Maximizing Your Personal Resources / Surviving the Future

[Rogue 9]

As Broomstick said, baked bread freezes just fine. I've made large batches before for friends and not needed as much as I thought, and the breads were good two months later after freezing. (Since I don't use any sort of preservatives, my fresh breads will mold in a few days if left out.)

I know yeast can survive freezing, since there are commercial frozen doughs that work, but I've never tried freezing homemade dough.

[The Spartan]

As Broomstick said, baked bread freezes just fine. I've made large batches before for friends and not needed as much as I thought, and the breads were good two months later after freezing. (Since I don't use any sort of preservatives, my fresh breads will mold in a few days if left out.)

I know yeast can survive freezing, since there are commercial frozen doughs that work, but I've never tried freezing homemade dough.

How much is a few days? I ask because I get the fresh sourdough bread at the grocery store and it typically lasts about 2 weeks or a little less if I keep it tightly stored in a plastic bag as opposed to something like Mrs Baird's that will stay unmoldy, if not fresh, for 3 or 4 last I remember.

[Rogue 9]

Anywhere from five days to a week, typically, depending on what I put in it. I've noticed that the Italian spice blend variety tends to mold faster for whatever reason.

[Broomstick]

If I recall, sourdough is slightly acidic, which may allow it to remain fresh longer (I do not consider myself an authority on sourdough), The ingredients in bread certainly can affect spoilage rates.

[Coyote]

When possible, pay cash, and avoid credit!

It is amazing to think that, with $5,000.00 in total credit card bills, I'm considered extremely lucky by many peers at work and among my friends. To me, $5,000.00 in credit card bills is intolerably high, and way out of the norm. It is going down, though, by strict discipline on spending and going without fancy, fun, but unneeded toys.

Drive carefully and avoid situations where you may get tickets. It sounds common-sense, but remeber a speeding ticket is more than just a one-time payout to the county. It means your insurance rates go up, which means your leftover income goes down, and even your credit score (which determines the interest level you pay on other things). One ticket has a cascade effect that resonates a long time.

As summer winds down, I look back at the advice I gave about using kitchen greywater for outside plants. Guess what? My water bill for the summer was only a little bit higher than was my water bill for the winter. And the first few tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers were grown, hopefully the beginning of a long symbiotic relationship.

There are now products coming into the market that fit under bathroom sinks that trap greywater from your bathroom sink and pumps it into the toilet tank for use in flushing. Why waste clean water for flushing poop? Use that stuff that ordinarily goes down the drain after shaving or tooth-brushing to do double-duty-- that can easily save up several liters of water a day.

Eating has been expounded upon in this thread, but the benefits of good diet and exercise cannot be harped on enough. Good diet and exercise means overall better health, which means that future medical complications may not arise at all (ie, diabetes wrought from obesity) or, if they do arise, will be lessened. Given the costs associated with medicine, insurance, treatments and prescription drugs, that's a lot of future savings when you can look ahead to those days of limited retirement income.

[Broomstick]

Let's discuss little luxuries.

Rewards are necessary to mental health. When you're in a stressful or survival-oriented situation what I call "little luxuries" become important.

Now, don't be misled by the use of the term "luxury". We're not talking mink coats and private jets. We are talking about being good to yourself, even writing it into your budget. The point is that while you're maintaining strict discipline in your life you grant yourself something slightly better than usual on a regular basis.

Food is one area where this is a common indulgence. Maybe it's a matter of buying your favorite brand of coffee instead of the cheapest, or eating out once a month. Maybe it's setting aside an hour a day to play video games instead of fretting about your finances. Maybe it's sleeping in late one day a week. The little luxury doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to be a treat of sorts. This is really just as essential to your well being as maintaining your finances or eating properly. Don't neglect your mental health in the midst of dealing with everything else.

[Enigma]

Just my little tip I learned after being contracted out to do deliveries for auto part suppliers. If you have to get your car repaired, get an estimate on what needs fixing and then go buy the parts yourself from the suppliers as quite a few of them also have store fronts. Why? Because when your mechanic calls the supplier and gets a quote it will be up to one third of the price the mechanic will tell you. In fact, when the mechanic gets the needed parts on the invoice itself will show you the price to the customer and the actual price to the mechanic. A $250 alternator charged to you while the mechanic would be charged only about $85. The mechanic pockets $165 plus the labour. If you can, avoid ordering through the mechanic and get the parts yourself, you'll be saving yourself up to 67% on the cost of parts. Even better, if you have a friend that is mechanic or at least good with cars then you should be able to save even more.

