Homestead mailing list

[Cathy <goosecreekfarm AT gmail.com>]

Bob wrote


> > I hope I am completely wrong and that the economy is back to normal in
> 2-3
> > years.
>

 Hello Bob.  I've been quietly, cautiously wishing the economy back to
normal for quite a while. The kind of normal I've been wishing for is when
the fabric to make a dress costs less than a new dress, or when a tomato
grown locally costs less than a tomato shipped in from a thousand miles
away, or when the ingredients for a fast food meal cost less than a fast
food meal, or when it's cost effective to have an item repaired rather than
replaced.  I've been wishing quietly and cautiously because I am not looking
forward to the necessarily painful situation required to lead to a return to
that kind of normal.  It would require that the price of dresses,tomatoes,
fast food and many other items goes up up up.  I've not wished that kind of
pain on anyone--not myself either, since I'm woefully unprepared for it.

I'm unprepared because I haven't played by the rules well.

Work hard, be frugal/live modestly, buy with cash, spend less than you
make, donate to charity, plan for inevitable expenses, set aside for rainy
days, buy/pay off the house, save for the future.  Should you have the good
fortune to have enough to invest, remember that the stock market is a gamble
and invest prudently.

These are the rules I learned.  If I had followed them instead of flaunting
several of them, all other things being equal, I think I'd probably be
pretty well situated for the mess we're facing.  Are these the rules you're
referring to?

Cathy