Trick 'O Treat Trivia+Freebies, Grants, 2nd Life Opps, Debt-Free

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       Trick ‘o Treat Trivia & Freebies

2.      Yes, you can get grant money

3.      Debt elimination plan

4.      A Time for Outrage-94-year old French Resistance Fighter

5.      Second Life offers self employment avenues

Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.
—Will Rogers

Trick or Treat – Halloween trivia and ways to save

Ancient Celts thought spirits and ghosts wandered the streets on Halloween, so they wore masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.  In 1898 candy corn was first produced by the Goelitz Confectionery firm of CA.  In 1926 magician Harry Houdini dies on Halloween.  The UNICEF program was born in 1956 and trick-or-treaters collected change for children overseas.  In 2010 Belleville, IL banned trick-or-treating for children over the age of 12.

Development of symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o'-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory. The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

Although it’s not an official holiday, Halloween is one of biggest sales weeks for retailers throughout America, with revenues around $4.75 billion (down slightly the past two years).  Chocolate treats (Reese’s seems to top the list of favorites) are the most welcome by Halloween kids and adults alike.

When I was a kid, everyone handed out full sized candy bars, few can afford that today.  Of course, Mom and Dad always inspected our bags at the end of the night (grabbing their favorites) in to ensure nothing harmful had been distributed. 

  Save Some Money

Grab quality costumes from thrift stores, much cheaper than buying them at the retail level.  Thrift stores receive high-quality costume donations throughout the year but don’t them out until October.

Buy candy in bulk at warehouse clubs or online from sources such as CandyWarehouse.com or Halloweenbulk.html or CandyDirect.com

Some folks report it’s cheaper to purchase toys, games and puzzles at the dollar stores than to purchase candy.

If you like haunted houses, find discount coupons at the website of the sponsoring organization first.  Often, local supermarkets offer coupons as well.

Learn how to make children’s costumes at:  http://www.stretcher.com/stories/960930a.cfm

In our household, life is like the Dawn of the Dead if I speak to my wife before she’s had her morning coffee!

The first jack-o-lanterns were carved from turnips, not pumpkins.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

Yes, Grants are still available – even if you’re just a “regular Joe”

When you're a student (or recent graduate), several organizations will give you money for doing almost nothing at all. This can be anything from being left-handed, short, obsessed with duct tape, or having an unusual last name. FinAid.org is one good resource to research these unusual "scholarships" to help offset the cost of college.

If you're an artist of some kind, or are willing to act like one for cash, many organizations offer grants for interesting ideas. The Sloan Foundation offers grants to individuals and groups seeking to create books, film, radio, and other media that serve to entertain and educate the public about scientific topics. The Tribeca Film Institute offers many programs for different types of films from a diverse range of filmmakers. Artist Trust keeps a list of several funding opportunities for more traditional artists. Writers and Editors provides a comprehensive list of fellowships and grants for all types of writers. Any of these methods can earn you a few thousand dollars for a good idea or completed work, so if there's a project that you'd like to try you should start

If you're a regular person who just wants some financial assistance, look no further than the powers that be. The U.S. government provides financial assistance for a variety of reasons, like housing, food, transportation, agriculture, scientific research, legal resources, community development, and more. (You can apply for any government grant here.) Many of these opportunities can lead to new careers.

Debt Elimination Plan

If you have debt, however, there are a few things you'll want to do. First, if you have a credit card spending problem, take any measures necessary to stop using them. You probably don't want to cut them up, but demagnetizing their data strips, deleting their numbers from online retailers, letting your friends take care of them, switching to a cash-only policy, or literally freezing them (in a block of ice) are all good ways to keep you from spending unnecessarily. Next, make a list of all your bills and the methods you have to pay them. Figure out which bills should be automated, and which ones should not. The more you can automate the better, especially if you can consolidate your payments to a specific day of the month. Just be sure to set aside time each month to ensure your bills were paid as autopay doesn't always do its job.  There are also plenty of ways you can save money on your bills, such as using services like BillShrink, minimizing your power consumption, cancelling services you don't need, shop around for cheaper health/auto/whatever insurance (or use Mint).

Source: Lifehacker.com

Second Life Offers Self Employment Avenues

Many people have heard of the “virtual world” known as Second Life, and we’re often asked if it’s possible to find “in-world” jobs there.

The short answer is “yes.” There’s a wide range of jobs – and self-employment, too – to be found in Second Life. Opportunities range from shop attendants, fashion designers and event hosts to DJs, bouncers, dancers and beyond. (Keep in mind when visiting Second Life that, like the real world, it also has a busy “parental advisory” side.)

Most jobs don’t pay much, but self-employment, such as fashion design, can pay well, and some individuals have made substantial sums investing in Second Life real estate. If you work in a shop or similar role, you can also get customer service experience.

