortgage/Rent — own home free and clear; just have to pay property taxes and do most maintenance myself
2 Home Insurance – fixed cost but paid a year forward
3 Car payment – none – pay cash and own free and clear
4 Car insurance – gotta pay this one
5 Cable/Satellite/Internet – cannot avoid this one but it is a work expense…
6 Gym membership/Exercise classes – just walk / ruck / hike; no need for expensive memberships. Cost is about $300 per year to replace trainer shoes every 4 months as I wear them out hiking 6 miles per day with a 25 lb pack
7 Loan payments – none; am debt free
8 Cell phone bill/Home phone bill – this one is work related and unavoidable; Verizon gets their $$$ but it is a deductible expense paid with pre-tax dollars.
9 Child support/alimony payments – none as long as I stay married
10 Tuition – none but have largely saved enough for 2 kids to go to college but will not need those funds for 7 and 11 years respectively.
11 Extracurricular activities for the kids – this could be cut way back but is not worth the fight with my wife for no
hiking 6 miles per day with a 25 lb pack, and you’re wearing training shoes?
Why not wear good boots?
Seems like for 300 Bucks you could get two good pairs and make ’em last six years.
Hiking in shoes is probably very nice and comfortable but I couldn’t imagine hiking in anything except good boots.
I use 5.11 trainers – they are light, don’t cause blisters, and don’t look tactical. This works better on hard pavement / sidewalks. For hiking on rough trails, you cannot replace boots.
Is it too early???
A married Irishman went into the confessional and said to his priest, ‘I almost had an affair with another woman.’
The priest said, ‘What do you mean, almost?’
The Irishman said, ‘Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but then I stopped.’
The priest said, ‘Rubbing together is the same as putting it in. You’re not to see that woman again. For your penance, say five Hail Mary’s and put $50 in the poor box.’
The Irishman left the confessional, said his prayers, and then walked over to the poor box.
He paused for a moment and then started to leave.
The priest, who was watching, quickly ran over to him saying, ‘I saw that.. You didn’t put any money in the poor box!’
The Irishman replied, ‘Yeah, but I rubbed the $50 on the box, and according to you, that’s the same as putting it in!’
Lemon Squeeze
There once was a religious young woman who went to Confession. Upon entering the confessional, she said, ‘Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.’
The priest said, ‘Confess your sins and be forgiven.’
The young woman said, ‘Last night my boyfriend made passionate love to me seven times.’
The priest thought long and hard and then said, ‘Squeeze seven lemons into a glass and then drink the juice.’
The young woman asked, ‘Will this cleanse me of my sins?’
The priest said, ‘No, but it will wipe that smile off of your face.’
Looks of Disappointment
A man was just waking up from anaesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, ‘You’re beautiful.’ Then he fell asleep again.
His wife had never heard him say that before, so she stayed by his side. A few minutes later his eyes fluttered open and he said, ‘You’re cute..’ The wife was disappointed because instead of ‘beautiful,’ it was now ‘cute.’
She asked, ‘What happened to beautiful?’
The man replied, ‘The drugs are wearing off.’
Catholic Dog
Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company.. One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, ‘Father, my dog is dead… Could ya’ be saying’ a mass for the poor creature?’
Father Patrick replied, ‘I’m afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church….. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there’s no tellin’ what they believe.. Maybe they’ll do something for the creature..’
Muldoon said, ‘I’ll go right away Father. Do ya’ think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?’
Father Patrick exclaimed, ‘Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn’t ya tell me the dog was Catholic?
Donation
Father O’Malley answers the phone. ‘Hello, is this Father O’Malley?’
‘It is!’
‘This is the IRS. Can you help us?’
‘I can!’
‘Do you know a Ted Houlihan?’
‘I do!’
‘Is he a member of your congregation?’
‘He is!’
‘Did he donate $10,000 to the church?’
‘He will.’
Confession
An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation ensues:
Man: ‘I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitch-hiking. We went to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times.’
Priest: ‘Are you sorry for your sins?’
Man: ‘What sins?’
