Living off Social Security

[perchie.girl]

wow @Loopeend I see it all as opportunity.

I am a writer first and foremost and plan on publishing once I get home. My jewelry is all custom I don't crank out many pieces that are similar ... I can but don't like it. I also plant set up my workshop so that I can produce commercially saleable products On demand. I prefer to work with a personal focal piece the customer has. So that has to be worked out.

I raise animals because they make me happy. Love chickens and Guineas And Muscovy ducks... All will provide me with meat and eggs... Win win. Guineas I can make some money from by selling hatching eggs and Keets. Once I get good at processing Poultry I may do a meetup style class oN how to do it. Just thinking about it.

I can make money off the feathers especially Guinea feathers because of their beauty and usefulness. To either artists or Fly Tiers... Fishing lures.

I don't want this house. It belongs to my son freely to do with it as he needs. We both were saddled with grandmas Care and gave up Lifestyles to make sure she had the freedom to live at home as long as she could. for me it was twelve years. For him about six of those were due to my becoming Infirm...

I love being alone especially in the desert. I love the air and the heat and the cold and the wind and all the little species that poke their noses into my business. From Rabbits to Hares and Mice and pack-rats. Eagles and vultures and crows and ravens. I love the quiet that's so quiet you can hear the footsteps of the grass hoppers... hopping about in search of their next meal.

Social security is a way for me to live where I want and be able to function in a way that I want. I do love people so there is a small town a couple of miles away where I can have a meal if I want or Join in at the pup and have a laugh or play a game of pool.

I am like the little girl digging in a pile of horse manure... when some one asks she says there has to be a pony in here some where.

Optimist... that's me... Opportunity that's Home in the desert

deb

 

[Loopeend]

wow @Loopeend I see it all as opportunity.

I am a writer first and foremost and plan on publishing once I get home. My jewelry is all custom I don't crank out many pieces that are similar ... I can but don't like it. I also plant set up my workshop so that I can produce commercially saleable products On demand. I prefer to work with a personal focal piece the customer has. So that has to be worked out.

I raise animals because they make me happy. Love chickens and Guineas And Muscovy ducks... All will provide me with meat and eggs... Win win. Guineas I can make some money from by selling hatching eggs and Keets. Once I get good at processing Poultry I may do a meetup style class oN how to do it. Just thinking about it.

I can make money off the feathers especially Guinea feathers because of their beauty and usefulness. To either artists or Fly Tiers... Fishing lures.

I don't want this house. It belongs to my son freely to do with it as he needs. We both were saddled with grandmas Care and gave up Lifestyles to make sure she had the freedom to live at home as long as she could. for me it was twelve years. For him about six of those were due to my becoming Infirm...

I love being alone especially in the desert. I love the air and the heat and the cold and the wind and all the little species that poke their noses into my business. From Rabbits to Hares and Mice and pack-rats. Eagles and vultures and crows and ravens. I love the quiet that's so quiet you can hear the footsteps of the grass hoppers... hopping about in search of their next meal.

Social security is a way for me to live where I want and be able to function in a way that I want. I do love people so there is a small town a couple of miles away where I can have a meal if I want or Join in at the pup and have a laugh or play a game of pool.

I am like the little girl digging in a pile of horse manure... when some one asks she says there has to be a pony in here some where.

Optimist... that's me... Opportunity that's Home in the desert

deb

Awesome to hear!

I'm glad.
It is in a lot of places in the world hard to live off social securities; and mainly due to the stigma. As if not knowing if you can feed your children tonight isn't stressfull enough.. sigh. You often are not welcome anymore and seen as "less then". It is hard then to get out of it; since you lack support at a moment you could use it the most. For many it is an never-ending hole they get sucked in to; and can't get out.

Thank you for you story. There are a lot of people reading that, that need it. That need someone who does not let her pride get taken away; and can get inspired by you.

 

[perchie.girl]

I worked hard for my social security benefits... 20 years as a manufacturing engineer. but I am a financial nit wit... take after my dad. So when It came time to choose retirement I had NO savings. and had been living through a Payment from my grandmother which paid for necessities like utilities and property taxes.

Here there is no stigma... Welfare yes. But its the one thing that helps moms get food for their children. Some take advantage of it.

deb

 

[Loopeend]

I worked hard for my social security benefits... 20 years as a manufacturing engineer. but I am a financial nit wit... take after my dad. So when It came time to choose retirement I had NO savings. and had been living through a Payment from my grandmother which paid for necessities like utilities and property taxes.

Here there is no stigma... Welfare yes. But its the one thing that helps moms get food for their children. Some take advantage of it.

deb

That makes my heart fill with butterflies. It is nice to know that there are places in the world; where people are not shunned by living on benefits. It is a shame here. I think it can give great joy; knowing it's not the whole world that thinks like that. It can often feel like the whole world must be like where you were raised. Knowing that there is a place that is different can give energy again and hope.

 

[Jac Jac]

I just realized I will be 65 in June. In kind of backwards way I have been planning for this...

But I feel I need to do some formal planning...

First of all I am a single gal and am very used to doing things for myself. I bought eighteen acres of land in 2003. I bought it according to affordability and location. It is NOT farm land Nor is it Ranch land... its High desert. Though I could raise sheep and goats I would have to buy 100 percent of the feed.

