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Back to the Basics Part 4 in a Series of 8
Analysis of
Today's Financial Outlook In order to survive in today's world we need to get back to the basics. We have made the following 'cutbacks' at home. Much like big businesses are doing and have done, we have cut the fat. Gotten rid of the luxuries as best we while still living what we consider a good life.. Stop buying. When you must buy things try to buy from small not chain store merchants. Walmart and Target do NOT need your money, YOU DO or WILL and so will others in your community. Support your local economy not the global one. Quit worrying about your credit rating, keeping up with the Jones' next door and stay at home and worry about the important things in life like raising your children and teaching them not to go where we have already been and helping them to become human beings they can be proud of. Your credit rating (while important) is not as important as getting out of debt. You can rebuild a credit rating. You can not however survive the cash crunch if you have excessive debt. A few things we have done to make 1) We do not eat out. We cook. It's actually cheaper to cook people if you know what you're doing and are willing to do the work. You DO NOT have to cook every night either. PLAN PLAN PLAN. There are so many benefits to this one! What a way to cut back? More time with family, Less stress. Healthier food. Our family cooks together. We all work, we all have responsibilities and we all share in the meal preparation. This helps if you enjoy your children. If you don't have that luxury, then you can use this time to get to know them. 2) We go to bed earlier. Get up earlier. This one is PURE COMMON SENSE. If you are up all night, you burn lights, heat and waste electricity. Go to bed when it gets dark or shortly there after. Get up with the sun, and open windows and blinds. Make the use of the natural light, and the heat and warmth of the sunlight. You do not have to have a solar powered system to take advantage of the sun's rays. During the summer we work around the heat of the day and keep our drapes shut tightly on the sunny side of the house to insulate us from the unbearable southern heat. More on saving electricity can be found here. 3) Quit buying name brand items. and drop that bull crap about only 'eating' a certain brand of something or only wearing a certain brand of shoes. It's ok to do that on one or two things but a dozen??????? Come on. We eat to sustain ourselves. Your diet is about nutrition not about 'pleasure and taste'. It's good to enjoy a meal but cutting back on the 'grocery bill' usually involves cutting back on the 'goodies' like white sugar, soda pop, expensive cuts of meat and convenience foods. (Which is where all the calories and harmful things are in your diet to begin with. You just might find if you do this you are more active in the kitchen and lose some of that waistline you're complaining about too.) We cloth ourselves for warmth and modesty. We put shoes on to protect our feet. These are not status symbols. Think practical here! There are a WHOLE bunch of things that one can do to cut the cost of what you spend. Click here for a list. 4) If you can't grow a real garden or lack the space, plant some of your food in pots and set those pots in the window sills or in the sunlight in your house or apartment. Use balcony space, the fire escape, porch or stoop. Plant vegetables right among your flower beds. Many vegetables have beautiful foliage and produce amazing blooms. 5) Learn to do without. You don't NEED that new television, or that NEW kitchen gadget, or that NEW fishing rod. The old ones are working just fine. You don't NEED a television in every room, the same can be said for your children. They don't need a new pair of shoes unless the old ones are falling apart. You don't need new clothes if you have something to wear. For a list of general shopping no-no's click here. It's our guide to shopping for maximum value. You can click here for our list of things NOT TO BUY if you're trying to save money. 6) Learn to find alternatives to what you do now that cost no money. Dinner and a movie out for 4 people costs approximately $150 in our area. Tickets to the movie. $7.50
each or $30 for a family of 4. IF you substitute McDonalds or fast food for the 'dinner' then you save $50. Cheapest our family of 4 can get away from McDonalds is $20 using the $1 menu. Yes, even we do McDonalds in emergencies. Watch an old movie on television and grab a pot and a handful of REAL popcorn that you actually have to POP yourself..... not the microwave junk that will clog your lungs with that fake butter crap. Total cost? 25 cents........ ok 50 cents if you add in the cost of the electricity to power the television and VCR or DVD player. 7) Downsize your current gasoline and associated repair and fuel costs. This one is common sense too. SUV's are the current craze. and heavy duty trucks for people who DO NOT NEED THEM... those things get notoriously bad gas mileage and cost a fortune to repair - not to mention the cost of new tires. UNLOAD THEM! Trade in a newer one on a compact car that gets better gas mileage and probably has a better warranty. OR sell them outright for cash to someone who needs them or doesn't possess your wisdom and pay cash for something smaller and more efficient. You don't need a dvd player in a SUV and you don't need a killer sound system to impress your friends. YOU DO need reliable and dependable transportation back and forth to jobs, school and to the market. Leather seats are not a requirement either. Do NOT invest in new 'technology cars' or alternative fueled vehicles at this point. There is not enough research or development of them yet and chances are their won't be in the current adult life. Perhaps in our children's lives? Right now too many big business men get their money from gasoline and oil to power the ones currently on the road... Until biodiesel or some other renewable energy resource becomes more readily available as a source of fuel, a gasoline powered vehicle is the only sure method of transportation. and NO Horses and buggies are not allowed in many cities or towns anymore so that is no longer a logical alternative. and YES i know this was a far more efficient and environmentally friendly means of transportation but it's too late to worry about that now. We have millions of tin cans running around on the roads to worry about. Shame we can recycle them all and turn all that excess metal into something more useful. By the way, the less you drive your vehicle the more you save on not only gas but maintenance costs. The lower your risk of being involved in an accident and the less likely you will be to having your insurance rates increased due to an accident or ticket. 8) If you live where public transportation is available USE IT. It is already in place. You can help cut green house gas emissions, save fuel, and help reduce your personal costs of owning a vehicle. In many cities this includes not having to pay for parking, or to rent a parking space. 9) Quit running around! Stop carting your children off to every social activity you can find. Quit running to the store because you forgot something you should have gotten while you were there. Stop looking for excuses to leave home ! Read a book, watch a movie, play a card or board game, work on something you enjoy. Draw, paint, CLEAN HOUSE, create something, spend time with your children. By the way, only ONE of these suggestions requires any money at all. (Electricity to watch the movie). You can work in the garden. Work on your potted plants that you should have vegetables in not flowers or put together freezer meals so you won't have to cook later! Getting back to the very basics of living means retiring from the modern world in many way and giving up the false notions and the learning to live life on a much simpler plane.
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