Haven't thought about this happening

[Better Half]

Unemployment is at an all time high.
I know I am going to start buying all the fruit & nut bearing trees I can.
I will be buying an extra can or two of salmon, tuna & pork & beans when I have the extra cash. We live paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people.

It's always a good idea to have extras on hand. You never know when a disaster will strike and planting trees are a great idea.

Unemployment is higher than its been recently but is not near all time highs or even as high as it is in most of the world. These past 10 years unemployment has been at all time low so now 6.1% seems high. Back in the early 80s unemployment was over 10%. We lived through it alright. Expensive food and higher unemployment isn't ideal but it isn't the end of the world either.

I haven't heard of any hoarding regulations. Stores limit the number of loss leaders they sell and of items they don't want to sell out before the next shipment. Costco was limiting rice sales to three 50lb bags a day. Don't know if they still are. I'm still using the 50lb bag I bought over 5 years ago. I wouldn't start to worry about shortages until the fast food places stop asking you to Super Size it. Shortages don't occur overnight.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I have 10 tins, #30, of red turkey wheat in my cellar! A good friend from our church had purchased them sometime, I think he intended for his wife to get self-sufficient and she had other plans. They had been sealed for Y2K and were supposed to be good for 50 years in this manner!! They also gave me a wheat grinder, as they know I make all our bread. That, and my canned goods, is about the only stockpile I have on hand.

When I get my honeybees, I intend to stock up on that, as it seems to never go bad. It has so many good purposes that I feel like it would be like money in the bank.

If I were going to stockpile anything, I guess it would be ammunition and a few good guns. Good hand tools. Canning supplies. Seeds. Gas. Hay and grains. Books!

Was the grinder electric or hand crank? Mine is hand crank & I would love to get an electric one. But free is a great price no matter which it is. I look at the exercise I get when I grind our wheat. I make all our bread too, much more nutricous(sp?) than store bought & cheaper too.
I want to get bees too but dh is not so sure it is a good idea. So I was thinking so we would not have to do all the work I can contact a bee keeper & see if they would be willing to put some bees here & we would get honey in exchange. I have really been getting away from sugar & using honey & agave as sweetners in my cooking.
I have a lot of seeds in my freezer too, so I won't need to worry about that if a major economic disaster hit us. Never thought about stoking up on ammo, should let dh in on that one.

 

[FarmerChick]

only problem with unemployment is the true number....yea while people are collecting money they show on statics, but after the unemployment money runs out, and people still aren't working, they fall from the percentage.......so???? I think it is getting worse out there and will not improve anytime soon. Long hard times are still going to happen.

 

[Beekissed]

H-Mom...it was an electric grinder but I would love to have a hand grinder, just in case the electric is not available. It is a great grinder, though! Love, love, love this wheat! It has so much gluten in it, it practically makes itself....

 

[Better Half]

The unemployment rate is the percentage of people who aren't working and looking for work. The people on unemployment is reported as jobless claims.

I agree that things are going to get worse. We have been living in lala land for so long, we have quite a way to fall. The unemployment rate will have to double to be what it was when my parents were the age I am now. People have lived through tough times before. I do what I can to prepare but don't stress over whatever may come.

 

[VT-Chicklit]

I remember the "Jimmy Carter Years", when unemployment was in the double digits, the value of the dollar was way less than Canadian money, 13 week unemployment extensions were guarenteed, and there were gas lines or odd even gas rationing. We made it through those years, but it was tough at times. We will get through these times as well. Anyone who is younger than 30 will not remember those times and many under 40 probably won't either.

It is times like the ones we are about to face that test our toughness and resolve. It should also remind us that the government is not the solution to our problems. Sometimes their interference creates our problems. Other times their lack of enforcement of our laws causes us harm as well. We can't depend on them for our well being because, at best their judgment sucks! At worst, they are in it to fill their own pockets and if the general population bennefits that is just a fluke!

 

[Homesteadmom]

I would love an electric grinder. When we have the money we are getting one(I should say I am getting one). Kids like to help me grind, but I have to look at the psitive it is exercise & my arms are getting into shape. LOL

 

[Zenbirder]

I would love an electric grinder. When we have the money we are getting one(I should say I am getting one). Kids like to help me grind, but I have to look at the psitive it is exercise & my arms are getting into shape. LOL

Homesteadmom, while you are dreaming of Big Girl Toys, when I got my electric grinder it came with a free hand crank adapter just in case. But the best thing I bought at the same time was a oat mill that fits the same motor. What a hugely wonderful piece of equipment. With it you can buy oats and make real fresh oatmeal, and granola. It is also great for hulled barley. Flaked barley porrage in the morning is out-of-this-world-good! Everyone I have served it to prefers it over oatmeal, and it cooks just as fast. Plus you get the benefit of adding another nutritious grain to your family's diet.

 

[Homesteadmom]

Zenbirder, my hand crank mill will do oats too. I have bought a 5lb bag of them to try out & see how it is. We love oatmeal in the winter. I plan on getting one that I can make cream of wheat with & grind all the grains as I have corn to grind too. May not be till next spring though that I can afford it.