Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban
Survival Resources
ISSN 2161-5543
In This Issue:
1.
Swap, Exchange or Barter-Save Money
2.
A negative credit score may not be a
bad thing
3.
More of doing good for others
4.
The true rate of inflation
5.
Get more free stuff
“When they took the 4th Amendment, I
was quiet because I didn't deal drugs. When they took the 6th Amendment, I was
quiet because I was innocent. When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was quiet
because I didn't own a gun. Now they have taken the 1st Amendment, and I can
only be quiet."
-- Lyle Myhr
-- Lyle Myhr
Free toiletries…good for bug-out kits
For nearly a
decade I was a road warrior, traveling to as many as 12 states during a 30-day
period (this was before they allowed children on airplanes). I spent a lot of time in hotels. The better the hotel, the more toiletries and
other goodies were stocked in your room every night. (The Chattanooga Hilton and the Pointe
Tapatio Resort in AZ had the nicest in-room bar and snacks).
Since I
packed my own favorite brands of shampoo, toothpaste and the like, I would
bring home bags of these sample sized toiletries. They were great for my twice annual vacation
to Ocean City, MD but I always had boxes of these sitting around the home.
When I became a volunteer board member for the
Salvation Army, it dawned on me these could be used in their efforts at helping
the homeless. So, two or three times a
year we began donating a few boxes to the shelters. We also began a campaign of donating day old
bread and other grocery items to them.
We had approached the store managers of the various grocery stores we
patronized and the managers agreed to sell large trash bags filled with food
for a whopping $2 a bag.
Now, it has
dawned on me these sample packs are ideal for inclusion in bug-out kits for the
entire family.
Speaking of
samples…I rarely see samples being distributed by manufactures anymore. We used to get them in the mail or at the
grocery stores. Yes, you can get small
samples sometimes online. Today, we’d love to see some generous samples of good
coffee as the price for coffee has gone through the roof. The Gillette Company pioneered the best
sampling program in the early 1900s when it would give away samples of its
safety razors. Of course, it made a ton
of money by selling the actual razor to its customers. A smart example of marketing from the good
old days!
To get more life (and flavor) from your dried spices,
store them in airtight containers and keep them away from heat sources and
direct sunlight.
PM’s
Useful resources for living better…
Save Money
by Swapping, Exchanging or bartering
Over the years we’ve plugged the idea of barter as a means of saving
cash. Why not turn a summer BBQ into a
‘swap party’? Some might call this
re-gifting. Choose a theme, perhaps
swapping gifts or clothing, children’s toys, books or other item When you invite friends, tell them the price
of admission is something to swap.
Here are some online resources to consider:
·
Exchange clothing and accessories at: DigNSwap.com,
SwapStyle.com or for children’s
clothes, try ThredUp.com
·
Can’t sell your home? Consider an even exchange from these
sites: DomuSwap.com, Pad4Pad.com, or OnlineHouseTrading.com
·
Get out of a car lease at these sites: SwapALease.com
(transfer fees apply)
Secret supermarket saver…pay attention to items featured
on the front or back cover of your grocer’s circular. That’s the primary area that ‘loss leaders’
are posted and usually provide the best value.
Get more free stuff
This site compiles lists
of giveaways and coupons in a convenient location…clothing, food,
entertainment, etc.
If You Get a
Negative Credit Score, It Isn't Necessarily Bad News.
Some lenders may opt
to send score reports to all of their applicants, because that is a less
complex way to comply with the regulations, said Nessa Feddis of the American Bankers Association. So simply getting a score report won't necessarily
indicate that you received a worse deal than any other applicant.
Your Credit
Report May Be More Important than Your Score.
You already
are allowed to get your credit report for free, and that's where all the
important facts of your credit history are located. The data in your credit
report provides the basis for those credit scores. Everyone should regularly
check their credit reports regularly, to make sure they are error-free. To do
that, go to the official website, AnnualCreditReport.com. There you'll find
links to your reports at the three big credit reporting agencies: Experian,
Equifax and TransUnion. If you're getting ready to borrow big -- say buy a car
or refinance your home -- get all three at once. If not, you may find it more
useful to get one every four months, rotating, because you're allowed one free
peek a year at each one.
