We've all heard RP Talk about debt and how it's the basis for the system that we so despise, so how are each of us coping with it and what are we doing about it.
because it reminds me of my mother who grew up during the depression.
My mom would say things like: A penny saved is a penny earned. Waste not want not. Save for a rainy day. Early to bed early to raise makes a person healthy wealthy and wise. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
etc. There are many good suggestions here but everyone needs to evaluate their own situations. The best time to prepare for bad times is before they hit
so if you still have a job take time and devise a plan. Look around you where do you live can you put in a garden, could you can what you grow. Do you have people you trust or could work with bartering. Will you be able to stay in your home? When my dad went to war in 1942 he built a chicken shed in my moms backyard so she would have eggs and meat while he was gone. Our ancestors had challenges and so will we. Peace
I live beneath my means but I get very pissed when the government comes up with schemes to debase the currency or bail out idiots at the expense of tax payers. Prudent people are the ones who get plundered the hardest.
I am saving money and buying some precious metals. Trying to be smart, keep my cash out of troubled banking institutions, trying to get the right amount of supplies in case of more serious dislocations and generally just trying to educate myself.
Check out my website for some of my perspective (dating back to 2005) on the economy, politics, etc.:
...ordering heritage seeds, and I have my composter up and running. Put all non-meat and non-dairy scraps in there, small branches, leaves. I can't wait to start growing all of my own produce in the raised beds I'm building for the spring. Also going to buy some rain water catch barrels to put under the downspouts. I'd love to go solar, but that would cost about 75k. Ugh.
The Retrocon
Hope for America, Ron Paul for President in 2008!
Living within our means is one of the things Paul is so adamant about. So many of his votes in congress center on that core fiscally responsible discipline. The debt that can cause so much grief in our personal life can cause grief on a national scale as well. This is something the average person can relate to very well.
For me personally, we shop craigslist and ebay alot. No credit card debt which a huge one. Reasonable and affordable transportation since cars so often are a huge waste of money. Reasonable housing, which means we didn't buy more house than we could afford. These combined have left us very comfortable but certainly not rich either. To see how these simple cost savings add up, see my youtube video under Sandelie. Yes, that's 200 one hundred dollar bills with my custom Ron Paul stamp on them. You don't have to make very much to make a comfortable living IF you avoid wasteful spending. The money we save on credit card interest, buying stuff new, lower mortgage payments, and affordable transportation REALLY adds up fast.
You can find just about anything
you need.I have never been to a beautyshop,cut my own hair,never had my nails done.We eat whatever is on sale
and fill our pantry with those items.We built our own house,don't use our credit cards,don't eat out.If something breaks down,we fix it.We drive used cars,help our neighbors
and they help us.
If you have paid around 15% of your mortgage, you might be able to get rid of your mortgage insurance. Look at your contract. It only protects the loan company. Expect a fight. They love those free dollars rolling in. They will let you pay for it forever if you never figure it out.
Insurance - if you have no intention of filing a claim for small damage because your rates might go up, you might want to increase your deductible and lower the rate. You'll have to pay for small things, but if something big happens you're still covered. We did this with health insurance too. I pay out of pocket for a lot of stuff, but save money in the long run.
Look up different insurance companies and see what they are rated. If they are rated high in customer satisfaction, see what kinds of rates they can give you.
Every now and then we sit down and think of things we can cut back on. We check out a lot of books from the library instead of buying them. We watch movies from the library too. They are only $1 there.
but I pay them off entirely every month. Also, once I decided to save for retirement I did so aggressively, about 2/5ths of my gross. I totaled my car on an icy stretch, put most of the insurance payment in a high-interest account, and bought a clunker for less than a third of what I received. I rent, shop at thrift stores and WalMart, and eat low on the food chain. No smokes, a very infrequent beer or wine, etc., and I normally eat out less than once a month. I try to live by Nancy Reagan's advice, "Just say no," when it comes to spending money.
I keep a few months' worth of food, water, and gasoline on hand and invested in precious metals for troubled times.
shop at Wal-Mart. They are destroying america. After finding out the truth we have boycotted Wal-Mart. You have the right to make your own decisions, but I politely ask that you do not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club.
that is our new goal. Any extra money my wife and i get goes towards paying down debt. Suddenly the only things that seem important are our home and food/necessities. I cannot fathom all the money people waste on worthless crap. Cable, expensive vehicles, video games, giant tv's are just a waste.
We sold both our vehicles to start with. I sold my new pickup and got my old bronco up and running again, while the wife sold her expedition and we bought her a $3500 1999 Chrysler 300m off craigslist. We now can have liability insurance and because of that and no payments we save about $1000 per month. Add to that the gas savings between the expedition and her "new" car and it gets up to about $1200/mo saved. We also entered into debt repayment for her three credit cards so that the interest would go down and all I have to do is cut one check.
