As someone who most likely doesn't have to worry about losing their job during this recession, this series has really made me think about what I would do if I did. It brought to mind something my father has always told my brothers and I and that is no matter where this life takes us, we should never forget how to push a broom and use a mop. One day that could be the only skill we have to offer that will get us a job.
Because of this series I now have the beginnings of a "what if" plan. Once I got over the initial shock of what my reality would be if I lost my job; I was able to start looking at options. Where would I go? What would I do? How much money do I really need to live on? Am I completely ready? No, but I won't go into complete vapor lock either.
Something that did come to the surface from this exercise is the need to reduce and simplify. My first step is to find ways to live a fulfilling life with the need for less income. I am putting myself on a consumerism diet and trying to free myself of wanting to consume without a purpose. I think that the need to consume unchecked is something that has become ingrained in American society and that maybe now we are paying the price. Sorry mass marketing and media, i'm not buying it any more. My new philosophy is that it is OK to want for stuff, but that stuff either needs to fill a need or has to replace something I already have. And if it is to replace something, then whatever it is replacing needs to be recycled if at all possible. All of which can be boiled down into the new question I now ask myself...Why?
Great article, as are many on this site. I look forward to more.
The lady down the hill loves to feed raccoons (I've seen 30 on her porch at dusk). They overbreed and overpopulate the area and then do whatever they can to try to get to my chickens. I set "hav-a-hart" traps, catch the raccoons, and give them to an acquaintance who eats them. So I eat eggs and chicken, my friend eats raccoons, and the lady down the hill, well, I'm not going to confess because I don't want to hurt her feelings.
We use Craigslist a bunch for free stuff. If you have a pickup with a trailer, there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can haul off for free and either use yourself or trade away for something you can really use. We've gotten railroad ties, firewood, scrap metal, livestock, trees, plants, fruit, and even labor for nothing -- you just have to be quick!
Hunting & fishing can be a great way to put food on the table, but there are just too many factors to say if it will work for everyone. Just like some people don't have the space and sunlight for a garden, some people will not have adequate game resources at hand to make hunting cheaper in the long run.
Take fishing, for example. My family spends a couple weeks a year on vacation on the outer banks of North Carolina. The main purpose is to play on the beach, but I also fish every day. I use the same rod & reel I've had for the last 20 years and a fishing license is not required. Bait is $2 - $5 a day, depending on what you are fishing for.
When we visit in the right season, there are days when the schools of fish are "running". That means I can catch fish as fast as I can throw a hook in the water, and I come home in an hour with a full cooler of fish - yielding 10 - 20 lbs of fish after it's been cleaned.
It's all good eating fish - spot and croaker are small but tasty (kind of like perch), but you can also readily catch mackerel, bluefish, and flounder.
In the wrong season you may catch only a few fish in one week, so you need to take this into account. It takes experience and patience to develop the knowledge of when and where to fish to get the best return for your money, but it is certainly worth learning.
Of course, you need to like fish. My wife hates it and won't eat it, but the rest of my family loves the fish we enjoy all summer.
I'm with you guys! I have a pre-paid cell for emergencies, but that's it. If I'm not at home or work, I don't usually want to be bothered. (I also don't answer the phone at home if I'm in the middle of something either). I think phones are tools that helps us conduct our lives, but we shouldn't be slaves to them.
I had to laugh at this comment. I totally understand how someone would get the impression that I'm a hermit, or somehow technologically inept from this post. I would like to add that I was one of the first of my friends to have a cell phone back when it was kind of a rare thing to have one. (I also lived through the "pager" days.)
And, yes, these days I'm a bit more homebound than I used to be. Most of it has to do with the phase of life I'm in (small children have a tendency to keep a short leash and my business is largely home-based -- we farm!) But I'm thankful that I also have friends and family close by. I can literally walk next door to visit my parents any time I want. I can entertain guests in my own home. My social circle is literally within a 5-mile radius from my house.
