Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

I'd like to get to the bottom of this one, but those who know won't be able to tell, and if the meeja does go to the local authority, they still can't tell the truth and will have to give some anodyne response about not being able to comment on individual cases. There are some which made the media here which still cause my colleagues to snarl with barely-suppressed fury behind closed doors.

There are plenty of homelessness cases which fall down in a heap of lies when the most basic fact-checking is done by the council, and the persons withdraw, sometimes with an awright gov you've got me bang to rights shrug, and sometimes with a lot of effing and blinding when they are asked to explain how they were racking up CCJs for utility bill debts at addresses hundreds of miles away at the time they've declared that they were living here.

I would suggest that the man being a professional PR flack gives the idea that this is a self-serving gimmick a bit more plausibility. They are hardly guileless innocents.

[Deleted User]

blindman wrote: »

Only asked if their water from (assumingly a burst pipe) after all these weeks was actually drinkable.

Water will remain potable for months/years, rather than weeks.

Plus, if necessary, you can always make it potable with bleach and/or boiling and/or a filter.

davidsdesire

we have recently purchased 25ish acres and a source of drinking water was first on our list of requirements. We have a lovely brook that runs all year (it does go low in the fall) that runs from top to bottom of our property.

Hello, my name is Suzy and I live in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the US.

I just found this forum and love it!

davidsdesire

ok, so what i should have added is that living in the Boston area (like many large cities in the US) is very expensive. Taxes are very high in our area. And the area is very crowded. That is why we purchased the acres in a rural section of Maine (most of Maine is rural..LOL).

We feel preparedness is part of our retirement planning. We'll sell this high cost, high maintenance house and build a smaller house in Maine on our property. Taxes are much less there as well. And we have enough land to put in a nice garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, etc. We would like to become as self-sufficient as possible. We do not intend to raise any animals at this time. DH plans to just continue working as long as he is able--old doctors never retire, they just lose their patients. :P

With terrorism on the rise, economic instability and many other potential threats, we feel like we'd like to move to the edge of the fray.

[Deleted User]

Welcome aboard Suzy.

Isn't there a lot of history connected with Boston?

davidsdesire

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Welcome aboard Suzy.

Isn't there a lot of history connected with Boston?

You are having me on, aren't you, Bob? I will say that I don't drink tea.

Thank you for the welcome. I've already learned loads from these forums, altho it makes me wistful for the UK. I have visited a couple of times and my daughter is on an extended visit to London right now. She keeps asking me to come see her...she is sorely tempting me.

Frugalsod

davidsdesire wrote: »

ok, so what i should have added is that living in the Boston area (like many large cities in the US) is very expensive. Taxes are very high in our area. And the area is very crowded. That is why we purchased the acres in a rural section of Maine (most of Maine is rural..LOL).

Rural has its advantages depending on what stage of life you are. Remember that as you get older you might find driving becomes impossible or unaffordable, so you need to be somewhere convenient to stores, and easy for medical access as well especially as you get older. Also consider that you will probably have to be completely self reliant when it comes to heating and power and waste. With the very deep snow in parts of Maine you could have problems with solar alone but you could have a windmill generate more than enough power to even an electric car.

davidsdesire wrote: »

We feel preparedness is part of our retirement planning. We'll sell this high cost, high maintenance house and build a smaller house in Maine on our property. Taxes are much less there as well. And we have enough land to put in a nice garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, etc. We would like to become as self-sufficient as possible. We do not intend to raise any animals at this time. DH plans to just continue working as long as he is able--old doctors never retire, they just lose their patients. :P

Animals while cute can be hard for townies to kill for food. I certainly could not do it. I have enough guilt over super fresh fish. Though there may be local food co-ops for bulk purchases of basic essentials. If not consider starting one.

Also look into the idea of a walipini or underground garden, especially in colder climes. Though you could also put in an aquaponics set up as well. A good aeroponics system could provide so much food that you could sell the surplus.

Look into biomass solutions and you could solve the waste problem as well. The last thing you want is to be dependent on expensive liquid waste removal. Good biomass systems can separate waste and dry and pelletise the dry matter and then the pellets could be used for a power generator. So many options.



http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/build-underground-greenhouse-garden-year-round.html

If you have not built anything yet, I would suggest looking at highly insulated manufactured homes. These are close to passive haus standards and will cost very little if anything to heat and light. Though I understand that some areas ban them because they do not create local employment when being built. Also in Maine you will get bitterly cold winters and even though Boston has just had a cold snap it will be colder longer in Maine. High insulation will eliminate heat loss and even body warmth is enough to heat many highly insulated homes.

