GDP Out Of Control…Take Back Control of Your Life…Prepare for the Worst and Hope (and Pray) For the Best
Yes the GDP is out of control. By the end of the year it is projected to be above 90%. That means only 10% of what the nation makes as a whole is money we and the government can spend without increasing our dept. I was just reviewing the GDP for the past 10 years. We all thought it was terrible politicians ran a platform of reducing debt and then did nothing but take a look what has happened: 2000–57.02 %, 2001—56.46%, 2003—58.52%, 2004–64.18%, 2005–62.77%, 2006–63.49%, 2007–63.99%, 2008–69.15%, 2009–83.27%, 2010 projected 94.27% Did you realize it has gotten that bad? Those numbers were taken from a government report.
What happens if other nations call our debt due? What happens when we can’t pay our bills, education, welfare, government employees, and on and on? More taxes? You bet! Unless there are some very dramatic changes soon the American dream will vanish. Home ownership, college educations, self employment, all will vanish. It is serious and we must prepare now. Over in our yahoo group today someone made the comment that she laughed at yesterday’s post because I was talking about a dire future and then telling you to store toilet paper. Well, if our money isn’t worth the paper it is printed on then a supply of TP might be a very good thing to have on hand as the government takes more and more from us and we face rationing as our grandparents did during the depression.
I really am a positive person however, so today we reintroduce the concept of creating a General Store in your home. If you have been with us from the beginning now is the time to get friends on board. Send them an email tonight with a link to this post.
You all remember Old Mother Hubbard…the poor doggie had none because her cupboards were bare. That will not happen to us. Today we begin our quest to fill our cupboards, just in case. Remember the days of General Stores? They had everything to meet your needs from food, to cloth, to cleaning supplies, seeds and tools, even a small post office and a small bank.. Together we are going to build a General Store within our own homes.
You will need a binder, paper, a permanent marker and a little passion to succeed.
First excuse for most people, no money. Begin by designating a jar as part of your food storage fund. Each night place all your coins and any change you find on the street or in the sofa in the jar. I never spend change at the store anymore, except for my pennies. Be sure to include your spouse in your plan and even get the kids involved in adding money to the jar. This is just one of many ways we will discuss to fund Our General Store.
Next set a budget. Sit down and calculate what you normally spend on food each week or month. Now realistically decide how much you can afford to add to that budget. Can you skip a movie rental or a trip to get fast food? When a disaster strikes and the grocery store shelves are empty or your bank account is empty, you are going to kick yourself over and over if you didn’t give up a few luxuries now for peace of mind later.
Once you have a budget look over your grocery list and your menu plan for the past few weeks. Which high priced meals can you skip for several weeks in order to put that money toward food storage? Substituting breakfast meals for dinner a few times a week can save a significant amount and most people love breakfast foods for dinner.
Time to get out that binder. Sit down with your family and make a list of their favorite meals, about 10. Now make a list of their favorite desserts. Once this is done use this list to create a master list of all the ingredients in each recipe. For example if you have rice in a recipe write it down. The next time rice appears in a recipe make a hash mark next to rice. When you are finished you will be able to determine if your family likes rice or pasta more. When we begin purchasing grains you will then know to purchase more of the one your family likes best. There is no magic to wheat or rice or oatmeal. The important thing is to have healthy grains stored that are versatle and provide good nutrition. If you have my ebook, Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now you can find out exactly the amount you need to store, however, you alone will determine the exact foods which will achieve that goal. We’ll get more specific as we go along.
Using your permanent marker go to your pantry and make a slash mark across all the cans and boxes you currently have. These are the foods you will use first when preparing meals. More on that later.
Finally, using your marker date items around the house that are not single use. If the item is already open draw a line at the level of the contents on the outside of the container and date it. Now, when you use up that item you will know how long it took you to finish the bottle and you will know how much you need to purchase to have a three month supply. Mark both food and non food essentials. Some items to get you started: oil, shortening, pancake syrup, salad dressing, ketchup, toothpaste, deodorant, dish detergent, laundry detergent, hand lotion, shampoo, etc. To determine how much TP and hand soap you will need simply save the wrappers in a drawer for a month and count them at the end of the month. I have found this to be the best way to determine what you really need. I have heard some lecture and advise their audience to guesstimate how much they will need. Why guess when you can know? I have also never…met a family who needs to store as much oil as food storage calculators normally advise. Why waste your money stocking up on too much of an item when that money could have been spent to purchase things you really do need? Can you tell this is a frustration to me? I hate wasting anything, but especially money!
There is no need to be wary of food storage. You are in control, I promise. I am here to help and there are many people in our yahoo group who would love to share their successes and failure so you can learn. I remember when I first started storing food. I read information which said to store 5 gallons of oil per person. I have been married a long time and we have not used that much in a year even with a family of six. Oil is one of the items you date and then calculate how much you used.
Email, facebook and tweet everyone you know and tell them we are beginning food storage again and now is the time to jump in. Tomorrow we will discuss places to store the food you are purchasing for your General Store.
Need ideas for beginning food storage or preparing fopr the electricity to be out? listen to my talk with Doctor Prepper. There were some technical problems so fast forward the first ten minutes.
Confused about the solar storms NASA is anticipating? Take some time and listen to my show with Halli.
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Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010
Hello can I use some of the insight here in this entry if I provide a link back to your site?
Please feel free to share. We really want everyone to begin thinking about being prepared to care for their own family. When you share info from the blog please link back to it. Thanks