I love going out, but when you live as rural as I do (with the metro over an hour away), it just makes sense to keep it as local as possible -- financially speaking.
So while some folks get a kick out of the newest Blackberry (which I do secretly drool over), I spend my tech dollars on things that are practical for my lifestyle: top of the line chainsaws and a small collection of GPS units.
I too have a Trac Phone and rarely ever use it - it is great to carry with you on the road in case you have an emergency, to have a child get a hold of you if you are not at home and I also use it for long distance as it is cheaper than any long distance plans that are offered in the area and it is easier to see how long you have been on the phone and how many minutes you have used instead of getting a nasty surprise on your phone bill.
We used it when we went on vacation 6 hrs from where we lived with no problems and have even been able to reach Australia.
Unless you have a job (and hopefully an employer that pays for your phone - even then, keep in mind your employer will have access/record to who you are calling and how long you talk to them and use this against you in a review to not give you a raise) where you need to be reached at all times, you are better off without being available to everyone all the time for everything.
I don't plan to ever get one. I don't want a life that 'requires' a cell phone. The expense of one is the least of it. I agree with Roland, that I am old enough not to need the 'social leash.' I raised four kids (for the most part alone after my husband died) and did all my travelling without one. I don't even have an answering machine. However, I would greatly miss my pc.
You know, that was a very thought-provoking post. I sat back and tried to think how many times over the last week/month/year I used my phone for a true emergency. I can't come up with a single instance. Hmmm, this is something to explore, and fortunately we have some time to do it before the contract is up. Thanks!
Bravo! I even work as an admin in IT, where cell phones are the norm, and I don't have a cell. I have never missed it. If something happens during the day, I'm at work - and if it happens in the middle of the night, I'm home! If it happens while I'm on errands, I will simply check my voicemail when I get home. This 24-7 checking-email-on-Blackberries thing that is becoming standard in the IT business is destructive. You can never really get necessary R&R with that kind of device, and it then becomes harder to give 100% at work.
I got so many questions from family about emergencies that I did purchase two $10 Tracfones and put 200 minutes on each. These go in the car and are strictly for calling AAA, but we haven't had to use either in over a year.
When I retired, and its one of the reasons for doing so early, was to get away from carrying a phone, radio, and pager.
Yes I still have one...a Net10 PrePaid (owned by TracFone) that I keep in the Motorbike in case of a breakdown..other than that you can leave a message on the answering machine (yes they still make them..mine $6 at Wally World) and I will get back with you when its convenient for ME.
I really don't understand the need for being in constant communication and texting all the time like people do today....no one knows what Quiet Solitude is anymore.
People look at us like we're cross-eyed, but I'm with you. Since we live in a medium sized town and all the shopping I normally do is nearby, it seems silly to add an expense like that.
You can get to as low as about $7 per month if you use the right prepaid option on Virgin Mobile. What I do is I top up my prepay plan once a year for $100, which gives me a year of service and some ungodly number of minutes that I won't use but which won't expire as long as I re-up the next year.
I primarily use my cell when I'm traveling or if there is some kind of critical situation where I need communication (like when my Dad had to go to the cardiac unit of a nearby hospital last month). In those occasions I use as many minutes as I want, and I just use my yearly minutes because most months I *talk* very little on the cellphone. Lots of times I won't even answer it and just dial back the person who is calling on my landline or on a landline where I am at. (For this purpose, I have a pingo.com calling card that gives me long distance minutes in the US for less than 4 cents per minute. Again, prepaid.)
The other reason I have the phone is that my cell number serves as my answering machine.
Also, the phone is a cheap one and it has a flashlight built in, which is handy all the time because I am a bike commuter and am often out in the dark this time of year. I also use the phone flashlight to navigate to distant rooms in m y house at night in the dark, avoiding having to flick lights on and off as I move through the rooms. I just use the phone flashlight and turn on the room light once i get to the...kitchen, usually.
