Earn Cash at GigWalker, Zaarly, Free Firewood, Privacy Ideas

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       Use GigWalker and Zaarly to make money

2.      Free Firewood

3.      Protecting your identity

4.      Americans continue to get hammered

5.      Judges for sale – guess who is buying?

“Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success -- only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, prosperous, progressive and free."
-- Ronald Reagan
(1911-2004) 40th US President

Average Americans continue to get hammered…

The ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people.

American’s standard of living has fallen longer and more steeply over the past three years than at any time since the government began keeping records 50 years ago.  The average person had $1,315 less in disposable income now than in 2008.

Older workers are gloomier about the economy now than they were last year.

Nearly two thirds of workers older than 50 first surveyed by AARP's Public Policy Institute in 2010 said things had gotten worse by the time the senior lobbying powerhouse followed up in August. Fewer than one in 10 said their view of the economy had improved. The rest said things had stayed the same.

At the same time, government spending continues to rise. 

In 1950 spending for social programs was only one percent of the total Federal Budget. As the economy grew, social programs expanded to include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment Compensation, Supplemental Security for the Disabled, and educational programs. In 1983 as the United States pulled out of an ugly recession and brought inflation under control, social programs consumed 26% of the budget. In fiscal year 2012, they’ll eat up an estimated 57% of the budget.

Meanwhile the art of corporate tax dodging in the US continues to grow.  Proctor & Gamble, for example makes use of some clever tax dodges and it paid no taxes on several major deals over the past decade by using loopholes.  Although legal, they are convoluted.  P&G made $6 billion when it unloaded several of its brands including Crisco, Folgers and Pringles, which would have normally triggered a $2 billion federal tax bill.

As I reported previously, a study of 43,000 transnational companies reveals that just 147 companies control 40 percent of the entire global wealth in the world economy.  Of course, these multi-national firms buy and sell elected officials at will which is why I termed it the Washington-Wall Street Cartel.

http://news.yahoo.com/poorest-poor-us-hits-record-1-15-people-040233161.html

Get a fire started quickly by filling an empty glass jar with rubbing alcohol and a few wine corks.  Seal and store.  Place a cork or two under the kindling and light as usual.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

GOT AN IPHONE? MAKE EXTRA BUCKS AS A GIGWALKER

If you have an iPhone 3, 3GS, or 4, and you’d like to earn some extra bucks with miscellaneous gigs, check out Gigwalk. (Accepting applications in many major US cities.)

According to the site, gigs pay between $3 and $50+, and might include

Verifying local business information like hours of operation

Taking pictures of local businesses

Verifying street level information for mapping companies

For more, see their FAQ page here.
http://gigwalk.com/support

SELL STUFF (OR BUY IT) QUICKLY WITH ZAARLY

Another startup, Zaarly, lets you sell stuff -- or buy it -- rapidly by connecting buyers and sellers who live nearby.

To sell something, just search through what people are looking for (or sign up for new listings), chat with the buyer and get paid by credit card.

For more, click here.

http://www.zaarly.com/browse/#/browse

A heat-producing fire could cost you nothing!

Free Fireplace Logs

There is a primeval feeling about a fire on a cold day that makes you feel empowered. Close your eyes and you will see visions of primitive men dancing and chanting in front of a blazing campfire, with drums beating in the background. Ancient man knew the value of fire; in the modern world, we are not as dependent on an open flame for warmth.

There is nothing like a nice warm fire to warm up on a cold day. Sitting next to a wood-burning stove curled up with a hot drink of your choice and a good book is a pleasant way to spend a snowy afternoon.

With the current price of wood, it takes some of the enjoyment out. You might as well burn dollar bills. I have found a way to take some of the stress off. Everyone has newspapers as well as other types of paper lying around. The landfills are so full that some places are asking you to delay bringing any more.

My solution is to make fire logs. This not only takes care of excess paper, but it also saves money and keeps the home fires burning at the same time. Rest of the story at:

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/11/11oct31d.cfm?STT

More Top Tips for Protecting Your Identity

1) Alter your phone book listing. Phone books still exist (even though they're not as prevalent as before). Call your local phone company and limit the information they publish about you in the phone book or ask to be completely removed from it.

2) Subscribe to a credit-monitoring service. Not all services are alike. Most will monitor your credit report and notify you when new data is found. Some will help you clean up the damage if your identity is stolen. Some reputable options to look into are I.D. Theft Shield (from Pre-Paid Legal), iSekurity, CSIdentity, and Debix.

