Journal zogger's Journal: Another 's JE from last summer on the new frugality 3
I had missed this piece from Roblimo from last August, and it's pretty good. I'd go further than his ideas though, but he's headed in the right direction, based on common sense frugality and setting priorities of life's necessities first over luxuries and to do it BEFORE you get "downsized", *well before*, _not_ after.
He did good, outlines his efforts to still live nice but not so expensively. I'll add some of mine, example: when we moved rural from metro (inside perimeter beltway in Atlanta), I called it "evacuation in advance", relocating to where the food, water and energy come from in the first place, rather than keeping to try and rely on iffy economic conditions to always be there and be favorable to me for purchasing all that stuff. We go directly to the primary source now, much cheaper and easier and can be done at zero expense to us in a pinch. Zero is a very nice cost for necessities. Right now it is medium minimal, but in a pinch..zero, and we could still make it for those necessities. Yes it costs labor, but I am not going to fire myself or offshore myself either...
More, take any surplus you can scrounge up now and stick it in what I call "tangibles insurance" investments, anything from a garden to a paid off small solar rig to a larger propane tank and buy in the dips in the market to keep it filled to hard round and shiny to many extra pairs of jeans and socks when they are on sale, canning supplies and can the deals you get at the grocery sore if no garden, a decent freezer and get your meats at bulk half off rates, etc, etc. too many to list, but all the stuff you *need* and will need for the vague future. Think of all the tangibles you might need in the future as your priority investment,(you are always going to want to eat, to have some sort of roof over your head, to have at least some electricity, etc) ahead of digital investments. Beat the rush, just about everyone is going to be doing similar *real soon now*.
Sounds all very sensible, but... (Score:1)
...that's what I had been doing, and what did it get me? I could've had a big-screen TV for a while and a Corvette to rip around in and a mansion to live in for a while, but I missed out, because I was foolishly responsible. "Foolishly" because I didn't realize that because enough people around me were doing it, I was going to be affected by their irresponsibility anyways, so I should've just joined them. Sure I have a better credit rating, but so what, I can't get a car loan while I'm having now been joble
fixation (Score:1)
Well, shoot man, don't be all that bitter. It's a big country out there, more places to live than expensive California. And being IT, maybe there is a cheaper but available coding or admining job you can get that is telecommutable, meaning you can live wherever you want, get cheaper rent or do a owner financing, and be able to afford a well used vette you can take your time on and tinker and rebuild. I don't think you realise how cheap other areas of the nation are really compared to cal.
We went through thi
Re: (Score:1)
Uh oh, was just doing some arm-chair, half-wit, crackpot prognosticating, and didn't mean to be such a downer! :)
All my immediate family live in town, so I can't really do the David Banner thing. (I.e. I'm single as well.) Besides, when everything falls to crap quality-of-daily-life-wise, all you really have is loved ones. And one's faith, if you're that sort of person. If I were alone in the world I wouldn't care and definitely would consider uprooting myself. California is the worst-run state of the union