View Full Version : Inflation, Energy and living on a fixed income.
Averageman
10-20-21, 10:18
With the price of fuel going up everywhere, those burning heating oil are going to have a cold winter.
The Price of food keeps climbing and those on a fixed income are hurting.
I'm guessing a few older folks are going to have a lean dark winter.
FromMyColdDeadHand
10-20-21, 10:42
Aren’t SS payments going up by a record amount? I have not doubt that it won’t cover the actual increases.
A also saw that we are going to use more coal because NG is too expensive and I assume in tight supply.
It would hilarious if our CO2 emissions went up or stopped their decline, because of Biden’s energy policy and war on natural gas.
My area home heating oil prices are as follows....(this is from one company but they're all competitive so the next company will be in the same ball park)
50-74gal $3.60
75-99gal $3.20
100-149gal $2.95
500+ $2.89
I skipped some in the middle. No reason to write them all, this gives a good idea.
So..... at least around here, most heating oil is in older homes, mostly WW2 era or older and in smaller towns. Large cities have long since converted. Many of those have also long since been converted to whatever but some still around. Having a wood burning stove installed or using the fireplace might not be a bad idea. Around here you can get enough wood for free or dirt cheap to supplement the oil. When trees fall across the road crews just cut it up and toss it in the woods. I see free wood listed on Craigslist all the time from homeowners who had trees chopped down on their property. And there's a few parks where construction companies dump trees that were cleared to make room for developments. Of course this does require one to do some leg work.
When it comes to food and fixed budget I would seriously recommend buying a scale and paying attention to servings as well as shopping carefully, buying better food. Cut out garbage like sodas and cookies. Look at sale items. My supermarket puts meat on 30-50% off when it's coming up to expiration dates. It's still perfectly fine to store and eat. Shop at multiple places if possible. Weigh your meals. You'd be surprised how much we over eat. Check out how much 4-6oz of red meat is.....it's not that big but it's calorie dense. Look at the serving sizes on labels. One tuna can is usually 2.5 - 3 servings. Buy in bulk when possible even if it means skipping on something none essential.
Add more vegetables. They're healthy and they fill you up.
This was some of my purchases this month
Pork butt $1.59/lb
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FromMyColdDeadHand
10-20-21, 11:33
We eat a crap load of pork. Tenderloin x4 on the grill makes for a great dinner and lunches for 3 days for a few people. Pork Loin in a slow coooker for 8 hours with potatoes and carrots- meal for 4 people under $20. LGS will do BOGO on roasts from time to time. Grill vegetables on skewers- oil and season- so good.
I make 10-12 pounds of meat balls at a time and portion them out in freezer bags for quick meals later.
Early pandemic I had the kids better trained to clear their plates, and for my wife to not over cook- especially on sides like pasta.
What are the economics on bread- buy versus bake? I got into it as a supply/reduce-trips during the pandemic. Stopped it as I tried to cut back on carbs earlier this year.
I'm not big on carbs, never was so I wouldn't know what bread or pasta costs. At most I'll buy a few of potatoes here and there throughout the year. I price out meat/seafood, vegetables and fruits. But making your own will probably be cheaper in the long run if you constantly consume bread. Same with a pasta maker. And speaking of making your own .....ground beef is cheaper when you do it yourself!
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I'm guessing those same folks probably won't regret voting for Chiden either. So much for the deomcRAT policies being good for the working man. This is a DIRECT result of having the lunatics back in charge of the country.
I swear people are getting stupider.
A cynical person would say that all the retirees who camp out to buy up all the ammo can sell it for what they paid and eat like kings for a while.
A more compassionate person would say that a 6.x% social security increase will not go far with heating, gas, and food costs climbing.
Andy
Adrenaline_6
10-20-21, 13:44
I buy 3 - 20lb bags of rice at a time and try to have at least 40lbs on hand. Rice keeps a long time. As far as carbs go, I don't buy into the current trend. It has been the staple food for most of Asia and they don't really have a weight problem, so I am calling bs. I can eat rice 3x times a day and eat a lot of it. I don't really have a weight problem. You just can't eat 2lbs of meat and gravy with it.
I buy 3 - 20lb bags of rice at a time and try to have at least 40lbs on hand. Rice keeps a long time. As far as carbs go, I don't buy into the current trend. It has been the staple food for most of Asia and they don't really have a weight problem, so I am calling bs. I can eat rice 3x times a day and eat a lot of it. I don't really have a weight problem. You just can't eat 2lbs of meat and gravy with it.
You undoubtedly have a more varied diet, but rice as the primary food can lead to thiamine deficiency(beriberi).
Used to be very common in SE Asia for that reason and seems to still have a lot of cases.
Adrenaline_6
10-20-21, 14:12
You undoubtedly have a more varied diet, but rice as the primary food can lead to thiamine deficiency(beriberi).
Used to be very common in SE Asia for that reason and seems to still have a lot of cases.
You are correct. I never meant primary, just a staple. The new trend currently is anti-carb - until it isn't a new trend and something else takes its place. I call bs on it because it is a staple in a lot of countries that don't have real obesity problems.
Theory is cool and all, but the proof is in the pudding and looking at a lot of countries, it is rice pudding. :)
I don't know how more and more people didn't see this coming. Almost every working man I know has talked about shortages in their respective industries, the price of gas and the understanding that dark days seem to be on the horizon. I'm not saying that this is the beginning of the end or anything, but with unemployment up not for the lack of jobs, and small business getting beat to death by lockdowns, this is a situation that that most people haven't seen in a very long time.
Yeah, we have been trying to decide if we should go ahead and add another pig and cow to the freezer. We have a good abit now, but.
Stocking up on other stuff too.
Only 10 months in, they are telling us to lower our expectations.
I figured as long as we have electricity, we got meat.
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This is why a long term storage food plan with proper rotation and stocking is so important. The food supply chain is relatively fragile, may not seem that way, but it is, more so each passing year.
I could live without most things, food and water are not on that list.
I keep minimum 6 months food supply for the whole family on the shelves in the basement, 200 gallons of long term water and I also have a big ass freezer chest full to the brim of meat on top of that and we always keep every refrigerator and pantry fully stocked with food in my house.
I’ve never felt like in the near future I might actually need to utilize the long term storage food more than I do currently.
There were a few weeks after Covid struck that I felt similar, but right now things are pointing to a lean and mean winter.
It’s getting weirder out there by the day.
It really feels like something big is going down and will drop Soon.
I really hope my gut feeling is wrong.
FromMyColdDeadHand
10-22-21, 00:26
Our food pantry is wide and deep closet. It is a nightmare to rotate and control stock. We just threw out a bunch of food from last year that was out of date. I wanted to make the shelves into roll-in/out shelves so that we could actually see and place things better; i got vetoed.
Luckily I moved from Florida to Iowa. As a result I have almost half a year of open window weather vs. running the AC for 11 months. My power bills, which include tvs left on all day long, computers up around the clock and things like that are about 60% of what they were in Florida and my overall cost of living is about half of what I left behind and Florida was still climbing when I left.
My household income vs. cost of living has been dramatically offset compared to what it was in Florida where every month was a break even month. I'm not getting rich or anything but I am more comfortable. When you factor in comparative quality of life considerations, it's all win. I like every single one of my neighbors. I like almost every person I have met. I don't have any plans to get even with anyone because nobody has really done anything yet that requires it. There are of course bad people, but so far I haven't met them.
Worst complaint I have is I still see stupid shit in traffic from time to time and Wal Mart is still Wal Mart.
This is why a long term storage food plan with proper rotation and stocking is so important. The food supply chain is relatively fragile, may not seem that way, but it is, more so each passing year.
I could live without most things, food and water are not on that list.
I keep minimum 6 months food supply for the whole family on the shelves in the basement, 200 gallons of long term water and I also have a big ass freezer chest full to the brim of meat on top of that and we always keep every refrigerator and pantry fully stocked with food in my house.
I’ve never felt like in the near future I might actually need to utilize the long term storage food more than I do currently.
There were a few weeks after Covid struck that I felt similar, but right now things are pointing to a lean and mean winter.
It’s getting weirder out there by the day.
It really feels like something big is going down and will drop Soon.
I really hope my gut feeling is wrong.
This. This is how Americans used to live. It was common, expected. Then came "convenience" etc....Well, now we reap the rewards of all that easy living.
Me, I'm good. Bought a brand new Lopi wood stove in November to replace my old one (old one under a tarp now in the shed as a "spare")... 8 cords of seasoned firewood. We canned and dehydrated non stop from our garden and orchard for about 5 weeks straight and just finished about a week ago...Raising a steer for next spring- 2x 20' freezers still have some of last years in them, chickens running all over the yard...Will kill a couple feral hogs and deer in the next month, maybe a Nilgai (EXCELENT meat and a good bull is 500 Plus Pounds)..... Don't worry about much.
