Coverin the Bases: A Checklist for Preparation

In our feature, “Riding Out the Recession, with Dub and Deb in Miz Judi’s Kitchen,” our number one goal is the attempt at helping our friends and neighbors, do exactly as our title suggests…Riding Out the Recession.

---

Deb and I both love to laugh, and tell stories, as you’ve obviously already seen. We like to give out recipes, and tips. We’ve done some of that, and we will continue to do so. You have no idea the appreciation we have for our readers who’ve commented in regards to our column, and sent in recipes and tips of their own, thank you all so much!! Please keep them comin! Deb and I would like to start sharing with you all we’ve done, and do, in regards to us personally Ridin Out the Recession. In regards to our readers we know and understand everyone’s situation is a little different. In late 2007 and early 2008, it became obvious to Deb and I that our country’s economy was taking a turn. Business was slowing down, and our receivables were becoming harder and harder to collect. We had already began, using a fishin’ term, “reelin’ in our lines,” or downsizing and watching our cash flow much, much closer than we had in the past. The next thing we knew, the bottom had fallen out. Our business, from a work standpoint, had literally ceased to exist. We went two years, honestly, with no work! Since then, we’ve gotten back to the point where we are, “stayin’ afloat.” In today’s times though, I personally feel that’s good enough…just to weather the storm. With that being said, Deb and I began to look at our lives from a different perspective. Overnight we’d gone from having a good, solid business, to uncertainty in regards to our business, our priorities and our lives. Our lifestyle didn’t change dramatically as we’re both very frugal people. We live simply, but very happily. But our outlook on life as a whole did change, and we’d like to share with you some things we did in this regard. The first thing I realized, is if our business isn’t providing us with income, and it wasn’t, then very, very shortly we’d use up our savings and this in itself, presented a very large and eye-opening reality…we don’t work, we don’t eat. We decided to learn how to can, and preserve food. We went back to growing a garden to offset food prices. We bought a Farmer’s Almanac, and started reading up again on when to plant using the moon, what crops to plant, and what did well in our weather zone. Now remember that both of us were raised in an agricultural background, but through the years had gotten away from this style of living, and became accustomed to just runnin’ down to the store and purchasing all we needed. Well this changed when the “housing bubble” burst! We immediately went back to “our roots!” So starting now, we’ll begin sharing things we’ve done personally to insure that our family will have food, water, and literally the ability to survive through some tough times ahead, if that is the hand that’s dealt us in order to “Ride Out the Recession.” I hope some of this may be of some help to you as well!

A Checklist:

• Food & Storage of Food (how to’s)
• Water
• Gardening Knowledge (along with tools needed)
• Seeds (keeping these on hand for future use)
• Cast Iron Cookware and Dutch Ovens (having a few pieces on hand)
• Firewood (in case of no power… cook over the wood, we do a lot anyway)
• Fishing, or Hunting Gear (Deb and I both love fish, recession or not)
• Fuel (Keep a little on hand)
• Hand Tools (old style, not electric)
• Oil or Gas Powered Lanterns…even Candles (just good to have around, power outage?)
• Extra Medicines (keep rotated out through use)

These are some of the more important items we felt we needed to concentrate on. By having some of all of the above, we felt more comfortable in regards to our family and its needs. Another point as well…all are going up in price! Looking for a few investments for your money? I feel these all fall into the “hard to go wrong” category! Do I feel in anyway “Doomsday” is on the horizon? Not in the least, but I do worry, my opinion, about the effects of inflation, the continued prospect of job loss, or our government not heeding the danger of this totally insane wasteful spending we’ve witnessed, especially in the last couple of years! I have heard our President use the term of “spending our way out of debt!” I’ve made many payrolls before, not large by anyone’s standards, but I was still faced with the decision of where to cut back in order to make payroll several times. So in reality, you, I, anyone for that matter, has to cut back to reduce debt, not spend our way out of it! That is so ludicrous I can’t believe such a statement could be made! These types of things are what have made me uneasy in regards to the immediate future we as a nation are faced with. Not some type of “survivalist mode” or “Y2K scare,” it’s not theory that scares me… reality does, and I’m not comfortable at all in the direction we are being taken as a country! Without getting off into some deep political discussion, would you like to see jobs created here in our Country? Three things…government regulation, taxation, and unionization, cut these back, job growth begins. Starting Friday, we’ll be discussing some of these things in greater detail. We’d like to see this become literally an open forum, so to speak, where we can all share ideas and knowledge in these things. Your help is needed and is graciously requested, so please help us out, and put in “your two cents worth!” Thank you all for reading, and God Bless each and every one of you! Dub and Deb