Creak! Pop! This Thing’s Gonna Blow!

For me it’s a matter of balancing living in a world that has not collapsed and might not with living in one that increasingly seems like it will. I am at an age where I am thinking about my final lap. Resilience to me means reducing the need for income by reducing the needs for future spending.

Along these lines I bought a small tractor years ago. It saves my knees and back and reduces spending on land maintenance, it will enable me to keep doing my own work and to live my chosen lifestyle longer.

I have been planting permaculture to reduce spending on berries, and fruit. I also have an her garden. Small things but as food gets increasingly expensive it will become more important.

Increasing the energy efficiency of my home over time has caused my energy bills to remain static for 17 years.

I am likely going to reroof my home in the near future so it’s good to go for the remainder my my time here.

Tools are largely covered. Ditto many things I might need like light bulbs, socks and underwear. An extra set of utensils, and a few new kitchen knives and bread pans in reserve. Some long term food storage and medical and first aid supplies.

I have decent camping stuff and have selected items that accommodate aging campers, so worst case I can always afford a vacation of some sort.

I own some land as another form of investment / savings but like you I really like having some savings for the short term, medium, long term.

I also look at what I own and look for ways I could increase income if need be. I find this mental drill comforting. My basement is a rentable apartment. Most homes have master bedroom suite that could easily be rented out as a studio apartment with a kitchenette and possibly a separate entrance. Not that anyone would want to give up their own living space, but it’s nice to know there are options in a worst case scenario, I could increase my income by 1500 a month or more quickly. My farm truck and tractor could be put to work making money doing small side jobs. I could do package delivery work with my car. I had an outlet for an RV added too the wall on the back of my house. There is an extra opening/ injection point on the septic that could be used to an RV to dump. This could also be another income source, even though it is intended for relatives that own the things.

There are many baskets for our eggs, and even more ways to arrange the eggs among them. Looking at what you already have with fresh eyes, you might find you are more resilient than most.

14 Likes