The sites mentioned in the article and the comments all look pretty but could be a pain to use
Brand Name Coupons was the first one to offer this back door Amazon Deals and still remains my Fav
YOu might want to spring for a new one anyway, as the energy costs of running a 30 yr old freezer are much much higher than running a new enrgystar-certified one. Probably you would get your money back within 3-4 years of electricity savings, then after that the addittional savings would be gravy.
If you really want to do the bucket and compost thing or to know more about it, The Humanure Bible by Jenkins explains all. And in fact is available both in purchasable book form and free by the author on the web.
There is a little more to using a bucket and carry toilet system than I indicated in my above post, but not that much more. Jenkins's book tells all though. He is truly the GOD of Humanure and I say that with all due respect.
As far as toilets go, I would skip using them and urinate into a closed bottle (women can use a funnel) and do #2 into a 5 gallon bucket. Excrement without urine really doesn't smell much at all, and if you sequester the urine in a bottle that is capped it won't smell bad.
Once you've got a lot of the stuff stored up you have various options for disposal. But if it's really an emergency and there's no water, you don't want to be using water for flushing toilets. YOu could maybe use used wash water that you saved up to flush a large amount of what is in the bucket down, topped off with bottles of urine.
If you live in an area where there's outdoor space, you could just make a bed of leaves or sawdust and make a compost type pile for the #1 and #2, emptying the buckets and bottles every few days. If you cover it with leaves, grass, and other such dry organic matter it is actually fairly safe from the public health standpoint to do that, in fact much safer than many other options.
If you live in an urban area without power, you may also lose water service so having water supplies laid by may be important. After some time it may be possible that water delivery stations or trucks could restore access to water even without electrical power, but it would be a good idea to have a big supply in your house.
Of course I do not have a big supply of water stored up in my house, however!
As far as how to heat food for cooking, a multi-fuel camping stove like the XGK-II (I forget the main brand name) comes with jets for everything from "white gas" to gasoline, kerosene and AV fuel. You should have a fire extinguisher nearby and preferably only cook outdoors when using it due to various factors which I won't get into and which you should fully understand before using the thing. Used properly it is perfectly safe, like most things, you have to understand its nature to use it safely though.
The squirrels where I live are uncommonly plump and round this year. It looks like they could roll away instead of scampering.
LOL
The neighbors would freak out for sure if you strung a deer up in this neighborhood and butchered it though!
The roadkill scenario will happen more often--but it's not a desirable way to "hunt" as it's not exactly a clean kill and the damage to your car will outweigh the value to you of the animal for food.
It is to be hoped that things will not get so bad that many people will be *forced* to do such things.
i use a virgin mobile and a t-mobile prepaid. i get the phones dirt cheap on ebay and in the case of t-mobile, i can usually pop my prepaid card into any phone prepaid or contract that works in the t-mobile network and it works fine.
i have never gotten into the habit of being perpetually connected with my phone and im happy to have my prepaid option when i need it.
Wow! This was like I was explaining to all my friends, again, why I don't have a fancy cell phone. My exception is that we don't have "winter" where I live, but months of 90 plus weather, and lots of expansive spaces between stores where I could "use your phone." I finally got one for this purpose, and it suits me just fine! Thanks for bringing the world the topic of SAHM and cell-phones! Another reason I love reading your contributions to Wise Bread!
My job pays for my cell phone. I just give out my GrandCentral number in order to preserve the minutes. Then I reply to the voicemail by email or by cell when I have free minutes. It seems to work for me.
This was a really scary 80s flashback until the part about the prepaid cell. Whew. I thought you had no phone at all. Prepaid makes a lot of sense for a lot of people. In Europe, it's very common.
As someone who most likely doesn't have to worry about losing their job during this recession, this series has really made me think about what I would do if I did. It brought to mind something my father has always told my brothers and I and that is no matter where this life takes us, we should never forget how to push a broom and use a mop. One day that could be the only skill we have to offer that will get us a job.
