Living on the cheap or do it yourself

Comment #5

Ladee — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:02:03 GMT

so true, I remember handing swatches to my aunty for quilting, my grandaddy going hunting and bringing back all kinds of wild life to be dressed and prepared for freezing. To me, they were good times.....sometimes hard....but overall good...I learned alot during those times, the difference between wants and needs, learning to do for self while helping a neighbor when in need. If a neighboring farm was in trouble say someone was ill...my grand daddy and others would pitch in or my grandmother would take hot biscuits and a dish over. Today we are so dependant on anything that has a button to press. I tell ya...when hard times set in again many folk gonna wish they knew how to till a row, make a biscuit, and set a trap................and make a quilt...smile... [ More ]

Comment #4

ICNUMBERS — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:44:34 GMT

Slow down there the government doesn't wan't anymore competition. If we become more resourceful people then they would loose out on a lot of money and or just raise our taxes. I really like those Mormons you know the ones with more traditional beliefs.

Comment #3

JAP69 — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:54:35 GMT

As well as do things for yourself when you can.<br />Makes for less dependence on more money especially when more money is not available.

Comment #2

Tenaj — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:34:45 GMT

Lots of communities have community gardens as well.

Comment #1

konane — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:51:40 GMT

JAP, remember many of those things helping can and prep food from my dad's garden for the freezer. Have read many people are planting small gardens in their backyards, trading fresh grown things with neighbors. Maybe the more things change the more they'll go back to being the same as they were when people came together.

Original Blog Entry: Living on the cheap or do it yourself

JAP69 — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:57:50 GMT

This is from days back in my youth.

I can remember my mother sewing and making clothes. Take a light bulb to use when darnig holes in socks.

We were our own mechanic back then doing all types of auto repairs from replacing engines , rebuilding engines , engine parts replacements all that sort of stuff.

During the big2 agricultural feed stores use to ship out grains for livestock in cotton cloth bags that were imprinted with fancy designs to be used again for making clothing by the seamstress in the family.

I remember my dad replacing soles on shoes as he had this thing where you put the shoes on to work .

We lived on a farm with acreage and tillable land giving us food crops for fresh use and canning as well as poultry for eggs and meat. livestock for meat processing as well as fresh milk daily and the excess to be used to make all sorts of dairy products like fresh cream , butter . buttermilk , cottage cheese.

Had an orchard having apples , pears , cherries. All that to be used fresh , dried or whatever. Had drop apples that were used to make a 50 gallon barrel of cider to be drank fresh or let to ferment. LOL. You also could let the cider barrell freeze some and siphon out the alchol from the center. LOL

Had a fair amount of woodlot to be used for our lumber needs as well as putting up about 8 or 10 cord of wood for winter heating and wood stove cooking.

May sound primitive to some people but had food , shelter , clothing and the warmth of a home.

Did not need much money although my dad made a fair amount from farm products to purchase what we needed like autos , farm equiptment ,entertainment , and other necessities.

What does 99% of the population have today. The dependence on a weekly job for everything mentioned above.

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