My preparation Plans and Goals continue!!

For the remainder of this Fall and throughout the winter, my plans and goals are:

1) Get through the holidays on a cash basis as much as possible.

2) Complete planning of backyard garden and be ready to start working on the Garden in March.

3) Complete research and planning, for a Hen House and Rabbit Hutch, gather materials needed, and be ready to construct during the Spring 2009.

4) Finish outfitting one of my bikes in the Stable.

5) Get my garage cleaned out and reorganized (bookshelves, etc). Get garage in condition to be converted to a shelter within 6 hours (again)!!

6) Update my Home Emergency Binder information.

1. Overhaul my gear and trade off or give excess away.

2. Increase my emergency food stores to reach the desired 1 year plus unrefrigerated supply.

3. Increase my Ammo supply.

4. Buy wooded land for a cabin

5. Start planning said cabin

6 come spring - Replace my beloved Yukon with another full size 4x4.

1: get shoulder healed.

2: buy honda 2000 generator

3: head to sunny az then ok for the rest of the winter/spring/summer. then maybe fl...

If affordable, NOW is the time to replace the Yukon. The big three can't give the darn things away due to recent high fuel prices. I pass the Arlington, TX GM plant 3 times a week and they have plenty of extras. (Yukon and Suburban are made there)

Won't have the $$ until April. I don't do car loans.

1.) Finish closing my company and getting a REAL (as DW calls it) job.

2.) Reduce all debt to car payments (2 of 4 cars), mortgage (1) and 5th wheel payment plus "normal" bills.
Son (17) pays his, I pay DW's

3.) Finish BOB storage to increase room in above ground storm shelter.

4.) Improve home emergency binder / portable documents.

5.) Continue "training" kids/wife. Each camping trip includes training on some aspects of the BOB/PSK.

6.) Clean my garage.

7.) Teach my 90 lb German Shepherd that my lap is not her preferred resting place. She is in my lap now and my laptop is on top of her.

8.) Restructure my truck tool box to hold my FAK and GHB or get better bags to fit behind back seat.

9.) LEARN LEARN and LEARN more!

Can't say I blame ya' there. Heck, by then the big three may be the big one or two. Or the SUV's may be RREEAALLYY cheap.

Amen. My DW and I took the "no new cars" pledge years ago. At 25K miles/year, it made no sense for me. I pay cash for something nice but used, drive it until it dies or needs a costly repair, and go pick out another, whatever strikes my fancy, or looks like a good deal. It doesn't matter much, since I can easily get something different if I don't like it.

I donate the old one to charity or some needy person who can do repairs, or knows someone who can do repairs for them. I can do the basics and follow a Chilton's, but I don't like doing repairs. My mechanic is probably the most expensive around, and is known for his nationally syndicated radio program, but his work is always right and I trust him implicitly. I'm willing to pay for that, and for the certainty that my wife is driving a safe car.

Not only do I save on car payments and interest, I save on insurance, too, since I carry liability only (albeit with very high policy limits). The secret to this is to put a little aside every month in lieu of car payments.

As a general rule for new cars, I was taught that if you can't put at least 20% down, NOT including any trade-in, and pay it off in 3 years, you are buying too much car, and you'll certainly end up owing more than the car is worth.

Jeff

You are dead on with that one!

I wish I could get down to 25K miles per year. Currently I am in the high 60K's per year.

I do buy new, but only finance for 3 years max. Then drive it for at least 5 years. During the "non-payment" years the previous payment amount is stocked back for the next down payment. I do follow ALL maintenance in the books from the factory. The vehicles would probably last longer, but I really don't want to risk it.

Whats new? We finally got to where we could buy something about a year old. If you buy something decent it will last longer than 5 years, wife's Impala is a 2001 and is still good for many more.

I've never owned a new vehicle, often with careful shopping a 1yr old vehicle can be as nice as a new one.

A few months ago I was looking at new trucks and didn't see anything better than what I had, but the engine was showing signs of wear, so I replaced the engine. Went to Ford and they ordered up a New (not remanufactured) long block. Much less than the cost of a new truck, no issues with someone else's problems and it came with 100K mile warranty. It cost more than a rebuild, but it's a new engine. Runs great BTW. Another thousand miles and I switch to pure synthetic oil.

Only reason I had to replace my 200,000 mile chevy was because it didn't have room for child seats, I had to get an extended cab.

I had three reasons for previously buying new:
1 I usually waited too late to start looking (driven till the wheels fall off)
2 Warranty and extended warranty
3 Business tax write off.

Prior to owning my own business, I always bought used after long searches. Also always had company vehicles that were replaced at 100K miles regardless of age. As part of my compensation they were take home vehicles. I just needed wheels for personal stuff. Number two son is still driving my old 1996 Chevy 4x4 extended cab I bought in 1997. Honestly it is probably the best vehicle I have ever owned.

