Survivalist Forum banner

Are you STRESSED by the current financial problems??

7K views 74 replies 45 participants last post by  anne36 
#1 ·
Actually, this is an answer to that question I gave Monday.

NOPE !!!

I'm not a little bit stressed.

I'm just a simple country boy.
I was raised on huntin, fishin, gardening, canning, raisin livestock, and makin do with what you have.
I also did without Air conditioning, central heat, CABLE, and color TV until my pre-teen years. (and yes, we only got 3 channels. NBC, ABC, & PBS)

I don't need 75% of what you call "civilization".
I happen to LIKE some of it, but I don't NEED it.

The other 25% can be replaced with a little effort.

If you are TRULY "self-reliant", you don't need any of that stuff.
And we are.


But I do see what the Yuppie-puppies and the "I want it now generation" has done to THEMSELVES.
I have been educated over the past years.

I wasn't foolish enough to invest in the Wall Street Casino.
I don't have a 401K.
I don't have a house payment, car payment, or credit cards.

And I did just fine in 2003 before this mess was legislatively escalated and the stock market became falsely inflated.

I have to admit something.
While I would never do it to anyone's face, I laugh/chuckle a bit at some of the "newbies" when they ask about some simple little thing I've known since I was a youngun.
But I do try to convey what the grandparents taught me to help them.

I might not know much about these computers, or handheld playtoys, or wall street finances...... But I do know about living without a "supercenter" and the ability to run right over to it for my every need.

Nope.
I'm not worried.
I'm RICH in comparison to most of the population because I don't NEED any of the junk they can't live without.
__________________

I hope we can ALL feel this comfortable about our personal situation soon.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
the more plugged into modern convieniences you are- the harder it is to survive without them. Unforyunately- you'll be effected more than you think- unless youre an isolationist- you have to deal with people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: budog and test
#3 ·
Good answer.

Me neither - times will get tough, but we can handle it. Just need to get out of the way of the folks that can't.

Money ain't gonna mean **** shortly and everyone will find themselves in the same boat.

Embrace the new paradigm.
 
#7 ·
Yes I am stressed- because both my husbands parents and my own may well not be able to retire and that should be and might need to be coming up pretty soon for at least one of them.

Self reliancy is great- and while we're not quite there yet- I'm confident in being able to get there. However- throwing that into the mix before we're ready IS getting me concerned.
 
#8 ·
I am a little stressed because I am not set up to be self reliant yet. I don't think luxuries are bad but people need to realize they are luxuries and joyful life can go on without them. I am a little worried because we are expecting twins and if SHTF right now it would be difficult. My goal is to set my family up so that it CAN be self reliant no matter what the situation.
 
#10 · (Edited)
By the financial situation itself? No.

I haven't had much to do with the system for over a decade, and think it would, in the long (possibly very long) run be good for our country if we see this credit and debt based economy fall apart. The massive amounts of debt that people have got into the habit of taking on are not wise or sustainable. Wipe the slate clean, let us rebuild.

What does worry me some are the actions that the government will take in an attempt to remedy the situation--nationalization of banks and other industries, for one thing, maybe a huge new repeat of the New Deal, if Obama gets elected. I really believe that if this current collapse continues to get worse, but does not get so bad as to be totally beyond the control of the banksters and their allies in Washington, we may come out of this, as a nation, much worse than we went into it.

But as far as personally being ready for the reprecussions of this collapse and being able to provide for ourselves and defend our own, we are prepared and not overly worried.
 
#11 ·
Yes I am very stressed about recent events.

Our economy is falling apart. Some are reporting that this is already going to be the second greatest economic decline in American history and might eventually end up being worse than the great depression. While we are not there yet, and no one can see the future, a 21% drop in the Dow in something like 5 days is very rare and cannot be viewed as anything but bad.

My personal financial situation is not great but for the most part I think I am better off than most Americans. My bills are current as of this morning. I have a pretty large stockpile of food, enough to last me and mine a year or so. I have plenty of "tools", really more than I would ever need and as such it is something to trade. Overall, I am certainly better off than 95% of Americans, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

The election is next month and it looks like Hussein is going to get in. I hope he doesn't send a "truth squad" out to arrest me for saying his middle name. Part of me is beyond caring. Bush is busy doing his darnedest to destroy whats left of this country and waiting in the wings is the man who will finish what Bush started.

I have been working diligently to try and learn everything I need to learn, have everything I need to have, and do everything else I need to do, but it looks like the finish line to this race is closer than I anticipated.
 
#12 ·
I'm a little stressed. We havent yet been hit (Canada) by too many of the things happening in the US, but the more that Canadian newspapers speculate about our economy, the faster ours seems to be going down the toilet.

We dont really live a fancy lifestyle and both DH and myself can get pretty lean if things get really bad. We did make a few decision when our economy was going full steam that may impact us now but we're optimistic that with DH's work experience, he'd be able to get a job out in the field and we'd be ok. We started 2 large (for us) gardens, are cooking more from scratch, are buying stockpile items, DH hunts.....slowly we're taking steps to not be as reliant on the modern conviniences but its hard to do so in the city. We cant afford to move out to the country.....land prices are still rather high.