3) Beware of Internet phishing scams. In this scam, a crook sends you a fake email pretending to be from a known company (your bank, eBay, IRS, your state lottery, etc.) with some kind of urgent message saying you "need" to fill-in your private account details. Bottom line: If you don't trust the email or if it "feels" fishy – do NOT click on any of the links. If you're concerned that it may be important, use a "proven" phone number (NOT the phone number on the suspicious email) and call the company direct. Chances are if you feel unsure about the email, you'll find out it is in fact a fraudulent email.

4) Own a cross-cut shredder. Shred everything that has any identifying information, even if it's just your name, I.D. thieves can piece together your profile over time, like putting together a puzzle. Sometimes, all they need is one piece of information

5) Encrypt email. A great stopgap to begin encrypting email on your end is to use Hushmail.com. This is a free web-based email service, just like Gmail or Hotmail. (Note: Hushmail keeps a copy of the encryption keys within the corporation, which means if asked by authorities to open your emails, they have the ability to do so.) Their free service option comes with a small 2 MB storage size, which is the size of the old 2-inch diskettes. One trick is to use the free version for sensitive email – bank, health insurance, doctor, broker, etc. Of course, you can buy a membership to increase your storage capacity.

Find the rest of these tips at:

http://poormansurvival.com/ScamWatch.aspx

Revive an old broom whose bristles are beginning to splay by dampening it with a paper towel and slip a medium-sized rubber band around them and let it sit overnight.

The Nanny State Updates…

Judges for Sale - And Special Interests are Buying!

The Occupy Wall Street movement is shining a spotlight on how much influence big-money interests have with the White House and Congress. But people are not talking about how big money is also increasingly getting its way with the courts, which is too bad. It's a scandal that needs more attention. A blistering new report details how big business and corporate lobbyists are pouring money into state judicial elections across the country and packing the courts with judges who put special interests ahead of the public interest.

http://news.yahoo.com/judges-sale-special-interests-buying-100500006.html

FACTOID:  Roughly 335 unarmed citizens have died from police tasers as of 2011

Like glue…Knox unflavored gelatin is made from cattle bone chips and pork skin and when mixed with a little water, becomes a good glue to use on hides and other surfaces…simply heat in a pan of water to keep soluble.

The Parting Thought – The Debt Zone

The U.S. national debt grows by more than 2 million dollars every single minute…

What is happening in Greece is just the beginning. A bunch of other eurozone nations are also rapidly approaching a date with destiny. At some point the United States is going to experience massive problems as well.

The epicenter for the financial collapse of 2008 was the United States.

The epicenter for the next financial collapse will almost certainly be Europe.

When Europe goes down, the rest of the world will be dragged down with them.

The next wave of the economic collapse is coming.

So why should those of us living in the United States care about all of this?

Well, it is because a financial collapse in the EU could plunge the entire globe into a horrific economic nightmare.

Today, the EU actually has a larger economy and a larger population than the United States does. The EU also has more Fortune 500 companies that the United States does.

 Back in 2001, Gallup began asking Americans about how they feel about the state of their own personal finances. In October, Gallup once again asked this question, and 22 percent of the respondents rated their personal financial situations as "poor". That is the highest number that Gallup has ever seen. In addition, the gap between the number of Americans that said that their finances were "getting worse" and the number of Americans that said their finances were "getting better" was also the largest that Gallup has ever seen.

The financial crisis in Europe just seems to get worse by the day. The United States is already teetering on the edge of an economic disaster, and if Europe experiences a big time financial crash it seems extremely unlikely that we would be able to avoid another major recession.

Yours for “how do we get out of this mess”, the Poor Man

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New self sufficiency books added weekly

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 A Shallow Planet Production

H2O Supply in Danger, Going Solar-Groupon Style

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

http://www.PoorManSurvival.com

ISSN 2161-5543

In This Issue:

1.       Going solar – Groupon Style

2.      Learn how dangerously low our water supply is

3.      Free homework help

4.      Winter Composting

5.      Why do you prepare – the parting thought

By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day.  --Robert Frost

Save Even More at Warehouse Clubs…

   I don’t belong to Costco or Sam’s.  When I owned my publishing company as was rather useful for stocking up on office supplies.  My error was in taking my former spouse who could run up 100s of dollars in expenditures faster than the IRS can attach a bank account.  Also, I dislike the annual fee, which is scheduled to increase this year.  I can usually save just as month with shopping sales at my favorite outlets.

If you have a large family or are willing to create a neighborhood co-op deal, it’s worth the effort to join.  You don’t need a membership to take advantage of Costco’s pharmacy services and if you can risk shopping at off hours, you can avoid the huge crowds, but then you might miss the free lunch provided by all of the free samples held throughout the day on weekends (hint: shop during weekdays to avoid some of the food impulse buys).