This. This is how Americans used to live. It was common, expected. Then came "convenience" etc....Well, now we reap the rewards of all that easy living.
.
Not just. It's easy to say Americans are fat and lazy and "convenience". And there's definitely truth to that .... without a doubt. But there's also more people and the more people there is the less space there is per person. Try keeping all that in a one/two bedroom apartment with about 700sq ft
Sure you could say move out of that area but people are social creatures and if everyone did that you'll just be moving that place around with no real difference. For example. When I moved to the suburbs in 96 there was not much here. It was lots of farm land and older developments dotted the landscape. Houses built in the 60s-80s. Today there's almost no farmland left. Theres almost no "woods" left. In 2007 I used to go to a local outdoor range that was almost walking distance from me. Today Id have to walk through two dozen backyards to get there. The bridge is closed because it was never meant to take on so much traffic and I have to use the main roads and go around and because of so many houses theres calls to close the range..... which is basically an old farm. If they close some developer will scoop in and buy it up and put four multi million dollar houses on it. So this area is nothing but McMansions. Why? Because everyone thought the same thing....let's move to where there more land. And yes people are also creatures of habit so convenience does play a role
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Aren’t SS payments going up by a record amount? I have not doubt that it won’t cover the actual increases.
A also saw that we are going to use more coal because NG is too expensive and I assume in tight supply.
It would hilarious if our CO2 emissions went up or stopped their decline, because of Biden’s energy policy and war on natural gas.
SS is nothing after you buy Medicare supplements to insure yourself. If you are not insured and get sick the doctors and hospital will take everything you own. Don't count on SS checks for buying anything but cheap pet food to eat.
remember facebook is going to turn you in if you talk about preparing food and or storing it makes you a terrorist !
Not just. It's easy to say Americans are fat and lazy and "convenience". And there's definitely truth to that .... without a doubt. But there's also more people and the more people there is the less space there is per person. Try keeping all that in a one/two bedroom apartment with about 700sq ft
Sure you could say move out of that area but people are social creatures and if everyone did that you'll just be moving that place around with no real difference. For example. When I moved to the suburbs in 96 there was not much here. It was lots of farm land and older developments dotted the landscape. Houses built in the 60s-80s. Today there's almost no farmland left. Theres almost no "woods" left. In 2007 I used to go to a local outdoor range that was almost walking distance from me. Today Id have to walk through two dozen backyards to get there. The bridge is closed because it was never meant to take on so much traffic and I have to use the main roads and go around and because of so many houses theres calls to close the range..... which is basically an old farm. If they close some developer will scoop in and buy it up and put four multi million dollar houses on it. So this area is nothing but McMansions. Why? Because everyone thought the same thing....let's move to where there more land. And yes people are also creatures of habit so convenience does play a role
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Life is about choices. Ask SteyrAug how much happier he is, making the same money, living in Iowa now vs. Florida....
This is a BIG country, not as big as Russia of course but there are plenty of places where people can live in small communities in a traditional manner. Yes, people are social creatures and "community" matters- but have you never heard someone explain how lonely they were in a city of a Million People? It's a quality vs. quantity thing. Just because you are surrounded by strangers- that's not a fulfilling "community" in terms of human interaction.
Life is about choices. Ask SteyrAug how much happier he is, making the same money, living in Iowa now vs. Florida....
This is a BIG country, not as big as Russia of course but there are plenty of places where people can live in small communities in a traditional manner. Yes, people are social creatures and "community" matters- but have you never heard someone explain how lonely they were in a city of a Million People? It's a quality vs. quantity thing. Just because you are surrounded by strangers- that's not a fulfilling "community" in terms of human interaction.
Agreed. I moved 4 hours away from the Minneapolis/ St. Paul and it feels great. My cost of living dropped, my access to shooting and courses increased and my wife and kids live better lives with better education, and more access to friends and loved ones. We were just back in the Twin Cities with friends this last weekend for the first time in almost 2 years and it is amazing how much worse it keeps getting for them as our lives have improved. A friend of mine is an Architect and still can't afford a home within 20-30min of driving distance from his work so he's bartending on weekends to save up.
I do miss really good Thai food, and the ability to go out to dinner and not bump into anyone we know, but at the same time I don't worry about my kids riding their bikes around our neighborhood and getting gas or getting cash from my local ATM late at night.
Life is about choices. Ask SteyrAug how much happier he is, making the same money, living in Iowa now vs. Florida....
This is a BIG country, not as big as Russia of course but there are plenty of places where people can live in small communities in a traditional manner. Yes, people are social creatures and "community" matters- but have you never heard someone explain how lonely they were in a city of a Million People? It's a quality vs. quantity thing. Just because you are surrounded by strangers- that's not a fulfilling "community" in terms of human interaction.I didn't mean fulfilling interactions or million strangers. Simply that once one does it everybody does it! (Obviously not literally everybody).
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Life is about choices. Ask SteyrAug how much happier he is, making the same money, living in Iowa now vs. Florida....
This is a BIG country, not as big as Russia of course but there are plenty of places where people can live in small communities in a traditional manner. Yes, people are social creatures and "community" matters- but have you never heard someone explain how lonely they were in a city of a Million People? It's a quality vs. quantity thing. Just because you are surrounded by strangers- that's not a fulfilling "community" in terms of human interaction.
And it took a LOT of money and a LOT of hard work to move. Life and government don't make it easy to pick up and relocate across the country. And just TRY and move a FFL / SOT and an inventory of NFA stuff to a state that only recently adopted NFA firearms. I had to do federal, state and town approval, licensing, code and zoning, etc. ON THE PHONE long distance. I wasn't allowed to leave the state of Florida UNTIL my FFL and SOT was approved in Iowa.
And THEN I could coordinate movers and such. If I didn't have a very, very good friend who let me set up shop in his parents house until I could find and buy one of my own, it might not have been possible. But even with all of that effort to make the planets line up for me, it was still worth it.
In Florida I used to ponder which neighbors I would eliminate first IF society truly collapsed. I had a mental list. In Iowa, I'm actually going to have to go rescue a bunch of people. There are people in the neighborhood who will be "on their own" but there are people on the block who can just "bunk down with us" IF it becomes necessary.
July of 2019 we had a tornado roll through the north end of town (first time in about 60 years) and my house was like a hotel. We had zero damage, the power didn't even flicker and everything on this side of town was OPEN. So yeah everyone from friends to my insurance agent was invited to bunk down here rather than camp in their wide open house. I had another half dozen just swinging by in the morning to take a shower before work and then stopping by after work to eat a hot meal.
None of it was a problem and I was glad to help them. It was also EASY. Take a Cat 4 hurricane and EVERYONE is down for 3 to 4 counties. No power, no gas, what you have is what you have. When gas stations are up and grocery stores are open, I can do that standing on my head.
When everyone took a major wind storm last year, people I didn't even know were running chain saws and clearing trees out of the road with ATVs. I was looking at a tree through my roof and thinking "How the blue F am I gonna clear that out of there" and the kid next door goes "I'll be over in 30 minutes with a chainsaw as soon as I get my roof cleared." He didn't owe me anything, I didn't even ask for help, he just came over and made big shit into little stuff that could be moved and it went from there.
Best thing I did was bail on South Florida when I could. Nice place to visit, but man I was living in the wrong state for that point in my life.
....
In Florida I used to ponder which neighbors I would eliminate first IF society truly collapsed. I had a mental list. In Iowa, I'm actually going to have to go rescue a bunch of people. There are people in the neighborhood who will be "on their own" but there are people on the block who can just "bunk down with us" IF it becomes necessary.
Mel Tappan the old Survival Guns guy from Guns and Ammo in the 70's and 80's had a saying- "In a small town, the "problems" can be handled with a single magazine of .45 auto". Lol....some things don't change...
P2Vaircrewman
10-28-21, 09:47
After going through hurricane Ida, a cat 4, no power no water for two weeks, no cable or internet for 4 weeks, on and off cellular service, fighting with the insurance company, trying to get repairs done when everyone needs repairs done I am trying to convince my wife to move. We both have very few family left here and no real reason to stay. Biggest issue is where to go.
After going through hurricane Ida, a cat 4, no power no water for two weeks, no cable or internet for 4 weeks, on and off cellular service, fighting with the insurance company, trying to get repairs done when everyone needs repairs done I am trying to convince my wife to move. We both have very few family left here and no real reason to stay. Biggest issue is where to go.
If I was you, I'd look North and not that far- Missouri etc....Reasonably priced land, rural, plenty of water and timber, decent growing season etc....
FromMyColdDeadHand
10-28-21, 15:18
I’m getting a bit nervous about food supply- mainly in getting what I want at a price that doesn’t make me puke- over the next year. When Sysco sends out warning about supply, I’m thinking that means something.
If I were to look at putting in a freezer and stocking it with meat, anyone have a good website or vids that would be a good intro to that. 5 people. Minimum size to stock, and I assume buy beef in standard quantities.
