Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

pineapple wrote: »

Sorry if this has been posted but imo giving a government department the power to take money direct out of your bank account is the thin end of the wedge
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10818323/Taxman-has-power-to-raid-your-bank-accounts.html
Anyone who has been on the wrong end of an error from a government department has to worry about this - plus it sets a precedent. Slippery slopes and all that.:(

Slippery slopes and all that.

Whatever next; random seizing of persons from the street and holding them in custody until third parties can prove they aren't actually criminals?

I think we need to regard money in the bank as money held hostage, and aim to liberate as much of it as possible, as frequently as possible. If you have debt, priortise being debt-free, and treat your bank as a very unreliable servant. I smile sweetly at the greeters (nice people all) as I abstract my money from their ATMs.

Amusingly, I've just had my monthly bank statement, and they've enclosed some bumph about the £85k 'protection' in event of a collapse. Since my cash exposure to the banking system this week is precisely £200, this raised a wry smile. But the tin-hatter in me wonders why they feel it necessary to mail this out this month?

Actually, I will be paying a futility bill shortly, for a modest amount, so it'll dip under £200 until payday.

[Deleted User]

Isn't that just what the robber barons did back in the dark ages??? only then it was known as 'Holding to Ransome' wasn't it?

Thinking on learning old skills learning to drive a horse be it a cob in a gig/trap for transport or heavy horses to work the land would be a very useful skill to aquire, and if you have woodworking skills you could feasibly learn to make carts, cartwheels and agricultural implements too, if you learned to tan leather and work the resulting materials you could learn to make and maintain harness and saddles and boots. Basket making would be useful not only for gathering crops but for making fish traps, general storage and making creels, baby's cradles, cane chairs, learning to work with clay would give you bowls, plates, beakers, mugs, storage vessels, water carriers and also bread ovensand cooking pots. Learning to mine ore, process and smelt metals although much bigger as a learning area would give you raw materials to work into pots and pans, tools, weapons, horseshoes, even decorative things like jewellery and perhaps in the fullness of time the minting of coins, so leading to commerce. Blacksmithing skills to be able to make and maintain important tools etc would be very useful too. Brewing and all that entails would give safe drinking and also leavening for bread etc, I'm sure the list goes on and on .......

jk0

pineapple wrote: »

Sorry if this has been posted but imo giving a government department the power to take money direct out of your bank account is the thin end of the wedge
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10818323/Taxman-has-power-to-raid-your-bank-accounts.html
Anyone who has been on the wrong end of an error from a government department has to worry about this - plus it sets a precedent. Slippery slopes and all that.:(

Hmm, and tell me again, they're trying to emphasise how safe your savings under £85,000 are in the bank?

thriftwizard

Oooh lovely - lists of all the skills I've spent a fair portion of my life acquiring or trying to acquire!

I would emphasise the community aspect of all this. Some people will do any one thing way better than others could, and that's when it makes sense for communities to help them in other ways whilst they get on with doing whatever they do best; trying to do all of these things solo would result in very little sleep! Having experience of a barter-based system, e.g. LETS, or a local currency, might be a huge advantage, as people come to realise that very few of us are actually good at absolutely everything you need to achieve a reasonable life, and that some of the things we've been prepared to pay highly for are actually pretty worthless. Also, it's worth thinking about what communities were prepared to support in times gone by; millers weren't poor, bakers did well, and people would pay or at least feed a priest, a healer, a teacher, entertainers (who doubled up as newscasters) a midwife (who laid out the dead, as well as helping new life into the world) etc. etc. So if you excel in a skill that others need & are prepared to "pay" you for, you should be able to relax a bit if your beans aren't doing as well as next door's.

