What was life like for Northerners during the Civil War?

It was a very hard time for people, most did not have enough food to last the whole winter because they did not have any money for it. Most women, since the men where signing up for the army, planted crops, vegetables, and fruits. They would then store them for later use during the year like in the winter. For the people that had a lot of money it was not a hard time but it was harder,for everybody else, they were probably scrapping the barrel to get money for food and to find food.