Could You Survive The Great Depression?
by I had a telephone conversation with my “new” Momma and my Daddy this morning. We spoke of many things one of them being their trip to Hawaii by way of California. The other thing we discussed was the state of our nation’s economy. Both of these intelligent septuagenarians said the same thing to me. They said that my generation, the baby boomer generation, would not make it throug
h a great depression.
My conversation went something like this:
Me: Hey Doe, how did you make out on that Leahman’s deal? Doe: Well I don’t know yet, but I think that pretty much puts us out of going to Alaska next year. Me: Oh really? So you had a lot of money invested? Doe: Enough that it hurt. You know they have been talking about this being another Great Depression. You know I sure hope not because you kids couldn’t survive a depression. Y’all have to have your Starbucks and pedicures. We didn’t have those things back in the depression you know. Me: Yeah I know you had to walk to school up hill both ways in the snow while it was 32 degrees below zero in the middle of Texas in summer. Doe: That’s right and we had to eat liver and turnips and stuff.
Now what she said was in jest but I don’t know how far off from the truth it is. I mean how many of us today grow our own food, cook our own meals and do our own yard work.
Would we in our 50’s through our 60’s really be able to survive? Could we survive without our Venti double cupped extra hot vanilla latte’s and our Double shot machiotto’s? Could we survive if we could not drive to the store every 15 minutes to get our microwave instant dinner or to pick up our take out order at Chili’s? How would we get by if we had to eat beans for supper every night because we couldn’t afford to eat fast food or gourmet pre-prepared frozen dinners?
The generations who survived the Great Depression were tough. They were resilient; they did not expect the government to bail them out of the hell that fell upon them. They pulled their big girl and boy panties up and got on with life. They boarded up their farms and loaded up their jalopies and headed out to find work. They did not stand around wringing their hands crying about what they didn’t have anymore they went out and worked. They were doers and savers and they made it.
My step-grandmother used to reuse her foil. She would smooth it out, wipe it off, fold it up and use it again and again until it eventually fell apart. My best friend’s grandmother would make a single chicken last through a week’s worth of meals. Each meal being different but made from that single chicken. They were resourceful. More important they MADE IT.
They taught us to make “one egg cakes” and potato casserole and taught us to eat beans and cornbread as a meal, how to be frugal and save. They taught us how to repair our own cars and radios, to re-roof our own houses. They taught us these things but what did we actually listen and learn from them?
I am ashamed of my fellow baby boomers. I am ashamed that we have turned into such an entitled generation. I am ashamed that we have to have someone else make our morning coffee and we are too good or too busy to prepare our own dinner. That we feel entitled to drive vehicles that use more fuel in one week than a whole village in a third world country uses in a year.
So what do you say fellow boomers? Can we do it? Can we tighten our belts, knuckle down and use that knowledge that our forefathers and mothers gave us? Can we cook our own meals, repair our own roofs, make ourselves pay our own bills and not rely on the government to bail us out? I think we can. We just have to want to do it.
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Comments
Survive
I have to say being in my mid 30's (as I can barley make ends meet now) If the surival is about how to make it through if we were to go through another depression..I would have to say I think I may be suriving it now. We don't go out much, and when we do we are spending those times with family, and friends. Hoever, the price of gas at times keeps us from doing those things we used to do about 10yrs ago. Llatte’s is something that I don't need, and can get a decent coffee with added squirt of vinallia added at the gas station and gives me just the kick I need in the A.M. So, I guess you can say I am making the best of what 'Desperate' times we have now. I hope it were never to get to the time it were in the Great Depression..however some still may think we are on our way now.
We've Been There - mid 30s too
If "there" is learning to cook dried beans and stretching a chicken for a couple of days. But I'm not sure, I think it could get much worse than that. Certainly it was worse int he depression, but I hope it won't get that bad.
Right now we're a little better off than that, we can go out (but we usually choose cheaper food like pho or tacos and avoid full-service restaurants) and we can buy our beans already cooked in a can. And I can put gas in my 18 year old car. So, I think unfortunately that it could get a lot worse, but I hope my family is on the upswing.
My mom is slightly older than the boomers (she's 65) and is generally very progressive and frugal, but she has made comments about my home being "as low as I could go" (it's a one and a half story 1920s craftsman rental, and I love it) and is continually shocked by the state of our finances.
