Sunday, April 26, 2015

DIY Masonry Fire Pit, Pot Smoker, Emergency Fund Builder

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resource

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

DIY Flower Pot Smoker

Find grill grate size of choice

Find pot for that size grate and a second pot to use as the lid.

Find smaller pot to hold charcoal and ceramic plate for indirect cooking.

I found all pots at my local Home Depot for around $30.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Flower-Pot-Smoker/

DIY Masonry Fire Pit

Now this is something I plan to build at our mini-farm this summer…mighty nice!

This fire Pit has become the main attraction at our house. We have since made a habit of sitting out here with or without an actual fire. The stone was a potpourri of closeouts. The bricks were picked up cheap from a job that never used some over orders. The block, sand, and mortar are just everyday Lowes stuff. All said and done I probably had $200 in it. If I had to buy the other stuff at regular price it would probably be around $500. Plus sweat.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Masonry-fire-Pit/

Study: One-Third of Americans Have Less Than $1000 Toward Retirement

We have previously discussed the income disparity in the country and the alarming lack of savings for a great percentage of our fellow citizens. Now a study shows that roughly one third of the population have saved less than $1,000 for retirement. Equally surprising is the estimate of what will be needed to live comfortably in the future. Read more of this post

How to build an emergency fund when you're living paycheck to paycheck
read more here

Video: Ways Thieves Steal Credit Card Data
The three most common places thieves steal data are ones many people visit on a regular basis.

Landscape Your Yard with Edibles - Plants to Consider

One of the best gardening decisions I ever made: landscaping my backyard with edibles. It took some time to get everything established, but now my yard is as pretty as it is tasty. Here are some edibles to consider adding to your yard.

Garden-in-a-Can

Watch the video and visit backtotheroots.com to learn more about our new Garden-in-a-Can.

No Ice Needed Picnic Cooler

Here's a simple way to keep food cooler outdoors. You'll need two unglazed clay pots. One should be larger than the other. Put the smaller one inside the larger one and fill the space outside the smaller one with sand. Pour water on the sand until it's saturated. Then put your food in the smaller pot and cover with a damp cloth and a heavy lid. The inner temperature will be about 20 degrees cooler than the outside air until the water evaporates. I've never used it on things that spoil quickly like potato salad, but it's great for veggies and fruits.

A beginner's guide to co-op buying
read more here

No Need to Panic…or is there?

McDonald’s has announced that it will be closing 700 “poor performing” restaurants in 2015. Why would McDonald’s be doing this if the economy was actually getting better?

>The number of publicly traded companies in the United States that filed for bankruptcy during the first quarter of 2015 was more than double the number that filed for bankruptcy during the first quarter of 2014.

>New home sales in the United States just declined at their fastest pace in almost two years.

> US Manufacturing PMI plunged to 54.2 in April (from 55.7). Against expectations of a rise to 55.6, this is the biggest miss on record.

> When priced according to “the average blue-collar hourly wage“, U.S. stocks are the most expensive that they have ever been in history right now. To say that this financial bubble is overdue to burst is a massive understatement.

Needful Things Needful Things Needful Things

Hard Core Chicks: Eight Self Defense Tactics Every Women Should Know