In any event, these big box warehouse guys are smart.  For instance, avoid their ‘power aisle’ which features big ticket items such as mammoth TVs and such (unless that’s what you’re shopping for).  Bigger sizes do not always mean an item is a bargain.  Frequently, you can find the same item cheaper on sale at your local market, especially for paper goods.

In fact, a good shopper knows their prices.  My Dad would line up all of the Sunday sales fliers and exam who had the best sales that week and that’s how he chose which store to patronize.

For the most part, you can save further by purchasing private label products and Costco’s name brand, Kirkland, is as good, or better than many national brands.  Keep in mind all of these warehouse clubs have limited selections (Costco stocks about 3,800 items) compared to a typical supermarket which averages 40,000 different items.

Remove burned on food or baked-on stains off pans without scrubbing by covering the pan with water and add a few tablespoons of fabric softener; let stand a couple of hours and the food should wash right off.

PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources

Going Solar - Groupon Style…

It’s not a coupon purchased over the Internet. However, Daniel Parrella talks with people in his community and helps bring them together, so they can purchase solar energy for less.

“The logic is very simple,” Parrella said. “By going in as a group you can switch the power to the homeowners and negotiate favorable pricing.”

This summer, Parrella left the University of California at Santa Barbara where he was a sophomore studying political science, to orchestrate a group purchase of solar systems in Davis. Parrella signed up more than 150 Davis residents who expressed an interest in installing solar panels at their homes, and convinced REC Solar, based in San Luis Obispo, to offer these residents a 20 to 25 percent discount if they purchased a system over the next three months.

Participants in the deal will pay REC Solar about $5.45 a watt for their systems, or about $15,000 for an average-sized three kilowatt system. Parrella said state and federal tax credits and incentives will reduce that cost to about $10,000. The federal tax credit amounts to 30 percent of the total system cost while the California rebate is 25 cents per watt.

Parrella’s company, Spearhead Solar, which consists largely of Parrella and his partner, Chris Duran, 27, a former solar system salesman, receives a commission from the solar installers on every contract it signs. The size of the commission is based on the size of the system and ranges from 15 to 25 cents per watt. A contract for a three-kilowatt system would net Spearhead Solar about $700.

Learn how endangered our water supply is overall – from toxins that waste treatment plants don’t remove, to coordinated attacks on the water supply, to major shortages that won’t be helped by additional rainfall.

The free report is called Peak Water: Why Clean, Safe Water Could Soon Be As Valuable As Oil. Peak Water delivers 30 information-packed pages filled with research and analysis

http://www.offthegridnews.com/otgN451/index_pw.html?utm_source=OTG_Peakwateremail_Oct30_Text3&utm_medium=OTG_Peakwateremail_Oct30_Text3&utm_term=OTG_Peakwateremail_Oct30_Text3&utm_content=OTG_Peakwateremail_Oct30_Text3&utm_campaign=OTG_Peakwateremail_Oct30_Text3

Junior Achievement Sparks Student Success Junior Achievement (JA) empowers young people to own their economic success. Our volunteer-delivered, K-12 programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire kids to dream big and reach their potential. Junior Achievement impacts 4 million U.S. students in more than 173,000 classrooms. With the help of 171,000 volunteers, JA students develop the skills they need to experience the realities and opportunities of work and entrepreneurship in the 21st-century global marketplace. http://ja.org/

Plagued by bad odors (like a cat box)…Get this new product

Instead of masking odors, X-O Odor Neutralizer’s all-natural spray binds with scent molecules, changing their structure to permanently eliminate the odor.  Go to KVSupply.com  --  Enter the code 11902007 to get a 10% discount.

Free Homework Help

Sometimes, school work goes beyond the knowledge level of parents.  Get help for your kids at these free sites.

Cramster.com - Provides answers from tutors for children in the ninth grade through college level.

Number2.com - Get practice exams for the SAT, ACT and GRE and track your progress.

CliffsNotes.com - Anyone can browse their library of articles, study guides and book summaries

Be wary of leaf and snow blowers - they make enough noise to damage your hearing.  Wear earplugs whenever you’re exposed to one. Winter Composting In colder climates composting doesn’t work outdoors without some source of heat.  An alternative is to bury a few old trash cans in the ground (remove the bottoms first) about 20” deep or so.  Push the cans into the hole about 6” leaving covers in place to prevent rodent from getting inside.  Put sawdust or leaves on top of the waste and compact it. When you go to use the compost, it’s pretty easy to simply grab the can and pull it out…often, you’ll find some good fishing worms at that point too.

Before you sweep, spritz the dustpan with a light coating of water…the dust will stick in the pan rather than fly around.

