My teenaged son and I were talking about the crazy economic week the nation (world!) is having. I mentioned that the DOW had lost a fourth of its value in a weekend, and gold had gone from $1400/oz to $1800/oz. He stared at me, and said, "I told you we should have bought gold!"
Nah, I'm not interested in it- if I pooled all available resouces, I'd be able to buy about one handful of gold. Wheat, on the other hand, is two cents an ounce (already in a bucket for you at Macey's this week). And I can eat that. The line I've repeated to my older children over the last couple years is, "I can't afford gold, but I can afford wheat. And I can eat wheat."
Are you feeling concerned about the future? The Lord told us, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30). More on that below. The biggest part is being prepared spiritually- living with faith and trust in the Lord. He will do what will help us become better, more righteous people. Trials are essential to that. Are you also prepared with food and supplies? I do not advocate rushing out and going into debt to get everything; I do encourage you to pinch and scrape this month to get the most value out of your money, before the value changes again. Buying the absolute basics- wheat, rice, oil, sugar, dry beans, salt, powdered milk- will stretch your money the most. Do you have an entertainment budget for the month? A budget for dates? Take that, just this month, and use it for food you can have on hand in your house. Wheat has doubled in price since 2009; talk about a great investment! I love eating at 2-years-ago prices.
Here in Utah we enjoy a phenomenon called The Case Lot Sale. As best I can tell, this is because of the high concentration of Mormons here and our unique buying habits; we have been taught since the church's early days (1800's) to have plenty of extra food and supplies at home. The case lot sales are when the stores offer great prices on many items, usually the lowest prices of the year, and sometimes with an extra discount if you buy an entire case of something. We enjoy the sales once or twice a year, depending on the store. They are a big part of my budget shopping, along with the price book idea- I buy nearly all of my groceries only when on sale. When canned green beans hit their best price, I buy enough for the coming year. Then I don't buy any more for the rest of the year, when they're at least twice the price. This makes for an expensive Case Lot month, but the months after are much cheaper as a result.
This week Macey's and Fresh Market both have case lot sales. See the Deals page for what the best prices are. All of the long-term-storage foods I've listed there are close to, or cheaper than, the Home Storage Center prices. The only exception is the Country Cream powdered milk, but it tastes better than the HSC's. It's still a good deal, too.
The following excerpts from an article are from Ezra Taft Benson, then an Apostle, published in the Ensign magazine, January 1974, entitled “Prepare Ye”. He repeats D&C 38:30 three times in it (“if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear”), and this talk has been extensively quoted. It contains at least 12 segments I’ve quoted or heard quoted. I recommend that you read through the whole talk, and see how many pieces of it you’ve heard before.
Here are some excerpts:
“In Matthew, chapter 24, we learn of “famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. …” (Matt. 24:7.) The Lord declared that these and other calamities shall occur. These particular prophecies seem not to be conditional. The Lord, with his foreknowledge, knows that they will happen. Some will come about through man’s manipulations; others through the forces of nature and nature’s God, but that they will come seems certain. Prophecy is but history in reverse—a divine disclosure of future events.
Yet, through all of this, the Lord Jesus Christ has said: “… if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)
…At the April 1937 general conference of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints], President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., of the First Presidency, asked: “What may we as a people and as individuals do for ourselves to prepare to meet this oncoming disaster, which God in his wisdom may not turn aside from us?” President Clark then set forth these inspired basic principles of the Church welfare program:
“First, and above and beyond everything else, let us live righteously. … Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow. Let us straitly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little.
“Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds; you of large means will think you know how to care for yourselves, but I may venture to suggest that you do not speculate. Let every head of every household aim to own his own home, free from mortgage. Let every man who has a garden spot, garden it; every man who owns a farm, farm it.” (Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26.)
