What are YOU doing to 'batten down the hatches'?

[grizzlewulf]

If I was to try and dispense advice about things like this (and maybe I shouldn't, I'm just a guy, I don't know nothing) I'd say this: Don't stop making plans and goals.

Keep striving for that promotion. Plan that vacation. Mark that fun family event in your calendar. Hell, keep shopping for guitars, even if you have to adjust your budget and save up for a while, whereas in better times you might just splurge. Keep writing songs for your someday band, whatever it is that keeps you going.

It's important we don't get so bogged down with the weight of potential disasters that we lose reason to look forward to tomorrow. You can prepare for survival, but if you've nothing to look forward to, why bother.

Sorry if this comes off cheesy. I've gotta say stuff like this for myself as much as anything, I can definitely get down and discouraged or plain freaked out at times

 

[duceditor]

If I was to try and dispense advice about things like this (and maybe I shouldn't, I'm just a guy, I don't know nothing) I'd say this: Don't stop making plans and goals.

Keep striving for that promotion. Plan that vacation. Mark that fun family event in your calendar. Hell, keep shopping for guitars, even if you have to adjust your budget and save up for a while, whereas in better times you might just splurge. Keep writing songs for your someday band, whatever it is that keeps you going.

It's important we don't get so bogged down with the weight of potential disasters that we lose reason to look forward to tomorrow. You can prepare for survival, but if you've nothing to look forward to, why bother.

Doing more with less has always worked for me. Guess I will be doing a bit more with even less for the time being?

Two comments that to me go hand in hand.

Live life. Love life. But don’t ever hide from it.

-don

 

[Naked Strat Brat]

I am ordering canning jars and lids so I can buy a load of food products and can them. Many might think the current trend is gonna be like the hula hoop and get better. It won't. I say this for the wisedom I have over my entire lifetime. Be prepared so we can continue having what you need.

In the early 1970's thousands of ships were "deep sea moored" to not deliver gas/oil products. Gas went to rationing, coffee jumped up, sugar, tobacco products, everything else followed. Yes eventually at that time things improved for reasons we are not allowed to discuss here. This time is not the same. If you know the real trend going on now, you will see how bad it is going to get. Multiple food processing plants across the USA have been burned down, some in Canada as well. Trains have been messed with and they like trucks, play a key roll in everything. Pipelines and oil devlopment screaming to a halt, the factors just keep going on and on, unlike in the 1970's which was greed by OPEC.

I have no room for chickens or I would have a few dozen. I do have room for a large garden, but health issues kept me from putting one in.

I have a fairly large amount of responsibilty in my life, we have adopted small children and give them a wonderful life with love, kindness, and all they would ever need to be happy and healthy and educated. My wonderful Wife is much younger than me, I just turned 80, she just turned 58. When we do things together we have a blast. If not for my 2 strokes last year, we would have moved and purchased livestock, horses and pulled the Harley out for a few long rides.

I am sad how things are all over the USA, Canada and all free Nations that desire to be able to live a free and good life. I do but not everyone can. I set business issues in motion before I had my strokes. Have my FFL license, and now so does my Wife.

If things do get better real soon, I would be so very deeply happy. I don't see it happening for maybe 4 or 5 years. I hope to be wrong. I really do.

In the mean time I will keep my electric generators ready, as much extra fuel, batteries and keep close with my friends and neighbors and keep a stash of basic over the counter goods like aspirin, "women's items" and even baby diapers as you never know who might have some needs.

I'll be enjoying my guitars on my fender amp, playing the best I can and learning to relearn what I have played before.

I sure appreciate all the participation by everyone on here for all they share. What a very wonderful group of super nice people here. I am thankful for everything.

I am excited I have a new guitar on the way! Yes that BUG bit me just like most you have also been bitten! Now my Wife and a few of our children want to play, so next month of so, I will see what is here on the classifieds. I may even sell one of mine and obtain another...it is alot of fun!

