I did not plan to post till after the first of the year but….

    I did get a few new followers, I’d like to welcome you all and thank everyone who stopped by to read this blog.  I hope it has helped and perhaps sparked some ideas for you!  I especially like to thank Kevin S. and the Survivalblog for the link, I am overwhelmed by the response. 
   I have plans for adding another blog that will focus on not just building but sustaining for the future. But I’ll keep this one going for my little twist on prepping on the cheap and while being disabled. I can’t say we will win but we sure can keep stacking the deck in our favor.

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Planning for the future or at least for next year!

    I did get a few items I felt I was lacking mostly toilet paper, paper towels and feminine products another 10 pack of lighters from the Family Dollar store that have tested out okay. A lot of cheap lighters break easily and the only way to know if they are any good is to try them out. So far the lighters are dying from fluid running out and not because they are breaking or losing the flint.
   I stopped by the “Lighthouse” today and gave them $30.00 for whatever… At this late in the year they can put that cash to use better than what I could give them in goods. I’m not up to the 10% I want to give but I’m giving them about 5%-8% for the last 2 months. It’s been hard as it is all to easy to want to say I can’t afford giving. But that would be an excuse for my own selfishness.  To be honest I can think of all kinds of things I could do for myself with that money. Not because I need to but because I want to spend it on me!
    Had some very bizarre things happen as far as finding stuff this last week. One item was a Debit card while walking in the Mall. I notified the Mall officials that I found it and then told them I was taking it to the issuing bank after my walk. I gave them the name on the card in case someone called lost and found at the Mall then took the card to a local branch of the bank and turned it in to them. Today, I found some crumpled up dollar bills by a kiosk at the Mall and turned into a clerk/kiosk owner who said she thought she knew who might have dropped the money.  I hope she is correct as times are tough and a couple of bucks may not be much but it can mean the difference between a gift given and nothing at all.
    I’m a firm believer in what goes around comes around, karma or you reap what you sow.  I do the what I think is the right thing and usually good stuff happens for me.  If  nothing else I feel good about myself as a person and that is good enough for me. I’m not always right, I just do my best.

Take this time to enjoy the holiday season assess what you have done and what you would like to accomplish next year. Count your blessings and enjoy time with family and friends. I will post again after the first of the year and we will begin the new year with vigor and hope!
God bless

At loose ends and a little bummed out.

   A dear friend has passed away, and she was a grand lady and my inspiration for this Blog. She gave me the kick in the butt and long distance virtual hugs when I needed them.
She was my Auntie Mame, full of life and wisdom. I’ll miss you Linda!
Hugs, Jamie

I’m starting an additional Blog

This one will be via wordpress and I’m intrigued with the old general store /trading post.
This blog will  continue for prepping on the cheap, but I will be looking toward the future after the collapse and what I will do to make a living and how to rebuild.
As you know I’m disabled and it kills me that I’m so dependent on SSD and the VA. I can’t imagine life will get any easier as throughout history in an economic collapse folks like me get hit hardest first. Then poverty starts to trickle up to the middle class. As they say “Top down, Bottom up”  That sounds a lot like a vice to me! I really don’t want to get squished in the middle.
I’m still thinking about the business plan and how I can make it work. A lot of the store will be for me to build my prepping, but I think as barter and trade store could work as an alternative to the big box stores. I’m trying to make it work for me on me preparing and also help others out. Don’t get me wrong. I want it to pay at least for my efforts and energy, I want profits to pay my way and to get off the “Dole”  I’m a capitalist. But I don’t need a lot to live on happily and if I can help other folks out and not get squished in that vice I’ll consider myself successful.
I hope it works, if it does you can do the same thing! If it doesn’t you will know not to try it or at least learn from my mistakes. A new year is coming up and things are going to change drastically. You got to look at what you will need to do in the future instead of stinking your head in the sand and hoping things get back to normal. Normal is joke and does not exist. You adapt and move ahead or you are stuck making buggy whips in a world of cars.

