New Life On A Homestead » Featured

Hard Times Ahead: How To Be Better Prepared

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:36:57 +0000

I know the media is telling us that things are looking up. I know they say unemployment numbers are dropping. And we’ve all heard them saying the economy is on the rebound. But frankly, I’m just not convinced.

The thing is, they have to tell us that. If they told us the truth, that we are most likely heading into a much deeper recession, yes maybe even a depression, then panic would sweep across our nation and runs on banks would cause pandemonium.

A recent report states that 1 in 5 Americans is either out of work or underemployed. That number is staggering! That’s 17.5 percent of Americans. Unfortunately, that doesn’t even include all of the people who have given up a job search!

Businesses are continuing the layoffs and cut backs. My husband’s work has had to cut everyone back to 35 hrs/wk. But even that isn’t helping. They just called another meeting this week explaining to the employees that the company is now $30 grand in the hole for the third month in a row, and if they don’t pick up business soon, they are going to have to make more cutbacks. I pray he doesn’t lose his job.

And all of this printing of money out of thin air has caused inflation to already begin creeping into the market. Have you noticed your grocery bill going up lately? Those of you on a tight budget may be realizing that your money isn’t going as far as it used to. My husband overheard a lady at the store the other day complaining that the Kool-Aid had gone up .19 cents since the week before! We’ve definitely noticed the price increases, and have had to raise our food budget to make room for it.

The term “hyperinflation” looms overhead. But what can we do about it? How can we be prepared should things get really bad before they get better?

I’d like to offer a few suggestions…

1. First of all, realize that the Lord is in control. We are not to fear the future, but do our best to prepare for it.

2. Build your food storage. I’ll try to elaborate on this more in another post, but it is so important that you have a good amount of food on hand. I would suggest building up a year’s worth of food supplies; canned fruits and veggies, grains (wheat, rice, sugar), beans, pasta, powdered milk, water, etc. This is a great way to prepare for hyperinflation or economic crises, job loss, or other disasters. I’d even go so far as to say that it is more important that you have a food storage built up than a large savings account. If hyperinflation were to set in, those digits you see in your bank account will not be worth one dime. Food would be a more valuable asset than worthless paper. And if you were to lose your job, food would be one less thing you’d have to worry about spending money on.

3. Consider buying silver. Do you guys realize that the Federal Reserve is pumping money into our system at an unprecedented rate?? We have never in our history done anything like this before. Do you know what happens when money is printed over and over and over with nothing to back it??

People, this is NOT GOOD.

If our currency loses it’s value, how will we buy or sell? Yes, bartering would make a huge comeback!

Again, what if that paper money you have is suddenly worth nothing? Changing some of your savings into silver bullion is definitely something to consider. Don’t think hyperinflation could happen? Do a little research into every case of hyperinflation in other countries. You’ll see it’s for real, and we are doing exactly the same things that brought it about in every other instance. If we don’t do something to stop this out of control spending, I don’t see how we can avoid an economic collapse.

I like the idea of using silver coins because they are much more affordable than gold, and would be more spendable due to their smaller values. Now, I’m not suggesting that you turn all of your cash into silver coins, but I do believe it would be wise to have some on hand for emergencies. You can buy it at local coin and jewelry stores, or order online.

4. Start a Victory Garden. Even if you’ve never gardened in your life, now is the time to start growing something! Even those of you with only a balcony can do some container gardening. Grow something!!

*If you are able to have a few chickens for meat and eggs, you might as well get started on that too!

5. Guns and Ammo. Sounds hard core, but if things do get bad you will need to be able to defend yourself and your family, and hunt for food. Ammo is getting more and more expensive. It would be nice to have a good stockpile of it. While you’re at it, a good hunting knife and fishing rod would be very useful too!

6. Get out of debt!! Check out Dave Ramsey. Seriously.

7. Gather supplies you would need if you were to live without electricity. I’ll probably have to do a whole post on this subject too!! But basically, think about how you would live day to day without power or heat and A/C. Cast iron cookware for cooking over a fire, a clothes line, solar panels, hand well pump, non-electric appliances, a wood stove… you get the idea.