Mind you this might not work if your car is in no shape to move from the repair shop as the mechanic might not take it too good if you get the parts yourself and deprive him of his bread and butter.

[SCRawl]

Just my little tip I learned after being contracted out to do deliveries for auto part suppliers. If you have to get your car repaired, get an estimate on what needs fixing and then go buy the parts yourself from the suppliers as quite a few of them also have store fronts. Why? Because when your mechanic calls the supplier and gets a quote it will be up to one third of the price the mechanic will tell you. In fact, when the mechanic gets the needed parts on the invoice itself will show you the price to the customer and the actual price to the mechanic. A $250 alternator charged to you while the mechanic would be charged only about $85. The mechanic pockets $165 plus the labour. If you can, avoid ordering through the mechanic and get the parts yourself, you'll be saving yourself up to 67% on the cost of parts. Even better, if you have a friend that is mechanic or at least good with cars then you should be able to save even more.

Mind you this might not work if your car is in no shape to move from the repair shop as the mechanic might not take it too good if you get the parts yourself and deprive him of his bread and butter.

You pointed out the flaw in your plan at the end. You might find a mechanic who will use your parts to repair your car, but odds are good that you won't. As you say, they make some of their money on the markup of the parts, and if you try to cut him out of that he'll either goose the labour charge or tell you to fuck off. Repair shops will also be likely to get a better discount on the parts from the supplier in the first place (or know of a place to get a better deal).

[Enigma]

Just my little tip I learned after being contracted out to do deliveries for auto part suppliers. If you have to get your car repaired, get an estimate on what needs fixing and then go buy the parts yourself from the suppliers as quite a few of them also have store fronts. Why? Because when your mechanic calls the supplier and gets a quote it will be up to one third of the price the mechanic will tell you. In fact, when the mechanic gets the needed parts on the invoice itself will show you the price to the customer and the actual price to the mechanic. A $250 alternator charged to you while the mechanic would be charged only about $85. The mechanic pockets $165 plus the labour. If you can, avoid ordering through the mechanic and get the parts yourself, you'll be saving yourself up to 67% on the cost of parts. Even better, if you have a friend that is mechanic or at least good with cars then you should be able to save even more.

Mind you this might not work if your car is in no shape to move from the repair shop as the mechanic might not take it too good if you get the parts yourself and deprive him of his bread and butter.

You pointed out the flaw in your plan at the end. You might find a mechanic who will use your parts to repair your car, but odds are good that you won't. As you say, they make some of their money on the markup of the parts, and if you try to cut him out of that he'll either goose the labour charge or tell you to fuck off. Repair shops will also be likely to get a better discount on the parts from the supplier in the first place (or know of a place to get a better deal).

The repair shops do not get a special deal because the parts they get is one third the price the shops charge you. I've seen the invoices since I've made deliveries for them. I also suggest getting a friend (obviously pay him\her for his\her services) and give him the parts. Besides this would apply to those whose cars are not non-functioning.

[SCRawl]

The repair shops do not get a special deal because the parts they get is one third the price the shops charge you. I've seen the invoices since I've made deliveries for them. I also suggest getting a friend (obviously pay him\her for his\her services) and give him the parts. Besides this would apply to those whose cars are not non-functioning.

In my experience, auto parts are usually sold on a "List minus" basis, i.e. there is a "list price", and everyone who purchases from them pays that price less a certain percentage. That percentage is based on a few things, but primarily on what kind of customer you are. If you spend $50k per year from a distributor, you'll often get a better discount than the guy who walks in off the street. There's no way that the mechanic's (possibly) greater discount compared with yours will make up for that huge markup he'll charge you, of course, and I never implied that it would.

Naturally, as you say, the optimal situation is to have a friend who can fix your car, if you give him the parts he'll need and pay him for his time. Your grease monkey friend probably doesn't have to maintain a shop or pay employees, and doesn't need the profit that comes from parts markup.