 

[Tele-kitty]

If I was to try and dispense advice about things like this (and maybe I shouldn't, I'm just a guy, I don't know nothing) I'd say this: Don't stop making plans and goals.

Keep striving for that promotion. Plan that vacation. Mark that fun family event in your calendar. Hell, keep shopping for guitars, even if you have to adjust your budget and save up for a while, whereas in better times you might just splurge. Keep writing songs for your someday band, whatever it is that keeps you going.

It's important we don't get so bogged down with the weight of potential disasters that we lose reason to look forward to tomorrow. You can prepare for survival, but if you've nothing to look forward to, why bother.

This so much, got to have hope..

For me its been a different kind of prep, after the last 2 years I finally got into the dentist.
I’m getting all the badly needed work done that had to wait until the world reopened, trip number 7 was yesterday lol
All fillings done , no cavities, so good to go for awhile now I hope. Nothing sucks worse than tooth pain and not being able to get anything done for it. Never imagined 2 weeks would turn into what it did…

We stock a bit of food as we can but don’t have the storage space to really do it to the point that will probably be needed.

I try not to read the news and stay positive, and keep a sense of humor. Got to have a laugh sometimes to not go crazy with how things are going ya know.

 

[otma]

I'm also going to say that as someone who has made a new start in life at an age when some would say it's too late to start much of anything, I'm not going to pretend problems and dangers aren't out there, or that they can't touch me. I know they can. I just won't let them put me off. Can't change my past. I can change my future.

 

[duceditor]

The local (meaning here very local -- i.e., what I myself am seeing when grocery shopping) shortages may be explained by messages being sent to and by large trucking firms here in the N.E. That there is a growing shortage of diesel fuel and thus even produce (the worst, but not sole area showing empty shelving) available in warehouses cannot make it to the supermarkets.

Produce, of course, is more time sensitive than is packaged (or even frozen) foods. And if the growers and distributors foresee even the possibility of it being held up in delivery, and thus spoiling, that will understandably not ship to the area.

I mention frozen because I when, just a few weeks ago, I asked if there were any frozen peas available -- this after finding , once again, empty cases in the large, chain, supermarket -- I was told "we've not been able to get them for several weeks."

Jan is thinking of getting into gardening. The difficulty for us there is that we have so much wildlife in our area. Any garden that is not behind fencing gets eaten by them before it is even quite ripe. (One of our tenants learned this the hard way. Tomatoes, green beans, squash and much more simply disappeared from his hard tended garden -- and this despite his putting up some barriers so as to make it harder to reach.

We generally eat fresh vegetables and a lot of salad type foods. But as such gets harder to regularly find we are even now flexing out eating choices. And I am thankful that some months ago I added regular, monthly, by-the-case purchases of things like beans and packaged tomato products to my "subscribe and save" order on Amazon.

The suggestion of adding rice to this list is much appreciated! We stopped eating rice -- once a regular part of our menu -- when I went 'low carb' a few years ago. But in much of the world rice is the staple people depend upon. It stores well and is easy to prepare with just water and heat.

I just added a large (15 lb) bag of california-grown medium grain rice to my monthly "subscribe and save" order. Bought this way it is only 8 cents an ounce. In just a couple of months we will have another staple in good supply - and this without raiding the local markets and adding to any possible future developing shortage.

That is just the sort of suggestion I was hoping to find here. So thanks!

-don

 

[radiotech]

Both my wife and I being kids of depression-era parents are thrifty by nature. Because of Covid, we went (or ordered) out rarely during the first 18 months of the pandemic, and our bank accounts swelled from the shutdown, just in time for both our cars to need full brake jobs, and some other work… the stimulus checks covered that work. It was followed last August by the need for a new furnace/AC, which basically skimmed off the rest of our surplus. We have just recovered from that, the reduction in our electric and Gas bill from the increased efficiency (those bills, even with the increase in energy costs were cut 60%) helped recover.

