a possible increase of 30% for your electric bill

[Snarl]

The best trick is to find 'your way' to get out of paying taxes ... and become self-sufficient. Stop buying _crap_ and convert some of your fiat currency into stuff you can barter with or store long-term while you still can. Especially things you know you're not gonna find locally or stuff you're gonna use up. Cooking oil, sugar, salt (lots of salt), beans, rice ... are all affordable and serve well as hold-out rations. Develop a method of collecting and storing a LOT of water. Worry about purifying it later ... but, don't forget you need more water than you think you need right now.

I've set aside a ton of reloading components and a respectable stash of arrows. If you don't yet have tools for harvesting wood ... get them now while they're available ... you'll need an axe, a saw and a maul ... don't forget extra handles and metal wedges.  Might be good to have a file on-hand for sharpening. Good to have a rake and a tarp for hauling smaller sticks and kindling. Get yourself a shovel, a couple 2X4s and a sheet of 3/4in plywood in case you need to bury something you don't want other people to get at. Seek and find a wood-burning stove (you don't even have to have this indoors ... though it's really nice if you can).

If you live anywhere near where you've seen deer ... buy stuff that will draw them in.  Deer have a sense of smell that's equivalent to our ability to see (around corners even).  You toss some deer corn up in the air at dusk, they will smell it and come right in. Voilà ... you've got a freezer full of non-GMO meat. Got no electricity for your freezer? ... See the reference to salt above. Buy yourself a 50lb bag of birdseed and feed the doves. A simple weighted net can bag you a dozen with a quick snatch of a line. You just have to set the stage for when the play is gonna start.

I live in "salt lick" country. These hollers were originally settled by a couple of brothers, "Long Hunters", who were drawn here by the abundance of game brought in by the salt licks. It's just a matter of finding a spring near a lick and rendering the salt out of the water.

I frequently see deer in my yard, or just outside the perimeter fence trying to figure out how to get in. And then there are the bears. There's a lot of meat, and a lot of fat, on a bear.

I know how to make jerky, and pemmican. Not a great taste, Kind of bland, but it'll keep your belt buckle from slapping your backbone around.

I never was able to get used to A/C, so I don't have it. We've got one unit, a window unit, in Grace's son's room, but he keeps the door shut when it's running so i don't get froze out. Heat's more of a problem - plenty of wood here, but the wood stove got taken out years and years ago, so I've not got one. Push comes to shove, I reckon I can make one, though.

I've got a couple pounds of powder, and the stuff to make a few more pounds if I need it. What I need most firearms-wise right now is a few ingots of pure soft lead.

We had scads and scads of black walnuts last year, but not so many this year. That's the way nature will do you sometimes. Throw stuff in stores when you can get it, for use when you can't.

.

My chestnut tree dropped a bunch of pods, but all the nuts were about a quarter normal size ... probably the dry Summer. I set out 50lb blocks for the livestock and critters. They cost about $10 and usually last more than a year. Last month I set out a white lick down by the creek, but nothing seems to be interested in it. The corn I drop around it is all gone every morning so I know they know it's there.

Been feeding the backyard deer. Got five bucks and four does that come up nightly. I think there are a couple of big bucks too, but I haven't caught them on camera. They're wise and skittish at that level of maturity. Will put out some peanut butter and see if that draws them in. I figure they're already pretty hungry this year and I'm just gonna eat the cost of keeping 'em fat and healthy.

Hmmm ... can't get a pic to post for some reason.