Priest: ‘What kind of a Catholic are you?’
Man: ‘I’m Jewish.’
Priest: ‘Why are you telling me all this?’
Man: ‘I’m 92 years old ….. I’m telling everybody!’
Brothel Trip
An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient man and asks how old he is.
‘I’m 90 years old,’ he says.
’90!’ replies the woman. ‘Don’t you realize you’ve had it?’
‘Oh, sorry,’ says the old man. ‘How much do I owe you?’
Senility
An elderly man went to his doctor and said, ‘Doc, I think I’m getting senile.. Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up.’
‘That’s not senility,’ replied the doctor. ‘Senility is when you forget to zip down..’
Pest Control
A woman was having a passionate affair with an Irish inspector from a pest-control company… One afternoon they were carrying on in the bedroom together when her husband arrived home unexpectedly.
‘Quick,’ said the woman to the lover, ‘into the closet!’ and she pushed him in the closet, stark naked.
The husband, however, became suspicious and after a search of the bedroom discovered the man in the closet..
‘Who are you?’ he asked him..
‘I’m an inspector from Bugs-B-Gone,’ said the exterminator.
‘What are you doing in there?’ the husband asked..
‘I’m investigating a complaint about an infestation of moths,’ the man replied.
‘And where are your clothes?’ asked the husband.
The man looked down at himself and said, ‘Those little bastards!’..
Marriage Humour
Wife: ‘What are you doing?’
Husband: Nothing.
Wife: ‘Nothing…? You’ve been reading our marriage certificate for an hour.’
Husband: ‘I was looking for the expiration date.’
——————————-
Wife : ‘Do you want dinner?’
Husband: ‘Sure! What are my choices?’
Wife: ‘Yes or no.’
——————————————————–
Stress Reliever
Girl: ‘When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.’
Boy: ‘It’s very kind of you, darling, but I don’t have any worries or troubles.’
Girl: ‘We ll that’s because we aren’t married yet.’
——————————
Son: ‘Mum, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.’
Mom: ‘Well, you have done the right thing.’
Son: ‘But mum, I was sitting on daddy’s lap.’
________________________________
A newly married man asked his wife, ‘Would you have married me if my father hadn’t left me a fortune?’
‘Honey,’ the woman replied sweetly, ‘I’d have married you, NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!’
————————————————————
A wife asked her husband: ‘What do you like most in me, my pretty face or my sexy body?’
He looked at her from head to toe and replied: ‘I like your sense of humor!’
Husbands are husbands
A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the head with a frying pan.
‘What was that for?’ the man asked.
The wife replied ‘That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on it that I found in your pants pocket’..
The man then said ‘When I was at the races last week Jenny was the name of the horse I bet on’ the wife apologized and went on with the housework..
Three days later the man is watching TV when his wife bashes him on the head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious.
Upon re-gaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again.
Wife replied.. ‘Your horse phoned’
I’m on a whiskey diet. Last week, I lost 4 days.
Another thing to consider is curve balls thrown in by the government. Obamacare taxes are just one example. In the UK, the government passed emergency measures back in 2007/2008, which turned out to be a raft of economically damaging actions that wiped out most peoples wealth and income. This included crashing the currency, boosting income taxes and consumption taxes, increasing all fees for services, deliberately stoking inflation through money printing, pushing up the cost of all basic utilities, and systematically attacking all savings by dropping interest rates. It was brutal because it just wasn’t one or two things but about 15 to 20 per family. It was impossible to hedge for it unless you were totally debt free, had lots of savings and could do overseas work to make up the difference. In short, the government was deliberately trying to make the majority of the population poor and hungry: and it has worked.
They’re doing just that here in the USA.
And there is an interesting connection between the two countries: in 2009 at the G20 conference in London Obama was advised by then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on how to introduce measures to counter the economic collapse brought about by Gordon Brown’s policies of ‘light-touch regulation’ in London’s City (the world’s financial centre and the epicentre of all the scandals). It seems you are getting the Gordon Treatment: financial death by a thousand cuts in order to bring in the New World Order. Tip tip, chaps!
