I'll admit that one of my areas in which my skills are quite poor is naturally occurring foods, bush foods. We grow some food, but not enough, so having knowledge of what may be edible around the place could be very handy. Of course trapping and hunting could assist in that area but one can't live on kangaroo or lizard forever.

It seems like your heritage has you well-placed to be able to forage for foods and the struggles your parents went through will pay dividends in the advent of you having to do so. I'd actually like to see a few posts on that aspect if you feel able, and also you ancestor.

Just on the credit. There arr things that a person can probably never buy without credit; A house for instance. It's the credit used for consumable items and things that are of a non-essential nature that is a concern. Using credit to purchase a phone on a 24 month plan then rolling it over in 12 months on the latest phone because a person wants the latest tech is not smart. Hire-purchase and credit card debt is future debt and makes things cost far more than they need to. People need to break the I want it now habit that society started to create in the mid-1980's and have embraced as the new normal.

We owe money on our house...That's it. We have bills of course, but the only debt we have is the house. I think it's a smart way to be. Using credit for a holiday for instance, doesn't seem all that clever. Still, what works for us may not work for the next person. That's why we all have different thoughts, needs, wants and financial futures.