Reply To: home economics and finance
The economy may be imploding and people situations may be changing dramatically, but there is no need to panic and there is bound to be lots of things that you can do to help yourself and others.
‘Closing the collapse gap’ (http://www.energybulletin.net/node/23259) is a useful read – a Russians view of the fall of soviet Russia.
General:
Saving money is simple – if you are willing to make sacrifices:
Transport (use, in order) – walk, cycle, train, bus, coach, car, plane. and try to get a job local to you. For public transport and if you commute get a season ticket.
Buy local produce, support your local producers and tell other locals about them, a source of reliable food is always useful.
Cut down on energy use, both in terms of your ‘stuff’ at home, but also what you buy, since pretty much all of what you buy will be made and shipped around the world, which is rather wasteful,
Don’t necessarily buy the cheapest thing, a lot of the time things are cheap for a reason, and buying a good quality spade (for instance) once will pay for itself for the many times you haven’t had to replace lower quality ones.
Money:
Use a reliable bank, and find out how much money your account will be guaranteed for – any money over that limit find another bank and put the excess there.
Put left-over money into a savings account and try to keep your current account at zero – there may be only a few percent interest difference, but it’s money for nothing.
Replacing stuff:
Car boot sales/ local ads/ free stuff sites etc. are all worth looking at, since you never know what may come up. Beware of buying anything electrical though.
If something breaks within it’s warranty period then seek a replacement rather than buying another anyway. If it’s outside it’s warranty make-do and mend – it may seem against your idea of how to do things, but if something breaks try repairing it (or getting someone to do it) first rather than buying another.
That’s all for now.
ttfn