consuming to invest 3

CONSUMING TO INVEST 3

PART ONE-TOOLS

[Part Two will be the skills section]

Cloth Diapers

I start here because, frankly, this is pretty idiot proof.  I’m sure that in the main, most of you are about my age which means getting a bit long on the tooth.  And I think we were close to one of the last generations to wear cloth diapers.  I’m sure it was no more of a chore for our mothers than birthing us, feeding us or losing sleep over us.  I’m not even sure how it became such an accepted necessity to switch over to disposables.  Which, by the way, is slowly giving way back again to cloth due to economics ( the late teens/just twenty gal at work we had with us for a few years was as cell phone text Tweeting rap music centric as all her age, and she quickly switched when it became necessary ).  Besides never getting started on formula ( the evil ex produced milk like a faithful Holstein and we expressed/froze for when she went to her work shift-but even then we had to supplement with formula after a time as our kids ate and grew like crazy.  I can’t imagine the cost today of formula feeding exclusively ), using cloth diapers is the best way to keep raising kids close to zero cost.  Which, most of you are going to have to do as the hospital bill, even if you have some sort of pathetic form of health insurance, will take all your extra money.  You know that home births with midwives going mainstream are just around the corner as hospitals price themselves out of the working class market ( and wet nurses will make a comeback- but that should signal Game Over for the economy as I can’t imagine formula sales will ever stop unless no jobs/money is available.  I think the concept is just too foreign ).

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Now, I understand cloth diapers are not cheap, per se.  $13 for a package of ten Gerber brand ( go with brand name as this and all these other tools are investments, not consumables.  Buy as quality as possible ) does add up by the time you have enough.  But, they will be needed and you won’t lose any money stockpiling them.  Any fool can turn a square of cloth into a diaper ( the pins will be harder to make so get a lot of those ), but there won’t be a domestic replacement of Chinese supply for some time.  When it does come around, I hope hemp will be the item used rather than cotton since a weed doesn’t compete with soil for food, but no matter.  The point is, infrastructure replacement takes time.  Few will be using other clothing as diapers since larger children and adults will be needing those until they can make replacements.  The preference, if not a ability to buy/barter, will be for purpose made diapers.  You will see a demand.  Then, even if you don’t, you can always use them yourself.

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I know you all have a hall closet stuffed with toilet paper.  Prepping 101 teachers you the first thing is to never run out of TP, nor find yourself in a rioting line needing to buy some.  But you can’t stockpile enough unless you devote a lot of money to outbuildings-money much more intelligently spent of food which is a lot more compact and necessary.  There won’t be any more Sears catalogs sent in the mail.  In fact, it amazes me that both Sears and the post office are still in business ( well, I guess the tens of trillions-don’t you dare believe the much smaller published numbers-of Quantitative Easing Forever had to go somewhere, so into corporate stocks and government agency funding ).  Eventually, you will need to wipe your ass with something.  Better a scrap of paper for the initial more solid matter wipe, then cloth for the residue.  I’d rather clean fecal smeared diapers then wipe my ass with my hand.  Or sand/dirt or poking vegetation.   It is, surely, the far lesser of evils.  And, I’m sure the ladies will have no problem cutting them down in size and using as sanitary napkins. Laundry soap is a lot easier to make than toilet paper ( and I’ve read that liquid soap is a lot easier to make than bar-something about homemade soap not always firming up properly as the chemical balances are far outside modern tolerances ).  You can also easily make vinegar, a future disinfectant and cleaner ( you can even use in questionable drinking water, but while I’ve read of the practice I have no measurements ), with wood ashes ( acetic acid ).  So there should be little issue with cleaning.  But considerable issues, at least right away, with replacement paper.

END

 

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