poverty thread
 

talk about the ways you survive in this body mangled commodity interface that is slowly killing us all so the 0.1% can buy a new sportscar every month.

you can get good cheap solar powered lights and lamps on amazon, these will be useful for me since i live in a country with the most expensive electricity in the whole of europe. solar powered laptop chargers exist but i cant find a good one yet.

i do soylent which you can google and which can work out way cheaper and be stored long term if you make it yourself.

i go to bargain poundlland type stores and buy a years worth of toiletries, box them up, then slowly use them up after i've got one stored in reserve.

i bought an alpha industries parka which can keep you warm in sub zero temperatures - it was expensive but getting a parka like this can be cheaper than paying for oil or whatever you use.

i buy karimor shoes which are like £30 online and are EXTREMELY comfortable and will last about a year and wont grind down to nothing if you walk all the time - unlike pretty much every pair of trainers you can buy for that price in the uk.

what about you guys?

i read early retirement extreme, which is a blog created by this guy who lives on $7K/year. he stopped updating some time ago as he got tired of being in the public eye, but he's a fucking brilliant problem-solver. he also wrote a book about it which is on kindle, etc.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com

i'm not financially independent as he is, and i'm more of an epicurean where he's more of a stoic, but i find him *extremely* useful to read. the thing is, he's not in the least "poor", but $7K/year is considered miserly-level wages by people who frequent malls and coffee shops. in any case, great shit to read.

i use public libraries a lot. i have a netflix subscription instead of cable (this is bad for my sports watching but life is full of tradeoffs). i own a freezer, which uses very little energy and can store a lot. i buy and cook food in bulk to save money and time-- then i freeze for later use (this works well with stews and things like that). i'm starting to grow/raise my own food, and there's even the possibility of profit in the horizon. i heat up the house with firewood which provides me with a free workout, and the same with other manual labor--i don't have to pay for a gym.

in particular, i.e., non-repeatable, i live in an indian reservation where i have to pay no rent or mortgage or property taxes, and i have a lot of land/trees around me for free. the downside of this is that i can't sell my property, but i can't use money in the grave anyway.

wow.

im thinking of growing tobacco in my back garden (if i still live here in a few weeks)

it costs like £20 and requires minimal maintenance.

you can build a cheap curing chamber too.

its not illegal

natural tobacco is better than the factory shit for sure, but it's still a drug cash crop no? you probably could grow some medicinal herbs-- valerian for sleep, chamomile for inflammation… don't you have some druid to teach you what's for what around your parts? tobacco grows wild about here but it's used for religious stuff (gives you a "clear head"). people use it but don't get addicted to it-- it's different than the plantation stuff.

anyway, more, i just realized:

i drive an old reliable truck. it's a gas guzzler but it's necessary around here. however, i'm learning to do repairs. recently we changed the u-joints and saved probably $600 vs a mechanic, and the other day i changed the oil (oil changes are cake). next thing up is a break service-- that should be good learning.

i go to town only once a week to save mileage-- keep all the errands organized.

i don't buy anything on credit--credit is for suckers & megasuckers & for people who don't really need it. i don't need "miles" derived from other people's misery.

i keep an emergency fund so i don't have to borrow money when shit strikes.

this might sound obvious to people outside the usa, but i very rarely throw away food-- everything gets eaten unless it's rotten. americans throw away food by the fuckload. i love food and i'm efficient.

i never buy at thrift stores. instead i keep my clothes until they disintegrate and become cleaning rags. the cost per use is lower than buying pre-disintegrated clothes at hipster prices.

the druid doesnt like me and i dont like him. i called him on trying to get people to stop taking heart medication and fluoride with a calm patient inquiry asking him to demonstrate the scientific evidence backing his claims. i also asked for evidence that cancer was a conspiracy created by doctors. he didnt respond.

also he has tried to have sex with me multiple times and got quite aggressive demanding it tbh.

i am seriously not making any of this up.

he's a self described druid and metallica fan who makes the devil horns a lot and his taste in heavy metal is basically frozen at like 1994 and doesnt go beyond that.

hahahaha nuke this fucking country now please.

oh, i believe you. find a crone of the woods then or something ha ha ha.

eh, there are no saints. but some people know what herbs are good that grow where you live. that guy sounds like a dolt though.


why!! ireland makes great fucking butter-- full of good nutrients. sure, you're the protestant appendix, but i don't want to fukushima my butter. kerrygold ftw (i'm sure there's better by some artisanal churner but they don't sell that here).

anyway here's a link to a quick google find. looks very non-metallica, and it's made for your climate.

http://www.theherbgarden.ie

everything is cheap if you don't eat much. lunch and then v8 juice at night but that shit doesn't last. rents easy.

goodwill and the salvation army is hip now and the scavengers that work there steal all the good shit so, i get what i can or shop at flunky wal-mart for lame ass shirts. i like expense shoes and levi jeans so i invest a lot in those about twice a year.

if you don't mine being a free loader there's always friends and family. you just have to be nice and trustworthy. everything else can be found cheaply if you have credit.

you pretty much have anything you want but still be poor. ha, or your parents can move out the house after it's paid off and give it to you.

The UK is a cunt of a country to live in if you're poor. In fact it's SO much of a cunt it even penalises you for being poor by charging that bit extra over the wealthier just to keep you poor.

Interesting blog link, thanks.

immigration put a serious dent in my spending; what with self-imposed homelessness, no job, and a new hungry mouth to feed, it's been a real motherbitch this last year.

that said, I'm now working in my gloriously socialistic new Motherland (oi oi oi), and the US Gub'ment saw fit to subsidize all of my remaining American debts (thanks, Auntie Sam).

everything's coming up gumtrees....mate, and by mate, I mean, cunt.

to sum things up:

• I now make more than I ever have.

• my paid time-off has increased by 350% (srsly).

• I get SICK TIME now...you know...like when you're sick and don't have to use PTO.

• they PAY ME, that's right, with real money, to have fucking TEA for 40 minutes a day. TEA, for godsakes...and I don't even have to HAVE tea if I don't want to!!

• see also: the 350% increase in days off being paid at an additional 17.5% loading.

• LOL

so, yeah, fuck a global wreck of an economy. shit's shiney.

Keep ya bloody reffo hands off our koalas, ya cunt! :D

American discovers civilised society!

next up: FIRE and THE WHEEL!

^ oh god. I died.


Well good on ya, cunt.

I pity you, Amer'amigo.

the best part is, not having to own a car. sure, I spend half my day on the train, but that's cheaper than the $7.00/gallon that gas is here.

fuck a car.

Ouch...just when I started to get angry about paying 4.19 a gallon here.

Nic, have you seen this fantastic soylent recipe?

#diy #hardcore