Surviving in the Suburbs, The Kinetic Vehicle-Is it Legal? New Resources

Poor Man’s Recession Survival Bulletin
Your choice for usable information


In This Issue:

· Surviving in the suburbs
· The Kinetic Vehicle-is it legal?
· Win $1,000 + Resources
· Locating free Wi Fi
· Get the new Poor Man Eco Guide to Saving $ & the Environment
· Household CEO freebies, samples, and more



The Masses are asses & they prove it everyday by the way they vote, the way they drive!
-JAD


Designer Duds


When I was a kid if we got a pair of Levi jeans, we thought we were pretty cool. There weren’t many other ‘designer duds’ that I can recall from back then, although my Dad’s friends used to wear something with an alligator on it whenever they went golfing. So how did most of us go from hand-me-downs and jeans or maybe a pair of Keds shoes to $150 sneakers that kids are willing to kill over? (By the way, the Keds brand still exists).

When my two boys were growing up, their mother bought them everything designer label. I once asked her about why she would spend 20% or more on a name vs. function. Her response, ‘designer labels are better made.’ My former spouse was much like many other shopaholics. We were clearing $5-8,000 a month and she thought nothing of dropping $500 on a blouse at Saks 5th Avenue. Everything for the kids had to be a designer label; there was no generic anything in our household. Personally, all I could think of were those 3rd-world sweatshops that robbed America of its garment industry and how Madison Avenue conned us into buying cheaply made, overpriced goods.

The paradox to this however, is how poorly the average American dresses, despite the tons of cash spent on clothes each year. I don’t care if it’s the theatre, an airline seat, a church seat, most people look like slobs…especially the guys. Of course, I always find it so attractive when you see overweight high school girls who think they look cool in a tank top and jeans with their thong and gut hanging out!

In many ways, most of us have become new consumers though. You really don’t have to spend money to have a good time or to cook a good meal. Nothing like some hard times to make us eat a little humble pie.

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New Resources We Found for You!

How to End Long-Term Contracts
It’s not always easy to get out of auto leases, cell phone, gym club contracts.
Most will allow you to transfer your contract to another party without fees. Try posting ads on Craigslist.org or go to a paid site such as:

Cell phones – www.celltradeusa.com
Gym Membership – www.transfermymembership.com
Car lease – www.TakeMyPayments.com


Win $1,000 for Auctions
At most auctions the bids grow higher. At this online auction, prices drop lower and lower. Grab a deal on jewelry, electronics and more. Register before 5/20/10 and one lucky person will win a $1,000 auction credit.
www.Pricefalls.com

Power Up Your Coupons
The newest trend in couponing include bigger payouts, especially from brand name manufacturers. Average increase is about 2- cents BUT watch out, many have faster expiration dates. Redemption of coupons printed from your home computer are rising so in addition to checking retail sites and reputable sites including:
www.coupons.com
www.RedPlum.com

Be Generous for less…
Buy discounted giftcards for less – up to 40% off from 1,400 retailers and the shipping is free at: www.plasticjungle.com

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If you’re the household CEO, Organize with these freebies…

Giveaways & Sweepstakes Blog – www.freebies4moms.com

Reliable roundup of no cost items at: www.freestufftimes.com

Sign up for info about samples, coupons, discounts & deals here”
www.mysavings.com

No purchase required for these samples at:
www.heyitsfree.net

Something to think about…four trillion gallons of precipitation falls on the US each day but only 1/10th of it is used and none of it is ever lost. The water John used to baptize Jesus, still exists.

Energy Efficient Updates can help you save some big CASH!
No one wants to waste money-30-page PDF saves an average of $175 per month or $2000 annually – Not getting this is like leaving money on the table.
NEW & Free…Poor Man’s Guide to Eco Friendly No & Low Tech Ways to Save $ & the Environment…click on the Poor Man Free Reports folder, the PM Eco Guide PDF
www.poormansurvivor.spaces.live.com/

Free Wi Fi – to find the closest café, library, hotel or other business that offer a free connection (many McDonald’s & Big Boy’s offer this)…
www.WeFi.Com
www.JiWire.com

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Some Dollar Stores do Feature Made in America items
Writer finds 26 items for sale that are made in USA. Food items, office supplies, etc.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/03/29/dollar-stores-have-plenty-of-items-made-in-america/
Speaking of savings…at www.dollartree.com you can purchase items in bulk.

A cash-only lifestyle keeps people debt-free and conscious of their spending habits. Although living with cash in hand requires careful budgeting, logging expenses and intense perseverance, in the end, there’s a big pay off: according to finance guru Dave Ramsey, consumers can save 12 to 18 percent of their money by relying on dollars instead of credit cards. Learn what tricks to use when parting ways with your plastic and how to bypass any obstacles brought about by your Benjamins.
http://www.filife.com/stories/how-to-manage-a-cash-only-lifestyle


…Great idea – store small kitchen gadgets and tools that clog your drawers in flower vases on your counter for easy access.


^^^^SPONSORS^^^^
For designs that might move one to contemplation
check out:

Unixarcade Zazzle’s
http://www.zazzle.com/unixarcade*

Resources for Stockpiling and Disaster Preparation
http://www.tbotech.com/cmd.asp?af=1126539

Make Your Own Energy
Step-by-step guide reveals how to
make your own energy for $100 or less. http://tinyurl.com/PMEnergy

Terrific site for resources and green, eco-friendly goods
http://www.growandmake.com?ref=71
^^^^^^^^^

Get money back on items you purchased that later went on sale…
Log onto www.PriceProtectr.com to get free email alerts about
Post-purchase markdowns; then return to the store with a receipt.