Because of this series I now have the beginnings of a "what if" plan. Once I got over the initial shock of what my reality would be if I lost my job; I was able to start looking at options. Where would I go? What would I do? How much money do I really need to live on? Am I completely ready? No, but I won't go into complete vapor lock either.
Something that did come to the surface from this exercise is the need to reduce and simplify. My first step is to find ways to live a fulfilling life with the need for less income. I am putting myself on a consumerism diet and trying to free myself of wanting to consume without a purpose. I think that the need to consume unchecked is something that has become ingrained in American society and that maybe now we are paying the price. Sorry mass marketing and media, i'm not buying it any more. My new philosophy is that it is OK to want for stuff, but that stuff either needs to fill a need or has to replace something I already have. And if it is to replace something, then whatever it is replacing needs to be recycled if at all possible. All of which can be boiled down into the new question I now ask myself...Why?
Great article, as are many on this site. I look forward to more.
The lady down the hill loves to feed raccoons (I've seen 30 on her porch at dusk). They overbreed and overpopulate the area and then do whatever they can to try to get to my chickens. I set "hav-a-hart" traps, catch the raccoons, and give them to an acquaintance who eats them. So I eat eggs and chicken, my friend eats raccoons, and the lady down the hill, well, I'm not going to confess because I don't want to hurt her feelings.
We use Craigslist a bunch for free stuff. If you have a pickup with a trailer, there's no limit to the amount of stuff you can haul off for free and either use yourself or trade away for something you can really use. We've gotten railroad ties, firewood, scrap metal, livestock, trees, plants, fruit, and even labor for nothing -- you just have to be quick!
Thanks for another awesome article, Philip.
Linsey Knerl
Hunting & fishing can be a great way to put food on the table, but there are just too many factors to say if it will work for everyone. Just like some people don't have the space and sunlight for a garden, some people will not have adequate game resources at hand to make hunting cheaper in the long run.
Take fishing, for example. My family spends a couple weeks a year on vacation on the outer banks of North Carolina. The main purpose is to play on the beach, but I also fish every day. I use the same rod & reel I've had for the last 20 years and a fishing license is not required. Bait is $2 - $5 a day, depending on what you are fishing for.
When we visit in the right season, there are days when the schools of fish are "running". That means I can catch fish as fast as I can throw a hook in the water, and I come home in an hour with a full cooler of fish - yielding 10 - 20 lbs of fish after it's been cleaned.
It's all good eating fish - spot and croaker are small but tasty (kind of like perch), but you can also readily catch mackerel, bluefish, and flounder.
In the wrong season you may catch only a few fish in one week, so you need to take this into account. It takes experience and patience to develop the knowledge of when and where to fish to get the best return for your money, but it is certainly worth learning.
Of course, you need to like fish. My wife hates it and won't eat it, but the rest of my family loves the fish we enjoy all summer.
I'm with you guys! I have a pre-paid cell for emergencies, but that's it. If I'm not at home or work, I don't usually want to be bothered. (I also don't answer the phone at home if I'm in the middle of something either). I think phones are tools that helps us conduct our lives, but we shouldn't be slaves to them.
I had to laugh at this comment. I totally understand how someone would get the impression that I'm a hermit, or somehow technologically inept from this post. I would like to add that I was one of the first of my friends to have a cell phone back when it was kind of a rare thing to have one. (I also lived through the "pager" days.)
And, yes, these days I'm a bit more homebound than I used to be. Most of it has to do with the phase of life I'm in (small children have a tendency to keep a short leash and my business is largely home-based -- we farm!) But I'm thankful that I also have friends and family close by. I can literally walk next door to visit my parents any time I want. I can entertain guests in my own home. My social circle is literally within a 5-mile radius from my house.