I don’t really have room at my place, but my MIL has plenty of room in her garage for a freezer.
I’m getting a bit nervous about food supply- mainly in getting what I want at a price that doesn’t make me puke- over the next year. When Sysco sends out warning about supply, I’m thinking that means something.
If I were to look at putting in a freezer and stocking it with meat, anyone have a good website or vids that would be a good intro to that. 5 people. Minimum size to stock, and I assume buy beef in standard quantities.
I don’t really have room at my place, but my MIL has plenty of room in her garage for a freezer.
What specific information are you looking for?
You can store meat indefinitely at 0 degree F and it is safe to eat, however it’s quality will degrade over time.
For most meat, quality is not compromised in the 8-14 month time frame as long as it is packaged properly.
Vacuum sealed packaging and stored at or below 0 degree F is best practice.
You can store and package any quantity you like. Whole chickens and larger portions of beef and pork, etc- last a little longer than single serving packaging, though.
If you store meats in original packaging the longevity decreases drastically.
Invest in a good vacuum sealer.
What else would you like to know?
Some other thoughts on Meat storage I find wrapping my own in coated butcher paper best over vac unless you are talking $600 type vac and the bags for the high end are cheap and the vac is superior to the home style ones you see so often :) that is a whole other thread I reckon :)
You might try both find which one ya like
Why I find it better ? Storing a lot of meat if it moves around when getting some out frozen meat can wear a hole not to common but does happen in the vac bags the regular type vac bags you get at costco or so are expensive when packing a lot of meat and the machine is slow ! Paper IMHO just protects the meat better also
I use vac for sous vide a lot though and some cuts
I alone eat about 2-3 lbs of meat a day every day so have a lot of meat in storage and rotate out with fresh and long term and with family a few extra lbs on top so go through a lot of meat
Cheaper cuts like tri-tip in sousvide then just finish off on grill or with torch is super good and reasonable last week about $5 a lb but again really good tasting texture for the money
I love flap meat so do my kids it has gone up insane now about 7-9 bucks a lb
Otherwise I live on ribeye but its gotten quite spendy sadly and I do like to mix it up some but never get tired of ribeye :)
One thing I am in AZ we have a lot of more cater to Mexican crowd places they seem cheap and older BUT the meat section while not as high quality has some meats really cheap ! Not sure about your area but could be worth looking into
I tend to just buy what I can at costco eat fresh and then freeze rest and then pull the older date and use for next few days so fresh 1 frozen for 3 and repeat
If you love ribeye/NY etc... you can get whole untrimmed loin roast whatever ya want to call it so a whiole 20lb cryovac you then just cut your own and save some since its not trimmed or cut you just have to often ask the costco meat guys for it
IMHO pot roast style meats or stew meats can be cheap and good as said above in large size less surface area so last better I just try to think what is family size with a bit of leftover and pack to that size
So like the burgers packing 6 at a time I can pull for family or 3 at a time if its just me eating them but then its ONE pack with sharpie of whats inside
A sous vide machine is awesome to have so is a instantpot besides regular grilling cooking methods especially sous vide or the old fashion crock pots but sousvide can do amazing things with meat making them tender and not turn mushy or boiled like a crock pot :)
Business costco dif than the regular costco has a HUGE selection of meats IF you have one near you they are not that common though you can buy meat by the case or whole lamb etc...
I prefer fatty burger over lean better tasting better health way cheaper etc... so 72/28 has been under 3 bucks last week
One thing I do is get meat packing stuff and just make burgers and wrap in 3 or 6 burgers (mentioed above why) I make and use these plastic type sheets things to keep them from freezing together I make them pre freeze on a sheet pan and then wrap so shape is held
Take them out the day or two before and super easy fast
As said above pork is cheaper (not as good nutrient wise) but still good flavor and super cheap and freezes well IMHO chicken never freezes as well as pork and red meat
To me chest freezers are best since they do not go through a auto defrost which heats up cools down to defrost and can really make your food frosty ironic as that is :) or just ruins meat much quicker since it can let it slightly loose temp then freeze also getting in does not dump the cold like a upright
IMHO 2 smaller say 5 foot chest freezers over 1 10 foot if one dies cheaply made these days you can usually transfer some to the other so prefer that 2 freezers over one
Air space you want as little as you can ? Get a 20lb bag of rice lay in bottom as a idea of filling space of course just styrofoam or milk jugs with water so many ideas me I prefer to fill it with food like large bags of rice you could take out then put back in
For chest some folks like to use milk crates of some kind for sorting inside ? I dont bother as the way I pack never needed it but can see it being handy
Biggest thing label and date everything and if you want to be handy we do some ground beef in set amounts so I can just take out 1 or 2 lb ready to go for some recipes and not have to guess or measure
I’m getting a bit nervous about food supply- mainly in getting what I want at a price that doesn’t make me puke- over the next year. When Sysco sends out warning about supply, I’m thinking that means something.
If I were to look at putting in a freezer and stocking it with meat, anyone have a good website or vids that would be a good intro to that. 5 people. Minimum size to stock, and I assume buy beef in standard quantities.
I don’t really have room at my place, but my MIL has plenty of room in her garage for a freezer.I'll echo what the other poster said. Frozen meat will sit indefinitely. I'm currently going through corned beef brisket that I bought on sale 5 years ago. After St. Patricks day local supermarket was having buy one get one free. I stocked up ..... probably 20 packs of them maybe more. I just rotate them between with all the other meat. They're still perfectly good and have not degraded.
Buy whatever you feel you like/will eat, doesn't have to be beef. I stock anything that swims or walks. Look for sales and if there's a limit either walk out and back in or send someone else in to get more.
A vacuum sealer is not necessary but would definitely be a benefit. For a while I didn't have one and I didn't seem to have a problem. There's were a few shark steaks that partially dried out but that was an oops on my part. Overall it's money well spent. I used a simple Food Saver vacuum from Costco. Walmart and Target have the same thing. I think it was like $90.
Labels and dates help. I just cut off the original label from the package. That way I know what, when and weight. I just find it easier to cut the label out instead of rewriting the info.
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I think you are right to be concerned. Price and availability are going to be in flux for quite awhile and there are so many things we have no control over that will affect it. For example- due to much higher natural gas prices, fertilizer for spring planting has gone up 2-3X. How many businesses do you know that can simply absorb a 3x price increase in input costs? Farmers already operate on razor thin margins. They will either plant other crops- corn NEEDS fertilizer, or they will pass along the costs. Less corn- higher pork and beef prices, period. The cattle herd in CONUS has declined by about 1.5% per USDA since 2019 while demand remains strong.
With freezers I much prefer uprights over chest though chest is more energy efficient. Uprights are much easier to organize/see what you have. Mine are "garage" models- they are built heavier as temps vary more in garages vs. homes. I find vac sealing seems to work very well, I can SEE what I have and we lose less to freezer burn. We also can quite a bit of meat and dehydrate garden and tree crops.
However, simply BUYING food is a very short term solution. You have to PRODUCE food in order to be truly secure. Food is a consumable obviously, you can never store enough- the old Biblical advice about 7 years etc....99% of people have no idea what 7 years worth of food looks like! Storage of that much food for a family would literally require a warehouse. Produce as much as you can either by growing it- garden, tree/bush crops, or shooting/catching it. We put 3-4 feral hogs in the freezer every year. We will kill half a dozen deer. We'll put an Elk, Nilgai or Bear away as able....In addition to about 50 chickens and a beef we slaughter. If I can sneak in a trip to Lake Texhoma, we will put away a huge mess of stripers.....We have a couple hundred limed eggs in the pantry from the months when our chickens lay well....
Averageman
10-29-21, 09:18
Please, if you have plenty and you can spare some for an elderly person living on Social Security, it would be a nice jesture.
Between the rising price of food and fuel a lot of elderly folks will be faced with hard choices.
I'm not saying feed a Hobo, but if there is an Elderly person you go to Church with, a Sunday Dinner and a load of leftovers might well be appreciated. Likely more than you'll ever know.
I have a feeling it's going to be a rough Winter for those in the rust belt.
Please, if you have plenty and you can spare some for an elderly person living on Social Security, it would be a nice jesture.
Between the rising price of food and fuel a lot of elderly folks will be faced with hard choices.
I'm not saying feed a Hobo, but if there is an Elderly person you go to Church with, a Sunday Dinner and a load of leftovers might well be appreciated. Likely more than you'll ever know.
I have a feeling it's going to be a rough Winter for those in the rust belt.
So far this fall I've delivered 4 full cords of firewood to people who otherwise would not have had any. I cut quite a bit of wood every year. I enjoy it actually and other than some gas and oil and some chains now and then it really doesn't cost me anything. Spent several weekends this last spring cutting thinking some extra would be a comfort for people. Glad I did.
