[ivan1965]

soon i will be hitting the woods a lot digging roots. of course the ginseng will have to wait until season comes in sept. 1st.. soon i'll be digging blue and black cohosh, golden seal, whatever. but that stuff has to be taken to another county to sale it because no one around here will buy it. it has a low resale value on the market.
you do what you have to. no matter what.
at this point i have one odd job to do one or two days a week. i am making maybe $100 a month. i have to pay $50 a month child support, put gas in my truck, and try to help pay an electric bill where i am staying. and then think about truck insurance that comes due in early june.
food? that's easy. find it, kill it, or visit a freind. whatever you have to do.

[ikean]

some of the people are actually homeless,some..that is their job. they show up with a sign and go to work,then go home to an apartment or trailer.some of them work both rush hours and make good money.
neat exercis.I come home from work dirty and greasy.look at how they are groomed.sure they are wearing well worn clothes.look at their hands,you all camp your hands get dirty,look at how close they are shaven,i look pretty rough after a couple days not shaving.look at their socks if showing,someone living in the woods wont have clean white socks.just my observation...
also comes down to threat assesment,most homeless people have emotional or chemical issues. i steer a little farther away from the real homeless.at least out of arms reach if possible.
in houston we have a big problem with homeless/panhandlers.

[ikean]

oh yeah..if ya'll havent noticed,im a wee bit cynical.

[rslt]

Hi soramina's dad
Didn't see your question until now. I'll put my reply in the 'food' section of the forum as I'm sure there will be more contributions from people who dehydrate food, also a lot of these postings are about people who are 'hard up' and probably don't want to read about chocolate coated oranges and beef jerky.
I hope this is taken with the respect to those people that is intended.

[Cajunlady]

Realized this thread contains much info the newbies may find useful so I'm bumping it up.

[mscureman]

Thanks for bumping it, Cajun. I'm no newbie, but this thread gave me some good ideas for getting through this rough patch I'm in right now. :)

[George]

One good trick might be to lower the culinary sensation expectations and prepare food simply.

Say:
- Boiled potatoes, fried eggs served on plate and buttermilk in cup
- Slice of bread with apple

[Cajunlady]

Originally Posted by mscureman

Thanks for bumping it, Cajun. I'm no newbie, but this thread gave me some good ideas for getting through this rough patch I'm in right now. :)

Glad to hear you appreciated it and came in handy for you.

[Boy Scout Survivor]

Originally Posted by tjwilhelm

Good idea CW!

Here are some of the things I've done, and sometimes still do to get "stuff:"

Dumpster diving;
Cruising ahead of the garbage truck on Monday mornings;
2nd-hand and thrift shops;
Auctions;
Garage and yard sales.

It's AMAZING what some folks throw away. Sometimes things that are thrown out are in perfect working condition and just need to be cleaned up. Sometimes they only need a minor repair and they'll give you years of additional service.

I had a neighbor who got really annoyed with me. He had a Snapper lawn mower that was only a year old. It gave up the ghost and he couldn't get it working, so he bought a new, cheaper mower, and put the Snapper on the curb for the garbage/junk pickup. I asked if I could take it. Just a little bit of troubleshooting, and a $10 ignition module, got the mower running again...and I used it, "in his face" for a decade.

Same guy threw out a Eureka vacuum cleaner. It was only a few months old, but he used it to clean up a rental property where the former tenants had more than a few pets. Loads of pet hair trashed the thing and he tossed it. I installed a new impeller, and I've been using it for 8 years.

One of the best things you can do to save money on "stuff" is to build your skills set. Learn the critical crafts: plumbing, electrical, and carpentry. Learn to weld and braze and solder. Learn how things work, and develop your troubleshooting and repair skills. Fix other stuff you pick up for free, and fix your own stuff instead of paying top dollar to professionals.

I have to agree. I have found more gold mines at from going dumpster diving. I found bar clamps, 4'' buck knife, assorted tools, and my best find a 16 inch stihl chainsaw. The chainsaw jsut need its carborator rebuilt and new piston rings. A 300 dollar saw I got working for udner 50 dollars talk about a jackpot. Also another tip I have is to go dumpster diving at new houses being built. I got enough plywood from a house to build a shed. Great deals are everywhere you jsut got to go looking.

Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best

[SPARTAN300]

With some effort and a few skills you can save a lot of money. My wife fixes my lunch everyday for work, while the other guys are eating a KFC 2 piece chicken dinner for 8.50 I am eating a great home made chicken salad sandwich for around 50 cents! Instead of going to the barber and spending 10.00 for a haircut, my wife "shears" mine off at home, and does a great job! My sister who always dresses just like she walked out of the local mall, actually gets all of her clothes at Goodwill, that girl looks like a million dollars and gets all her clothes there, bags of them, for just a few bucks! When my pipes busted a few weeks ago, i climbed up under the house with a flashlight, a leatherman multi tool, some pvc glue, layed in freezing water and fixed them myself. We bought a small freezer last year and keep it stocked with deer, food we catch on special, etc. and save tons of money! We go out now and then, but for the most part we really enjoy staying home and find ways of entertaining ourselves, whether it is playing with the animals, watching tv, or building on something outside. We have 2 paid for trucks that are both over 10 years old...but still look good and still run great...staying away from vehicle payments is very, very important. A car payment will keep you broker than anything you can think of. When you add up all of the little things, at the end of the year you wouldnt believe how much you can save.