So is the s*%t starting to hit the fan for you?

[moolie]

Moolie, that was a very good read. Very informative. And yes your right we Americans are a bit insulated as to what goes on with our neighbors to the north.

g

Tanks, I really hope that didn't come out the wrong way.

America heavily influences Canadian culture, although we do see ourselves as a separate culture for many reasons. Most Canadians who watch tv get all the American networks and many of your other cable channels, despite Can-con rules (our media agency the CRTC mandates that a certain number of programming hours per day be Canadian content).

I think many of us are often surprised that most Americans aren't or at least don't seem to be as aware of what goes on in Canada as we Canadians are aware of what goes on in the US. Same for the rest of the world, I have many European, British, and Australian friends and acquaintances through my work and most feel that the US media doesn't report on the same level of international news that the rest of our media does.

Again, not to insult in any way, just to explain from a different point of view. I believe that a thread like this would be quite an eye-opener to many of my international friends.

For example, I have British friends who lived through the IRA "troubles", the frequent bombings in London and other cities throughout the 70s and 80s, who don't understand American terrorism-phobia. As they did during the Blitz in WWII, my Brit friends just got up every day and went on with their lives as usual, despite visible IRA bomb damage in their daily landscape.

I also think these friends have no idea of the economic effect of the recession on average Americans. Most have felt very little change in their everyday lives as I have.

 

[Wifezilla]

most feel that the US media doesn't report on the same level of international news that the rest of our media does.

The state of American media is pretty pathetic. People, fortunately, are figuring out how to get their own sources since the big media outlets don't seem to actually want to do their job.

We are just learning now that there was an assassination attempt IN SEPTEMBER on one of our governors.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/01/left_wing_climate_of_hate_and.html

I have several international newspaper feeds on my start page. I really like Der Spiegel.

 

[TanksHill]

No problem. I often find myself watching the BBC news to get a different perspective on things.

g

 

[Wannabefree]

It's been kinda tough around here. Several houses either empty, for sale or for rent. Some have been sold and others have been put on the market. Alot of people underemployed, including us.

As for us personally, we've been on a slow yet steady decline. Last year our money situation just kept getting tighter & tighter, so I got a job (after 10 years as SAHM). About a month later DH's job cut his hours from 40 to 32. That's not much, but it sure has hurt us anyway and my job pays less than half what he makes and my hours fluctuate from 16 to 36 per week.
In November, DH had to have cataract surgery on one eye and will soon have to have surgery on the other one and we'll have to pay approx $3600 out of pocket for copays & deductables for both eyes.
Then of course in December when DH was SUPPOSED to get a third paycheck, his boss said they were closing for two weeks for the holidays. It was great when he went back to work after the first of the year, but then he didn't work today & won't tomorrow either. I can only hope he'll go back Wednesday.
At this rate, I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to keep our house. The last several months we've been really scraping by to keep up with our bills. At one point we had cancelled phone & internet & tried to cancel TV too but are under contract until April. We quickly realized we hadn't planned the transition to life 'unhooked' very well so for now we're 'up & running' again, atleast for now.
And we've been eating more out of our pantry/freezer than before & haven't been replacing it. I still do grocery shopping, but only buying more of what we need now-NOT stocking up. I realized I didn't have as much stocked up as I thought.

DH & I were talking tonight about the hard realities of his job & the possibility the company may shut down. Something he hasn't wanted to admit in the past but is now realizing the eventual possibility, even though his boss says they aren't but will admit to struggling financially. If they do close, we are surely SOL. Although I'm not sure what is worse, to be 'all of a sudden' SHTF or this slow agonizing drain.

The slow agonizing drain is much worse. So I am prepping now to put myself into a StuffHTF mode within 6 months. I have a little work right now, but will be over soon. Then it's whatever we can scrape again. It gets old don't it :/ I'm thinking we may sell the house and buy a cheap raggedy trailer and move it into a cave We are just OK right now, but I know what's coming again. I'm folding up before I lose everything. Only thing I am buying right now is things that will either feed me, or save me money by making me more SS. I have bought a grain mill, milk goats, and garden seed in the last month. A wood stove last month and am hoping the work will hold out long enough to get a few more small items. Then it's back to bare bones, so I know how you feel and hate that you are going through this too

 

[rebecca100]