We have three different long term savings (pension, 401k, and 257B), we did not change our contributions to those, and they are managed opposite (one is a fixed/guaranteed plan, one is med risk), we’ve seen some drops in the med risk one, but have recovered every time thus far.

We had planned a trip to Ireland in Jan of 2020, and bought our flights, but they were cancelled by Air Lingus, and we have a flight coupon good for four more years (we are hoping to go this September, but the Russia situation has us concerned). When we do go, we have friends, and family of friends that have given us open invites to visit/stay with them.

Costs in the Midwest are high, but nothing compared to some parts of the country. My wife has a 2 mile work commute, so our gas cost is up only about $20 a week (for me).

I’m disappointed in many companies for reducing sizes, and increasing costs (Like Procter & Gamble, and Colgate/Palmolive) we are paying more for less product that requires more packaging, and that just doesn’t make sense, especially for the environment. We’ve changed a number of brands (or where we buy them), to compensate. My wife works for an upscale grocery chain, and she often would just shop there before coming home, but we’re back to hitting Aldi for food staples.

We have a large backyard project we’ve put off for three years now, and quotes were just ridiculous the last two years, we’ve realigned our expectations, and scaled down the work, and decided to do some ourselves.

It helps that in 2016 I went into full budget lockdown for the divorce, and many of those cost-savings methods are still in place.

 

[duceditor]

Both my wife and I being kids of depression-era parents are thrifty by nature...

Sounds to me like you are coping both wisely and well.

Frankly that is a wisdom that most of us have to acquire personally -- thru out own (sometimes hard) experience. Although each of your parents seems to have at least in part got you started.

We prepare as best we can to what seems like the most likely course and circumstances ahead. But along with that I have "faith." -Some would call this a "religious faith" and I suppose it is -- but it is based as much as what I have experienced in my own life as on bible verse of given precepts.

"He" has been there for me just as "He" promised. And although 'ease' what not part of that promise, 'caring' was. "Never" wrote King David in a song "have I seen the righteous go hungry or their offspring looking for bread."

To those of us that have grown up and lived with relative ease (I'm not sure rising guitar prices counter that.) what I see likely coming will be a test. Of our satisfaction level with our chosen lives as they perhaps morph into something a bit different than we had become used to. Of our flexability and willingness to make needed changes. On our optimism and hope as we enter a time of shadow.

Yes, we live in a world where much is out of our control. But our choices and attitudes will in the end make a difference. We are already seeing that. And that whining isn't of much help.

Neither, it goes without saying, will satisfaction with dependency or our having a practiced spirit of complaint.

-don

 

[Beagle]

Lots of people in my local area are already depending on food banks to feed their families, despite working more hours than I ever did. With energy costs due to rise again in a few months their future is pretty bleak.

 

[duceditor]

Lots of people in my local area are already depending on food banks to feed their families, despite working more hours than I ever did. With energy costs due to rise again in a few months their future is pretty bleak.

That's a good reminder, Beagle. I've been reading that as well and the concerns spoken locally that as things tighten donations to those food banks is not keeping up with needs.

As critical, I think, and less easy to correct, will be this coming Winter's heating costs.

Heating oil is essentially diesel fuel. People who struggle to keep their home warm with fuel at a dollar something a gallon will simply not be able to when the fuel is six dollars per gallon.

In my community there are programs that give a little bit of help to truly "low income" families. But average, working, home owners do not qualify for any such help. How will such cope?

American industry can likely solve this in months if allowed to. But just this past week further steps were taken by the current DC 'controllers' to prevent their doing so. And thus even a total change in DC thinking will, I expect, be too late to help this Winter. And we won't be able to leave an "extra gallon of heating oil" in any basket near the exit of a local shop.

Personal creative thought is, I fear, the sole answer. And for many few possibilities will be found to exist.

