Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 13,010
What are your plans for getting through what looks to be a serious recession?
I didn't want to use the word "Depression" but when headlines say things like "since the 1930s" - not a good sign.
We're in for some serious troubling times. What are you doing to get through? How are you retooling your financial plan? Or are you all set and just holding tight to status quo to get through?
Just thought it would be interesting to discuss. Dh and I are in the process of asking ourselves these questions.
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Putting off large expenses if we can. Saving as much as possible. We have savings to fall back on, so we are not too worried about our future. We are going to be careful though.
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Christine, Veggie Mom to homelearners Abigail, 10/95 Emma, 5/99 and Ingrid 11/01
Married to Rich since 9/92
i honestly do not know what we CAN do about it or how to prepare. not trying to be snarky or anything. I only skimmed the article but will go back and read it whe things are quiet.
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
Posts: 40,983
Just trying to keep on keeping on. We're making adjustments where we can - I spent $300 at the grocery store on Saturday! Sheesh!
But, I agree with the fear sentiment. There's not a whole lot we CAN do right now, in our position, so we'll just continue keeping our heads above water to the point that we can over here.
The refi will help - if someone would ever call us the frick back
sorry.
Well I am hoping and praying my dh will hang onto his current job for as long as possible. He is tenured and can't be fired unless he punches someone in the face and they may even overlook that LOL. If he keeps his current position, we'll be fine, otherwise, I'll be very concerned. I feel so bad for him, he's been in school for 3 years and is finally at the end doing an internship to change careers and now a recession--it just stinks for him but selfishly I want him to keep his current job with great benefits and steady paycheck with no overtime or nights or weekends *sigh*
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 13,010
We've talked about it on this board before...the end of oil. The eventual decline of Americans' standard of living. Maybe I'm getting a little too spring feverish but I keep trying to think about investing in animals - whether that makes sense or not knowing I'm going to have to buy hay for winter. Do I try to grow/raise a ton of different things, or specialize in one thing and trade with people? How do I strengthen local networks? What *is* local that we can get, and what's needed?
Location: In the Land of Golden Warmth, Surrounded by Majestic Mountains, Inspired by Desert and Ocean, Cocooned in Love
Posts: 2,986
~ Stay put. Part of me thinks we should sell low, take the equity, and go mortgage free somewhere else. But it means leaving a good job with a stable company, and having 14 years there rather than being new on the totem pole. Also, we are set up now for car lite living, with only one car. Overall I think job security is probably more important than being mortgage free.
~ Another part of staying put: our families are here. Should things get really terrible it is easier to combine households when we aren't living across the country.
~ On the car lite issue, we will start making the change to walkable/bicycle-accessible health care providers. Already all groceries and the CSA pick up are accessible by bike or foot. Library, mail, and credit union are accessible by foot. Friends and parks are accessible via walking or bike.
~ Buy more staple foods. I'm going to figure out a year's worth of grains and beans, oils, etc. and make bulk purchases. I have some, but not enough.
~ Garden. We're doing this, but should step it up and add more growing space. I also should look ahead and purchase more open-pollinated seed.
~ CSA share has been purchased.
~ Purchase our side of beef very soon. We think we have found a local supplier for humane and sustainable beef to save the transportation costs.
~ Have a serious talk about our 401K investments and how they should be allocated. Decide on taking a loss now to move things into safer funds, or riding it out (we're 15 - 25 years from retirement depending on whether or not we want DH to retire early).
~ Save, save, save . . . except for durable goods purchases that contribute to overall savings (economic and energy savings).
~ Decide on any major purchases: guitars for the boys, etc. Buy myself good long underwear and a really good winter jacket.
~ Put all the skills we've been working on for years into practice.
~ Continue community building.
~ Try to relax. It feels really good to know that we have simplified our lives and are happy with each other, and that we have prepared for this in many ways.
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Peace,
Kimberly...walking my path; loving, living and learning with an amazing man and two incredible boys.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 13,010
Ours so far:
*bigger garden and create root storage for winter
*meat birds
*buy side of beef from folks we did last year
*sell eggs to the school and co-op to pay for some animal costs
One other idea is to invest in a motorcycle (LOL but hear dh out ) - a clean emissions, 4-cylinder, 2-seater-in-a-pinch small bike with large knobby wheels for our crazy roads (it is NOT a dirt bike) with storage on it for groceries - we (he) could do all our shopping/trading within a short radius and get 70+ mpg, for a relatively small investment up front ($1-2k). He does have a point...even for us to go to our local country store is $2 per trip in gas. I said not until the emergency fund is built up to a very comfortable level.
Also seriously considering whether we need to add on to the house at all, but we'll just save save save and can always decide what to do with that $ when we have it. For now, waiting, for sure.
We're staying put too. We both have job security, me for 3-4 years, dh indefinitely (though he doesn't like what he's doing as much as he feels he should).
I also feel pressure to teach K & J gardening, animal care, and canning/preserving skills. Also cooking. So, we'll focus on having them help more this season.
Kimberly, you made some great points. I'm envious of your ability to walk everywhere. I can barely walk to my mailbox, it's 2 roads away.
Lauren, I'm glad you mentioned the part about your kids. That's something that I haven't given a lot of thought to. I feel pretty good about my skills but I need to pass them along to our kids. Thanks for listing that.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially when GWB kept saying "naaaah, our economy is fine...". Right. Now he's saying we're screwed and their's not much the fed can do about it. Excellent!
It is up to us. The fed won't change things. In our family we're going to continue to scrutinize each purchase. Save. Plan wisely. Pay off debt. All those things we're already doing but with a smidge more intensity.
It feels so political to me, I'm trying not to hop on my soapbox.
i guess things we are planning on doing soon are going to help but we aren;t doing them b/c of a recession.
we are hoping to get our CSA share with an egg share, a side of meat from a local farm (need to get a freezer) and look for someone to buy some cords of wood from.
wife to toby 
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