A YEARS SAVINGS
The standard advice
floating around out there for the last several decades was to have at least six
months living expenses on hand in savings.
It is pretty good advice, although pert near impossible for most of
us. Like most well meaning advice it
only works if you ignore the reality on the ground, in the trenches. Like the advice to pay off a thirty year
mortgage in fifteen to save a butt ton on money. “By just making an extra payment twice a year”
or whatever the trick is. Of course,
this ignores the fact that houses are
close to unaffordable anymore, and modular and mobiles are not far behind, due
to money monopoly holders rigging the game and overpopulation and other
factors. The advice to get a collage
education ignores the fact that real wages are going down as education costs
rise ( unless you go risk your life and limbs in Afghanistan and than perhaps
college is affordable ) and that the “college premium” is shrinking fast as far
as lifetime earnings and that is assuming there are jobs out there in the first
place. Just like the assumption that
used to govern buying a motor vehicle.
It used to be an investment in keeping a job and getting a much cheaper
house way out in the boonies, but with even those house costs being
unaffordable and the price of vehicles way past reasonable, you are lucky if
one doesn’t just become another money pit/debt shackle. The problem with the advice on six months
savings is your costs go up as your income declines and every month you don’t
have in savings gets harder and harder to acquire as time goes on.
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I decided I needed a years
worth of savings. This town is still
booming, God alone knows how, and jobs at this point are not scarce, but I like
to be paranoid so I assume that not only is my boss now out to get me, and I’m
soon be encouraged to quit, I’ll also assume that will be at a point where no
replacement jobs will be available. A
years worth of savings seems reasonable.
And, I’ll assume I need more than ever to live on. I can eat on $100 a month, but I’ll call it
$200 ( if the ex-wife ever comes home-she won’t be the wife then but a roommate
because I’m a super swell deluxe guy that women love to crap on and I put her
name on the land deed to give her homelessness proof peace of mind- she has her
own Food Stamps to eat on ) due to food price inflation being possible. All in all, if you avoid beef, right now food
prices took the last five years or whatever to double, so I’ll assume they
double again in the next year worse case scenario. I’m using $10 a month in propane max, and
that is in extreme cold, which I’ll double again in paranoia. $10 a month for bike parts. Even though I’ll use the bike less by being
unemployed, I’ll keep it there as a means of doubling from fear. $230 so far.
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I smoke a pack and a half
a month of cigarettes. Even buying two
packs a week ( the extra goes to apocalypse stockpile ), I’m only at $35 a
month. Call it $40 for a case. Call the rest laundry, so $300 a month living
expenses. I spend that much now,
probably another $100-$200, but that is with the luxury of renting a car once a
month to ease the shopping burden, plus my grocery shopping includes a lot of
storage food. I can cut out both if
needed. No house, no car, almost no heat
due to an underground hovel. Frugal
living. A years worth of savings is easy
( I’ve almost doubled my savings since the cut in hours at work- almost at a
years savings ). I’ve banked a third,
buried a third and hidden a third in the trailer wall. Now I just have to worry about Bank Holidays,
or overnight hyperinflation ( still possible, given the precarious standing of
the PetroDollar ), or a fire. But I’ll
still retain a majority of savings. I’m
not bragging. I was a dumbass for
letting my temper get in the way at work.
Usually I’m more diplomatic. I’m
just pointing it out as a benefit of living frugal.
END
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Jim, sometimes you just have to 'splain to bosses when they're being idiotic; evidently they can't see it. What are you going to do for internet if the job goes away, use the library?
ReplyDeleteYes, the library has wi-fi, and the Chrome computer has a cheaper, like $20, replacement battery in case I need it ( my Windows computer at home needs an insane $100+ battery to replace the one that didn't last lone- I use it with the inverter ) as there are only two seats with a wall plug in. I just wouldn't get online every single day. Probably Mon/Wed/Friday. Or three days one week, two the next, then I get double the time between bike parts as I'm getting now.
DeleteIf you were unemployed and didn't have to make as many trips to town, would you still be okay with the amount of water you have on hand?
ReplyDeleteDo you have any substantial back ups with water?
Before we had a few cisterns buried and while we were living primitive in our cabin, we use to keep a 55 gallon drum topped off in the house. Rain or melted snow water was poured in the top and we had a spigot in the bottom and a bucket.
It gave us a little buffer.
Idaho Homesteader
Back years ago when I had the truck I hauled a junker fridge and freezer to the property. They are filled with gallon/2 liter jugs of water. There are also five gallon jugs of water in the Test Pit. I'm good for around two months worth of water. I think if I went into town three days a week I'd be fine. If I only went in one time, I'd need a trailer for water. I still want rain catchment, but I'll wait for finances to settle down.
