Sorry about not getting the job,
Sheryl. And your comment about how people can make it without making good money... HECK yeah! Tell me about it! This is our world, and has been for years. My husband and I currently have "good" jobs for the Reno area, and right now our combined monthlty income is about $1,000 less than what our gross living expenses should be for the month... rent, power, water, heat, fuel to work, and food. We cut out our TV 3 years ago, and now we're living a lifestyle that most of our friends treat with disdain, whether or not they realize they're doing it. We don't buy presents for people... we make them, trade for them, or give services. Of course you know that we raise a lot of our food, but our church also has really helped us out with that in times that the bills are just too high to buy a single food item. When we have no money to put in the gas talk, we walk for a few weeks... because we might not have money, but we have healthy feet. I have lost a few friends because our lifestyle is seen as trashy... people who don't drink or smoke, or take a welfare check, but still stop at thrift stores, or who might run to
Walmart with garden dirt still on their jeans. People have finally stopped inviting me to Tupperware and Pampered Chef parties. I'd tell them, "I can't buy a thing, so I can't come." And they wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't have a dime to spend. Or they'd invite me out to go eat chicken wings, and I decline because I can't spare the cash for a meal. And they'd reply, "You HAVE to treat yourself once in awhile!"
Ok... (wait a second, while I'm standing on my soapbox)... and this isn't directed at anyone here, but at those people who have dropped me as friends because they're tired of having me decline their offers. Do you think mothers in 3rd world countries argue that they deserve to treat themselves out to a night of chicken wings with the girls? Or do you think most of them are happy to finally rest at night, knowing that their kids are fed and healthy? What is wrong with "me time" being a half hour with a book, after the kids are in bed, their stomachs filled with healthy food? If that brings me such joy, please don't tell me that I'm not supposed to find joy in it. Which is one of the reasons we're in HEAVEN not having TV. Whether it's commercials, sitcoms of the "average American family" (which makes at least 30k a year more than we do), or reality shows... all of it can be used to suggest that someone's life isn't supposed to be happy without a certain lifestyle.
Ok... (stepping down from my soapbox)...
So I really feel for you about the reduced income. It royally stinks, and in retrospect you find amazing ways to compensate. Of course, there are all those panic attacks before you realize that you actually can make it... maybe not in a way that you envisioned, but you're still making it. And you're such an amazing and resourceful person, I know you can do it! You have such a large friend and family network, that they can help you out once in awhile. Maybe not financially, but maybe in agreeing to help you garden, or to meet someplace cheap for a get-together.
And about the egg industry... YES! That's wonderful, even if eggs will be more expensive. I'm really trying to educate myself right now on the value of food. And I can really, really see prices going up, especially with this weird growing season we're having already. People who know how to do things for themselves, like having backyard coops or gardens, are really going to be thankful they did. If they're not already.
So what did people do to pay for food when they didn't have feedlots, and all food was raised humanely? For starters, there were fewer people. They ate less. A lot of them supplemented with their own farms or gardens. They were a lot more conscious about what foods they spent their money on... steak was a privilege, not a right. These are all things that I remind myself of when I see soaring food prices. Everyone made sacrifices, and sometimes that involved eating entrail soup.
And
Mandy... WELCOME BACK!!!