To learn more about jobs, self-employment and commerce on Second Life, see the following links:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/identifying-jobs-in-second-life.html

http://www.secondlife-game.com/jobs/

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Inworld-Employment/bd-p/InworldEmployment

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/tc20070416_386810.htm

Cabella’s Offers Dream Hunt - Better Hurry to enter

So your grandpappy one day told you that hunting is more than a sport; more than a game and more than survival. Your daddy even told you that hunting is about the love of the hunt in itself. Sure, it may have been and still currently is utilized for a plethora of different reasons, but what’s the best part of it to you? Is it the game? The weapon? The location? What if you could decide? What if you could have and live your very own Dream Hunt? Now you can.
Get Your Dream Hunt On    http://free4him.com/sweepstakes/5000-dream-hunt-giveaway/

Spruce up wood floors for pennies by pouring equal parts of white vinegar and vegetable oil into a spray bottle.  Spritz onto the floor and rub it in with a clean cloth and then wipe clean.

The Nanny State Updates…

TSA expands new program for psychological behavior groping…

The Constitution says there are only three federal crimes: Treason, counterfeiting, and piracy. Yet the CATO Institute confirms the existence of 3,000+ federal laws that can land you in jail, plus 300,000+ litigation-spawning bureaucratic decrees…yet, the TSA, not content with hassling invalids and children at airports…is implementing a new program in behavior detection officers are striking up casual conversations with passengers about their travels, seeking signs of odd behavior. (Source: Seattle Times)

Read My Tea Leaves: The federal crackdown on medical marijuana shows Obama has no respect for state law.
Barack Obama promised a more tolerant approach to medical marijuana, saying he would not "circumvent state laws on this issue." Instead, says Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, he has delivered a crackdown more aggressive than anything seen under George W. Bush, as illustrated by last week's "coordinated enforcement actions" in California. Although Obama's underlings occasionally pretend they are respecting state law, Sullum writes, they clearly have no intention of doing so.

Giving freely, Laura Oliver, founder of AFrugalChick.com, lists free or almost free items at grocery stores to motivate readers to donate items to charity…good job!

The Parting Thought – A time for outrage

“A Time for Outrage” Book by 94-Year-Old French Resistance Fighter

BBC News aired an interview the other night with Stephan Hessel, an eloquent Frenchman who fought with the French underground during WWII. It’s a short book urging people to question everything and to stop being complacent about the excess greed of capitalism.  He urges his readers not to resort to violence, but use determined will to solve our problems.

He thinks too many citizens (everywhere) seem unconcerned about the problems facing the nations…but suggests all one need do is to look around, there is enough greed and corruption to make one furious. 

Given the timing of the book in relation to the worldwide Wall Street Protests, I thought I’d share this…

It is fun to mock the protestors. That’s why we do it. They are such easy targets.  However, America is getting very angry and as the economy continues to decline the economic protests are going to become much more frightening in the years ahead.

One thing that Occupy Wall Street is actually doing right is that it is focusing on the role of money in politics.

There is a lot of anger in the United States today, and that anger is rapidly growing. Millions upon millions of Americans are deeply upset about the economy and about our financial system.

The US is probably getting ready for a revolution. Back in the Cold War days, the CIA was asked to do a portrait of a country that might have a revolution. It decided that such a country would have three characteristics:

A big gap between rich and poor.

A middle class that was disappearing...or one that never existed in the first place.

A lot of people with a grudge.

The US fits each of these criteria. And then some others the spooks hadn’t thought about. The U6 broad measure of unemployment is going up...with 16.5% of the population without work. There are 6.2 million people who have been looking for a job for more than 6 months.


America’s middle classes were happy to sell their own children into perpetual debt servitude. The kids face obligations 5 to 15 times as great as annual output. Unless they revolt, they will have to work their entire lives to pay for their parents’ excesses.

A recent Rasmussen survey found that 85 percent of Americans believe that members of Congress "are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping other people", and that same survey found that 46 percent of the American people believe that most members of Congress are corrupt.

While our two parties continue to offer up the same old tired band-aid solutions to our problems, there is only one fellow that provides a glimmer of hope that I can see…that’s Herman Cain and his 9-9-9 solution.  He’s worth looking into.

Yours  for freedom, the Poor Man.

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 A Shallow Planet Production

Lost Art of Cooking, Extra Income, Furnish a Home Cheap

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

Http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       The Lost art of cooking

2.      Ways to make extra income – without a lot of work

3.      Two simple ways to keep your online searches private

4.      Kids bowl for free this summer

5.      Decorating and furnishing your home on the cheap

Life Expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.

--Doug Larson

Cooking at home…stretching your food budget

   Thank goodness some of our garden produce is harvestable as the cost of food and everything else continues to rise.  For those on fixed incomes or without a steady paycheck, inflation is hammering lifestyles.