We canned and froze a huge pile of apples in September. There is an elderly gentleman on our block that has some wonderful trees that bear very well. We essentially gave him half of what we gathered/put up for letting us pick them. They otherwise would have rotted on the ground likely....
Last hog I shot I dressed and dropped at the local processor. I called one of several people I keep on a list and told them to call the processor if they wanted the hog. Processor said they called right away and he charged them a nominal amount for his work. Again, doesn't cost me hardly anything-some time gutting.... I shoot the hogs anyway and would leave them lay if no one wanted them.
There are plenty of things you can do to help people out that don't have to "put you out" much....
FromMyColdDeadHand
10-29-21, 11:27
Thanks on the freezer thoughts. I was mainly loooking for size suggestions that make sense for 4-5 people and also how meat is bought. Since I’m in CO, I thought that it might be easier to find a rancher selling direct. Can you buy it vacuum packed and already frozen? I’ve just joined COSTCO this year and have done more pork ribs and shoulder for BBQ. Is it OK to freeze those in the COSTCO packaging?
I was thinking beef mainly because I’m here in CO, also that seems to be the one that gets tight on supply and increases in price.
There is a local butcher, but he is more boutique than bulk. I do love his ‘hamburger’. Scraps from steaks that they grind up. Expensive, but tasty.
Interesting on the vertical vs chest freezer. Rotating even in our fridge freezers gets tough, let alone the pantry.
I dabble in gardens, but just don’t have the space, or really the light in my back yard. Tomatoes, maybe a zucchini (that is a lot of food per plant!), some peppers and herbs is all I’ve been able to do. I think I might try the ‘upside-down’ tomato method next year to get better light, yield and space utalization. Best food plants for semi-sunny locations.
I grew five corn plants in our front yard one year just to piss off my wife- she thought it was too red-neck.
Thanks on the freezer thoughts. I was mainly loooking for size suggestions that make sense for 4-5 people and also how meat is bought. Since I’m in CO, I thought that it might be easier to find a rancher selling direct. Can you buy it vacuum packed and already frozen? I’ve just joined COSTCO this year and have done more pork ribs and shoulder for BBQ. Is it OK to freeze those in the COSTCO packaging?
I was thinking beef mainly because I’m here in CO, also that seems to be the one that gets tight on supply and increases in price.
There is a local butcher, but he is more boutique than bulk. I do love his ‘hamburger’. Scraps from steaks that they grind up. Expensive, but tasty.
Interesting on the vertical vs chest freezer. Rotating even in our fridge freezers gets tough, let alone the pantry.
I dabble in gardens, but just don’t have the space, or really the light in my back yard. Tomatoes, maybe a zucchini (that is a lot of food per plant!), some peppers and herbs is all I’ve been able to do. I think I might try the ‘upside-down’ tomato method next year to get better light, yield and space utalization. Best food plants for semi-sunny locations.
I grew five corn plants in our front yard one year just to piss off my wife- she thought it was too red-neck.
They'll be fine in the original wrapping but there's a greater risk of freezer burn. I have meat I put away last year in it's original wrapping and it's still fine but every once in a while I notice one that's starting to get freezer burn. It's easier to just vacuum seal. You know those pork loins Costco sells? The long ones? My mom just cuts them in half and puts tin foil on the cut end and into the freezer. They don't seem to have any issues although I keep telling her to just vacuum seal it to be on the safe side.
I personally don't buy based on what gets tight on supply and increases in price. I like all dead animals. I just buy based on price. You might find a rancher or butcher selling cheaper in bulk but that depends on your area. Here there's a few good farms but grass fed, grass finished beef is EXPENSIVE. Too expensive to stock. Even grass fed grain finished isn't cheap.
I don't know if you like organ meat but it can be very delicious and cost less..... sometimes. Some farms toss that stuff. I try to do some type kidneys, liver, bone marrow, heart or gizzards from chickens once a week. Beef heart on the grill or cast iron skillet is like a tender juicy steak!!!!
Rotating is a PITA. I try to keep moving meat into the refrigerator freezer from the chest freezer. The refrigerator is where I'll get the food to cook while the chest freezer is for storage. It kinda works but you end up forgetting what you have sometimes.
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Thanks on the freezer thoughts. I was mainly loooking for size suggestions that make sense for 4-5 people and also how meat is bought. Since I’m in CO, I thought that it might be easier to find a rancher selling direct. Can you buy it vacuum packed and already frozen? I’ve just joined COSTCO this year and have done more pork ribs and shoulder for BBQ. Is it OK to freeze those in the COSTCO packaging?
I was thinking beef mainly because I’m here in CO, also that seems to be the one that gets tight on supply and increases in price.
There is a local butcher, but he is more boutique than bulk. I do love his ‘hamburger’. Scraps from steaks that they grind up. Expensive, but tasty.
Interesting on the vertical vs chest freezer. Rotating even in our fridge freezers gets tough, let alone the pantry.
I dabble in gardens, but just don’t have the space, or really the light in my back yard. Tomatoes, maybe a zucchini (that is a lot of food per plant!), some peppers and herbs is all I’ve been able to do. I think I might try the ‘upside-down’ tomato method next year to get better light, yield and space utalization. Best food plants for semi-sunny locations.
I grew five corn plants in our front yard one year just to piss off my wife- she thought it was too red-neck.
Rotating is tough. I can't tell you how many times back when we used to do "butcher paper" for things we would go look in the freezer and find something we had forgotten- oh, they are all labeled etc....but you miss the little blue lettering as to what's what some times....With Vacuum pack it's a little easier to see what's in each package. With the upright freezer it's a little easier it seems. We had a decent system with the old chests using milk crates and hanging baskets to segregate things but still somehow would miss stuff. Freezer "cleanout" was a yearly thing.
Another thing you might consider is buying whole "legs" of ground beef. They will sell it at Sams and I would guess Costco etc...in 10 LB rolls. It saves you a little anyway, we buy them and break them down into smaller increments and freeze, can some too. Canning ground beef is pretty easy. Wife likes to have it around as it makes for nearly instant meals and doesn't require refrigeration.
Being in Colorado do you have any interest in hunting? Lots of good public land hunts in Colorado. I won't say that game meat is "free"- because it's not, especially if you don't process it yourself but, it is all organic and chemical free if that matters much to you.
Thanks on the freezer thoughts. I was mainly loooking for size suggestions that make sense for 4-5 people and also how meat is bought. Since I’m in CO, I thought that it might be easier to find a rancher selling direct. Can you buy it vacuum packed and already frozen? I’ve just joined COSTCO this year and have done more pork ribs and shoulder for BBQ. Is it OK to freeze those in the COSTCO packaging?
I was thinking beef mainly because I’m here in CO, also that seems to be the one that gets tight on supply and increases in price.
There is a local butcher, but he is more boutique than bulk. I do love his ‘hamburger’. Scraps from steaks that they grind up. Expensive, but tasty.
Interesting on the vertical vs chest freezer. Rotating even in our fridge freezers gets tough, let alone the pantry.
I dabble in gardens, but just don’t have the space, or really the light in my back yard. Tomatoes, maybe a zucchini (that is a lot of food per plant!), some peppers and herbs is all I’ve been able to do. I think I might try the ‘upside-down’ tomato method next year to get better light, yield and space utalization. Best food plants for semi-sunny locations.
I grew five corn plants in our front yard one year just to piss off my wife- she thought it was too red-neck.
https://sunprairiebeef.com/
They have excellent meat and do a North Metro area and South Metro Area pick up once a month, you can also pay for shipping or go directly to them. They're not cheap, but the meat is high quality and a good price for what you're getting.
They have 10lb and 25lb boxes you can choose, or custom make a box with your selections of meats/cuts. They also do 1/2 hogs and 1/4 or 1/2 sides of beef.
I have 5 people in my family and we have 2 chest freezers, one is 10 cubic feet and one is 16 cubic feet.
The 16 cubic foot is for larger items and longer term storage and we rotate what we need into the 10 cubic foot for daily use and shorter term storage use.
It's plenty of room for us and I keep them full to the brim. I built some slim profile dividers with removable shelves/baskets to keep things organized and easy.
Here's a good guide for sizing of freezer chests:
https://www.maytag.com/blog/kitchen/freezer-sizes-and-dimensions-guide.html
Size considerations should be based on what size items you intend to store, also. My 10 Cubic foot chest can hold a whole side of beef, but it is an odd fit and doesn't leave much space or anything else, but my 16 will hold a whole side plus a lot more.
1/4 sides of beef fit in smaller 5-6 cubic foot models, but don't leave space for optimizing the useable storage capacity with other items.
I'd recommend seeing the maximum size you can reasonably fit into your home, and buying that model and filling it up.
You're fine to freeze things in store packaging, if it is packaged from the store in a vacuum seal type fashion, like a lot of bulk meats from Costco are, there's no need to do another round of vacuum sealing unless you want to break things up into smaller portions or ease of use.
