Bluebirds on the ground. Jane in Australia (QLD)

Jane in Queensland has really been a prepping buddy to me as the last few years we have compared notes and egged each other on so much!  She has taught me a lot especially gardening.   Over to Jane...

A few years ago now, Bluey got very ill and had to undergo life saving surgery. When he got home, he needed full time care. This meant that I gave up work. We were living off Bluey’s part pension and small shares portfolio income. Our budget was trimmed to bare bones.

At this time, we felt the NEED to expand our garden. We added raised garden beds. These were sourced very cheaply from the tip. We have half IBC totes, large pots, half 44 gallon drums, old pool sand filters with the tops cut off, and bath tubs. The gardens were filled with twigs, branches, grass clippings, cane hay bales, manure and finished with homemade compost. After each crop is finished the garden beds get topped off with homemade compost before the next crop goes in. What couldn’t be grown from seed, was bartered for or grown from cuttings.

Once the garden was up and running the next step was to get chooks. Their eggs and the garden produce, have provided us with many meals each week. I needed to know that if everything fell apart, that we would have a means to put food on the table. The chooks manure, and the half composted material from their yard, goes into the compost bins. This ends up on the gardens. It’s a wonderful system.

 (A tip....  old mower grass catchers make fantastic nesting boxes!)

I started the garden with heritage seeds. I began working on seed saving from the plants I initially planted. I use these seeds for our garden and I also swap with other people for seeds I don’t have. Seed saving has been a huge money saver. I have become quite driven about saving seeds and developing a seed library of plants that grow well in our area.

The cost of electricity had been going up and up and up. We had been saving and used what we had saved, to have a good solar system installed. Our extra power feeds into the system and we are paid a small amount for this. Our bill had been slashed. The solar panels paid for themselves within 18 months of installation. 

Then the Pandemic hit. We had a well stocked pantry and didn’t run out of anything. I had a wide variety of seeds saved, plenty of greens and some fruits coming in from the garden and we were unaffected by shortages. Our daughter’s husband was thankful that our Katie kept what he had thought was an overstocked pantry and knew how to take ingredients and make them into meals. He was also thankful that I order loo paper by the carton as my loo paper stock kept their household and his parents household in loo paper. 

Fast forward to now. Bluey and I have a fabulous network of friends and neighbours. We swap excess produce. We barter for things we don’t have. We share skills. Shortages have affected us mostly in the medical area. Bluey required surgery last year in February, 2022. He required a followup specialists appointment, and that has just happened January of 2023. His prescription medications have been quite difficult to get at times. Thankfully we haven’t had to do without. 

We have a neighbour who has had a cancer removed off his leg. The wound got infected. Getting the right anti biotics for him has proved difficult. He had gone to old fashioned compresses to try and draw out the infection. The right meds were eventually sourced and he is now improving daily. All the neighbours have made sure that he has his lawn mowed, meals in the freezer, foods in the pantry                                                                           and that his house is kept clean. 

In the past twelve months our town has been flooded in twice. This meant no trucks could get in to restock shelves. Both times supermarket shelves were stripped bare. The first time the road was cut for 3 days and the second time we were flooded in for a week. Both times Bluey had a medical emergency and got out just in time. The first time I was flooded in and had to wait to be able to get to him. The second time I got out with him and was then stuck away from home. Our son and his family were living with us and were able to take care of things at home.

Our town had low lying area flood issues with only a few homes affected. Other nearby towns had homes and businesses inundated with flood waters. The worst issue for some of my friends who went through this, was that their insurance premiums went up by thousands of dollars per year. Some simply cannot afford the insurance they are being asked to pay. Our son was looking at a nearby town as the housing is affordable. He then looked at the insurance payments and the housing was no longer affordable. One of my friends property has never flooded. However her insurance went from $4000/yr to $14,000/ yr.

Electricity costs have sky rocketed. One older couple we know have turned off their electric hot water heater so they can afford to pay their bills. They rent their property and are living with the strong possibility that the rent will increase. If this occurs they will have to try and find somewhere else with less rent costs. This is really affecting them and their quality of life. Once again, all the neighbours are doing what they can to help out with produce, eggs, skills and the odd baked cake.

Housing affordability and rental accommodation availability are major issues here. There is less than 1% housing availability for renting. This doesn’t affect Bluey and I, but means our son will be keeping our address as his own for a while yet. We have an increasing amount of people, who are unable to find a home to rent. This is one factor causing our homeless rate to increase dramatically.

Purchase prices on homes have almost doubled since the start of the Pandemic. With the increase in interest rates, we have noticed that the prices are dropping, but only by a small amount. Houses in close proximity to the beach, regardless of age or condition, are still selling for stupidly high prices.

 Good chook food was in short supply, mid last year. We grew sorghum, corn and sunflowers along our fenceline(we live on a 1/4acre block in town), specifically for our chooks. The plants have self seeded, so the fluffy butt girls regularly get extra greens and grain from the garden.

Right now fuel takes up a huge part of our budget. We try to wait until one of the fuel stations has a 14c/L off day, to fill up. This is for RSL card holders. There is usually a long line and waiting and patience is required. However the savings make this worthwhile. We do have two large 4WD vehicles. One is for pulling the caravan and the other is a vintage ute that is Bluey’s pride and joy. I use my electric trike as much as I can for my shopping and for visiting friends to make the fuel in the cars last as long as possible. 

Bluey and I are in the privileged position of owning everything. We have enough income to pay our bills as they come in. We have enough income to purchase the foods that we need. We have a garden that provides us with a lot of our fruit and veg needs. We have friends and neighbours who are happy to barter their excess for our excess.  We currently live below our means. We forward plan for large expenses. We save until we have the money we need. We live a modest but good life. 

Thank you so much Jane!    There is so much inspiration here and you show the value of developing relationships  with your neighbours and community very well too.   A great advantage.   I hope everyone feels as I do ... that is each week we are reading different experiences and perspectives and picking up tips we may not have thought of.   Also so much encouragement and inspiration!  

There is no Save like Nana post this week as I have my Grand Daughters here... so I am too busy being a Nana to write about it haha! 

Next week our Bluebirds on the Ground post is from Laura in Romania.  

Have a good week everyone! xxx