…There are blessings in being close to the soil, in raising your own food, even if it is only a garden in your yard and/or a fruit tree or two. Man’s material wealth basically springs from the land and other natural resources. Combined with his human energy and multiplied by his tools, this wealth is assured and expanded through freedom and righteousness. Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of each of these particulars.”
… “Healthful foods, proper rest, adequate exercise, and a clean conscience can prepare us to tackle the trials that lie ahead.”
Are you feeling concerned about the future? The Lord told us, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30). More on that below. The biggest part is being prepared spiritually- living with faith and trust in the Lord. He will do what will help us become better, more righteous people. Trials are essential to that. Are you also prepared with food and supplies? I do not advocate rushing out and going into debt to get everything; I do encourage you to pinch and scrape this month to get the most value out of your money, before the value changes again. Buying the absolute basics- wheat, rice, oil, sugar, dry beans, salt, powdered milk- will stretch your money the most. Do you have an entertainment budget for the month? A budget for dates? Take that, just this month, and use it for food you can have on hand in your house. Wheat has doubled in price since 2009; talk about a great investment! I love eating at 2-years-ago prices.
Here in Utah we enjoy a phenomenon called The Case Lot Sale. As best I can tell, this is because of the high concentration of Mormons here and our unique buying habits; we have been taught since the church's early days (1800's) to have plenty of extra food and supplies at home. The case lot sales are when the stores offer great prices on many items, usually the lowest prices of the year, and sometimes with an extra discount if you buy an entire case of something. We enjoy the sales once or twice a year, depending on the store. They are a big part of my budget shopping, along with the price book idea- I buy nearly all of my groceries only when on sale. When canned green beans hit their best price, I buy enough for the coming year. Then I don't buy any more for the rest of the year, when they're at least twice the price. This makes for an expensive Case Lot month, but the months after are much cheaper as a result.
This week Macey's and Fresh Market both have case lot sales. See the Deals page for what the best prices are. All of the long-term-storage foods I've listed there are close to, or cheaper than, the Home Storage Center prices. The only exception is the Country Cream powdered milk, but it tastes better than the HSC's. It's still a good deal, too.
The following excerpts from an article are from Ezra Taft Benson, then an Apostle, published in the Ensign magazine, January 1974, entitled “Prepare Ye”. He repeats D&C 38:30 three times in it (“if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear”), and this talk has been extensively quoted. It contains at least 12 segments I’ve quoted or heard quoted. I recommend that you read through the whole talk, and see how many pieces of it you’ve heard before.
Here are some excerpts:
“In Matthew, chapter 24, we learn of “famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. …” (Matt. 24:7.) The Lord declared that these and other calamities shall occur. These particular prophecies seem not to be conditional. The Lord, with his foreknowledge, knows that they will happen. Some will come about through man’s manipulations; others through the forces of nature and nature’s God, but that they will come seems certain. Prophecy is but history in reverse—a divine disclosure of future events.
Yet, through all of this, the Lord Jesus Christ has said: “… if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)
…At the April 1937 general conference of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints], President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., of the First Presidency, asked: “What may we as a people and as individuals do for ourselves to prepare to meet this oncoming disaster, which God in his wisdom may not turn aside from us?” President Clark then set forth these inspired basic principles of the Church welfare program:
“First, and above and beyond everything else, let us live righteously. … Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow. Let us straitly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little.
“Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds; you of large means will think you know how to care for yourselves, but I may venture to suggest that you do not speculate. Let every head of every household aim to own his own home, free from mortgage. Let every man who has a garden spot, garden it; every man who owns a farm, farm it.” (Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26.)
…There are blessings in being close to the soil, in raising your own food, even if it is only a garden in your yard and/or a fruit tree or two. Man’s material wealth basically springs from the land and other natural resources. Combined with his human energy and multiplied by his tools, this wealth is assured and expanded through freedom and righteousness. Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of each of these particulars.”
… “Healthful foods, proper rest, adequate exercise, and a clean conscience can prepare us to tackle the trials that lie ahead.”
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