Having said all that, I'm pretty optimistic that the Canadian economy can weather the storm for another year =)
 
#16 ·
Not stressed at all really. Given my lover Rosella's on SSI/SSDI (and I get paid to care for her as an Essential person) which is a relatively stable income despite the economy so things are pretty average over all. (although we did lose some small extra income recently we reworked our budget to adjust for the difference with minimal difficulty.)

Like Medicine Man said,
I don't need 75% of what you call "civilization".
I happen to LIKE some of it, but I don't NEED it.
Another couple of small advantages is we don't smoke, drink, or own credit cards so we have a lot less out of pocket expenditures then others we know that are struggling to make ends meet on four times what we make a year.

Love, enough food on the table, a roof over your head, and enough ingenuity/creativity to keep yourself entertained and you can live quite happily on a lot less than most people would think.

As far as preparedness goes, we're pretty close to set as far a lot of the basics go, and for long term, we know of a family that owns a farm my parents and I were friends with since I was a little girl and they've always empathized we have a ready place to live and stay there if things seriously fall apart economy/SHTF wise.
 
#17 ·
I'm stressed because:

When I married my (2nd) wife, she had one teen. Our home has become the best place to be, so her other two kids have now gravitated here. Add in another house-guest. The three teens and the houseguest are about as lazy as can be. One of 'em produced a baby 2 months ago now too.

Anyone who knows teens knows you can't motivate 'em. They have no skills, no jobs, can't or won't drive, etc. etc. No help at all. I'm not exagerating.

So who's gonna support 'em? Me. It's not my choice, but they're my wife's kids (and guest and grandkid now) so it's "doing the right thing" but this is tough and gonna get tougher. It's worse when I resent the kids for being know-nothings, do-nothings, lazy foul-mouthed brats.

And for those who say I need to approach this different, I've tried. Even wife agrees ***holes they're useless but you can only do so much with 'em.

So, doing the right thing is going to be more and more stressful.
 
#19 ·
No, not all teens. My brother, for instance, has wonderful teens. But the three I'm responsible for, plus the baby plus the 21 yr old "house guest" are eating my food, burning my electricity, etc.etc. Mom's working full time, but the bulk of the money, home up-keep, etc. are still from me. Can't even get the 15 yr old healthy boy to rake leaves from a 400 sq ft piece of yard.

It's not suicide I'm worried about. Now homicide.....

(Jesting jus' in case anyone decides they need to investigate me...)
 
#21 ·
I have a teen of my own and you are right that motivation is an issue with them. But I found that if you start removing things they like (computers, tv, video games) they seem to become more helpful and motivated. They won't like it but staring at a blank wall in the evening does get on their nerves and eventually it gets through their thick skulls that all the fun things are a privilege not a right.
 
#22 ·
The other 25% can be replaced with a little effort.

If you are TRULY "self-reliant", you don't need any of that stuff.
And we are.
.
...I call BS.

You drive a car, you use gas, medication, etc.

Now as to wether I am stressed over this:

No. I do what I can... I have no debt, I AM invested in the stock market... but I put money in it and write it off... when I'm 59.5 if my ROTH is there... Great, I'm a millionare. If not... I'll be in a paid for home, with alternate income.

If TEOTWAWKI... I'll be carrying an AK.
 
#27 ·
I'm not stressed, but I pay close attention to what is going on. Sure, my 401K took a dump, but I've got 25 years before I would be needing it anyway. Thats alot of water to pass under the bridge to really care right now. My mortgage is almost to the point where I could pay it off if I lost my job. My preps are at a comfortable level, but I'm always adding more.
 
#29 ·
I am slightly stressed, but mostly because I am so far behind on preparations. This being said the rest of the stress is not financial, but more or less if the economy continues to collapse at this rate the hospitality industry will be one of the first to completely fold out of existence. I enjoy my job and I am good at it, but I also know as I have had to do in the past that if it hits the fan I will be going to the local poultry processing plant to have a decent earning job for as long as I can.

I believe even if you have the apocalyptic food supplies ready if you don't have the right mindset nothing will help you. I am ready in that regard. As the OP has stated in his post though many of my generation and the upcoming ones are going to be at a loss when and if the SHTF. No more world of warcraft, mp3 players and driving around town for no reason.

To me this is merely a correction that started with reganomics. If you watch the dow jones avg it stayed within reason until that mentality was adopted. So many people living so far outside their means and now the imaginary money is going bye bye.
 
#34 ·
I guess I would have to say I am somewhat stressed. Why? Because I am here as a newbie on this site. That is NOT a slam. It's an observation of myself. I've been following this financial crisis quite closely for over a month now and I'm thinking it's going to get a lot worse.
I pulled some cash out of the bank, bought 5 gallon pails, mylar bags, O2 absorbers, silica gel packs (food to be done soon). I'm working on buying some guns for hunting and protection.
Basically, I think that life as we knew it will be gone.

So....... Yup, I guess that does put me as stressed. The funny part is, I don't think I'll mind
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top