Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN 2161-5543
In This Issue:
1.
Protecting credit, privacy, using gift cards
2.
Finding your version of financial freedom
3.
Yes, you can still get free internet
4.
DIY Home Sweet Home
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
-- Samuel Adams
Independent: (adjective /ˌində'pendənt/) Free from outside control; not
depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.
Imagine the day when the definition of “independent” will apply to you
– the day you’ll stop “depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.”
When it arrives, fireworks won’t come close to expressing the satisfaction
you’ll feel. Can’t see it happening? Here’s some advice that might help.
Finding your own version of financial freedom
I’m financially free – able to work because I want to, not because I
have to. It’s been a long road, but I’ve learned some lessons along the way
that might help you do it faster…
1. Freedom is inversely proportional to debt. It’s fundamental:
The more debt you have, the less freedom you have. In fact, while it may sound
extreme to compare debt to slavery, in a sense that’s exactly what it is. Every
debt you have is an invisible ball and chain. If you owe MasterCard 10 grand,
until you pay it off, MasterCard has the ability to influence what you do with
your money, which means they also have a say in what you do with your life. (Is
that why they call it MasterCard?)
Freedom means not owing anybody anything. If you have debt, read my
book Life or Debt, or at least this story: 5
Steps to a Debt-Free Life.
2. Freedom means being rich, not looking rich. See that guy in
the Porsche next to you at the red light? He’s not rich. He’s a salesman on his
way to the home of someone who is. When he gets there, the house will probably
be average but paid for. The cars in the driveway were probably bought used,
and the prospect’s entire wardrobe will be worth less than one of the
salesman’s suits. If you have time, read 19
Things Your Millionaire Neighbor Won’t Tell You.
Virtually everyone with a job will make a lot more than a million
dollars during their lifetime. It’s not what you make that matters, it’s what
you keep.
You can either look independent, or you can be independent,
but you probably won’t live long enough to accomplish both. Read the rest at:
more than 70 percent of all processed foods sold in the U.S. contain at least one
ingredient that has been genetically modified.
PM’s
Compendium of Useful Resources
Protect Your Privacy & Credit, Get Deals Using Gift Cards
When a website asks for your credit card number in exchange for a free
trial membership or service, don’t give it out.
Instead, use a Visa, American Express or MasterCard gift card to sign
up…this keeps your real card safe.
Before you make a purchase, big or small, check these sites where you
can buy gift cars for a wide variety of retailers at discounts of up to 35%
(better average than eBay):
CardCash.com
GiftCardGranny.com
GiftCardRescue.com
My
PerkStreet 2% cash-back debit card is my new favorite financial
product. The checking account and debit card with unlimited 1%
rewards*. Free to use. Free to get. Free money.
Safety Note: If you ever get a
letter from a credit card company declining an application and you never
applied for credit at that firm, odds are you’re a victim of identity theft.
Contact that firm immediately and request a copy of the
application. Alert them to the fact
you’ve never applied. Then, file a
police report and fill out a fraud affidavit.
This will allow you to access a free credit report from each of the
three major credit reporting agencies.
Review the reports for suspicious activity should you find any, report
it to the fraud department of that agency.
If you sign up for their new-activity alerts you’ll learn about
fraudulent activity. If you don’t need
to apply for credit in the near future, consider issuing a credit-report freeze
which will block any new credit applications.
While this site is set up blog style, I much prefer to use the menu at
the top of the page to narrow down the entries I’m looking at. The categories
are: Crafts & Tutorials, Organizing & Cleaning, Recycling &
Re-purposing, Kids, Food Fun, and Holidays.
But if you want to navigate through everything, just scroll down the
page and use the Newer Posts and Older Posts links to navigate back and forth
through the material.
If you’re going on any road trip with your kids this summer you have
got to check out the 16+
Hour Road Trip with a Toddler and a Preschooler article. The
author came up with so many innovative ways to keep her kids busy in the car
that are easily adaptable for kids in a wider age range, and prevents you from
having to say “Don’t make me turn this car around!” because the kids will be
entertained the whole time.
This is a DIY site that I think you’ll love exploring for great tips
and tricks to make your life easier, more organized, and fun!
Yes, you can still get free internet…Features a comprehensive listing of free
internet service providers, most offer 56k isp connection, one
requires no ads or pop-ups, with most offering good free connections.
Bay leaves can impede infestation of bulk
flours, they aren't adequate to completely protect your investment. One good
easy technique is to put your flour in the freezer for 24 hours, which kills
the little nasties. Then put an oxygen absorber in with your flour or other
bulk foods - these are available in craft departments at Wal-Mart, K-Mart or
other major like store- and seal tightly.
The Nanny State Updates…
The way that the
TSA abuses travelers is a national embarrassment. One TSA agent recently sifted her finger through the ashes of someone's dead
grandfather and then spilled his ashes all over the airport floor.
The Parting Thought – Practical Anarchism
I want to scream: “what the hell has happened to this country?”
Do we even remember what it means to be free? “We the People” are getting screwed.
We hear slogans about the “land of the free” and we still sing
patriotic songs at the ballpark and even at church on Sunday, and these songs
are always about our blessed liberty, the battles of our ancestors against
tyranny, the special love of liberty that animates our heritage and national
self identity. The contrast with reality grows starker by the day.
July 4th was oddest holiday in history. The day that
overthrew a government, July 4, 1776, now celebrates the power of a government
that is far more vast, predatory and imperialist than the one overthrown.
It isn’t just our personal liberty and our freedom to move about with a
sense that we are exercising our rights. It hits us in the economic realm,
where no goods or services change hands that aren’t subject to the total
control of the government. No business is really safe from being bludgeoned by
legislatures, regulators, and the tax police.
Pre-revolutionary America was an experiment in practical anarchism that
worked beautifully. There was no central state at all and, therefore, no taxes
or regulations. The homeland was not a code word for a bureaucracy, but merely
the self-organizing community in which people lived. If the community became
oppressive, people moved to the next one. This created a dynamic that unfolded
over time with a trajectory toward evermore liberty.
It's no secret that tyranny in America is on the rise.
Tyranny has been advancing for decades ever since the Federal Reserve
got a toe-hold in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve
Act into law.
But since 9/11, tyranny in America has been on a fast-track -- and the
Constitution has become a virtual relic to be interpreted and re-interpreted in
the most expedient manner for our rulers to take away our freedoms and seize
more power for themselves.
Few dare say it publicly: America has become a police state…just ask
those herded through the security lines at airports or those being hassled by
Homeland Security at highway rest stops, train terminals and bus stations. Do any of us DARE question authority?
What’s more, all the time we spend obeying, complying, and pretending
to be malleable in order to stay out of trouble ends up socializing us and even
changing our outlook on life. As in the Orwell novel, we have adjusted to
government control as the new normal.
“Until the next
revolution”, the Poor Man
The ‘System’ is Stacked Against US Workers
Our politicians have loaded the system with plenty of incentives NOT to
hire workers
Today, you aren't just competing for jobs with your neighbors. Your
competition also includes millions upon millions of hard working people on the
other side of the globe that will gladly work 12 hour shifts in nightmarish
conditions for a dollar an hour.
The United States has been losing millions of jobs to lower wage
countries, and the fierce competition for the jobs that remain is driving down
wages in this country.
Learn how to fight back and become more financially independent:
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