We are developing communities that will eventually transition into a moneyless society. We feel that those that take advantage of this lifestyle and help contribute towards its creation will fare much better during a collapse scenario. Please check out our projects.
http://www.moneylesssociety.com
Finally !! A post I can relate to. Got my three weeks notice today. Things I will cut: DISH, don’t need T.V. to know the world is goig to hell. Can always go over friend’s and watch.
$66.00 saved Put student loan on deferment $302.00 saved. That leaves my cell phone $89.00, rent $400.00, and a one time payment of car insurance $265. I will get $240.00 a week in U/I It will be tough,but I beleive I can do it.Any other tips will be appreciated.
Dump your cell phone and go with straight talk. Go on their website and they will give you a free phone. I pay 31.99 a month for great service and that is after taxes.
no contract
get a 10$ go phone. I got one and dont even use it. After a few months, you will find that a cell phone is a waste of money.
Don’t plan on that $240 a week, go out and find a job that pays what you want it to pay, and do it now.
Also, no meals outside of the home, no alcohol, no trips other than for job hunting and the grocery store.
You could be six months hunting a job, so don’t delay.
Buy a jar of top line vitamins, take them, stress and less food will require them. In the bad times I lived on Top Raman with a big chunk of boiled cabbage. Boil together(Little water) pour out excess water add flavor package, stir, will fill you up and is good. Look at your old utility bills see what the minimum charge is, compare to what you use. Look around they have subsidized low watt light bulbs use them, Find out what day the Food stores publish coupons, next day look for old papers, you can save a bunch.
“IF” that student loan is like the ones I know of its still racking up interest every month at about 8% even whilst its in deferment…they dont let you off of anything 🙁
“IF” that student loan is like the ones I know of its still racking up interest every month at about 8% even whilst its in deferment…they dont let you off of anything 🙁
These are pretty basic steps. Big believer in owning rather than leasing vehicles, then keeping them forever, with good maintenance practices.
I spend extra $$ on synthetic oil – using Mobil 1. It does make a difference. Also only buy name brand gasoline, typically Chevron or Shell. That also makes a difference. I also have been using the PRI-G fuel treatment advertised on this site for deposit control – and it works – keeping the engine and fuel system deposit free.
Had a ’91 Chevy Silverado with a 350 cid and put almost 300K on it – and still great compression. Problem was, the rest of the truck wore out around the engine so I finally sold it. I only buy used vehicles in good condition – hence offsetting the rapid depreciation of the first couple of years of ownership. Still do most maintenance myself.
Today, hardly any fuel expense. I live one block from my business, so the truck is parked until weekends. That’s one way to keep maintenance expenses down.
I am a firm believer in buying top quality stuff, tools, clothes, winter gear, boots and shoes et al, with major preference for USA made stuff. No substitute for quality. Does not have to cost much. I’m a big fan of re-sale shops, where you can get first class, hardly used stuff pretty cheap if you look hard enough. It’s a fun thing my wife and I like doing on weekends – a treasure hunt. I’m still looking for that old overcoat with the diamonds sewn up in the lining!
Not into eating out, or Starbucks. Cook at home all the time – good old, down home Texas cooking! Entertainment for us is simple. My wife and I like to read or play cards, or just get together with friends at home. I also play piano and my wife sings. Exercise? Working the garden, playing with our dogs, taking long walks. Guess we’re old-fashioned squares.
We still have house payments, insurance and so forth, but I have been paying down the mortgage faster by doubling up the payments.
Prepping over the last few years has been gradual, so not too hard on the budget. Biggest expense is ammo. And man, that gets expensive – 9 mm, 38 special, .357 magnum, and shotgun shells….I blow through as much as 400 rounds on a Saturday afternoon sometimes, close to $200 in ammo. That’s my vice. Then in Texas we have the world’s greatest gun shows. Risky for me to go there. But since I gave up booze and smokes 30 years ago, figure I am entitled to buy a few toys now and then.