Here we'll be carefully and thoughtfully felling some chosen trees --those at the end of the life cycle -- and, perhaps, making some available to neighbors who provide the equipment, skills and personal energy needed to help us cut and split them. But what about urban people? Or, even locally, older folks such as Jan and I who have no forest of their own to include in such a 'work for wood' tradeoff?

This concerns me greatly.

-don

 

[brettandjake]

Been retired for 8 years, lucky to have a pension. Don't drive much except to see the kids. We tend to travel within our state. We did not go out to eat for the last year or so and were surprised at the price increase at restaurants. We have belonged to a CSA (community supported agriculture) for a few years now and get our vegetables once a month from it. This year we added eggs to our order. All organic by the way. We do not eat much meat because I have heart disease. Fish is expensive and I may have to take up fishing. I have difficulty understanding the price of housing. It is backbreaking. If one spouse loses a job a lot more people may end up homeless. I fear the housing market will crash and take the economy with it.

I am sounding like my parents and for that I apologize.

 

[duceditor]

I am sounding like my parents and for that I apologize.

Hah!

Funny how that is! How youth sees itself as new and simply accepts that older people have it wrong. Then they become "older" -- meaning, here, experienced in life -- and they become themselves what they once rejected.

this, of course, has a purpose. That willingness to look beyond the known horizon. One in eleven "new" ideas pan out. And from that we all benefit. The rest lead to the experience wisdom we here equally laugh about and praise.



-don

 

[fattboyzz]

Rice, flour, meal,suger ,grits,mash potatoes, ramen noodles, macaroni noodles, powdered milk, can foods, can meats.
Dont forget salt.

 

[Slacker G]

The homeless crisis, rampant drug and alcohol abuse, teen violence, racial violence, drug overdose deaths, human smuggling, child pornography, road rage, money laundering, mental health, domestic violence, property theft, vandalism, hit and run drivers, gangs, shootings and stabbings, robbery, war in Ukraine, all has me thinking beyond inflation.

To quote Obama "Elections have consequences."

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

To quote Obama "Elections have consequences."

and, it took 20 years, trillions of dollars, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

 

[Hadronic Spin]

Like others have posted, I had very little at an early point in my adulthood. I changed that with both hard work and due diligence.

I'll do whatever it takes (legally) to have food on the table, a roof over my head and decent healthcare. Otherwise, I do not and will not worry about economic affairs that are out of my control...wasted energy.

That said, I'm retired. I have zero credit debt, and both my cars and home are paid for. I planned for this decades ago, and made it a reality. I'm both lucky and grateful for this, others are not so lucky.

Regards

Jason

 

[duceditor]

I planned for this decades ago, and made it a reality. I'm both lucky and grateful for this, others are not so lucky.

I susect that, not only did "luck" have little to do with it, that you know that "luck" had little to do with it.

Credit where due.

Ah, for the days of Horatio Alger!

-don

 

[Slacker G]

and, it took 20 years, trillions of dollars, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

Not trying to be smart but what exactly does that have to do with the post you made about the current problems at hand?
Mark my words: We can depend on it getting worse not better as we fall further into this fabricated abyss.

 

[Randall E]

Retirement was just not for me. After a year of figuring out what I wanted to do in retirement, I went back to work and found a great work from home gig.

I spent 40 years trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, unfortunately when I got to the place when I could retire, that was not one of them.

 

[Big George]

Bought lots of guitars last year and a few this year, so that corner is covered. We have lots of storage space here so last summer, feeling a sea change coming, I bought a bunch of shelves for the basement and began stocking up on staples. Not hoarding, just buying 3 cans instead of 2, three boxes instead of two, and so on. We're in very good shape right now with our in house stock. Semi retired and work from home so that's not a problem, and for vacations / trips and such we stay pretty much in state because there's just so much to see. Our vacations are series of day trips to historic sites and state parks. Look around in your own states and you'll be amazed at how much there is to see that you never knew were there. We'll be visiting Cowpens and Ninety Six next week, looking forward to it. Life is good.