Our toughest cut!

In all honesty we have been pretty irresponsible with our money. As I listen and read about the budget problems of the local, state, and federal governments as well as the banks, corporations, etc. I can see how easy it is to get into these situations, not that I am excusing them or suggesting that it is our responsibility as taxpayers to bail any of them out. I read an article in Newsweek magazine about credit cards and how much more people will spend if they are using a credit card to pay for the purchase and are much more willing to spend if they are not actually spending their cold, hard cash http://www.newsweek.com/id/172592. It is so easy to pull out a credit card and figure that there will be more money to pay for the purchase in the future. Of course the extra money never comes and before you know it you are borrowing from one card to pay for another. Then comes the day that the piper must be paid, not a good day!





Bryan spent a couple of years working solely on commission for a pest control company as the real estate market was beginning it's free fall. For those two years the pay was abysmal. He was job searching during this time and switched to a new job as soon as he was able to find one, but in the meantime we sank further and further into debt to meet the shortfall and, yes, we also overspent. Then reality started to sink in and we realized that our financial situation was out of control and it was time to put a stop to the money hemorrhage. The first thing to go was the television. We turned off the satellite a year and a half ago and haven't regretted it for a day. Then we started canceling things like our http://www.audible.com/ subscription and not renewing our magazines. We went from two cell phones and a land line to just one cell phone, we switched to a less expensive internet supplier, cancelled the kid's music lessons. We have started really watching every dime that we spend on groceries and have stopped buying things we can make ourselves; bread, tortillas, cookies, laundry soap, etc. We have utilized the services of a credit counseling agency to help us with our credit card debt which means that we have cut up all of the credit cards and we are now on a plan to get our card payed off in 4 years. There have been no sacred cows in our personal budget, even the life insurance went. So as I listen to all of the hand wringing from government officials about how they don't have any money left and they are going to have to cut programs, well, I don't have any sympathy at all. The state workers have already had their pay cut by 10% and now they are talking about an additional 5% pay cut. While I am not excited about the prospect, I understand that there should be no sacred cows in the government either. And, of course, a pay cut is much better than a layoff!



I must admit that I am not a big fan of Bryan being an employee in the "public sector" (neither is he, it was a difficult decision to even apply for the job to begin with). As a firm believer in free-market economics and Adam Smith style capitalism, I really prefer the idea of working to actually produce something. Which is why we started raising animals to begin with. My ideal life would be agrarian, kind of "Amish Lite", our family on a bunch of acres, working the land, raising animals, etc. What more basic need is there than that of food, especially responsibly, sustainably raised food. And that brings us to our toughest cut yet. We have made the decision that we can no longer afford the pigs, meat chickens, and turkeys. We will be selling off our breeding stock of pigs and turkeys and this will be our last batch of meat chickens. Hopefully we will be able to continue with our dairy goats, egg chickens, and meat rabbits as these animals do not cost as much to raise. If anyone is looking for registered Berkshire pigs, we have a boar/sow pair that we are selling for $1,200.00. We will be selling our Gloucestershire Old Spots females for $600.00 for the pair (they are available for breeding only). And we are selling our adult Blue Slate Turkeys for $50.00 each, we have 3 hens and a tom. If you would like any further information about any of these animals please contact us at stephanie@dirtcreekfarm.com or (760)249-8871.

Not the best picture, but a recent shot of our boar "Ego Trip.

The kids and I have been reading some really excellent books by Richard J. Maybury called the Uncle Eric books http://www.bluestockingpress.com/ . The books are very well written and easy to understand, I cannot recommend them highly enough! In the study guide on economics that goes along with the book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy there is an article called Dear Mr. Ag Secretary, author unknown, that I thought was very entertaining in light of our recent decision.




Dear Mr. Ag Secretary:


My friend Mort Wilson received a check for $1,000 from the government for not raising hogs. So I want to get into the "not raising hogs" business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best type of farm to not raise hogs on, and what is the best breed of hogs not to raise?


If I get $1,000 for not raising 50 hogs, will I get $2,000 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 "not raised" hogs, which will give me $80,000 income the first year. Then I can afford an airplane.


Now another thing: These hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of corn. I understand you also pay farmers for not raising corn and wheat. Will I qualify for payments for not raising corn and wheat not to feed the 4,000 hogs I am not going to raise?


I am also considering not milking cows, so please send me information on that, too.


In view of these circumstances, I understand that the government will consider me unemployed, so I plan to file for unemployment and food stamps.



Be assured that you will have my vote in the coming elections.


Patriotically yours,




A. Prospective Farmer

Kansas



We are hoping that these cuts will be enough to get us through these tough financial times. Especially as we are running out of things to eliminate. Our goal is to get ourselves out of this hole we have dug ourselves into as honorably and responsibly as possible. We were irresponsible with our money and the blame is completely ours. We are looking forward to the euphoria that will come after toughing this out.