Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

davidsdesire wrote: »

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.

You can never insulate yourself entirely from crazies but having empathy with them can seriously diffuse a situation. The real risks of getting shot are probably more to do with risky activities. Though I can understand why US workers go postal when you consider the work environment for most of them.

The fact that the biggest problem in the US is corruption. You have the best government that money can buy, and it has been bought, hence you get policies that screw the middle class and yet you still vote them back in.

The spendaholics are everywhere but the problem is that those that want to cut the spending what to cut the things that the poor and middle class rely on. Yet if you look at some blogs everything only went to rack and ruin when Obama took over. Yet if you check the facts the US has been on a downward path since 1968. That was the year that real median wages per hour peaked. If you had the same pay as then you would have a minimum wage of $16 an hour.

Frugalsod

davidsdesire wrote: »

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.

If you have considered all the options go ahead. I would do exactly that. The thing to consider is that over the long haul you need to keep your living costs down. So if you make food from scratch and have very low outgoings, because you generate your own power etc then you will find that you should be able to live every comfortably on a low income. Personally I suspect that the biggest risk you have is fraud from your investment advisors.

davidsdesire

GreyQueen wrote: »

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?

Your Royal GreyQueen-ness,

Any place you would want to live here is very expensive as well. Again, population drives prices up. Hence, we are moving to a rural area of Maine where acreage is much more reasonably priced.
We will be 4 hours north of Boston and 4 hours east of Quebec city so we will be able to make overnight trips for provisions as needed. 2 of my children live in the Boston area so we will come to visit often. And most likely be very glad to go back into the hills where there's nuthin but christmas trees and coyotes.

Zoning and building restrictions vary from city to city and where we will build in Maine the only restrictions we will have regard waste systems and water pollution. As we have a beautiful brook, we will have to build the house a bit away from it to prevent erosion and pollution. We will also have to put the septic away from any water sources. Other than that we can do anything we like. We can thow a caravan on it OR build the second Taj Mahal--but we're planning something a bit between the two.

And I was fibbing...I do like a cup of tea now and then...with milk and sugar. Now if only I knew how to make a good scone.

Frugalsod

I have backed this kickstarter project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1238807170/vertical-garden-prototype

It will be useful to find out what plants are used and how to make my own.

Frugalsod

davidsdesire wrote: »

And I was fibbing...I do like a cup of tea now and then...with milk and sugar. Now if only I knew how to make a good scone.

You need this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scones_1285

davidsdesire

Frugalsod wrote: »

The fact that the biggest problem in the US is corruption. You have the best government that money can buy, and it has been bought, hence you get policies that screw the middle class and yet you still vote them back in.

The spendaholics are everywhere but the problem is that those that want to cut the spending what to cut the things that the poor and middle class rely on. Yet if you look at some blogs everything only went to rack and ruin when Obama took over. Yet if you check the facts the US has been on a downward path since 1968. That was the year that real median wages per hour peaked. If you had the same pay as then you would have a minimum wage of $16 an hour.

As you said, Obama inherited a mess that was a long time in the making. It's taken decades to get here, it will take a long time to fix it and no one person can do that...mainly because no matter who the president is, he spends most of his time fighting with the opposing party. It is just ridiculous.

I fear the US is on a collision course with economic disaster and no one will be able to avert it.

Oh, where is Harry Truman when we need him?

GreyQueen

Lol, I live in a 242 sq ft concrete box at the base of a tower block of other concrete boxes. With hot & cold running drug dealers, criminals and several neighbours who are severely mentally ill and occasionally a danger to the rest of us. Not exactly the green and pleasant land of tourist brochures................:rotfl:But on the plus side it's 5 mins walk from work and many parts of this city - the ones we let the tourists into - are extremely attractive and full of historic stuff. Five million visit us each year and only about 1-2 of them get murdered in the process.

Frugalsod

GreyQueen wrote: »

Lol, I live in a 242 sq ft concrete box at the base of a tower block of other concrete boxes. With hot & cold running drug dealers, criminals and several neighbours who are severely mentally ill and occasionally a danger to the rest of us. Not exactly the green and pleasant land of tourist brochures................:rotfl:But on the plus side it's 5 mins walk from work and many parts of this city - the ones we let the tourists into - are extremely attractive and full of historic stuff. Five million visit us each year and only about 1-2 of them get murdered in the process.

And I suspect that at least one of those victims was doing something naughty. The other 5 million were just thinking about it.

GreyQueen

Usually, copious amounts of alcohol are involved. But when you have 5 million visitors per annum in a city of just over 100,000 residents, the odds on a tourist getting smacked around are higher than that of a resident.

thriftwizard

Frugalsod wrote: »

I have backed this kickstarter project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1238807170/vertical-garden-prototype

It will be useful to find out what plants are used and how to make my own.

I like that project! We were laughing yesterday at DS1's website; on his "about me" page he lists his credits, the tracks that are currently up for licensing, and the equipment/software he's currently using. At the bottom of all techie stuff is "Wide range of plants, for company and oxygen"... Clearly plants are where it's all at!