[Broomstick]

I think if you wanted to take this route to car repair you should first ask the mechanic if he'd be willing to install parts you supply, or give you a discount for supplying the parts. It's quite alright to say you're hard up for cash, many people are sympathetic in hard times, but if a mechanic gives you a quote thinking he'll be supplying the parts and you turn around and say "use these" he/she might be taken aback. There also might be liability concerns - if a mechanic buys new parts there's some assurance of quality. If you simply show up with parts, well, they may or may not be in serviceable condition. This is a situation where negotiation would be beneficial.

[The Spartan]

A comment and question regarding canned food.

First, remember that most (damn near all) canned food is very high in sodium as salt is one of the ways that the food is preserved.

Now, my question. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around storing up canned food and then rotating it out as the expiration date approaches since most of the canned food I say does have one. Any ideas? I suspect there's something stupidly simple that's just passing me by, but I just can not get my head around it. Especially with all the stories of canned food being good years after the date stamped on it passed.

New question just popped up: how long does sealed, freeze dried food last?

[Broomstick]

Now, my question. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around storing up canned food and then rotating it out as the expiration date approaches since most of the canned food I say does have one. Any ideas?

I take a permanent marker and write in large print on one end the month and year you bought the can. I store them on shelves so when I buy more I put those cans in the back with the oldest ones in front. This makes it easier to use oldest first.

New question just popped up: how long does sealed, freeze dried food last?

That should be stamped/printed on the packaging somewhere.

[The Spartan]

Now, my question. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around storing up canned food and then rotating it out as the expiration date approaches since most of the canned food I say does have one. Any ideas?

I take a permanent marker and write in large print on one end the month and year you bought the can. I store them on shelves so when I buy more I put those cans in the back with the oldest ones in front. This makes it easier to use oldest first.

It's not so much the date that's bothering me. What's screwing with my head is more like, "Well this is my back-up food and I should wait until I need to use it but oh wait I need to use it up and replace it all at the same time." For some reason that's tripping my thought process up.

New question just popped up: how long does sealed, freeze dried food last?

That should be stamped/printed on the packaging somewhere.

Ah, gotcha. I was thinking it might last long enough to be considered indefinite if stored properly.

I think I had a bug get into my brain that canned (and freeze dried) food lasts until you eat it. I don't know how that happened and I know it's not strictly true but that bug is not helping.

[cosmicalstorm]

I was a bit inspired by this thread, took me forever to sort/place all of them. (different pic, different stack of cans)

[J]

The Crash Course by Chris Martenson. It's an excellent primer on the economy, energy, how our modern finance & banking system works, how we ended up with our current financial crisis, what may happen in the future, and how to prepare for it. This is by far the best summary of how things are and how we need to plan & act that I've found, anywhere. I consider it as essential viewing for all.

[Akkleptos]

Just my little tip I learned after being contracted out to do deliveries for auto part suppliers. If you have to get your car repaired, get an estimate on what needs fixing and then go buy the parts yourself from the suppliers as quite a few of them also have store fronts. Why? Because when your mechanic calls the supplier and gets a quote it will be up to one third of the price the mechanic will tell you.

I see. That might be quite helpful. Nevertheless, from personal experience, I think anyone'd better just stick to new cars rather than holding on to (or worse yet, buying) older ones that need frequent (or any fixing at all). I know, we can all get attached to our rubber-legged partners, but it's better to pay for a new car (look for frozen-rate credits, put your old vehicle up as downpayment) than to hope not to get ripped off or scalped at the mechanics shop, or having to wait for that little but vital part to be brought all the way from Germany.

Oh, and as per the OP, I'm suggesting to buy new smaller, more petrol-efficient vehicles. If more people in, say, the US alone, had bought compact vehicles instead of huge SUVs in the last 2 years, we'd had a bit more leeway on the GW thingy, for example.

[Starglider]

Nevertheless, from personal experience, I think anyone'd better just stick to new cars rather than holding on to (or worse yet, buying) older ones that need frequent (or any fixing at all).

Most likely because you know nothing about cars, in which case fair enough. If you know what you're doing however, you can do a surprising amount of maintenance and repairs yourself (particularly now that you can get even quite specialised tools cheaply on ebay) and you can make sure the garage know exactly what they should be doing and do it for a reasonable price. Of course there's no magic way to acquire that knowledge, it takes years of learning. That said, even if you don't understand cars you can buy five reasonable second hand cars for the price of one new car, so frankly you could be unlucky and have two duds in a row and still save money.

