Got an early start to the firewood season.  I let my pole barn empty out over the last two years so I could get a load of crushed stone to level it up and help mitigate the soft wet ground that I experience in the spring.  Glad we are getting an early spring because I want to put up at least two years' worth by summer.

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I decided to use a couple older saws I accumulated in recent years.  One is a Dolmer Sachs 111 and the other is an 026Pro.  026Pro needed a new bar so I ordered a couple for it along with some tune up stuff.  After some searching and comparing looks like the 111 uses the same bar and chain as my Husqvarna 445 so I ordered a couple spares for those.  When tinkering with the saws this weekend I notice I am down to a couple new spare chains per saw so ordered a few more for each.  I really wish I didn't have such a mixed match saw fleet but at this point it's not worth selling the old stuff just to make things match.  

I haven't had to buy any chainsaw "stuff" for about 8 years.  DAMN everything has gotten fucking expensive.  I like having a spare bar per saw plus a handful of new chains in my stocks but let my supplies dwindle over the last decade in hopes of standardizing but everything I have still runs/ functions well.  I have mostly standardized on bar lengths, and gauge for each specific saw so there is that.

372XP    20" .050 3/8 72link       (72cc saw)
445       18" .050 .325 72link      (50cc saw)
235       14" .050 3/8-LP 52link   (35cc saw)
026Pro  16" .063  .325 67link     (48cc saw)
111       18" .050 .325 72link      (52cc saw)

I really wanted to go 20" on the 026 but the price difference in bars and chains was enough to keep it smaller and faster for bucking wood vs more length for limbing downed stuff and not having to bend over as much.

Almost $500 later and I will be resupplied as soon as the orders arrive.  I bargain shopped too, some stuff from Amazon, some from Lowes.

I am pleasantly surprised with the old Dolmer Sachs 111 52cc saw I ended up with recently.  Runs and cuts better than I thought it would.  When using a saw cutting firewood for hours on end I much prefer the smaller saws to the 372.  The 445 was always my favorite but I am really like the 111.

Spent Sunday afternoon at the gun range,  boy am I rusty but it's coming back...
Spent the morning cleaning guns and what not.  I need to get to the store, just don't feel much like going.  One more gun to clean...

picked up a medical kit from duration health

seemed wise to have some antibiotics and whatnot on hand

@TexRdnec

Did you pay with an FSA or HSA?

Negative, just $269 of regular old credit card money

Worked on a new backyard range this weekend in between processing firewood.

Now I just need to wait for it dry out.  About 50 yards for normal use but I can back up to the 100 yard mark if I want.  

I only had 50 yards at another spot on my property prior, but this is a bit closer to my house and has better 4x4 vehicle access & parking...  Single lane.  I don't cut the larger trees unless they are dying, or I need to.  Have some old large spools to use as tables.  Going to hang some steel to live there and make some new targets.

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Cleaned and organized my home office.

Sorted through a bunch of holsters and stuff I bought in bulk from an estate. Already resold $200 of it so 1/3rd if the way to covering the spend.

Moved a lot of stuff from 2 other estates down to the basement and put it away where it belongs.

But mostly I rested. I have been working crazy hours 7 days a week for a while now and just decided to rest.

Interesting. Mentions a consultation, so do you have to do that, or just order meds and they ship to you?

@TexRdnec

depends on your state.  i had to schedule a telemed zoom type thing, they asked me some very basic questions and 5 minutes later it was a done deal.  

received the kit just a few days later, exceptionally nice.  would recommend

Made another Sam's Club run today and added a few more cases of canned food to the pantry.  Organized my Augason Farms #10 cans that arrived while I was out of town this month.  

Also played with my no name chinesium rechargeable flashlights that were suggested in my Survival Gear thread.   I would buy again.  For reference:  Flashlights

Made a store run for stuff I normally use and while I was there decided that I needed a 5 year supply of allergy and heartburn stuff.

They also had Gatorade tablets on clearance so I bought them out. These will be a great addition to everyone’s bags.

Traded sor a couple of sets of throw lever scope rings for a pair of upcoming projects.

Picked up a 1L water bladder for a kit I am assembling for a friends kiddo.

Added a large Sharpie to my kit bag.

Stopped by the LDS storehouse for my monthly addition to my larder 1 glacéd if Carrots, 1cade of Beans and 2 cases of rice.

Cross post because shit is getting expensive and it's time to buckle down.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/A-Dire-Warning-from-Michael-Yon-Massive-Food-Shortages-Global-Famine-and-What-May-Lead-Us-There/5-2550503/?r=-1&page=249&anc=108616353#i108616353





There is no way this continued rise in prices is sustainable for folks' living paycheck to paycheck.  We live very comfortably still but the price increase is noticeable on a month to month for the basics.  

My wife and I both have good jobs for our area, bought our house back in 2012.  Thank God we already have what we have in retrospect, because at our current level of income we could not afford to buy what we have again.  We still have it good, but it didn't come without sacrifice for years and years and we still live a frugal lifestyle compared to most people we know that have similar income levels.  We are debt free minus our mortgage which is privately held flat rate total sum, and we just bought a new Subaru for the wife.  We could pay it off but financed half just in case.  Still have her old Jeep Patriot, which is a rust bucket, bought it new and have used it up for the most part.  Still salt and snow in my AO so we are using until the roads are clean then will sell it.  My truck is a 2017 and paid off, I have a beater Honda civic too.  We have plenty of toys, camper, ATVs, motorcycles all older but bought and paid for.  In reality we are not just getting by but the hit and costs of everything is becoming noticeable.  If we weren't at the point, we are at in our life I really think it would be rough going and require significant sacrifice, or we would just have to work all the time to have extra at the end of the month.  We run spreadsheets for everything and track every cent.  Most people don't.

