Yesterday was a full day, and I was also very tired, so I gave myself permission to not blog. Right on schedule, apparently–I heard a statistic this morning that January 12 is the day that most New Year’s resolutions die. Not that I’d made a NYR to blog every day–that Read more…
Watering Can by michaelaw on sxc.hu
I started my vegetable garden this year… or at least, I tried to. I tried to start some seeds indoors, but it’s been about a month since I planted them and so far there’s not so much as a single sprout. Part of the problem, or possibly THE problem, is that the only south-facing window that isn’t shaded from the sun is in my husband’s office, and by keeping them in there I keep forgetting to water them as regularly as I should. I also didn’t use heirloom seeds—I’ve read a lot about the importance of keeping heirloom seeds for your survival garden, but I’m not really clear as to why that’s important. But we didn’t find any at Home Depot when we went to stock up on seeds, and we decided to take our chances with some Burpee organic seeds instead. (more…)
I’m in the process of weening myself off of store-bought beauty and hygiene products. There are a lot of reasons for this; for one thing, it’s saving us a lot of money. Products are expensive, and even the cheaper alternatives like Suave or generic brands add up to quite the chunk of change over time. The natural alternatives I’m switching to tend to be much more frugal, and they tend to be things we keep around the house already.
Store-bought products also tend to violate the survival rule of only packing or storing items that have at least two or three different uses. Oh, sure, a bottle of hairspray can double as fuel for fire starting in a pinch, and as a flame thrower if you find yourself under attack by a zombie horde, but most other beauty and hygiene products are pretty much single use. Also, if TEOTWAWKI ever happens, it’s not like I’ll just be able to skip down to Walmart for new shampoo and toothpaste when I run out. Natural alternatives tend to be a little more sustainable, and by switching now, at least I’ll stand a chance of being able to keep up my beauty routine after the poo hits the fan.
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Hello there, fellow preppers! I’m back after an unexpected hiatus that was forced on me by my “day job.”
Part of the reason for my absence is that I’ve been working toward my survival goal of getting out of debt and acquiring some land by overhauling my freelance business–niching down my services, raising my prices, overhauling my web site, researching marketing strategies, that sort of thing.
Any time I start giving serious attention to the structure and operation of my business like that, I eventually find myself starting to dream big, and this time it’s no different. Suddenly I’m having visions not just of improved income, but of someday growing my little web design “studio” beyond just me and my laptop to something that includes partners and employees and posh office space.
And then I remember that our nation and its economy are on the verge of a meltdown, and I reel it back in.
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