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Firearm ownership is another issue, too. That's why I've decided that if I do go this route, I'll set up with black powder. Not exactly the kind of weapon people break into your house to steal, and the loading makes running amok with that kind of weapon awkward to say the least.
Credit cards are quite the trap, particularly with family people. Life with kids, a house and a car or two is just way to unpredictable. Put something on Visa, knowing you can pay it off okay, then a week later the transmission goes in the car.....
I'm not in difficulties, but I finally figured out why I never could quite live a credit free life.
I like to have contingencies, so I like to have access to credit for "just in case." Combine that with an inability to say no to kids and such when they need help, and, well, you have a recipe for constant debt.
I am closing the doors now, on my credit. As one small source of credit is paid off, it's cancelled. And, I am forced now to say no.
And you know what? Life, astonishingly enough, goes on pretty much as it always has.
[ 12 October 2008: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Cripes, I'd love to have dinner at your house. That sounds divine.
Build your own contingency fund. We call ours a slush fund. Guess what? The bank pays us interest on it! Sure the interest is low but it's coming our way rather than going out. Yes, we do draw on our slush fund. Stuff happens. But when it does, it's better to slap down the cash and be done with it than to place it on credit and owe your soul to the company store.
S'also a good idea IMO if the companies start lowering credit limits.
You can have them lowered, if you wish.
This is a house my Son, my wife and I built starting last year in May. We moved in, in late October of that year.
It has some features to it that were installed along the lines of some of the thinking here about "on demand hot water with a tank less heater".
In this house we laid tubing in Styrofoam and poured concrete over them. We circulated water to heat the slab. There were some issues around the water from the well we drilled, so I had to put in a double filter system in order to make sure these lines didn't collect sediment and plug.
On my house being an "open system," my thought here would have preferred a "close system" then using Glycol(because of implementing the filters afterthought), like my son put into his place on the home we constructed for him and his family the year before.
Some of you discussed radiant heat, and to me this is one of the better ways in which heat is transmitted to the environment your living in. We choose ceramic tiling for most of the house to keep the heat transfer and retentions times longer. Only two rooms have rugs and throw carpets placed in my wifes selected areas. Yes she chose all the colours and design.
Think of forced air systems and if you do not have a good filter in place well dust seems to find its way more then in a home with radiant heat. If some of you are allergic well this does not help and I always found the force air system created sinus problems dryness etc. Humidifiers and humidistat do help though.
Now this of course goes to wood stoves that we also installed as a secondary heat source, in case of those power outages. I also added a feature to my electrical panel. I had it wired so so I can fire up a generator need be, by switching the main electrical panel over to another panel. That one only runs those basic items I need to run the house hold. Septic system, well and refrigerator and freezer.
The cost saving aspect is of course the wood stove, and knowing most of you live in the cities this does not make it feasible. The idea here is that I set my interior temperature to 20 degrees Celsius and if it fall below to that then the floor system will kick in.
It take natural gas to run the Rinnai heating system, so to reduce gas usage, we burn wood which reduces the dependence on natural gas. Those Rinnai can be installed to replace existing hot water tanks.
Better Preparation
I had tried to adapt a geothermal piping exterior to run through these inlaid pipes, but because of the difficulty of marrying to what was almost completed, I would say that if there was a next time, I would have gone geothermal all the way.
I brought a person in who installs those systems to see if this could be done. Unfortunately had I seen him a couple of weeks earlier, I could have reduce the dependence on natural gas for hot water to circulate through that slab.
[ 15 October 2008: Message edited by: admin ]
Brings up a good point. People trying to pay off credit generally think they are doing the right thing if every spare penny goes to the debt. It's probably not. I think it's better to ( cliche warning ) pay yourself first. There are ups and downs along the way, and having a few dollars saved while you are paying off your debt means you have a non credit source of money to take care of the inevitable things that crop up.
My brother put in radiant heating, but has opted for an acid etch finish for the concrete. I looked into acid etch for my exterior patio. I found out it isn't actually acid, and that this kind of treatment isn't intended for my situation.
One thing missed out on this thread is driving habits (if you have to drive - I have cut way down). Proper tire inflation saves fuel and costs nothing. I have been driving more slowly (I try to keep it below 85 km/hr) and that can save a lot of fuel for no cost. Of course safety comes first so sometimes a higher speed is called for and driving slowly pisses people off but so far no big problems. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
On the wood burning front I heat with wood, but I live on a two hectare woodlot so it is a bit of a no-brainer - I can use a wheelbarrow to get my wood in. One of my neighbours calculated that he could sustainably heat his 600 sf house with the wood from 2 ha of mature second growth forest. My woods are a bit sparser than his (and my house a bit bigger) so I am reluctant to cut that much so I buy about half and cut the rest myself. Of course this is less of an option for city dwellers but I guess it is all about doing what you can considering your individual situation.