If the package has air pockets in it, you risk freezer burn and the plastic being punctured and not doing the meat any favors.
ETA: I am a nerd and keep spreadsheets of what is in each chest. As I add new or use and rotate I date and mark quantities and relative location. I have a location matrix identifying system I use so I know where stuff is. It's a little more work, but it pays off and I don't waste much of anything because I know what I have and how old it is and where it is at.
I do the same thing with my longer term storage shelf stored freeze dried food and all the foods in the basement stock room.
The downside of freezers is the possibility of losing power for an extended time. Living in an area prone to hurricanes we take the possibility seriously. I have enough propane and gasoline for the generator (duel fuel) to keep the fridge and freezer pulled down for about 100 hours. You only have to run the genny for an hour twice a day to maintain. Here is trick we use to let us know if the freezer has been down long enough for the meat to thaw. Fill a medicine cup full of water and put it in the freezer. When it freezes put a quarter on top of the ice. If the freezer fails for any length of time the ice in the cup melts and the coin sinks.
I keep a generator and gas for power outage also
Store wrap in the styrofoam tray type that plastic is air permeable for sure %100 you will get burn with it so change it ! Unless its for a month or less and you are OK with frosty meat ! YUCK :)
15cuft min IMHO as a starting point IMHO the small chest like 6 ft are not worth it I feel !
Research upright vs chest and get one you think sounds best for you :)
worst case you wish you had the other one and then as you grow your storage get the other one :)
Either one is better than NONE and 2 is best IMHO :) again I prefer chest but if someone prefers upright they have their reason why its all good :)
Again paper is way cheaper than the foodsaver bags which again are pricy for how much you get !
better quality vac pack bags are insane cheap but the machines are $$$ but work really really well !
to start off so budget wise paper is your friend and if eating within a year will do you well IMHO :) since you did mention budget is concern is why I beat this dead horse :)
places like sportsmans warehouse or cabelas (hunting folks do their own often) or restaurant supply stores have great stuff to for packing that is cheaper than the dept store prices
As far as rotating and storage again that is if you are messy type person :) you might have issues if you are organized personality wont be a issue IMHO anyway
As said many use milk crates to store food in chest freezers red ones for red meat yellow for poultry and green for pork as example two high that way you can have less bend in height and your newer is below empty the top and rotate out but having them fit proper can be a bit tougher since chances are they will not fit 2 deep as in front to back so you will have ONE row deep and a few across ?
I also prefer to freeze some things overnight on trays as they lay super flat like burgers I pre-make you can just take a 2 lb pack of ground beef put in fridge and make your own but I do find having them pre-made is handy with kids and life OH way better to make your own than those preformed ones you can buy IMHO they are so dry and horrid compared :) so skip those do your own
Also IF you ever freeze soups or other things chili etc... in vac pac or freezer bags and lay those flat on a sheet pan to freeze ! they stack upright and are super easy to get way more in and since they are flat rather than a odd shape
I keep a generator and gas for power outage also
Store wrap in the styrofoam tray type that plastic is air permeable for sure %100 you will get burn with it so change it ! Unless its for a month or less and you are OK with frosty meat ! YUCK :)
15cuft min IMHO as a starting point IMHO the small chest like 6 ft are not worth it I feel !
Research upright vs chest and get one you think sounds best for you :)
worst case you wish you had the other one and then as you grow your storage get the other one :)
Either one is better than NONE and 2 is best IMHO :) again I prefer chest but if someone prefers upright they have their reason why its all good :)
Again paper is way cheaper than the foodsaver bags which again are pricy for how much you get !
better quality vac pack bags are insane cheap but the machines are $$$ but work really really well !
to start off so budget wise paper is your friend and if eating within a year will do you well IMHO :) since you did mention budget is concern is why I beat this dead horse :)
places like sportsmans warehouse or cabelas (hunting folks do their own often) or restaurant supply stores have great stuff to for packing that is cheaper than the dept store prices
As far as rotating and storage again that is if you are messy type person :) you might have issues if you are organized personality wont be a issue IMHO anyway
As said many use milk crates to store food in chest freezers red ones for red meat yellow for poultry and green for pork as example two high that way you can have less bend in height and your newer is below empty the top and rotate out but having them fit proper can be a bit tougher since chances are they will not fit 2 deep as in front to back so you will have ONE row deep and a few across ?
I also prefer to freeze some things overnight on trays as they lay super flat like burgers I pre-make you can just take a 2 lb pack of ground beef put in fridge and make your own but I do find having them pre-made is handy with kids and life OH way better to make your own than those preformed ones you can buy IMHO they are so dry and horrid compared :) so skip those do your own
Also IF you ever freeze soups or other things chili etc... in vac pac or freezer bags and lay those flat on a sheet pan to freeze ! they stack upright and are super easy to get way more in and since they are flat rather than a odd shape
Vacuum is about $80 +/-. You can even get away with $30 one if you seal all but one edge then use that edge for suction. The bags aren't that expensive. I think I paid $20 for two giant 11X50 rolls.
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Vacuum is about $80 +/-. You can even get away with $30 one if you seal all but one edge then use that edge for suction. The bags aren't that expensive. I think I paid $20 for two giant 11X50 rolls.
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he wanted some budget ideas sounded like :)
paper I do think is better for that Lems 18" x 1100 foot roll is under $70 you can roll it out of box and cut with knife or buy a roll holder and makes it easier they are about $50 I think ?
you can get 15" rolls for less even with a cutter as a package deal
that packs a LOT of meat for a LONG time and coated paper again works insanely well and IMHO often better than a cheap vac pack and never breaks :)
its obvious you do not agree that is fine :) its again another option
FromMyColdDeadHand
10-29-21, 23:44
I’d rather save money but I’m more worried about supply and price shocks.
https://sunprairiebeef.com/
DD- that got me. Got some meat headed my way to try it out…. I’m really interested in the quality of the beef.
Looking at where I can get a freezer in my house… Already have a beer fridge, so I’ll have to get creative.
I’d rather save money but I’m more worried about supply and price shocks.
https://sunprairiebeef.com/
DD- that got me. Got some meat headed my way to try it out…. I’m really interested in the quality of the beef.
Looking at where I can get a freezer in my house… Already have a beer fridge, so I’ll have to get creative.
Generally easier in my experience to find the space for an upright vs chest- depending on size....
Generally easier in my experience to find the space for an upright vs chest- depending on size....
I have had both. You couldn't give me a chest freezer.
Chest for long term storage, uprights for nearer term use, kitchen freezer for using soon. Think: Of ~120 packages of ground beef off a cow, 100 are in the chest, 15 in the upright, and five in the kitchen. Ask processors to box meats to spec as you think you'll use cuts. Some of this is like freezer-tetris. PITA, but worth it.
Averageman
11-02-21, 19:10
I'm begining to notice empty shelves at our local markets.
Of all the weird stuff, no more french fries.
With the price of fuel going up everywhere, those burning heating oil are going to have a cold winter.
The Price of food keeps climbing and those on a fixed income are hurting.
I'm guessing a few older folks are going to have a lean dark winter.
A great many of the nouveau “preppers” that low IQ nutbars like Michael Snyder and Dunagan Keiser persuaded to “homestead in Idaho!” are going to get a real education this winter.
Averageman
11-03-21, 06:00
And it will be just as bad for urbanites if things keep heading in this direction.
Inflation, fuel prices, now shortages. I'm concerned this is already in play.
I don't believe this is a coincidence either.
US Heating Bills to Soar 54%, average of $746 dollars per home......
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/14/us-heating-bills-natural-gas-electric-oil-propane
If you can't figure out how to keep a home warm in Idaho in the winter- you aren't much of a "homesteader". Lol......I live in Texas but we do get really cold weather here where I am although it generally doesn't stay around long. We get arctic blasts off the Rockies and it freezes the shit out of things and dumps a good load of snow-- and then goes away. I've had a wood stove in my house for heat and even to cook on for over 25 years. A decent chainsaw can be bought used for $150. There are always places to cut firewood....again anyone that's freezing in Idaho as a "homesteader" is a dumbass. But then, we are a society of dumb asses....
I'm begining to notice empty shelves at our local markets.
Of all the weird stuff, no more french fries.
Locally I've noticed pickles, spray paint, Mexican Cokes and Gatorade.
I'm begining to notice empty shelves at our local markets.
Of all the weird stuff, no more french fries.I've noticed but it's all random things. Today it's a specific brand of liquor or a type of liquor, tomorrow it's frozen peas. Two weeks from now that's all good but no more frozen broccoli. Broccoli is back but now we're noticably low on bacon....and so on.
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I've noticed but it's all random things. Today it's a specific brand of liquor or a type of liquor, tomorrow it's frozen peas. Two weeks from now that's all good but no more frozen broccoli. Broccoli is back but now we're noticably low on bacon....and so on.