Wife grew up always wanting a jeep. When she finally got one she realized 5 full size folks don't fit. Now my F350 4 door has become the family car and the 5th Wheel pulling machine.

In three years or so, I will have to see what's available. I sure do like not having a payment though.

Wish I still had the old toyota farm truck I grew up with. I would just gift it to you. When I had it in 1987 it was OLD, but reliable and 4x4. Rolled it more than once in the pastures. Grab a tractor, roll it back over, lay in the seat and kick the dents out of the roof and your good to go! My relative/boss painted it safety orange as a joke so he could see us coming.

Careful with the old Land Cruisers. The metal wasn't treated to resist corrosion. If you notice the unrestored L/C's often let as much light through the metal as the glass. Lots of money to rust away.

There was a company out there that made treated replacement body parts for them, but then you're back to the $75,000.00 thing again. Steer clear of the Land Rovers, unless you are an electrical / electronics genius. The things will go anywhere, but should come with an electrical repair kit instead of a spare tire and jack.

Implied in this post is a general fear of economic collapse/loss of food security/nuclear or bio Armageddon.

I'll suggest that if you haven't been raising up at least some of your own food for the last five years, a summer of trying just ain't going to cut it.

If you can't live "cash only now" it's not going to get any better soon.

This is the worst possible time to be pulling back from your network of family, friends, and yes, government.

No binder is going to help you keep food on the table if you don't have either the skills someone will pay for or the ability to grow your own - and sell enough extra to pay for the tools and taxes that go with it.

There is nowhere in the USA where you'll find a truly "self sufficient" compound. Nowhere. You need ammo? You need a shovel? You need a knife?

All of the fish are contaminated with toxins and you can't live off of freshwater fish for any length of time. The majority of the farms are growing genetically modified grains that can't be saved as seeds (they commit "suicide" unless they are treated with a proprietary gene modification process to allow them to sprout.

My point is that the world today is irrevocably entwined. Even Ted Kaczynski lived in a PLYWOOD shack, not one made of found materials.

I don't deny that being more self-reliant is a good thing, to an extent, but ultimately, it's a fools errand to really think that you're ever going to make things better without a network of people and institutions.

I never saw it that way. I may have actually hijacked it into auto talk on the first page, which I really never intended.

I can tell ya' this much, if it is going to come down to "growing your own" (food, don't go there) then the problems are on the way to Mr. Darwin.

Sorry for the "auto talk" hijack.

Everyone have a nice evening

* replenish food supplies (add more rice, pasta, and canned veggies)
* keep drinking water supply at above 1/2 full at all times. I have a bad habit of letting it get too low.
* get a checkup at the doctor. I havent been to a doctor in 20 years. Turning 40 is a great time to get everything checked out. (insert "bend over and cough" jokes here) I do however go to the dentist twice a year and am very glad I do.
* replenish stored gas now that prices are lower.

"...insert "bend over and cough" jokes here)..."

i'll wait ten years, then do a black snake joke. (ps, blk snake is muchomore better than the prior silver stallion)...

I suggest if you see a doctor that makes you bend over and cough you change physicians.

Now turn your head and cough.

Just Kidding.

Trying to buy 5 cords of almond for a good deal [we got almost 2ft/snow in the last week and a half] and make the house livable w/out going into more debt. Then once completed pay-off student loans and work on the car payment (1). We have an `06 F250 that I use the crap out of hauling stuff, and a `94 Wrangler. Next car will be another 4x4 maybe a mini-SUV or Subaru.

Did I mention yet that you can just empty $ in a house.. L O L!!

I knew it was something like that...like I said, it's been a while since my last visit to the doc.

Having been the child of auto parts store owners and worked parts on the side in a Subaru dealer trying to put myself thru college, all I can say is NNNNOOOOOOO Subaru. Unless of course you like paying thru the nose for a car comperable to a Kia AND then having to pay thru another orifice to repair the darn thing. If you are going import 4x4 then Honda or Toyota.

I've always liked the look and feel of a Sequoia. Unfortunately I don't have a spare $50k lying around.

They break down too. Look at the 4x4/expedition/overlanding forums, there are those that spend twice as much as a Chevy/Ford/Dodge on a Toyota and break it just as much and cost twice as much to fix.

On the Subaru I am not talking about breaking one, I am talking about the car not lasting on normal city street driving day to day. This is the only vehicle I know of that leaks more oil than an old Harley Davidson.

Any time one pulled in, it was GUARANTEED to be leaking oil if it had more than 10k miles. If I think long and hard enough I can probably remember the part numbers for the seals and gaskets to "fix" it. (for another 10k miles tops)

And don't let the salesman tell you that it was only the Loyale and early Legacy cars. The new one's do it too. The service tech's used to say the day Subaru fixes oil leaks will be the day they quit.

I swear the oil companies and gasket/seal manufactures got together and designed the engine for Subaru for free.