Using coupons and shopping for sale items only helps contain some food budget costs.  As we’ve reported on in the past, extreme couponing and shopping at extreme discount grocery stores helps to reduce the dollar squeeze.

More people are rediscovering the somewhat lost art of cooking at home.  One of the keys to saving money from cooking at home is to buy larger portions of roasts, chickens, and other food stocks when on sale.  If you have children, you already know food vanishes quickly.  However, even households with only one or two people can save money through preparing a larger meal and then freezing the leftovers for future meals.

For instance, if you cook a large roast, leftovers can be turned into pot pies, soups, stews, add-ons to rice, pasta and vegetable stir fry’s and more.

Leftovers can also be used for lunch at the office instead of a daily trip to a fast food eatery.  No doubt many restaurants are hurting due to lower patronage and their own rising costs.  I don’t know how many of the fast food restaurants still offer dollar items on their menu.  The tight economy must also be hurting the incomes for servers at sit-down restaurants.  A 15% tip used to be the norm but experts now say you should tip 20%.

Cooking at home used to be the domain of women in our society but no longer.  More men have taken over that task in many households.  Indeed, I’ve run into many women whose idea of cooking focuses on the four main food groups…take-out, frozen, microwave and canned! (I once had a gal invite me to dinner and was surprised at why her mashed potatoes didn’t turn out, after all, she had boiled the pot of spuds four times and they didn’t mash)!

Cooking skills were traditionally handed down from mother to daughter, in my case, it was mother to son.  In pursuit of the American Dream of more stuff we seemed to have skipped a generation of handing down these skills.  Too, the lack of skills might also be attributed to the feminist movement’s backlash against stereotypes and/or the push toward fast food consumption.  It’s apparent that lifestyle has had a negative effect on our children, especially with our obesity problem.

There are 100s of DIY cookbooks, TV shows and online videos showing folks how to cook cheaply at home so there is no real excuse for not trying to learn.  Aside from being a money saver, it ‘serves’ as excellent family time.

My favorite all-purpose cookbook is the pre-1974 Joy of Cooking as it provides many variations and background information on food.  Remember, a recipe is merely a guide, feel free to experiment and adapt.

  How many of you cook at home?  The Frugal Gourmet offers dozens of related videos, free and online:   http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=frugal+chef&n=21&ei=utf-8&fr2=sg-gac&tnr=20&js=1

Like humans, many of our pets are now obese.  Trim pets down by replacing high calories biscuits with plain rice cakes.  Dogs like these fat-free treats.

PM’s Betty Shocker Roundup of useful stuff…

Ways to Make Extra Income - Without Much Work

In this economy, with escalating food and gas prices and stagnant wages, who wouldn't want to make extra money on the side? The trick, of course, is creating an additional revenue stream that requires little time or energy, as our lives are already jam-packed with work and responsibilities. For Seth, the solution is renting out his extra room. So popular is his listing, he has travelers asking to book his extra room in 2013. It's easy money, Seth says, considering the task requires no heavy lifting or much time out of his day. It's also a lot of fun, Seth says. He often hangs out with his guests, showing them around New York City and inviting them to outings with his friends.

But renting out a room in your home to a stranger isn't for everyone. What about renting out your car? Car-sharing companies, such as RelayRides, JustShareIt and GetAround, help car owners rent their vehicles to neighbors and visitors by the hour, day or week. (Don't worry: Insurance is included). Car owners can set their own rates, and the potential to make money is strong. Car owners at GetAround, for example, can earn about $2,000 per year, according to the company. At RelayRides, the company says average car owners earn between $200 and $300 a month.

http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113150-10368-1-ways-to-make-extra-income-without-much-work?ywaad=ad0035

Related Note:

The mystery shopping industry has its fair share of dishonest companies, according to career expert Tory Johnson, author of the New York Times best-seller "Will Work From Home". She recommends only working with certified marketing firms and avoiding job postings that require you to pay any upfront fees. The Federal Trade Commission also suggests visiting the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) website for a database of mystery shopper assignments.

Two Simple Methods to Keep Your Online Searches
More Private and Confidential

'Encrypted' Google search: The non-default, but more secure way to use Google

What's good:

It's simple to start. Once you're on the Google website, add an "S" in the browser url just after, "http." In other words, change "http" into "https": https://www.google.com/. This encrypts the connection from your computer to Google's servers, by using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection. (By convention, urls that require an SSL connection, or have it as an option, start with https instead of http.)

If you're on a public Wi-Fi, and someone is electronically eavesdropping ("sniffing"), that person or software program will only capture the encrypted message, not the search terms you're typing into Google.

The encrypted connection should keep your searches confidential even from your ISP

When you click to the third-party destination website, from the search engine results page, the destination website doesn't know that you came from Google – or what search term you used to reach the site.

