When water can be an issue, I always fill some jugs and the bathtub (lucky to have one of those big old fashioned claw foot ones). I have used the tub water for the dogs, simple cleaning or washing and for flushing. It holds a lot of water.
There are flashlights and radios (and some combos) that contain a hand cranked generator. I also like my backpacking stove - a gallon of Coleman fuel [naphtha] goes a long way.
A few drops of bleach in each gallon of water helps keep it from becoming an algae farm.
A cell phone charger is probably a waste, since most towers' batteries are only good for about 8 hours. Landlines should be good for several days, and many central offices have diesel generators for backup. For communications "when all else fails" consider getting an amateur radio license. Anyone should be able to pass the exam after a few weeks with a study guide, and many local clubs offer classes. Basic handheld radios start around $100, base/auto + antenna start around $200. See arrl.org for more info. [Disclosure: my amateur call sign is N3WSG and I am a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service]
Not so sure about this ... my husband and I both have MAs in Business Leadership, and we've laughed many times about why we ever got them in the first place. Outside of a little extra credibility, they've been useless. Especially in finding a new job!
You'd have to have a very specific field such as engineering for any advanced degree to really be useful.
Great article!
Some articles I've read have recommended getting rid of cars and using public transportation. I live in the suburbs and I would have to pay $10-$20 to ride to the grocery store for food, whereas I pay the cost of gasoline. I'm quite sure my friends who do not have cars pay a lot more than i do in transportation! Riding a taxi cab 10-20 times a month which is not uncommon for city dwellers easily cost a few hundred dollars!
Eggs are one of my favorite foods, and not just because they are cheap.
As a person that use to lift weights and build muscle, eggs are one of the most complete sources of protein out there (or at least that's what was true when I was lifting).
Thanks for the great article, I do have a slug problem, so I'm going to read that article that you have a link to! Thanks!
Julie makes a good point that you need to research the particular graduate degree you're considering to see whether there will be an economic benefit. My impression from the article is that it's mainly focused on master's degrees that relate to business in general or a specific business (e.g., tech degrees). Those types of degrees tend to be worth more than others in the marketplace. It's sad but true that humanities degrees do not seem to offer much in the way of economic benefits.
My current employer has a great tuition reimbursement plan, so I am thinking about a tech-oriented master's degree program, but I'm still researching whether it will be worth it.
Yes of course, the can opener! As for the water, you know that's an entire article itself. Water is a must, but I didn't think about refilling the toilet tank. What a luxury! In emergencies, if you get a heads up that water will be shut off, take every available container and fill it with water. If you think about washing hands, dishes, cooking...you need a lot, so every possible container is needed.
I hope it just gets to the point that companies that aren't selling green produce and items will slowly start too go green so that all our items are green ones. It's not that people really want a chemical filled tomato over a fresh garden tomato it they don't want to pay 4 dollars for a garden tomato and only 89 cents for the other.
Airbnb is similar to CouchSurfing.com. It's just that its inventors found a way to monetize the hosting experience. Brilliant! Plus, you get more than just a couch. You can rent private rooms or entire apartments or homes for much less than a hotel.
I will def check out this book. I don't aspire to make a living as a travel writer, but one of my goals is to write about my travels and have my writing published in magazines and/or blogs. I think this book may still be helpful.
Reading your post, I kept thinking of the book, Do Travel Writers Go To Hell, by Thomas Kohnstamm, which I read last year. Very entertaining and hilarious.
Forgot the good old fashioned can opener for all of those canned goods... will need water as well. We wash out used gallon milk jugs, fill them with water, and date them. It's nice to have enough water to refill the tank on your toilet. After awhile that becomes a very unpleasant situation! Must flush!!
I have to disagree with this article, at least it part. Yes, *some* master's degrees can help your career. Some, frankly, can't. I have an M.A. in Medieval Studies, and let me tell you, it's done nothing for my career. (I originally got it so I could teach at junior college -- cegep -- here in Montreal. It didn't pan out.) And most PhDs in the humanities can't find work, because there's a glut of other humanities PhDs out there, all vying for the same limited number of academic jobs.
