[macmonkey]

My wife lost her job 3 months ago. She got hired as a teachers assistant (Praise God) but doesn't start until next month. She's doing some odd jobs but there aren't many to go around these days.

I make a pretty good living but we canceled all but one of our credit cards (to get out of debt) and right now got caught in that space where we just paid off a ton of debt but have no savings. We are living single paycheck to single paycheck and I refuse to open a new credit card and get back into the same position.

The only shining star in our situation has been our preps. We've been digging into our supplies for the past month and it looks like we will continue to do so for at least the next month until we get our second income back. We've got a few months worth but it's very nice to not have $100+ in food budget every week to worry about.

In addition it's been an extremely good exercise in eating what we store. I'm going through and learning where I'm really lacking.

In addition I've become very serious about my gardening because you get REALLY bored eating out of a can and box after a while. We've had a great yield of lettuce, peppers and carrots with a bunch more veggies right around the corner. We are eating home-grown salad every night but that's a good thing right?

One of our first priorities when the new job comes will be to completely replenish and expand our preps.

The point of my post is simply this: Food Storage & Preps aren't disaster insurance they are life insurance.

 

[WrathofWoman]

Times are tough, but you will do fine with such a great attitude. And you are so right about preps being life insurance, because you just never know when circumstance will throw a kink in well made plans.

 

[JefeMaestro]

Good work, colleague, for that are the preparations that we do, not only for the end of the world and those things. Once more, it is shown that the person prepared can resist better the onslaughts of the life. Finally, it has served as a test to your preparations and abilities and thus you will improve the lacks for the future.

Good luck and continues ahead.

 

[yappat]

Good experience. Better for it to happen when you know it's temporary and can take the lessons learned to fine tune your preps.

Glad she found another job!

 

[Marlin240]

Prepping does pay off,sounds like you have your stuff together. There are so many people who have their head in the sand,or some where else.You have a good plan just stick to it.:thumb: Too many people in this country have their hand out waiting for uncle sugar to take care of them.

 

[Crutch]

I have one credit card and it will probably be paid off today.

With me loosing my job, I too will be reorganizing my budget.

Just don't let any depression sink in. Keep praising God and trust that he will see you through.

 

[macmonkey]

Thanks all!

@yappat - yea I'm really glad too. The job actually came through our church and is something just shy of a tiny miracle for us.. She'll actually be getting paid more than she was at her last job (private school teachers assistant) and the gig is less than 3 miles from our house (she WAS driving 30 miles each way). Her old work concerned us both in the event of SHTF just due to the logistics of getting from point A to point B but that's a different discussion.

 

[macmonkey]

I have one credit card and it will probably be paid off today.

With me loosing my job, I too will be reorganizing my budget.

Just don't let any depression sink in. Keep praising God and trust that he will see you through.

Oh yea... I went through the depression stage.. then the pride stage.. and all sorts of other feelings but my wife is extremely faithful and an anchor for me spiritually.

Good luck with your job search and let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

 

[grandma]

I am also an Educational Assistant (what we used to call a Teacher's Assistant) working with special needs children at our local high school. Summer is alway difficult without my paycheque, but like you we use a lot of stored goods then. During the school season, I re-stock what we've used...after all, our preps are to see us through difficult times, whether they be long or short-term.

All the best...fall will come soon enough.

 

[12vman]

No such thing as temporarily poor

being poor is a mindset

broke is temporary

you are temporarily "broke"

I know very wealthy people that have been temporarily broke but they were never "poor" and never will be.

 

[macmonkey]

No such thing as temporarily poor

being poor is a mindset

broke is temporary

you are temporarily "broke"

I know very wealthy people that have been temporarily broke but they were never "poor" and never will be.

Yes "poor" choice of words on my part.. we are broke as a joke..

 

[MikeK]

Preps are definately for more than just natural disasters or SHTF situations. It's not uncommon for life to take a sudden turn on us. My preps sure saved my butt when the economy put me out of business back in 2009. Because of them, I was able to keep a roof over my head. Our stories are not uncommon either. Several threads have been started here in the past by people in the same predicament.

 

[Allamakee County]

... but my wife is extremely faithful and an anchor for me spiritually.

Wonderful. Thanks for honoring her this way.

 

[FarmerChad]

In addition I've become very serious about my gardening because you get REALLY bored eating out of a can and box after a while. We've had a great yield of lettuce, peppers and carrots with a bunch more veggies right around the corner. We are eating home-grown salad every night but that's a good thing right?

Good for you. So many people just don't get the importance of the home garden. Classic comebacks such as "I don't have time", "Ill just go to the store, thanks".

The great thing about gardening is the perpetual payoff of a lot of veggies. Keep pick'n, they keep produce'n.

 

[MaKettle]

We've been using our stores for a couple years now since prices went up and pay went down. It's literally saved us. The longer times were hard the more we've amped up our self-sufficient life style.

These 'minor' down times are preparing and teaching us for future major times. We are very blessed to have these real life lessons. You REALLY know you have a life long foundation in your family when it has stood the test of adversity and not only survived but became stronger in the doing.

Great to see you're managing well! :thumb:

 

[Moose33]

In addition it's been an extremely good exercise in eating what we store. I'm going through and learning where I'm really lacking.



Hi macmonkey,
I'd be very interested to hear about what or where you feel you were lacking. I'm sure you have learned things I'd love to hear about if you don't mind sharing the information. Maybe you had too much of this or not enough of that for a real life event.

Congratulations, it sounds like you and your family have come through a difficult time with flying colors. :thumb:

Thank you,
Moose

 

[macmonkey]

@Moose - I'm going to follow up to this post after we've made it out of the woods and explain that statement in detail but one big thing is simply variety in our storage. Anybody can store up dozens of 5-gal buckets worth of beans and rice. We have a lot more than that but that's really the 'staple' of our preps. I've just got a lot of thinking to do when it comes to complete meal planning.

 

[MtnBikeMike]

Thanks for sharing glad you benefited from thinking ahead! Sorry about the job!