We don't go out to dinner hardly at all anymore, and lucky if we get takeout a couple times a month.  I do 90% of our maintenance and work on everything we own.  Oil changes, brakes etc.  I do all my own service on the toys and can-do frame off builds if I want.  Changing ATV tires are a bitch by hand, but I do it all.  $100 per hour to have a shop put a new chain and sprocket on my bike isn't happening.  I am rambling now, but the point is, even doing everything myself costs of everyday things especially foods is noticeable.  If I paid someone to do everything for me, I would be broke, but yet I see people that are doing just that while driving brand new vehicles.  Have to be living on credit...

Getting fiber internet installed this weekend and dropping our Dish network bundle because now is a good time to stay focused on saving.

$150 a month for Dish and DSL which is slow by today's standards.
$29.99 a month for 100mbs fiber.  Add a new streaming service plus the couple we already have, and we are knocking $75 a month off the top.

It's easy to not pay attention to it through and brush it off as whatever and just make the payment but a bit of planning now is going to be worth its weight soon.  AT some point in the near future lots of folks are goign to end up in the negative with no way to recover.

My wife didn't know what an EMP was so I made the mistake of explaining it....

she's on the way to the store now for additional cans of food

You are lucky. My wife grew up in Mayberry like towns. She never thinks anything bad is going to happen. She is slowly coming around, but not fast enough for my liking.

We had an unprompted double homicide in my front yard 18 months ago. She gets the always carry/prepping mentality much more now.

Buying food but not organizing . Also for a psa had some 5 packs of lighters and both packs all were basically dead. When opened, of corse I tossed the packages without checking the dates but prob 5 years maybe? So make sure you rotate those too

Headed out to split firewood since it is too wet to burn or work fences. I have lots and lots of bug kill trees, Oh lucky me!

Picking up a 2004 Expedition with low miles this week.

Now I have to kit it out and ensure I keep the appropriate gear in it since I am upsizing from the Malibu I have been driving the last few years.

Lots of mods to make and for the first time in years I can keep vehicle recovery gear and tools with it.

Today, not much.
Last couple of weeks, 2 of cases of 124 gr 9mm JHP, two containers of freeze dried fruit and some #10 cans of freeze dried meat.
ETA - Today I did clean out four 6 gallon water containers that I used to take camping, will fill them with water and stabilizer.

Finally ordered a spout for my jerry cans.  Turned out these are the German wide mouthed cans and Coleman's surplus seemed to be the only place that had the spouts.


I ordered 2 spouts because one is none...

prob not the spouts you need.  it's those danged gaskets that get lost

I ordered this style spout




https://colemans.com/nato-flexible-large-mouth-nozzle

For this style can



https://colemans.com/german-military-large-mouth-gerry-can

Increased my retirement contributions.  I have a few years to go before retirement and so far, my pay raises have been better than inflation.  Rolling my pay raises into retirement funds which are growing steadily.  Too many people I know are at or closing in on retirement and can't retire.  Too much money going out, not enough money set up to come in to be able to retire.  Seems like every time I talk to someone who isn't ready for retirement, I increase my contributions.  Side benefit is, I am proving to myself I can get by on less so retirement shouldn't come as a financial surprise.

Thursday I picked up a low mileage one owner2004  Ford Expedition. My old expedition a 2””1 is on its last legs after 423k miles and it never needed major work.

Now I have to begin kitting it out.

I am just happy to have a solid reliable 2nd vehicle that allows for big cargo, hunting and fishing and as a BOV

Quite a lot to do on it so it’s my main project over the next few months.

Already have a console vault and a bed vault ordered.

Given the launch of drones from Iran to Israel, I figure gas prices will jump a bit. Had to run to a nearby town to do an errand and saw gas prices there have already jumped to $3.39. My town is still at $3.05. So, topped off my truck and my Jeep and filled two NATO cans that needed to be filled anyway.

I will be doing the same in a few hours.

This seems prudent and I better get my cans topped off also.

I don’t think it’s a major prep but I like to keep the tanks and cans full.  Since filling two vehicles and 2 cans is a lot of gas, saving $.34 per gallon seemed like a no brainer. Maybe it’ll be a lot of nothing…..seems to be so far.

I usually keep 14 NATO cans full of gas. NEVER less than 12 cans full though. I keep them all in a rotation.

My thoughts are that soon meat, REAL meat will become a huge commodity and will be exceedingly hard to come by...And so with that, I "accidentally" ordered (while purchasing a power wheels dune racer for my grand niece...)
  Some Keystone canned beef. WM online has two packs of the 1lb beef at around 19+....I bought 12 two packs. so 24 cans of 28oz meat..I have never actually tried the product but what the heck...PROTEIN!!!

Will be popping one open when it arrives this week to give it a try.
 We have been sorting and organizing, looking for gaps. We put up two more shelving units.  Chickens are squeezing em out like crazy and the need to get the freeze dryer going again is at hand.
   4 More mortgage payments and Completely Debt Free !!!!!
 Also running tons of ads to get rid of my life's collection.. My thoughts are changing again like the seasons and things that were once important are no longer of interest.  I am trying to get outside and view what's really important. And that just within the confines of my very private Idaho.

Good reminder.

I have at least an empty 5-gallon gas can, and 5-gallon diesel can that needs to be filled.

Bi-annual rummage sale at the church near my work.

42 canning jars for $.25 each!  

I have kits from both Jase and Contingency and recommend both.  Both are email consultation, no video or phone calls, and dollar for dollar a much better deal than Duration, IMO.  Jase will let you add all kinds of other meds, including generic EpiPens.

Definitely worth a look!