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Yea, it seems like it's kind of a random, week to week, rolling wheel of shortages....We've taken to simply stocking up on those things that we normally use. When they are available, we buy twice as much as we otherwise would etc....So far we haven't had to deal with substitutions for the things we really use/want for that reason.
Yea, it seems like it's kind of a random, week to week, rolling wheel of shortages....We've taken to simply stocking up on those things that we normally use. When they are available, we buy twice as much as we otherwise would etc....So far we haven't had to deal with substitutions for the things we really use/want for that reason.Definitely is. I'm a bit of a weirdo when it comes to food so there's nothing really that I shop for thats out of stock but prices have gone up. In April I snapped a pic of boneless leg of lamb at $4.99/lb this past Saturday it was $6.99/lb. Same brand, same store, same country of origin. I like lamb, it's something I make often.... definitely once every 2 months if not more often. Problem is I can only stock so much. I can keep buying freezers but there going to be a point of diminishing returns and I'm pretty sure it's now since there's still things I'm eating from 5 years ago. Every time I see something and think I should buy it I have to start wondering how I'm going to Tetris it into the freezers and what I need to eat to make it fit.
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Definitely is. I'm a bit of a weirdo when it comes to food so there's nothing really that I shop for thats out of stock but prices have gone up. In April I snapped a pic of boneless leg of lamb at $4.99/lb this past Saturday it was $6.99/lb. Same brand, same store, same country of origin. I like lamb, it's something I make often.... definitely once every 2 months if not more often. Problem is I can only stock so much. I can keep buying freezers but there going to be a point of diminishing returns and I'm pretty sure it's now since there's still things I'm eating from 5 years ago. Every time I see something and think I should buy it I have to start wondering how I'm going to Tetris it into the freezers and what I need to eat to make it fit.
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We have 2 -20' uprights that we use and then we actually can quite a bit of meat- chicken and hamburger, stew meat primarily. Wife just loves being able to grab a jar of canned hamburger and cook something up in no time. The butcher has a hog I shot that I need to pick up but he agreed to keep it until December so we can eat down some room in the freezers, boys will be home around the holidays and that will help.... In January I'll run to South Texas and shoot a Nilgai and that will fill the freezers to capacity again for summer grilling season.
Couple months ago I bought the two pack of JIF peanut butter at Sams- we keep at least 6-8 of them around all the time- it's one of my favorite snacks- home made bread and jelly, peanut butter sandwich...Anyway, the price was the same, been buying them for years... dumped two in the cart. When I got home and rotated them to the back of the shelf I noticed that they were 20% smaller than the containers already on the shelf! So, that's a 20% price increase effectively.
We have 2 -20' uprights that we use and then we actually can quite a bit of meat- chicken and hamburger, stew meat primarily. Wife just loves being able to grab a jar of canned hamburger and cook something up in no time. The butcher has a hog I shot that I need to pick up but he agreed to keep it until December so we can eat down some room in the freezers, boys will be home around the holidays and that will help.... In January I'll run to South Texas and shoot a Nilgai and that will fill the freezers to capacity again for summer grilling season.
Couple months ago I bought the two pack of JIF peanut butter at Sams- we keep at least 6-8 of them around all the time- it's one of my favorite snacks- home made bread and jelly, peanut butter sandwich...Anyway, the price was the same, been buying them for years... dumped two in the cart. When I got home and rotated them to the back of the shelf I noticed that they were 20% smaller than the containers already on the shelf! So, that's a 20% price increase effectively.
I have to start canning. Been meaning to for ever just haven't gotten around to it. Instead I've just been buying canned salmon and various meat.
I have 2 refrigerators and 1 chest freezer that I don't remember the size of.....10 cu ft or so...... maybe 15?!?!?! All 3 freezers are stuffed with meat. This is where I mean I'm a weirdo. When I say stuffed with meat I mean raw meat/fish. No packages of frozen veggies, no French fries or fish sticks. 100% meat or organs. I don't do carbs, I never cared for them in any form. So mostly shopping for me involves fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat/fish on sale. But lately I've been also thinking maybe it wouldn't hurt to have some pasta and rice around in case meat gets too expensive to buy on a regular basis. If I absolutely had to do carbs I'd prefer potatoes but they can't sit like a bag of rice or pasta
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If you can't figure out how to keep a home warm in Idaho in the winter- you aren't much of a "homesteader". Lol......I live in Texas but we do get really cold weather here where I am although it generally doesn't stay around long. We get arctic blasts off the Rockies and it freezes the shit out of things and dumps a good load of snow-- and then goes away. I've had a wood stove in my house for heat and even to cook on for over 25 years. A decent chainsaw can be bought used for $150. There are always places to cut firewood....again anyone that's freezing in Idaho as a "homesteader" is a dumbass. But then, we are a society of dumb asses....
Hmmm, I'd be willing to bet that 80-90% percent of folks on this forum would be unable or unwilling to cut and process enough wood to heat their home a year in any state that sees freezing temps for more than a couple weeks a year.
I live on property that requires me to cut and move or process trees constantly. I'm probably working with a chainsaw every week. When I was working full time, there was just simply not enough time to cut that volume of firewood and do anything else.
Unless you are the unibomber living in a 1 room shack. That or have a big family with a bunch of kid labor.
Hmmm, I'd be willing to bet that 80-90% percent of folks on this forum would be unable or unwilling to cut and process enough wood to heat their home a year in any state that sees freezing temps for more than a couple weeks a year.
I live on property that requires me to cut and move or process trees constantly. I'm probably working with a chainsaw every week. When I was working full time, there was just simply not enough time to cut that volume of firewood and do anything else.
Unless you are the unibomber living in a 1 room shack. That or have a big family with a bunch of kid labor.
I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. We heated a 3 story farm house built in the 1890's almost solely with wood. Now, we worked "on the land" and not off it so it's a little easier to do but with modern chainsaws and wood splitters it's not that tough for a couple of folks to put up huge amounts of wood in short order. Wife and I put up about 5 cords in two or three weekends this spring. It was, to be fair, hard work but I kinda enjoy it.
You do make a good point though, trying to heat a 4,000 SF McMansion with wood would wear a person out.
I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. We heated a 3 story farm house built in the 1890's almost solely with wood. Now, we worked "on the land" and not off it so it's a little easier to do but with modern chainsaws and wood splitters it's not that tough for a couple of folks to put up huge amounts of wood in short order.
Snip
You do make a good point though, trying to heat a 4,000 SF McMansion with wood would wear a person out.
Or even a poorly insulated 1800 ft² house.
I have pro grade saws, A tractor with the front loader and a UTV with a dump bed. I don't have a power splitter, what little I use I split by hand.
But as I think we agreed, it's a lot of time and work that most people who have 40 to 60 hour regular work weeks are going to have a hard time doing, or prioritizing with the things that you want to do.
I'll always have a house with a fireplace as it saved my butt several times, and wouldn't mind a wood stove in the basement. But if I had to depend on it full-time? Ugh
Or even a poorly insulated 1800 ft² house.
I have pro grade saws, A tractor with the front loader and a UTV with a dump bed. I don't have a power splitter, what little I use I split by hand.
But as I think we agreed, it's a lot of time and work that most people who have 40 to 60 hour regular work weeks are going to have a hard time doing, or prioritizing with the things that you want to do.
I'll always have a house with a fireplace as it saved my butt several times, and wouldn't mind a wood stove in the basement. But if I had to depend on it full-time? Ugh
I run a pair of Husqvarna 562's and an ancient Stihl 660 for "the big stuff". We cut a lot of Elm here and it's so damn twisty that a hydraulic splitter is almost mandatory. I have 25 ton commercial unit, it saves alot of time....We are fortunate in that our really cold snaps only last for a week, maybe 3 times a year. Most of the year a very small fire will keep the house pretty toasty.
My main saw is a husky 545, slightly lighter version of the 555. It's rare that I cut anything bigger than 12 or 14 in, and 1/2 to 3/4 lb less weight makes a lot of difference waving a saw around.
I used to love stihl equipment but they went wonky on their pro-grade power equipment with four-stroke hybrids. In my mind the worst of each of the technologies. My last stihl equipment was still German made two strokes.
We were out of power 5 days one winter due to a big ice storm with 5 to 10° temperatures. My daughter hauled the wood for that and realized how good she had it with electricity and gas heat :-). For years I kept old cooktop and oven appliances in the kitchen that needed no electricity. I finally had to replace both, and the oven will not run without power which sucks. But I can manually light the cooktop so that's okay.
But back on topic I'm anticipating really big price spikes on propane and natural gas. In our state electric is mostly hydro and nuclear with burst from natural gas during peaks. So hopefully it will not go up too much
Hmmm, I'd be willing to bet that 80-90% percent of folks on this forum would be unable or unwilling to cut and process enough wood to heat their home a year in any state that sees freezing temps for more than a couple weeks a year.