8. Get to know your neighbors. These are the people you may be turning to the most in desperate times.

9. Stock up on herbal medicine supplies and books. Don’t forget your vitamins.

10. Collect several “living off the land/survival” type books. If you can’t get on the internet to google how to skin a rabbit you’re gonna be in a mess!

11. Learn Forgotten Skills. Sewing, cooking from scratch (and No, Hamburger Helper is not considered from scratch!), soap making… go visit grandma, you could probably learn a lot!!

Whatever you do, please do something. If you only do one of these things, at least you’ll be a step ahead. I wish I knew what was going to happen with our country. I wish I knew if things would pick up and get back to normal soon. If only there were some way of knowing exactly what is lying in store for us. But we don’t know. And we cannot trust the media to tell us. We simply have to be prepared to be able to take care of ourselves and our family should the hard times hit. Don’t be caught unprepared.

I’m sure I missed some really good ideas for being prepared. Have any other suggestions you can share with us??

Our First Year Homesteading

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:06:59 +0000

Wow. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year that we’ve lived here on our little homestead! It was just last November when we moved in, and here it is almost Thanksgiving time again. How time flies… especially when you’re having fun!

I’ve been reflecting on the things that we have accomplished throughout our first year of homesteading. I’ve learned so much. I’ve especially learned how much more I have to learn! I would never have been able to do the things I’ve done without the encouragement, help, advice, friendship and generosity of other homesteaders.

Here is how we have slowly begun our dream of self-sufficiency this past year…

We started our first ever garden, and learned a lot of lessons the hard way!

We got three goats, Sweetie and Mocha, then Lucy. Sweetie was killed by stray dogs. We are raising them for milk and meat in the future.

We planted ten blueberry bushes, and a raspberry bush.

We planted two apple trees and a peach tree.

We harvested black walnuts from our property.

We were blessed with free rabbit cages which enabled us to house our first chickens. Before this I’d never had farm fresh chicken eggs!

We finally got a water stove (for free!) to heat our home and water with fire. We still haven’t gotten it hooked up yet, but hopefully we will before it gets too cold! (more about that when it’s completed)

My husband shot and ate his first rabbit!

We’ve tried fresh cow’s milk for the first time, and like it!

I’ve made butter from scratch.

I’ve begun collecting cast iron cookware.

We’ve been eating deer meat.

We’ve (mostly) given up buying disposable products… even toilet paper! well, almost. Cloth napkins, cloth diapers, cloth baby wipes, cloth cleaning rags, cloth dishrag… though, no hanky’s yet, and still disposable diapers for the newborn.

I have a clothesline to dry my laundry. I’ve even begun trying homemade laundry detergent!

We’ve given up our television!

I’ve been learning how to can, and even got my first canners!

I’ve been using natural home remedies, like for treating poison ivy and ear infections.

We’re working hard on putting up a charming white picket fence around the yard.

Hubby got his grandfather’s old wood stove hooked up in his work building, so that I can cook on it if we are ever without power for long.

I’ve been making all of my own cleaning products.

I’ve started a nice compost pile.

And we cannot forget my biggest, proudest accomplishment ever… the home-birth of my baby girl Xia!!

Wow, what a year! A lot of changes, a lot of learning. I hope that next year, and the year after, and the year after that we are as productive as I felt we’ve been this past year. Maybe, if we keep working hard and things keep going well, we’ll be living our dream before we know it!

Getting By During The Great Depression

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:32:41 +0000

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

I’ve often wondered just how much we could learn about frugal living from studying how people managed to get by during the Great Depression. How did they cook meals from essentially nothing? How did they get clothing when they couldn’t afford to buy material? How did they cook and clean with no electricity? The idea of living on so little has just fascinated me lately.

