Site News & InfoI like it as is. Doomsteader thanks for the posts.
I like it as is. Doomsteader thanks for the posts.
I think it would help if more people posted. Doomsteader has been Great with his posts. Thank you Doomsteader.
I miss the good old days .. the first couple years post LATOC. Not enough people now to get more than a few posts into a dead horse beating.
I will automatically recognize that my perspective is biased, since I only found LATOC in early 2008, I think. That was an intense time, with the conspiracy ideas of Sept. 2001 not far behind, yet the Great Recession[TM] was imminent while oil prices were (by that past's standard) going sky-high. What happened since then? LATOC got so big and busy that the forum broke up into 4 or 5 new forums, some of which since died off. Over here, we have what I'll call the most reasonable bunch, which is what I like about this place.
Perhaps more importantly, despite a decade of predictions of imminent doom (which I actually think will eventually happen soon enough: another financial crisis with a general impoverishment of the population, followed by another lousy swing upwards), we're still waiting. I think the term "doom fatigue" might be an understatement. If I recall properly to 2008 and also to May 2010, the LATOC forum lit up when things were actually crashing and going downhill. A nearly decade-long positive streak has gotten people complacent, or perhaps too busy with their lives like me.
What about me? I did get a child 2 years ago. Wonderful thing that has had positive impacts: I love having this new reason to live positively, and I have pretty much become my dad, whereby I am a suburbia-dwelling car-driving slave to the system. Doesn't prevent me from trying to make the most of it for doomer purposes as well, but with family, priorities lie where they are.
But I will never forget that the gasoline for the car is a limited resource, that retirement at age 65 in the mid-2040s will be nothing like what my parents are getting, that I will probably be the grand-parent living with my children and grandchildren in the same cramped house eating Canadian staple foods (potatoes etc.).
Instead of being a contributor to this forum by finding interesting news (thanks Doomsteader, we couldn't do it without you), I wanted to write original pieces. This isn't happening due to competing personal and professional commitments. Saying no is still a challenge for me, but I'm learning! So my participation is limited to some beaver-related posts or otherwise some occasional sarcastic comments. No promise, but I might try to provide more original content.
I should have added that I see this forum like really good friends: we don't need to talk often to stay close. If anyone of you showed up at my 'stead, I couldn't say no to having you over!
Also, I owe it to LATOC and all of you guys for giving me the courage to get rid of the lemon car before the end of the 5-year loan, in 2008: I borrowed from my parents to pay off the loan, then dumped the car (it was effectively worthless), paid off that loan, then borrowed from the bank to pay off a large credit card balance, then a year later borrowed from my parents at half the rate to pay that off, and paid my parents off a year later, then asked them for another loan to pay off the total remaining LOC balance I had, I think, which I paid off a year later. All in all, in 5 years, I saved nearly 40k which went to paying off loans and credit cards and a line of credit, and put a lot of money in savings, all the while occasionally traveling by train or coach and saving over 5k for an overseas trip. The next year, I also acquired a big chunk of land that will become a working 'stead one day.
Without you guys, I would have never had the courage to stand up to DH and constantly promising him another car "soon" yet knowing that the longer we waited, the better we were going to be financially. It took a while, but when his own savings account's balance started going up fast, he really understood the wisdom of all the sacrifices we were making. Since then, we haven't had any debt aside from a mortgage and new car's loan.
By becoming more aware of the macros of finance while knowing who I could trust in the financial blogosphere, I could anticipate rate changes and renewed my mortgage at the lowest rate, while keeping my payments the same, thereby shaving 7 months of payments "for free".
Let's not put ourselves down, even those who don't post much!
Cheers!Originally Posted by Poseidon
The school of hard knocks does not offer a tuition assistance program.
The time to build an Ark is when the sun is still shining.
The problem is...we are all part of the problem.
The Post Apocalyptic Starvation Diet will succeed where all other diets have failed.
The lack of the ability to adjust to new and different circumstances is by very definition the inability to evolve and as with all things that fail to evolve, they are doomed to extinction.
Cripes, Syn, I hope it wasn't me!
Mind you, I couldn't fit in half a glass of water ....
Otherwise, I largely agree with everyone else ... like it the way it is, and really do like the sense that I can post things privately.
Although I am on facebook, I tell SilCoers more about my life than I ever post on fb, mainly because it feels more private.
Last edited by Changer; 10-10-2018 at 10:34 PM.
Live as if you would die tomorrowThe “simple life” takes a lifetime to learn....Peter Goodchild
Learn as if you would live forever
Phew! I am pleased to hear that!
Hope the hobby farm (aka doomstead!) is going well.
Live as if you would die tomorrowThe “simple life” takes a lifetime to learn....Peter Goodchild
Learn as if you would live forever
Yeah - I would say it's going reasonably well! That is an impressive amount of work you have achieved!
Live as if you would die tomorrowThe “simple life” takes a lifetime to learn....Peter Goodchild
Learn as if you would live forever
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