We are getting our house ready to put on the market by next year so that we can buy some land with profits. We got a great deal on a beautiful home and all it has taken so far is simple projects to really increase our value and equity. All materials used were bought either on clearance, on sale, at estate sales, or off craigslist. Windows from home depot were about $250 apiece, whereas I found even better windows on Ebay and I got 15 for $750, you do the math. We had to drive to Dallas and back so add about $60 in gas but man did it save us money.
Now instead of buying random useless crap off of ebay I get my shopping fix buying silver bars, coins, and gold bars (1-5 gram bars). It is fun and you can actually sit and look at your investment. Works great for us.
We plan on selling the house and what profit we make, expected to be around 25k, we're going to use to build our new home and become completely debt free. I have stockpiled good used framing lumber and large nice post and beams from old barns for framing up a spacious open home. Everything I use will be bought from craigslist, ebay, the local paper, estate sales..whatever gets me good material cheap.
I agree with what I read below, one of the best things to do is cook at home. We hardly ever eat out any more and I love to cook so it works out. Once you get used to that you can slowly start getting off the canned biscuits, pancake mixes, and etc...it is much cheaper to spend an extra 15 minutes making your own stuff and the flour and such is very cheap and easy to store. Just yesterday I found 32oz packages of great thick sliced bacon on sale for $1.99. The problem? It needed to be sold OR frozen by Feb 12. I normally buy these same packages for about $6.99 each so I promptly bought 15 packages and threw them in the deep freeze...yummy yummy bacon! BLT's galore in our future..LOL
Get off the credit system. If you can't afford to pay cash, you honestly don't need it. Be patient and keep your eyes open, you'd be surprised at how many things just happen to come along. Impulse buying can kill your finances and is a horrible habit. If your going to get your shopping fix buy something useful for the crap that is coming, especially some gold and silver.
Sorry for the rambling.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever!"
Cooking at home and for yourself is key, I think also --- not only is it SO much healthier, but it never fails to astound me how much more expensive it is to eat out routinely --- like 10 times as much. And you don't have to cook every single day; I cook big pots of stuff for myself, then freeze the majority of it in separate containers, and only have to cook a main course maybe one day out of four or five. Really, cooking at home does NOT have to take much time! Especially if you have kids who can help for even a few minutes chopping vegetables, peeling, etc.
I sometimes will do prep work on Monday or Tuesday for several meals to come. Then you don't have the prep work, you don't have most of the mess, and it takes no time to put a meal together.
You also learn a system when you cook big things at home. We love some good chili around here so every couple of weeks I'll make a big pot of chili. We buy brauts (sp?), kraut, buns, and tostitos. That way everyone doesn't get tired of just chili, they can make a whole slew of different things even chili spaghetti which is an all-time favorite here. If we do get tired of it after a few days it goes to the freezer so when we decide to have some chili-dogs or indian tacos the chili is already there for us!
Our deep freeze helps us tremendously especially when you find 2lb thick sliced bacon for 1.99 when it's regularly 6.99. Buy it up and throw it in the deep freeze! If you keep the deep freeze full then it doesn't have to work very hard to stay cold because everything is frozen. I fix empty spots with bags of ice for our "gatherings" that always come around. That way since our deep freeze is outside in the garage we can switch off the electricty for sometimes a full day or two at a time. We've never lost any food and really there's no sense in running a deep freeze when its sitting outside in 20 degree weather AND packed with ice. :O)
Oh yeah, and any outside shopping we do is now done at thrift stores, goodwill, estate sales, garage sales, craigslist, ebay, or the local paper. Wal-Mart doesn't get any of my money any longer.
you are out of debt and can pay cash for it. Go for a lower than average mileage car that is 5 - 7 years old and pay cash for it. We did this for our family car (a 1993 Buick) in 1999 and am still driving it today. The other car we have is a 1981 Toyota that I bought used in 1982 - it still runs great, why replace it. I took a loan out to buy my Toyota, paid it off early in 1984 - haven't had a car payment since. We don't buy anything on a credit card that we can't pay off entirely at the end of the each month - the interest saved is substantial. We bought an adequate house in 1999 with the largest down payment that we could come up with and got a 15-year mortgage, then paid it off ahead of time. Keeping the monthly payment to a minimum allowed us to pay more than the monthly payment every month and pay off the mortgage in 3+ years. Taking mortgage payments as a tax deduction helps with the mortgage, but you can save even more if you don't have a mortgage. Once we were debt free, our basic monthly living expenses are quite low and allowed me to explore my options when I was laid off in 2003. I had a decent salary before being laid off, but many people I know make a higher salary than I ever did. Living debt-free is highly recommended, I would suggest that you do whatever you can do get debt-free as soon as practical.
Ron Paul's approach to the economy makes sense to me - our Federal government also needs to work towards getting debt-free as soon as practical. States should be taking care of much of what is now being paid for and controlled by the Federal government because each state has to balance their budget every year - they can't print money like the Federal government is currently doing via the Federal reserve, nor can the States run up deficits and debts as easily.
Without my cell phone I could also not have voted in debate polls for Dr Paul..is there a better reason to have one ?? Actually there is but I'm just saying !!