I spent a lot of time trying to get my kids to learn practical skills, which mostly just made them laugh, I'm sad to say. The current arrangements don't value cheese-making, say, very highly unless you are prepared to industrialise yourself, borrow loads of money & grow your business. Admittedly one offspring has the makings of a first-class entertainer, but his current set-up relies heavily on electronic assistance. Another does a job which would have made him a respected member of the community in olden days, but is regarded as a menial, anyone-could-do-it job now (although in fact they couldn't, at least not well) as it doesn't require a degree. One runs her own business, but it relies on the WWW, one is highly academic so will be lucky ever to earn enough money to support a family, and one became so damaged (undiagnosed special needs) in our current academic system that we'll be lucky if she can ever work outside home. She has skills that others of her age lack (can cook up a curry or a soup to die for, is a great poultry-hand, grows her own veg, can make up a dress in a couple of hours, studies astronomy online) yet as far as society is concerned, she's a worthless NEET.

Anyway, on with the day! Part of which will be spent doing what I do best - scavenging! - and part will be spent looking after the senior generation. Again, not something society values highly, any more than looking after children. But part of what makes us "civilised", surely...

GreyQueen

Just did ma futility bill - first with Ebico. It isn't a full quarter so I worked out how much I am paying for each day; 12.5p for the gas for the cooker and 42p for the elastic-trickery, inc VAT of course. Highly acceptable. The gas CH and hot water is a service charge in my block of flats, so paid separately.

My former account was one of those where you pay a fixed monthly DD and still has a credit on slightly above one month's DD, and getting that back outta them is on a par with wringing blood out of a stone. Since they set the monthly DD based on my annual consumption figures which are fairly static (it was a 12 month fixed rate deal), I don't know whether they were being deliberately OTT to make sure that they didn't lose out. It's very annoying and means I can't finalise my personal accounting thus far this year, which makes me twitchy. Don't these people appreciate that there are control freaks like me with files and spreadsheets to play with?! :mad:

I deeply and sincerely do not like these fixed monthly DDs for gas and electricity. I want to use it and pay for it. For what I have used, not what they think I have used.

[Deleted User]

Both my DDs went through university and have careers however, the eldest teaches history but is also an accomplished musician and singer, would make an amazing storyteller (I've been in the classroom and seen her hold breathless a very disruptive bunch of kids with a good yarn) and observer so would be very useful to a community as a rememberer of pertinent facts, such as who is related to who when it comes to marriages etc. she has also done umpteen how to courses such as expedition first aid/field surgery, cheesemaking, leatherwork, basketry, bronze casting (she has a sword she made!!!) we both did flint knapping and cordage and and made hand axes, which is not as easy as it sounds, so could make arrow and spearheads also flint knives which are a dream to work meat with. The other one is a doctor but is so practical there is little she can't turn her hand to, she sews, knits, gardens, bakes bread, makes wine/beer,jam, chutneys and pickles, re-covers furniture, deals with all her aquaintances kiddie problems as they arise (good kid she is!) can change car wheels, do carpentry and diy, paints, hangs wallpaper, and many other things. I don't think having a degree need necessarily mean you can't also be a practical and useful member of any community you find yourself settled in should it all go pear shaped in the future.

mardatha

GQ DDs are the bane of my life. I hate them.
We're another household with nothing spare in the bank, ever. Comes out the day it goes in.
Re the old-time skills, I love the idea of it but ME has wiped out my ooomph and my brain and I just can't be bothered any more. My dream was always a smallholding too..
Thanks to whoever posted the link to that Selco blog, I found that really interesting.

[Deleted User]

MAR you can make soap, what an asset that would be towards keeping a community healthy if there was no NHS to fall back on and you can knit socks and many other things that would make life so much more comfortable and civilised in difficult times and also with your link to the spirit world I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't appoint you village wise woman and soothsayer, you'd more than pull your weight pet, ME or no ME!!!

mardatha

God there's an idea MrsL. Tarot reads for sweeties. Spirit reads for LOTS of sweeties ... :D

[Deleted User]

See there's a way round everything if you can just find it!!!