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Apache is functioning normally

As part of my new commitment to just being me, I hope to share a lot more random stuff around here — just like I used to. Instead of waiting for weeks (or months) in order for inspiration to strike for a longer essay, I want to share the best of the interesting money stories (and semi-money stories) that I find around the interwebs.

Think of it as Apex Money, I guess, but instead of sharing three to five discoveries each day, I may share one or two a week. And instead of editing and polishing these pieces, they’ll just be quick braindumps with minimal attention to detail.

Today, for instance, here’s a 103-minute YouTube video about the lines at Disney theme parks:

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If you’re a nerd like me (and I know that many of you are!), this is fascinating stuff.

While this is only tangentially related to personal finance itself, the broader concepts the video explores have a lot to do with how our money is managed in this modern era.

You see, the history of lines at Disney theme parks during the past fifty years reflects broader societal and business trends.

  • Initially, guests at Disney parks paid an admission fee at the front gate and paid nominal fees for each ride.
  • Before long, the “pay per ride” system was scrapped in favor of paper ticket books, where each ticket allowed guests access to rides based on priority.
  • Eventually, even the ticket books were abandoned. When I first visited Disneyland in the summer of 1987, you paid at the gate and then could ride whatever you wanted. The catch? The best rides had long lines. Very long lines.
  • As computer technology advanced, it became possible for Disney to implement its FastPass system, whereby guests could make “reservations” for top rides. This alleviated lines somewhat but began to create two “classes” of park visitors.
  • Over time, the queueing process became even more computerized. By the time Kim and I visited Disney World during our RV trip in 2016, the “classes” of park visitors were even more stratified. If you did your research like we did, and if you stayed in a Disney hotel on their property, you enjoyed privileged access to attractions. If you just showed up — whether because you were a local or because you didn’t know any better — your waits could be excruciating. (And there was a third class of visitor in between.)
  • Now, Disney is rolling out a controversial new system to manage the lines for rides. And in many ways, it’s going back to the beginning where guests have to pay for attractions.

But wait! There’s more!

Throughout these decades of change, Disney has experimented with social engineering. If the line for Space Mountain is 90 minutes, for instance, but less-popular attractions have no wait, they might lie to guests and tell them that Space Mountain has a 120-minute wait. Some folks will still wait in the Space Mountain line, but more people will actually peel off and choose to do something else, thus spreading crowds around the park. And since “do something else” frequently becomes “shopping”, that’s more money in the park’s pocket.

Because Disney isn’t wholly mercenary, its decisions aren’t guided 100% by company profit. They also consider guest experience. (But wait! Are they only considering guest experience because it increases company profit?!?)

Anyhow, I don’t expect to sit through all 103 minutes of this video. But I did. And I enjoyed it. Maybe you will too?

True story: Watching this video also gave me inspiration for the GRS YouTube channel, which I’ve begun working on again. Instead of doing my regular vlogs, I want to try my hand at some longer video essays. Maybe not 103 minutes long haha, but longer than three minutes.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

Howdy, friends! This summer, there will be another chautauqua on financial independence in Ecuador. You should consider attending. These Ecuador chautauquas — which are unrelated to the European chautauquas — are always a fun, educational, and bonding experience.

Clarification: At some point, chautauqua founders Cheryl Reed and JL Collins parted ways. Now JL runs the European chautauquas — which are on hiatus — with Katie and Alan Donegan. Cheryl continues to run the unrelated Ecuador gatherings. Both events are excellent.

I often speak about the intersection of money and meaning when I attend.

How can you find purpose in your life — with or without money? How much money is enough? What should you do after you’ve achieved financial independence? These are the sorts of questions I’ve explored at past chautauqua events. I expect these are the same questions being explored in July.

Speakers this year include:

  • Tanja Hester from Our Next Life. Tanja is an outspoken voice in the personal-finance community, working hard to challenge assumptions and to promote financial freedom for all. She’s the author of the excellent Work Optional and the award-winning Wallet Activism. (Tanja is also a fellow office-supply nerd. Seriously, our chat history is filled with geeky discussions of favorite pens and notebooks.)
  • Piggy and Kitty (a.k.a. Jess and Lauren) from Bitches Get Riches. Long-time readers know that BGR is one of my favorite money blogs. I admire how Jess and Lauren blend biting humor with deep dives into personal-finance topics. Not an easy task. And the Bitches are just as funny in person as they are on the web. (I turn to Piggy and Kitty when I need help with modern pop culture. “What does S-tier mean?” “How do I make a Taylor Swift animated GIF?”)
  • Jessica and Corey from The Fioneers. While I’ve met Jessica and Corey, I’ve never really had a chance to get to know them. I’m eager to change that in Ecuador. I find their writing considered and thoughtful. I’m particularly fond of their concept of Slow FI, the notion that you can use “the incremental financial freedom [you] gain along the journey to financial independence to live happier and healthier lives, do better work, and build strong relationships”. This meshes well with my own vision of the stages of financial freedom. (Last Halloween, Jessica and Corey published an interview with me: Money doesn’t magically fix our problems.)

