10 Frugal Ideas for Valentine's Day, Eating Cat Food in Retirement Years

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

A Free Press is the Guardian of a Free People

In This Issue:

1.       10 or more frugal Valentine Activity/Gift Ideas

2.      Quick n Dirty Job Search Tips

3.      Essential Disaster Survival Tips

4.      Will you be eating cat food in your retirement years?

5.      Extreme Prepper TV debuts

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
Anonymous

THREE "QUICK & DIRTY" JOB SEARCH TIPS

You need a job to pay for those fancy Valentine Gifts, right?

In addition to checking published job leads, don't forget to run job searches of your own. (With a 60 to 1 scam ratio among home-based job leads, just remember to keep your "BS" - Big Scam - radar on.)

Here are three quick job-searching tips from our tip barn.

1. Use Google Alerts to scan for job leads "while you sleep." On the Alerts page, just enter the words or phrases you'd use in your usual Google job search. Google will continuously scan the web and email you the results. For more, go to http://www.google.com/alerts.

2. Similarly, set up alerts at the big "job aggregator" sites like Indeed.com. Just enter your parameters on the advanced search page at http://www.indeed.com/advanced_search. Then click "Find Jobs," and enter your email address in the box at the bottom of the results page.

3. Beware home-business or home-job "opportunities" advertised on late-night infomercials. Often, these entice buyers with discounted books or other materials. But you'll "pay the price" when your information is passed to salespeople who call you with high-pressure pitches for expensive add-on programs.

Bonus Tip: Be hyper-vigilant when evaluating administrative (i.e., "secretarial") jobs. The scammers know that home-based admin jobs are in high demand, and the supply is low. Hence, the scam ratio among admin jobs is even higher than the norm. Legitimate data entry jobs are especially scarce. (Please pass it on!)

Source:  www.RatRaceRebellion.com, www.PoorManSurvival.com

Instead of using bleach to brighten whites, try a ¼ cup of lemon juice instead.  Add it to the wash cycle.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

Hey guys - ever come home with those embarrassing lipstick marks on your collar?  Get rid of them by placing the stain face-down on a white towel, then blot it with a clean cloth moistened in rubbing alcohol. 

Frugal Valentine Ideas
Suggestions as to how to make Valentine's Day a special, fun, yet inexpensive dayhttp://www.stretcher.com/stories/980129b.cfm?STT

10 More Fun Low-Cost, No Cost Valentine’s Day Ideas

A festival for love 'n romance, Valentine's Day provides us with a splendid opportunity to spend some quality time with our truelove. Are you looking for some tips to romance your sweetheart on this Feb 14?

http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/10_romantic_ideas.htm

Heineken Serenades on Valentine's Day

Heineken is helping ignite romance this Valentine's Day with the launch of a fun new Facebook application called The Serenade. Based on the brand's second global film "The Date," the new app enables Heineken consumers to send humorous personalized songs to

potential partners, inviting them on a date…

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/idUS92447+01-Feb-2012+HUG20120201

Find Local Store Coupons Online Fast

Just type in your zip code at this site and a map of your area pops up pinpointing retailers offering coupons.

Printable.RetailMeNot.com

 Need a fun gift, say for Valentine’s Day?

Frequently one needs a low-priced gift as a thank you or for a little surprise.  Check these sites:

FiveBelow.com

10DollarMall.com

Reciprocal Valentine (or other special occasion) Gift

Take turns giving each other a massage…Swedish research suggests giving a massage boosts mood levels.  In my college days I took a class in massage and used that training to barter for haircuts, dinners and other goodies all through school!

Raise Money for You Favorite Charity

Readers already know we offer a We don’t Need Another Election T-Shirt.  A portion of the profits are donated to area charities (PoorManSurvival.com, click on RevolutionT).  You can design your own shirt, then visit this site where you can get them printed in bulk.  Sell them at special events as a fundraiser.

www.TShirtCharity.com

Know Your Priorities - Basics of Survival

I talked with survival teacher and founder of onPoint Tactical Kevin Reeve for help coming up with a list of priorities for survival in case of a disaster. This is what he suggests:

Immediate security: If the building is on fire, get out. If someone is shooting at you, move to cover. Whatever the immediate danger, get away from it.

First aid: Attend to any medical problems that may have happened in the original event. Check yourself for injuries and treat them.