The Nanny State Updates…

State of Chaos Starting…

All over the United States, livestock is being stolen from ranchers in unprecedented numbers. The following is from a recent Associated Press article....

While the brazenness may be unusual, the theft isn't. High beef prices have made cattle attractive as a quick score for people struggling in the sluggish economy, and other livestock are being taken too. Six thousand lambs were stolen from a feedlot in Texas, and nearly 1,000 hogs have been stolen in recent weeks from farms in Iowa and Minnesota. The thefts add up to millions of dollars in losses for U.S. ranches.

Authorities say today's thieves are sophisticated compared to the horseback bandits of the rugged Old West. They pull up livestock trailers in the middle of the night and know how to coax the animals inside. Investigators suspect it's then a quick trip across state lines to sell the animals at auction barns.

The reality is that a lot of Americans are so frustrated right now that even the silliest things will set them off. For example, one man down in Georgia recently firebombed a Taco Bell because they did not put enough meat in his Chalupa.

 One of the clearest signs of rising anger and frustration in America is the Occupy Wall Street movement. These protests are a precursor to the mass economic riots that are coming to this nation.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr.(Warren)  Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”…New York Times

According to an article in The New York Times, poor families that lost their homes to foreclosure were openly mocked during a Halloween party thrown by the law firm of Steven J. Baum. This particular law firm represents many of the largest mortgage lenders in the United States....

Photos from this Halloween party are posted on The New York Times website. To say that they are appalling would be a huge understatement. The following is how The New York Times described one of the photos....

In one, two Baum employees are dressed like homeless people. One is holding a bottle of liquor. The other has a sign around her neck that reads: “3rd party squatter. I lost my home and I was never served.” My source said that “I was never served” is meant to mock “the typical excuse” of the homeowner trying to evade a foreclosure proceeding.

 To many on Wall Street, the OWS protests are one big joke. In fact, Wall Street executives have been spotted sipping champagne while watching the Occupy Wall Street protests from their balconies.

The Parting Thought – The Washington-Wall Street Cartel

Why do you prepare?

According to a brand new Fox News poll, 76 percent of all Americans are "dissatisfied with how things are going in the country". At the beginning of this year, that number was only at 61 percent.

Some preppers believe that a complete collapse of the economy is coming. Others saw what happened to so many during Hurricane Katrina and are determined not to let that happen to them. Some preppers just want to become more independent and self-sufficient. There are yet others that are deeply concerned about "end of the world as we know it" scenarios such as terrorists using weapons of mass destruction, killer pandemics, 2012 predictions, World War III or EMP attacks

America, thanks to its Nanny State style government, epitomized by Pres. Obama, has lost a lot of its self reliant nature.  The federal government has tried to do to keep everything under control by throwing giant piles of money into the pockets of the American people. Today, government transfer payments as a percentage of GDP are far higher than they have ever been before in all of U.S. history

America is at its best when its people are allowed to be free and produce, not thanks to the government or even in spite of it, but on their own merit and initiative.

The Heritage Foundation by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan said

The American Ideal is in jeopardy, that "America's commitment to equality of opportunity is called into question." Unfortunately, he explained, President Obama is responding to these challenges by giving in to the temptation of exploiting fear and envy by embracing petty and trivial rhetoric, avoiding making tough decisions on spending and the debt, and by attempting to score cheap political points instead of building consensus:

Instead of appealing to the hope and optimism that were hallmarks of his first campaign, he has launched his second campaign by preying on the emotions of fear, envy, and resentment.

Many in government tell us we need to make life better for the big corporations. But the reality is that the bigger our giant corporations get, the faster the middle class shrinks. The big corporations are shipping millions of our jobs out of the country, and they are magnets for wealth and power.

Corporations not only completely dominate the U.S. economy, they also completely dominate the global economy as well. A newly released University of Zurich study examined more than 43,000 major multinational corporations. The study discovered a vast web of interlocking ownerships that is controlled by a "core" of 1,318 giant corporations. But that "core" itself is controlled by a "super-entity" of 147 monolithic corporations that are very, very tightly knit. As a recent article in NewScientist noted, these 147 corporations control approximately 40 percent of all the wealth in the entire network.

The taxpayers are getting soaked on all sides—at the federal, state, and local levels.


America is broken—economically, spiritually, morally, and financially. Somewhere, somehow, at some point, we’ve lost our way

Maybe this is why gun ownership in America is at a 20 year high - so few of us trust the government anymore!

Yours for “what is happening to our freedom”, the Poor Man

Follow us on Facebook

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 Twitter

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 Keep our services free, visit our sites…

Check our Resources

New self sufficiency books added weekly

http://www.OldBookNook.com

A Shallow Planet Production