Friday, March 31, 2017

thrifty part 2


THRIFTY part 2

Okay, so I found an actual thriftily priced thrift store.  I knew they were there-they existed prior to my moving here.  I had popped in one day long ago and looked at their sad and pathetic book selection ( the standard mass produced middle school reading level drivel ) and walked away never to return.  Yet something or someone planted a bug in my brain and I was prompted to visit again during a day off during my two week notice period.  I had ordered the grain grinder as my bread supply was going to end and I planed on now making my own ( I always eat first thing in the morning prior to coffee and vitamin pills, but now that replacing my work days with Visiting The B-POD Days I have an hour and a half commute and an hour heavy labor and need to eat again just a couple of hours later prior to returning or my energy level drops really low and I get weak.  Bottom line is I’m going through a lot of bread or bread like products now ) and when we went to the feed store to grab a bag of wheat ( remember, low price not likely to last, buy yours NOW ) we swung into the new and improved thrift store.

*

Surprisingly, the book section had two great books.  “Patriots” and another book whose title eludes me right now but was prepper related but which I also already owned.  True to form however the rest of the room was a waste of trees.  But that was not why I was there.  I had a, hopefully, life time supply of shirts and the wool sweater supply was okay ( my wrapped and stored long term wool was plentiful but when the ex’s daughter last visited the B-POD she stole most of my sweaters so I still buy more when I see them just to build up my daily wear ones ), but pants were still problematic.  I had plenty of old pants that didn’t fit well anymore ( typical Hank Hill build from middle age-the ass shrinks as the gut grows.  I had lots of pants from pre-gut but they were good for Apocalypse Now Skinny only ) but I only had two and a half pairs of fitted ones.  A brand new pair of Dickies, a pair I’ve worn about half way through their lifespan ( about two years before you need to start patching.  At $25 from Amazon-cough, hint-they are $6 per six months wear.  Wal-Mart slacks are $12 per six months if not $16, and you can’t mend them as the fabric is too thin.  Wally the low price leader my dimpled white ass ) and one pair patched and mended.  Since Elko is not a climate conducive to shorts for over half the year, I kind of need pants.

*

Now, prior to this I would have impatiently charged in, looked around half-assed and left empty handed.  But not working for The Man ( cough, hint, buy through my Amazon links or buy my books so I can keep my sole job as a writer ), or in this case having conclusively decided in less than two weeks The Man could pack fudge and die, I have a lot more laid back of an attitude and am far more relaxed and take my time doing things right rather than rushed.  That is one benefit I really hadn’t foreseen.  My productivity has skyrocketed as I do things correctly one thing at a time.  No more multi-tasking which is code for “do another persons job in no extra time and no extra pay”.  The corporate job used to be a time I’d pre-write the days article in my head as I was tasked with physical labors but had degenerated into such stress and rushing I could barely mentally focus on the task at hand let alone this far more important job of town crier for the Apocalypse.  They were barely paying for my body yet they insisted on my brain now-which is beyond rude, yo!

*

Do you know how hard it is to find my size in pants?  Fat gut but far less fat than most and long legs.  Most thrift store pants are really fat waist and really short legs.  Yet, I find THREE pairs of slacks.  All brand name, not Wal-Mart.  And as a bonus a light weight wool sweater.  All for $15.  Here I was with only two pay checks to go and I spent some of the last money in my wallet at the thrift and feed store.  And I was happy to do it.  One cup of grain a day is three months of bread from a sack of wheat.  It isn’t my main amount of calories but it is my main filler prior to dinner.  For less than $4 a month.  And the pants?  I was looking at having to buy another pair of Dickies, a brand I love and swear by ( enough that I gambled $60 a pair of their boots.  I haven’t wore them yet, but I feel confident.  Well, especially since I won’t wear them eight hours a day but more like two.  They should, in theory, last a LONNNG time ) but $25 is still a major investment now.  Far better a $4 pair of thrift store slacks.  My trip to the thrift store isn’t as much about being frugal, or stockpiling for the collapse, or keeping growing kids in clothes, or helping out a charity for Mongoloid kids.  It is peace of mind eliminating yet another expense.

