Crazy Prices

There is no doubt that inflation is always going to be around. Even when the economy goes Boom! Or Kasplodes for that matter. The thing is, I don't think people's wages are rising at the same rate to eleviate the issue of not being able to afford things.

And what I mean by things is the basic necessities. Things we need these days to live. In a modern society, we need a lot. But are these things materialistic or do we really need them to survive?

We need food, but when the price of petrol goes up, so does food. Why? Simply put, tractors that farmers use run on petrol. The trucks that transport the produce use petrol. And when I say petrol, it's more than likely going to be Diesel fuel. But it's still petroleum based, and will also be affected by the cost of oil.

The obvious solution is that everyone have their own little farm in their back yard. However some people's backyards are as big as my outhouse. Even if they were to start their own tomato plant, you could really only have one or two.

There are places that have Co-Op grocery stores that make no profit and provide local produce, however prices are still high. You could start a Co-Op farm where the people who want to eat the produce, pay for the seeds, the equipment, etc. And they volunteer to come by after work or the weekend to do whatever needs doing to grow their produce.

This idea is nice, but generally there won't be enough land in the suburban area to have a farm to support a coulpe of hundred households.

So, really, there is no ideal solution for this. But perhaps that's the answer. There will never be one solution. Maybe the person with a big block of land can set up their own farm in their own backyard, while the person who lives in a inner city terrace house with a backyard the size of my bathroom can join a Co-Op or some sorts where they travel out to the farm once a week, or a roster or something and help around until their crops are ripe and ready to pick. The hard work pays off with fresh produce that hasn't been stored in a freezer for 6 months and gas-ripened when it needs to hit the self.

The sad truth is, all this would cost a small fortune to set up.

Which brings me to the next necessity. Power. We kinda need electricity of some sort in our modern world. Without it, I wouldn't be writing this blog, you wouldn't be reading it. We wouldn't enjoy ice cold drinks, or sit in our homes with a good book or watch TV, if you're into that thing.

There was an announcement on the news the other day that electricity prices were doing up (again). For the last 5 years of my life I've been seriously thinking about solar panels on the roof, but sadly, an installation that can help me at least get started is going to cost a small fortune. Roughly equating to about $10,000.

Now, this doesn't sound like too much money when you consider the savings later on, and the environmental impacts. But the thing that cheeses me off the most is when I read up on news about Solar panels that are better, more efficient and cheaper to make, yet we never see them on the market.

People say, "Oh, solar? You'll take 10 to 20 years to pay that off" And the sad truth is, it's just that... the truth.

I have no solution there except for, get rid of your fridge, your TV, your computer, anything that plugs into a wall to work. It's a stupid and unrealistic answer. However, the alternative is that if you still want solar, you can always buy a small installation now and expand it slowly over time. While this is ideal, you're still going to need to invest a lot of money.

Recently a shop in the local area invested $180,000 in a solar installation. They were in the local paper and started their reasons where because power was the only thing left on their To-Do list to make them completely free from any environmental impacts their company put on the planet. They also said that the power savings were going to be great news for cashflow. However, I can't stop thinking about the price of the installation. It did cover their entire roof. But people don't have that sort of money laying around. Successful business or not. So they've naturally taken out a loan to pay for it. For some reason, I doubt the money they're saving is offsetting the loan they took out to pay for the installation. A loan that is almost the same as my entire mortgage for my house.

So, how can you start saving the environment and the dollars when it cost so much to change to things like solar. Wind is a cheaper option, but a suburban based turbine will cause a number of issues. One is that it'll be too small to power anything decent. It certainly can't compete with solar, and the sun shines more than the wind blows out here.

The other issue is that they get noisy and your neighbours aren't going to like that.

The alternative is, something I leant to before. Don't use electricity at all. But lets be realistic, it can't happen.

Another alternative is to just go completely off the grid, a lot like my friends in the States do who read this do. And while I love the idea, and I can see myself going it eventually. I don't see everyone doing it. And I still can't see how you'll survive completely off the grid without some form of income to buy those things you can't grow or make yourself.

I think you'll still need to earn money from something to pay for things you can't provide yourself with. And what about if you have a family? Wife and kids will have to help out with growing your own fruit and veg. Help with making dwellings, furniture, etc. If you have no income, and lets face it, if you live off the grid, you're generally living somewhere where there isn't power or water to begin with. What you have to do is provide everything for yourself.

You can start off cashed up like some I know. But that's an exception, and a rare one. What can you do?

My ideal would be to buy a block of land out in Sofala, where I just went camping and build my own place up there over a few years. Get it powered with solar, get some rain water tanks in. And make sure it's up on a hill. The river has been know to flood.

I'd make the shack big enough to have my wife and me. And we are planning on having kids eventually, so there would have to be enough room for him or her too.

The good thing about Sofala is that its 40 km's North of a major country town. So there's hospital and food if needed. And it's rural enough to live however you like the rest of the time.

The wife hates it because there's no coast line. She's a water girl and loves the beach.

What would it take for you to move to an alternative life where you rely on your own resources to live?