Dean foods files for bankruptcy

wyoDreamer

Super Self-Sufficient
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
1,798
Reaction score
2,443
Points
267
I put myself through college and managed to do so without any student loans. However, there were some casualties: peanut butter being the biggest one and bratwurst being the oddest, lol. After paying rent, tuition, electric and phone bills there was not much left for groceries.

Peanut butter was cheap and I had a large jar of it. I had peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day for over 3 months. I am so over peanut butter. I was never a big fan of nuts to begin with, so no great loss for me.

The bratwurst: I belonged to a "Professional" club for my major. They had a fund raiser on campus - every Wednesday they sold bratwurst for $1 at lunch time in front of the engineering building. I happened to have 2 hours free at that time so I stood out there and sold brats for 2 hours straight. Any leftover bratwurst went into the freezer for the next week and I got to take home the leftover brat buns. Peanut butter on brat buns is not that great. Neither is smelling like a leftover bratwurst for the next 3 hours of classes.
 

CrealCritter

Sustainability Master
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
19,844
Points
377
Location
Zone 6B or 7 can't decide
I put myself through college and managed to do so without any student loans. However, there were some casualties: peanut butter being the biggest one and bratwurst being the oddest, lol. After paying rent, tuition, electric and phone bills there was not much left for groceries.

Peanut butter was cheap and I had a large jar of it. I had peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day for over 3 months. I am so over peanut butter. I was never a big fan of nuts to begin with, so no great loss for me.

The bratwurst: I belonged to a "Professional" club for my major. They had a fund raiser on campus - every Wednesday they sold bratwurst for $1 at lunch time in front of the engineering building. I happened to have 2 hours free at that time so I stood out there and sold brats for 2 hours straight. Any leftover bratwurst went into the freezer for the next week and I got to take home the leftover brat buns. Peanut butter on brat buns is not that great. Neither is smelling like a leftover bratwurst for the next 3 hours of classes.

I think I would have at least been setting squirrel traps on campus or something for meat.
 

flowerbug

Super Self-Sufficient
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,174
Reaction score
11,729
Points
297
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
i did need a few loans to finish, but i paid those off in 18 months after i had the first degree. i worked my way through school and i did not change my ways in spending or living habits and threw everything extra i made into two goals half and half towards each. paying down the debt and building up secondary source of income/cushion.
 

Mini Horses

Sustainability Master
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
7,074
Reaction score
14,468
Points
352
Location
coastal VA
Well, I often eat P-nut butter from a spoon....even if I have bread. LOL

But those past times of struggle are the basis for much of the self sufficient actions of today, in our lives. We garden, we preserve food, we feed one animal or plant that produces to feed many more.

I feel blessed to be a part of it.
 

flowerbug

Super Self-Sufficient
Joined
Oct 24, 2019
Messages
6,174
Reaction score
11,729
Points
297
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
Well, I often eat P-nut butter from a spoon....even if I have bread. LOL

But those past times of struggle are the basis for much of the self sufficient actions of today, in our lives. We garden, we preserve food, we feed one animal or plant that produces to feed many more.

I feel blessed to be a part of it.

same here Mini - sometimes that is a snack.

most days i start with peanut butter and banana so having an extra slug off the knife is common - especially the colder it gets...

like beans peanut butter is a staple for me. i've driven all over and lived off not much but having a good loaf of multigrain bread and a jar of peanut butter is always good eating to me. Mom's homemade bread and my freezer strawberry jam just makes it better.

as for blessings, i feel that every day i'm alive is that since i barely made it at the start to begin with.
 

Britesea

Sustainability Master
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
5,676
Reaction score
5,732
Points
373
Location
Klamath County, OR
A lot of my self-sufficient actions got started because I'm part Frugal Scot and part Stingy French, and I hate spending money if I can do something myself, lol. I have lived most of my adult life in places where the nearest store was a half-hour drive, and I didn't want to have to drive that much every day so I always made sure I had extra food in the pantry and freezer. It's mind boggling to me when I see how some people haven't got anything but a bottle of ketchup and a beer in their fridge.
 

wyoDreamer

Super Self-Sufficient
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
1,798
Reaction score
2,443
Points
267
One of my millennial friends at work just bought a condo. His dad has done all the updates and fixes for him. One day he had meatballs and mustard for lunch because that was all he had in his refrigerator and "going to the store and buying food seems like a waste of time and money." His mom sends him home with containers of food every weekend when he visits. I'm sure his new girlfriend is impressed...

This is the future generation that is going to save the world?
 
Top