Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition [Survival Today - an On going Thread #3]

Frugal Dad .com ^ | July 23, 2009 | Frugal Dad

[nw_arizona_granny]

Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition Category: Roundups | Comments(15)

Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.

To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.

The Frugal Roundup

How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)

Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)

Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)

Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)

40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)

Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)

5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)

A Few Others I Enjoyed

* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance

[Free Vulcan]

Is this a FR record for number of posts?

[JDoutrider]

Congratulations Granny!

Between having computers crash and the everyday goings on here at the gulch, I almost forgot your thread was still ongoing! Time to rebookmark and get caught up!

How you feeling Granny?

[CottonBall]

yeah, you got post 10K!

[OB1kNOb]

It’s the largest thread I’ve seen so far.

[betsyross60]

Does Granny hold the “freeper world record” for threads? They have been so helpful to me and so many others.

Congrats, Granny.

[betsyross60]

Just had to add one thing: Granny was helping us learn to prep before prepping became “cool”. I have notebook after notebook filled with things I learned from these threads.

[CottonBall]

Just had to add one thing: Granny was helping us learn to prep before prepping became “cool”. I have notebook after notebook filled with things I learned from these threads.

You're so right, betsy. She started me thinking about prepping, long before it was the 'in' thing to do. I've always had a penchant for cooking and living simply, but it's now become less strange and more useful ;)

I also have files and files of useful information - most of it gotten from granny's 3 threads. I do need to start printing them out, just in case the computer becomes unusable at some point....

[betsyross60]

I congratulated Granny last night but she was not feeling well enough to post. She says she probably has enough new things on hand for another big thread! Let’s get it going!

[DelaWhere]

My how the time flies...

Seems just yesterday but that was two threads of 10,000 ago.

Granny, how can we help get next thread going - the time of need is getting closer and closer.

[CottonBall]

hey DW, good to see you again!

yes, these threads are taking on a life of their own.

How have you and yours been?

[DelaWhere]

Hey CB - still preppin and similar stuff here on the right coast...

Many fewer are questioning IF - more a matter of WHEN - LOL lots are are full of HOPE that the CHANGE won’t hurt them...

Should we all say ‘Denial’???

Anyway, How’s you and your clan? Been a while since have heard any word from y’all. :)

[betsyross60]

Guess what? Granny had a birthday last Monday, the 26th. Happy Birthday, Granny. You are loved and appreciated.

[CottonBall]

Many fewer are questioning IF - more a matter of WHEN - LOL lots are are full of HOPE that the CHANGE won’t hurt them...

yup. I've seen a lot more signs of people preparing, even those who don't know what they are prepping for. Just that times are gettin' worse, no doubt.

We're good here. Hoping to go east before things get bad, but if we're stuck here - so be it. I know a few of a similar mindset here and we'll gather together in the mountains. They are highly defensible - even if snow-covered in the winter.

I'm glad you helped me back when with all the canning and storing wheat. Prices are crazy now! I do more canning when I see a good sale though - I'm almost compulsive about my fav hobby. We were looking at houses in KY in the internet and hubby found one with a 'canning room', he called it. Shelves and shelves of jars - it was a thing of beauty! (I'm sure no match for yours though ;)

[CottonBall]

Happy Birthday granny!!!!!

[JDoutrider]

Has a new thread been started yet? Is granny ok? Haven’t heard or seen anything on this front lately...

[Joya]

Congrats on another thread with ten thousand plus, Granny. CottonBall, I am on your ping list, correct? If not, please add me.

= = =
Excellent article on gluten and its effect on the mass population, those with celiac disease, those gluten-sensitive, and also on everyone else, too: Article says gluten is almost as difficult to digest as a rock!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1191808/index.htm

[CottonBall]

You are now!

Sorry all, I haven’t been around much and I apologize.

[Joya]

Educational game, free, online.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/relief_games/USA_Map_Jigsaw_Games.htm

[Joya]

Educational game, free, online.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/relief_games/USA_Map_Jigsaw_Games.htm

[CottonBall]

This is cute.

My knowledge of geography is sketchy, so I’ll be playing this - even though you likely intended it for kids!