Living Life in Rural Iowa

Okay, you have a financial emergency happening. You may have lost your job or half your income. You may be working fewer hours at home. You may have overspent on the holidays. You may not be able to pay your bills. You may be facing a repossession or a foreclosure. You may be facing a divorce or other significant life change.  I have been faced with many of these scenarios. Life is not always easy even if you are prepared. Your finances may be good until something bad happens. You can have an emergency savings account and still have it wiped out faster than you can blink.  Life happens and some things are out of our control. However, with a good deal of financial situations, you may have had an inkling this was coming. Not to sound unsympathetic, but I usually knew I was making some wrong financial decisions when I made them. I wasn't strict enough with my budget. I wasn't making at least an attempt on the payments. I wasn't talking to my creditors. I have had some surprise

What do you have or eat that you possibly cannot live a day without?  Coffee? Tea? Wine/Beer/Alcohol? Cigar/Cigarettes/Chewing Tobacco? Chocolate? Video Games? Books? Online Streaming Services? Hobby Supplies? Cosmetics/Hair Dyes? Daily Showers? To me, creature comforts are items and services you don't want to live without but could live without if you had to in certain situations. Could you live without them? Sure. They aren't necessary to survival, but they make life much more enjoyable and they help you keep your sanity.  Some creature comforts have become a lifestyle for some people. They couldn't possibly imagine life without those things. For some, those creature comforts have become an addiction. Being without those things would be hard for the person relying on them and very difficult for others to deal with the addict.  A few of the hardcore preppers would just say that you learn to live without them. You just toughen up and tough it out. I do think that is what wo