Self protection: If you are at risk from predators, two-legged or four-legged, you must arm yourself. This might be a sharpened stick, a knife, machete, shotgun, or banjo. Just have something to attack the zombies with.

Physical needs (in order): Shelter, fire, water, food, and hygiene.

It's also worth noting that nearly every survivalist, doctor, paramedic, and teacher recommends one key survival tool everyone should follow: positivity. It seems silly, but it can provide you with the mental endurance to stay safe in any number of situations. A recent study in Psychological Science also suggests that your own perception of illness and the potential for treatment has an effect on the outcome. In short, the idea of mind over matter can help you survive.

http://www.onpointtactical.com/default.aspx?utm_source=Lifehacker+Newsletter&utm_campaign=24f2790f25-UA-142218-1&utm_medium=email

New 'Doomsday Preppers' Show Highlights Extreme Survivalists

It's better to be safe than sorry, which is why FEMA guidelines recommend stockpiling your pantry with three days worth of food in case of a natural disaster. Meanwhile, Paul Range and Gloria Haswell have enough in store to feed 22 people for 15 years — as well as enough guns, bullets and bug-out vehicles to wage a small war. The couple occupies nine steel shipping containers arranged in a castle formation outside Floresville, Texas. A system of windmills and solar panels powers the compound, and human body waste is used to generate methane, which serves as their cooking fuel.

http://news.yahoo.com/doomsday-preppers-show-highlights-extreme-survivalists-214404285.html

Upgrade the safety of your door by replacing the striker plate in the door jamb with a heavy-duty brass variety that requires six screws - makes your door impossible to push in.

The Nanny State Updates…

World War Web

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trademark Agreement, ACTA, is sitting in the wings, as is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, TPP. All these initials add up to one particular end goal, an internet-centric "anti-piracy" bill that raises concerns for both consumers' privacy and civil liberties.

Protest ACTA on February 11, 2012

Currently, 22 countries in Europe have signed ACTA, but the European Parliament has yet to pass it. Those opposed in Europe are asking for similar help as the SOPA and PIPA protests in hopes to have a similar outcome. On February 11, protests are being organized by Access, a self-proclaimed global movement for internet freedom in an attempt to show the EU that they must ultimately reject the ACTA.

More than the internet is at stake

The ACTA is not limited to the internet; in a scary twist, the crackdown would include generic drugs and a global standard on seed patents that would threaten local farmers and ultimately the food supply across the world, according to Forbes.

The Parting Thought – Better stock up on cat food

Will you and your family be eating cat food soon?

I still marvel at how my fellow citizens get excited over the coming election.  Why?

These politicians offer no solutions to the many problems we face.

The United States has recently passed a new milestone.  A week before Christmas we joined a club.  Our government debt now exceeds our GDP.  Few in the “lame-stream” press seemed to notice our 100%+ debt-to-GDP ratio puts us in the same league as many 3^rd World countries and troubled nations such as Greece.

Despite the political BS taking place in the primaries, no one has addressed this issue.  Of course, this will probably mean a further downgrade of our credit status and force us to borrow even more money, at higher interest rates, effectively diluting even further your spending power.

It will get worse.  Consider that nearly 80-million more baby boomers will be lining up to collect Social Security from a fund which has already been robbed dry by Congress.  Is anyone in Washington doing anything about it?  No!

Regardless of who wins the November election, nothing will change the course of our nation, except perhaps the speed to which we will collapse.

The White House and Congress continually provide dishonest statistics and solutions to overwhelming financial problems.  The media continues to hammer past marital indiscretions of the candidates (Oh boy) with rarely a mention of our national dysfunction.

We, as a nation, are insolvent and the few solutions which are open to us are more than most politicians are willing to discuss. 

So, as inflation continues to blast your spending power, as more cities and states continue to cut services, as the tax man is gearing up to take more of your money, will you and your family be eating cat food soon?