Ixquick.com: The privacy-centered search engine

What's good:

They are a search engine that advocates your privacy.

They don't record your IP address. Run the same "Pizza" test, and you'll see that no local pizza joints appear in the search results.

They don't use unique session cookies, which can be used to identify you and track you.

They don't log or record your activity on their search engine.

They have an encrypted option, just like Google. Add an "s" in the browser url just after, "http": https://www.ixquick.com/.

The encrypted option keeps your search confidential from electronic eavesdroppers and your ISP

Note: Ixquick has a relationship with Google called Startpage.com. Apparently, it's for those who wish to use Ixquick privacy features while receiving only Google's search results. The original Ixquick.com search engine works just fine and serves search results from multiple search engines. So you typically receive a broader base of search results.

Tech problems?  Sign up at Weebly.com, a free service that includes step-by-step instructions for creating and maintain your website, plus support services.

Chia Seed - Once valued so much that it was used as currency, this unique little seed has exceptional nutritive and structural benefits.

Chia, is familiar to most of us as a seed used for the novelty of the Chia Pet™, clay animals with sprouted Chia seeds covering their bodies. Little is known, however, of the seeds tremendous nutritional value and medicinal properties. For centuries this tiny little seed was used as a staple food by the Indians of the south west and Mexico. Known as the running food, its use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as the ancient Aztecs. It was said the Aztec warriors subsisted on the Chia seed during the conquests. The Indians of the south west would eat as little as a teaspoon full when going on a 24hr. forced march. Indians running form the Colorado River to the California coast to trade turquoise for seashells would only bring the Chia seed for their nourishment.

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html

Spend less on outdoor electricity by replacing floodlights with solar-powered lighting.

Kids bowl for free

Lanes nationwide are offering two free games for kids all summer.  Signup to get a voucher at:

KidsBowlFree.com

Avoid Pre-made and save…

We enjoy the convenience of cut up chicken, pre-made hamburger patties, salads, etc.  However, you can save money by making your own.  Buy hamburger in bulk and shape patties, then freeze.  Buy whole chickens, cut them yourself.  If you enjoy fresh fruit salads, you’ll really save by slicing them and you can use the rinds and other discarded parts in your compost pile.

Get Prescription eyeglasses for as little as $7 a pair…

Check out Zennioptical.com

Our favorite DIY pet, equine and farm animal supply house

 http://www.jefferspet.com/Default.asp?&camid=

Keep your home cooler by using white shingles or white roofing material and install an attic vent.

The Nanny State Update…

Safe Sex
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined Hustler Video $14,175 for not using condoms in pornographic videos it produced. Another production company, Forsaken Films, was fined $12,150 for not providing condoms to performers.

Meanwhile, the federal government continues to waste money on some of the most bizarre things imaginable. For example, the federal government actually gave money to the National Institutes of Health to study the effect that the size of "a certain part of the body" has on the sex lives of gay men. Can anyone think of a reason why the federal government would want to throw money away on such frivolous studies when millions of Americans can't even find jobs right now?

Reason.tv: Battle for Brooklyn--Eminent Domain Gone Wild
Battle for Brooklyn , a documentary about one man's fight to stop a private developer from using eminent domain to take his home, recently opened in select theaters in New York City after a successful film-festival run. Reason.tv sat down with co-directors Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley to discuss eminent domain abuse and political perceptions of their film. Galinsky and Hawley insist their film is not a polemic, but rather an all-too-common story of a single person fighting an injustice against figures whose power and influence dwarf his own.

Many believe that a big reason for all of this chaos in America today is the decline of the American family. In 1960, married couples accounted for 75 percent of all households in America. Today, they account for just 48 percent of all households.

The Parting Shot…Decorating – Early Attic Style

   It’s a rarity that we ever buy new furniture.  Most items we own have been found at auctions, garage sales and thrift stores.  Much of it was in ‘like-new’ condition when we found it and represent a huge savings over a visit to the furniture store.  Besides, they add a unique flavor or character to our home.

You may not be comfortable with the use of pre-owned furnishings in your apartment or home, so I’ve listed a few online sites that will still save you money.

ConsignmentPal.com helps you locate local consignment buyers.  The furnishings often come from manufacturers, interior designers and high end retailers.

OldHouseJournal.com provides a directory of stores that sell architectural salvage; very useful for fixer-upper homes.

Habitat.org/restores One of our favorites…from Habitat for Humanity, these resale stores sell building materials and home goods for 50-90% off retail.  Many are new or gently used.

Another source to investigate:  model home builders and realtors; especially those who use ‘stagers’ to decorate the home.  Once a model home is sold, the furnishings they used to decorate the model home are often available at deep discounts.

That’s all for this issue from your frugal friend, the Poor Man!

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