Smart - Happy Home (Frugal Ideas, Saving Money, Coupons, Freebies, Contests, Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, Auctions, Classified Ads)

Book 7. Smart - Happy Home (Frugal Ideas, Saving Money, Coupons, Freebies, Contests, Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, Auctions, Classified Ads) Frugal Living Introduction Capitalism makes a lot of money for a lot of people but destroys a lot of lives not just from the deleterious effects of creating meaningless junk people don’t need but also from the psycho-spiritual damaged lives of the many people who fall for material excess as the key to happiness. I don't believe in a bunch of radical hippies going off to create their own utopia like Galt's Gulch in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged because it doesn’t exist and it doesn't solve the problem of planetary excessive consumption of finite resources. I wrote this book because I can only do what I believe in. I know that materialism is good to the point of basic comfort and everything beyond that approaches evil, to take more than you need in a frivolous manner with meaningless goods while you're fully aware that half of the people of the world live in poverty. Maybe I’ll help a few people along the way see that excessive consumption beyond the level of basic comfort could be the most evil and destructive force on the planet. Unless you're very lucky, you will have money problems at some point in life and your whole life could unravel with a few missed payments so take heed, don't be frivolous, don't spend foolishly, save what you don't need to spend on the essentials. If you get into credit trouble, live like a pauper and either work hard to pay all your bills or default or declare bankruptcy and destroy your credit. Stop buying frivolous stuff you don't need. Simplify your life. Get rid of a bunch of your stuff. Volume 1. Basic, Simple Living Chapter 1. The Wise Life Simple Life Ideology Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Benjamin Franklin I live a simple life because I decided a long time ago, all I own is: 1.) my body 2.) my mind 3.) my spirit 4.) a temporay block of time I freed myself from my capitalist, pop culture upbringing by realizing I am what I do everyday. I don't care much about what I own beyond the basics for a moderately comfortable lifestyle because material things are dead junk. They can't give me orgasms, intense emotions or make me feel euphoric about my life. I watched close relatives of mine sell their house because they were getting divorced then the girl put all that household stuff in a storage place. I told her that the rental costs would very quickly amount to more than the stuff is worth. She wanted to hang onto it. She never missed the stuff for a couple of years then she abandoned it. You will be surprised at what little stuff you need in your day-to-day life. A lot of stuff in your place is basically useless stuff just sitting there. I get self-respect and a good feeling about my life from constantly purging my natural energy with some sort of intensity and urgency at times because I live by a personal standard which I must match all the time so when I lag, as I occasionally do, I go on a tear or run of releasing energy until I get a good dose out of my system and I'm pleased with what I've done. I get euphoria from doing mostly inspired activities. I won't sacrifice time to work for material things I don't need and/ or to try to get status within the system which means I don't give a damn what other people think of me. I won't waste my time trying to develop some image to impress people or try to get them to think I'm a big shot, wealthy or in the upper socioeconomic class. A lot of people have been massively brainwashed to pursue materialism and constantly try to increase their status or socioeconomic position within society. This is all wasted effort. The only thing that matters is to constantly express or release whatever you feel in your free spirit. Do this to be true to who you think you are is in your true nature and you live the best life you can possibly live. Anything less than this is what I call a generic, average, brainwashed life. My time is way too valuable to me to spend trying to acquire the capitalist trinkets I was brainwashed by that they told me would make me happy. I had more material stuff than I needed at one time. They didn't do a damn thing for how I felt inside. On top of that, I realized my standard of life is inside of me. I answer to myself only. I don't respect most people because I think they're average, generic and brainwashed so I could care less what these average, trivial people might think of me. Many people don't really know that happiness and success are releasing most of your natural energy everyday to live in a kind of state of euphoric harmony. You always feel good because you're proud of those things you do that you consider are hard that you conquer through inspiration and love for doing them. Hard exertion in what you love to do floods your being with euphoria and a sense of inner power. It's hard to explain. If you got it and live like this, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't understand that it's better to live by your free spirit than to pursue mundane comfort and acceptance in some little group of average, timid souls then nothing I can say will help you understand the best way to live. You either come to the realization that you will be true to the free spirit you were born with no matter what or you live some other kind of lifestyle following some illusion from the world. Happiness is a state of being, a state of mind. You attain happiness by being happy with what you do one day at a time. Happiness is not a fixed entity. You can't get it just because you won the lottery. Happiness is a fluid commodity. You have to earn it one day at a time, mostly by doing tough, inspired things in releasing the natural energy in your soul that you're proud of that make you feel good. Everyday I live to release most of my natural energy which is mostly inspired, hedonistic, loving and practical but it's not materialistic. I don't need many materialistic things beyond the basics for basic comforrt and I'm not caught up in the constant desire to be passively entertained because my life is my spirit, what I do. I don't need or want to be entertained by mainstream society's pop cuilture junk and trinkets. Why would any wise person with an interesting, inspired life want to waste time watching a bunch of vain people all aspiring to be pop stars? Why would I want to watch a bunch of business ventures called professional sports teams play games because they pretend to have an emotional connection with the so-called fans who are really brainwashed stooges for buying into this crap? Why would I want to watch a bunch of people I don't know dance in some contest on TV? If I'm feeling good, why not dance around in my house and get that good feeling for myself by doing it, not just sit there watching somebody else do it? Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emmerson talked about living by spirit a long time ago but nothing much has changed. Most people are stuck somewhere between materialism, the pursuit of mundane comfort, frivolous entertainment and image out in the world, what other people might think of them. Mainstream TV doesn't just blast ads at you. Certain TV shows and magazines are there to make you feel envious and strive to live the lifestyle they're selling. There are a lot of money and investment shows but in my opinion the worst ones are all the fashion-clothing shows and all the home-buying, home-make-over, home-inmprovement-type shows. Who cares? People are starving somewhere and we have shows about people contemplating what kind of tile to buy for the splashboard of their new kitchen counter? Once you discover what's in your pure essence as a human being, you don't need any of that frivolous garbage the world is constantly trying to sell you. Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), who wrote Self-Reliance, was an enlightened thinker living in a world of his own creation as all highly creative people do, always contemplating life, thinking his own thoughts and pondering the deep questions of the Universe. Emerson, who started out as a minister then gave up the cloth when his first wife died of tuberculosis, didn't believe much in man's institutions be they religious, political or educational. He believed only in the power of the individual as lived right here, right now, life in the moment. He was just like me in believing we each have a unique divine soul and the purpose of life is to obey it. For a guy who lived in those seemingly primitive times so long ago, his insights are as fresh and original as if they had been written today in these modern technologically advanced times. I personally believe that his few books easily blow away all of today's conventional psychobabble in terms of truth and inspiration. I didn't come across him until I was mostly finished with this book but upon reading his essays, I was amazed at how the two of us independently came to many of the same conclusions about the process of life. In my opinion, he's one of the wisest men who ever lived and he went through hell too, losing a five year old son to scarlet fever shortly after losing his first wife. I'd say Emerson, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Benjamin Franklin are the three giants of American free thinkers. I'd put Thoreau in there but he never had a chance to mature. He died so young in his mid-forties before he could amass a wealth of material like the others. If you want one other book to help keep you inspired and give you insight beyond this one, read Self-Reliance. It amazes me how a guy living in the time before mass media had the wisdom to come up with all this wise stuff that he did. Me, I got no excuses not to since I'm pounded with a couple of hundred ideas everyday. It's very easy to pick out what I want from everything that's out there. Emerson created all his stuff out of thin air from his own mind. According to Emerson, all organizations lead to the mechanization of thought, particularly academia. He believed your soul and power are already within you when you're born. An authentic life and authentic education is to simply let it unfold freely by exploring your creative thoughts and whims. Truly creative people develop the inner discipline within to try to live great, cultured lives. They don't have to be molded any which way whatsoever. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) had similar views to Ralph Waldo Emerson. In fact, Emerson let Thoreau stay at his house for awhile in exchange for maintenance and gardening work. Look for their books at around #814 or PS1603 at the library. Emerson's famous book is Self-Reliance and to a lesser extent, Essays. Thoreau's great book is Walden, two very similar books about the beauty and simplicity of living close to nature. This is the basis on which all great thinkers live their lives. This is the frontier and the greatest lifestyle, living freely by your own thoughts, generating your keep this way and enjoying the journey along the way by exploring your whims and passions. kildevilhill.com/waldenpondchat/wwwboard.html, Henry David Thoreau. state.ma.us/dem/parks/wldn.htm, Golden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau lived. umsa.umd.edu/ thoreau, Henry David Thoreau. To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882 That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest. Ralph Waldo Emerson No facts are sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no past at my back. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882 If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or faraway. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Renew yourself completely each day; do it again and again and forever again. Henry David Thoreau, Walden If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweat scented herbs, if life feels starry and immortal, that is success. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Get Real Team Release whatever is natural, intense and beautiful inside of you. I never thought much about all the brainwashed schmucks in the world beyond my own thoughts about how screwed it is until I read an article at cracked.com which highlighted some of the stupid, ridiculous things people fall for so I figured it's time to write an article posting some of the things I and others like me think are stupid. Cracked is not the innocuous comic book they used to be. They're the voice of truth and masters of parody. The mainstream news is not the real news. It's selected stories that conform to the capitalist agenda of its advertisers, the big corporations. There is a lot of social injustice, corporate fraud and government dirty tricks that never make it on the mainstream news but you might find it at rense.com or fsrn.org. The so-called social sciences is a big bunch of fake knowledge they created mostly in the twentieth century to put forth the illusion that they have system-sanctioned advanced experts who know more about your life than you. It's a big fraud, especially when they staert using "mental health" drugs to treat what is really human weakness and a spiritual detachment from one's true nature. Every minute you spend immersed in engaging in some meaningless pop culture entertainment is another minute you're smothering your own identity and betraying yourself which is why we live in a society of brainwashed, mundane to depressed people all trying to be cool according to pop culture standards. Your life is what you do everyday, not what you own or what your so-called position of status is out in the community. You have been brainwashed in school and by watching TV everyday all your life since you started going to school. What is happiness and success? Is it your version or what you got from the system? No matter what tragedy might have happened to you in the past, all them psychobabblists out there say you need their therapy so they can make money off you. The truth is that everyday you create your life as you live it. All them alleged PTSD and child sexual abuse survivors are a bunch of wimps. It's more comfortable for them to act like victims than to move on and try to live a great life everyday. They can always blame their weaknesses and failings on this event buried deep in their past. It's a great cop-out and the so-called mental health industry sees dollar signs, especially with the sale of their drugs. Do you think all those supplements, vitamin pills and herbs for sale in health magazines really help you? Why did humanity get along before they were created? If it were good for you, it would be in natural foods. Most ailments naturally go away on their own regardless of whether you buy that drugstore junk or not. You erroneously attribute the relief to the product. Don't buy into the holistic stuff either. That's another big fraud. Going to a doctor is a placebo effect in many cases. The doctor prescribes pills that are placebos. It's a big fraud while you heal naturally. There is no exercise equipment that makes burning calories easy. You have to sweat. It is not possible to lose weight without sweat and eating less food. Politics is like professional wrestling. They act like they're fighting in front of the camera but then they go back to their elitist lifestyles as friends collecting those overinflated paychecks. Those right-wing talk show hosts make millions of dollars pretending they care about the people. They lie like crazy. It's all protected as opinion under the First Amendment, freedom of speech. There really is no right or left wing. It's about dealing with individual issues in the real world. Is depression really a mental illness or just plain human weakness? Live Without Debt Pay off debt. Live without credit. Unless you're very lucky, you will have money problems at some point in life and your whole life could unravel with a few missed payments so take heed, don't be frivolous, don't spend foolishly, save what you don't need to spend on the essentials. If you get into credit trouble, destroy all your credit cards, live like a pauper and either work hard to pay all your bills or default or declare bankruptcy and destroy your credit. After all the credit books I have read, my best one-liner advice is: Call 888-5opt out and ask to be taken off the mailing lists to receive credit card offers. Go to the-dma.org and get taken off mailing lists. Get rid of all mail order catalogs coming to your house. Don't shop recreationally. Just shop when you specifically need something. Don't watch TV shopping networks. Don't cruise shopping websites on the internet. Stop buying frivolous stuff you don't need. There is a support group around with local chapters called Shopaholics which help compulsive shoppers out. Shopaholics Ltd. 15 W. 18th St. 4th Fl. Nyc 10011 212-675-4342 Get copies of your credit report, annualcreditreport.com, 877 322 8228, the free annual credit reports. Get your credit score, myfico.com. Organize all your debts. Know exactly what you owe. Send letters to some of them offering a settlement like you'll pay 30% of what is owed to settle it. If bill collectors are hassling you, send them a cease and desist letter stating that under Section 805-C of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you request that they cease any further communication with you. Get rid of most credit cards except for one or two. Research the credit card companies and pick a new card with the lowest interest rate or tell your credit card company that you have been getting better offers and demand a lower APR or you'll leave. Pay off your debts as quickly as possible. Dispute credit errors by the methods I already discussed. Learn the truth about credit, about how much money you're paying for interest. Simplify your life. Get rid of a bunch of your stuff. Stop spending money on frivolous things. Spend as little as you can. Borrow as little as you must, only the mortgage and possibly a car payment. Save what you can and invest it. Get another job, work more overtime or start a home business if you have a lot of debt to pay off. Get a cheaper car, a smaller house. Drop things you don't really need like magazine subscriptions, some insurance policies, going to the movies, etc. Make up a will. Save money. Clothing One-Liners Before buying any garment, check the fabric labels and care instructions. Avoid clothing that requires expensive care like dry cleaning. Buy any needed