Learning to live without money

[Magenta]

That's really impressive. I never knew that about you. All this talk of apple cider.
Now I'm getting hungry. I better go have dinner before it's too late.

I forgot to mention that when I volunteered to work with my dad and brothers, I had no idea what it was
they were doing. What I did know is that they walked out the door early Saturday morning and came home
in time to clean up and sit down to dinner, and did not have to do any of that never-ending housework LOL.

After I volunteered, my dad started to enlist the help of my younger sisters. Most of them did not like
it as much as I did. We did other things to help my dad out also, since he was quite the entrepreneur.

 

[Magenta]

For instance, when I was 15 or 16 I was given the choice to move from the bedroom I was in into
a different one which I could paint any colour I wanted. I chose lavender and mauve, painting the
door jamb and window sill the contrasting colour to their respective walls, and cut the ceiling on
a diagonal, with the walls where they connected the different shade. Every stick of furniture in my
room was painted those two colours as well, including my iron frame bed. I moved away from home
at 18 and then left the province four years later, but that room was never painted again. It became
known as the purple room LOL. All my nephews and nieces loved it. Anyways, after I did such a good
job of painting my own bedroom, my dad enlisted me to help paint apartment units in a building he owned.

I did get paid for my work, but never as much as my twin brother made. It may have helped instill
a good work ethic in me, though... Since I have been pretty much steadily employed since leaving
home, after giving up waitressing, having only three jobs over the course of more than 47 years
all in the same industry. But I still hate housework .

 

[blueluna5]

Hi Christians,

I'm new to this forum, but I hope to have the advice and perspectives of many councilors. After living in mission in various places and seeing the difference between how we live in North America and Europe and how people live in the developing world, I have some perspectives that I would like to bounce off of you.

In the developed world we used to all have gardens, root cellars and places where we dried food. We would take time throughout the year to prepare ourselves for the offseason. Each family generally had one household member working outside the home and one working at the home. It wasn't just a house, but a small enterprise that kept our family fed and cared for. We used money for many things including buying food, but over the years the ratio of how much of our food was grown and prepared by us and how much food we purchased has been shifting. Now it seems that almost all of our food is a straight up trade for money. Both parents need to work to be able to afford a home and the whole idea of self reliance has gone south.

What happens when/if we don't have access to money or inflation is so high that we can't afford to buy food?

In the developing world many families live they way we used to live long ago. One person works outside of the home and the other is busy about making sure the home is an enterprise that keeps the family fed and cared for. The people I am referring to are not the people in the developing world who have adopted the urban ways of the West, but the ancient ways of the wise poor.

I am at once ready to trust in the Lord and press forward in mission and at the same time considering relocating to a place where I will be able to better sustain my family and live a quiet simple life, working with my hands and feeding my family.

The way of the world seems to be heading toward a centralized digital currency. This news, and the understanding that digital ID and intolerance for Judaeo/Christian values gives me pause as I contemplate these things.


Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3.5-6


“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink?
What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but
your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above
all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:31-34

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly,
but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians 5:15-17

What say you?

So....I think the way you're looking at it won't work for our civilization. In developing countries they only have 1 person working, they're starving, and have no health insurance. They probably have no car. They probably don't own land. So essentially they have no personal assets, so if there were an emergency they couldn't get a loan (If it even was available). So no, I would not suggest to go this way.

Instead, work smarter. Don't fight the system (you'll never win). Learn the system. Growing your own food, caning, baking from scratch... these are great skills. You should always learn survival skills. But I wouldn't suggest the woman (or man) just quit their job. This could lead to poverty. Instead find work from home jobs (I have 1 and many options for it). Look for side businesses and "passive" (there's no such thing) income ideas if you're struggling. Buy less, but buy quality. Stop treating yourself like a dog and only shopping clearance. Buy what you want and you won't go back. Buy less, buy quality. Go outside to natural parks and enjoy your family. Remove electronics until night.

 

[iamsoandso]

True.
You have to factor in the tractor with necessary equipment and that's now the cost of a modest house twenty years ago. The market is such that the big corporate agribusiness can undercut the family farms to the degree that we can't really compete. Finding a niche works for some, but those are full time jobs that need another high paying full time to start with the initial investment. There are exceptions, but not the norm.

I think that hobby farms are a thing of the past.

