Budget Stretchers: Free Rent, Vacations, Anti-Virus & More

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

 

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

"The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience.
With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death."
-- Voltaire

 

 

   Yes, You Can Live Rent-Free

 

Instead of forking over a big slice of your paycheck to housing costs, consider exchanging your services for a place to stay.

Alex Beecroft didn't pay

a cent in rent for nearly a year. No, he wasn't couch surfing or mooching off of friends. The Michigan native traveled the country, helping organic farmers plant crops and tend to greenhouses in exchange for warm meals and warm beds. It was all thanks to World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms in the United States (WWOOF-USA), a network that connects more than 2,000 organic farmers in the U.S. with people willing to work in return for a lesson about agriculture, a free place to sleep and three meals a day. Along his journey, the 23-year-old Beecroft worked in the Appalachians, splashed in the Atlantic Ocean and hiked mountains in Montana. "This experience has been a gift, and I've learned a lot," he says. "Every farm housed and fed me beautifully."

Beecroft was fortunate to be able to pursue a passion without busting the bank on housing costs. Rental prices are high across the country: According to Trulia.com, the median monthly rent for the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. is $1,314, with prices ranging from $865 in Youngstown, Ohio, to $3,236 in San Jose, Calif. Paying such a high price can be particularly painful when it's a large chunk of your paltry entry-level paycheck…

If farming isn't your thing, there are other programs that enable you to live rent-free for months or even years at a time. We've identified six ways you can skip paying full rent. Note that many of these living arrangements require the kindness of strangers to some extent. Vet your possible hosts via e-mail and phone. Also search for critical background info via Google and Pipl.com, as well as the Department of Justice's National Sex Offender Public Web site.

1. Farm Livin'

For $40 a year, you can search WWOOF's database of farms based on how long you want to stay, from a few days to several months; the type of farm, from a ranch to a vineyard; or kind of lodging, from a spare bedroom to a teepee.

More at:

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/real-estate/T063-C006-S001-yes-you-can-live-rent-free.html?rss_source=rss

 

 

The dream of owning a home is fading away for many families who can't afford either a down payment or a mortgage. But there are better options out there, and believe it or not, it is very possible to build a home without borrowing money, particularly if you are hunting for one that's off-grid and away from it all. Read more here.

 

Do You Have Land to Share?

SharedEarth.com is a free site that connects landowners with gardeners or farmers – you provide the free land and growers share some of their produce.

 

The Secret To Long-Term Safe Storage Of Milk And Eggs

Whether you are blessed with an overabundance of food or you are someone who wants to be prepared in a survival situation, you may have wondered if you can safely store your fresh milk and eggs on a long-term basis.

The answer is yes and the process, as you might suspect, involves freezing and/or canning.

First let’s look at how to store milk long-term

http://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/the-secret-to-long-term-safe-storage-of-milk-and-eggs/

 

More Useful Resources You Can Share

 

How Stretching a Small Income Paid Off Big

 

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/credit/T065-C000-S002-then-and-now-stretching-a-small-income-paid-off.html?rss_source=rss

 

Only 1 in 5 U.S. Families Have a 6-Month Savings Cushion

 

Unbelievable Trick Brings Brown Bananas Back to Life

Make Delicious Homemade Sorbet in Just 5 Minutes

How to Grow More Food from Your Kitchen Scraps

 

15 Natural Cleaning Products You Can Make at Home

If you are tired of paying high prices for commercial cleaning products, why not make them yourself. Here are recipes for glass cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, furniture polish, and more. Just don't expect all of them to do a superior job.

 

BEST FREE ANTI VIRUS SOFTWARE

PC Magazine says you don't have to buy antivirus software because their Editor's Choice in this year's round of tests is on par with the paid programs. Topping the list is Panda Free Antivirus 2015 (download it here) and be sure to uncheck boxes making Yahoo your default.

 

 

Foods as Medicine Found at Your Local Farm Market

Healing foods? Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Food as medicine is a concept that goes back much further than modern medicine!

Foods as Medicine Found at Your Local Farm Market

 

How to Get a Free Vacation

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/vacationplanning/tp/Free_Vacations.htm?utm_source=exp_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_term=list_frugalliving&utm_campaign=list_frugalliving&utm_content=20150701

 

 

How to Survive the…FREE [Donations Appreciated]

War on Middle Class and All 10 Bonus Reports can be downloaded here:

http://1drv.ms/1d9kfiU

 

Books, Art, Video – the saucy, the odd, the retro, even the practical…

 

 

http://RetroGuy.net

 

A Shallow Planet Production

Off-Grid, Debt Free Homes, Free DIY Resources, Rent Free Living

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

www.poormansurvivor.net

 

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 

“It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison and yet not free—to be under no physical constraint and yet be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation wants him to think, feel and act. . . . To him the walls of his prison are invisible and he believes himself to be free.”—Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World Revisited

 

   Although government inflation stats always LIE…the cost of living in my neck of the woods is going through the roof. EVERYTHING IS expensive.  Eggs – doubled in price in a week; fuel prices jumped 25 cents a gallon…but the single largest increase which nearly gave me a stroke – our water bill jumped 1000%...not for usage but because we live 12 feet outside of the city and our rates are now based on consumption plus the value of your property!