After getting my daughter through college and semi-recovering from the related debt, I dropped out of "corporate america" (didn't make sense to keep up with the *Jones'* anymore - as socially required in corporate america) & moved to an inexpensive area - low real estate taxes. Bought relatively inexpensive acerage & built my house with my own two hands(about $25 per sq ft for materials, permits & tools) - no mortgage. Drive older, but well maintained vehicles ('96 w/220k miles & '89 w/150k miles) - no debt. Only buy insurance required by law - vehicle liability (real $ savings). Only eat out when traveling & never go to bars. When buying *stuff*, confirm that the *stuff* is necessary, then buy quality (don't buy the same things over & over). One credit card w/$0 balance for online purchases. It took a while to adjust lifestyles (e.g. $500 suites to $14 jeans), but now I live on 7% (seriously) of the cost of my prior lifestyle.
Unexpected benefit - The 5 sq mile gated private community (private roads, etc) I moved into attracts like minded people (32 total) and we are all friends - barter...
With a return to a constitutional republic, perhaps all of our country can be similar to my little corner of the world.
And dump the damned cell phone! Nobody, NOBODY except maybe ten or twenty CEO's of major corporations needs those highly annoying, privacy-stealing, government-tracking abominations!
but I live 30 miles from town, and if I need a loaf of bread, I can call my husband on his way home from work on our cell phones, and ask him to pick up one, instead of spending 15 dollars on gas and wasting 2 hours to go town, I work at home so I would lose money by not working. Besides, I always tell the government that they have bigger fish to fry when i complain about them over my cellphone.
I live in the sticks in Wyoming, NO regular phone lines here , and we drive 100 miles to work in junky vehicles, at 7 am you MIGHT on a busy day see 3 vehicles. What would you do without any phone???By the way, I grow my own food, and butcher my own meat, so I am NOT a live beyond my means type of person, but here in the sticks cell phones are necessary.
And many excellent reasons NOT to own one! I do not, and never will.
People always talk about "emergencies". Please! Did people drop dead in droves before the invention of the cell phone? NO! They are 99% all about the now, now, NOW! mentality, and not planning ahead, and impulsiveness, everything that is destroying our culture. I am not being facetious here, but I think they are one of the WORST influences on society today.
I dont pay for my cable...and its a good thing cause i surely wouldnt want to support comcast. For some reason in my appartment...the cable is on and has been since i moved in...ive never seen a bill. I think maybe its hooked into my downstair neibors...
It's amazing how in my life I have gone from having three TV channels with 90% of it crap, to 60 channels, and still 90% of it is crap! (and I'm being charitable there). Only paid for the most basic package (otherwise no TV due to mountains blocking the signals), but somehow got more --- not that I want it, or almost ever watch it.
where they have regular phone lines, and work for someone else. I have my own business at home, and my husband has his own business, so we need to have a phone. There is no way I could have internet and be talking to you because my ONLY choice where I live in the wilderness is a cell internet. and like I said, we live 30 miles from the store, for crying out loud, by the way, we also don't have electric lines, so we don't have electric bill, just our solar panels.
Well, if it's your ONLY option, then granted that that is a special case ---- I suppose I would have one in that case too. But you are the 0.5% of people who have a good case for one. Teenagers walking around rudely using them do NOT! If I had kids (I don't), NEVER would I be so indulgent as to let them have one! (But I wouldn't be one of those "modern" parents would lives in mortal terror for their child's every move, and won't them go ride a bike or play in the woods. God, when did we become such a nation of SHEEP?)
They are about security...A cell phone saved my Mothers life..no way would my grandkid go out on a date without one...I pay $25 for a three month pay as you go plan..That $8 a month for peace of mind..you're a moron not to have one !!
What a nice person, calling someone a moron for not having a cell phone?...... Is there anything else we should know? I'd hate to not be living my life up to the standards of those who decide who is or isn't a moron.
I'm guessing you don't have many friends, if you do then they are just like you, OR they are your friends because you put food in their bowl every day.
Got to love chatting about saving money and being called a moron because you don't agree with someone else. Damn kids.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever! "
i have a prepaid one for about the same price and for the same reason. i never have it on unless i want to call someone.
also, the cell phone didnt save her life (unless she physically used it to wedge under something or throw it as some one). i imagine it was the ability to contact someone that saved her life
a car she was a passenger went down an embankment and into a wooded area that could not be seen from the highway..The doors were jamed and the car was leaking gas..they called the cops and they got them out seconds before the car went into flames..The cell phone saved her life !!
Just think if the millions of Americans who go down embankments didn't have cell phones! LOL You got called a moron for not being obsessed with cell phones..LOL
You figure out how many "saved lives" have come from cell phones and then figure how many lives were lost due to driving while ignorantly talking or even TEXTING while dring. Remind me of all the lazy soccer moms around here going through a 4-way, talking on the cell phone, eating a cheeseburger from burger king, and slurping their diet coke. God help us all.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever! "
Who bought a cell phone and due to being irresponsible ran up a high bill..I could not buy better insurance for $8 a month.I can't even go to a movie for $8.. you're about 100 years behind the times..Police rescue people all the time due to cell phone signals ..Maybe you're not happy about it, but I'm damn glad my Mother is alive today due to a cell phone..You need to grow up !! $8 a month, ROFL !!!