Eventually I think everyone will realize that their thinking about hunkering down is a day late and a dollar short in that the booger man began to take away their family farms in the 70's. Since then the prices of real estate have risen until someone ever owning a farm is dependent on winning the lottery or some other get rich quick scheme. In short once upon a time if the Devil said you had to take the mark to buy and sell people could have said "go fly a kite we'll grow stuff to eat right here on our farm" but that wont work anymore by design. So much for procrastinating about a war, until the war was already lost, before the people realized it was even going on right?,,,lol

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

Eventually I think everyone will realize that their thinking about hunkering down is a day late and a dollar short in that the booger man began to take away their family farms in the 70's. Since then the prices of real estate have risen until someone ever owning a farm is dependent on winning the lottery or some other get rich quick scheme. In short once upon a time if the Devil said you had to take the mark to buy and sell people could have said "go fly a kite we'll grow stuff to eat right here on our farm" but that wont work anymore by design. So much for procrastinating about a war, until the war was already lost, before the people realized it was even going on right?,,,lol

Exactly!

 

[iamsoandso]

Exactly!

I suggest everyone download an App where they can take a photo of the so called weeds growing around them and see if their edible or not...

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

I suggest everyone download an App where they can take a photo of the so called weeds growing around them and see if their edible or not...

I didn't know that there was an AP like that.
If you have a suggestion, I will try that out!
I enjoy eating wild edibles pretty often. Some are considered super foods because of the mineral contents. It all depends on the soil, but uncultivated soil often has a much higher compliment of minerals that that which the stores are supplied by large farms. They will normally add NPK, and not much else.

 

[iamsoandso]

I didn't know that there was an AP like that.
If you have a suggestion, I will try that out!
I enjoy eating wild edibles pretty often. Some are considered super foods because of the mineral contents. It all depends on the soil, but uncultivated soil often has a much higher compliment of minerals that that which the stores are supplied by large farms. They will normally add NPK, and not much else.

PlantSnap,,Planta,, leafsnap ect. just google "edible plat identification app" and then take a picture of all the plants in your yard. It will tell you what it is,if it not edible,toxic,poison ect.... If it's edible search for recipes...

 

[Magenta]

All this talk of apple cider. Now I'm getting hungry. I better go have dinner before it's too late.

I hope you had a good dinner! .

I designed this based on your auto siggy:

Romans 8:35-37
Thank you for the inspiration .

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

PlantSnap,,Planta,, leafsnap ect. just google "edible plat identification app" and then take a picture of all the plants in your yard. It will tell you what it is,if it not edible,toxic,poison ect.... If it's edible search for recipes...

Thank you so much!
I have books on wild edibles and medicinal plants, but that sounds very handy. My late teacher on this subject was actually able to live off the land with her chickens and goats.
For classes, we'd go through the countryside as she'd point out the dozens of plants, it was hard to keep up taking notes and snapping shots at all the good produce.

She raised 4 children while teaching biology. I met a couple of them. Her little grandson would pick food as we all walked through the property. It was so funny to see how he knew exactly what he was picking.
It was quite a sight.

 

[Karlon]

A simplified down-to-earth life sounds charming, very sustainable, and rewarding.

Just the other day I was thinking about the root cellar we had in my family-of-origin home.
It was a small room with an earthen floor, and shelving all around holding the preserves my
mother made. She had worked as a teacher in a one-room school-house, but after marrying
my dad and the children started coming, she stayed at home, and never even learned to drive.

Back then we had milk and bread delivered to our house. Sixteen loaves of bread was a usual
weekly order, and we often ran out, and were sent to the corner store for more. A loaf of bread
was under twenty cents back then. One of my sisters was very sensitive to whether or not we
were drinking real milk, or skimmed milk made from powder; real orange juice or Tang; butter or
margarine. Us kids used to use the milk box to pass goods through when we played grocery store.

We would help making the preserves. The best (most fun) part was putting the fruit through the
grinder, which was clamped to the edge of the kitchen table. My mother would boil the jars. We
made jam, pickles, and fruit preserves of all sorts. Every weekend was flurry of activity also, with
lots of baking done (including three apple pies every week), all the regular house cleaning, and
a big load of laundry. With thirteen people in the house we did laundry at least three times a week,
but Saturday was the biggest and most loads. All this work fell to the girls, while my dad and brothers
were off selling produce at farmer's markets. I volunteered to work with them when I was eight.

The way I remember it is, my mother was against it, but because there were way more girls than boys
in the family, my dad was happy to accept my help, and he fought for me. I worked with my dad and
brothers for ten years after that, all day Saturdays, Friday after school, and special fall fairs, for which
my dad would make barrels and barrels of apple cider. I do not know what a barrel sold for, but a cup
of cider was five cents (same as the cost of a single apple), and a forty-ounce bottle was thirty five cents.
The cider would ferment after a few days, too! Of course I cannot but help think about how much every-
thing has increased in cost the last few years, but comparing prices now to then? A pound of potatoes
now costs as much as a fifty or seventy-five pound bag used to. They really were dirt cheap! Summer
was the busiest time with all the seasonal fruit we sold (lots and lots of peaches). An eleven quart
basket of peaches was three dollars and fifty cents. We sold apples and potatoes year round, along with
honey and maple syrup, rain or shine, and all through the deep dark days of snowy winter. Both of my
parents had been raised on farms, with my dad's family especially being dirt poor, and living hand to mouth.