clothing on sale. End-of-season sales often offer some of the best savings. Clean and polish dress shoes often to keep them in good condition. They will look good longer and will need replacing less often. Encourage family members to hang up clothes after wearing to eliminate unnecessary laundry. The cost of doing a load of laundry is no longer a minor expense. Hang laundry out to dry. The average cost of a load dried in an electric dryer is higher than using a gas dryer. If you buy a factory second, check the item for flaws. Some flaws you can live with, but some you cannot. If you cannot start a swap program, take clothing to a consignment shop where they will give you money or trade yours for others in stock. If they're not dirty, wear clothes more than once before washing. Investigate whether using cloth diapers and laundering them yourself is a reasonable option. Keep clothes in good repair, so a minor problem does not get worse. Read and follow care instructions to make clothes last longer. Shop for clothing at yard sales to save considerably on slightly used items. This is especially true of children's clothing or maternity wear. Spot clean clothes promptly and save on cleaning by careful wear. Store clothes properly to prevent damage from sun, moths, mildew or stretching. Swap clothes with friends or neighbors. Many children's garments are still in good shape when a child grows out of them. You can exchange items you have for items you need. To get more life from each pair of shoes, do not wear the same pair all the time. Resting shoes between wearings extends their overall life. Use a coin-operated dry cleaner for savings on items that must be dry cleaned. Wear old clothes for messy jobs. Try to anticipate tasks that would cause damage to better clothing and take the time to change. Get Things Near Free First off, look for used goods in newspaper ads and in secondhand stores and weekend garage sales/ flea markets. Let people know that before they throw their old stuff away to give you a call and you will take it away. Say things like, "We'd like to buy a boat or an RV and we're just looking around to try to find a used one cheap somewhere." Find a local newspaper that offers free or near free ads and offer to clean basements and garages for a fee. Offer to haul things away with your pick-up truck. Offer to help people move then root through the things they throw away. I know a guy who got an old piano free with this ad: Will pick up your old things & broken furniture, $25 per truckload 666-6666 Find contractors or building wreckers in your local phone book, contact them and ask them about the houses and merchandise they destroy. Often, they bulldoze houses with the furniture still in it. Offer them a few bucks to go in for a day or two to salvage what you can. Many have salvage yards where they sell everything they took out of the house, even lumber. I have seen iron stairwells, chandeliers, pianos, marble statues, furniture, etc. at these places. You could buy a bar from a tavern, an oven from a restaurant, some things from a hotel, etc. They sell cheap because they keep getting new stuff coming in taken' up space. Look in the phonebook under Building Supplies, Used. Find out what the manufacturing factories are in your area and if you need their products, call them and ask if they sell factory direct. If you need lumber, put an ad in the paper like: Will tear down your old building free for the lumber. Funeral homes rarely abuse their hearses and have a hard time selling their old ones. Call up the local funeral homes and ask if they have got any old hearses for sale. Oftentimes, big, old colonial type mansions can't be sold or rented because they're out in the sticks and people aren't willing to pay. They're, in effect, white elephants. If you ever see one of these empty mansions around, it might be worth a shot to offer to buy or rent at a deep discount price. The same goes for old social clubs, restaurants and inns. Repair shops of all kinds have merchandise left by the owners that they will sell for the repair costs, even cars. Check out houses that had fires and offer to buy the slightly water logged furniture. Build your own boat or buy an abandoned boat at a dockyard for a few bucks and refurbish it. Aside from checking out county treasurers' offices for land with unpaid taxes, a good way to find land for sale is to drive around the country, pretend you're lost then approach the natives and say some guy by the name of Michelin was selling a piece of land and gave you bad instructions on how to find it and now you're lost then casually ask if they know where there's any land for sale in the area. Stores often sell their display and damaged merchandise at discount prices but you have to ask about it. freecycle.org allthingsfrugal.com alwaysfrugal.com beingfrugal.net betterbudgeting.com/frugalliving.htm borntolove.com/frugal-column9.html consumerist.com Wasting Money Info The biggest money wasters are: Overpriced fashions and logos. All so-called art and gift items/ knick knacks. Lotteries unless you win. Credit cards. Gold credit cards. Credit card debt. Frivolous, emotional shopping. Carrying excessive cash that you lose or spend. Bank account charges. Atm charges. Gambling. TV shopping. Sit down lawnmowers. Cellular phones. Fee checking accounts. Sunroofs. Big screen TVs. Lending money to friends. Buying a new car every three years. CDs, get your own music off the internet for free. RVs, boats, rent one for the few times you use it. Life insurance for children. College degree in a useless major. Cable TV, buy a used satellite dish. Being brainwashed by "ON SALE" signs. Eating at overpriced restaurants. All high end jewelry. Much of it is a scam. Credit life insurance. Water purifiers, the city does it anyway. Wasting Money Websites storyofstuff.com/anotherway.html wasteblog.epa.gov ehow.com, how to waste less and save more polluteless.com enn.com frugalforlife.blogspot.com h2oconserve.org, low-flow no waste water saving tips laptoplunches.co.uk/waste_less.html, reduce waste. azsustainably.com lifehacker.com/5183644/switch-to-a-two+week-grocery-cycle-to-waste-less-f ood metro-region.org/index.cfm mnwastewise.org