I love going out, but when you live as rural as I do (with the metro over an hour away), it just makes sense to keep it as local as possible -- financially speaking.
So while some folks get a kick out of the newest Blackberry (which I do secretly drool over), I spend my tech dollars on things that are practical for my lifestyle: top of the line chainsaws and a small collection of GPS units.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments!
Linsey Knerl
I too have a Trac Phone and rarely ever use it - it is great to carry with you on the road in case you have an emergency, to have a child get a hold of you if you are not at home and I also use it for long distance as it is cheaper than any long distance plans that are offered in the area and it is easier to see how long you have been on the phone and how many minutes you have used instead of getting a nasty surprise on your phone bill.
We used it when we went on vacation 6 hrs from where we lived with no problems and have even been able to reach Australia.
Unless you have a job (and hopefully an employer that pays for your phone - even then, keep in mind your employer will have access/record to who you are calling and how long you talk to them and use this against you in a review to not give you a raise) where you need to be reached at all times, you are better off without being available to everyone all the time for everything.
I don't plan to ever get one. I don't want a life that 'requires' a cell phone. The expense of one is the least of it. I agree with Roland, that I am old enough not to need the 'social leash.' I raised four kids (for the most part alone after my husband died) and did all my travelling without one. I don't even have an answering machine. However, I would greatly miss my pc.
You know, that was a very thought-provoking post. I sat back and tried to think how many times over the last week/month/year I used my phone for a true emergency. I can't come up with a single instance. Hmmm, this is something to explore, and fortunately we have some time to do it before the contract is up. Thanks!
Bravo! I even work as an admin in IT, where cell phones are the norm, and I don't have a cell. I have never missed it. If something happens during the day, I'm at work - and if it happens in the middle of the night, I'm home! If it happens while I'm on errands, I will simply check my voicemail when I get home. This 24-7 checking-email-on-Blackberries thing that is becoming standard in the IT business is destructive. You can never really get necessary R&R with that kind of device, and it then becomes harder to give 100% at work.
I got so many questions from family about emergencies that I did purchase two $10 Tracfones and put 200 minutes on each. These go in the car and are strictly for calling AAA, but we haven't had to use either in over a year.
A Leash.
And thats all a cell phone is is a Social Leash.
When I retired, and its one of the reasons for doing so early, was to get away from carrying a phone, radio, and pager.
Yes I still have one...a Net10 PrePaid (owned by TracFone) that I keep in the Motorbike in case of a breakdown..other than that you can leave a message on the answering machine (yes they still make them..mine $6 at Wally World) and I will get back with you when its convenient for ME.
I really don't understand the need for being in constant communication and texting all the time like people do today....no one knows what Quiet Solitude is anymore.
~ Roland
People look at us like we're cross-eyed, but I'm with you. Since we live in a medium sized town and all the shopping I normally do is nearby, it seems silly to add an expense like that.
Thanks but offer works apparently in states only. i live in israel
You can get to as low as about $7 per month if you use the right prepaid option on Virgin Mobile. What I do is I top up my prepay plan once a year for $100, which gives me a year of service and some ungodly number of minutes that I won't use but which won't expire as long as I re-up the next year.
I primarily use my cell when I'm traveling or if there is some kind of critical situation where I need communication (like when my Dad had to go to the cardiac unit of a nearby hospital last month). In those occasions I use as many minutes as I want, and I just use my yearly minutes because most months I *talk* very little on the cellphone. Lots of times I won't even answer it and just dial back the person who is calling on my landline or on a landline where I am at. (For this purpose, I have a pingo.com calling card that gives me long distance minutes in the US for less than 4 cents per minute. Again, prepaid.)
The other reason I have the phone is that my cell number serves as my answering machine.