[ 14 October 2008: Message edited by: scott ]
Coppicing
I was the one who remembered it, but misspelled it. Then mixed up Alder and Elder.
But, if you have some acerage, and plan to be around for a number of years, it's something to consider.
1. Eat less, take a multivitamin, forgo variety.
2. Learn to fish. Even in cities you can eat some species.
3. Try to find somewhere to grow food. You don't need to own the land.
4. Learn how to cook grains and dried beans -- buy a used slow-cooker at Value Village for $5, eat great for a few bucks a day. Buy beans / oats / other whole grains / dried fruit in bulk from Price Chopper or ethnic food stores, make soup from whatever vegetables are cheap. It's semi-portable too -- don't need a kitchen to eat.
5. Work in restaurants. Nuff said.
6. Dumpster dive -- it's amazing what grocery stores throw out.
7. Cook communally.
8. Live clean -- don't drink, smoke or do drugs.
For housing costs:
9. Share a house.
10. If you own your home, don't buy any more house than you really need, shop around on your mortgage, get tenants.
11. Insurance -- bump up your deductable as high as they'll let you; the premiums will come way down. Ask for a discount if you improve your security or infrastructure or turn 51. Never make a claim for anything less than catastrophic damage.
12. A/C - try not to; plant deciduous trees to shade the south side of the house; open windows at night, close during the day; use window fans to exhaust hot air if there's no cross breeze. Heat - never above 70 and turn it way down at night and when you're out.
13. Turn off your water heater if you go away.
14. Keep your fridge / freezer full -- use containers of water or newspaper if not food. (Big containers of frozen water will keep freezer contents cold for longer, if the power goes out -- don't open the door.)
15. Keep up on maintenance so you maintain your value and don't develop bigger problems. Try to do it yourself.
Transportation:
16. Live close to where you work and play.
17. Get in the habit of walking or biking, even when it's kinda far.
18. Live on a bus route.
19. Don't own a car, or own just one car per family. Buy used, don't pay too much. Hang onto it -- change your oil when you're supposed to.
20. Carpool.
Entertainment:
21. Get rid of cable.
22. Use the library for books, magazines and DVD's.
23. Restrict travel -- it's bad for the environment anyway.
24. Consider dial-up....
I guess this all starts to sound pretty draconian but I still do most of these things and I don't feel deprived at all.
My weakness now is shopping. When I was poor I just didn't go into stores.
While living in other countries sharing cab rides was just the norm. There was a constant line of cabs waiting to take people throughout the day. This was 2 years ago. We's get at least 6 passangers in a car and it would cost us each about 0.60 to go 20km. Maybe a bit much to ask of canadians, but damn efficient.
Heat rises: live a few floors up in an apt. building. At christmas when everyone is cooking I can open my windows it gets so hot.
As for AC I've never used it, and don't much want to. Learning to live in a small personal space while enjoying communal spaces(parks not yards, libraries not private book shelfs) helps a lot too.
For food I got involved with a community Garden. I havn't needed to buy much in terms of greens this summer. Also got involved with an urban fruit picking group. I don't think I will need to buy much fruit all winter long.
Historically community gardens and canning preserving local foods have been promoted in times of war and financial crisis. Maybe victory gardens will soon be a necessity?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sow_victory_poster_usgovt.gif
This can also be filled under entertainment, because personally, I do the food stuff cause it's fun, taste good and makes sense to me more than out of economic need. Between all the other stuff and working an average payed full time job It doesn't even occur to me to budget for food.
For other sources of entertainment I go on walks, play music(even simple things that don't require any special talent or instrument can be a great delight), and make arts and crafts. Of course for maximum entertainment the above should be done with friends. With whom the simple free pleasure of conversation is hard to beat no matter how much cash ya got.
Yes my wife and I looked at this before construction, and what we saw "was a trade" artistically inclined. We thought that there would be no one in this area that could help in that regard. Stamping for sure. I think we could have looked harder, and brought a unique perspective here. But then, what kind of picture on the landscape? It might run contrary to the designer/boss? [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img] Tradition, and kinds of flooring were considered. It also had it's constraints too.
