Author Topic: Recession wisdom (Read 4056 times)

Chappers · « **on:** April 14, 2009, 02:14:22 AM »

Hi, im a long time reader of Greybeards (single shot rifles) but this is the first time for posting. I not to happy that my first post is not on a cheerful subject. I fear that we are slipping into not a small slump but into a recession. I was hoping that people that have lived through the last recession share some of their wisdom with us about tips for day to day living to help get though to hard times.

Please note: that I would not be thought as a survivalist but as down to earth type of guy, so any suggestions that I need umpteen rifles and need to live in constant fear is not what im after.

Cheers.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:40:03 AM »

i was a little younger than you during the CARTER years

and in a different country [usa]

i think we are headed in that direction

buy things that hold value.....property..guns...gold [i am not a fan of gold]
after the inflation you might not be able to afford them

keep a small cash reserve for emergency or short turm needs

don't be to concerned with being a super saver of CAH as it is likely to LOOSE much of its value

i recently bought 22 lr at $13 a box of 500
got 2 boxes a month
then they were gone
now they are for sale again..........at $17

$104----------13X8=104 8 boxes is now worth
$136----------17X8=136

worse out come price goes down and i still have lots of bullets...nothing wrong with that

best advice don't let it get you down and don't put TOO much into one thing

Bigeasy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2009, 05:10:44 AM »

I live on about 12 acres of wood land, bordering thousands of acres of state forest land in PA. I also have a fresh water spring on my property. I have plenty of firewood, and a wood burner in the house. I learned how to can meat and veggies when I moved to PA., and have a big canning set up in the cellar. Knowing I could sustain myself by hunting/poaching, fishing, running a trap line, and growning a garden gives me a lot of confidence that I could live well without electricity, or a pay check, If I had to. Of course there is a lot more to survival then that, but its a good first step.

Advice? I think having items of practical value (ammo, canned foods, traps/snares, eye glasses, etc.) for trade and barter is important. There is always something you will need, such as medications, for example, that you are going to have to depend on someone else to get it from.

Larry

Cornbelt · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2009, 07:00:55 AM »

Anyone remember Y-2-K? If nothing else, it was a good dry run. People found out what was useful and what was just hogwash. Stuff you can eat that keeps, as well as tools that are basic are a couple things a guy will use anyway (without having to wait on Y-3-K).

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #4 on:** April 14, 2009, 07:29:43 AM »

advice , keep your head . don't waste money . when you buy only do so on things that last and hold value . The others covered the basics . Live like we should anyway .

mannyrock · « **Reply #5 on:** April 14, 2009, 12:27:04 PM »

Chappers,

Here is the best, most useful advice, I can give you.

We are already in a recession, and a deep one. I don't expect us to come out of it in less than 3 years.

The biggest thing you can do is to look at every dollar you have, and decide that you are not going to waste it on consumer items. I know that this is hard, especially for younger people, but you have to do it. Ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising messages directed at you every day, and just recognize that almost everything they are trying to sell you is pure junk and totally unnecessary.

Know the difference between what you WANT and what you NEED. Buying what you WANT leads to poverty, buying only what you NEED leads to happiness.

Every time you see something that cost about $3.00 (such as an average size bag of Ruffles Potato Chips), think of it in terms of gasoline or electricity. For $3.00, you could buy 1.5 gallons of gas, and then ride (instead of walk) for 40 miles! For $3.00, you could pay for an entire day of electricity at your house, and have hot running water and heat and lights, instead of cold water, no heat, and darkness.

Need clothes? You could go to the mall and spend $35 on a new pair of Levis, or you can go to a thrift shop and buy 4 pair of jeans in fairly good shape.

Need additional towels and linens? You could go to the mall and buy a new set for $200. Or, you can hit three big yard sales, and get these in fairly good shape for about $25.

Need dinner? You could go to McDonalds and spend $7.00 on a Big Mac, Fries, Coke and an apple pie, or you could go to the store and buy a two pound roast, two large potatoes, and two large carrots, cook them in a crockpot for 2 hours, and have dinner for 4 days!

In this economy, it is all about what you KEEP, and not what you earn.

Need spare cash? Have you got a small truck, or an old SUV? Or even an old car with a large trunk? Put a shovel, a steel rake, a leaf rake, a mattox, a hatchet, a pruning saw, a pruning snipper, and a bag of plastic leaf bags in the back, drive to a middle class suburban neighborhood on Saturday morning, and just walk up and down the sidewalk, kindly offering to do any type of yardwork for $8.00 per hour. Dress nicely (nice looking work jeans and work shirt) and be professional. (Above all, don't wear your hat on backwards!) If possible, have your wife or girlfriend with you, sitting in the car.