*

That is what puts my mind at ease.  Yet one more thing I need that I needn’t stress over.  It is like replacing those stupid asphalt shingles on a roof with metal or tiles.  You spend a little bit extra and then it is worry free for decades longer than it would have been otherwise.  Because to me, wanting to live on almost no money, a pair of new pants is 12% of a months income.  Now it is either zero, for years to come, or at most 2% eventually.  I can handle low single digits far better than low double digits.  I can have one better than average month in income and suddenly I have another ten years worry free about pants and still have money left over for another odd item I finally needed to replace.  Thrift store buying isn’t just stretching the budget, it is peace of mind AND reducing your needed budget.  My bike will be needing new wheels soon, especially now that I’m using the washboard dirt road again, and yes that is going to hurt badly now that prices are up, but I can’t explain how much preferred that problem is to me.  To most of you driving a car is necessary.  To me, NOT having that need is an immense load of worry I’ll never again experience ( and a paid for home is even better! ).  I’ve tried to emulate that feeling for almost everything I own or need to own.  Remember Alfred P Newman from “Mad” magazine? “What?  Me, worry?”.  It is a nice feeling to have.

END

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at the top of the page.  IF YOU DON’T SEE THE AD, DISABLE AD BLOCK ( go to the Ad Blocker while on my page and scroll down the menu to “disable this site” ). You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. ***

I love you all, as few minions as there are you do very well in supporting me buying through Amazon.  But plenty of you don't give ANY  support to your favorite author.  And that's me, and that's wrong.  Unless you are in extreme poverty, spend a buck a month here for a book.  I only get 35 cents so nobody is going to send me up to Idaho to live on their purchase.  If you don't do Amazon, send me a buck and I'll e-mail it to you.  Or, send an extra buck and I'll send you a CD ( the file is in PDF ).  My e-mail is: jimd303@reagan.com  that is three ZERO three, not three oh three. My address is: James M Dakin, 181 W Bullion Rd #12, Elko NV 89801-4184*** Pay your author-no one works for free.  I’m nice enough to publish for barely above Mere Book Money, so do your part.***

 *Contact Information*  Links To Other Blogs *  Land In Elko*  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio*   my web site is www.bisonprepper.com  *wal-mart wheat*Link To All My Published Books
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21 comments:

  1. What a great perspective on where EVERYONE OF US should really be at, Apocalypse preparing or not, with the world choking us to the point of personal self destruction there are very few avenues to look for advice or insight on having your mind and body in a straight line, I am not a young new to the world kid, yet find myself almost everyday asking myself,"why didn't my parents warn me of this" or "why didn't my parents teach me how to make more with less"? Apparently they had no idea themselves and by looking at all of those around me, nobody else's parents passed on any useful information either, I see everyone making the same mistake following each other as the blind lead the blind.
    With that said I appreciate what you write about and the passion as you write it, I don't know how many truly listen to what you are trying to relay to them as they continue there otherwise uneventful life but it inspires me to remember just who we all really are deep down with out our security blankets of a secure job, that we drive to with a way over priced car, and warm dinner in our A/C cooled homes on a 80 degree day.
    I am currently reading your book "Bison Book Batch #1, It is by far the best $1.00 that I have ever spent.

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    1. Thank you for supporting me financially, but more importantly, for propping up my ego. Well, perhaps not MORE importantly, I have a rather inflated ego. I'm still as much of a screw up as anyone else, but I do learn from my mistakes, albeit slowly, so I feel pretty darn good about myself. Plus, my hair does bedazzle.

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  2. "That is one benefit I really hadn’t foreseen."
    ==========================

    There ya go young warrior, and there's many more where that came form. In time you'll find the many benefits of your new reality and loathe that it took you so long to break loose from the mental cage you placed yourself in so long ago.

    Say you got tired midday and went and laid down for a couple hours, then lo and behold, come time to hit the night rack you can't sleep - just toss and turn. Guess what? Git your ass outta that rack and go scribble a few lines. WTF??? Your time is now YOUR time and you get to spend ALL of it as you see fit and the only person you answer to is your own conscience. woo-hoo! The way ALL men were meant to be!

    Friendly suggestion: Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get on the bad side of the "man", the IRS. I can't really give you any more insight than that because each persons sitch is unique but suffice to say, because I am an absolute ogre about spending any time at all on this rotten assed gov't, you can make your time, money, and other resources work to your advantage in all ways if you take the intellectual time to think about it.

    Hint: for more than 20 years all of the christmas gifts I purchased for family and friends were business expenses written off to reduce my mandatory gov't theft burden.

    There is so much you have to learn and all of it is exciting because all of it is for YOUR benefit. I almost wish I could go back to 1986 and start all over again, young and dumb and full of cum.

    Nah...just kiddin.

    Keep moving forward!

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    1. I hear you on the IRS. If I make under $6k, almost guaranteed, I shouldn't have to worry on the income tax. Social Security I have no clue on. Will they track me down, or not care as I'm just detracting from my benefits? I'm going to have to figure it out by 2019 ( I'll file next year as I made $2k at work and had tax deducted ).