Best,
This is interesting. I had never seen thought on this before in terms of conservation, but it seems rotation has much to consider for the future warmth, reduction of gas usage, then most certainly.
Because of the different zones one might be alloted by nature "certain species" and some of these are not the best. Hard woods( birch) have better burn times then say spruce or pine. Others, like cotton wood or popular, less then desirable if not properly dried. Rotation ages of spruce or pine depending on those zones could take up to 50 years where the faster growing as read about 15.
Fidel wrote earlier about energy output consideration put into the wood and cost of using, and this had to be evaluated against the cost of Gas. Of course having this wood supply readily available reduces that cost factor, but if you consider vehicle, gas, chainsaw and tools, then it could change ones mind.
I did splitting for a lot of years with an axe, and then rented a splitter. We put it all up in a day or too after accumulating what we needed, but now, I have a little inexpensive electric splitter that brought me back to "energy usage," to use this heat source. But allows the splitting to take place over the gradual accumulation of that wood supply.
Best,
If you live in the right area you can always just stay on the alert for fresh road kill.
I'm serious. If it's not that old the meat will still be good. You don't have to buy rifle and you don't actually have to kill...just clean up after those who did. Of course you might want to call the proper authorities first so it doesn't seem suspicious. I also understand it is very thesible to be able skin and cut up the meat yourself.
You could also make your own bow and arrow. I've a friend who did it and got himself a deer last year. Of course he's invested a lot of time into developing his hunting skills in order to that...but then he's got low cost source of food and makes income teaching other people how to do it.
Voluntary change is less stressful than involuntary change, usually ... i think.
I have about 4 frozen packages of lunch vegetables, for steaming. Leftover salad from a party ... red leaf lettuce, basil, sprouts, tomatoes, radishes, cilantro etc. the basil & tomatoes were home grown. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, but I also haven't got around to eating it. Maybe it's in the Good Intention category.
Turned down the heat on the water heater.
Replaced almost all of my incandescent bulbs with CF ones (still waiting for LEDs for my dining room table, where I need the ability to dim the lights.
Try not to buy "packaged" foods: foods that are already prepared. That's where the money is. The raw ingredients are much cheaper.
So I make my own food. Frequently, I'll go on a cooking binge, and, in one evening, prepare about 8 meals of seafood chowder, 8 chilis, 8 chicken stews, 8 curries or 8 pea soups (yes, it can all be done in one evening). Then I've got instant dinners of my own. Just pull out of the freezer, thaw, move onto a plate, and reheat (I don't put plastic containers in the microwave).
Oh yah--the microwave uses less energy than an oven.
Grow tomatoes and basil (this year was not a good one). Freeze, and enjoy the results all winter. Canning and jarring is probably a better option, in terms of energy consumption. But freezing still beats insipid tastes trucked from California.
I too tend to avoid prepared food. Not only is it expensive, its often unhealthy, loaded with too much salt. I bake my bread, long ago i killed the bread machine that got me started, and so i make it by hand. Its NOT hard, a common misconception - a little yeast, warm water, patience & flour is all it takes, I add sesame seeds & flax seed. Works out to less than 20 cents per loaf/pizza dough.
And the smell of it baking is marvellous.
Give up your car. Public transit, bikes, walking and the occasional taxi should cover most of your needs, Even if you spend $100 some weeks on cabs, it's probably cheaper than the purchase price of a car, gas, repairs, maintenance, parking etc.
Move to a cheaper place to live, considering not only rent and other expenses like heating and hydro, but also transportation costs to work, social life, etc. (see give up your car and live with another adult).
Entertain at home or at others homes or at free events, except for rare special occasions. A six pack of beer, some snacks and a rented movie can be as much fun as a hundred dollar night on the town. (see live with another adult).
Plan ahead.plan your outgo and the timing of the outgo. Stick to the plan. Eliminate small occasional outgos as much as possible: the trips to the convenience store for milk shouldn't be necessary with a major shopping trip weekly. If you have coffee at work every day, think of making coffee in the lunch room or bringing ona thermos rather than buying ready made coffee. Keep lots of cheap good snacks available at work, at home and when out.
I heat my kitchen with the waste heat from the food drier, drying my grapes for those interesting raisins.
Check the opening times for your librarys and if not that suitable find the cheapest course at an educational facility and study, keep warm there.
sleeping bag is plenty warm if you are single and the zipper prevents drafts.
cook your own meals. Variations on potatoes, cabbage, onions and carrots are pretty cheap.
Brown rice and more rarely pasta for variation.
Ocasional beans for protein.
Thankfully I am no longer that poor!