[Broomstick]

I see. That might be quite helpful. Nevertheless, from personal experience, I think anyone'd better just stick to new cars rather than holding on to (or worse yet, buying) older ones that need frequent (or any fixing at all). I know, we can all get attached to our rubber-legged partners, but it's better to pay for a new car (look for frozen-rate credits, put your old vehicle up as downpayment) than to hope not to get ripped off or scalped at the mechanics shop, or having to wait for that little but vital part to be brought all the way from Germany.

Well, where you're located and your own situation definitely has an effect, but I've done very well by buying cars new, maintaining them, and hanging onto them for 15 years or so. I'm quite willing to fix them, as long as it's not too often. Paying a car off in 5 years, then not having a car payment for 10, has worked quite well for me, even accounting for maintenance and repairs. Given that insurance and registration costs are lower on older cars around here hanging on to a car can make sense.

I don't know about parts from Germany - I've always bought either American cars or Japanese ones, all of which have had parts easily and readily available where I live.

[Akkleptos]

Nevertheless, from personal experience, I think anyone'd better just stick to new cars rather than holding on to (or worse yet, buying) older ones that need frequent (or any fixing at all).

Most likely because you know nothing about cars, in which case fair enough. If you know what you're doing however, you can do a surprising amount of maintenance and repairs yourself (particularly now that you can get even quite specialised tools cheaply on ebay) and you can make sure the garage know exactly what they should be doing and do it for a reasonable price. Of course there's no magic way to acquire that knowledge, it takes years of learning. That said, even if you don't understand cars you can buy five reasonable second hand cars for the price of one new car, so frankly you could be unlucky and have two duds in a row and still save money.

True. I know very little about cars, at least the cars we get nowadays. I used to be able to shortcircuit-start the starting engine in my old '79 Dart, and some other pretty basic stuff. But with the new engines, well, it takes me a while to figure out what I'm looking at. I've been told that with some recent model cars they offer road assistance and other niceties because few of the parts are even "user-serviceable" according to them. In other words, they've told me that if my car were to break for whatever reasons on the road, I'm better off calling and waiting for them (authorised car manufacturing company personnel) before even trying to pop the bonnet up, because more likely than not, I wouldn't be able to do a thing to help it anyway.

Also, unless you have some auto-mechanics savvy, a point is eventually reached at which repair bills over a handful of years outstrip the cost of financing a new car.

On the buying-used matter: well, I have to say that I'm tempted by what you said about how buying five used cars and getting two duds still can make financial sense, and I will surely look into it. It's just that I'm told that, around here, the shortening the cylinders' trip and other makeshift performance boosters for old engines that are about to die is a commonplace practice, which makes buying used cars a faith-based activity (e. g. during the test drive the car would perform quite well or even very well, but shortly afterwards the engine gets hopelessly ruined), unless you know what to look for when you inspect a prospective buy.

Well, where you're located and your own situation definitely has an effect, but I've done very well by buying cars new, maintaining them, and hanging onto them for 15 years or so. I'm quite willing to fix them, as long as it's not too often. Paying a car off in 5 years, then not having a car payment for 10, has worked quite well for me, even accounting for maintenance and repairs. Given that insurance and registration costs are lower on older cars around here hanging on to a car can make sense.

I see your point. I, personally, have nothing against hanging on to a car for ten years or so. It's just that it's much less likely to be left stranded by the side of the road if you have a relatively new car (barring really bad design flaws or poor workmanship). I'm willing to pay extra to keep myself from being in such a situation.

I don't know about parts from Germany - I've always bought either American cars or Japanese ones, all of which have had parts easily and readily available where I live.

Well, in my family we have had a kind of tradition by which we always buy VW (Beetle -classic-, Rabbit, Jetta, Bora...) because of their reliability. The first car I bought, however, was a Ford Ka, because a VW Pointer was just too expensive for me to get with the features the Ka already had in its more austere form. After my brother took it for a spin (on its back) in '07, I could only afford a Daewoo (marketed by Pontiac here) Matiz G2 (sticking to the high-kilometre-per-litre doctrine, you see).

Again, as per the OP: don't new cars supposedly pollute less than older cars?