noimpactman.typepad.com notawaste.com nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/at_home/at_home.shtml lovefoodhatewaste.com tanklessisgreen.com, produce less waste waste-less.com, reusable shopping bags. wasteless.org, the gengreen blog wastelesschallenge.com, recycling. wastelessliving.com wastewatch.org.uk zerowaste.ca/articles/column141.html wasteless.co.uk Journaling Info/ Keeping a Diary Journaling is something like keeping a diary. People do it to stay calm and release stress while trying to get insights into their lives by writing their thoughts out. Many people with illnesses journal while they're ill to stay positive and deal with it. Some people write in their diaries/ journals every night. Others do it only when the inspiration hits. Simply write out anything you feel at the time. Journaling is cathartic (getting things off your chest) and healing. If you've got a goal or a plan, some people keep a journal to chart their progress or lack of it. Some people journal to keep a historic record of their lives which they pass onto their children to help remember them. Books about journaling are at #158.4 (diaries) #808.0669 and RC489 at the library. Books about writing are at #808. diaryland.com arnprior.com/kidsgarden/planning/journal.htm egroups.com/dir/arts/writing/online_journals intensivejournal.org, 800-221-5844 journals.about.com journaltherapy.com journalwriting.com lifejournal.com nzdances.co.nz/journal secureaction.com/memoirs storyhelp.com thejournalstore.com web.cetlink.net/papabear/journal/question.html wofford.edu/;studyabroad/journal.htm worldimage.com/diaries writersdigest.com/journaling writingthejourney.com Getting Organized/ Saving Space I generally feel that organization is something you intuitively have within you that you automatically know how to proceed with your life focussing on the most relevant thing in the moment. Small things ocassionally slip by, especially as you age which is why some people carry a pen and a notepad around, to remind themselves of things that are too valuable to entrust to a mind that's always moving and can easily forget the little things so if you feel you need it, get a pen and a notepad or a PDA/ personal digital assistant to take notes of your life but I personally feel if it gets to this point, your life is too complicated. Simplify it down for a better quality of living. Throw everything away or give away anything you haven't used in the past year. You can throw a lot of stuff away. It simplifies your life greatly. Put items that you use a lot close to you. Get over the cult of home décor and knicks-knacks. That's capitalist brainwash to try to get you to buy totally meaningless junk. archivists.org calendar.com clutterbook.com cozi.com extraspace.com fastcompany.com/magazine/15/6ways.ht getmoredone.com/tips7.html getorganizedjournals.com gothamorganizers.com home.ivillage.com/homekeeping/organize home.ivillage.com/homekeeping/organize/ home-organization.suite101.com homeorganizer.ca homestoragewarehouse.com treedolist.com, organizer for your to-do list and tasks. letsdoit.com life/articles/0,,284489_289455,00.html lifeorganizers.com listorganizer.com, how to get organized. magazines.ivillage.com/redbook/you/ messies.com messies.com ml mythings.com ohdontforget.com, they send you an e-mail to remember things. organizally-yours.com/english.htm organizeanything.com organizedhome.com/index.html organizedtimes.com, service that teaches you to be organized. organizetips.blogspot.com organizetips.com organizeyourselfonline.com organizeyourselfonline.com perfectlyplaced.org, home and office organization. reqall.com, reminders. resourcefulorganizer.com scheduleonline.com scheduleus.com spacesavers.com storageandbeyond.com, home-organizing-ideas.com suite101.com supercalendar.com tgon.com, get organized newsletter. tgon.com, get organized newsletter. National Assn. of Professional Organizers 1033 La Posada #220 Austin, Tx 78752 512-206-0151 napo.net National Association of Professional Organizers 35 Technology Parkway S. #150 Norcross, Georgia 30092 (770) 325-3440 napo.net Chapter 2. The Simple Lifestyle Home-Life Ideas 1 If you watch money TV and hang out with people who buy into the lie of making it to the top in a capitalist world and measure their worth or happiness by how big their house is, how much expensive home décor there is in there and how much other stuff they own, you've been sucked in to that lifestyle. It's a kind of work hard lifestyle not necessarily because you love what you do but because you want the status of other people recognizing you and you want a lot of material stuff to either impress yourself or impress others. Personally, I want to own only the material basics for two reasons: It keeps my life simple. I don't want to pursue frivolous goods while I'm perfectly aware that there are millions of people out there starving. It smacks of disharmony to me, a sin against our fellow men and the spirit of being a good human being. Without being arrogant, I believe my life is superior to just about everybody because I have no delusions. I know that all I own is a finite block of time. Material things beyond the basics can't make me happy. I've been there, done that. If I have what I need, that's enough but I think the biggest thing is that I am what I do not what I own. Don't be brainwashed by all the knuckleheads out there. Either have few needs and/ or find what you truly love to do to earn your money. Go as simple as you can. Sell all your investments, all the extraneous crap you own that you rarely use or don't need like jewelry, your boat, RV. Try selling it on ebay.com. Home-Life Ideas 2 The Lord helps those who help themselves. Spend less than you make. Don't take financial advice from sales people in the financial services industry unless it's for a straight fee without a commission for sales. Ultimately, they are trying to sell you something. When you watch a financial journalist on TV or read a money article, ask yourself if you think he or she is being objective or are they biased perhaps because they have an interest in the investment they're reporting on. Ignorance, greed and stupidity lose more money in the stock market than fraud. Generally, the