Tacoma Mama
Kitchen Table Issues
Tacoma Mama
I think that it's great that you are conserving as much as you can. I know that we live frugally compared to my sister who lives pretty high on the hog. We chose not to buy into an upswing market, we didn't take the equity in our house and we chose to not change the way we lived when our finances changed. Good thing. We are in the construction industry.
I applaud those who already know how to live frugal and will be just fine. The problem is too many people seem to have an "entitled" attitude. Those are the ones who will have to figure it out.
Thank you for your comment. :)
well any families that have had rationing in
their past can pull
up their socks and do it again.
My family grew up in the UK through two world wars...we younger gens were taught all about 'making do.'
People who are poor already will no doubt teach the rest of us how to survive too
And the gov't DID bail people out during the depression. It created many 'make' work projects for the out of work.
Dams, bridges etc.
Look for me at http://crunchycarpets.com or check out the ladies at www.wetcoastwomen.com
Well, as someone who already
Well, as someone who already fixes her own appliances and resuses sandwich bags even though I don't need to? (Meaning I could afford NOT to do that, but can't seem to face the waste. Same with shopping in second hand stores and not being ashamed to salvage furniture from alleys. There is already such good stuff out there!)
Yes, I think I could probably make it work. I'm 42 and lived through some of the gas rationing in the 70's with my not very well off family. So, I've had a little practice.
I too could make it work
I too could make it work. I have always lived frugal. I have always reused, saved and recycled. I learned from my elders how to stretch the groceries and food to go longer than normal. I learned to eat things I didn't like because it was inexpensive and better for me than the quick and easy.
Thank you for your input. You will be fine. You are already there and I don't see you as someone who has someone else fix your latte's.
I could never say that I don't enjoy a good
latte :)
A non-fat hazelnut decaf latte, to be specific.
Or a lovely cup of Cuban or Italian espresso either :) But it was years before I could afford them.
But I've lived on nothing but Ramen noodles and homemade onion soup for months at a time. I've lived without a car (and it's the reason I choose to live in a city now.) I've gone to rent parties and have made the modern day version of stone soup with other low income neighbors.
Most of the furniture in my house before 2001 was from Goodwill that I refinished myself. My living room table is still the $35 deal that I bought used in Indiana in 1988 and refinished in my parent's garage.
Living poor isn't rocket science. Has it been more fun to have money? Oh, absolutely. I love donating money to charity/politics and not thinking twice before picking up the tab for dinner.
But is my self-esteem tied to a number on my paycheck? Nah. I met some of my very best friends when I didn't have much, the ones that will stick by me should I not have much again.
Wasn't a Big Deal Before We Had Kids
We had some lean years back then but I didn't really feel it like we did when my kids were toddlers and we were scraping for dough. Or for that matter, this summer when everything that could go wrong did and there were weeks I just had no cash to spend. The kids want stuff and they aren't accustomed to going without, and not inclined to be particularly nice about it, either. They may grow up to be frugal adults who respect the value of the dollar, but the process of creating these responsible individuals is kind of sausage-making like. You do not want to be behind us in the check out line.
Tacoma Mama
Kitchen Table Issues
Oh , I DEFINITELY hear that.
Oh , I DEFINITELY hear that.
I've been there
I am lucky my kids are all grown, but we have 5 yes count them FIVE enrolled in either undergraduate or graduate school. They are all very familar with Ramen Soup and the beauty of raiding Mom's Pantry. They are all self sufficient industrious young people who are learning the hard way that they have to struggle in order to gain.
I have a granddaughter who doesn't know the meaning of "NO". She's the one you don't want to be behind in the market.:)
Crunchy. Yes but it was Not Welfare
Yes the government created the WPA, the TVA etc. But they were WORK projects. There were indeed soup kitchens and bread lines but MOST of them were privately funded. What I'm talking about is Bailing out a Company who paid it's CEO 65 MILLION Dollars.
I have no problem with Work for Welfare but I am NOT for hand outs. Not even when I was deadass broke living out of my car.
Thank you for the clarity.
There should never be Golden Handshake
Packages..
