The Campfire Trail: January 5 DIY Homestead - Self-Sufficient Community Economics

January 5, 2023

Day 461 of the Adventure

I'm back on the subject of the crazy economy today after reading where there are people paying $8 for a dozen eggs. The worst part is that in the case of many of them, it's a fact of life they feel they have no control over. Of course, it's not just eggs. everything is out of control expensive. At a recent trip to the grocery store, I was looking for some breakfast cereal and was astounded at the prices of all of it. One in particular that I used to buy was $7.15 for a box. This was not a "mega, feed half an army" sized box either. Just a small 16 oz box of cereal. Everything else was very similar in price. Ironically, one of the lumber yard, box stores we shop pretty regularly carries a decent selection of groceries. Believe it or not, their prices are typically better than all of our local grocery stores. Sometimes to the tune of about half the price on many items. Another anomaly, if you want to call it that, is the fact that a local Mennonite store carries a modest amount of produce and groceries. Their prices are very reasonable compared to the main grocery stores in our area. A friend asked them how they can keep prices low. Their response was that even though prices are higher, they are simply increasing their shelf prices proportionally according to the price they are paying themselves. I can tell you that it's a far less price spike than I'm seeing everywhere else. It does begin to feel like we are being disproportionately slammed with price increases when a small Mennonite store is admitting to just keeping up with costs and charging way less. It almost brings one to the edge of a conspiracy theory on grocery prices. Bringing me to my point. Part of a self-sufficient lifestyle is learning to take care of the essentials in life for ourselves. Part of it also relies upon the networks we can create that support the things we need, but there's more to it. It also carries with it an opportunity, maybe even a responsibility, to become a cog in the wheel of the self-sufficient community in general from a supply perspective. A good example of this is seen in the local farmers markets that set up locally in the Summer. Since we shop them a lot, we typically see the exchange as a money for produce transaction. From their perspective, they are participating in a two way exchange. Not only are they providing the products of their efforts to others, they receive income from that participation. While being on the supply part of the process. most also shop the other vendors to pick up items outside of their personal specialty. Meaning, it's an excellent example of a micro-economy functioning outside of the reach of the broad "macro-economy". It's one way to side-step that that big economy that continues to give us such a helpless feeling of no control.

As participants in the self-sufficient life, we really do have an opportunity to find ways of fitting in to that self-sufficient economy. The more I am involved in the backwoods cabin life, the more I'm thinking of the things I may have to offer to that supply side of the economic engine. Of course, much of self-sufficiency gives way to an independent, "rely on no one else", type of mentality. But for those who are willing to participate in the process, serving on both the "supply" side as well as the "demand" side of the local network of self-sufficient individuals and families, can create a much more affordable and supportive environment for all of us. Give it some thought the next time you're faced with $8/doz. eggs and $7.15 boxes of cereal.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “Being frugal doesn’t mean slashing your spending or depriving yourself of things that you enjoy. It means knowing the value of a dollar and making every effort to spend it wisely.” ― Frank Sonnenberg

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Trail (Guatemala)

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