You need to stand back and listen to yourself. You want to keep up with the times, the intrusion the dependency on every new gadget that comes out? Not everyone requires a cell phone to stay alive like your family does. As Fred G Sanford would say....Your a big dummy.
And YOU need to look at the corrosive effect these damned things have on personal responsibility, social decorum and dangerous driving habits. "Gotta have the latest, gotta be "with it"! Most people have them to be "cool", "up to date" and part of the whole mainstream, gross overconsumption society that is heading to EXTINCTION! I will all but guarantee you that twenty years from now, if not sooner, they will no longer exist (just like gasoline-powered vehicles), and I will CHEER that day when it comes!
All I see in them is another backward step for society, "convenience" be damned! Microwave meals are "convenient" too, but that doesn't mean we should routinely eat that crap.
P.S. I don't believe that a cell phone saved your mother's life, either ---- a wild exaggeration. And if one did, well congratulations, she's the first.
being an asshole, I don't drive using a cell phone...no she's not a first....three people hiking here got lost last week and were found by cell phone signals..Three teenagers got lost exploring a cave and again were found by cell phone signals...gadgets are just fine but you seem to irresponsible to handle them..You probably spend more money on beer in a day than i spend in a month on cell service...Do you propose we get rid of cars because there are accidents or people drive drunk....if your afraid of gadgets, fine don't use them..But people like Doctors need cell phones and there are a least a half dozen people who have posted why they need their phone... i suggest you go sleep off your stupor !!! When the electric goes out, so does my phone service and i am not able to call a fire truck or ambulance..You need to come in to the current century ! And you seriously need to grow the hell up !!
I hear RFID chips will sure help you stay Safe, Fuzzy, and Secure. In fact there is a family in Florida already in front of you. Better go get chipped so you can be "SAFE". All the cool smart kids like you are doing it.
Yeah, I "need to get into this century" ---- like Ron Paul supporters need to "grow up" and "face reality", blah blah blah. You people with cell phones, in almost all cases, are part of the PROBLEM whether you realize it or not. You are just as brainwashed as all those sheep who vote for Hillary and McCain. Enjoy your bluetooth (Borg implant) and 90" HDTV and all that other crap while it still exists, because after the collapse, all those things will be nothing but memories. For me, bad memories, and good riddance.
By the way, I own my own business, travel into the wilderness on a routine basis, and have NEVER felt the need for a cell phone, ever. I LOVE not having one! Hearing a cell phone out in the woods is a travesty.
I support Dr Paul but I sure as hell don't agree with everthing he says !! I have none of the gadgets you suggest because they are expensive and serve no purpose and I'm not living on the edge with my $8 a month cell phone ! if you don't like gadgets go hide under the bed where the gadget monster can't find you !! And for god sakes, quit telling other people how to conduct their lives..You sound like you want to be god, something else I don't believe in..news flash, not every Ron Paul supporter agrees with what he says on everything, that would be mindless !! I vote for him to get out of iraq and stay out of iran..I do not agree with his economic policies !!
But as I said I don't believe in god and if I want a cell phone there isn't damn thing you can do about it..if you agree with Everything Dr Paul says you are brainwashed..NO ONE believes in every single policy of their candidate !! I think I'll just continue to destoy my life with my $8 phone ! ROFLMFAO !!
When did I ever say that I believe EVERYTHING Ron Paul does?
It is clear that you are a troll and NOT a Ron Paul supporter (putting aside all the irrelevant cell phone BS), as your attitude is clearly completely and mindlessly in support of EVERYTHING that is pro-status-quo and pro-establishment. I have noticed that everything you post denigrates some aspect of a post of somebody else's, and you never have anything good to say about the campaign or Ron Paul. If you think his economic "theories" (i.e. facts) are bunk, then WHY are you here?
Thanks for posting this thread
because it reminds me of my mother who grew up during the depression.
My mom would say things like: A penny saved is a penny earned. Waste not want not. Save for a rainy day. Early to bed early to raise makes a person healthy wealthy and wise. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
etc. There are many good suggestions here but everyone needs to evaluate their own situations. The best time to prepare for bad times is before they hit
so if you still have a job take time and devise a plan. Look around you where do you live can you put in a garden, could you can what you grow. Do you have people you trust or could work with bartering. Will you be able to stay in your home? When my dad went to war in 1942 he built a chicken shed in my moms backyard so she would have eggs and meat while he was gone. Our ancestors had challenges and so will we. Peace
How thin
can this thread get?
Personally
I live beneath my means but I get very pissed when the government comes up with schemes to debase the currency or bail out idiots at the expense of tax payers. Prudent people are the ones who get plundered the hardest.
I am saving money and buying some precious metals. Trying to be smart, keep my cash out of troubled banking institutions, trying to get the right amount of supplies in case of more serious dislocations and generally just trying to educate myself.