“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man

Remember, remember the 4^th of November…

Get your “We don’t need another election” Protest T-Shirt Now

http://poormansurvival.com/RevolutionTShirt.aspx

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7 Ways to Make $1000, Your Papers Please, TradePal

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       7 Ways to earn $1000 this month

2.      Master of Disaster – Learn from the Red Cross

3.      Your Papers Please!

4.      Holiday gift card bonuses, TradePal for selling

5.      The Magical Misery Tour of the  American Dream

Most Americans have no real understanding
of the operation of the international money lenders.
The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited.
It operates outside of the control of Congress and
manipulates the credit of the United States."
-- Barry Goldwater

Where Are Your Papers?
By Wendy McElroy

Requiring a passport as the key to freedom of movement is akin to gagging someone while maintaining that he retains freedom of speech. The passport has grown into what is arguably the single most powerful tool of totalitarian America, second only to law enforcement itself. It no longer pretends to protect individuals; not a single terrorist has been apprehended as a result of passport checks. But it does cement the totalitarian state. The mandatory passport should be reviled and rejected as an abuse of human rights and common decency. A nation that requires one cannot be free.

“Your papers!” In old movies, the demand is barked at trembling travelers by a Nazi with a guttural accent. If the demand is made in the opening scene, then the audience knows immediately that they watching a totalitarian state in which travelers are in danger.

“Your papers!” now rings out at every American airport and border crossing. The accent is different but travelers need to recognize with equal immediacy that a totalitarian state is playing out in front of their eyes, and they must be careful.

The passport has grown into what is arguably the single most powerful tool of totalitarian America, second only to law enforcement itself. It no longer pretends to protect individuals; not a single terrorist has been apprehended as a result of passport checks. But it does cement the totalitarian state. The mandatory passport should be reviled and rejected as an abuse of human rights and common decency. A nation that requires one cannot be free.

Passports clearly function as an essential and effective means through which a state can control the person and property of its residents. Consider the United States. No one can legally leave without one.

And yet passports can be denied for a myriad of reasons that have nothing to do with being “an enemy of the state” but rest strictly on statutory grounds. Common reasons for denial include owing money to the IRS, a federal arrest, a state-criminal court order existing, a drug arrest, being on parole or probation. Law-enforcement databases are routinely checked against both passports and applications to weed out those who have committed such offenses as being more than $2,500 behind on child-support payments. Passports can also be revoked for several reasons, although revocation is far less common.

Ed. Note: Wendy McElroy is a Canadian born individualist anarchist and individualist feminist. She was a co-founder along with Carl Watner and George H. Smith of The Voluntaryist in 1982. Her articles are widely published on libertarian websites. A version of this column originally appeared on mises.org on September 7, 2011

"Any time the government starts a new program and labels it with some acronym that has a powerful, potent name, like FAST AND FURIOUS, PATRIOT ACT, VIPR, and the like, it usually spells trouble for the citizens of this country. This new program involving an unconstitutional search of a vehicle for no reason is nothing short of Gestapo tactics. All tyrannical governments have internal controls that limit the movement of their citizens. The USSR and its internal passports is a classic example.”

Best alternative to NetFlix - Vudu.com, one of the least expensive sites, charges $2 per movie streamlined.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

7 Ways to Earn an Extra $1,000 This Month

In the past year, I've spent most of my working hours helping people and businesses that want to earn more money. Regardless of whether it's an individual or a group, they want to be more financially productive during the work day.

Based on this work, I've discovered two things about earning more money.

First, you need to be willing to work more if you want to earn more. Everyone wants to magically earn more money by working less, but it doesn't work that way. Second, you need to be willing to try new things. You don't necessarily need to be creative. You just need to…read the full post at:

 http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113767-11602-4-7-ways-to-earn-an-extra-1000-this-month?ywaad=ad0035&nc

DIY Build your own stone wall

http://off-grid-living.com/living-off-the-grid-how-to-build-a-stone-wall/

TRADEPAL LETS YOU SELL, TRADE OR BUY THINGS VIA YOUR FACEBOOK NETWORK

Tradepal is a new website that lets you list things for sale -- or to trade -- and promote them using your Facebook account, for free. You can also purchase things from your friends, or friends of friends.

For more, click here.

http://www.tradepal.com/

Holiday Gift Card Bonuses

Planning to give gift cards this Christmas? Buy from one of these businesses, and you'll snag a bonus gift card for yourself (or someone on your list).

Buy Gift Cards at a Discount

Get Free Gift Cards

Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

See More About: gift cards frugal gift ideas
Dollar Store Holiday Catalogs

Tired of getting holiday catalogs with gift ideas that fall outside of your budget? Then, check out the dollar store holiday catalogs.

