A $900 billion stimulus package may sound like a good idea, but what are the long term results going to be? How soon will we find ourselves back in this same sorry position? What will it really cost tax payers? What will it cost our children?

My personal opinion is that it would be better to leave the money where it is at, and deal with things as they come -- without government intervention. Isn't that what a free society is about? We make our choices, and our choice has been to buy cheap. Our choices have shown manufacturers that we don't want to pay the American worker, so they have shipped their business overseas. We get things for less, but we also have fewer jobs available.

We thought the tech. boom would last, but we don't want to manufacture chips...

We thought the housing market would stay high, but how could it? And if it did, what would our children buy?

Inflation and recession, even depression, are part of the natural cycle of a free economy. Corrections are what keep us going.

When you drive, the wheel must turn. If you always hold the wheel in one position, you will crash. Corrections keep us safe. Too far to the left, and you are facing oncoming traffic. Too far to the right and you are off the road or smashed by a guardrail. Either way, you enter dangerous territory.

Too far up or too far down, and the market suffers.

When gas and food went up, it was good for some, but hard on most. The same applies to housing, vehicles, clothing and energy. There are workers in every field who are helped when the prices increase. When wheat and corn prices went up last year, it was the first raise most farmers had seen since the 70's. It was an opportunity for them to upgrade equipment, repair buildings and improve their farming practices.

Because of the increase in food prices, many complained that they could buy less of what they wanted. They had less income for entertainment. They didn't care that the farmer was finally getting a living wage -- fair trade.

But, enough of my rant. If the stimulus package goes through, how would I spend $6,500, or $13,000, since my husband and I handle our finances together?

Pay off our auto loans, then put the rest of the money into savings. We have two reasons for making this choice:

1. Hard times are ahead.

• Cutting back on the amount we owe each month make getting the bills paid easier, even on unemployment.
• Having a saving account allows us to make timely decisions for our family.
• Having cash when times are tough is one of the best ways to make money in the long run. Stocks and land prices will be down. We want to be ready.

2. Our children need a future.

• We (personally) have spent our time getting ready for Now! We need to start looking ahead.
• If the economy keeps climbing the way it has in the past ten years, our children will not be able to afford food and housing. Job prices have not kept pace with inflation. By being prepared for a downturn, we will be part of the solution. A falling economy is needed to put more jobs back on American soil.
• We have most of what we need and many things that we can do without. Using a windfall to tidy the budget will give us more time with our children, to prepare them for the future.

This option assumes that work will continue to be available, the economy will revive and life will go on as we know it.

Buy a little piece of land in an area with a good growing season, which has already been hit hard. Invest in lots of seed, and a little tractor or a cow and a plow.

Sell our home and become debt free. Move, grow, live. Be independent or start a community with likeminded people.

Teach our children how to live from the land and how to study. Teach them to be wise in the ways of business, husbandry and people. Equip them with skills suited to their unique personalities.

This option is best suited for a long downturn. Moving to an area that is already suffering is making a long term commitment, because getting out will be about the same as starting over.

Prepare for the worst!

In preparing for the worst, I am going to assume that all society crumbles, there is no commerce or trade, and it is everyone for them self. This means debts no longer matter, as there is no place left to pay them; but then, there are no grocery store, gas stations or utility companies either.

Considering a worst case scenario, spending the money on survival gear, informative books, seeds, herbs, spices and basic skills educations would make the most sense.

Do I sound like an extremist? Maybe so, but there are many things, apart from economical failure, that can crumble a society:

• Rome fell from the inside out, due to the breakdown of the family unit.
• Natural disasters and disease have devastated many cultures.
• War -- we are not immune to foreign attack, as 9/11/2001 showed us. Neither are we immune to civil war or domestic terrorism. Remember the Oklahoma City bombing?

The Great Depression of the 1930's was not based on just the collapse of the stock market. The market, which fell in 1929, had mostly recovered by 1931. The Great Depression lasted for ten years due to the Dust Bowl. This was a drought that covered most of the United States crop lands, making domestic food scares.

In the recent years, we have seen an increase in devastation due to natural disasters: hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, volcanoes, earthquakes and flooding, to name a few. This option expects to start over, with only the building and people of a culture that once existed.

So which option is best suited to the near future? For my family, a combination of the three would make sense.

1. Pay off our debts on items that are depreciating. Save some for the future, in case of lay off or downsizing.
2. Buy seed enough to plant a large garden (actually, because I love to garden, I have already done this), and begin looking for some land. We would prefer a rural lifestyle, regardless of the economy.
3. Survival gear, in the form of a duffel bag for each person, packed for emergency use. This bag would include a couple changes of clothing, shoes, a jacket or rain coat, water and easy to prepare food. It would be useful in case of fire, flood or accident. We keep the basic camping equipment in one storage tub, ready for use.