The treehugger website has some good links for high insulation homes and manufactured homes.

davidsdesire wrote: »

With terrorism on the rise, economic instability and many other potential threats, we feel like we'd like to move to the edge of the fray.

Terrorism in the West is seriously overhyped. As an american you are more at risk from a toddler with a gun killing you or having a vending machine land on you than be killed in an actual terrorist incident. It is all a matter of risk and you are probably a lot safer than you are being told.

As for economic stability the US does have very serious problems and these will hit the US one day but if you are highly self reliant then you will be impacted minimally.

davidsdesire

Frugalsod wrote: »

If you have not built anything yet, I would suggest looking at highly insulated manufactured homes. These are close to passive haus standards and will cost very little if anything to heat and light. Though I understand that some areas ban them because they do not create local employment when being built. Also in Maine you will get bitterly cold winters and even though Boston has just had a cold snap it will be colder longer in Maine. High insulation will eliminate heat loss and even body warmth is enough to heat many highly insulated homes.

The treehugger website has some good links for high insulation homes and manufactured homes.


Terrorism in the West is seriously overhyped. As an american you are more at risk from a toddler with a gun killing you or having a vending machine land on you than be killed in an actual terrorist incident. It is all a matter of risk and you are probably a lot safer than you are being told.

As for economic stability the US does have very serious problems and these will hit the US one day but if you are highly self reliant then you will be impacted minimally.

We are, indeed, looking at prefab homes-they cost about half of what having one built from ground up would cost. And we know about good insulation, too. We have a small cabin in Maine now and even when the temps are around 10F, it is quite comfortable at a temperature of 65F. Even our big 'energy efficient, passive solar heat' house in Mass feels colder when the temps are higher.

Perhaps 'terrorism' wasn't quite the word I needed. I guess I mean 'insanity'. People are just so crazy anymore. You never know when someone is going to shoot you just because you are walking down the street.

As for the economy, it is going to get much worse before it gets better. The US is a spendaholic country who is always spending more money than we have. Some day the piper will have to be paid.

My dh is getting up in years a bit but he is a very active, healthy man with great genetics on his side. I'm several (ok, 15) years younger than he is so I figure I will be able to drive years longer than he altho his mother at age 98 is still able to drive and travel on her own and live an independent life.

We'll just have to take it one step at a time.

GreyQueen

davidsdesire wrote: »

You are having me on, aren't you, Bob? I will say that I don't drink tea.

Thank you for the welcome. I've already learned loads from these forums, altho it makes me wistful for the UK. I have visited a couple of times and my daughter is on an extended visit to London right now. She keeps asking me to come see her...she is sorely tempting me.

Welcome aboard, Suzy. Bob is a leg-puller but very droll with it. Brit-humour tends to be weighted towards the dry and slightly-sarcastic-at-times, it's just one of our funny little ways. To get the full MSE effect, you should have a mug of tea (we won't check to see if you drink it) at your elbow when reading the forums, and probably biscuits (cookies to you).

Wow, 25 acres, deeply envious. I hope you have a superb time homesteading there. The geographic differences from the UK to USA, in terms of land area vs population mean that land here is proportionately a lot more expensive, and much rural land has restrictions on building homes on it. You can put up agricultural buildings, for example, but not dwellings, nor can you convert agri buildings into dwellings. It's all involved with this dreaded thing called 'planning permission' over here and 'change of use' is part of the planning permission area.

How does that pan out in Maine, or is it a case if you own the land, you can build a home, as long as you comply with building code standards?

davidsdesire

frugalsod,

Let me add (yes, i am the Queen of Afterthought!):

Your post did start me to thinking about 'what if'. What if we DO become unable to drive and dependent upon others for our needs? What if we DO decline in health and need to be nearer medical care?

I had to ponder whether we could afford to come back 'to town'. And the answer is yes. We should be able to live on our investments and pensions. IF dh's mother pre-deceases him, he will get an inheritance as well.

I will need to discuss it with my beloved but I think we will be ok. We would have to live modestly and give up travel but if we are on the decline, those won't be in the picture anyway.