I live on property that requires me to cut and move or process trees constantly. I'm probably working with a chainsaw every week. When I was working full time, there was just simply not enough time to cut that volume of firewood and do anything else.
Unless you are the unibomber living in a 1 room shack. That or have a big family with a bunch of kid labor.
I agree with "unwilling".
I grew up in South Dakota and my Dad worked full time and cut enough wood to last well through each winter. He continued to do so well into his 70s.
Andy
I agree with "unwilling".
I grew up in South Dakota and my Dad worked full time and cut enough wood to last well through each winter. He continued to do so well into his 70s.
AndyHow about space? Space to store all that. The wood, the splitter, the wood to split! Even if we forget the splitter you'd still need space to store the wood. Not everyone has that space. Not all houses were built on large (enough) parcels.
How many cords could you put into something like 2 parking spaces and how long would that last in a northern state?
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How about space? Space to store all that. The wood, the splitter, the wood to split! Even if we forget the splitter you'd still need space to store the wood. Not everyone has that space. Not all houses were built on large (enough) parcels.
How many cords could you put into something like 2 parking spaces and how long would that last in a northern state?
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A cord of firewood (which is how wood is measured/sold) is 4' high by 4' wide by 8' long. So, you could actually get a considerable amount of wood in a relatively small area- we always stack about 6' high getting a cord and a half in the space of one....As far as how long a cord will last depends on so many variables it's nearly impossible to say. For example- wood varies widely by the number of BTUs it contains and how they are burned- hardwood vs. soft, species, moisture content, surface area (split small or large etc..)...Then there is the efficiency of the burner type- outside boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace. Then you have to consider the efficiency of the house in retaining heat- insulation, doors, windows, tightness of construction.
With a very efficient stove- Lopi Liberty, a 2000 sq. ft, well insulated house and being in N. Texas with modest temperatures, we are able to keep things nice and toasty with less than 3 cords a year.
This is the one huge reason I loved the islands :)
Never to hot to need aircon and never to cold to need heat
Day time sun is quite even all the time so you could even do without that if you wanted to
Kiawe (messquite) grows in insane amounts as do other woods so plenty good wood to cook with
Anything and everything grows with no need to water etc... bananas or any fruit chuck it out your window a plant will be growing soon
plenty of water and plenty of animals to hunt or raise they cant kill enough pigs already :) Lanai has to many axis deer
Taking into account the oceans on your doorstep and much of it blue water so good pelagic fish
Quite well suited for the living with little that many actually do already
Of course daily life can be insane expensive and so on :) but I do miss that side of it
This is the one huge reason I loved the islands :)
Never to hot to need aircon and never to cold to need heat
Day time sun is quite even all the time so you could even do without that if you wanted to
Kiawe (messquite) grows in insane amounts as do other woods so plenty good wood to cook with
Anything and everything grows with no need to water etc... bananas or any fruit chuck it out your window a plant will be growing soon
plenty of water and plenty of animals to hunt or raise they cant kill enough pigs already :) Lanai has to many axis deer
Taking into account the oceans on your doorstep and much of it blue water so good pelagic fish
Quite well suited for the living with little that many actually do already
Of course daily life can be insane expensive and so on :) but I do miss that side of it
So several years ago I was in vacation on Hawaii and we went on a little tour. The guide, knowing we were from Texas asked if anyone knew what that big tree was we were sitting next to. Nobody did. Thing was probably 60 feet tall and 3' or more in diameter. It was a friggen Mesquite! Never, ever, never seen one that big here, usually they are 6-8' tall and 6-8" around, lol....Never knew they grew there.
Hahahah yeah I am in AZ now and we have em here I am like HEY I know those trees :)
Whats funny is Kiawe is what I think than have to translate in my head to OH that is mesquite :)
Totally off the subject Phoenix area does not do the daylight time nor does Hawaii ? So most my life I have never had to change time :)
Also Hawaiian Apple bananas are like no other anywhere on earth ! OH MAN the most insane good bananas you can ever have !
So several years ago I was in vacation on Hawaii and we went on a little tour. The guide, knowing we were from Texas asked if anyone knew what that big tree was we were sitting next to. Nobody did. Thing was probably 60 feet tall and 3' or more in diameter. It was a friggen Mesquite! Never, ever, never seen one that big here, usually they are 6-8' tall and 6-8" around, lol....Never knew they grew there.
A cord of firewood (which is how wood is measured/sold) is 4' high by 4' wide by 8' long. So, you could actually get a considerable amount of wood in a relatively small area- we always stack about 6' high getting a cord and a half in the space of one....As far as how long a cord will last depends on so many variables it's nearly impossible to say. For example- wood varies widely by the number of BTUs it contains and how they are burned- hardwood vs. soft, species, moisture content, surface area (split small or large etc..)...Then there is the efficiency of the burner type- outside boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace. Then you have to consider the efficiency of the house in retaining heat- insulation, doors, windows, tightness of construction.
With a very efficient stove- Lopi Liberty, a 2000 sq. ft, well insulated house and being in N. Texas with modest temperatures, we are able to keep things nice and toasty with less than 3 cords a year.
My point to his "unwilling" was more about storage. Your 3 cords would take up my whole backyard but I live in the NE. It's already below freezing in the morning. I do have a fireplace but these houses (built in 1996) were built with one more as a extra feature you might use occasionally for the ambiance than to actually heat a house. The original owners of my house had it converted to gas. Which funny enough kinda exploded last week when lighting hit the house and burst a gas line running to the fireplace! Luckily it burst where it did otherwise the house would have burned down!!
I'm actually in the process of looking for a more remote place. Something that still uses or already has a fireplace for the purpose of heat and not just looks. Last I looked a cord is about $200+/- here but there's lots you can take for free if you know where to look. Unfortunately majority of houses that are remote look more like horror shows than something livable. If they look ok and are generally taken care of there's other very expensive issues and of course the last option are the multi million dollar ones that were converted from old barns or farm houses but now have every feature know to man and with monthly payments more than I make in a year!
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Averageman
11-04-21, 15:32
My point to his "unwilling" was more about storage. Your 3 cords would take up my whole backyard but I live in the NE. It's already below freezing in the morning. I do have a fireplace but these houses (built in 1996) were built with one more as a extra feature you might use occasionally for the ambiance than to actually heat a house. The original owners of my house had it converted to gas. Which funny enough kinda exploded last week when lighting hit the house and burst a gas line running to the fireplace! Luckily it burst where it did otherwise the house would have burned down!!
I'm actually in the process of looking for a more remote place. Something that still uses or already has a fireplace for the purpose of heat and not just looks. Last I looked a cord is about $200+/- here but there's lots you can take for free if you know where to look. Unfortunately majority of houses that are remote look more like horror shows than something livable. If they look ok and are generally taken care of there's other very expensive issues and of course the last option are the multi million dollar ones that were converted from old barns or farm houses but now have every feature know to man and with monthly payments more than I make in a year!
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When I was a kid, my Brother and I cut wood while waiting for the bus.
I would bet we cut enough between the two of us to keep the House warm all night in a half hour. We would buy 4 or 5 cords a year from the Apache's off of San Carlos, then we4 would split it and cut it a bit more.
Man that stuff burned hot.
With the price of fuel going up everywhere, those burning heating oil are going to have a cold winter.
The Price of food keeps climbing and those on a fixed income are hurting.
I'm guessing a few older folks are going to have a lean dark winter.
We ALL live on a fixed income. None of us roll a damned dice to determine our paycheck at the end of the week.
And it will be just as bad for urbanites if things keep heading in this direction.
Inflation, fuel prices, now shortages. I'm concerned this is already in play.
I don't believe this is a coincidence either.
Unlikely.
The stated goal of people such as Gates is to herd the population into “smart” cities. Globalists don’t want independent people living off the grid and outside of their watchful eye and control. Rural areas will be cleared, one way or another.
Living out in the sticks will be made increasingly untenable, by design, until the denizens thereof are removed, living or dead.
Think things are bad now? Wait until WRC status for the Dollar is no more.
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-18-21, 13:44
I’d rather save money but I’m more worried about supply and price shocks.
https://sunprairiebeef.com/
DD- that got me. Got some meat headed my way to try it out…. I’m really interested in the quality of the beef.
Looking at where I can get a freezer in my house… Already have a beer fridge, so I’ll have to get creative.
https://sunprairiebeef.com/
They have excellent meat and do a North Metro area and South Metro Area pick up once a month, you can also pay for shipping or go directly to them. They're not cheap, but the meat is high quality and a good price for what you're getting.
They have 10lb and 25lb boxes you can choose, or custom make a box with your selections of meats/cuts. They also do 1/2 hogs and 1/4 or 1/2 sides of beef.
DUDE! Just got my second order from them. In for 45 pounds so far. Awesome hamburger, great filets.