News & Views

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 48 states face shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2010 that total $196 billion or 29% of state budgets — the largest gaps on record.

Experts say 10 states are bordering on insolvency — along with California and Illinois, other states in the hot seat including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. They are all in the soup, financially. And in 2011, many states face revenue gaps as big as or bigger than the ones they are wrestling with this year.

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The Kinetic Vehicle…Is it legal?

This is MAX, which stands for Mother's Automotive eXperiment. No, we're not done with it. It needs a streamlined body, for one thing, since we're shooting for 100 miles per gallon. The engine is a turbocharged 1100cc Kubota diesel, and and even sans streamlining MAX is surprisingly peppy. Peppy enough to win the inaugural Escape from Berkeley race in October '08 (Berkeley to Las Vegas without petroleum fuel) thanks to good performance, great mileage, and the ability to run on cooking oil straight out of the bottle. We intend to run the same team in April 2010, when Escape from Berkeley will take us from Berkeley to Mexico; Yours Truly behind the wheel and Sharon Wescott behind the map...unless by some fluke we get a diesel motorcycle whipped together for Sharon, in which case we'll be calling for volunteers in the right seat. Click here to read all about the MAX project or here to just read about MAX this year.
http://www.kineticvehicles.com/\


White House braces unemployed for slow job rebound
Given the depth and length of the recession, the White House wants to cool expectations of a rapid economic recovery before the November elections that will determine whether Democrats retain control of the House and Senate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100405/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy

>>><<< Gasoline prices today are lower than the highs of July 2008, but they are higher than they were in 2009. Analysts point to recent growing demand for oil that has led to higher prices, and they continue to debate the point at which oil production might peak over the next decade…If you’ve read some of my posts from last year or earlier, you’ll recall that I suggested ending Saturday mail delivery – not to save the post office anything, but to reduce the amount of fuel consumed in the US.

The government is by far the largest consumer of fuel in this country and in most cases, they are not fuel efficient. Another area of government inefficiency often overlooked…too few local municipalities know how to properly time traffic signals, leading to a horrendous waste of gasoline through constant stop and go driving.


H.L. Mencken’s classic warning… “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed—and hence clamorous to be led to safety—by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”



Survivalism in the Suburbs

Yahoo Finance! reported that a new trend is coming out of chaotic California: ‘Crisis spurs spike in ‘suburban survivalists’. “Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn’t even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.”

If Mr. Wiseman really needs his various preparations then what would the probability be that the area he is in is experiencing massive civil unrest, supply chain disruptions, gang warfare and a host of other undesirable effects?

Often when thinking of disaster preparation people get a little extreme, do not accurately assess the probability of events, focus on fairly immaterial questions like how to buy gold or silver and neglect the more important issues.

When considering physical preparation I think the best insurance is a three month supply of food and a 72 hour kit.

The kit should be extremely portable such as a backpack which may be quickly taken in the automobile should there be a need to evacuate. The food storage is a great hedge against inflation, insurance that you can eat which is not subject to counter-party risk, protection against potential supply chain disruptions such as the recent swine flu advertising campaign, and relatively cheap. Food storage is a form of savings and procuring a three month supply of food may cost only a few hundred FRN$s.

Sure, there are additional preparations you can make such as opening a free GoldMoney account where you can begin using gold or silver in ordinary daily transactions, procuring a shotgun or Glock 9mm, storing a year or two of food, spending a bundle to secure a farm in a remote location.

Are you prepared? You may even consider taking a survivalism course.

Here’s a site (http://www.equipped.com/srvschol.htm) which lists survival schools throughout the country – of course, you can find much of the same information for a fraction of the price via our Poor Man Recession Survival CDs – buyers get Poor Man I and Poor Man II for a whopping $10 & free shipping. Order the MegaDeal at our website. www.PoorManSurvival.com


The police are not here to create disorder. The police are here
To preserve disorder. –Mayor Richard Daley


PARTING SHOT…from the ‘Is anything made in America?’

I recently took my mother to a store called Hobby Lobby. It was packed to the rafters with overprices crap made in China AND it was jammed with eager shoppers! I refused to make any purchase and asked one of the managers if anything in the store was made in the USA – not one thing…yet all these Motor City citizens who moan about losing their job to foreign competition were standing in line wallets at that ready!

Chinese pet food is poisoning pets, and Chinese made toys were harming our children and now we learn Chinese drywall used in homes is injuring its occupants and most will have to be torn down as they’re beyond rehabilitation.

Even wind turbine contracts for use in this country are going to China – ARE we that stupid? No wonder so few middle class jobs exist. Some pundits call this a consumer revolution and most retailers have never seen anything like this before (the fact Americans have stopped purchasing useless crap). More Americans now rent their home vs. own one as jobs went bye-bye and the real estate market crash wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth.

Call it shrewd shopping or the ‘new frugality,’ most Americans either plain old can no longer afford the toys (except for any new electronic gizmo it seems) or they’ve finally wised up to the fact more isn’t always better…until Wall Street figures out it’s in their best interest to start making things here again (even if it costs more) they’ll continue to lose customers.

Frankly, our circle of friends makes a conscious effort to avoid stores which feature only made in China crap! We buy and swap a lot of stuff and take pride in feeling saavy rather than shabby!

Yours for better living,
Bruce ‘the contrarian’ Poor Man
http://www.PoorManSurvival.Com

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