Our General Store…Vegetables…Awful Economic News Today
If you ever had a doubt as to the wisdom of storing food the economic news today should eliminate any and all doubts. The National Association of Realtors announced today the figures for home sales during the month of December. Sales plunged 16.7 %. That is the biggest drop in over 40 years! At the same time Wal Mart announced the elimination of 11,000 jobs, most of them in their Sam’s Club division. That reduction is 10% of all those employed by Sam’s Club. This is really bad news on both fronts.
We know unemployment rates continue to rise and holiday jobs were all but non existent this year. None of those I know who applied for holiday work found any. According to the Department of labor statistics among the unemployed, the number of long term unemployed (jobless for over 27 weeks) was 6.1 million or 4 out of 10 of those unemployed.The unemployment rate when this group is included is now 17.3%.
We now know most of the money spent on stimulus did not create any jobs. This is very frightening and now, we add the horrible housing market crashing even further and discount store like Sam’s Club not being able to keep their employees and we wonder where this will all end. December saw the loss of 85,000 jobs.
We must do all we can do. We must! This is not going to turn around any time soon. Who is feeding all these people? Who is paying their bills? As a nation we have a huge debt and can’t continue to pick up the bill. Non profit groups who run shelters and food pantries are overwhelmed and now we see donation being sought for relief in Haiti. People are very generous and I believe in helping but there will come a point when those who are being so generous cannot sacrifice anymore.
I contacted a friend today about doing posts about gardening as I believe this is a skill we must hone. We will be learning canning skills here this year and I even have someone who will be teaching us to make cheese. I will continue to try to point you toward bargains I find but we need to do more to help each other. As you find a bargain or find a great inexpensive recipe please share them. The best place to share is in our yahoo group as it is easier to follow a topic there.
We cannot give up now. We must move forward and keep helping each other and continue being creative and taking small steps to becoming Totally Ready for whatever the future holds.
This week we are going to add 10 cans of vegetables per family member to our General Store. Remember, if you want to add frozen, a 16 oz bag equals two cans. As always if you can’t afford that many cans buy as much as you can afford. Make pancakes for dinner a time or two this week to free up some of your budget so you can purchase more. Do all you can, but add as much as you can.
Last week as I was shopping I observed a family who was obvious struggling financially. They had three bags of chips and a case of soda in their cart! Yikes! Please sit down with your family and explain your goals. Help them to understand how important it is to put some food aside now so you will never have to worry about not having any food to eat. Begin to accumulate recipes for treats that are inexpensive and get baking and cooking from scratch again. Snickerdoodles are yummy and very…inexpensive to make.
I am off to the store when the rain stops tomorrow, hopefully, to stock up on M&Ms which are on sale this week BOGO free. I can use these in all kinds of recipes in which I would normally use chocolate chips and they are less expensive and store longer. Now it’s your turn. What is your favorite, inexpensive dessert or treat you make for your family?
Join Our Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TotallyReady/
Sign up for our Newsletter: http://blog.totallyready.com/announcing-the-totally-ready-newsletter/
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1351841c-6fa9-4a47-b335-1fdb0331ee78)
I make pie from a large can of sliced peaches, some cinnamon & nutmeg, corn starch (or other thickener like tapioca flour) in a pie crust. I learned how to make this when I was working my way through college and on a very tight budget. Its takes a little longer than most desserts, but its something I can make from my cupboard any time.
Good idea about gardening! But gardening is different depending on which part of the country you’re from. Planting times are different, what grows well/what doesn’t, even watering can be different. You might want to link to other good gardening sites/blogs already established for different geographical areas of the country, and other countries as well. I am a Master Gardener in the Pacific NW, and our climate and weather patterns are different than most of the world. Many tried and true gardening methods don’t work here. Just trying to avoid discouragement for those just getting started on their own garden.
Great post! It is definitely NOT time to slack off now! Learning to garden is one of the best things anyone can do! It is so delicious and satisfying to boot! Canning, freezing, and dehydrating are some of the best skills anyone can learn!
Keeping a small backyard flock of chicken is another easy thing that lots of folks can do. Many towns are now allowing citizens to keep a few hens for their own use.
Favorite inexpensive treat for me is popcorn – real popcorn – not microwave – popped and salted and buttered. Yum.
dicity