More good shopping news

http://myadventuresinselfreliance.blogspot.com/2011/12/some-more-sales-to-save-you-some-money.html
It looks like FM is extending it’s sale on NY roasts for $3.47 per pound and Prime rib for $4.88. Folgers has a coupon for $7.99 per can is a bit of drop in price. I’m not a fan of Folgers coffee, I’d rather buy the FM brand of french and European roast. or the Supreme roast for a couple of dollars cheaper per can and I like the taste better.
    I really hate that my checks don’t hit before sales I’d like to take advantage of, and I used up my reserve of cash for getting other good buys on stuff I would need in the future. I could have put off a few of those buys on TP and hygiene items as I didn’t need them anytime in the next 3 months but they were a good buy and I knew I’d start needing them 6 months from now. 
    I’m kind of glad that silver and gold seem to be bottoming out and I don’t have to figure out how to buy some more. Just like anything if it goes on sale I’ll get some, but right now I want to stock my “general store” with some more basics I need and stuff for barter and trade. I think prices may kind of bounce along at the new normal but we will start seeing some great buys after the 1st of the year. Most companies boosted inventories in anticipation of a growing economy and I think they will have to start selling just to clear their stock. My opinion only, but we may see some great deals on certain items. Have a list and some cash on hand to take advantage of after Christmas sales.

A little good news on the shopping front!

      This is a new report but it looks like the futures market for Coffee, sugar and cocoa have dropped a little in price and the warehouse seem to have built up excess stocks. While sugar has a long shelf life both coffee and cocoa is more volatile and doesn’t store as well long term. There will be some lag time but we could be looking at lower prices in the grocery stores next year.
    I went a little nuts on baking bread last night. 7 loaves and 2 dozen rolls. Six loaves have been double wrapped  and put in the freezer and today I made biscuits and gravy with some of the white rolls. I tried a dried product Country Gravy Mix from Sauce Supreme I got at the dollar store. Not to bad for just mixing it with water and boiling for 2 minutes, don’t add salt while cooking but a little fresh ground pepper helps kick up the flavor. I think this would be a great addition to a BOB, BOV or you camping set up along with homemade dehydrated burger, sausage, or jerky,  add dried garlic, onions and red pepper flake. You could make up a nice batch of SOS or biscuits and gravy that takes only water and heat to make.  
    I was feeling a little punky the last few days. I was a little angry at our so called public servants in DC about NDAA and few other things. I think I was having a flare to go along with it. But what was the worse is I was not sleeping well and felt totally dried out. So I thought I’d get a bunch of humidity in the house and use a fan to blow the steam out of the kitchen. It really helped a lot for my nap so I’m boiling some more water tonight and hope it helps me sleep. Next week I’ll be adding a humidifier to my shopping list along with a new coffee maker as my old one and my spare both died this week. I’m using one of my stove top percolator for now and it works just fine, plus I have a French press and an enamel camp percolator so I’m good to go.
    Good news! the Lager beer is finally carbonating and finishing up. I prefer the ales for winter but I can see how doing a lager would be a lighter taste for summer time and for folks used to an American-style beer. I’m so glad  I didn’t give up on the Lager!
    Last but not least started looking at the seed catalogs for what I’d like to plant for next year. I found a neat heirloom corn that is sweet corn if picked young and then a dent corn if harvested later, a couple of tobacco plants that are very pretty and may do well , A dwarf coffee plant that I’ll keep inside with my dwarf citrus plants and we will see if it works out. Going with more root veggies like turnips, parsnips and kohlrabi and see how the do here and how well they store. Talked to a friend that did the 3 sisters planting of corn, beans and squash and she said it worked great in her garden here in Idaho.
     

The Constitution is dead! and the NDAA will be passed!

    We have entered a bad period were we will be ruled by men and not laws. I’m toast,  I’m sure I’m on at least a couple of lists, but you may be safe Firefox has a Private browsing option and an option that shows IP rather domain names.
   I’m commited to this road I’m on. I can’t hide even if I wanted to at this late date. I knew could happen I just didn’t think it would happen and led by our Congress critters.  Please protect yourselves and practice good OPSEC as many have told you. You will do no service for dying for this Constitution you must live for it!
 