Also, the phone is a cheap one and it has a flashlight built in, which is handy all the time because I am a bike commuter and am often out in the dark this time of year. I also use the phone flashlight to navigate to distant rooms in m y house at night in the dark, avoiding having to flick lights on and off as I move through the rooms. I just use the phone flashlight and turn on the room light once i get to the...kitchen, usually.
Whew!
The sites mentioned in the article and the comments all look pretty but could be a pain to use
Brand Name Coupons was the first one to offer this back door Amazon Deals and still remains my Fav
YOu might want to spring for a new one anyway, as the energy costs of running a 30 yr old freezer are much much higher than running a new enrgystar-certified one. Probably you would get your money back within 3-4 years of electricity savings, then after that the addittional savings would be gravy.
If you really want to do the bucket and compost thing or to know more about it, The Humanure Bible by Jenkins explains all. And in fact is available both in purchasable book form and free by the author on the web.
There is a little more to using a bucket and carry toilet system than I indicated in my above post, but not that much more. Jenkins's book tells all though. He is truly the GOD of Humanure and I say that with all due respect.
As far as toilets go, I would skip using them and urinate into a closed bottle (women can use a funnel) and do #2 into a 5 gallon bucket. Excrement without urine really doesn't smell much at all, and if you sequester the urine in a bottle that is capped it won't smell bad.
Once you've got a lot of the stuff stored up you have various options for disposal. But if it's really an emergency and there's no water, you don't want to be using water for flushing toilets. YOu could maybe use used wash water that you saved up to flush a large amount of what is in the bucket down, topped off with bottles of urine.
If you live in an area where there's outdoor space, you could just make a bed of leaves or sawdust and make a compost type pile for the #1 and #2, emptying the buckets and bottles every few days. If you cover it with leaves, grass, and other such dry organic matter it is actually fairly safe from the public health standpoint to do that, in fact much safer than many other options.
If you live in an urban area without power, you may also lose water service so having water supplies laid by may be important. After some time it may be possible that water delivery stations or trucks could restore access to water even without electrical power, but it would be a good idea to have a big supply in your house.
Of course I do not have a big supply of water stored up in my house, however!
As far as how to heat food for cooking, a multi-fuel camping stove like the XGK-II (I forget the main brand name) comes with jets for everything from "white gas" to gasoline, kerosene and AV fuel. You should have a fire extinguisher nearby and preferably only cook outdoors when using it due to various factors which I won't get into and which you should fully understand before using the thing. Used properly it is perfectly safe, like most things, you have to understand its nature to use it safely though.
The squirrels where I live are uncommonly plump and round this year. It looks like they could roll away instead of scampering.
LOL
The neighbors would freak out for sure if you strung a deer up in this neighborhood and butchered it though!
The roadkill scenario will happen more often--but it's not a desirable way to "hunt" as it's not exactly a clean kill and the damage to your car will outweigh the value to you of the animal for food.
It is to be hoped that things will not get so bad that many people will be *forced* to do such things.
i use a virgin mobile and a t-mobile prepaid. i get the phones dirt cheap on ebay and in the case of t-mobile, i can usually pop my prepaid card into any phone prepaid or contract that works in the t-mobile network and it works fine.
i have never gotten into the habit of being perpetually connected with my phone and im happy to have my prepaid option when i need it.
You should get out more often.
Wow! This was like I was explaining to all my friends, again, why I don't have a fancy cell phone. My exception is that we don't have "winter" where I live, but months of 90 plus weather, and lots of expansive spaces between stores where I could "use your phone." I finally got one for this purpose, and it suits me just fine! Thanks for bringing the world the topic of SAHM and cell-phones! Another reason I love reading your contributions to Wise Bread!
My job pays for my cell phone. I just give out my GrandCentral number in order to preserve the minutes. Then I reply to the voicemail by email or by cell when I have free minutes. It seems to work for me.
This was a really scary 80s flashback until the part about the prepaid cell. Whew. I thought you had no phone at all. Prepaid makes a lot of sense for a lot of people. In Europe, it's very common.