Take notes, European American readers: more people moving to rural areas”are specifically worried about economic and social instability.”
When the economy started to squeeze theWojtowicz family, they gave up vacation cruises, restaurant meals, newclothes and high-tech toys to become 21st-century homesteaders.
Now Patrick Wojtowicz, 36, his wife Melissa, 37,and daughter Gabrielle, 15, raise pigs and chickens for food on 40acres near Alma, Mich. They’re planning a garden and installing a woodfurnace. They disconnected the satellite TV and radio, ditched theirdishwasher and a big truck and started buying clothes at resale shops.
PHOTO GALLERY: A survivalist family
“As long as we can keep decreasing our bills, wecan keep making less money,” Patrick says. “We’re not saying this isright for everybody, but it’s right for us.”
Hard times are creating economic survivalistssuch as the Wojtowicz family who are paring expenses by becoming moreself-sufficient.
Reviving “almost lost” skills and preparing fortough days make people feel more in control, says Charlotte Richert,consumer sciences educator for Oklahoma State University’s ExtensionService in Tulsa County.
Karen Gulliver, MBA program chair at ArgosyUniversity in Eagan, Minn., expects the movement to grow as the soureconomy forces people to reassess priorities. People are asking, “Do Ireally want to be 100% vulnerable with no self-sufficiency skills ifsomething happens?” she says.
Some signs of the trend:
•Stockpiling. When the stock marketdrops, orders surge for freeze-dried food, survival kits and emergencysupplies, says Nitro-Pak president Harry Weyandt. One best seller: a$3,375 food reserve that feeds four people for three months.
•Gardening. Sales of vegetable seeds andtransplants are up 30% from 2008 at W. Atlee Burpee, the USA’s largestseed company. The National Gardening Association says 7 million morehouseholds will grow food this year than in 2008 — a 19% rise. A bookon building root cellars is the top seller at Johnny’s Selected Seedsin Winslow, Maine, supervisor Joann Matuzas says.
•Canning. Jarden Corp. says sales of itsBall and Kerr canning and preserving products are up more than 30% from2008. Sonya Staffan, owner of The Jam and Jelly Lady commercial canneryin Lebanon, Ohio, is offering twice as many classes this year.
•Sewing. More people are learning to sewso they can mend clothes and make home décor, says Rachel Cohen,spokeswoman for SVP Worldwide, owner of sewing-products makers Singerand Husqvarna Viking.
•Relocating. Steve Saltman, generalmanager of LandAndFarm.com, a national real estate company, says morecustomers want to “live simply in a less-expensive place.” JonathanRawles of SurvivalRealty.com says more people moving to rural areas”are specifically worried about economic and social instability.”
Patrick Wojtowicz’s family decided to transformtheir lives when his paycheck began to shrink last year. A truckdriver, he was spending more time on the road, paying his own expenseswhile waiting for loads. He disliked being away from home for weeks ata time and worried about losing his job. Melissa Wojtowicz isself-employed and works from home.
Their dual paychecks allowed them to livecomfortably, but they weren’t satisfied, Patrick says. “We wouldbasically buy stuff to feel good,” he says. “When that stuff stoppedfilling the voids we had, we started analyzing what it was that we werereally missing. We were missing being around each other.”
The Wojtowiczes made a list of the things theycould give up if Patrick quit his job and they relied on Melissa’sincome. They already lived in a house on property Patrick inheritedfrom his father a few years ago.
Gabrielle “put up enough resistance to qualifyas being a teenager,” Patrick says, but soon she was reminding herparents to turn off lights to save electricity.
Steps such as that, and keeping the thermostatset on 63 degrees this winter, cut monthly electric bills from $300 to$150, Patrick says. He hunts deer and turkeys. Instead of buying booksand going to movies, they visit the library weekly. For Christmas, theygot canning gear so they can preserve the food they grow.
“The earn, spend, earn era has come to an endfor us,” he says on truenorthfound.blogspot.com, their blog. “The ideaof living a fuller, more satisfying life seems simple to us now. …Money, cash, credit, maybe they don’t matter. Maybe, just maybe, it isthose things that impede our ability to be truly happy.”
Whatever happens to the economy, the Wojtowiczfamily hopes to remain self-sufficient. Instead of spending their taxrefund, as they usually did, they used it to pay down debt. Theystopped using credit cards and they’re trying to build up savings. “I’mworking harder than ever,” Patrick says, “but it’s more satisfying workand … it’s much easier to sleep at night.”