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    2. In 2000 I went to my bank to cash a $100 check and was told there was insufficient funds even though I know for a fact I had about $9k in there. Went inside and no one could tell me what happened to my money. Meanwhile I had 29 checks bouncing all over the place for house payments, employees pay, etc. I was livid. 20 days later the money reappeared in my account and the bank took care of all the overdraft fees. The credibility damage to my creditors was a problem no one could cure. To this day I don't know what happened to my money.

      Back in the 90's the same thing happened but with $7k and I received notification from the IRS that they seized my account because I supposedly owed them $3k. I did NOT owe them $3k and 2 years later they gave it back to me.

      I take solace in knowing over the years they took much less from me than they would have if I had been an employee because I learned the system and used it to my benefit.

      Collect as much money as you can in cold hard cash. benjamins. No checks. If there is a paperlink they are watching you. They have at least 7 years to catch up to you. Things you do today may come back to haunt you in 2024. They have every resource and you have your mind.

      Remember, it's only money.
      They want your money but they'll settle for your ass - sitting in a cage. You can make more money but when you're in the cage you may get killed. Point being, give them anything they demand to avoid going to jail. Tomorrow's another day.

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    3. I respect and fear the IRS far more than I do beat cops or the military. Just for their hair triggers and their complete lack of restraint.

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  3. "Town Crier for the Apocalypse"

    That would be a good subtitle for your blog :)

    Idaho Homesteader

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    1. Well, except then I'd be like everybody else. I prefer being a Malthusian! Less competition.

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    2. Thomas Malthus, who was correct about slow increases in food production and rapid human population increase, except for the delay by oil and bio-tech. pdxr13

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  4. I enjoyed Patriots. Sure it's Militia Porn and Militia stuff is an American thing but I enjoyed the novel all the same.

    Have you read the Enemies Foreign and Domestic Trilogy? I enjoyed that as well. The first book being by far the best of the three. My favourite (***spoiler kinda****) scene was when the Police / National Guard combo went very wrong.

    Speaking about Police / National Guard combo going wrong I read an unverified (but immensely enjoyable) story where a single officer backed by Nat Guardsman was trying to arrest people holed up in a house during the LA Riots. The Policeman said to the Guardsman "cover me" as he started running towards the house. The Nat Guard said "Sure" and they all opened up on the house firing just over 100 rounds. The cop dove for the ground yelling for them to stop. When they did the crooks came out with their hands up crying they surrendered. Just like the Moon Landing, it doesn't need to be true to make people happy

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    1. Some series need to be considered one book, they are so good. I'd say that about "enemies". And about the first three in the "eden" series. Love your last sentence!

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  5. Anyone looking for a great movie check out

    The Siege of Jadotville www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JHsiQTTmg

    My Mauser gets a look in and takes down a couple of Irish Lads. 303's and SLR's aplenty. The 303's you can actually see the bolt cocked on the rifles



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    1. A great movie on Netflix if you want large screen. Aplenty of Enfield Love, but a great story all by itself anyway.

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    2. OH MAN! I want to see that movie SO bad, and yeah, I've seen some No.4 Lee Enfields being used in it alongside some FN FALs and I think some BREN guns as well! GOTTA see it! If I get to see some intense mad-minute action with an aimed shot per second, maybe even faster, I may just *sexually questionable comment redacted* and *this act is probably illegal in some States* before pulling it out and *this act is probably illegal in most nations* before taking the chocolate cake out of the oven with vanilla icing at the ready. I fucking LOVE the Lee bolt!

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    3. My only question is how most folks CAN'T love the Enfield.

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  6. For information purposes only http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-forced-to-import-bullets-from-israel-as-troops-use-250000-for-every-rebel-killed-28580666.html

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    1. I read something interesting recently, and it was about some kind of rocket-launcher. A Javalin or something, it's something that the US uses. They said, "This fires *Insert name here* rockets. Each one costs $80,000. The soldier who's firing it doesn't make that much in a year, and he's shooting it at someone who doesn't make that much in a lifetime."

      Crazy to think about...

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    2. Do you follow "Daily Impact" web site? They said the latest aircraft boondoggle had a one TRILLION dollar pricetag. 1/20th the national debt for ONE plane that doesn't work. I didn't research to confirm costs, however.

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  7. Lord Bison, may your glistening locks shimmer eternally. The last two years I have been wearing suspenders made by Perry. They use a unique clip to attach to my belt and keep my pants up. No more pants heading down, no more plumbers crack, and no more tightening your belt till it hurts. Way more comfortable. A set of Perry suspenders is nine bucks at Walmart and shows no sign of wear after two years.

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    1. I thought with Hank Hill ass, ratchet till it hurts belt wearing was normal. I'll have to keep the suspenders in mind. Thanks.

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