Hi everyone!! It's spring! It's April! Can you believe it? Where is this year going??? Is it flying by for you as quickly as it is for me?? Well, we've been busy around here lately with garden 'activities'. As you know, the food from the garden comprises the biggest part of our preps every year. A very large amount of the food we eat comes from what we grow. It's a big job, and it takes alot of time and work. I have seedlings started and growing beautifully. This week we strung string for the peas to grow on. We got the garden planned out and marked. The busy season is about to begin, but there's such excitement in it! We're hoping for good weather in the next week to allow us to get peas and carrots in the ground. Are you growing something this year? I sure hope you are! Food grown at home is fresher, less expensive than store-bought, and most of all, it's a bit of self-sufficiency. It's something that you can do for yourself to play a role in your own survival! It is survival-ism at its most basic! So, on yesterday's local news, they mentioned more price increases. Apparently, Hershey's has announced that their prices will be going up in 2 months. (BUY YOUR CHOCOLATE STASH NOW!!!) Also, Walmart has announced that they are raising prices. These companies announcing price increases are caught between a rock and a hard place. They have increased costs so they need to increase prices. But they know they risk losing business from folks who can't pay increased prices. The decision to raise prices is not an easy one. You can bet that, when a major company announces price increases, they've spent much time in consideration and number crunching. To me, it's always a sign that things are really getting bad when million (or billion) dollar companies start passing the buck and risking sales. (One more reason to grow your own food. Hmmmm. Can I grow cocoa beans in IL??????) Prep On! Gen-IL Homesteader ------------------------------------------ Join the APN Forum at www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net Visit the Illinois Forum at www.IllinoisPreppersNetwork.net

Frustration, Ranting.....and More Price Increases

Hi everyone! Well, I try to keep my posts here out of the political arena, but I'm crossing that line here today. Are any of you feeling frustrated at what the United States is doing militarily right now? Was it not enough that we were engaged in 2 'wars', we had to go and start a 3rd? Seriously? Does this make sense to anyone out there? Going and invading a country who has done absolutely no harm to us......I'm sorry it just makes no sense to me. Do we really need to lose more soldiers? someone's precious child? in battle's like this? I'm just overwhelmed with feelings of frustration right now. A fighter plane crashed there today. How many millions of dollars were just wasted? Thank God the soldiers lived through it! Are we so numb to this garbage that, when we start to see the nightly news reports on soldiers killed in Libya, we won't do a thing about it? I hope and pray we won't.


Remember this interview with then-senator Obama saying the first thing he would do if elected president would be to bring troops home from Iraq? Ummmm, it's been a few years now, I think. How close are we to bringing those troops home?


And did you know that just last week the House voted on bringing our troops home from Afghanistan by the end of 2011? Guess what. They voted it down. Surprised? Only 93 congressmen voted FOR the resolution. 93! And did you know that only 8 of those 93 votes were from Republicans? And NONE of those voting to bring the troops home this year were newly elected 'tea-party' representatives. Let that be a warning to you: voting party lines and voting for folks who don't even have a platform, is not necessarily a good thing.


I called my congressman and senators today to let them know that I want our troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. I'm going to call them everyday if I have to until all of our soldiers are home. Forget about the soldiers that are lost overseas....think about the money spent over there! Our government is broke. Can a broke nation afford to start and maintain a third war? Oh, people, it does not bode well for us financially! The Russians left Afghanistan after a 10 year war and that war led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Can we expect to pull out of 3 wars in better shape than we went in? Prepare for the worst......


On to other news, did you see this article? Procter & Gamble has announced that they will be raising detergent prices. The price increases go into effect on June 6th. (Don't you like how they warn us? If you use items like Tide, Gain, or Era this might be a good time to stock up!) The article also discusses price increases by other companies such as Starbucks and Kimberly-Clark. Folks, prices are going up but I don't think our paychecks are going up that quickly!! It's time to watch where your pennies are going, shop sales, grow a garden (the above pic is some of the seeds I've started). It's time to embrace your frugal side!! It's time to stock-up! It's time to prep, folks! Like my dad used to say, 'There's no better time than the present!'


Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader


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