In poor mode I always rented within 15 minutes walk of my workplace. Figureing out your per hour wage INCLUDING the commute as work would make a lot more people do this! The commute IS work and unpaid. a 15 minute walk is needed exercise.
Not eating properly and taking a multivitamin instead sounds very scary indeed. (Yes, I have been that poor, but that is really a worst-case scenario). As for living with another adult (human), unless you are talking about a romantic relationship, I suspect I'd end up in jail for murder. At my age, no roomies - please! I do live in a co-op and have lots of other friends at a walkable distance. But I need my own little den.
Those who don't want to live too too clean (a frightening thought indeed) can also make their own beer or wine, or grow their own ... herbal substances.
Remember sternly warning younger neighbours not to let my cat in their flat as they were growing marijuana plants. Renzo would have eaten them all. Born stoner. I tried to grow catnip for him and he even ate the roots.
I have never driven a car and am against cars in major cities, but is that really an alternative for people in rural areas or small towns? Don't think so, it would require a rethink about how to provide mobility for those who don't or can't drive...
An aside, perhaps, but I wish there were a collective to repair all the small household things we throw away because repairing them costs more than we are worth. I bought a toaster oven at a garage sale for $10. It worked fine, and suddenly a knob seems broken (turns upon itself - in French we'd say зa tourne dans le vide) and as a result nothing works. I don't think the thing is kaput, but will probably wind up tossing it as there is nobody to do what is probably a very minor repair. Too bad, I liked the thing, it worked really well.
It is, but sadly, not that uncommon. I've been there, and I sometimes have to counsel clients through it too. One catastrophic injury and their whole world changes; can't work, it may take years for the accident benefits to come through, so on zero income or close to it, what do they do? It helps to be able to face the facts and scale back earlier rather than later.
[img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
A friend of mine's old Italian father can fix anything. Those guys knew the meaning of poor eh... as the story goes, he knew he would stay in Canada when he first came here to work and the family he was staying with sat down and ate a whole chicken, all at once. Land of plenty.
A collective is a great idea!
Dogs love pumpkin, and it's excellent nutrition.
The big pumpkins normally sold for Halloween are usually fibrous (stringy) varieties, like the Connecticut field pumpkin, and aren't intended for cooking (though they are certainly not inedible). If you discard the fibrous inside and just take the outer 2 cm. that lies below the skin, you can cut it into cubes and cook it like a squash. It keeps for a week in the fridge or months in the freezer.
An aquaintence killed a young moose with a knife after a neighbour hit it with his pickup. They ate it.
If you take your emergency money and put it in a high interest savings account you can earn a lot more interest on the money. It takes a few days to transfer over but I use my credit card for emergencies ( only ) and then transfer the money for the fund to pay off the credit card a few days after I put the emergency on the credit card. No interest on the card but a lot more interest on the slush fund!
Entertain at home, rather than going out. A beer at a bar costs $5 to $7 with a tip. At home, one or two bucks. You can buy a case for everyone for the cost of having 4 or 5 yourself out in a pub.
With meals, you save even more so. A plate of pasta (with say, some seafood) will cost you $15 or more. You can easily feed 4 for that - and feed them better. And the bottle of passable plonk wine that will cost you $30 in a restaurant can be had for $10 - but chances are that your guests will bring something nicer.
We just bought some insulated curtain liners/backers. I can't believe the difference they make. It was noticible in terms of comfort, the heat in the room just seemed to 'stay in' more so I expect that it will lead some cost savings.
You can buy drapes that are lined or have them as removable but they are generally quite expensive. I found large readymade panels for about 20 bucks a piece, ugly because they look plasticy , but it is easier enought to pretty them up with inexpensive fabric, a sheer or as I did with some fabric from other projects or was given by other people.
They came in different sizes though the cost was basically the same for all, so to save more money I bought the largest size and cut them down for our smaller windows. I managed to get 2 panels to end up dressing three windows.
I do have some sewing skills and the equipment needed to do all that but it is possible to make things like curtains without sewing. It's amazng what can be done with an iron, fusible web and a glue gun.
Where did you get them Eliza? I have heavy winter drapes, that I change out for the summer with inexpensive light flowy ones. Jysk is my favorite place to get drapes and natural fibre blinds from.
___________________________________________________________ "watching the tide roll away"
Learn to cook East Indian food.
It can be bought in bulk.
It's cheap. It's healthy.
It tastes better.
And learn to make bread, including flatbreads. It's cheaper, and it tastes better with EVERYTHING!
Your dinner guests will love you...