Buying Advice Prices seem up for both new and used...

[aczlan]

Phone being on the wall means if you leave a message I might call you back and I feel no need to see who just called until I’m darn good and ready. The phone on the wall doesn’t cut me off, get messages a day late I can drop it and throw it around and it never seems to break. Besides that it costs less an I haven’t been distracted by it with a call or a message at an untimely manner ever.

Costs less? How much a month do they charge for it? I get cell service for $25/month with unlimited talk/text and 2gb of data. They have cheaper plans, but some months I need more minutes than the cheaper plan offers.
I keep a PDF of the owners/shop manuals for all of our equipment on my phone as well, that way I can look up that information on my phone if I need to work on them.

Aaron Z

 

[Jstpssng]

When I gave up my landline in lieu of a cell phone the provider gave me a hard time, saying that they couldn't allow me a contract without a landline. So I gave them my company cell #. As cell phones have proliferated and "improved" the signal and service has gotten shabbier and shabbier and my employer now allows me to use their cell for personal use. I have gone back to a phone on the wall, often planning my days around being home to make phone calls... just as I did 30 years ago.
No, it is not any cheaper; phone and internet is just a little less than 100$/month. But I have a phone that I can actually use when I want to call somebody, instead of driving around for an hour trying to find a signal; which seems to vary from day to day.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm sure we all know people that are early adopters and seem to have money to burn... just as we know those that are frugal and live a good life.

I work with professionals that make a lot of money and spend, spend, spend... like never owning a vehicle out of warranty or leasing...

Also work with those that punch a clock and pay cash for a new car/truck... they will also have it with a little luck for a very long time...

There is no one answer other than some need a lot more to live and others do quite well on modest amounts...

For me it is driven by need or investment...

Need is do I have what I need to accomplish the task...

Investment is not so simple but for me having fun with antique cars and tractors has also been profitable... which makes it nice to have self supporting hobbies.

 

[prof fate]

And you don't need a robot or self driving car...or do you? Your kids will have them i'm sure.

We lose skills too - riding a horse, or driving a team was probably pretty common 200 years ago..today? Hells no.

If your grand parents lived without a car why do you have one? If they existed happily without it...so can you! LOL

I cna't imagine the effort needed to build a log cabin on raw ground..and grow your own food, tote your water, etc.

****, things that baffle me - food preservation. OK, I can grow corn, tomatoes, etc. I have lots of food in July and thru september. I've READ one can keep root crops, cabbage, apples in a root cellar all winter...I can't keep potatoes 6 weeks let alone 6 months. I've mulched carrots and it works till late feb..then they begin to rot

What did people eat in mar/april/may 150, 200 years ago before canning and refridgeration?

Affluence provides options parents and grandparents never had... at least in my family... no doubt turning up a thermostat is far easier than gathering wood and tending a fire... similar in that my grandparents never owned a vehicle... just one tractor that was bought long before I came along... nothing wrong with tech and what it brings... my only point is my grandparents never wanted for anything and lived simply in the home they built, ate food they raised, furniture they made and there was little technology could do for them

 

[ultrarunner]

And you don't need a robot or self driving car...or do you? Your kids will have them i'm sure.

We lose skills too - riding a horse, or driving a team was probably pretty common 200 years ago..today? Hells no.

If your grand parents lived without a car why do you have one? If they existed happily without it...so can you! LOL

I cna't imagine the effort needed to build a log cabin on raw ground..and grow your own food, tote your water, etc.

****, things that baffle me - food preservation. OK, I can grow corn, tomatoes, etc. I have lots of food in July and thru september. I've READ one can keep root crops, cabbage, apples in a root cellar all winter...I can't keep potatoes 6 weeks let alone 6 months. I've mulched carrots and it works till late feb..then they begin to rot

What did people eat in mar/april/may 150, 200 years ago before canning and refridgeration?

It is a way of life that has a following today... my cousin inherited the farm otherwise it very well could have been me...

The home was not a log cabin but a 3 story Cinder block with Whitewash Stucco including cellar plus full height attic...

No toting water as the natural spring about 250 higher in elevation ran artesian and water free flows... so no pump needed either.

No refrigeration either... the cellar part into the land maintained year round 49 degrees... meat is heavily smoked and hung and I have to say the best I have ever had...