rich get richer because they use their money to make more money in investments and real estate. Try to save some money and invest it in some way. If one of your close intimates, friends or relatives is always using you for material things, they're insincere. I would cut my losses and cut them out of my life. Just because they're your relatives doesn't give them the right to abuse your good nature. Don't trust anyone when it comes to money, not friends, not stockrokers, not lawyers, not anyone. Don't cosign a loan for anyone unless you plan to pay it off. Once you go through a crisis where you have no money, no job and no business and are near homeless, you realize what's real in life which is enough money to always have a roof over your head. Unless you're extremely wealthy, save your money intelligently even if you have plenty right now because there will be a tragedy or unforseen event at some point in your life where you will need more money. At the very least, you will want it at retirement. Make your money work for you through intelligent investments. Loyalties can be fleeting, especially in the business world. When good people go through hard times, it gets easy for them to justify to themselves stealing from you and betraying you. Don't trust company pension plans. Many go bust. Trust your own retirement savings account. If it's a 401(k) where your employer matches your contributions, that's great for you. Don't keep all your money in one place. Diversify. Don't assume anything. Get it clarified. The stock market goes up because of greed, down because of fear. This is why smart people don't waste time in the market. They do their own thing and make money through some kind of business they run. If you want to get rich, your best chances are through running a business over working a job. Nobody knows the future. Do your best now by preparing for it through taking care of your health and wealth. Invest in rental real estate, preferably duplexes. Don't spend money on stupid, useless things. Don't be a fan of pop culture entertainment. Focus on your own well-being intead of just distracting yourself with mindless entertainment. Besides a mortgage, do not get into debt. If you work, start a side business. Love what you do to earn a living. Live to enjoy your life. Money doesn't make you rich, an inspired life does. Teach yourself about money. It's all in my money book and at #332 at the library. Home-Life Ideas 3 In my opinion, we have a culture based on I want it all, I want it now (pop song title by Queen) where many young people have pop culture stars in their eyes. They wanna be American idols, win a reality TV show or something like that. They don't seem to realize that in the grand scheme of things, the world needs another snotty brat or young punk singing a song like it needs a hole in the head. I'm no fan of pop culture entertainment because I think it's a bunch of crap that has turned the brains of much of our population into mush. I suppose it's no different from the Ancient Roman days. A large segment of the population had nothing better to do with their lives back then either but eat bread and watch circuses, the unwashed masses as some people call them, the stupid pleebes who follow the so-called trends, aka what's happenin' all in an effort to be cool because they're to dull to try to do something real and original with their own lives. My life is all about me and I believe wise people should focus on themselves. When you focus on yourself, you realize that you get what you want by helping others get what they want so you work like a madman to help others get what they want so that you can get what you want. This is the law of the marketplace. The reason I'm so down on pop culture entertainment is because it robs weak, stupid and naïve people of the quiet time to focus on their own lives and aspire to do something positive for themselves and for the world. It fills them up with all kinds of silly crap about being cool and spending their money on useless things. In the old days, there was no quick way to get rich. Everybody earned their living one day at a time. Nowadays, fully 98% of the population still earns their living working one day at a time. There will be no motherlode or big score. They won't have a hit song. Chances are they won't create a company that will take off immediately. There will be no multi-million dollar real estate deal, a big poker win or a winning lottery ticket. For most people, they earn their bread one day at a time. Because of this, get real about your life. Get a steady job or plan out a business you think will be profitable. Do it steady day after day. If you work, you can get a pension for life after twenty years or so but many companies are phasing out pensions in favor of matching contributions to retirement savings plans. As dull as it sounds, you start to get rich or at least get economic security the minute you grow up, realize that all the stuff you were brainwashed by about being cool and trendy is a clever marketing ploy to sell suckers consumer goods thus robbing them of their hard-earned money. For me, this happened at about the age of 24 when I realized it was preposterous to pay $15 or more for records/ CDs that I hardly ever listened to just because I wanted others to think I was a cool guy when they came over to my house and maybe to impress some chicks with my cool record collection. That's the first step. Get over pop culture consumerism. If and when you realize that most people are too self-centered to give a damn as to whether the clothes you're wearing are brand-name or generic because they're too busy thinking about the most important thing to them which is them then that will be the beginning of a wiser, more mature you. You don't really need much. Home décor is another bunch of brainwashing crap they try to get the bored, empty, stupid, trivial, dumb, unenlightened, uninspired masses hooked on. Save your money then when you get enough for a down payment on a small house and qualify for a mortgage, buy your first one. Keep saving your money in conservative investments. Fix up your little house a bit. Look around for a cheap duplex or put a basement apartment in your