Check out my website for some of my perspective (dating back to 2005) on the economy, politics, etc.:
www.ponderthis.net
Trying as well....
...ordering heritage seeds, and I have my composter up and running. Put all non-meat and non-dairy scraps in there, small branches, leaves. I can't wait to start growing all of my own produce in the raised beds I'm building for the spring. Also going to buy some rain water catch barrels to put under the downspouts. I'd love to go solar, but that would cost about 75k. Ugh.
The Retrocon
Hope for America, Ron Paul for President in 2008!
You are right
Living within our means is one of the things Paul is so adamant about. So many of his votes in congress center on that core fiscally responsible discipline. The debt that can cause so much grief in our personal life can cause grief on a national scale as well. This is something the average person can relate to very well.
For me personally, we shop craigslist and ebay alot. No credit card debt which a huge one. Reasonable and affordable transportation since cars so often are a huge waste of money. Reasonable housing, which means we didn't buy more house than we could afford. These combined have left us very comfortable but certainly not rich either. To see how these simple cost savings add up, see my youtube video under Sandelie. Yes, that's 200 one hundred dollar bills with my custom Ron Paul stamp on them. You don't have to make very much to make a comfortable living IF you avoid wasteful spending. The money we save on credit card interest, buying stuff new, lower mortgage payments, and affordable transportation REALLY adds up fast.
We shop at yard sales
You can find just about anything
you need.I have never been to a beautyshop,cut my own hair,never had my nails done.We eat whatever is on sale
and fill our pantry with those items.We built our own house,don't use our credit cards,don't eat out.If something breaks down,we fix it.We drive used cars,help our neighbors
and they help us.
bump
This is a good topic. :)
Ideas
If you have paid around 15% of your mortgage, you might be able to get rid of your mortgage insurance. Look at your contract. It only protects the loan company. Expect a fight. They love those free dollars rolling in. They will let you pay for it forever if you never figure it out.
Insurance - if you have no intention of filing a claim for small damage because your rates might go up, you might want to increase your deductible and lower the rate. You'll have to pay for small things, but if something big happens you're still covered. We did this with health insurance too. I pay out of pocket for a lot of stuff, but save money in the long run.
Look up different insurance companies and see what they are rated. If they are rated high in customer satisfaction, see what kinds of rates they can give you.
Every now and then we sit down and think of things we can cut back on. We check out a lot of books from the library instead of buying them. We watch movies from the library too. They are only $1 there.
I still have credit cards
but I pay them off entirely every month. Also, once I decided to save for retirement I did so aggressively, about 2/5ths of my gross. I totaled my car on an icy stretch, put most of the insurance payment in a high-interest account, and bought a clunker for less than a third of what I received. I rent, shop at thrift stores and WalMart, and eat low on the food chain. No smokes, a very infrequent beer or wine, etc., and I normally eat out less than once a month. I try to live by Nancy Reagan's advice, "Just say no," when it comes to spending money.
I keep a few months' worth of food, water, and gasoline on hand and invested in precious metals for troubled times.
Please don't
shop at Wal-Mart. They are destroying america. After finding out the truth we have boycotted Wal-Mart. You have the right to make your own decisions, but I politely ask that you do not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club.
See the movie "Wal-Mart: High Cost/Low Price"
http://video.google.com/v...
Thank you
Get out of Debt
that is our new goal. Any extra money my wife and i get goes towards paying down debt. Suddenly the only things that seem important are our home and food/necessities. I cannot fathom all the money people waste on worthless crap. Cable, expensive vehicles, video games, giant tv's are just a waste.
No more payments
We sold both our vehicles to start with. I sold my new pickup and got my old bronco up and running again, while the wife sold her expedition and we bought her a $3500 1999 Chrysler 300m off craigslist. We now can have liability insurance and because of that and no payments we save about $1000 per month. Add to that the gas savings between the expedition and her "new" car and it gets up to about $1200/mo saved. We also entered into debt repayment for her three credit cards so that the interest would go down and all I have to do is cut one check.
We are getting our house ready to put on the market by next year so that we can buy some land with profits. We got a great deal on a beautiful home and all it has taken so far is simple projects to really increase our value and equity. All materials used were bought either on clearance, on sale, at estate sales, or off craigslist. Windows from home depot were about $250 apiece, whereas I found even better windows on Ebay and I got 15 for $750, you do the math. We had to drive to Dallas and back so add about $60 in gas but man did it save us money.
Now instead of buying random useless crap off of ebay I get my shopping fix buying silver bars, coins, and gold bars (1-5 gram bars). It is fun and you can actually sit and look at your investment. Works great for us.
We plan on selling the house and what profit we make, expected to be around 25k, we're going to use to build our new home and become completely debt free. I have stockpiled good used framing lumber and large nice post and beams from old barns for framing up a spacious open home. Everything I use will be bought from craigslist, ebay, the local paper, estate sales..whatever gets me good material cheap.
