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Saturday, March 16, 2013

The true rate of inflation-20 ways to live on almost nothing





Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources


For Independent Minded People!

ISSN 2161-5543

"Once the government becomes the supplier of people's needs,
there is no limit to the needs that will be claimed as a basic right."

-- Lawrence Auster
Political commentator

 

In This Issue:

1.       True rate of inflation-20 ways to live on almost nothing

2.      What data brokers know about you

3.      Resources to live cheaply

4.      Your rights under attack

 

 

 

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.

20 Ways to Live On Almost Nothing

 

Going Beyond Cheap Recipes - cheap recipes aren't the only ways to reduce your grocery bill
read more here

 

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

What Data Brokers Know About You (and What We Know About Them)


ProPublica sheds light on a business few of us know much about -- data brokers. Those are the companies that collect and sell all kinds of information about us. This story answers the basic questions of how much they know, where they get their information, who they sell it to, and whether we have a right to see it…Most American don’t a clue how their private information is gathered and sold.


 

A basic first aid kit should contain the following things: bandages, antibiotic ointment, gauze pads, iodine or iodine prep pads, alcohol prep pads, butterfly bandages, medical adhesive tape and aspirin or pain relievers. These items will get you through most general and minor health issues.

 

Find wallet-friendly recipes & other tips at:  BudgetSavvyDiva.com

 

Visit America’s cheapest family at MoneySmartFamily.com

 

One reader has suggested buying paper towels -17 cents a roll- (something we rarely use) and toilet paper -25 cents per roll-through Amazon.com.  Does that include shipping?  

 

How to get out of an upside down car loan
read more here

 

 

The Nanny State Updates Americans are fat n happy while their rights are trampled!

 

The Biggest Threat To Your Gun Rights


 Have you looked around and noticed America is undergoing a major transformation? The country of our Founding Fathers is looking more like a failing European country. In fact, the U.S. is becoming more and more like a model U.N. country. We deny our rights are inalienable.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky told Jason Mattera universal registration would be a tool used to help restrict handguns, as well as anything else they wanted to control the Illinois Congressman recently gave everyone a look inside the left's anti-gun agenda.

As she said, banning assault weapons is just the beginning:


The left focuses on the long game, a game of incrementalism. The sooner the right understands that, the better.

While confiscation might not be around the corner, the tools for implementing it are being put into place today.

 

SPLC Releases New List Of Patriot Extremist Groups By State, Is Your Organization On This List? (Video) (video)


 Do you feel you are an American Patriot? Do you feel the future of your country is in jeopardy? Be careful how you feel, you may fit the description of a radical, or labeled as a person of a hate Group . It appears people who love their country...

 

A simple cleaner that kills germs around the house
read more here

 


The Parting Thought-

When government uses your own money to use technology to take away your privacy and their freedoms, I think it’s time to take a hard look at what this “Brave New World” is foisting upon us.


Recently we discussed the DHS's self-approval of their draconian and arguably unconstitutional and unquestionably outrageous policy on searching computers within 100 miles of the border (Your Rights Under Attack: What A Difference 100 Miles Makes). This week, a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals not only showed the DHS was legally wrong in their self-approval of a policy that runs afoul of the 4th Amendment, but also illustrated the true value of the checks and balances created by the Separation of Powers Doctrine that so many in the Executive seem eager to trample these days…


 

How do you like the idea that an unelected bureaucracy has given itself the power to assess and collect data on your personal belongings and your lifestyle? (Worse that your elected officials are letting them do it.) We know the Federal government is implementing data collection through the healthcare bill and through the public school system

 

EXAMPLE:
Under the heading of “Energy Conservation” the HUD grant application sets out the budget to be spent on data collection on your home, your assets, and your activities. This bureaucratic cabal of self-important controllers is using your tax dollars to pay people with infra-red thermal imaging equipment to come to your house and assess the greenhouse gases your house may be emitting.

Just because you can invade someone’s privacy or personal choices, doesn’t mean you should! As compared with drone strikes on American citizens, this may seem trivial. Trust me it is not trivial and will threaten our economic survival even more than it already is.

The end of civilization is already here. Most of humanity has been turned into an unthinking mass of economic zombies that are looking to feast on the still living flesh of the few survivors. This may explain the increasing popularity or obsession with all things zombie… the zombie apocalypse seems to be on a lot of minds, probably as an unconscious manifestation of economic reality.

According to Clemson University professor Sarah Lauro in a recent AP article:

We are more interested in the zombie at times when as a culture we feel disempowered. And the facts are there that, when we are experiencing economic crises, the vast population is feeling disempowered. ... Either playing dead themselves ... or watching a show like "Walking Dead" provides a great variety of outlets for people.

If you were to ask the participants, I don't think that all of them are very cognizant of what they're saying when they put on the zombie makeup and participate. To me, it's such an obvious allegory. We feel like, in one way, we're dead.

 

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

 

Join others striving for Financial Independence in the Poor Man Survival community on how to take back control of your money. Updated for 2013 and now includes a Will Kit.




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