You are 100% right in that what person could live without garbage service today???

When you don't buy the plastic package stuff and your food is not packaged just about all of what you have is recyclable or can be re-purposed...

Staples in sacks... luxury like coffee imported... other items bartered.

Grandparents lived into their 90's and sharp as could be... Grandfather had never went to a doctor in his life... had a dizzy spell in his 90's and the kids had him checked out... Doc said he was in amazing health but needed a pace maker... Grandfather refused saying when it is your time it is your time... another 5 years and passed away in his sleep...

Heavy diet in Dairy... nothing pasteurized... all raw... fresh from the cow...

Before electrification they had a small water wheel that produced DC to for the radio and a few lights...

They were not Amish but could have been... but they did have a tractor that was used 50+ years...

 

[prof fate]

I see you live in Maine. Try moving someplace populated LOL

My Landline was $75 a month when I gave it up...gave it up and had to get the youngest child a cell phone so if she was home alone and had an emergency she has a way to contact help. Phones keep getting cheaper and cheaper - I can get unlimited everything for $40/month...might not even need home internet if I went that route, but I use it for netflix, roku, hulu and work.

From talking to my clients over half of folks have only their phone for internet access - it's all my girlfriend and kids use. Maybe an ipad now and then.

When I gave up my landline in lieu of a cell phone the provider gave me a hard time, saying that they couldn't allow me a contract without a landline. So I gave them my company cell #. As cell phones have proliferated and "improved" the signal and service has gotten shabbier and shabbier and my employer now allows me to use their cell for personal use. I have gone back to a phone on the wall, often planning my days around being home to make phone calls... just as I did 30 years ago.
No, it is not any cheaper; phone and internet is just a little less than 100$/month. But I have a phone that I can actually use when I want to call somebody, instead of driving around for an hour trying to find a signal; which seems to vary from day to day.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^

As I said I tried that route before it was popular. I got my first cell phone in 1995 and unplugged in 2005; the cell company really gave me a hard time about not having a landline. As cells got more popular the service got worse; I could sit at my desk looking at the cell tower yet my first digital phone couldn't hit it. Places where I routinely made calls 20 years ago have no service now.

My brother lives in Glendale AZ; hardly a rural area yet talking to him is rather annoying as I can only catch about every third word. I have a "smart phone" through my employer yet about the only thing I use it for online is to dial up a song on youtube for the ride home.

Storing food stock; your standards are a little bit different than a farmer 100 years ago. I.E. if you are hungry enough you don't care how shriveled that potato is. The varieties also may have been different, grown for utility not designer appeal. Corn was dried and ground for meal, or put into bins for the cows. A lot of the ornamentals we see around old homesteads were for food, not appeal; day lilies and burdocks come to mind. In dire circumstances they died, especially the children. Have you ever visited an old graveyard and read the headstones?

I keep potatoes and apples through the winter, and try to have just enough left of the former to plant a row in the spring. I choose varieties which store well; Katahdin and Red Norland are my favorites. I buy a bushel of apples to store every fall; half each of Northern Spy and Winesap. By April they don't look fresh picked, but still maintain their flavor. I usually have a few left over to feed to my piglets when I pick them up in May.

 

[rngrrymd]

Doesn't matter how old-fashioned you live or how modern you live there is one thing we all can agree on - everyone on this board is using internet and a computer or internet capable device so none of us are truly living like our ancestors did. And we are all addicted to a little tractor ****. :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

That is for sure... my DSL and Windows 98 keeps chugging along... still have my Apple//e too... cost me several months pay at the time with the Letter Quality Daisy 40 cps Daisy Wheel Printer...

The 10 year old cousins all Snap Chat and Instagram around the world... amazing how that works... still remember when it would take a month to get an answer sent by airmail to remote locations... nearly 2 weeks there and two weeks back and the letter was like tissue paper!

 

[ultrarunner]

Kubota Quote received and I don't see how they sell any tractors.

$39,906 out the door on a used machine from a multi location California Kubota Dealer...

270 hour 2018 L3901 HST with full factory warranty.
LA525 Loader
66" Quick Attach Bucket
BH Hoe with subframe
12 inch bucket

Including $2100 freight and dealer set up plus $250 doc fee and tax....