15 Ways To Prepare When You're Broke

My neighbor introduced me to his friend, a handyman looking for extra income. We talked about projects I need done but cannot afford to get done by professionals. Randomly, the topic of food came up. I mentioned I had peaches I needed to process but wouldn't be doing peach salsa this year as I made too much last year. He was really excited to try it, so I gave him a jar, plus a jar of cranberry relish. Well, guess what? We are working out a plan to barter his work for my preserved food! I'll pay for supplies in cash and his labor in food. He's single and not much of a cook. So, I'm putting together meal bags with instructions/recipes. The amazing part is that we BOTH feel like we are getting the best out of the deal.

Being frugal- ibuy freezer bags and when I take a sandwich to work I don't throw away the bag i bring it home and wash it out when i do the dinner dishes and also for heavy duty foils as long as there is nothing stuck to it i carefully wash it and let it dry. As for mental preparing i am a Christian and i am trusting on God, to stand by me it really helps me.

Be friendly. Be kind. Be polite. This will encourage others to help you.

My dad had 6 part time jobs in the early 80’s to make ends meet. One of them was driving the garbage truck. (In a rural area) he would simply ask people who had apricot trees, peaches etc if they wouldn’t mind him picking them. Almost always they didn’t mind. Dad would come back and pick the trees, and my mom would can whatever it was. They fed 3 little girls and themselves this way during hard times.

No one can do everything but everyone can do something.

My motto, "this one works & its paid for"

In the 70's we had a rough time. Our neighbor hood had folks in their 60's, 40s and my family. We got together taught each other different things. Gardening. Sewing and Rug making, preserving foods. It was a great experience. We never really felt poor. We made our own and enjoyed it all the more. My favorite memories are those times.

Once you have knowledge, no one can take that away from you. It will always be yours.

Talk to the elderly in your community because they've lived without the fancy gadgets - they weren't around. They've been through hard times and had to make do and stretch what they have until it's thin enough to see through. Our elderly citizens have a wealth of knowledge and skills that they can share.

My parents always encouraged reading, because they said you can learn anything if you know how to read. My parents remodeled their 120 year old home. We lived next to the library and my Dad would go check out books and would read how to fix everything in our house. My Mom said you want to understand something go look it up. I to this day still look up information daily.

I am disabled, have to use a wheelchair to get around, have no car and am housebound. I was talking to my Blue Cross rep a few months ago and found out I can get an aid to help with housework, laundry, groceries, etc and my health insurance will pay 100% for it. There is a limit on the amount of hours you are allocated, but you can request more. If you are 60+ talk to your health insurance rep to see what services are available for you in your area. Also found out the state farmers market does home delivery to several towns. One of our food banks will also deliver to housebound individuals.

I started a garden this year, first time in almost 30 years. It brings so much joy watching everything grow. Also just put up 23 1/2 pints of Strawberry jam, after 25 year. You just need to start learning!

Our local library has a seed bank & if you have a library card you can get seed packets for free. The only stipulation is, they request that you save some seed from your harvest & donate it back to the library to keep the inventory replenished. With the price of seeds now this can be a solution to backyard gardeners. ☮️

Side hustle baby! Babysit, clean a house or help with yard cleanup. You’re right, pride has to go out the window! Don’t worry about what others think; they’re not paying your bills or raising your kids ❤

I started with $5 a week. I would go to Dollar Tree(when things were $1), buy a day's worth of meals and put the change in a jar. As things got better we went to $10 a week. Eventually the change bucket was used to buy higher quality items or water purifier and such. Before anything I sat and wrote out 30 days worth of meals and knew to multiply the meals by 12 and figure out how much of each item I needed. I learned to can foods and dehydrate fruit. I can sew so I got a toy battery operated sewing machine that actually works a simple patterns for scrubs and 2 children's patterns. I know how to crochet so sweaters, gloves and hats are taken care of as are blankets.

Another tip in summer weather: hang your laundry to dry. I do it all the time in sptmg and summer.

I retired last year I’m not as active as I used to be and I’m feeling it and I had an idea today I don’t consider myself a senior lol but I’m 63 so I guess I am but we have a nice senior center in my town and I use to help out there when I worked for home health care so I went online and checked it out it cost 25$ a year they have excercise classes lunch crafts and they teach sewing crochet knitting .and so much more I think I’m going to like it plus I told hubby I’ll learn where the free stuff is too lol !! Wish me luck! I tried getting my mom to go there when she retired years ago and she said I’m not going down there with a bunch of old lady’s lol well here I am . Oh they also have an excercise room ❤❤❤

I am 77 and have been through it. You are right on. If you want a job, go and look for one. If you need stuff, always be looking around. There opportunities out there. I used to collect scrap metals for extra money. veggies can be grown in pots. I keep my flower beds full of growing veggies.

I bought a bread machine at Goodwill last week for $6. It works perfectly!

It is a mystery to me how you can talk and give detailed information while working in the kitchen! I can't talk while working and can't work while talking. When I bake, I have to tell everyone to stay out of the kitchen, or I will mess up the recipe! YOU have a wonderful SKILL! 😊