And, of course, we’ll enjoy a presentation from our host, Cheryl Reed. Cheryl founded these money chautauquas with JL Collins in 2013 and she’s hosted ten of them in the past. She likes to discuss happiness and joy and how to develop it in your life.

If you’re interested in attending this chautauqua, you can find more information at the official website. Note that there are two gatherings in Ecuador this year. If it doesn’t work to join this one, perhaps you can attend the second event.

Each chautauqua is different, of course, but the four previous retreats I’ve attended all had similarities:

  • Attendees gather at a resort for a week of conversation and camaraderie. These are smallish facilities that allow us to spend time together with few other guests. We eat and drink together. We walk together. We play games together. We talk about money together. We have fun!
  • Each day, one (or more) of the presenters gives a talk about a subject dear to her heart. (I talk about money and meaning, for instance.) These are l-o-n-g presentations but they’re fun, interactive, and informative.
  • Each attendee meets one-on-one with a presenter. What you do with that time is up to you. I’ve had people bring detailed spreadsheets and questions about retirement. I’ve had people chat with me about travel. I’ve had people ask for relationship advice (no joke!). Generally speaking, it’s a chance for you to pick a person’s brain about some sort of topic related to their area of expertise.
  • There are various (optional) off-site trips to visit the local area. In Portugal, we visited a winery. In Ecuador, we’ve visited thriving markets, chocolate factories, and butterfly preserves.

From what I’ve seen, however, the real value is in the friendships formed during these weeks. Much of our time is spent sitting together discussing life, the universe, and everything.

I’m still in contact with folks from each of the chautauquas I’ve attended in the past. Some of these folks have become close friends with whom I have frequent contact. (Our 2016 crew — the Werewolf Hunters — even rented a house in Utah for an in-person reunion. We visit each other whenever we’re in each other’s cities and have a semi-active group chat.)

I can’t promise that you’ll form life-long friends during this week, but from what I’ve seen, the odds are good. And no wonder. You’re gathering with a group of like-minded people to talk about some deep, personal subjects. Bonding is bound to occur.

Here are a few favorite photos from past chautauquas…

These chautauquas aren’t for everyone, and I know that. But they’re perfect events for a certain class of people. If you think that you are one of those people, hop on over to the website to take a look at the details. Maybe I’ll see you in Ecuador this summer!

One more quick note: I recently joined my pal Grant Sabatier on the Earn & Invest podcast for a discussion about money burnout. These conversations with Grant and Doc G are always entertaining and enlightening.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

The American Automobile Association (AAA) says that, on average, it costs 52.2 cents to drive one mile. To drive a Ford Focus like mine 20,000 miles per year, the average cost is 37.6 cents per mile.

How close are the AAA estimates? I ran some numbers.

Based on the purchase price of my vehicle ($16,500), the interest paid ($1,300), and the number of miles on the odometer (81,762 in 66 months), I calculated that for the past year my average cost per mile is $0.2170 over 20,274 miles. But that’s only for the car itself. I’ve also accumulated the following operating expenses:

  • Fuel: $1,646.37 ($0.0812 per mile)
  • Insurance: $762.93 ($0.0376 per mile)
  • Service: $507.07 ($0.0250 per mile)

My total cost-of-ownership per mile is 36.1 cents, which is not far from the AAA estimate of 37.6 cents. My total cost to run the Focus for the past year was $7,514, which is about 5% less than the national $7,967 annual average cost-of-ownership.

I encourage you to run numbers for your car. It’s easy and enlightening. After calculating your current automobile costs, you can explore “what if?” scenarios. For example, how much do rising gas prices affect your costs?

My Ford Focus gets roughly 310 miles on eleven gallons of fuel, for an average of 28.2 mpg. If fuel is at $3.00/gallon instead of $2.00/gallon, I’m paying 10.3% more — $725/year — to run my car.

How much does it affect your cost-per-mile to choose a luxury car instead of something practical? I recently found myself fighting the new car itch. I wanted a new BMW or Audi. A commenter wrote:

In The Millionaire Next Door, one of the best-performing groups in terms of net worth was what the authors called something like “used car prone”. This class of person buys a car that is 3 to 5 years old, and drives it for many years. The authors spend a lot of time discussing this class because it is statistically most likely to have a very high net worth compared to annual income.