FOLKS WONDER WHY DIDN’T VOTE FOR MCCAIN!!

I do wish the economic collapse would be a bit more orderly.

    I know collapses are never orderly but darnit I’ve already made my budget and they seem to be moving up the timeline without any respect to my plans. Silver and Gold have gone on sale! I think mostly to elites and the TBTF banks in the EU liquidating paper positions but it is screwing up my time line as I want to get a bit more silver but I also want to get a solar oven and a couple of things for the RV and a Saiga rifle and it’s blowing the heck out of my planned spending. I was hoping the sale on PMs would be next year. I’m not greedy but I think having a year’s worth of silver on hand figuring about 30 oz. per month is a good insurance policy in case of hyper-inflation and I’m no where close to that ideal. Or you could figure 1 oz. of gold per month. That tends to be the historical figure on money needed to survive in a PM based money system. 
   It’s not all bad news or even frustrating news. I did manage to drop my daily Kw usage in electricity by almost 4kw per day average this month compared to last year. No big changes except I turned down the main furnace to 65 degrees and I’m using a couple of space heaters for local heat as needed. I’m all electric on power and light so not to bad overall.
    Plus it’s a lousy month for the timing of my disability checks. I really hate how SSD is paid on Wed. based on the last 2 numbers of your SS card. Some months are okay and some months see a long stretch of almost 3 weeks and  then short to a week,  from the 1st (my VA disability) I’d much prefer a 1st and 15th payment method I got used to in the Army. Well it could be worse and that demon Murphy is always lurking. I’m in no danger I’m just whining about inconvenience and doing a little venting.  It does show no matter how well you plan (and I think I do plan well) someone or something will come along and screw it up. Flexible is no longer good enough in your planning you must be fluid.

The EU is in a death spiral, most TBTF banks have invested in the EU

     Please get your money out of any TBTF banks and go local banks or Credit Unions. Bank runs are already happening in the EU and will spread to the USA.
The bankers are hoping for a Santa Claus rally but this in a time to get out of paper and into something real and tangible. Be it PMs or food or farm land please get out of the market now and get back in when you have real protections or can get real assets. From what I’ve been reading of history of economic collapse it’s a long slow slide and about 18 months of the worse be it deflation or inflation. By the worse I mean a daily threat of starvation, lack of power and sanitation. A new normal will appear in time but you have to be ready to get through the critical period. That means having your basics already on hand so you don’t have to buy as much in devalued or inflationary currency.
   Have your heirloom seeds and you can augment your food supply or trade the seeds. Know how to make and repair stuff from basic items. Then you can trade a finished product for staples. Suppose a farmer would like some beer made from his grain but doesn’t have the skill or equipment to do it,. Or most of his time is spent keeping the farm going. He gives me the grain for brewing and I keep a portion for me to make bread or some pasta and he is paid in beer so to speak  Or you have a solar oven and you can bake and cook with no power cost. You get paid in garden produce or eggs for the use of your oven.
    I’m investing in electric and battery powered tools instead of gas. They have become better in recent years and can be recharged via solar panels. A simple battery powered drill can be a huge physical energy saver. Got a golf cart or one of those electric scooters? It can be recharged via Solar energy. I’m not sure about an electric car, I think you would have to have a powerful solar set up to recharge one of those bad boys. The great thing if I’m completely wrong you still save money and have good tools that you can use. A good heavy duty bike that can handle a kiddy cart or travel baskets make a good back up system for shopping in most towns. Remember think “work horse” not “show horse”. Plus it’s darn cheap to store extra tires, tubes and parts for a bike compared to a car.
   It won’t be perfect and it will take a lot more physical labor to get by daily. But now is the time to get your backup systems in order and practice with them so it’s not as bad.

Musical interlude

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Remember

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We did it once against a king! You work for us and a reconing is coming

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WE love our country!  I can’t say we love our politicians.