Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology,
nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade.
It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
-- Abbie Hoffman

Live large in a small space-if the government will ‘allow’ you…

Where would you go if suddenly you and your family had to leave your home due to a disaster? With neighbors likely to be experiencing the same problem, staying with them wouldn’t work; and the same would probably hold true for any family and friends in the immediate vicinity.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a small house waiting for you for just such an occasion? Perhaps you could have one located 30 minutes to an hour away that you’d already been using as a secondary location for emergency food and water supplies in case your primary home was destroyed.

This scenario is a reality for some people who have joined the tiny house movement. While the average American home has about 2,600 square feet, the typical “tiny house” has between 100 and 400 square feet.

Personally, while I love the idea of downsizing, I’d have a difficult time living permanently in a tiny house. I’d feel claustrophobic and probably would not be a joy to live with. But having a small house to store my stuff and where my family and I could survive just fine for a few days, a week, a month or possibly even a year until a crisis passed would be ideal.

Why are some retirees and others making tiny houses their permanent residences? Money is one big reason. For as long as they can remember, they’ve spent at least one-third of their income on their dwelling. That translates to 15 years of working to pay for it. This is one reason why more than three-fourths of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and why so many are trapped in spiraling debt. With tiny houses, some of which can be purchased for under $30,000, there is no mortgage.

Others choose tiny houses due to environmental concerns. A small house uses far less energy than a medium-sized or large house while limiting the carbon footprint significantly. It’s said that the average house consumes about three-quarters of an acre of forest, produces seven tons of construction waste and emits 18 tons of greenhouse gases every year.

Still others are looking for more time, freedom and self-sufficiency. Having a tiny house certainly grants them those highly valued commodities, due to the fact that there is so much less cleaning and maintenance than they would encounter with a standard-sized house.

Some people build tiny houses on their property and use them as art studios or to house aging relatives, while others use them as home offices or temporary guest houses for adult children who return needing a place to stay until they get their feet on the ground. Still others plan to retire in these very small abodes.

For me, a tiny house represents the best of both worlds: an ideal secondary location now for storage of food, water and other essential times and a safety net for the future should the unthinkable happen and a home is destroyed by a natural or man-made disaster. And nothing can beat the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that you’ll have shelter when you really need it.

–Frank Bates

This entry was posted in On Your Own and tagged Preparedness.

Michigan Police Seize Kids from Family For “Camping”

Michigan is a weird place especially when it comes to what you cannot do on your own property-I know first- hand what a bunch of idiots local bureau-rats can be. Since many rural areas don’t bother to publish their requirements online or anywhere else, one must be a psychic to know what the rules are…until they trespass on your property and become high and mighty with their dictates…

Last month, a Michigan family decided it would be fun to go camping for the summer, on a 10 acre plot of land they had recently purchased. Christopher and Antonia Hernandez wanted their six children to experience the outdoors, and get a taste for off grid living. But after living in several large tents for 9 days, their rural experiment came to an abrupt end.

http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/06/14/michigan-police-seize-kids-from-family-for-camping/

Resources of the Week…Please Share!

Where should you keep your emergency fund? (Yahoo): "If you are building up your emergency fund and looking for a better place to keep it than under the mattress, check out these options of places to park your emergency fund."

9 Ideas for Hanging Out With Friends on a Tight Budget (Money Crashers): "It’s sad to contemplate whether it’s worth hanging out with friends, but it’s even worse when you want to socialize but stay home, bored and lonely, to stay within the constraints of your personal budget. If you feel like you’re constantly weighing your friendships against your finances, it’s time to reconsider your approach."
OmniFocus: I love tools that make work more productive and enjoyable. Recently I stumbled upon OmniFocus, a program for the Mac that makes organizing projects a snap. It's like a To-Do list on steroids.

Credit Sesame Now Pays You to Get Your Score: I just learned about this last night. Credit Sesame will now pay you $1, deposited into your PayPal account, when you get your free credit score.

Yours for a happy, healthy life!

Bruce, the Poor Man