If I were driving a new BMW 325i, my total cost of operation would be 60.1 cents per mile, a 68.8% increase over the cost with my Ford Focus.

Examine your driving habits in relation to how much it costs to run your vehicle. For example, driving seven miles into Portland and seven miles home costs me about five bucks. Now the trip to my favorite cheap taco place doesn’t seem so cheap any more.

If I drive 38.6 miles to work and back every day, I spend one hour and $13.93 for the privilege. (When I lived closer to work, my 11.4 mile round-trip cost me twenty minutes and $4.11.) My wife and I plan to drive from Portland to San Francisco for a week-long vacation this summer. We will log about 1200 miles, which will cost me $425. (According to Travelocity, round-trip airfare for two would run $442, so this is basically a wash.)

For more information on the cost of automobile ownership, read the AAA driving cost study for 2006.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

An AskMetafilter user wonders: How many credit cards do typical people have?

For various reasons I have four credit cards. I always thought of this as too many, but haven’t cancelled mine since the crappiest one is also the oldest, and has no fee, and I want to maintain the age of the card on my credit report. Most people I know have one or two cards. But reading online forums on credit, I see plenty of people with more than four. How many is normal? How many do you have?

According to How Many Credit Cards is Too Many? at MoneyCentral, “most Americans carry between five and ten credit cards”. According to Steve Bucci at bankrate.com:

The average person carries eleven “credit vehicles.” Typically, seven are different types of cards and four are installment loans for cars, furniture, student loans or mortgages.

I heard recently that the average number of credit accounts was 12.7 per person, which is slightly higher than Bankrate’s numbers indicate. The numbers I heard are closer to the average credit statistics at myfico.com:

On average, today’s consumer has a total of thirteen credit obligations on record at a credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, or bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically not reported to a credit bureau). Of these thirteen credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards and four are likely to be installment loans.

Perhaps of more interest to some readers, Nellie Mae has statistics from the year 2000 about student credit card use. Undergrads carry about three credit cards each and graduate students carry about four credit cards each. The credit trap begins early.

Myfico.com also offers information about average debt load:

About 40% of credit card holders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15% are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When we look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 48% of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit, and loans — everything but mortgages. Nearly 37% carry more than $10,000 of non-mortgage-related debt as reported to the credit bureaus.

Liz Pulliam Weston at MSN Money sees these numbers and concludes that the media is filled with alarmists. She recently wrote a column entitled The Truth About Credit Card Debt in which she attempts to argue that the U.S. is not filled with people struggling under the burden of too much debt. Weston says that one quarter of Americans have no credit cards. Another third of Americans do not carry a balance on their cards. She claims this is good news. And it is, but I think she’s overstating the situation.

According to her own admission, 45% of American households still carry a median of $2200 in credit card debt. She also admits that debt burdens are climbing (she notes that credit card debt has increased 10% in three years), that debt-to-income ratios are near record highs, and that bankruptcies are at record levels.

Weston’s broad point may be correct, but it minimizes the trouble that millions of Americans have: they’re in debt, and deeply so. Credit cards play a huge role in the problem.

Most experts recommend keeping between two and five low-interest credit cards, and to pay them off regularly. Certainly keep balances below 50% of the max (for credit score purposes and for debt burden purposes). Personally (and I’m no “expert”), I think a person should have zero credit cards if at all possible. If this makes you nervous because you think you need one as a safety net, or if you know (not “think”) that you’re responsible enough to pay off your balance regularly, then carry one or two cards to get free credit report for easy maintenance (preferably rewards cards that you pay off monthly). Don’t carry more. (And if they’re truly for “emergency use”, make them cards that don’t let you carry a balance.)

Too many people focus on credit cards with regards to credit history. The ideal — admittedly very difficult to obtain — is to live a life in which your credit history is irrelevant because you’re not obtaining new debt (aside from a mortgage). I haven’t carried a personal credit card in almost a decade. I don’t miss them at all.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

How did the United States become a nation of debtors? When did credit cards become popular? Did you know that many modern credit card policies are the creation of one man?

The Secret History of the Credit Card was a 2004 “Frontline” presentation from the Public Broadcasting System. The program examines the nation’s use of credit and, more specifically, the methods used by credit card companies to obtain enormous profits. The Secret History of the Credit Card won the 2004-2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.

PBS has made the entire program freely available online in RealMedia and Windows Media formats. The broadcast is divided into five segments of roughly twelve-minutes each for easier download.