But looking after your population AFTER your gov't and big corporations have fracked up SHOULD be expected.I think more what will be needed is to teach people that we can't live in the Wal-Mart world anymore.We can be consumers happily buying our cheap foreign made products, in debt up to our eyeballs and more focused on who won American Idol.
THOSE days are fast ending.
Look for me at http://crunchycarpets.com or check out the ladies at www.wetcoastwomen.com
Great Point
Great point and I certainly agree.
I believe it is food for thought for all of us.
Bingo, TAH.
You nailed it.
Differences between then and now
While I think I could survive a depression (I survived the horrible economic times of the 70s and early 80s. Does anyone want to hear about a 30 year fixed mortgage with a 18.5% interest rate?)
I have the basic skills (grow, repair, etc.)
The problem, as I see it, is that many of the items we use every day now are engineered NOT to be repaired. And not to be repaired by the basic US citizen. Fortunately, I know how to do basic electrical and plumbing repairs. My car? Still at the mercy of the mechanic.
But we used to be able to fix our own phones, our television, our radios. Can we do so now?
Also in today's society, many of the services that used to be free or very low cost (radio, television, some news papers) are now subscription pays. What will we choose to live without beyond the triple lattes? (I also make my own coffee in the morning and do without the retail kinds).
Even deeper than personal item engineering, the infra-structure of this country is balancing on the brink of failure. If upkeep becomes more slack in severe economic times, how many will fail? Roads, bridges, electrical grid?
Are we ready to return to a simplier time.. that now would resemble a 3rd world society? I think eventually we would (we always do. Americans are built of hardy stock).
The first step is recognize the time is coming and begin adapting now to the changes in the wind.
Debra
A Stitch In Time
Weight for Deb
Our Obsession with Stuff
If you have not already watched this 20 minute video please do:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
It talks about your point exactly. We can't fix our stuff because it wasn't made to be repaired.
I totally agree. We absolutely need to take an individual look at our lifestyle then adjust it.
I had a friend who weathered the great depression in New York. He was from an affluent family and to him tough times were doing with out the 3rd floor maid and the pastry chef. It is all relative, unfortunately my relatives didn't have that kind of money:)
Oh, I think we could...
... and we'd turn it into the ultimate weight loss plan, too!
ɯoɔ˙ɹǝƃƃolquǝʞoʇ
I think I could, not sure about my husband
I grew up off the grid, I can garden, and I know how to can (or could figure it out again), so I think I could do it. I can also sew. I'm not saying that it would be easy, but I think we would all do to conserve a little more so maybe it doesn't get to be that bad.
Thoughts From Generation Y
Though I'm a member of Generation Y, my Baby Boomer parents grew up very poor, thus they taught my sister and I to be frugal and wise. Though these are tough times financially, I think we can all learn great lessons about reusing items, walking or biking rather than driving and growing our own food. It will definitely benefit Mother Earth, that's for sure.
www.lapetitechic.com
Ashamed of an entire generation?
You may be ashamed of yourself and the people you know, but I resent anyone being ashamed of me because I am part of a generation. I'm a boomer, and I'm actively well-prepared to survive this depression. I already don't spend money on useless things I don't need, I already raise my own vegetables, next spring I will start raising chickens in my urban yard, and I already have a reasonable 30-year-fixed mortgage on my (small house, large yard) property that I secured with a 30% down payment. I didn't fall for the ARM my mortgage broker tried to force on me.
Nobody has to bail me out. I have savings, not investments. I drive a ten-year-old paid-for compact car that gets 30 MPG under 5,000 miles per year, and I'll drive it for another ten years. My credit rating is 800, I have zero credit card debt, and I am this way because that's the way my Great Depression-survivor parents taught me to live.
I am getting very tired of all this criticism of millions of people of a certain age group just because a few of them are shortsighted and greedy and insist on living beyond their means. We are not all spoiled, irresponsible people who can't imagine living without cable TV, pedicures, McMansions and SUVs. Lots of us are like me.
Maybe you should speak for yourself.
I Would Try!
I understand and practice frugality in many areas. On the other hand, I like my computer, internet, satellite TV, cell phone, camera, and other toys.
I do have a hardworking background and would do what I had to do. I just really don't want to do all of it. ;-) My husband and I farm and we do not have the best of everything. We've worked hard and are comfortable. With dh at 59 and me at 50, I hope we don't have to flush it all.