What is the difference between this and store, or even butcher steak? It reminds me of wild versus farm salmon- like there is more hemoglobin in the meat?
Still looking for a place to put a bigger freezer to stock up.
We ALL live on a fixed income. None of us roll a damned dice to determine our paycheck at the end of the week.
Actually, I do for the most part..... I earn 1/3 of whatever I settle in a given week- it varies WILDLY. Some weeks, it's 1/3 of $5000, some weeks it's 1/3 of $150,000....Never a guarantee.
DUDE! Just got my second order from them. In for 45 pounds so far. Awesome hamburger, great filets.
What is the difference between this and store, or even butcher steak? It reminds me of wild versus farm salmon- like there is more hemoglobin in the meat?
Still looking for a place to put a bigger freezer to stock up.
It's all grass fed and grass finished from them, most store meet is either grain fed 100% or grass fed and then grain finished.
Grass is better feed for cows, makes tastier beef. It's more expensive feed, so not everyone is going to be in that price point.
Some may say other factors like being free range and having room to roam are insignificant, however in my experience when animals are given freedom of movement, the meat is better in most cases, less stressed animals all around and more flavorful, in conjunction with the grass fed and grass finished feeding regiment its really the way to go.
I've been ordering meat from Sun Prairie for ages because it is high quality, very tasty and a good value for what you get/pay- and the owners are good people who care about their company, their people and their products.
I hear you, the meat really is dependent on the butcher and the source. You're in Colorado, tell me what area of town and I can most likely recommend some good butchers to source from.
I made friends with my local high quality butcher, I bring him wine and beer that I make, he always sets aside the best cuts of what I like and calls me when it hits his cutting board.
Same thing with fish. I really cannot stand farm raised fish, won't even buy it. You can take a farm raised fish and put it next to a wild caught fish and side by side anyone would choose the wild caught over the farm raised on aesthetics alone- every time.
I'm lucky that we have an excellent fresh seafood market within miles of my home, they fill and sell everything in their display each day, they purchase on the freshest available and don't overbuy or keep things frozen.
It's hard to find good fresh fish in Colorado, has to be flown in that same day, gets spendy.
When people come to dinner at my home, they always comment on the meat and ask where I got it.
Quality versus quantity makes a big difference in flavor and nutritional value.
I was raised by a single mother who was very poor for a lot of my childhood, ate poor for a long time. My mother was a hard working, smart woman, very driven and motivated to take care of her children the best she could- eventually she got the right job and made good money and we started eating better food- man what a difference it makes!
High quality food has always been important to me and I am fine paying a premium to feed my family well and eat well myself.
Some people have no idea that the food they eat is of very poor quality, they've always eaten the same stuff.
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-18-21, 23:17
And I think low quality meat and food in general is becoming more of the standard than the exception. I grew up middle-class but oldest of four kids, so we never had good steak. Plus people in my family, especially the younger kids, wanted well done beef. I didn’t have my first good steak until I met my wife and her family took me out to Morton’s for dinner.
On the grass versus the grain fed, I was talking to a friend who has rancher relatives in Wyoming, and one thing off the cuff he said about grain finished was that it’s often a bit fattier, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad? I definitely think fat is flavor, but there is a difference between fatty and marbling. Any thoughts on that? I am in eastern Denver. Definitely would be looking for some good fish.
Not a fan of grass fed beef. I much prefer a nicely marbled piece of meat and you don't always get that with grass fed- fat is a precious commodity in nature- it's almost literally rare, and grass fed is basically the same as what animals in the wild would eat. Even the venison we ate growing up was Corn fed- Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa. I've killed many eastern whitetails that were easily as big as mule deer--and they didn't taste like sage and boot leather!
Several years ago I took a cooking class- several actually, at the local community college. Guy that taught it was the executive chef at one of the local country clubs, restaurant owner, TV commentator, 1855 Beef Chef etc... He was adamant that corn fed (finished) was better beef. When he was in college he was on several nationally ranked meat judging teams and is now a meat competition judge himself.
Everyone likes what they like but I'm just not a fan of grass fed beef.
Not a fan of grass fed beef. I much prefer a nicely marbled piece of meat and you don't always get that with grass fed- fat is a precious commodity in nature- it's almost literally rare, and grass fed is basically the same as what animals in the wild would eat. Even the venison we ate growing up was Corn fed- Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa. I've killed many eastern whitetails that were easily as big as mule deer--and they didn't taste like sage and boot leather!
Several years ago I took a cooking class- several actually, at the local community college. Guy that taught it was the executive chef at one of the local country clubs, restaurant owner, TV commentator, 1855 Beef Chef etc... He was adamant that corn fed (finished) was better beef. When he was in college he was on several nationally ranked meat judging teams and is now a meat competition judge himself.
Everyone likes what they like but I'm just not a fan of grass fed beef.
To each his own for sure.
Grass fed beef has lower overall fat contents, however that proportion of healthier fats.
Grass-finished beef has a very different fat constitution to grain-fed beef – grass-fed beef is lower in overall fat content (approximate 65% less than grain-fed counterparts), but is proportionately higher in healthy fats, including many that are known to prevent cancer referred to as Omega 3s Omega 6s and CLAs.
Steady natural growth of grass-fed beef in free-range environments creates the best quality beef in the most natural way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a big marbled rib eye as well, and I also get corn finished beef, it is tasty and good. Grass fed beef is overall my preference and go to.
The grain fed beef has different muscle and fat compositions, typically grain fee processing ranch farms are a quantity and quickness of delivery system- which leads to unsaturated growth and stressing of the animal which leads to inferior meat in general.
Intentional steady growth natural grass grazing feeding with corn finishing is a good middle ground. Not many ranches do it that way and instead go for maximum growth over minimum time to optimize profits- which I totally understand- it’s just not the meat I will consume.
Not sure about the healthier fats (higher omega 3s) ? I hear arguments about this ? good animal fat is good for you grain or not
Even in the carnivore community their is some arguing about this :) since their is less of it ?
I do think pork and chcicken/eggs stuff fed off grains is not as healthy cause they are not ruminant and the grains are not as processed in the gut the same way so avoid that if ya can
Grass finished does have a better nutrient profile that is for sure
Its dryer less fatty and a dif taste usually
Me I prefer grain fed for flavor but I eat both and nice to have the option
Grass fed vs grass finished is also a issue and many buy grass fed which is not the same as finished so worth knowing
Finished being ONLY grass their whole life and Fed often had grains which is odd since even that sounds backwards ?
Reading all this stuff about beef makes me hungry...
https://youtu.be/FQMbXvn2RNI
:)
I just grab the cheapest grade of frozen Wal-Mart hamburger patties :D But then I have a low bar.
And I think low quality meat and food in general is becoming more of the standard than the exception. I grew up middle-class but oldest of four kids, so we never had good steak. Plus people in my family, especially the younger kids, wanted well done beef. I didn’t have my first good steak until I met my wife and her family took me out to Morton’s for dinner.
On the grass versus the grain fed, I was talking to a friend who has rancher relatives in Wyoming, and one thing off the cuff he said about grain finished was that it’s often a bit fattier, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad? I definitely think fat is flavor, but there is a difference between fatty and marbling. Any thoughts on that? I am in eastern Denver. Definitely would be looking for some good fish.
my thoughts then would be on grading of course the marbling being better grade or should be vs just in the cap or other parts
I would rather have less total fat and super marbled over a huge fat cap and lower grade and have always found I feel better eating prime cause of this
Grass vs grain funny since Wagyu to some is the ultimate luxury
When you look at Wagyu its feed and controlled big time watched a good vid on the top Japan or considered the top farm for it they are well taken care of for sure
As far as fat content I have read that the intramuscular fat or the marbling part is the last fat to be developed in the cow ? I have no idea but I do wonder if something about that does make it better tasting ? Like older fat is not as tasty or location ? which might be subjective ?
Again no idea should look into that one day and go down that rabbit hole but I do know I have read some science intramuscular about that effecting the tenderness (cuts being the same) etc... and have to agree ! (Less convective parts the fat is in the way makes sense)
My three fav cuts Ribeye and then Flap and ribs (prefer short ribs) never ever tire of Ribeye and tend to eat it 4x or more a week
FromMyColdDeadHand
12-27-21, 19:18
Grain versus grass fed, at the butcher...
https://youtu.be/yomerhQkpSc
I'm guessing those same folks probably won't regret voting for Chiden either. So much for the deomcRAT policies being good for the working man. This is a DIRECT result of having the lunatics back in charge of the country.
I swear people are getting stupider.
The politicians , government employees and the military have been bankrupting the U.S. since the Korean war. 1971 Nixon removed the dollar from a gold standard to hide the war crimes done to the U.S. taxpayers. Other politicians allowed the off shoring of many industries. Demos and Republican politicians are guilty of the destruction.
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