Buy Dollar Store Items in Bulk

Give Second-Hand Gifts (Without Looking Tacky)

Gifts that Save the Recipient Money

Introduction to Masters of Disaster

The American Red Cross Masters of Disaster® curriculum is centered on a series of ready-to-go lesson plans that help organizations educate youth about important disaster safety and preparedness information. Masters of Disaster contains lessons, activities, and demonstrations on disaster-related topics that organizations can incorporate into daily or thematic programming. The curriculum is non-sequential, allowing organizers to choose the lesson plans that best fit into their programming. The Masters of Disaster curriculum materials meet national educational standards and are specifically tailored for lower elementary (K–2), upper elementary (3–5) and middle school (6–8) classes

http://www.redcross.org/disaster/masters/

NOTE:  Be sure to click on their Preparedness Fast Facts section for free PDF reports.

There is one quite easy way to check the authenticity of a silver coin: Use a magnet! If the coin is at all attracted to the magnet, it's fake

The Nanny State Updates…

Congressional insider stock trades…the Poor Man wrote about this weeks ago!

On September 16, 2008 Paulson and Bernanke held "closed door meetings" with members of Congress and warned them that the financial system was about to totally collapse.

But instead of racing out to save the financial system, author Peter Schweizer says that many of our representatives in Congress raced out to save their stock portfolios.

Congress pushes back on healthier school lunches

WASHINGTON (AP) — Who needs leafy greens and carrots when pizza and french fries will do?

In an effort many 9-year-olds will cheer, Congress wants pizza and french fries to stay on school lunch lines and is fighting the Obama administration's efforts to take unhealthy foods out of schools.

The final version of a spending bill released late Monday would unravel school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year. These include limiting the use of potatoes on the lunch line, putting new restrictions on sodium and boosting the use of whole grains. The legislation would block or delay all of those efforts.

The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. USDA had wanted to only count a half-cup of tomato paste or more as a vegetable, and a serving of pizza has less than that.  (I’ll bet Congress isn’t cutting their fat cat free lunches).

So much for freedom of the press in NYC

The NYPD is using more than words to fight journalists. On Tuesday, ten reporters were arrested, another was put in a choke hold, and others were subjected to police harassment.

In fact, since the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement two months ago, 23 journalists have been arrested and countless others have been roughed up, tear-gassed and pepper sprayed. There have even been reports of police using high-powered strobe lights to disable video cameras and block people from recording their actions.

Occupy Wall Street movement turned briefly chaotic as police scattered a crowd of rowdy protesters — including a pregnant 19-year-old and an 84-year-old activist — with blasts of pepper spray.

As many as 76% of Americans say they lose sleep between Thanksgiving and New Years due to hectic schedules and stress.

The Parting Thought – The Middle Class Magical Misery Tour

“The Middle Class Is Being Systematically
Wiped Out of Existence in America . . .”
– Business Insider

According to research by Wells Fargo, 75% of the American middle class expects to work through their retirement.

The very foundation of the American Dream is that anyone — regardless of their background — can become a success through hard work and determination.

And for more than 200 years that dream has been alive and well, allowing each generation to grow up better off than their parents.

But in the span of only a decade, the American dream has vanished, becoming nothing but a mirage

Governments make promises they can't afford to keep. Governments don't generate wealth. They just move it around, taking more and more from the productive sector and shuffling it over to various classes of parasites

The Occupy movement, the financial crises in Europe and in our own country and events in Latin America and the Middle East continue to escalate. Countries are in turmoil. Leaders have been toppled.  Have we entered the time prophesized by some cultures around the world – the Mayan era of 2012, the Andean people’s Pachacuti (Time of the Great Turning)…an era of international turmoil?

A mutant, viral and extremely dangerous form of capitalism has thrived under the ever-increasing powers of Wall St., Big Business, and governments that support them (in other words, under the continuing reign of the robber barons or the corporatocracy (as some have called it.)

Today thousands of citizens rise up and demand that we take back our government and our banking systems from bloated fat cats who are not interested in long-term sustainable practices, corporate social responsibility, or a marketplace that serves us, the People

What about you…are you satisfied with the status quo?

 Yours for “what happened to my country”, the Poor Man

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 Keep our services free, visit our sites…

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New self sufficiency books added weekly

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A Shallow Planet Production