Soothe aches and
pains by filling an old sock with a cup
of uncooked rice; tie a knot in the end and microwave for 30-seconds and then
use the warmth to stop the pain.
What's the
True Rate of Inflation? From our friend
Steve with many sites of interest
We don't really have
an answer to that question. One thing we do know (some of us) is that the true
rate of inflation is not found in the CPI or other government measures. In his
book Bad Money, Kevin Phillips
explains how inflation data has been manipulated in various ways, in order to
show a lower rate. This may have been done in large part to reduce federal
outlays for cost-of-living increases in Social Security. New rules for
computing the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, were put into place starting in
1997.
For example, the old
standard of a fixed basket of goods was eliminated in favor of a flexible
approach that took into account "substitution bias," which, it was
claimed, had made inflation appear higher than it really was. The idea that if
the price of juice goes up, people's cost of living doesn't go up by an equal
amount, since many will just substitute a cheaper alternative, like sugary
drinks. If aluminum prices rise, you can buy tin pans, so your personal cost of
living doesn't rise much. Using this principle, things that are going up in
price are now given less weight in the index - precisely because they are going
up.
Some of us find this
to be strange logic for computing the level of prices.
In addition, there
were now "hedonic" adjustments for product quality. This is based on
the theory that even if your cable television costs more, you are getting more
channels, and hence more pleasure for your money. Therefore, the reasoning
goes, we can't apply the entire cost increase of many products and services to
calculating the CPI, since...
Prevent rust by sprinkling a handful of uncooked rice in
the bottom of your garden supplies box as it will absorb the moisture…works for
tool boxes too!
The Nanny State Updates
A frightening
incident that happened down in Tennessee. A team of firefighters actually stood by and watched a house burn to
the ground because the homeowner had not paid his fees. The following is an
excerpt from a report by a local NBC affiliate about this incident....
Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire
department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to
a local family tonight.
A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters
watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.
The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay
whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it
was too late. They wouldn't do anything to stop his house from burning.
New Passport
rules being proposed…
The General Accounting
Office (GAO) has on several occasions investigated the department’s procedures
for processing passport applications and found them dangerously wanting. In
2009, for example, the GAO “easily” obtained passports using counterfeit documents. A 2010 investigation also yielded passports despite numerous discrepancies and suspicious
indicators within each application (including, for example, photos of the same
investigator on multiple applications; a 62-year-old applicant using a Social
Security number issued in 2009; passport and driver’s license photos showing a
10-year age difference; and the use of a California mailing address, a West
Virginia permanent address and driver’s license address, and a Washington,
D.C., phone number in the same application).
Specifically,
the department is proposing a new passport application, Form
DS-5513. It would
require the name and address of your every employer, as well every
supervisor’s name, and the address of your every residence.
If you’re over 50, get
neighborhood bargains by entering you zip code at: Sciddy.com – Savings rate
averages 15% on everything from pet services to travel.
More of ‘Doing Good’ for others…the
Parting Thought
After
obtaining free parts from FreeCycle.org, Jordan Grant, a National Guardsman
from MO, began building computers as a hobby.
Soon he had lots of them so he started giving them away to people of
limited means. He provides an average of
three a month and feels such an investment in his community is worth his while…
Brenda of
ON, Canada is a volunteer at a local food bank.
She noticed an elderly woman who came by weekly to pick up
groceries. The old woman struggled to
carry the bags of food so Brenda went to purchase a wheeled cart for her. She chatted with the cashier as she paid for
the cart, explaining the purpose of the purchase. The cashier was impressed, so she let Brenda
have the cart for half price!
Charity gardens provide backyard
bounty for those who
need it most. There is a growing
movement in America among folks who grow fruits and vegetables and donate them
to food banks and soup kitchens. If you
have a vacant piece of property, consider either growing crops for charity or
allowing low income people to grow produce on a designated plot; a terrific
community effort that provides long term relief.
That’s it
for this issue from the ‘Yes, we can’ Poor Man
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1 comment:
Hi!
I really like the concepts of your blog and I try to adopt them every time I can.
I found also this website very useful:
www.favorthinking.com
It allows me to do favors with friends and non-friends in exchange of favor points that I can use to receive favors from other people.
Giulio
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