So before you actually go get that graduate degree, do your homework and find out if it'll *really* lead where you want to go!
What a great idea! This is too fun. I don't play the lottery, but this is right up my alley. A little bit of fun and chance, and you know you are going to get your money back. Thanks Philip, I am going to try this.
The problem seems to be that people expect their job to be perfect, wonderful, inspiring, etc.. most jobs will never be that.
Previous generations got a job, stuck with it, didn't worry, and used the money from the job to have a good life. We spend all our time worrying that we don't have a good job.
I'm starting to think that "your job is what you make it". It doesn't really matter what it is, take pride in it, do it well, enjoy it. Then go home and have fun.
In addition to cubes, you can get egg molds in a lot of different shapes. I've seen them a lot on bento box sites, so I assume the idea started in Japan.
My husband and I both donated cars several years ago, before the IRS ruling. We thought it was odd that the organization handling the sale/donation gave us a sheet indicated blue book value (a way of determining fair market value-FMV) so we pressed the org to give us the exact amount of the donation. But apparently, their methods were in compliance with the IRS at the time. When the IRS changed the rules to actual value (still a bit subjective but to us that meant what the cars were sold for at auction), a lot of charities stopped the donation process as donors wanted the full blue book value.
The one thing that we appreciated about the go-between that we picked was that we could designate the charity, our church, rather than pick from a list or have the money go to a group that we had no relationship with. We asked the org to let us know how much the donation to the church would be for everyone's records. This worked out well to track the donation, even if it wasn't part of typical protocol.
I would have loved to keep driving my car -- a Ford Escort wagon with about 100K miles on it -- but it would randomly lose power at critical times, like driving down the highway at 60 mph. A few weeks after we donated the car, it turned out that Ford had saved money by substituting a dollar part for a $2.50 one, causing another part of the car to fail. Mystery solved. I don't think knowing the source of the problem would have helped.
Anyway, we liked having someone take the cars off our hands and getting a tax deduction as well.
Let me tell you, getting out of debt is tough work. When my wife and I got married, we knew that we had about $20,000 worth of debt. It seem like that much compared to most of the people we knew. They might have that much debt on their car note alone! But, then we started making an effort to pay it off...
In the beginning, we only had an extra $50 at the end of every month. Do you know how long it takes to pay down the principle with $50 a month!? Finally, we found a way to live more cheaply and to earn more money. We decided to stop "crawling on the ground" and started "jogging rather briskly". In 4 months, we paid off $6,250 worth of debts. We then saved up $8,000 for another car (ours died), and now we are focused on paying of the rest of the debts. We only have $7800 left to go and plan to have it at $0 by the end of March.
Personally, I hate taking debt repayment slowly. I'd rather run a near-sprint and get it over and done with already! Find out how we did it (or almost did it) by clicking my name above. :)
I had been suffering from swollen ankles for several months when I bought some witch hazel to try on varicose veins.
I have small patches of the broken blood vessels on my ankles and noticed some enlarged veins around the lower parts of my feet.
I began a daily wipe down of these areas and within 5 days noticed I no longer had any swelling in my ankles.
I continued the daily application for a couple of months, when I decided to relax my regimen. I still use it a couple of times a week, but have not had swollen ankles AT ALL since.
Bonus benefit: If you keep your credit card at home, you're not going to start a tab and then accidentally leave your card at the bar after having a few too many (as a couple of friends of mind have done).
I hope you got your snow day, Albie! And letting friends and family knowing you're looking for kitchen supplies is such a good idea. I'd say about a third of my current kitchen equipment, from mixing bowls to wine stoppers to beautiful handmade mugs, came from my aunt when she cleaned out her kitchen to help me stock my first apartment.
When water can be an issue, I always fill some jugs and the bathtub (lucky to have one of those big old fashioned claw foot ones). I have used the tub water for the dogs, simple cleaning or washing and for flushing. It holds a lot of water.