I agree with what I read below, one of the best things to do is cook at home. We hardly ever eat out any more and I love to cook so it works out. Once you get used to that you can slowly start getting off the canned biscuits, pancake mixes, and etc...it is much cheaper to spend an extra 15 minutes making your own stuff and the flour and such is very cheap and easy to store. Just yesterday I found 32oz packages of great thick sliced bacon on sale for $1.99. The problem? It needed to be sold OR frozen by Feb 12. I normally buy these same packages for about $6.99 each so I promptly bought 15 packages and threw them in the deep freeze...yummy yummy bacon! BLT's galore in our future..LOL
Get off the credit system. If you can't afford to pay cash, you honestly don't need it. Be patient and keep your eyes open, you'd be surprised at how many things just happen to come along. Impulse buying can kill your finances and is a horrible habit. If your going to get your shopping fix buy something useful for the crap that is coming, especially some gold and silver.
Sorry for the rambling.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever!"
Sir Walter Scott
Sounds like you have given
Sounds like you have given up on Paul for President! :) This economy can be fixed, you know...
Some of us
Have been aware of what's going on and have been preparing for a few years tho.. before RP decided to run.
Cooking at home and for
Cooking at home and for yourself is key, I think also --- not only is it SO much healthier, but it never fails to astound me how much more expensive it is to eat out routinely --- like 10 times as much. And you don't have to cook every single day; I cook big pots of stuff for myself, then freeze the majority of it in separate containers, and only have to cook a main course maybe one day out of four or five. Really, cooking at home does NOT have to take much time! Especially if you have kids who can help for even a few minutes chopping vegetables, peeling, etc.
agreed
I sometimes will do prep work on Monday or Tuesday for several meals to come. Then you don't have the prep work, you don't have most of the mess, and it takes no time to put a meal together.
You also learn a system when you cook big things at home. We love some good chili around here so every couple of weeks I'll make a big pot of chili. We buy brauts (sp?), kraut, buns, and tostitos. That way everyone doesn't get tired of just chili, they can make a whole slew of different things even chili spaghetti which is an all-time favorite here. If we do get tired of it after a few days it goes to the freezer so when we decide to have some chili-dogs or indian tacos the chili is already there for us!
Our deep freeze helps us tremendously especially when you find 2lb thick sliced bacon for 1.99 when it's regularly 6.99. Buy it up and throw it in the deep freeze! If you keep the deep freeze full then it doesn't have to work very hard to stay cold because everything is frozen. I fix empty spots with bags of ice for our "gatherings" that always come around. That way since our deep freeze is outside in the garage we can switch off the electricty for sometimes a full day or two at a time. We've never lost any food and really there's no sense in running a deep freeze when its sitting outside in 20 degree weather AND packed with ice. :O)
Oh yeah, and any outside shopping we do is now done at thrift stores, goodwill, estate sales, garage sales, craigslist, ebay, or the local paper. Wal-Mart doesn't get any of my money any longer.
Yay!! DOWN with Walmart!!
Yay!! DOWN with Walmart!! Oh, how I hate that place...
Don't buy a brand new car unless
you are out of debt and can pay cash for it. Go for a lower than average mileage car that is 5 - 7 years old and pay cash for it. We did this for our family car (a 1993 Buick) in 1999 and am still driving it today. The other car we have is a 1981 Toyota that I bought used in 1982 - it still runs great, why replace it. I took a loan out to buy my Toyota, paid it off early in 1984 - haven't had a car payment since. We don't buy anything on a credit card that we can't pay off entirely at the end of the each month - the interest saved is substantial. We bought an adequate house in 1999 with the largest down payment that we could come up with and got a 15-year mortgage, then paid it off ahead of time. Keeping the monthly payment to a minimum allowed us to pay more than the monthly payment every month and pay off the mortgage in 3+ years. Taking mortgage payments as a tax deduction helps with the mortgage, but you can save even more if you don't have a mortgage. Once we were debt free, our basic monthly living expenses are quite low and allowed me to explore my options when I was laid off in 2003. I had a decent salary before being laid off, but many people I know make a higher salary than I ever did. Living debt-free is highly recommended, I would suggest that you do whatever you can do get debt-free as soon as practical.
Ron Paul's approach to the economy makes sense to me - our Federal government also needs to work towards getting debt-free as soon as practical. States should be taking care of much of what is now being paid for and controlled by the Federal government because each state has to balance their budget every year - they can't print money like the Federal government is currently doing via the Federal reserve, nor can the States run up deficits and debts as easily.
This is for the poster akak
Without my cell phone I could also not have voted in debate polls for Dr Paul..is there a better reason to have one ?? Actually there is but I'm just saying !!
