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How to survive a personal economic collapse

poverty

With all that is being written about the national economic collapse, people seem to be waiting for some huge event.

However, for many North Americans, the collapse is here. This isn’t relegated to only lower income neighborhoods.  As an article from a Cinncinnati new station stated, “Hunger doesn’t know a zipcode.”

For many people who were formerly financially comfortable, the economic collapse has already happened, in the form of a job loss, hours that have been cut back due to Obamacare requirements for employers, an exorbitant medical bill or other crushing debt, or simply an inflation rate that has outstripped your pay increases.  Despite all of the warnings, many people are still going to be absolutely blindsided.

For many families, personal finances have reached a catastrophic level – they are left to make terrible choices:…

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Community

First time was because of fire, this time it was the ice…

ice

I just spent 3 days in my neighborhood, AND the 3 surrounding towns without power. Well, WE had power, our little sky castle, but everyone else (of those on grid power) were without power. On Sunday afternoon, we were in our second or third day of freezing fog and drizzle, most people had gone into town and stocked up on supplies, mostly food and water type stuff. I was at the grocery store myself to stock up on supplies for the week because of family coming out for the week of Thanksgiving.

I was somewhat surprised at the number of people in the store the week before Thanksgiving, I expected to see it that busy later on in the week, then I remembered we were in for a few days of freezing weather, fog and sleet. I noticed several shelves that were cleaned out, fully cleaned out of whatever had been there, it made me think of the way people will clear out a store when things are going wrong.…

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Yurtastic! UK planning loophole opens

Staffordshire council has lost an attempt to evict down a small group of Yurt dwellers who were living in a field without the necessary residential planning permission.

A planning inspector has quashed an enforcement notice requiring the removal of four yurts “used for holiday purposes” because they “provided an acceptable form of development” in the countryside which “supported the local economy.”…

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Battery desulfator review part one

I have been researching ways to desulfate batteries, I am finding most people saying that it’s snake oil, that it can’t work… some that are saying that seem to be repeating what they have heard from others, they aren’t speaking from experience, I wanted to TRY something before blowing it off as snake oil… There are 2 main ways I’ve discovered to desulfate a battery, one is chemically, the other is electronically.…

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Community

10 steps to save money

lol

We chose to downsize our lives, though in many ways we are living better than we did before. By turning our backs on consumerism, choosing to live more simply, being more frugal, we are able to live on so much less. This has done a couple of things for us, by giving up most things that create monthly bills, we don’t have to worry about falling behind and losing things or going into bankruptcy. We don’t do anything that generates bills, ie no credit cards, no loans, no car payments and such. Of course we have bills, I’d say that everyone does, but we have actively worked to pare them down to the bare minimum.…

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Community

Let us film you and we will help find you an off-grid home

We are looking for people who have the skills and the resources and want to make the move from their existing lives inside mainstream society, leave their jobs and their mortgages and their high-spending consumer habits, and move to a low-stress, low-consumption life off the grid.

Of course there will still be a need for at least some to work and make money, still a need to generate power, wash, cook, have shelter. But we want to show the world all these things are possible in total comfort, with no stress, off the grid, if you arrange yourself cleverly.

There are many reasons why I have been trying to make a film or a web series about people who are making the move to live off-grid. The first is that the masses of material on TV at the moment never seems to reflect real people and their real lives.…

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Community

No man is an island

0101

No man is an island, in the case of those wanting to go off-grid, that must also remain true. So often, those who are looking to go off-grid, to become more self sufficient, tend to want to get away from society, and getting away from the big cities, the major population centers is a good idea. But don’t take it so far that you become isolated, that is usually not a good idea under any circumstances.…

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Community

The Pantry Primer: Where to stash your stockpile

stash

Stockpiles: they aren’t just for pantries anymore!

You might be wondering where on earth you can stash all of the food required for a one-year pantry.  Unless you have a pantry the size of a master bedroom suite, it won’t take long to exceed the limits of your available kitchen storage.  But don’t despair! There are lots of little nooks, crannies, and storage areas around most homes that will allow you to discreetly put away a year’s supply of food for your family. Even those who dwell in apartments or other small spaces might be surprised to discover how many little hidden areas they actually have.…

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Downtown survivalists
Community

Culture clash: Off-Grid vs. Detroit locals

Downtown survivalistsTwo years ago, residents of Goldengate Street in Detroit MI were scratching their heads as people with strange names like Coconut and Mars started moving into the street’s abandoned homes, decorating them in wild colors and planting vegetable gardens in empty lots.
It was a culture clash from the beginning. Establishing a utopian community in a rough area proved harder than expected.
There’s about a dozen or so of them now, along with waves of couch surfers who pass through. They live in houses with no electricity or water or heat. They warm themselves with wood-burning stoves and wash themselves outside with buckets of water on warmer days. Their toilets are outhouses.…

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Community

The Pantry Primer: stockpiling grains

Stockpiling-grains

Food storage calculators recommend 300 pounds of grains per person for a one year supply. For a family of four, that is a whopping 1200 pounds of food that you should store if you are trying to build a one year pantry!

That sounds like a really daunting number until you remember that it is divided over many different items.  To name a few:

  • Rice
  • Flour
  • Wheat
  • Quinoa
  • Couscous
  • Cornmeal
  • Barley
  • Oats
  • Pasta

You should divide up your grain storage based upon your family’s preferences.  After all, if only one person likes rice, the rest of you won’t want to be stuck having it at every other meal if you must live off your stockpile for a year!…

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Community

Underground home in Cumbria

Underground house

From what I have read, the underground house is often considered the holy grail of off-grid living, it’s known to be warm in winter, cool in summer, making life more self sufficient for the occupants of the home. I ran across this video recently about a family creating an underground home, taking advantage of a former sandstone quarry, most of the “hole” their home would go in was already there.…

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Community

Solar powered pyramid

Pyramid power

Ever see an off-grid pyramid? Well you are about to. This is the video story of Greg Grant, who began his off-grid existence slow and small.

He didn’t put a lot of money into his project. What he had was land, lots of natural materials, a great bunch of talented and helpful friends, and a unique vision. He chose to make his off-grid home out of short straw-bale walls, but with a steeply pitched, pyramid shaped roof.…

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