There are flashlights and radios (and some combos) that contain a hand cranked generator. I also like my backpacking stove - a gallon of Coleman fuel [naphtha] goes a long way.
A few drops of bleach in each gallon of water helps keep it from becoming an algae farm.
A cell phone charger is probably a waste, since most towers' batteries are only good for about 8 hours. Landlines should be good for several days, and many central offices have diesel generators for backup. For communications "when all else fails" consider getting an amateur radio license. Anyone should be able to pass the exam after a few weeks with a study guide, and many local clubs offer classes. Basic handheld radios start around $100, base/auto + antenna start around $200. See arrl.org for more info. [Disclosure: my amateur call sign is N3WSG and I am a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service]
Not so sure about this ... my husband and I both have MAs in Business Leadership, and we've laughed many times about why we ever got them in the first place. Outside of a little extra credibility, they've been useless. Especially in finding a new job!
You'd have to have a very specific field such as engineering for any advanced degree to really be useful.
Just my opinion! :)
Great article!
Some articles I've read have recommended getting rid of cars and using public transportation. I live in the suburbs and I would have to pay $10-$20 to ride to the grocery store for food, whereas I pay the cost of gasoline. I'm quite sure my friends who do not have cars pay a lot more than i do in transportation! Riding a taxi cab 10-20 times a month which is not uncommon for city dwellers easily cost a few hundred dollars!
Eggs are one of my favorite foods, and not just because they are cheap.
As a person that use to lift weights and build muscle, eggs are one of the most complete sources of protein out there (or at least that's what was true when I was lifting).
Thanks for the great article, I do have a slug problem, so I'm going to read that article that you have a link to! Thanks!
Julie makes a good point that you need to research the particular graduate degree you're considering to see whether there will be an economic benefit. My impression from the article is that it's mainly focused on master's degrees that relate to business in general or a specific business (e.g., tech degrees). Those types of degrees tend to be worth more than others in the marketplace. It's sad but true that humanities degrees do not seem to offer much in the way of economic benefits.
My current employer has a great tuition reimbursement plan, so I am thinking about a tech-oriented master's degree program, but I'm still researching whether it will be worth it.
Yes of course, the can opener! As for the water, you know that's an entire article itself. Water is a must, but I didn't think about refilling the toilet tank. What a luxury! In emergencies, if you get a heads up that water will be shut off, take every available container and fill it with water. If you think about washing hands, dishes, cooking...you need a lot, so every possible container is needed.
I hope it just gets to the point that companies that aren't selling green produce and items will slowly start too go green so that all our items are green ones. It's not that people really want a chemical filled tomato over a fresh garden tomato it they don't want to pay 4 dollars for a garden tomato and only 89 cents for the other.
Roger:
Airbnb is similar to CouchSurfing.com. It's just that its inventors found a way to monetize the hosting experience. Brilliant! Plus, you get more than just a couch. You can rent private rooms or entire apartments or homes for much less than a hotel.
Thanks for the comment!
I will def check out this book. I don't aspire to make a living as a travel writer, but one of my goals is to write about my travels and have my writing published in magazines and/or blogs. I think this book may still be helpful.
Reading your post, I kept thinking of the book, Do Travel Writers Go To Hell, by Thomas Kohnstamm, which I read last year. Very entertaining and hilarious.
Forgot the good old fashioned can opener for all of those canned goods... will need water as well. We wash out used gallon milk jugs, fill them with water, and date them. It's nice to have enough water to refill the tank on your toilet. After awhile that becomes a very unpleasant situation! Must flush!!
I have to disagree with this article, at least it part. Yes, *some* master's degrees can help your career. Some, frankly, can't. I have an M.A. in Medieval Studies, and let me tell you, it's done nothing for my career. (I originally got it so I could teach at junior college -- cegep -- here in Montreal. It didn't pan out.) And most PhDs in the humanities can't find work, because there's a glut of other humanities PhDs out there, all vying for the same limited number of academic jobs.
So before you actually go get that graduate degree, do your homework and find out if it'll *really* lead where you want to go!
