how low can you go?

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
A loyal minion comment the other day was that you can't escape the system, you can only minimise its effects. How true. Once the system crashes, you can survive without it, barely, if you are lucky. While it is still functions you are in its grasp. The sad fact of the matter is that we extracted a continents worth of resources for our wealth, then extracted the easy resources from the rest of the globe ( that part powerful enough to resist us used the resources to defend themselves ) and now have no choice but to extract the wealth of the bulk of our own population to keep those in power comfortable. We haven't seen anything yet in the way of life threatening taxes and rents ( I'll touch briefly on one aspect of that tomorrow ). So, while post apocalypse planning is necessary and wise, don't neglect surviving the beasts milking you for all you are worth. We should be so lucky to be permanently unemployed sucking on welfare. More likely you are going to run afoul of an unknown law or regulation and end up on a labor gang. But I won't depress you with that today. Right now, planning on living on a lot less.
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How low can you go on your budget? How little can you survive on? And, you need to plan this now rather than before you are forced to cut back. It may not be an either or proposition with employment. Already, a lot of people are going from a two income family to a single wage earner. In the future that one earner may well be working on less wages and less hours. You need to make realistic plans now to deal with it. It isn't as simple as thinking you'll jingle mail the house keys and move into an apartment. Do you have the three months rent they will want in advance ( first, last and security )? Will there be any apartments available? What if you can't even afford an apartment-then what? How do you get to work if you've repoed the car? At what point in wage reduction do you have to give up the car? If relatives take us in, how long will they put up with our crap? Will the spouse agree with the cuts I think are feasible? How much cupboard food is available? How long before I get into the stockpile food? How do I replace that?
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I didn't even touch on inflation and your saving account. Save cash, or put it into junk land payments? If I get an RV instead of land, how long can I keep moving it with gas at $10 a gallon? I could go on, but most of those questions are what I used to ask myself. Your situation will vary. My point is that you should have all this hashed out now. It isn't a question of if it will happen but when. Even with secure employment, inflation will have the same effect of reducing your ability to meet the cost of living. When you just got a pink slip or when the boss cut your hours or when bread and gas and milk double in cost is not the time to figure out how you are going to deal with it. I'll run you through my budget. First, it is a good example how much you can cut. Second, I love talking about myself.
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My paycheck, after Uncle Obammy and Ex-Wife tax, is $600 a month. I average about $60 a month in writing income ( half the hours for ten percent of the wages- it's a good thing I love doing this ). I end up spending most of that, but I don't need to. Okay, $175 a month is two lot payments. I can do without that if I'm unemployed since I have the paid for lot ( that is too far away to commute to work from, hence the other lots ). If my hours are cut, I can get by spending $75 for the one lot. It would just mean a lot longer commute, but not impossible. Between gasoline and insurance, my vehicles run me $100 a month. I could do without those altogether. My food runs about $100 a month. I could cut that in half if I had to by eating a lot more beans and less meat, but I wouldn't want to unless I had zero money coming in. Just commuting to work I burn a lot of calories. I have a slowing but steady output for bicycle maintenance, but that is roughly dependant on my working. Less work, less money out for the bike. My cell phone is $30 a month and I don't keep it for work but for talking to my kids. Not 100% necessary, just nice. $30 goes to tobacco, but at one cigarette a day I could stop buying them and go for years on my stockpile. Coffee I mostly get from work, but even unemployed I have enough to last for years. Paying the checking account is only so I get my writing income e-deposited.
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That is it. I have no more bills. All my extra income goes to storage items. Yes, used paperback books are a storage item if I don't read it ( new books, relating to Bison research run me about $60-90 a month ). I have food everywhere. Thirty cans of cream of chicken soup. Fifty of generic Spam ( that spot at Wal-Mart has been empty for three weeks so I expect a price surge soon ). The passenger floorboard of the truck has about sixty pounds of pinto beans. I had to stop buying corn after I ran out of storage room. I have more knives than I know what to do with. I have no more room for lard. My point is that I spend a fair amount of cash every week on storage items. I could live with no reduction in my standard of living ( other than a longer commute to work ) on just half what I do now, about $300. I could tough it out on two hundred bucks a month. I could squeeze by on $100 a month which would include propane for the winter if absolutely necessary. I would hate every minute of it but I wouldn't be endangering my health. Under that, we had better be in a social collapse or I'd be in serious trouble.
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I hope it never comes down to all that. I would love to see a century long slow collapse and not a quick slid into chaos. I could just slowly adapt to a bit less over time. I just don't think I'll be that lucky. We don't need to totally run out of oil for our agricultural system to collapse. In fact, we might already be in a non reversible slid with the credit contraction and not even know it. Only time will tell. It simply can't hurt anyone's budget to buy a crap load of corn and wheat for the family. Just in case insurance for $60 per person. I'd buy more than that, but its a damn fine start. But, let's not veer too far off topic. Plan now to drastically cut your budget. I'm pretty sure your income will follow that plan soon enough. I doubt you can cut 85%, but get as close as you can. It's just a plan, not a commitment. But you need a realistic fall back.
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