house. Do it like this, little by little. Buy a few rental properties that you rent out to good tenants. Don't spend frivolously. Save what you don't need. Live a good but sensible life. You must be a somewhat sensible person because you're reading this book. You're doing the most basic step, educating yourself about money. If you want more, I'm sure there are at least a thousand money websites in this book and many books at #332 or HG4500 at the library. Educate yourself enough to learn the basic investments then invest your money in safe, conservative stocks or anywhere else you deem prudent. Get into a steady profession or business and do them day by day. Read my jobs and business books. Buy things for function and comfort, not for trendiness or frivolity. Be frugal around the house. Don't leave lights on. Use solar energy, etc. Don't invest in risky ventures. Keep it safe and conservative. Buy stocks you know, the brand name companies of products you yourself use all the time like Coca Cola, American Express, Microsoft, Sony. Buy stocks of companies that are leaders in their field that have a strong track record. Diversify into at least five different stocks and different sectors. After you pick your stocks, hold. Don't look at them for several years. Don't listen to the talking heads on Money TV much because most are pushing the stocks their brokerage houses are underwriting. Even the fulltime journalists sometimes hype stocks that they own. It's human nature to do so even when you know you're lying. Don't get on any investment bandwagon. The bubble will burst. Stock investing can be fun if you have a friend or two who like to talk about the stock market. Constantly think about your long-term future. Prepare for your later years by always saving money. Learn taxes to minimize how much you pay. Use every retirement savings plan you can to the max. Be a good, educated consumer. Why buy a new car when you can get a good used one? Don't marry someone who is not practical and serious-minded about the things that matter like money. Don't marry a person who bases their feelings of goodness on how much money they've spent at the mall lately. Never buy real jewelry. Fake jewelry is fine. If you're a woman, don't ignore money and leave it to your husband. Learn about it yourself for yourself. Try not to divorce. Don't have more kids than you can handle financially. Don't have kids if you don't really like the process of raising them. Don't have expensive tastes. Most of the things I like to do are cheap like bike riding and swimming. Study the big life events before you pay for them; college education, marriage, funeral, birth of child, raising children. Don't waste the valuable time of your life on investments. Buy and hold. Don't count on getting rich through the stock market. Count on earning your money day by day through your profession then putting some away in a few basic investments and living your life rather than wasting it watching the talking yokels on the daily finance programs. If you're really young, consider the military both for the GI Bill for college education and to stay 20 years and get out with a pension at around the age of 40. It's not bad to have a pension for the rest of your life at that age. Get rich by being good at your profession or business then saving some of what you earn by investing but don't get caught in the stock market. Be an action person. Do inspired things with your life. Go to church or interact with positive, basic, inspired, down-to-earth practical people like yourself. Don't associate with big-mouths, trendy people or people hooked on material things. They will pollute you or at least make your life miserable. Why buy a cottage when you can buy a used RV and camp at a park for the few weeks a year you go travelling. Don't waste money on the overpriced trendy crap. I will never own anything with a Nike logo on it. It costs double what the generic stuff costs. I will never drink a Starbucks coffee unless someone buys one for me. I don't care how chique it's spozed to be with the yuppies. I usually make my own coffee at home but if I'm buying, I go to a 7-11 type store. Their coffee is fine. Take care of your health now. It might save you from a serious disease later on. You could be like me and live an interesting bohemian lifestyle that eventually netted me the lifestyle of a starving artist even though I was cool about it because owning my free time to do with as I pleased in my pursuit of an inspired lifestyle was more important than working a regular job just for the money. I didn't mind living in the ghetto as long as I had a roof over my head but it's still no fun to know you could be homeless someday if you're not smart about it. That's why I wrote this book, because I finally woke up and realized what reality is. It's having a comfortable roof over your head every single day of your life without worrying about it. I've seen a lot of my acquaintances get depressed and go off the deep end after they lost jobs, got divorced, got injured, hooked on drugs, etc. Some went homeless for awhile. Get a roof over your head that you own straight up. Everything beyond that is gravy. Home-Life Ideas 4 Realize that without money, you're screwed but beyond the basics, you don't really need all that much. Determine what you want out of life. Make a plan. Day to day living always costs more than you think it will. You need dental treatment, your car breaks down, you get a traffic ticket, etc. Don't base happiness on material excess. It's wrong for the spirit of your life. There are needs and wants. Buy the needs. Go easy on the wants. Don't buy into all that consumeristic crap out there that has people spending money and time on home improvements and home décor all the time. A hundred years ago, people lived in little shacks now they're so neurotic about having these silly picture perfect houses. Get a life. Know what you're worth. Put down your assets versus liabilities on paper. I personally don't believe in being a tight ass and writing out a complete budget, just know roughly what your finances are all about. Figure out what you spend. Keep a spending diary if you want. If you need to be frugal, look at