You will probably get all of the work that you want. What you can't finish on Saturday, you can finish on Sunday, and that always leads to more work. Let people know that you will stop by every other weekend just to check back with them. Then, find other neighborhoods and do the same. If you can get just six hours a day, on Saturday and Sunday, that's $96.00 per weekend, or an extra $385 per month. If you are careful at home, this will probably pay for your electric and water bill every month. (Stop and think about that. . . . Your electric and water will be covered every month!)

Want some more extra cash? Do you have cable t.v.? How much are you spending on that? At least $60 per month? Cancel it, and you will have $60 extra in your pocket, each and every month. That will pay for your rcell phone or regular phone every month.

And above all, watch out if you ever hear yourself saying the following words, "I've worked really really hard, and so I DESERVE to get a [fill in the blank]." WRONG! You are lying to yourself. Don't fall for it. You don't deserve anything (only the advertisers will tell you that). Instead, put that money in the bank and take care of yourself and your family.

If you don't have the time or skill for a garden, then go to a Costco, or a Mexican grocery store, and buy large (50 pound) bags of rice and beans, and start cooking and eating some every day. Work it into your meals. It is cheap and healthy, and goes a long way. (Cook up big pots on Sunday, and then just heat some up every other day of the week.)

Surviving recessions and depressions isn't about storing up firearms or ammunition or canned food. It is about mindset and determination. Talk with older folks, in their 70s, and they will give you alot more practical advice.

It will be extremely tough to get through these 3 years, but if you can just stay even (and not lose all of your property and savings) then you will have done OK.

Best regards,

Mannyrock

teamnelson · « **Reply #6 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:22:52 PM »

Amen to all the above ... Plus, don't withdraw from your family/community/church; do just the opposite. Reach out, plug in, and participate. There will be days when you will need someone's help, and others when you will be the one helping. You never know what might come your way through that person you just met - could be a job, warm meal, or a shoulder to lean on.

Chappers · « **Reply #7 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:46:20 PM »

Thank you all for your input; this is what i was after. (Keep them coming)

In Australia we are just seeing the first signs of the hardship to come, in the area i live in the our main export is coal and some miners have lost their jobs because of plant scale down but other than that life goes on as normal. Now im getting married in nine months time a date that was decided before all this economic crises began (don’t worry this is not a excuse to get cold feet). So this is where most of my savings is going and i fear because of this we might have to tighten our belts more than others.

Mannyrock, ill have to show my other half what you typed about pay T.V i have put my foot down about this subject for years and now i have some that agrees with me (even our mates were taken her side and the subject).
Cheers.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2009, 02:52:48 PM »

i bought a house in 1977 for ten thousand dollars with an extra yard

inflation was horrible but i managed to build a house on that extra lot/yard and moved there

i now rent the old house for 8 thousand a year

it is not all doom and gloom
there is money to be made in these times

i just missed a deal on a reposessed house by $2k

burntmuch · « **Reply #9 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:50:10 PM »

In this economy, it is all about what you KEEP, and not what you earn
   Know the difference between what you WANT and what you NEED.   Buying what you WANT leads to poverty, buying only what you NEED leads to happiness.

Mannyrock those are truly words of wisdom . Hard times are coming for sure, Its amazing what you can live without, Thrift stores ,, beans & rice,, Any extra money you have buy food that will keep & you ll wanna eat. If the bottom falls out I dont think moneys gonna do you any good. Im not saying dont save any. A couple grand would be about all I would have stashed. Great reading guys. This is good down to earth thinking

.

bilmac · « **Reply #10 on:** April 15, 2009, 01:14:11 AM »

I worry more about inflation than about recession, it's happened many times in the past where you will have to have a wheelbarrow full of money to go to the grocery store. Out of control government spending resulting in the government printing new money is what causes it. Sound familiar to anyone?

How to prepare for that? I have some gold and silver, but our government has banned the private ownership of it in the past. I have a lot of guns that I could live without. I bought an old long barreled shotgun the other day cheap. Sawed it down to riot gun size. Maybe it will be worth 100 times what I paid for it before this is over. I hand load and keep a lot of components in stock. What I am saying is I think that investing in the practical things that people will need is a way to be prepared for inflation which is what I think is around the corner for the USofA

I know you asked about a recession in Austrailia Chappers and I think some guys have hit on that pretty good, but I'm afraid a lot of folks here in the US are reading the tea leaves wrong.

I think the best advice for anyone in any situation is to be a man of worth to society. Have a trade or skill that provives things of real value if the going gets bad.