[kinnison]

About the subject of lighting: Just coming into reasonably easy availability is LED lighting. I have found several websites that sell just about nothing else. The downside is that this stuff is expensive to buy and set up - the fittings and bulbs (Brit-speak!) are expensive because they have to incorporate transformers. They also don't work very well with dimmers, although it is possible to get the same effect in a different way because most fittings use multiple LEDs. The upsides; the bulbs are just about eternal (I've seen figures of 50,000 hours quoted) if properly fitted; you have a lot of flexibility in colour of lighting and placement, allowing some imaginative setups; they come to full brightness instantly; and when the bulbs eventually need replacement they aren't poisonous as are fluorescents of any sort.

I like the idea. Personally, I would fit this stuff if I was building or extensively re-modelling a house. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be happening any time soon.

Just one more thing: Someone was talking about essential supplies, and among them was a mention of contact lens cleaning fluid - and the lenses themselves if you use disposables. Personally, if you have eyesight that needs correcting and usually use contacts, I think that it is a very good idea indeed to have spectacles as a backup. They don't have to be fancy. As well as the obvious stuff about emergencies - what happens if you can't see properly without optical help and you pick up an eye infection?

[The Spartan]

Indefinite or Other Long Lasting Food:
I was reading something about 19th century sailing and they mentioned hardtack. Now, I remember that from watching programs about the Civil War but I know relatively little about it beside it being a thick cracker and storing easily.

So, it got me thinking wouldn't it be at least somewhat useful, not to metion inexpensive, to bake up a store of this (or something similar)? How long would it last if kept in a Ziploc bag, Tupperware container or vacuum sealed bag?

That in turn got me thinking about what other kinds of food would keep like this and frankly, I can't think of any. Though I do know that Moutain House makes #10 cans of freeze dried food that will last, unopened for up to 30 years, IIRC.

Does anyone have any additional information? Advice?

[Broomstick]

So, it got me thinking wouldn't it be at least somewhat useful, not to metion inexpensive, to bake up a store of this (or something similar)? How long would it last if kept in a Ziploc bag, Tupperware container or vacuum sealed bag?

If it is kept dry it lasts many, many years.

It's almost impossible to eat straight, though - customarially it's softened prior to eating or cooking, and usually added to in order to improve the flavor, which is the definition of bland (although if weevil-infested there is supposedly a chewy texture and a little more protein...)

Interbake Foods of Virginia still makes hardtack, known also as "pilot bread" (light aircraft in Alaska are required to carry emergency supplies, including food - hardtack is lightweight and last a long time). Interbake Foods Reail can provide more information, scroll down the page to contact them.

There are also recipes for making your own.

[Broomstick]

This is more of a "what I did with my day" post than anything else. I visited a food pantry (being poor and all) this morning and while there is some hassle attached to it I scored:

1 chicken
2 lbs of beans
1 loaf of bread (I could have gotten a half dozen, but due to food allergies couldn't eat most of what was offered)
4 muffins
1 pound cake
1 package of ramen noodles
2 packages of Pop Tarts (that's 4 pastries total)
6 cans of vegetables/fruit
1 jar of peanut butter
2 oranges
bag of grapes
2 heats of brocolli
bok choy (about half a bunch)
6 yellow squash
2 small red potatoes
3 green beans (?!)
1 head of lettuce
1 bag of some pretzel-like snack
1 box of self-stable milk
1/2 gallon grape juice

Now, clearly this is not the world's most nutritious selection. However, it IS free. I was pleasantly surprised to get the "fresh" vegetables and fruit, even if they were slightly bruised on a couple spots. And the free chicken was definitely worth it. It won't carry us through a whole month (you only get to pick this up once a month) but it does supplement the food bill even if some of the selections are odd. They do depend on donations, after all, this isn't going to the grocery store.

Some suggestions:
First, call ahead and ask what, if anything you need to bring. For this operation that was ID and proof of residence in the area. Different programs have different requirements.

Second, if it's at a church you may have to run the religion gauntlet. You can either stick by your guns and be truthful - possibly getting a hardsell or hassle - or you can lie through your teeth and proceed to the food. Your choice. Be prepared either way.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I havn't worked in about 4 months, and it occurs to me there's probably more than one food pantry in the area. I'll look into them, don't know why I didn't think of it before.