DeleteJim, have you considered a cheap way to do catchment with just some tarps or plastic sloped of the sides of the trailer or even on a slope? If you have a good idea when the rain is coming you could just leave it up at prime times. For a cistern just think a hand dug pond that is covered. Layer your plastic so dirt doesn't get in.
DeleteBecause of the constant wind here, I'd like to do catchment right or not at all. I hate the idea of plastic sheets ( other than under dirt for underground hovels ) that degrade and must be replaced as they are not a long term solution. I can always do chicken wire and concrete on the ground as a cheap workaround, so I'm not too worried about the cost as much as doing it right.
DeleteIf you aint already told it, we want to hear the nitty gritty on the work place anger management incident.
ReplyDeleteNot the best idea, as this blog is open to all.
DeleteWise policy James. A good deal of people have lost their jobs from things that they have posted on facebook alone. Wait until you have moved on, then you can give us the juicy details :D
DeleteI just figure, "don't air dirty laundry".
DeleteWise advice with a realistic approach for most of us. A recent study showed that 3 out 5 American families don't have sufficient savings to cover an unexpected emergency event requiring $500-$1000 - http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-07/3-5-americans-dont-have-savings-cover-unexpected-bills
ReplyDeleteI think most peoples "savings" is an unused amount of debt on a credit card or three. I've lived like that myself, at the height of optimism.
DeleteThe liberal at work has informed me James, that Brazil is the first country to successfully replace petrol with sugarcane ethanol?
ReplyDeleteI briefly looked into it, and they have not replaced petrol, but were running a blend of petrol and ethanol in the vicinity of 20% to 25%. The lower limit was reduced to 18% in April 2011 due to recurring ethanol supply shortages and high prices that take place between harvest seasons.
The article went on to mention that this resulted in a greenhouse gas emission reduction of around 61%, but was vague as to exactly which blend was taken into account in this figure?
My co-worker seemed to think that this would be the solution to all of our problems, since "manmade" climate change is our most imminent threat. He was unable to answer the question though, to whether or not this ethanol is produced through purely organic means, or with the assistance of chemical (petroleum) fertilizers, nor was I able to confirm this myself?
Where will all of this arable land come from? In addition, according to the rules of those like my co-worker wish to abide by, how would one grow such a crop through organic means, in addition to also providing enough land for food crops?
Not seeing this as any sort of long term solution?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil
It (bio based fuels) IS a sustainable solution - if it is combined with massive reduction in miles driven and increases in fuel millage. Basically everyone in every city has to switch to public transportation or bikes, and every suburbanite will have to use mopeds 4 days a week pulling out a hybrid car only 1 day a week for essential purchases. The rest of the bio-fuels will go to commercial and public transportation and a MASSIVE uptick in agricultural machinery for making the bio fuels.
DeleteOddly enough this format would reflect the transportation format of a hundred years ago....
Globally, we have pretty much maxed out ALL possible ag land. Even short term useage as the Amazon will cause more issues than it solves. Not only that, farmland we have now, with its infrastructure, won't last too much longer ( oil imputs, climate change, but mostly aquafer drainage ). Every few weeks, there's another million friggin new people. Any cropland turned to bio-fuels in unrealistic long term because of population pressure.
Delete“I smoke a pack and a half a month of cigarettes. Even buying two packs a week ( the extra goes to apocalypse stockpile ), I’m only at $35 a month. Call it $40 for a case. “
ReplyDeleteNot to be a buzzkill James, but take caution. I know that you smoke very little, but you're approaching the age where ones chances of contracting lung cancer dramatically increases (51 to 71 are the peak years). My father died from lung cancer 18 years after he quit smoking, and it wasn't pretty. I hope to read your blog for a good many years to come.
Have you considered the E-cigarettes? I'm not going to say that that's a healthy alternative, but it would almost certainly have to be better than the conventional method of carbon monoxide inhalation?
If you would like, I could send you an E-cigarette donation package?
I hear ya, and I appreciate it. I want to write for another twenty years. Yet, I simply don't care as I percieve it to be much less of a risk than biking. I'll be an oozing road pancake more likely than hacking out a black lung. Plus, I was never a heavy smoker prior to going one a day. Not zero risk, but low enough.
DeleteCan you get "tribal" tobacco in your area? I don't smoke much either, but decided to downsize and bought an cig injector for $35. I can buy a 1 lb. bag of tobacco for $10 (Nectar brand) and a box of 250 tubes for $2. It lasts me for 2+ months and the cost per pack is about 70 cents.
ReplyDeleteYou can buy cheaper at another tribe, if you drive a hundred miles or so. The local tribe prices accordingly, only about 10% discount. No savings on roll-yr-own since Super Twat Obammy added a tax to it first month in office. Same cost as factory cigs, at least here.
Delete