Planning For a “Nicer” Future
Lets suppose for a minute that the Shit Does NOT Hit the Fan after all. I don’t really believe that it hasn’t already on a rather small scale, but lets suppose that the economy, environmental issues and swine flu plus other bugs (including insane world leaders), simply stop being threats. What then?
We (being husband and me) will be living on the farm within two years if all goes well, in less time if the world collapses around us. . The kids? It will be up to them (in a couple of years they will be off to college they say) but I suspect that I will have to always include the possibility that they will live with us again at some point in time.
Being prepared for the worst is a great thing and if you start, you suddenly find that along the way, you have adopted a way of life. I read somewhere (forgot where exactly) recently that many believe that the current frugality is just a phase and that once the world rights itself (the thought is not mine but the author of this “somewhere”), many may go back to the old destructive habits. That is most likely true, but it won’t be for me. I don’t see a lot of people doing this frugal prepared thing anyway so its a moot point in my opinion. I am looking at the possibility from a personal perspective. Reality is, what we have been doing to survive crosses over nicely to other aspects of life.
We have been living an alternative lifestyle as a couple for most of our time together (19 years of marriage in addition to living together first). We intensified it when our children were born. Very little of the neo- frugal movement is a surprise to us. The secrets revealed are not genius or innovative or secret for that matter. Homesteading is what we moved into as the result of the worries we all carry nowadays, but homesteading to SURVIVE, not for any other reason (for example, not pleasure or as a sideline hobby or a sideline business or for the retirement years).
It isn’t likely that we will go back to what others long for nostalgically because we both recognized years ago that this life style had an expiration date. So what are we going to do about our futures now that we have a sanctuary, a stash and a small (but shrinking) nest egg? Do we continue on as if earth was going to plummet into the sun or do we actually start seeing ourselves as a part of a more viable future and start using our resources to make retirement years more comfortable for us? If the latter, how?
The advantage of owning is that we have options. We can go off grid completely. My husband wasn’t into that a short time ago, but his injury and subsequent unemployment was the necessary shift he needed. He sees now that the shit doesn’t need to hit the fan on a worldwide scale in order to learn to do things without the system. By going off grid as much as possible, we are going to have more money. He is ever logical.
Growing our own food? I have spoken of this and it isn’t completely feasible to be totally independent in that way but we could come close enough for comfort. One thing I have been exploring is buying shares in an animal rather than raising our own. I still don’t think I could slaughter a creature I raised myself, but you never know. By buying shares we save a good deal of money. Its something to do now. If we bought half a cattle, the cost amounts to 1.50 a pound! No matter the cut. A big upfront investment but it is doable if it is made into a goal.
Canning is another way-any kind of preserving. Next year, I am going to plant a monster garden up North. I plan on finding a caretaker if need be. I should of done it this year but I just didn’t think of that option and even so, we just didn’t have water.
We will have a well. We will have a masonry heater or solar or both. We would like to cut the ties to electricity but at the moment we haven’t fully thought it through.
What remains to be seen really is making a living. That stumps me. We need to go beyond egg money.
I have been so focused on surviving collapse that I didn’t pay much mind to an actual retirement. It seems at the moment that we are already retired. We had our own personal collapse. Neither of us can find work. Husband can go back to work for light duty but his company is at a standstill because real estate developers are not paying up. I have said before, we were prepared. We are weathering it all in a decent enough way. This gave us the picture of the future, when we both will survive on limited income and with our children away to college. We have some lean years ahead. Yet this doesn’t feel like a threat to me. I know how to cope. I have all the skills. I just have to think more clearly about our personal reality and come up with a more specific plan.
