Ok actually that just sounds dramatic and I don't have a purpose to this blog. Well I didn't. I kind of have one now.
If you've been reading newspapers, watching television, hanging out at the local bar with Ben Bernanke, (http://www.theonion.com/articles/drunken-ben-bernanke-tells-everyone-at-neighborhoo,21059/ - it should be true even though it isn't), or just watching your own bank account dwindle as you watch "The View" and worry about where you're going to get your next job, you might have noticed we're in some trouble financially right now. I even found a somewhat startling article today that kind of freaked me out, to be honest:
No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan
If you've ever taken a basic economics course, or even noticed that the more you have of something (like zucchini) the less valuable that item is - then you know that printing more money usually means that you will have inflation.
So, I think most everyone can agree that we're sort of in a well of shitola right now. That's like being trapped in a well of granola, but far, far worse.
I figured that I'd blog about my weird travels down the road to being as far away from people as possible when and if things get really bad. If that sounds terrible, I'm sorry, but bugging out sounds better than being caught in a riot of hungry freaked out people. Also, I may be able to do some fishing in peace if things don't get bad. Which is a better thought, and the one I'm sticking with.
But it's not like we couldn't all see this coming at us, honestly. The second we were taken off the gold standard this was going to happen. Add to that high population, food shortages, austerity measures already happening in Europe and about to happen here, wars, this (http://fiverr.com/users/hoanie/gigs/write-anything-on-a-frenchmans-forehead?ref=glst-g-ttl), it all just points me to the fact that my family and I would best be served by moving the hell away from other people.
So the first thing is to immediately pay off as much debt as possible, which we've already been doing, but I mean faster. That means way less spending for everything. So tempt me if you will with plasma screen TVs, colored glass or plastic or other shiny things, books (GRRAAGH! No BOOKS???), Blu-Rays, whatever, I'm sorry. No. Because I have a goal now, and so I get sort of bulldoggish when that happens.
What's the goal? To you it may not be pretty, but that's because, well, it isn't. It can be made as pretty or as ugly as you like, though:
It sounds foolhardy and like BS, right? Well, no. He's done it small scale, and there are other ways to do this (which I'll be going over in later entries) but the main goal that has turned me into a single-minded automaton is to own a home away from people, freely and clearly, and with only property taxes to deal with.
To get there, a person needs to be cheap. Not frugal, not some nice word that makes everything sound better and more acceptable. CHEAP. And we are pretty darned good at being cheap. So I figure I'll share some tips on here from time to time, and recipes, and whatever else inspires me.
The way I figure it is this - if the economy rights itself and the world rights itself, what are we going to lose if we do this anyhow? Nothing. We'll be gaining the home of our dreams, the life of our dreams, and if things look up later, I'm buying an entire freaking library. ;)