When this program was produced, 145 million Americans carried credit cards. Of these:

  • 55 million paid in full every month
  • 90 million carried balances
  • 35 million paid the minimum required

Of those who carried credit card debt, the average amount owed was $8,000. “It’s nice to be able to spend what you don’t have,” says man. But the show’s panel of citizens didn’t really understand how credit cards work. They were ignorant of their credit scores, for example.

The Secret History of the Credit Card provides a brief overview of credit reporting agencies and of the credit scores developed by FairIsaac. The median FICO score is 720 out of 850. Risky customers have scores below 600. Three-quarters of American adults have a credit score. A FICO score often determines how much interest a person will pay — terms usually spelled out in the small-print of the contract. (For more on this subject, see my previous explanation of how credit scores work.)

Credit cards are a relatively recent invention. Until the 1980s, they didn’t play a prominent role in American life.

In the early eighties, inflation began to outstrip interest rates, making credit cards a losing proposition for the banks that issued them. (Interest rates were limited by anti-usury laws.) Facing a bleak future, Citibank of New York began searching for options. They found South Dakota, which had recently discarded its anti-usury law, opening the way to unlimited interest rates. Citibank moved its offices to Sioux Falls and, under an obscure Supreme Court decision, was able to export its new higher interest rates to New York and to the entire country. Other credit card companies soon set up shop in South Dakota. And other states — including Delaware — repealed their anti-usury laws in an attempt to lure white collar banking jobs and the associated taxes.

Many current credit card practices can be traced to one man: Andrew Kahr, a sort of credit card whiz kid. Before him, credit cards required customers to pay 5% of their balance every month. Kahr convinced banks to lower minimum payments while raising credit lines, which caused profits to soar. (People charged more and strung it out over longer periods of time.) “High balances are more profitable than small balances,” says Kahr.

From what I’ve seen and read, I believe Kahr is truly an evil man, single-handedly responsible for a lot of the credit trouble Americans face.

The Secret History of the Credit Card describes how Providian, which grew from Kahr’s First Deposit Corp, would receive a check, deposit it, but not credit it to the consumer’s account for several days (or weeks). The consumer would then suffer escalating penalties and fees.

No wonder the credit card industry generates more consumer complaints than any other.

Credit card companies can change their terms at will. There is nothing to prevent issuers from changing their terms. Interest rates are not regulated. Fees are not regulated. Due dates on Sundays and holidays are intentional, and designed to generate late fees.

It is unsurprising that the credit card industry is the most profitable sector of banking.

The Secret History of the Credit Card is a fascinating program, though it’s not really a history — it’s a profile of the credit card industry and its current state. I wish that it were available for download, though. Like a lot of streaming videos, these are flaky. When I paused to answer the phone near the end of one segment, Firefox lost my place and I had to watch most of it over again.

A complete transcript of the program is available. Check out the Secret History of the Credit Card web site for even more information.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

How much electricity does your computer use? Your refrigerator? Your washer and dryer? Do you know how to save money on water heating costs? Michael Bluejay‘s guide to saving electricity answers these questions and more. Bluejay calls himself “Mr. Electricity” — the title is apt!

My guide on Saving Electricity gives you a bit more than you might get elsewhere. I explain exactly what a kilowatt hour is and how much you pay for one. And I show you how to calculate exactly how much electricity your household appliances use, so you know which items are guzzling the most juice (and which ones are the best targets for savings). You’ll learn exactly how to read your electric meter. (Find that on any other website!) Finally, I not only give you meaningful tips for slashing your electricity consumption, I give you the tools to figure out exactly how much you’re saving as well.

Bluejay recommends you attack the biggest energy users first: “You’ll save more electricity by dealing with the biggest electricity-guzzlers rather than worrying about items that don’t use much electricity.” Because appliances that heat and cool use the most energy, these provide the greatest opportunities for saving. For example:

  • If you use space heaters instead of central heating, you can save nearly $1200/year!
  • If you use fans instead of air conditioning, you can save about $600/year.
  • If you dry your clothes on a line instead of in a dryer, you can save $150/year.
  • If you wash your laundry in cold water instead of hot, you can save $150/year.
  • If you replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescents, you can save nearly $100/year.
  • If you get rid of your television, you can save $75/year.
  • If you put your computer in sleep mode when you’re not using it, you can save $60/year.

For more on these numbers, including the assumptions behind them, check out the first page of the Saving Electricity site. This chart from the Department of Energy demonstrates average U.S. home electricity use in 1997:

Saving Electricity includes a wide range of infromation, including a look at how electricity companies charge you, a discussion of electricity myths (“There’s no power surge when you turn on a light. Turning the light off ALWAYS saves electricity, even if it’s for just a second.”), and more!