Bart Solo · « **Reply #11 on:** April 16, 2009, 02:34:46 AM »

I bet you can find a lot of room in your food budget. Processed foods cost a lot. Buy in bulk and cook. I have taken to eating what I need, not what I want. In addition to being healthier and lighter, I have also saved a lot of money. The food tastes better too.

I will tell you what I learned coming out of college into a deep recession. Don't get down on yourself because you can't find a job. It isn't you. It is the economy, stupid. Approach finding work like it is your job. Whatever you do, be strong for your family. They need you to be there for them. Don't whine or lash out. Be part of their solution, not part of their problems.

briarpatch · « **Reply #12 on:** April 16, 2009, 06:16:18 AM »

An A++++ Thread With sound advice for me and everyone else. Thanks Guys.

Cornbelt · « **Reply #13 on:** May 04, 2009, 03:42:28 AM »

I think the summary of these messages here is that the focus should be more on "what to do without" rather than "how to maintain my life style". For instance, if gasoline gets so expensive no one can afford it, 5 gal will get you to the doctor -if the lawn didn't become an "emergency". I've worked for 2 or 3 companies that went belly-up. They never bothered to consider the hundreds of ways they could save $ when they were making it, but when they weren't, and most of those opportunities were gone, then they went crazy trying to cut costs. Too little too late, but when they closed their doors, costs came to an end! I went grocery shopping with my wife the other night, and was appalled at some of the prices! Especially for things we continually use up, like detergent. Tide at $18 a bottle makes a good case for lye soap! Takes a little more preparation to get it to dissolve (like a cheese grater and pot of HOT water) but it will get the clothes clean and doesn't take any particular smarts to make it. Also works for fish bait, believe it or not.

timmo58 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 25, 2009, 01:52:40 PM »

watch your back with your trigger finger i do there are too many out there looking to do too many of us in , by stealing , i lost some gas back when it was 4.00 a gallon so i painted a steel trap pan silver like my gas cap and wired the trap to the frame of my pickup placing the set trap on the gas tank cap under the flap door (Chevy truck) then at 3 am i was awakened to a scream , i got up looked out the window BINGO i had me a gas thief by the hand and he could not get loose i called the cops to come arrest and let him loose , i did not lose any more gas since and that neighbor moved out of state , by the way it broke a few fingers , the judge called me in to court to give me hell for booby trapping my truck.i told the judge that intent to steal was there the minute he opened the flap to get at my gas tank it did not belong to him , the judge said case closed ?? LOL and still LOL

pab1 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 25, 2009, 03:05:36 PM »

Great post Mannyrock!

teddy12b · « **Reply #16 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:23:10 AM »

Quote from: timmo58 on May 25, 2009, 01:52:40 PM

watch your back with your trigger finger i do there are too many out there looking to do too many of us in , by stealing , i lost some gas back when it was 4.00 a gallon so i painted a steel trap pan silver like my gas cap and wired the trap to the frame of my pickup placing the set trap on the gas tank cap under the flap door (Chevy truck) then at 3 am i was awakened to a scream , i got up looked out the window BINGO i had me a gas thief by the hand and he could not get loose i called the cops to come arrest and let him loose , i did not lose any more gas since and that neighbor moved out of state , by the way it broke a few fingers , the judge called me in to court to give me hell for booby trapping my truck.i told the judge that intent to steal was there the minute he opened the flap to get at my gas tank it did not belong to him , the judge said case closed ?? LOL and still LOL

I'd love to see some pictures of how you rigged this all up. That's one way to keep yourself safe.

timmo58 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 27, 2009, 02:59:11 AM »

it is as simple as i wrote it a steel trap and silver spray paint for the trap pan a piece of coat ha nger to chain on trap and other end to frame of vehicle and all thats needed is a gas thief they will learn that your tank is one not worth messing with , i have never lost another gallon of gas from any of my vehicles , and if i ever do in ten minutes another trap and another lesson for some creep to feel around for in the dark it really does catch em first time too no doubt would work on gas tanks that have the flap under the liscense plate too ! sometimes you have to out smart the thief it dont take much sometimes they will leave you alone untill their fingers heal

mannyrock · « **Reply #18 on:** May 27, 2009, 03:24:08 PM »

Hey Chappers,

There is nothing wrong with paying for cable t.v., when times are flush, and the money is flowing, and you can easily afford it. But when times are bad, it is the first luxery that should go. (The difference between being an adult and being a child is being able to recognize and accept things like this.)

Put another way, ask you fiance whether she would you rather pay $60 for a month of cable t.v., or have $60 in the bank in case you lose a filling in your tooth or need a cavity filled!

Best Regards,

Mannyrock

Travis Morgan · « **Reply #19 on:** July 07, 2009, 10:11:40 AM »

Quote from: Chappers on April 14, 2009, 01:46:20 PM

Thank you all for your input; this is what i was after. (Keep them coming)

In Australia we are just seeing the first signs of the hardship to come, in the area i live in the our main export is coal and some miners have lost their jobs because of plant scale down but other than that life goes on as normal. Now im getting married in nine months time a date that was decided before all this economic crises began (don’t worry this is not a excuse to get cold feet). So this is where most of my savings is going and i fear because of this we might have to tighten our belts more than others.

Mannyrock, ill have to show my other half what you typed about pay T.V i have put my foot down about this subject for years and now i have some that agrees with me (even our mates were taken her side and the subject).
Cheers.

When a mine shuts down, there's generally a lot of scrap metal stuff laying around for the taking. Metal prices are up. You're about to pay for a wedding, a honeymoon, and a bunch of crap that makes no sense. Get her work gloves for an engagement present. If getting dirty and working is too tough for her, go find another one. A pretty woman that's useless ain't so pretty.

vacek · « **Reply #20 on:** November 03, 2009, 02:38:21 PM »

When my wife (with her 2 little sons) were first married we didn't have a lot. Prior to that she had been working part time while going to school to get a degree and was on welfare. In spite of that she budgeted her small amount of money and was able to put aside some every month. It is all a matter of discipline. The economy can be good or bad but if you have a head on you and some discipline then you should do fine. A lot of great info in the posts.

Buy basic food not prepared food. When I taught college (80's) in one of my classes an assignment for the students were to assume that they had only $31 to feed themselves for a month. I had taught them about weekly grocery adds and loss leader items along with buying unprepared food. They found out very quickly that they could have a pretty good basic diet on that money. Over the years I have run into many of those students and they told me it was one of the best things they had ever learned. Why...because all of us ( or purnt near) all of us have tight times.

A recession / depression is a national/global issue that can to a point (you make the difference how much) affect your life. They more disciplined you are the better you weather the storms.

mannyrock · « **Reply #21 on:** November 04, 2009, 02:38:35 AM »

My new girlfriend is a school teacher. She lives on that salary alone.

She has a nice two bedroom condo, that she rents, and wears nice attractive clothes (all come from Target).

She has a well kept, 4 year old Volkswagon sedan, that she pays about $225 a month for.

I couldn't really figure out how she appears to make ends meet, with her relatively low salary. Then I found out.

She NEVER eats out at any restaurant, except for the occassional bargain meals at a McDonalds or other fast food restaurant. She buys basic food only, cooks it into really nice meals in large quantities, and stores it in tupperware in the refridgerator, eating it during the week.

I recently took her out to an Outback, to get her a basic steak dinner. I tried to get her to order the small Outback Special (6 oz steak, plus bread, plus two vegetables, all for $9.95, a huge bargain.)

She was stunned that anyone would pay nearly $10.00 for a steak. She said that she could buy two large steaks for $10.00. and cook them at home, better than Outback could cook them. She ended up ordering the Outback hamburger, for about $6.00.

So, I guess I found out her secret to living cheaply.

(She was also stunned to disbelief when I told her that a steak dinner at a very top flight restaurant, like Ruth's Chris Steak House, routinely costs about $60.00 a person if you have one drink. She thought I was kidding! When I was practicing law in the big leagues, we took clients out to Ruth's Chris about twice a week! It was considered the minimum acceptability for a good client dinner. I failed to mention the $110 a person dinners at Peter Lugar's in New York, the finest steak house on the planet. )

Best,

Mannyrock

The Poet · « **Reply #22 on:** November 04, 2009, 03:20:38 AM »

   Gentlemen,


   Speaking about beans, and living cheap...
I ate beans every day last week.
Beans and tortillas.
That's all I had.
I am disabled and broke most of the time but the beans were good.

   Back in the early 70's I was a music major at U.T. Austin.
I had $25. a week for food.
I would rather eat Mexican food at a restaurant 4-5 times a week,
than have home made food three times every day.
But since I was at the University of Texas and was there to learn,
I learned how to cook!
In Austin I ate Mexican food once a day and that was about it,
but since then I have become a great cook.

   Once I studied hard all day till I was starving
then went to the Italian pizza place at 1:00 am but they were closed!
I drove to the pizza inn but they were closed too!
There I was, standing alone in the pizza inn parking lot,
with money in my pocket, a starving student in need of a pizza.
But there wasn't no way.
I was destined to starve all night.
I resolved right then to learn how to cook pizza.

