Won't get land before SHTF...what to do?

Why is it quite often a mother that has weaved a tangled web to trap her adult children and we don't find out about it until post #53? Start the thread out with "Help, I'm trying to get away from my mother!"

The truth is, none of us know WHEN or IF the stuff is going to hit the fan. We don't. We can make educated guesses, but seriously, people have been making "educated guesses" for longer than I've been on this earth, and society still seems to be consuming on it's merry way much the same as it did last week and the week before.

We can all only do what we can do as we can do it, and hope that it's enough when the time comes. The very fact that you've noticed that you need to do something is the first step. Start living your life with that in mind. Don't spend if you don't need to, pay off your debt (which you're doing). Then work up your nest egg (whether that's money or things you feel will be needed). When you can, find a more appropriate living situation.

It's not "doing it" in one fell swoop, it's small steps that lead to being prepared. We're all at different places on that road, but few of us got from beginning to end by throwing money at the situation and calling it done.

I believe that the process is even more important than the result. The process teaches us to live differently, which is the most important factor in being prepared.

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Once you get past the cold, Missouri has lots of surface water. I live in NE Mo 2 miles from Mark Twain Lake which has the most miles of shoreline of any lake in the state and we have a lot of them. Cold, but a diverse agriculture, orchards and such. Course if you like your land to move under your feet, this is probably not the place to be.

I'd like to second that. I think it would take something really catastrophic and unprecedented (and exceedingly unlikely) for SHTF in a major significant way.

More than likely SHTF is really just going to be a long episodic downturn in the standard of living in 1st world countries as energy becomes more expensive.

I've been wondering that too. After all, if he's struggling to pay off a credit card debt he probably doesn't have tens of thousands laying around for a down payment on a house.

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Obviously you don't know what area the "midwest" is.
Cold and snowy? yes
no surface water? WHAT??
No diversity in crops? WHAT!!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States

After reading the rest of the posts: have you ever thought of staying where you are and doing container gardening? Doesn't sound to me at least like financially or emotionally you are ready to be on your own.

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You can do that pretty much anywhere. I used to do that in a small town in Arizona. I advertised by word of mouth.

I suspect that it would be a lot easier to do here in Las Vegas, although I don't repair computers any longer (except mine, of course). I see a lot of ads on power poles for in-home computer service. There are always computer challenged people who need help. Moreover, we have a Fry's Electronics in town, so popularly priced computer parts are readily available.

But I suspect that most of the people who are doing in-home computer repair are doing it under the radar (cash business with no license and no IRS reporting).

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How, by taking out a loan for her child in her name, is she trapping the op? It seems she is the one who is trapped.

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I wouldn't bet on a worry. It'll most likely not happen.

Better to spend that energy making money... Mow lawns, get 2nd job at a pizza place, look around and spend all your time profitably like walking door to door hitting up small businesses for computer work, and save all the cash until you can buy a place..

Sorry kids,this IS the GREAT DEPRESSION 2.0.

You can drink the Koolaid and believe unemployment is 9.6% and steady.

6 million LESS paid into SS this year,of that 1.2 million were from retirements.

You dont lose 4.8 million jobs and have unemployment steady for the year at 9.6%.And those jobs,like 1/3rd of our National manufacturing has been lost since 2000 here,off to China and India,gone for good.You dont run the Greatest Nation on Earth flipping burgers,wake up folks.

Shadow Stats,who use realistic numbers says 22% unemployment,add in all the folks on gov,ie,SS,etc,its just that much more.

Gov is printing money,foreigners wont buy our debt anymore and you think its not going to get worse????

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We're in a second round of foreclosures right now, so things are unquestionably getting worse. But I don't believe that there's enough steam left in the economy for there to be a crisis. It's just going to be a long cold road ahead of us, for probably 5 years or more.

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Sure not the time to have a mortgage. Lot of homeless.

Buds SS check is late,heard others are also.Can the day come when they stop altogether? Or get cut in half overnight?That CAN happen.

Still think we could 'Argentina' overnight.Living with blinders on if you deny the possibility,we are NOT immune,we got spoiled and greedy and blew it.Let our Traitor Leaders sell us out.

Remember,we are The largest debtor in the World,is that sustainable,I dont think so.Sure isnt at my house,is it at yours,increasing debt with declining income.Doesnt work,sorry.

And that debt couldnt be paid at any rate without crippling inflation (IE,kiss your savings/life work youve banked goodbye).

Now we are to believe we can have a recovery while we bleed our backbone,manufacturing,right out of the Country.Gotta have jobs,and the TRUTH is we dont.The TRUTH is they are being sent overseas in the name of Globalization,which is in reality Global Poverty and economic slavery.

Nope,its Depression 2.0,just a matter of when it hits.

Im not a pessimist,Im a stone cold realist.

BTW,I harped on this for YEARS on the survival board this was coming and cant believe how many then said impossible.Its here,really.

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Yes, booboo, it is reality, and we ARE in that depression. The unemployment rate in the Great Depression was 25%, and they likely used more accurate numbers than we see government using today. Looking at the number of houses that were occupied a short time ago, and are now just empty, there are a lot of folks that can't make the mortgage payments. Looking at the number of empty storefronts where there were once thriving small businesses, and you can't turn a blind eye to the facts. The economy is hurting, and people are hurting with it.