 Of course, the city did not provide any advance notice...

I know many of us are getting damned sick and tired of it and I am starting to finally get serious about moving back to a civilized state - Arizona.

 

How To Build An Off-Grid Home … Debt-Free

 

The American dream of owning your own home is fading away for many these days. Hardworking families, even with frugality and sacrifice, can’t save enough for a down payment or secure an affordable mortgage.

So instead of the traditional American model of the past – where a family saves 10 or 20 percent of a home’s cost and buys a starter home – some people are looking for alternative ways to pay for the American dream.

One of these options is simply not borrowing money to buy a home. This may sound like fantasy – and often it is – but for those willing to make a long-term commitment and work hard, it can be feasible.

Before moving forward, let’s begin with a caveat. Local zoning ordinances and municipal regulations will prevent you from building a solid, off-the-grid home in many larger cities. So the caveat is that you’ll live in a rural area outside city limits that has fewer and/or looser building codes. [Even in some backwater 3^rd world Podunk towns where I have my mini-farm the local gendarme are jerks who act more like petty politburo communists who don’t believe in publishing their outdated requirements anywhere]…

So to build a home you need at least five things. First:  the land for your homestead. Second: building materials and tools. Third: the labor and skills to construct a home. Fourth, you’ll need realistic expectations. Unless you just won the lottery, your home will be of modest size. Finally, patience is key. If your goal is a homestead without debt, you may have to gradually improve upon things as money becomes available.

The plan for building an off-the-grid home debt free relies on you saving enough money to purchase building materials and the tools needed to construct a home.

Land

If you want an off-the-grid homestead without debt, land is the biggest challenge. Most people simply can’t pay for a lot of land upfront. However, there are some options.  Find them here:

http://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to-2/how-to-build-an-off-grid-home-debt-free

9 Ways to Live Rent Free
How would you like to live rent free? Sounds inviting, doesn't it? According to the Department of Numbers, the median gross monthly rent paid in 2013 was $905; that calculates to nearly $11,000 annually and more if you live in an area where rents tend to be high, such as Santa Monica, California or Boulder, Colorado. But, if you do a little research, you can find creative ways to live for cheap or even for free. So what are some ways to live rent free? Read more.

 

Low Cost Home
Security Tactics
Sometimes the costs associated with home security can be daunting. When you buy a home security system, you're looking at a monthly monitoring fee, plus an installation fee, plus any equipment charges. Considering the financial commitment, buying a home security system may not be the right home security tactic for everyone. Although a home security system is a great asset for those who can afford it, there are lots of ways you can fortify your home without breaking the bank. Here are some cost-efficient strategies for making your home a safer place. Read more.

 

Build a Rain Water Collection System

 

Homeowners use a lot of water every year watering the lawn or garden, which means that a lot of water and money goes, as they say, down the drain. Installing a rainwater collection system at the end of your gutter downspouts controls excess surface water and buckets it for use on your lawn. Cut down on needless water use and save money by trying this natural resource-saving irrigation technique.

https://www.truevalueprojects.com/lawn_and_garden/environmentally_friendly/build_a_rain_water_collection_system.aspx?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Build%20a%20Rain%20Water%20Collection%20System&utm_term=rainwater%20collection%20system

 

 

 

 

Home Hybrid Generator [combines wind & solar]

In an effort to provide more consistent energy generation than a “wind only” or “solar only” system, WindStream Technologies has developed a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated, “HYBRID” renewable energy product, The “SolarMill^®.” The SolarMill^® incorporates 3 vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) with P.V. technology within a compact footprint, creating the greatest energy density of any product on the market. The hybrid concept of the SolarMill^® is unique, seamlessly integrating wind and solar energy generation in a single unit…

https://www.windstream-inc.com/products/product-overview

 

The parade of products being downsized continues. It is rare that a downsized product makes headlines, but this one did….

 

 

Besides dropping one-quarter of the contents, what is irksome here is the old and new containers are identical. Here is a side view with the old on the left and the new one the right:

http://www.mouseprint.org/

 

Your Secrets are Safe – Share Wisely!

 

9 ways to live rent free
read more here

 

How to Build a DIY Gel Fire Pit for Cool Summer Nights

 

Tools, Apps and DIY ResourcesYou Can Put to Good Use

http://www.popularmechanics.com/the-code/

 

Do You Have Land to Share?

SharedEarth.com is a free site that connects landowners with gardeners or farmers – you provide the free land and growers share some of their produce.

 

Books, Art, Video – the saucy, the odd, the retro, even the practical…

 

 

http://RetroGuy.net

 

A Shallow Planet Production