how in the heck are we supposed to live these days

[equine chick]

I have to buy hay for my horses and right now it's not a problem but not everyone has a farm for their horses to graze on. So telling them unless you have the produce don't have horses or what not is ridiculous. You do need to have a good plan though. Make sure you have at least 2-3 suppliers for you hay. I am lucky I have a friend who has over 130 acres for hay and have ample supply of hay. I also have two local farmers I buy other hay from just enough to stay on their customer list. Hay is a bit high and I'm sure with the gas prices it will rise but if I have to work overtime or do without other things like the new truck I've been wanting or no more dinners out so be it.

 

[kisat]

Spook -

That's true. Forgot that one. The meds. My mom is one of those elders and she had to give up on her health insurance because she can't afford it. So did my brother. He opted out of it. I haven't had health insurance for the longest time because our family is one of those that basically lives by nothing because we can't afford anything.

I was also going to add too, just for reference. Our gas - in Bothell - at the cheapest, is $3.93 for the 7 Eleven brand. $4-$4.50 for the Shell and whatnot. Milk, depending is anywhere from $3 - $4.

But gotta say, luckily eggs haven't had to be purchased in quite some time, otherwise it seems that all the basic staples are the ones that are most expensive. My brother said something he heard on the news once that rice might be in a decline (I can't be sure about this though since I didn't hear it myself) and might be harder to come by so I wonder if that won't become expensive as well?

 

[Their Other Mother]

I'ts true! Wheat also, most of the places on line where I purchase 50 lb bags are "unable to supply at this time" Iv'e been stocking up on stuff like dry beans, wheat, dry milk, rice and other stuff. Pantry is full but if a disaster hit hard I know food wouldn't last for more than a month. I keep singing that little song from Sunday School - "His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me..."

 

[texasreb]

Quote:
I don't think my warning qualifies the tag of being called, "ridiculous." I've read a lot of ridiculous statements on this and other message boards and I'm offended that you think that my pointing out the caveats of horse owning is "ridiculous."

My point isn't to keep people from buying horses--it's to enlightened them to the growin scarcity of hay. Here in Texas at lot of people were out of hay because these super large cattle ranches who needed hay would buy entire crops of hay from the growers before it was even cut. They bought it whether or not the hay was harvested. Owners of one, two or even dozens of horses couldn't compete with the cattle ranches who were feeding 1000's and 1000's of cows. The risk of losing cash from one farmer's failed harvest was worth it in order to get first crack at all future crops. Supply and demand at it's finest.

 

[kisat]

Figured it was. That's just horrible! Can we say depression? Yeesh

I know, I know, we are not going to hit that point. Insert my sarcasm here

But seriously, that's just nuts. I know that one way to store excess dry goods is by using up old laundry soap buckets. My mom washes them out, then places plastic garbage bags inside. You can put the dry goods in there and it keep pretty well! Especially putting a piece of plastic over the top before placing the lid on top. You can keep a good size amount in those buckets and they stack and store well. Then, we'll buy a lot of the meat when it's on sale and we have a separate large freezer downstairs that we store excess bread, meat, etc. in. It works pretty well.

 

[texasreb]

Quote:
For myself, I worry about the long term effects of storing my foodstuffs in plastic. I'm against using plastic in general and try to avoid all plastic food containers. I'm probably being overly-cautious, but plastic is not that earth friendly and a lot of people believe that plastic is not a good food storage option.

There is a reason for the warning label on water bottles that cautions against re-using them specifically Lexan Polycarbonate #7.

I'm not bashing you or you families storage system. I love that you are re-using items, just be informed and make your own decisions1

 

[kisat]

Oh no, that's okay I understand, no offense taken

We've used those same containers for as long as I can remember. I think that some people can be overly cautious as well - no offense meant, just an observation (and for other things, I am overly-cautious

as well). For us, it works. For someone, like yourself, that just doesn't want use plastics and just doesn't agree with it, then it doesn't work; which is also good. Nobody has the same views or does the same thing which is great

But for us, we were already low-income before all this started so it's not like we can afford to constantly buy products specifically made for the purpose, when this works just fine.

But, thank you. I will read up on that. I agree, it's better to be well-informed than not at all. I'd rather know and understand then be completely oblivious

That way, when someone asks, I can explain the same thing, "You have to worry about so and so, but for me, it works. Though it may not for you if you're worried about so and so"

 

[Their Other Mother]

How have people survived for thousands of years with out plastic, electricity, running water, health insurance, gasoline...............................................

It can be done folks, we are living proof! Here is a project for you, learn how to make bread without a bread machine and learn how to bake it in a dutch oven. It can't hurt and it tastes really good!

 

[texasreb]

Quote:
Been there done that--lots of times! Your advice is good, just the same. I've actually baked bread in a solar oven made from lining a cardboard box with aluminium foil and then placing the baking pan inside it...Somewhat like one of these, though not nearly as fancy.

http://solarcooking.org/plans/

It was just for fun on a camping trip. I made a cake and a roast with veggies also! I used glass rather than dutch ovens, but they might have been better.

Edited: silly typos!

 

[kisat]

hehe - and bathrooms

Yes, it does! Everyone pigs out on my homemade bread. And it's a lot easier to make than people think. I prefer to make everything from scratch versus buying premade. If I can make it from scratch, you better be sure I'll do it, and I'll try and do it, even if it says it can't be done

My mom's from the south and my dad had traditional Norwegian parents, so she/he taught my brother (30) and I (27) how to live the old-fashioned ways, versus having all the new things and such, we were taught how to have fun with homemade toys and how to make what we wanted. Heck, we had all the old things and still love the older things (minus my laptop I'm using

) versus the new things. We still live by the old ways. My favorite radio I'm using right this second is an old Norwegian (even the words are in Norwegian) radio (gets UHF, VHF, etc stations) that sounds better than most new systems

I love it! I think it's time we all went back to the old time ways