46 degrees in my house now
What a great idea! This is too fun. I don't play the lottery, but this is right up my alley. A little bit of fun and chance, and you know you are going to get your money back. Thanks Philip, I am going to try this.
Great article Tim.
Will have to apply some of these things.
The problem seems to be that people expect their job to be perfect, wonderful, inspiring, etc.. most jobs will never be that.
Previous generations got a job, stuck with it, didn't worry, and used the money from the job to have a good life. We spend all our time worrying that we don't have a good job.
I'm starting to think that "your job is what you make it". It doesn't really matter what it is, take pride in it, do it well, enjoy it. Then go home and have fun.
In addition to cubes, you can get egg molds in a lot of different shapes. I've seen them a lot on bento box sites, so I assume the idea started in Japan.
http://www.cookingcute.com/using_egg_molds.htm
My husband and I both donated cars several years ago, before the IRS ruling. We thought it was odd that the organization handling the sale/donation gave us a sheet indicated blue book value (a way of determining fair market value-FMV) so we pressed the org to give us the exact amount of the donation. But apparently, their methods were in compliance with the IRS at the time. When the IRS changed the rules to actual value (still a bit subjective but to us that meant what the cars were sold for at auction), a lot of charities stopped the donation process as donors wanted the full blue book value.
The one thing that we appreciated about the go-between that we picked was that we could designate the charity, our church, rather than pick from a list or have the money go to a group that we had no relationship with. We asked the org to let us know how much the donation to the church would be for everyone's records. This worked out well to track the donation, even if it wasn't part of typical protocol.
I would have loved to keep driving my car -- a Ford Escort wagon with about 100K miles on it -- but it would randomly lose power at critical times, like driving down the highway at 60 mph. A few weeks after we donated the car, it turned out that Ford had saved money by substituting a dollar part for a $2.50 one, causing another part of the car to fail. Mystery solved. I don't think knowing the source of the problem would have helped.
Anyway, we liked having someone take the cars off our hands and getting a tax deduction as well.
Let me tell you, getting out of debt is tough work. When my wife and I got married, we knew that we had about $20,000 worth of debt. It seem like that much compared to most of the people we knew. They might have that much debt on their car note alone! But, then we started making an effort to pay it off...
In the beginning, we only had an extra $50 at the end of every month. Do you know how long it takes to pay down the principle with $50 a month!? Finally, we found a way to live more cheaply and to earn more money. We decided to stop "crawling on the ground" and started "jogging rather briskly". In 4 months, we paid off $6,250 worth of debts. We then saved up $8,000 for another car (ours died), and now we are focused on paying of the rest of the debts. We only have $7800 left to go and plan to have it at $0 by the end of March.
Personally, I hate taking debt repayment slowly. I'd rather run a near-sprint and get it over and done with already! Find out how we did it (or almost did it) by clicking my name above. :)
I had been suffering from swollen ankles for several months when I bought some witch hazel to try on varicose veins.
I have small patches of the broken blood vessels on my ankles and noticed some enlarged veins around the lower parts of my feet.
I began a daily wipe down of these areas and within 5 days noticed I no longer had any swelling in my ankles.
I continued the daily application for a couple of months, when I decided to relax my regimen. I still use it a couple of times a week, but have not had swollen ankles AT ALL since.
Bonus benefit: If you keep your credit card at home, you're not going to start a tab and then accidentally leave your card at the bar after having a few too many (as a couple of friends of mind have done).
I hope you got your snow day, Albie! And letting friends and family knowing you're looking for kitchen supplies is such a good idea. I'd say about a third of my current kitchen equipment, from mixing bowls to wine stoppers to beautiful handmade mugs, came from my aunt when she cleaned out her kitchen to help me stock my first apartment.
Thanks for the tips. It's our duty to plan ahead more. Ultimately it's our life that's at stake. A job doesn't need to be stresful.
Yeah, right. Quantitative easing, another round in the war on savers.
And I'd disagree that "QE1" saved the economy. Saved some CEO's bonuses,
rather.
Airbnb sounds exactly like couchsurfing.org just that you have to pay.