We are lucky. Until dh got his CDL we lived day to day with both of us working and not making it. I was a CNA (and still am) and he ran a wholesale store and between the two of us we barely made the money to eat. MIL kept the kids while we worked and luckily she also fed them. I had to give in and get food stamps. At one point our refridgerator quit and we went nearly a month without one. At another time we couldn't pay our electric bill and had already used our one allowed extension and had our electricity turned off. We ran off a car battery and a power inverter until we got paid again. Most of my married life it has been choosing which bill to pay and which one to risk. We quite literally did NOTHING bad to waste our money. We didn't smoke, drink, have cell phones(at that time) or anything else. We were buying our house, pickup, and all that good stuff. Now we have two properties and a nice vehicle and dh is making enough that I'm a SAHM. We've been through the worst and I know if it ever happens again we will continue to make it and be a loving closer family. AND WE WILL BE PREPARED!!!!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have been talking about this stuff for a while and I honestly have been waiting to see what happens.
I am living on a lot less because of painful feet re: nursing, so I am in a job that pays less than half. But still, it looks like a dollar used to last me a lot longer.
A lot of empty house and vacant lots around and not much building that I can see.
I have been trying to do things the old way, just in case. I dried a bunch of onions the past 2 days and I canned some chicken broth a few days before, just to not take up room in my freezer and honestly think I will do a lot of canning in the future. Grandmother spoke often of Hurricane Betsy and everyone giving away food, so it would spoil. She claimed she hardly lost anything because she had so much up in cans and when the electricity missed, she started pulling everything out and went from freezer to mason jar.
I think I would fare better than most in my area if we had to rough it a while, but, one thing I am not prepared for is a water source. If I had a massive water purifier I can find water, but I always planned on getting a cistern and never did.

 

[Wannabefree]

Heres a pic of our area. about every 5th house has a sign stuck in the yard. Nobody can find rentals anywhere. Vehicles are being repoed left and right. Families that used to have a bit of money and would be considered upper middle class are now on food stamps and unemployment. I have seen a WHOLE LOT more chickens lately roaming the roadsides....horses are for sale everywhere, boats and 4 wheelers for sale everywhere...lots of yard sales EVERYWHERE...I think we're on the brink of collapse around here. Good thing is, most folks around here I am kin to some way or other, and we have options that way. I feel for those in the cities away from family that look out their windows and see the same I do....except I bet they feel a lot more trapped than I do.....

 

[Dunkopf]

We have also maintained passports for similar reasons for me.... but the question now is..... where to run to? where to hide?
Would one be any safer in Canada or Mexico? Africa? England? Netherlands? without property, without money?
Tell me? just where?

I love Mexico.
If the SHTF here to the extent we are considering it will happen most everywhere

Batton the latches!

One thing, since 1999, my husband has said "DO NOT GO SOUTH!"

The Northwest Territorries of Canada, Alaska nice cool places where people are less violent, more room to roam.

Will we leave here? Who knows? But, without a passport, you can't go anywhere. This will be a worldwide "learning experience." So we will not escape it no matter where on the earth we go. We need to be doing what is right to do, because it is right to do, regardless of where we are. Maximize our ability to be blessed and minimize our need for correction.

You cannot get to Alaska by car or ferry now, without a passport.

We live in a small town. It seems like every other time I go to the PO someone is tying up the only clerk with passport applications. I always wondered how so many people could be affording to go overseas. I bet this is part of the answer.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

haven't read through all the pages yet...
here its bad... used to be half the town lived off SSI and drank most of it. now about 3/4 or more is living off SSI and more are drinking most of it. people in my area live off the system... its rediculous. i'm in the poorest county in the state...

the you-know-what's been coming for a while... its the second great depression... only instead of the govt not doing anything they are overdoing it! your company is sinking... well you musta done something to put that huge hole in the hull!!! its like a room of kindergarten kids, one gets hurt and you put put a bandaid on it the kid forgets about it and goes back to playing. OR you give the kid a giant cookie and a plasma tv with cartoons on... now the other kids see and they all get hurt becuase they want giant cookies and plasma tv's with cartoons!

i've been telling people to start preparing and no one listened... well they ain't getting nothin from me now!

 

[ORChick]

In defense of people who buy new cars ---- neither DH nor I are knowledgeable about cars at all; buying a used car would be a crap shoot for us. We bought a car last May .. a new car ... to replace our old car, which was 13 years old with 200,000+ miles on it. We could have kept it longer, but couldn't be sure, in winter weather, that we could get to, or away from, the place we wanted. We buy new, and we take care of what we have, and we drive it for as long as we feel safe doing so ... and we have done this for 30 years. Perhaps we are foolish to buy new, but perhaps the peace of mind beats that Not all new car buyers trade in their cars after 2-3 years. Those of you who fancy a deal on a used car won't get it from us ... it is unlikely that our used cars will go on to live a long and happy life somewhere else