Pantry and Preparedness. Skills that save money and get you through hard times.

Recently I was reading about skills that people used to get through such times as the war years and the Great Depression.  My Grandparents lived through this time and I knew a little through them. More recently I watched Wartime Farm a series on You Tube and that was so interesting! Another one I love on You Tube is Cooking with Clara. Clara lived through the depression and shows what she cooked. She is a delight. She passed away since I started watching her but her great advice lives on!

When I was a teenager we holidayed in a farm house a long way from a town. There was no electricity. We didn't mind and it never occurred to us to mind. Mum and Dad has a big book called The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. It was thicker than a phone book but with no TV I was undaunted.  I LOVED that book. I must have read it cover to cover many times. It covers everything from butchering chickens to soap making, how to grow everything, how to can anything and pretty much anything you can think of. 

So kind of by accident I was learning a lot!  At the farm this book is still in the lounge room just as it always has been so I have little revision sessions. If you are interested in preparedness and self reliance etc. see if the library has it as you will love it! Actually just owning a book like this means you at least have on hand the practical instructions for an awful lot of things.

Skills are such a big part of preparedness. Recently something on TV prompted Mum to say how people did not have any practical skills to know how to get through a crisis. They don't even have a shovel she said in disgust! 

Whether we are talking about really hard times or personal hard times skills help you get through. Some of the skills are general ones like the ability to adapt and the ability to make do. Others need some practice like learning to mend, light a fire, cook a meal with what's on hand... cook on a fire... 

Even in ordinary and good times skills are a huge asset. They save money, enhance your life and entertain as well. They can also be used as a currency as skills can be traded or sold. Your skills can be a back up plan when you need extra income. New skills are worth learning and current skills are worth polishing up and improving on.

Apart from what we know already we probably have skills that we could sharpen up and others that we could learn that will save us a lot of money and help our families.  They say when you are ready to learn something the teacher comes along... I have found this so true!

When I was little Mum and Nan taught me to knit and crochet. I was pretty good at four too, lol, if you can imagine! Mum had to "turn the corners" for me on my knitting. I learned to sew too although I got banned from sewing in bed at one time due to consequences of that! (rolling on needles in my sleep etc)

This is Mum and Chloe taken last year and I had my work with me too...

Mum would never sit down and not work on something.

Later I have used You Tube to greatly add to my skills and learn a heap of new stitches. You Tube is the best thing for adding to your skills!

When Chloe was a baby my neighbor over the road was called Dorrie. She was wonderful. She taught me stretch sewing. I would get up to a point and run over for Dorrie to show me how to add banding to a cuff or some such thing then run home again with Chloe under one arm and the sewing in a basket.  Little by little I learned the basics. 

I lovely lady taught me embroidery and over several years I expanded on that and this became an income too for me for a few years. Later I learned heirloom sewing, pintucks, insertion laces and so on.

It is hard to think of all the things I've had a go at over the years! Over time I think we learn things as we need them ie learn to make baby food when you have a baby up to that stage. Learning to make curtains when I found my windows were not standard size...

I learned to color my own hair when I got fed up with it at one stage and the hairdresser charged like a wounded bull AND messed it up. I learned to cut it after the same scenario only that took me longer. The girls learned to do each others hair as they went a long and still do. (saving a huge amount per year) This extends to Dad (their Grandpa) insisting they cut his hair when they are at the farm.

(He 's still working as they cut his hair but looks like he's kind of enjoying it!)

I think just cooking all our meals is one of the biggest savings and being able to use what we have to make something.

Crock pot cooking is a great help to me.

Making my own stock and soups is a skill I am so glad that I have. Making soup is a great one, you can always feed your family well and inexpensively if you are a good soup maker.

The same goes for pie making. Left overs become pies and frozen soups and pies are always on hand. How much has this saved me over the years?

Jam making, how to make preserves has meant so much fruit that comes my way is never wasted. 

Baking.. I don't do anything complicated but cakes, biscuits, scones etc are all so cheap to make and make good gifts as well.

Growing some herbs and vegies, washing something that says "dry clean only", bread making, raising chickens, mending, taking up jeans... goodness there are just so many things that you can do yourself rather than pay someone to do.

Last year I learned to plaster a wall. Andy built me a new kitchen (good skills!) and we removed cupboards first. Then we needed two walls re plastered.  I decided to learn. The man at the hardware store told me I couln't and would need to hire a professional. Pfft.  Thanks to You Tube I did a pretty ok job of re plastering two walls!

What to learn next?

All year I have been wanting to learn more on modern day preparedness and I have had great teachers come along!  I look at this year as one of the years I have learned more than any other. It has been really fun too. 

Some things I would like to learn now are fermented foods including sour dough bread.

Re acquainting myself with soap making. 

New crochet patterns.

And cake decorating.

If you have teachers don't waste them. If you are lucky enough still to have your Grandmother get her to teach you skills you can use in your life. Listen and learn, she will not be around forever. You might know someone with the skills you would like to learn. Most people are delighted if you ask to be taught!

Then there are on line tutoirals, books, the library, courses, You Tube...lots of ways to leanr what you want to know. All skills take practice! I am amazed that i hear peole say they are terrible as something they tried once!  I've had to bury my first goes at most things lol

Deciding what to learn next might be a case of opportunity decides for you, so take it! Otherwise thinking about what is costing you a lot that maybe you could learn to do yourself is a great way to decide.

If takeaway meals are costing a lot then maybe learn to make great pizzas or learn to use a crock pot.

If birthday cakes are a big expense maybe learn cake decorating. Mimi does this and makes cakes for her Grand daughters and special occasions saving her family hundreds. Many people pay huge prices for cakes!

Set goals to learn new skills. I noticed Wendy set a gaol to learn soap making this year which she recently achieved. (with great success too!)

In hard times or a crisis you might need to mend and make do, make a meal from what you have... make gifts from materials on hand... all your skills are going to be very handy! The more we can do the more we save, are less dependent on the shops, have skills we could sell or barter with, can help others and improvise.

Skills are worth a lot. If you work on them the benefits are huge.  "Do you see a person skilled at their work? They will stand before Kings." (Prov. 22:29)

What skills help you in our life right now? What new ones could save your family a lot of money and add something wonderful?  What skills could help you in a crisis or provide an income should you need it? To top it off it is a wonderful feeling to be able to do things yourself. A feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Take every opportunity to learn new skills!