I’ve been reading lots of books about Depression Era living, and have been soaking up every little tidbit of wisdom from this very thrifty generation. We all know that people had livestock and gardens for food, but how did they manage other needs? Here are some really interesting things that people did back then:

Used the backs of worn-out overall legs to make pants for little boys and overalls for babies.

Made diapers and underwear out of flour and sugar sacks.

Made smaller clothes out of bigger hand-me-downs.

If their shoes wore out before a year, the children went barefooted.

Bartering; not only goods for goods, but work for work.

Used patterned chicken feed sacks to make curtains, aprons, and little girl’s dresses; three sacks were enough to make a housedress.

They mended worn out socks with a patch from another sock.

They saved string that came loose from clothing and added it to a string ball for mending and sewing.

They used newspaper instead of toilet paper.

They saved every scrap of material for making quilts.

When there was nothing more to eat, they had lard sandwiches.

But most importantly of all, they gave what they could to those in need, shared their meal with a starving stranger, and neighbors helped each other out. Truly, this is the biggest lesson we could learn from such an unfortunate time in history. When times got hard, they stuck together.

No Need For Money

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:29:16 +0000

The more time I spend with Addy and her family, the more I learn about generosity and the freedom that comes from the lack of need for money. I am truly inspired and awed by their kindness, and their willingness to share and give to anybody of what little they may have for nothing in return.

A few weeks ago, as Addy and I were digging up the blueberry bushes that she gave me, she was telling me how people will call her up every now and then and ask her if she has any blueberries to pick. When they are in season, she is happy to let anybody come by and pick all they want, for free. But she will get these calls from people asking her if she would have a gallon of blueberries ready for them to come by and get, and offer to pay her for them.

It surprised me as she went on to tell me that she will refuse to pick for these people. She will tell them that they are more than welcome to come and pick for themselves (at no charge), and she will even be happy to help them, but she won’t pick for money. As she put it, “I’m not for sale; I won’t waste my time for a buck! I’m more than happy to share anything that’s leftover after feeding my family, but I’m not going to pick for your family too!” She explained that she would much rather help you pick your berries, and enjoy good conversation and fellowship, than pick them all herself and meet you at the front door for a split second to earn a dollar.

I found myself pondering this mentality for quite a while. See, my thinking is just the opposite! To me, I would much rather make a dollar than give my hard earned produce away for free. But the more time I spend with Addy, the more I realize that their riches come from the blessings of their generosity and friendships, and not from any monetary gain.

As a matter of fact, they don’t have much need for cash, and they turn it down often. A few weeks ago Addy and her husband helped us with a project at our house for two whole Saturdays (a post on that coming soon), and we gladly offered to pay them for all of their help. They refused, saying that when they were young they had people help them when they were first starting out, and they were just passing it on.

They did spot an older dishwasher in a junk pile (from our remodel) beside our house, and they asked us what we were going to do with it. We were more than happy to let them take it with them. Addy told me that her dishwasher had just died like the day before. I told her I wasn’t sure if ours would work, but she was more than welcome to it. We also sent with them a bike for their son that we just had sitting around. It was such a blessing to us to be able to repay their kindness in some way.

Turns out, the dishwasher worked great for them. I was so glad! So, it was a blessing to them to be able to help us, and it was a blessing to us to be able to give them something in return that they could use. It was neat to see how the Lord was working through it all. I love how they trade for just about all of their needs. Of course her husband works, obviously they do need some money, but for the most part they see very little need for it.

What inspiring and awesome role models they are to me to have such little dependence on cash. It is my whole hearted goal now to follow in their footsteps: that by the time I am 40 we too will be out of debt completely; no house payments or anything! And it wasn’t because they made such a tremendous amount of money, quite the contrary. It was because of their wisdom, frugality, modesty, and I believe, even their generosity.

New Life On A Homestead » Featured

Hard Times Ahead: How To Be Better Prepared

Related Posts:

Our First Year Homesteading

Related Posts:

Getting By During The Great Depression

Related Posts:

No Need For Money

Related Posts: