Could your family weather a depression?

[the1much]

the wifers said a 10lbs bag of potatoes went up $2 from last week.

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
I bought into mutual funds and the dollar cost averaging theory in the late 1980s. My funds tanked with 9/11 and have never recovered. I'm thinking about putting that IRA/mutual fund monthly payment somewhere else.

 

[chookchick]

This is a fascinating thread to me. Aiming toward self-sufficiency was the reason I started raising chickens in the first place. I have a long way to go though--but I figure if I am learning that is a good thing. I am also doing more gardening, fortunately I am a landscaper so it comes pretty easily to me.

I am suprised no one has mentioned peak oil--that is what got me thinking about self-sufficiency in the first place. Our lives are so dependent on cheap, easy oil, and that is quickly coming to an end. I think the lifestyle we have had in the last 100 years was/is an abberation and cannot be sustained, especially with the amount of resources we use per person. Oh well, my family (including DH) thinks I am chicken little.

 

[the1much]

Quote:
oil is the u.s.a.'s excuse,,i rent equipment to the oil fields,,its easier to get now and theres an actual "oil boom" going on here,,,,we keep blaming oil,, but its the worth of our money thats gonna kill our economy,,, and NOT that far in the future

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Actually I think it's globalization combined with our dependency on oil that's killing the American economy.

 

[the1much]

our dependency makes us weak,, very weak,,we only get about 18% of our oil comes from "home" ,,,whats even sadder,, is everyone knows about our gov. oil reserve,,,,but what MOST people dont know , is that oil companies are putting oil back INTO the ground,,,,,,think bout why they would do that. i've set up pumps to pump oil DOWN,,,,,looks like the oil companies might know something we dont,,hehe

 

[Reinbeau]

Well, I have huge problems with our continued use of petroleum to power our vehicles. I was sitting in gas lines in the 70's, and no one can tell me that in 38 years since then American innovation couldn't come up with a better model. Of course they could. But why bother? It's easier to use oil, and it makes a few powerful people lots of money, and they like it that way. Eh, my head hurts too much to even think about all this, it makes it pound even harder un

 

[the1much]

last quarter exxon made more money then any company in the WORLD,, 18 million in profits,,which doesnt seem enough,,, so every excuse they get ,,, we pay more,,hehe

 

[Rosalind]

Yep. Here's how I'm doing it:

I got education enough to put me in a fairly recession-proof job that is also highly valuable overseas. I'm married to an EU national who can go back home any time he likes. We have bank funds enough to move there in a dire emergency.

My employer recently had a smallish layoff, during which they dumped a lot of sales staff, but they kept R&D almost completely intact. Our competitors are even hiring, so some people are just quitting to go to the competitors, who are trying to catch up with us because we were early adopters of a new technology.

We do garden, can, fish, cut wood out of the woodlot, etc. but it's more so we can save money to spend on other things instead than it is to live off of, offset our oil heat costs. And a hobby. My orchard will take three or four years before it starts paying for itself in any meaningful way.

We have a well, it's beyond funky though. And awfully close to the outhouse. I calculated what we'd need to be self-sufficient, no way could we do it on two acres. The food crop is do-able with hydroponics and stuff, but the oil crop and fiber is not. Bamboo fiber maybe, but the processing is a real pain in the neck.

 

[Jessika]

Pumping it back in.....what is that about?

Thanks