Simplify Life
After getting my daughter through college and semi-recovering from the related debt, I dropped out of "corporate america" (didn't make sense to keep up with the *Jones'* anymore - as socially required in corporate america) & moved to an inexpensive area - low real estate taxes. Bought relatively inexpensive acerage & built my house with my own two hands(about $25 per sq ft for materials, permits & tools) - no mortgage. Drive older, but well maintained vehicles ('96 w/220k miles & '89 w/150k miles) - no debt. Only buy insurance required by law - vehicle liability (real $ savings). Only eat out when traveling & never go to bars. When buying *stuff*, confirm that the *stuff* is necessary, then buy quality (don't buy the same things over & over). One credit card w/$0 balance for online purchases. It took a while to adjust lifestyles (e.g. $500 suites to $14 jeans), but now I live on 7% (seriously) of the cost of my prior lifestyle.
Unexpected benefit - The 5 sq mile gated private community (private roads, etc) I moved into attracts like minded people (32 total) and we are all friends - barter...
With a return to a constitutional republic, perhaps all of our country can be similar to my little corner of the world.
Ron Paul - Hope for America
can
we come?
And dump the damned cell
And dump the damned cell phone! Nobody, NOBODY except maybe ten or twenty CEO's of major corporations needs those highly annoying, privacy-stealing, government-tracking abominations!
I am the queen of frugality,
but I live 30 miles from town, and if I need a loaf of bread, I can call my husband on his way home from work on our cell phones, and ask him to pick up one, instead of spending 15 dollars on gas and wasting 2 hours to go town, I work at home so I would lose money by not working. Besides, I always tell the government that they have bigger fish to fry when i complain about them over my cellphone.
Hey
I live in the sticks in Wyoming, NO regular phone lines here , and we drive 100 miles to work in junky vehicles, at 7 am you MIGHT on a busy day see 3 vehicles. What would you do without any phone???By the way, I grow my own food, and butcher my own meat, so I am NOT a live beyond my means type of person, but here in the sticks cell phones are necessary.
Sorry
there are so many good uses for cell phones I could not even begin to list them
And many excellent reasons
And many excellent reasons NOT to own one! I do not, and never will.
People always talk about "emergencies". Please! Did people drop dead in droves before the invention of the cell phone? NO! They are 99% all about the now, now, NOW! mentality, and not planning ahead, and impulsiveness, everything that is destroying our culture. I am not being facetious here, but I think they are one of the WORST influences on society today.
I disagree with the worst influence
on society. Isn't that television, which I havn't had for 12 years, and public education, which I have homeschooled since 1984.
I dont pay for my
I dont pay for my cable...and its a good thing cause i surely wouldnt want to support comcast. For some reason in my appartment...the cable is on and has been since i moved in...ive never seen a bill. I think maybe its hooked into my downstair neibors...
It's amazing how in my life
It's amazing how in my life I have gone from having three TV channels with 90% of it crap, to 60 channels, and still 90% of it is crap! (and I'm being charitable there). Only paid for the most basic package (otherwise no TV due to mountains blocking the signals), but somehow got more --- not that I want it, or almost ever watch it.
tv is great now.
discovery channel, nova and on and on.
ron paul 2008
You must live in the city
where they have regular phone lines, and work for someone else. I have my own business at home, and my husband has his own business, so we need to have a phone. There is no way I could have internet and be talking to you because my ONLY choice where I live in the wilderness is a cell internet. and like I said, we live 30 miles from the store, for crying out loud, by the way, we also don't have electric lines, so we don't have electric bill, just our solar panels.
Well, if it's your ONLY
Well, if it's your ONLY option, then granted that that is a special case ---- I suppose I would have one in that case too. But you are the 0.5% of people who have a good case for one. Teenagers walking around rudely using them do NOT! If I had kids (I don't), NEVER would I be so indulgent as to let them have one! (But I wouldn't be one of those "modern" parents would lives in mortal terror for their child's every move, and won't them go ride a bike or play in the woods. God, when did we become such a nation of SHEEP?)
Nope
They are about security...A cell phone saved my Mothers life..no way would my grandkid go out on a date without one...I pay $25 for a three month pay as you go plan..That $8 a month for peace of mind..you're a moron not to have one !!
Wow
What a nice person, calling someone a moron for not having a cell phone?...... Is there anything else we should know? I'd hate to not be living my life up to the standards of those who decide who is or isn't a moron.
I'm guessing you don't have many friends, if you do then they are just like you, OR they are your friends because you put food in their bowl every day.
Got to love chatting about saving money and being called a moron because you don't agree with someone else. Damn kids.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever! "
Sir Walter Scott
thats not so much a cell phone as it is an insurance policy.
i have a prepaid one for about the same price and for the same reason. i never have it on unless i want to call someone.
also, the cell phone didnt save her life (unless she physically used it to wedge under something or throw it as some one). i imagine it was the ability to contact someone that saved her life
ron paul 2008
car
a car she was a passenger went down an embankment and into a wooded area that could not be seen from the highway..The doors were jamed and the car was leaking gas..they called the cops and they got them out seconds before the car went into flames..The cell phone saved her life !!
Yep, just risking my life on
Yep, just risking my life on a daily basis ...... brainwashed gadget-obsessed fool.