I feel very fortunate that I have a good skill and a great job...but I know that if there is no government money to pay the hospital (medicaid, medicare), my RN job will not be as secure or as well paid as it is. I'm sure as an RN, you have thought of this as well. Yes, there will always be sick people that need care, especially with the aging of our population, but who is going to pay for that care?

I'm preparing as quickly as I can, both by stocking up, and by paying off the remaining mortgage just as fast as I can. Looking at being out of debt (mortgage is all that is left) by Jan 1, 2015, if, BIG IF, things hold on that long. Right now, my 403b and Roth IRA are actually doing very well (most of my investments are overseas mutual funds), but who knows where they will go in another year. If it looks like things are going to head South quickly, I'll be pulling every penny out and paying off the rest of my property, even if I do take a huge hit tax-wise. It would be worth it to me to have the place paid for and relatively secure. Whenever I take extra shifts, it's with the thought that I can pay off that much more.

And, I have to keep reminding myself that if unemployment is 25%, EMPLOYMENT is 75%!

Okay, that was a major thread drift, lol.

Loquismo, you've posted many similar threads before, been given very good advice on each one, and have ALWAYS come up with a multitude of reasons why none of the advice could possibly work. If you wanted to make it work, you would, so I must conclude that what you really want to do is talk about how much you fear what is coming, and how unfair it is that you are "stuck" where you are. One thing I will say for your mom - at least she is paying her debts (and yours, it appears). Kudos to her for not taking the easy way out, but having the honor to do the best she can. Although bankruptcy can sometimes be inevitable (I was totally wiped out by a business partner many years ago), it should be a last ditch solution, not a first jump bail out.

Just out of curiosity, how old are you? I know you have posted that you are autistic (Asperger's?), and have some other mental health issues. Do you have any physical limitations? Are you capable of putting in a full day's work if you can find a job (temp work or whatever)? Are you getting SSI, where there are limits to how much you can earn? Without knowing more, it is hard to figure out if any of what you claim to want to do is even feasible. I'm not trying to be snarky, just real. Not everyone CAN have that little piece of wilderness land to live on (do the math, too many people for the amount available and have it still BE wilderness). Maybe you need to work hard on blooming where you are planted.

If your parents think you're weird for wanting to stock up, rent a small storage unit and make sure you can afford to keep the rent paid on it. Then stock up on your prep needs a bit at a time and store them there. First things first though - do whatever you need to and pay off your mom! If you are receiving aid and living at home, you need to be contributing to that household, helping get those debts paid or buying groceries or whatever. Grow a small garden wherever you can find a spot - community garden, planters, back yard, or ? Keep a couple rabbits and raise some meat, learn to butcher and cook/preserve it. I refuse to believe that there is NOTHING you can do to help yourself, right where you are.

The S may HTF tomorrow, or never in your lifetime. You can't live your life in fear all the time. Just take each small step that you realistically can make to be as well prepared as you can, and that probably doesn't mean moving.

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manygoatnmore - good post.

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Thanks, Angie!

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ManyGoats-
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Can you not see that taking out a loan for your children is harming them? Do you not see how much damage it does to a relationship? At some point you have to say no and see if the kid can fly. Now the OP is a slave to his mother. She gets to dictate what he does until the loan is paid of. Yes she is trapped but that is what she wanted.

Things are almost certainly going to get worse in terms of standard of living (SOL) as energy get more expensive and the simple competitive advantages other places have over the U.S. Namely a worker in China or India or wherever can be paid much less and a company can produce their product for less (which does have the "advantage" of keeping prices of the products we purchase relatively low). It's a catch-22, you want things produced in the USA by our citizens than you better be willing to pony up for it. Even most people with adequate money are still always looking for the best "deal" and they've gotten it, and so many jobs have been shipped overseas.

That seems a far, far cry for SHTF. People in most parts of the developed world get by reasonably well with a lower SOL than we have in the U.S. without being in desperate straights by any stretch of the imagination. SHTF to me is going from the developed world to the "developing world".

"That seems a far, far cry for SHTF. People in most parts of the developed world get by reasonably well with a lower SOL than we have in the U.S. without being in desperate straights by any stretch of the imagination."

Yeah, and all those folks live in huts or shacks, no electricity, farm their land in their spare time and raise livestock......

How many folks do that here, do you think?
Not many, I'd guess, therefore, when the dollar crashes, things will be terrible here.
Greg Zeigler
Alger, Ohio

You're describing the developing world not the developed world.

It's probably also worth adding that even in the developing world most people don't live as you describe. You're basically describing the worst-case scenarios that only generally characterize the poorest places on Earth (e.g. sub-Saharan African countries, Bangladesh) or the poorest elements of more affluent developing countries (e.g. countries in South America, Asia, etc.).

Just consider the basic infrastructure we have in the U.S. which those poorest places don't have. If some sort of currency collapse occurred it's much more likely we would become like eastern Europe or former Soviet Republics/Russia not sub-Saharan African countries. Not saying that wouldn't qualify as SHTF but still not the end of the world or anything.