This is especially important, as the jobs in this area have went down to nothing..... no one is hiring. The few places that are hiring, you have to have degrees, so that makes it just that much harder for anyone who doesn't have high diplomas, GED's, or some type of college degree to find stable work. With that in mind, it just gives me that much more of an incentive to work hard to try to help earn income for our family. I also can some vegetables, fruit, and soups, in order to make sure that we will always have food on hand.
You just never know how things are going to go with how things with the economy are going right now. I have also resorted to using coupons and watching all of the sales ads each week in order to maximize what I spend in order to get as much as I possibly can. It breaks my heart to see anyone waste things. It's often hard to just run out to the store and buy things, so I have found it easier for me to just can things such as vegetables from our garden and any produce that I can get at a great price.
People often think that I have lost my gourd, but until they experience hard times and have to pinch pennies tight to make ends meet, they just don't have a clue. I have been into survival techniques and living off of the land for many years, but I am even more interested in it, ever since we fell victim to a natural disaster in spring 2011. Not only us, but our entire community lay in ruins, after that beast of a storm tore through out town. I have had feelings that I should learn as much as I can about surviving things and navigating through hard times. I'm not sure if it is something from the storm or not, but my survival instinct is telling me to can and prepare things for a later time, because we are definitely going to need everything that we can prepare and put up to survive.
I will take left overs and either freeze, can, or even re-purpose the left overs into a whole other meal for the next night. I have learned and discovered many ways to hep stretch things and make the best of things. I have figured most things out by trying out things and by doing research. I've even went as far to keep, what we like to call a "survival/storm bag" for any time that we may have to have things that could help us get through a few days until we got to some help, depending on the situation. It helps to prepare for any type of situation and be prepared for the worst no matter what. Then you will know that you can survive and make it through.
I always try to buy things in bulk when it makes sense for us to do so. It can sometime take me a few hours when I go out shopping, because I always like to see what products that I am getting the best deal with. I make sure to look at the weight and price of the products and strive to buy only products that have the most product for the cheapest price. I have found that often times when using coupons, I can sometimes come out ahead by buying the name brand products when they are on sale, rather than the store brands. I know a few pennies or even $2 or $3 may not make much difference to most people, but for us, it can make a huge difference.
It just depends on the store and what the sales price is that day or week, because sometimes, you come out ahead by buying the store brand products. You just have to do your research and figures to see where you would come out ahead. I also try to figure out how many of each item that I can afford to buy and most of the time, I will spend way less than I had anticipated on spending. I used to never even think to use coupons, but ever since 2011, I would not even consider not using using them. I just wish that I had schooled myself better on how to use them and started using them years ago.
I will sometimes buy coupons for items that we use the most online, since it's cheaper than buying 10 newspapers. The bonus to buying them online, is that they are already clipped out neatly for you, which is a huge blessing for any busy mom/wife. I will only buy a paper if the coupon preview shows coupons that are for things that we use the most. That way, I can buy more than 1-2 at a time when I go shopping. I'm not a fan of the coupons for things that generally are a bit pricier and state that you have to buy 2 or more of them to get from anywhere from $0.75 to $1.00 off because in most cases, I can only afford to buy one, not more than one.
To help make clothing a bit easier, several family members and friends will often do a clothing swap several times during the course of the year. This prevents waste and also helps others out as well. Yard sales are a great way to find the types of clothing that you want without having to spend a bundle on a new wardrobe. Most of the sizes and styles of clothing that I prefer to wear, they don't have at stores, so yard sales are a great thing for me. I like to wear more modest types of clothing and the clothing that they have in stores now, is just too revealing for me. I like to dress more age appropriate... I'm not getting any younger... lol
Another way to help you earn some extra money on clothes or anything that you are not using is to have a yard sale or sell them online. That way you can take that money and use it to pay bills or even take it and buy something else that you were needing. If you don't have time for a yard sale, you can perhaps find someone who will be happy to help sell the items for you on a consignment. That way you can help someone else out at the same time of helping earn money for yourself as well.
I hope that my advice can help someone else out, and if you have any other advice about any other wonderful pointers to surviving difficult times, please feel free to share them with me. I am always working and learning new things everyday in order to try to stay afloat in difficult times when nothing seems to work out right and things seem to take a left turn. Never give up and always, always, always, let God take control of everything in your life. He will see your through no matter what and He will always provide for you. Some times to move forward, we have to let go of the past first. That has helped me overcome some much of the pain from the storm. I hope that I am able to help someone else who is seeing difficult times or has ever fell victim to a natural disaster.
It's amazing how a span of 10 seconds can change your lives forever.... you will move forward, but you will never get over it. For me, that day taught me it's always more blessed to give than it is to receive..... that material possessions don't matter..... never take anything for granted..... family is always the most important thing..... and above all, God will see us through things that we never thought that we could go through. If you let God take control, you will always come out of the difficult situation. Things happen for a reason, though we don't always understand why. I pray that things will get better for everyone..... I honestly have never seen things as badly as they are right now. May God richly bless everyone!!!
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