what you can cut out, generally fast food, clothing, transportation, inpulse buying and luxury, leisure items.. Don't allow yourself to be brainwashed by pop culture and advertising. If you need money, start a part-time business or get a second job. Go easy on using credit. You end up paying a lot of interest money out. Pay off all your debt. Live within your means. Use coupons. If you have two cars, sell one. Be a saver, not a spender. Take your time before you buy expensive items. Know the risks of investments. Don't risk it if you can't afford to lose it. Compounding interest over time through savings is the way to make money. Put monery away in a retirement savings plan at work. Saving money is the art of doing with one dollar what any other fool can do with two. Buy what you need and don't go overboard. Economy is the art of making the most out of life. Prepare for the worst. I won't get into a patronizing harangue about budgeting and all that boring stuff except to say no matter what, whatever age you're at, pay yourself first & put away what you can for the future. The years fly by, things happen, bills pile up then more than half of all Americans at retirement age have a big fat zero and sit back thinking they should listened to everybody way back then and saved their money. Home-Life Ideas 5 Investing in the stock market is not rocket science. You can learn very quickly then make more money than in a paltry bank CD at 5% and it's reasonably safe, maintenance free and mindless. The risky stuff is the options, futures and over the counter stocks. Just stay away from them and stick with companies that have been supplying this country and the world for years. In the long run, the stock market will always go up because the world population is always increasing and people need goods. The second rule of saving money is waste. Take a look at what you waste, the food, the clothes, even throwing away paper that you could have written on the other side of. I know one guy with a woodstove who makes it a point to send away for junk mail which he uses to heat his home. Don't throw something away until you at least try to fix it or use the parts for something else. Whenever something breaks down, take a look at it yourself for basic problems and secondly, perhaps buy a book or get one at the library in the #640, 643 and 680-699 sections that might help you fix it. If you need an expert, before you call the repair shop, first try calling a local vocational school and ask if they have a repair program for appliances or ask if you could hire a student to come look at your appliance. Barring that, it's a good idea to try to network and develop acquaintances who will do your plumbing, electrical, etc. on the side for either a fee or an exchange of your services. If you need to go to a repair shop, try for a factory authorized representative. Some people say that getting an appliance fixed at the dealer where they sell them is more expensive than at a small, independent repair shop. It's your call. Get free estimates from both. Check the newspaper for ads for repairmen who operate out of their homes and offer cheaper prices than the guys from companies. I found an electrician for $10 an hour, a lot cheaper than the usual $25. Consider ecological measures to save and make money. Save your containers to make a few cents when you bring them back but it's also a good thing to do for the world. Refrain from buying disposables as much as possible not only to save money but for the ecology. Toilet paper and maybe disposable diapers are the only disposables that are really necessary. Some people still use cloth diapers. One woman claims to have saved $1000 a year using them. Just rinse them out and throw them in the washer. Other things like paper towels and plastic cups are downright wasteful. If you're planning to get into the saving money lifestyle, you should sit your family down, talk about it and get them involved. You don't have to live a spartan life. Just don't waste money, buy the essentials and put some away. Focus and save as much as you can for awhile then enjoy the dividends from your investments. Don't live in that naïve fantasy world I once lived in with no real clue about money until I crashed and burned and had to learn real quick in order to keep a roof over my head. Unless you're a corporate big wig, drop all club memberships like golf, boat or racquet club. Instead of working out at the gym, buy some used fitness equipment and work out at home. There are plenty of people who have bought exercise equipment in a moment of willpower and never use it after the first month. I bought a $2000 stairmaster for $300 by putting a free ad in a local buy & sell paper saying I wanted to buy a stairmaster cheap. Generally, living in the country is much cheaper than the city with respect to overall property values and property taxes. If you don't have to work in the city, this would probably be a big way to save money. The small country supermarket may be a bit more expensive than the city so you'd just have to take a monthly drive to the city to do your shopping and your other tasks and you're all set. Some people choose to get assistance from the government. Some of the programs are welfare, food stamps, rent subsidies, low cost housing, mortgage assistance, unemployment, Social Security, Medicaid, child care, Headstart, Job Corps and the list goes on. You can probably get some of these easily like food stamps but others are much harder like the housing programs offered by HUD. It may not be worth the time and effort for what you get and the loss of dignity involved. Make things last. Use common care with your appliances and other possessions. Do the required maintenance. Clean them every once in awhile. Don't be self conscious about old possessions. Some people sabotage themselves by treating their older possessions badly, subconsciously hoping that they break so that they can buy new ones. If you're retired or in a position to move, consider the southern states where the cost of living is generally lower, you pay less on heating costs, winter clothes, wear and tear on your car, fruits and vegetables are cheaper and it's just overall more pleasant.