What in life, could be more important than 'cooking one's food'
{other than getting it.}
Here I was in a university learning about 'scales and chords' on the keyboard
when 'food' was more important
and especially to me back then,
I was starving.

   Remembering how my Dad would cook pizza back in the 50's.
with a box of 'chef Boy-ar-dee' pizza mix,
I went to the store the next day and bought a 'box of pizza'.
It was a strange new thing cooking food but as I like to eat good food
it was the time in my life to learn how to cook.
I was in a university to learn but they didn't teach
how to shoot a squirrel, skin it, cook it up in an acceptable, tasty fashion.
I had to learn that on my own.

   I made the pizza as according to directions and it was terrible.
However, now, 35 years later,
I am an amature gourmet chef and pizza is my specialty.
I have been making pizza from scratch for 35 years.
And no ones pizza is better.

   When one is a good cook, cooking makes sense and is easy.
The beans were soaked over night and crockpoted all day.
Dried New Mexico chili peppers, garlic, brown sugar, onions,
I could go on and on but I remember my Mom.
She is dead now but when I was in the third grade I asked her:
"Mom, how do you cook?"
She said:
" Men don't cook food, they get married and make their wives cook for them."
I said:
but Oh Mom, your food is so good,
I want to learn how to cook just like you do.
When in all actuality I wanted to learn how to cook food
so I didn't end up with a bitch like her.
It was one of my first tactical lies but it worked!

Now,
  50 years later,
I alive alone,
am a good cook.

   ...and I don't get bitched at.


   Live is good.


   J. Winters von Knife
   http://jacksknifeshop.tripod.com/

Cornbelt · « **Reply #23 on:** November 08, 2009, 03:17:05 AM »

Been doing some cheap eating here. Just picked some of the green bean "hangers on" that dried and went to seed. Threw a couple handfulls of corn in the blender, cranked it through a sifter to sieve the flour from the grits (which I also eat), had cornbread and soup beans. And with a small half pumpkin nuked for 15 minutes with a dab of butter and brown sugar, had quite a meal. I only actually spent cash for the butter and brown sugar. The real problem this time of year is being able to eat everything we get free. -like 50 acres of pumpkins. Do deer eat pumpkins? Maybe they'll turn into meat.

The Poet · « **Reply #24 on:** November 08, 2009, 05:52:36 AM »

Cornbelt Dude,

Howdy,
Nothing! eats pumpkins!
I have horses and once I saw all these pumpkins after Halloween
and picked up a bunch of them and took them home for Red, Sugarmay and Dollymay to eat,
they looked at me like I was crazy and never touched them.
I never really liked them but now don't even consider them as being food.
But I know how starvation is...
What state are you in?
{I have a big garden}

J. Winters von Knife
and Sandymay
http://jacksknifeshop.tripod.com/

Empty Quiver · « **Reply #25 on:** November 08, 2009, 08:04:33 AM »

Hogs will eat pumpkins, and no finer way to finish them out either. Meat takes on a nice flavor from those pumpkins.

Cornbelt · « **Reply #26 on:** November 08, 2009, 01:54:27 PM »

Quote

What state are you in?
Hoosier.
Hogs will eat pumpkins, and no finer way to finish them out either. Meat takes on a nice flavor from those pumpkins.

We've been thinking about turning hogs loose on 'em. If they grow fast, we'll hunt sooner. If they grow slow; later. But as cheap as hogs are right now, it wouldn't cost much to try. Meanwhile, the chickens are pecking away. -Never thought of eating pumpkins. Learned that from an Aussie who'd never heard of pumpkin pie. Some even make wine out of 'em. The distilled product is pretty good too, if you like that sort of thing. Just a shame they don't have a better way to use the crop. They're like watermelons: Once the market goes flat, they quit picking, and there are thousands left to rot. But doves like watermelon seeds, so watermelons can turn into meat. Maybe pumpkins too, eh?

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #27 on:** November 09, 2009, 07:36:01 AM »

I eat pumpkin pie and roasted seeds ! It was a staple crop for most East Coast Native Americans long before the settlers came . And with regard to hogs you are correct and making me hungry for good smoked cured ham . It is a type of squash .

Cornbelt · « **Reply #28 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:17:41 AM »

Found something else yesterday that can be turned into meat: A TRUCK! First roadkill of the season. Nine pointer no less. And not even my truck. Food's where you find it.

The Poet · « **Reply #29 on:** November 14, 2009, 07:35:11 AM »

   Cornbelt,

   I didn't think of Hog,

Hog 'will' eat anything...
even pumpkins.

   J. Knife