Been self-employed most of my life, and long ago learned how to keep a budget. I had very frugal parents who grew up in the Great Depression, so they taught me well. My kids are grown, but when they were growing up, I encouraged them to learn practical, marketable skills, and to consider being self-employed. Two of the three have their own successful businesses, and all are doing just fine.
I always encourage people to forget the system and learn something they can use to go into business for themselves. Back in the early 1900s, most Americans were small farmers and shop keepers – self-employed. After WWII, Americans got hooked on the cradle to grave “corporate benefits” concept, and over time we became a nation of entitlement “wah wahs”, hooked on credit, unwitting pawns of central bankers. That’s true slavery. I’m not so sure that economic collapse would be such a bad thing. About time we Americans learned to be self-reliant again.
Ralpie, we all have our own vices, so long as they do not conflict with paying the bills, it is not a bad thing….
Drop the synthetic oil. It does nothing that petroleum oil doesn’t do. It doesn’t even last longer like they claim.
Discount gas stations get their gas from the same distributors as the majors. But buy from high volume stations, because the gas is fresher and less likely to have water or dirt in it.
PRI-G is moose milk. An advertising triumph. Does nothing for fresh gas, and does not make gas stay fresh any better than good old Sta-Bil.
If you are using that much ammo, whay are you not reloading?
@Old Coach. Having been in the oil industry as a consultant and petroleum chemist for more than 30 years, I can tell you that while in some areas name brand comes from the same pipelines, it is not true for all areas and there are definite differences. When gas does come from the same pipeline,,it becomes Chevron or Shell when those companies put their proprietary additives in. Chevron’s Techron is a poly ether amine detergent additive and it is awesome.
I have also run stability tests on several different additives including Sta-bil and PRI-G.,Turns out PRI-G is much stronger, in fact, on a refinery grade level. I checked into the company that makes it, and turns out they supply stabilizers for nuke plant standby gensets, for ocean going ships et al. Link is http://www.priproducts.com.
Mobil 1 has a poly Alfa olefin base, much better shear strength than conventional motor oil, much more resistant to breakdown. This is important if the engine gets a lot of hard use. Now and then I do some four wheeling, so I stick with the best. Google PAO synthetic oil, and study up on Mobil One. Conventional motor oil can’t come close.
I’m real picky as to what I put in my vehicles, and gear head that I am, I’m always trying to optimize performance.
Yeh, I need to start re- loading for sure. My problem is finding time. Being self employed, I have to stay on my game to make enough dough while the getting is good.,Oil biz in Texas is good right now. That’s not always the case. Damn near went bust when it crashed in ’85.
Get a Dillon RL550B press and dies, once you set it up, you will reload 300 rounds per hour.
Coach,
On PRI products:
I’ve stored gasoline now for over 15 years (rotating) in 55gal drums. Stabil is good for about a year…..then the gas has that ‘varnish’ smell to it. PRI, the longest I’ve stored a drum (without rotation) is 5 years….no varnish smell, runs fine in anything I put it in. I suspect I could get quite a while longer, but have no actual experience to back that up.
I don’t have a way to do a chemical analysis, but my gut says PRI is a whole lot better than moose milk.
Your mileage may vary.
SYNTHETIC OIL IS REAL AND BETTER. In the old days when you could get it, I used Arco Graphite. Just changing the oil upped the idle speed 100 rpm, gas mileage 1-2 MPG. I get 15,000 miles on an oil change now. With Mobil 1,
“Also only buy name brand gasoline, typically Chevron or Shell.”
I put in almost three decades in an oil refinery as an operator and later operations supervisor. Gasoline is often bought by the majors from the spot market. Who knows who refines it. Your name brand gasoline may have been refined by an independent refiner.