LMAO
Just think if the millions of Americans who go down embankments didn't have cell phones! LOL You got called a moron for not being obsessed with cell phones..LOL
You figure out how many "saved lives" have come from cell phones and then figure how many lives were lost due to driving while ignorantly talking or even TEXTING while dring. Remind me of all the lazy soccer moms around here going through a 4-way, talking on the cell phone, eating a cheeseburger from burger king, and slurping their diet coke. God help us all.
"While there's leaves in the forest
And foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them,
Shall flourish forever! "
Sir Walter Scott
you sound like someone
Who bought a cell phone and due to being irresponsible ran up a high bill..I could not buy better insurance for $8 a month.I can't even go to a movie for $8.. you're about 100 years behind the times..Police rescue people all the time due to cell phone signals ..Maybe you're not happy about it, but I'm damn glad my Mother is alive today due to a cell phone..You need to grow up !! $8 a month, ROFL !!!
Behind the times?
You need to stand back and listen to yourself. You want to keep up with the times, the intrusion the dependency on every new gadget that comes out? Not everyone requires a cell phone to stay alive like your family does. As Fred G Sanford would say....Your a big dummy.
And YOU need to look at the
And YOU need to look at the corrosive effect these damned things have on personal responsibility, social decorum and dangerous driving habits. "Gotta have the latest, gotta be "with it"! Most people have them to be "cool", "up to date" and part of the whole mainstream, gross overconsumption society that is heading to EXTINCTION! I will all but guarantee you that twenty years from now, if not sooner, they will no longer exist (just like gasoline-powered vehicles), and I will CHEER that day when it comes!
All I see in them is another backward step for society, "convenience" be damned! Microwave meals are "convenient" too, but that doesn't mean we should routinely eat that crap.
P.S. I don't believe that a cell phone saved your mother's life, either ---- a wild exaggeration. And if one did, well congratulations, she's the first.
thats a person
being an asshole, I don't drive using a cell phone...no she's not a first....three people hiking here got lost last week and were found by cell phone signals..Three teenagers got lost exploring a cave and again were found by cell phone signals...gadgets are just fine but you seem to irresponsible to handle them..You probably spend more money on beer in a day than i spend in a month on cell service...Do you propose we get rid of cars because there are accidents or people drive drunk....if your afraid of gadgets, fine don't use them..But people like Doctors need cell phones and there are a least a half dozen people who have posted why they need their phone... i suggest you go sleep off your stupor !!! When the electric goes out, so does my phone service and i am not able to call a fire truck or ambulance..You need to come in to the current century ! And you seriously need to grow the hell up !!
Hey
I hear RFID chips will sure help you stay Safe, Fuzzy, and Secure. In fact there is a family in Florida already in front of you. Better go get chipped so you can be "SAFE". All the cool smart kids like you are doing it.
Yeah, I "need to get into
Yeah, I "need to get into this century" ---- like Ron Paul supporters need to "grow up" and "face reality", blah blah blah. You people with cell phones, in almost all cases, are part of the PROBLEM whether you realize it or not. You are just as brainwashed as all those sheep who vote for Hillary and McCain. Enjoy your bluetooth (Borg implant) and 90" HDTV and all that other crap while it still exists, because after the collapse, all those things will be nothing but memories. For me, bad memories, and good riddance.
By the way, I own my own business, travel into the wilderness on a routine basis, and have NEVER felt the need for a cell phone, ever. I LOVE not having one! Hearing a cell phone out in the woods is a travesty.
there will be no collapse
I support Dr Paul but I sure as hell don't agree with everthing he says !! I have none of the gadgets you suggest because they are expensive and serve no purpose and I'm not living on the edge with my $8 a month cell phone ! if you don't like gadgets go hide under the bed where the gadget monster can't find you !! And for god sakes, quit telling other people how to conduct their lives..You sound like you want to be god, something else I don't believe in..news flash, not every Ron Paul supporter agrees with what he says on everything, that would be mindless !! I vote for him to get out of iraq and stay out of iran..I do not agree with his economic policies !!
hilarious
Your griping about someone telling people how to live there lives...LOL
They don't like cell phones,
You do and call anyone who doesn't like them a "MORON".
Hmmmm...isn't the pot calling the kettle black?
Well OK! God has spoken!
Well OK!
God has spoken!
Thanks for the compliment
But as I said I don't believe in god and if I want a cell phone there isn't damn thing you can do about it..if you agree with Everything Dr Paul says you are brainwashed..NO ONE believes in every single policy of their candidate !! I think I'll just continue to destoy my life with my $8 phone ! ROFLMFAO !!
Troll alert!
When did I ever say that I believe EVERYTHING Ron Paul does?
It is clear that you are a troll and NOT a Ron Paul supporter (putting aside all the irrelevant cell phone BS), as your attitude is clearly completely and mindlessly in support of EVERYTHING that is pro-status-quo and pro-establishment. I have noticed that everything you post denigrates some aspect of a post of somebody else's, and you never have anything good to say about the campaign or Ron Paul. If you think his economic "theories" (i.e. facts) are bunk, then WHY are you here?
I already told you
To end the damn war !!! and stay out of Iran