your childhood life was similar to mine. my dad worked for Pepsi as a driver at 1st then forklift driver when he was older. he also was the shop steward. my parents had 5 boys, no girls. when kids, we used to can green tomatoes in a vinegar-salt solution, blanche & freeze homegrown corn, make our own macaroni, store red tomatoes in brown paper bags, preserve garlic & we bred a worm farm with coffee grounds. when i was my own i processed apple cider with a homemade vat for cooling, homemade crusher, homemade press & had a 2 day party out of it. if someone wants to make apple cider, always get a variety to maximize flavors, acids, sugars & tannins. &, by course, use apples a bit more than ripe. live with these verses always: 2nd Corinthians 8:15 & 1st Timothy 6:6!

 

[Lanolin]

I'm always skeptical of rich people who want to be poor.

Um no. if you want to know what it is to REALLY live without money, get rid of everything you have and try living with NO land at all.

Dont say I want to live without money while at the same time buying up other peoples lands.

 

[Lynx]

Dont say I want to live without money while at the same time buying up other peoples lands.

Hmm? Is that happening a lot in NZ?

 

[Matta]

I'm always skeptical of rich people who want to be poor.

Um no. if you want to know what it is to REALLY live without money, get rid of everything you have and try living with NO land at all.

Dont say I want to live without money while at the same time buying up other peoples lands.

You speak of what you do not know. Have you travelled to developing countries? Have you lived in rural areas with the poor? Have you ever met people who owned thousands of acres but not a car? Have you seen the underdeveloped and neglected farms and farmland? Who is being dispossessed? Do you know?

Your comments are ridiculious.

 

[Lynx]

You speak of what you do not know. Have you travelled to developing countries? Have you lived in rural areas with the poor? Have you ever met people who owned thousands of acres but not a car? Have you seen the underdeveloped and neglected farms and farmland? Who is being dispossessed? Do you know?

Your comments are ridiculious.

Ah you noticed.

This is one of Lanolin's signature traits. She forms opinions about Americans based on what she saw on a sitcom called Friends. She forms opinons about rich people based on... Well, envy mostly, from what I can tell. She forms opinions about British based on the royal family.

You kinda get used to it after a while.

 

[Lanolin]

You speak of what you do not know. Have you travelled to developing countries? Have you lived in rural areas with the poor? Have you ever met people who owned thousands of acres but not a car? Have you seen the underdeveloped and neglected farms and farmland? Who is being dispossessed? Do you know?

Your comments are ridiculious.

so are yours
yep Maori although they have different concept of what land is (they dont 'own' it and not theirs to sell, they look after it.)
no your comments are typical ignorance about what 'development' is, and what farming is. A lot of modern day farming damages the environment and produces a lot of waste and misery. Also farming is anything but quiet.

lifestyle blockers typically are in this category of thinking they can just roll on in and be countryfied. But they have little respect for genuine rural folk and soon find money cant fix everything.

Also...Jonestown was typical american pie in the sky religious maniac thinking that couldnt sustain itself. They bought up some land in Guyana didnt they and it didnt end well.

 

[Lanolin]

rural america is very poor too like the third world you dont have to go far to see it if you live there. Parts of ireland and scotland also devastingly poor...they had potato famine and enclosures ruined their land.

Urban migration has become a thing because of wars fought over land and its going on right now with ukraine vs russia over land.

Dustbowl america was also a thing in the 1930s. Native americans were dispossessed. Then of course Africa was carved up in the last century by covetous europeans.

 

[Lanolin]

Marie Antoinettes intentions were good when she wanted her Petit Trianon farmlet but she like everyone thought cos she was rich she could just buy up her piece of paradise to escape from it all and ignore the peasants.

Its this attitude I am wary of.

 

[Lynx]

rural america is very poor too like the third world you dont have to go far to see it if you live there.

Say what?

You ever BEEN to a third world country?

We got a Walmart less than half an hour from literally everywhere.

Where you getting your info from, an encyclopedia from 1866?

 

[Yaacov]

One word about going back to living mostly off-the-grid: Make sure it's in a place with no property taxes.

If you can't buy or sell without the mark of the beast, even if you own the land you won't be able to pay taxes and it will be seized. Then you won't have any place to grow all that food you were talking about canning.

Perhaps a little faith, beloved:

Blessed be the Lord; for that which is impossible with man IS made possible by the true and living God:

27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee.

Also: Aba spoke, saying:

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.

Aba also did speak, saying:

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Aba also did speak this:

27 Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? 28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Perhaps we might expect abundance? (yes, truly.)

The peace and love of the Messiah - Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth - BE with all.
Lord Jesus comes soon. Amen.