My idea is to make everything dual purpose

Chickens Eggs, meat, feathers
Guinea fowl eggs, meat, keets, preserved pelts, predator alarms including people.
Muscovy Eggs, meat, ducklings
Turkey eggs, entertainment

Yep that's a lot of eggs but there is a market for blown and clean egg shells I can preserve the protein for me later either by freezing or drying.

I can get basic canned food by going to the food bank or using commodity's... two bags of groceries per month. Beans and rice too.

My greenhouse room would be an excellent spot to set up hydroponics for veggies.... Its about fifteen by 24 has a source for water drains and power for extra light if needed. I might even try tilapia but it gets too cold in winter.

There are some trees that grow very well.... mesquite I have and the seed pods can be ground for flour... Pomegranite.... Love it thrives in the desert. Both take minimal water.

Some Citrus can handle the very short winters... Lemon Lime Tangerine and some oranges.

anyway I am looking forward to others ideas and or solutions to living with little to no money.

deb

Early congrats on your "busy" retirement. I was forced into it in 1995, due to health concerns and thought I would be able to live calm and quietly; however, due to my late marriage to a certified dingbat, I'm working harder at home than I ever did as a traveling nurse /wound care specialist. It's a case of country farm girl marrying a know-it-all-but never-raised-a thing city man and I'm still reeling from the shock of reality.

Anyway, you've got a lot going for you and I applaud you for planning ahead. You go girl.

 

[Jac Jac]

Good for you on thinking ahead Deb! You already have some great ideas.

Have you ever considered quail? I would think there would be a market for meat & eggs with them too (but I don't know your area).

Can you do some sort of solar heating for your greenhouse? Maybe you could do the tilapia then. And maybe grow things you wouldn't ordinarily grow in the winter months?

If you can bake at all, that can really help with the food bill. And I'm not just thinking of desserts (although those are tasty) but for example, I make our pizzas with homemade crust & add the toppings we like for about $2-$3 for a large pie, which is 2 meals for 2 people. And nothing better than bread fresh out of the oven, that's just a few cents to make.

I'm going to follow along here and see what other ideas you get!

Me too. It all sounds great, especially since I met my husband during a hydroponic tilapia exchange in Tucson, Arizona in 2002.

 

[Jac Jac]

Tilapia require about eighty degree water in order to be healthy they can go down to the mid seventies but risk going into torpor... a mild hibernation.

Its just me for food... I am not a baker but probably will give bread making a go just for toast in the morning.... I am more into sausage and pastrami. Muscovies are the other red meat... You can turn Muscovy breast into proscheuto in a very short time... They dress out much larger than Ducks... I am told... and you can make them into Pastrami, Corned beef and process them into Stew meat in the canner. Ground meat .... etc.

To tell you how little I need to heat my home in winter.... I have a single pot belly stove that will hold three logs about fifteen inches ling.... I go through maybe twenty or thirty logs in winter....

Got to go will be back

deb

Sounds like you got the bull by the proverbial horns in your setup. I envy you in a motivational neighborly sort of way.

 

[Jac Jac]

Im so hoping to get a Muscovy flock going for the same reason. The other red meat. I dont have pasture land and only 5 acres so theres no way I can raise even one beef cow here and it be cost effective... my hope is to substitute some of the beef we eat with Muscovy.

I'm with you on this. Still looking for at least 5 acres of favorable and affordable farm land within 100 miles of me - this renting is for the birds, and I'm not talking about my flocks..

 

[Jac Jac]

I want to do solar and Wind power for electricity. .... for the green house Possibly a Rocket Mass Heater then do a heat exchange system for the main house... We are talking a one bed one bath house with one foot thick walls and an R value of more then twenty. I can use a single oil heater for my bedroom and it will get so hot I have to turn it way down.

we do get snow but only about seventy two hours of it total.... over the course of a few weeks in the winter. But IN the desert the wind is Very cold and will blow through the screens so that they Scream.... Horse loves it though... I do want to build her a wind break


Rocket mass heater

The whole concrete looking thing is the mass heat exchange system often times they are integrated as a place to sit... Th 55 gallon drum is part of the system...

Here is a prettier one

My green house is on grade on a slab... and shares one wall with the main house. Right now the one window is a chainlink gate so will have to do something like a window or sliding glass doors.

Rocket stoves are incredibly efficient they burn so efficiently they put out very little in the form of gas.... and ash.

The deal is there are several clubs that teach this form of construction here in San Diego. I am hoping to fund the materials for the class to build me one.

deb

 

[Jac Jac]

LOL.... not much to do up there... I am an artist I make jewelry and do art projects that suit my fancy. The guy that built the house was a painter He painted the window in the living room with a parrot.... He did the window sills with broken Cobalt blue tiles

But the wiring is shot there is a hole in the floor of the kitchen The sceptic tank needs attention... I may just go with composting toilets.

Well goes dry if you pump water too long.... and In order to get cell service you have to drive three quarters of a mile to what I call cell phone hill. So internet wont be an option unless I can afford a way to get Huges put in.

I love it though... No random junk phone calls... No TV except videos. The goats rewired my phones so If I want to make a land line call I have to go to the Meter pole and hook up a phone.

But at night you can walk out side and see the stars... Not just the stars the milkey way.... Hear the sleepy voices and rustling of the chickens... The occasional stomp of my horse....

deb

WOW - are you sure you didn't open a portal to heaven?!?!

Dang... for some reason I really want a beer.. and I dont even like beer..

WOW, I was thinking just about the same thing but I'm allergic to alcohol.