I've made some progress this year as far as getting my house in order -- literally and figuratively. I paid everything off, maxed my 401K for the year and then retired. It was financially very tight doing so, but now that it's done it feels very good. Life is pay-as-you-go now. If I want or need to go somewhere else, I can.
The house isn't necessarily cleaner, but we've gotten rid of lots of unneeded stuff. My plan is to continue that trend in the future. We're getting older and life is simpler for us. A lot of the 'stuff' is nostalgic -- some is actually from my parents and duplicated my own. If it is still useful but not to us, we'll donate it to someone who can or will actually use it. A few things went to the local museum, but most was in the "How many cheese graters or bath towels do we really need?" category.
Some of my progress included finding a good bargain on a small solar system with battery storage, AA battery recharge and lights. I found a food saver and repackaged some dry food storage items so they would last longer. We 'rotated' vehicles once I retired, allowing us to take a 21 year old car out of service. I found a good deal on a small portable wood burning heater for winter emergencies. We bought a used BBQ for grilling, emergency or not!
Even more meaningfully, I had some success at growing produce in recycled 5 gallon buckets. My previous gardening attempts here in the high desert had been much less successful. Strangely, asparagus, okra and beets were the big winners for surviving the heat and producing edibles. I had early success with sugar snap peas, but they picked up a fast-moving fungus that killed them in about 2 days. We planted a couple of berry bushes about 18 months ago. They didn't produce this past summer, but I have high hopes for next summer!
What were your big successes?
My biggest success this year was getting my husband and one of my grown sons on board with prepping. Each one has their own interests, but collectively we are much more organized and prepared for different events. In our case, it's major storms we are prepping for.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the tardy reply. That was a major accomplishment! Congrats - it will accelerate your readiness and really allow you to appreciate their individual talents and skills. Sounds like 2012 was a banner year for you!
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