Absolutely true, Casper used to have 5 refineries, now one, everyone gets their gas same place. I was in oil business 25 years. Biggest difference between gas is the color of the dye they dump in it. Most bad gas is caused by people not keeping tanks clean. Never buy gas while they are filling tanks or just after, stirs up crap off tank bottoms. Years ago I was at a tank farm, they pumped several thousand gallons of gas to much into a large tank, RAN ON THE GROUND, FIRE DEPT PUMPED FOAM AND WATER ON IT. Tank farm pumped it back into regular tank and sold as usual
Just like the meat packing industry…I worked at Superior Meats in Massillon Ohio years ago and they owned Sugardale…I would be cutting hams for Superiors and theyd stopthe line and say to us “from this ham onwards you are cutting Corn King or any of a dozen other name brands…same with bacon/hotdogs and so on…all from a few places…
I am disabled veteran
Some of my doctor bills I put off so I can pay OTHER doctor bills and then next month I pay the doctors I could not pay last month.
It’s a vicious cycle and I am stuck.
But I have been prepping a little here and a little there, I think I will be ok for a while when shtf.
Just keep on keepin’ on.
The danger is that banks will demand that fixed loans be adjusted for inflation. As the economy collapses a lot of businesses will close. Like gyms. My membership is $10 a month. I can cancel it at any time without penalty.
Another fixed expense is medications. I’m on a number of diabetic medications. My wife is on medications too. That becomes a problem if they triple in price. Just my victoza is $100 a month out of pocket.
That’s too bad, better get an undertaker on speed dial.
Smart A-Holes would be well off to do the same.
“The danger is that banks will demand that fixed loans be adjusted for inflation.”
Didn’t they do something similar in Argentina when they devalued their currency?
I seem to recall reading the banks required the payments to be made at the devalued rate, but the loan amount didn’t change. It really screwed over borrowers.
But yeah, if the banks demanded the fixed loans be adjusted, the public would be against that 99 to 1, just like the Bailout when they, oh wait, the 99 to 1 thing didn’t change anything, the banks went on ahead and got what they wanted.
Tractor have you talker to your MD and druggist about you costs? MD’S get free pills, sometimes, druggist may know of cheaper drug. Also, depending on where you are Canada and Mexico sometimes have much cheaper stuff you can order. Some drug Co’s have deals also.
What did one Dead Head say to the other when they ran out of dope? This music sucks.
Are you kidding me! My family doesn’t do the best but hard times have just been a way of life. I guess we’ve been Prepping before it was a term. A person gets use to their ability or lack of ability and adapts. I just always thought that this was the simple fact, poor people have poor ways. I to am a disable Vet and times have not been the best but by far not the worse yet! These items that are being suggested cut out of the monthly bills! Come on get real.This has been the saddest times I have seen for this once great country. This once great nation has bought into the pipe dream of being the great and all powerful OZ. The worlds police force Oh and if you need a loan we will hook you up with that service too. Obozo tells the Fed it’s all good just print a little more cash the tax payers will cover it. No worries! The hand writing has been on the wall for years. The People we all have elected [for the few who vote] have been mixing way to much Kool Aid and the EPA has been putting it in the nations water supply. Good thing many of us are on well water. When times get rough remember the only easy day was truly yesterday. It will be interesting to see what it is that lights the fuse to this time bomb. But I wish they would just do it and let the nation figure out how to let the healing begin.
If I dump the cell phone,I have to pay a $300+ penalty. Plus,I have to chang my resume to reflect that,notify everyone about the new one. I put the word out that I’ll do house/yard work. I have a pick-up,paid for,so I’ll put that to use,too.Thanks for the tips.
Guess you will have to keep it and next time dont get a contract service one.
As a single mom, I can tell you that there were times when we depended on child support payments to buy our groceries, so the argument can be made that if you have children, it’s your responsibility to make these payments.
The other argument that can be made is the fact that you have 11 forms of contraception plus the morning after pill PLUS unilateral decision making regarding abortion.
So shrug is what I say. Y’all as a group get to opt out without your partner’s consent? Well then guess what.
Good post. I like seeing ideas/solutions to problems that we face in our daily lives.
We got rid of satellite about five years ago. It was a little painful at first.but don’t miss it now. I have a list of wants and needs as far as bills go. If/when things get bad I know exactly what I will be cutting out.
I would definitely cut my gym membership and go out running. You can make it work if you want to!