If you’re interested in cutting your electrical usage, Bluejay recommends the Kill-a-Watt electricity meter. This device measures how much energy an individual item is using, helping you to target the money sinks in your home. I plan to purchase one of these and review it in the next few months.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

I don’t like credit cards. They’re a dangerous trap, especially for the young. Many smart people disagree with me, though, and have learned to use credit cards to their advantage. This guide provides solid credit card information so that you can make smart choices.

I’ve structured this as a series of questions and answers. There’s sure to be a lot missing. Please let me know what else should be included here, and I’ll add it. Let’s start with the big question:

Where can I find the best credit card deals?
Index Credit Cards is a comprehensive credit card resource. The site features daily credit card news, but the main attraction is its list of credit cards, which catalogs over 2,000 credit cards including sublists of cards by:

Low-interest credit cards

  • Ongoing low-APR cards
  • 0% introductory offer cards
  • 0% balance transfer cards

Reward credit cards

  • Cash-back cards
  • Cards with rewards
  • Travel and airline cards
  • Gas cards
  • Secured credit cards
  • Unsecured credit cards

The credit card offers also feature lists of business cards, student cards, cards for people with bad credit, prepaid cards, and more.

I’m willing to promote the site because it doesn’t wantonly advocate credit card use. It provides a service for those who choose to use them. It also cautions strongly against credit card abuse. There are articles about reading credit card fine print, a warning about transferring balances, understanding the credit card application and more.

I don’t think you should use credit cards. But if you choose to do so, bookmark Index Credit Cards.

Update: Here’s a post at Smart Money about the best cards for college students.

What should I be wary of when getting a credit card?
If you think you might need a new credit card, be sure to read Nine Things to Consider When Choosing a Credit Card. This short checklist is an excellent way to make sure you don’t forget something important that can come back to burn you later. Also be wary of stupid credit card tricks.

What do all of these terms mean? I can’t understand the application.
Credit card applications are full of legalese. Even the ads can be confusing. If you’re drowning in the jargon, this glossary of credit terms may prove useful.

Is it safe to pay bills with a credit card?
It is, but there are small “gotchas” you should watch for. Many companies charge a processing fee if you use a credit card. (And the IRS charges such a fee if you use a card to pay taxes.) For more information, read about the potential downsides to using a credit card to pay monthly bills.

How do I cancel a credit card?
Here’s a summary on how to cancel a credit card. The short version: Do not cancel a card unless it has a zero balance. Call the credit card company. Some will let you cancel without hassle, but most will attempt to sweet-talk you into staying longer. If you intend to keep one or more cards, and if the offered upgrades make the card you’re trying to cancel better than one you plan to keep, you may want to cancel another card instead. Write down the name of the person you talked to and what time you talked with them. Simple.

How can I get a late fee waived?
Call your credit card company. Politely ask them to waive the fee. If you don’t have a history of trouble, they should honor the request. If they don’t, then threaten to cancel the card. Be polite but firm.

How do I stop credit card offers from coming in the mail?
Use optoutprescreen.com, a site that lets you opt out of credit card offers for either five years or forever. I was worried that this was some sort of scam, but it’s not — the Federal Trade Commission endorses its use.

How many credit cards to people carry?
There are no consistent answers, though most sources say “between five and ten” (which is far too vague for my tastes). Read more about how many credit cards people carry in an earlier entry.

How can I play the credit card arbitrage game?
Several personal finance bloggers I respect game the system, using 0% credit card rates to carry high balances and actually make money. This seems an invitation to disaster, but if you feel you have the discipline to pull it off, check out FiveCentNickel’s example of credit card arbitrage.

How can I get a FREE copy of my credit report?
A recent federal law gives consumers free access to their credit reports. (It costs extra to obtain your credit score.) The only site you need to know about is AnnualCreditReport.com. This is an official, government-approved site.

How do I dispute credit report errors?
The Federal Trade Commission offers a guide to disputing credit report errors. It’s really just a three-step process:

  1. Obtain a copy of your credit report. (See the previous question.)
  2. If you find errors, notify the credit reporting company in writing.
  3. Notify the appropriate creditor in writing.

For more information, read the entire government publication.

How does a credit score work?
Your credit score is based on your payment history, the amount you currently owe, the length of your credit history, the types of credit you use, and your recent request for credit. For more information, check out my anatomy of a credit score.

How can I improve my credit score?
Here are some tips on improving your FICO score. Basically you should pay your bills on time, keep your card balances low, refrain from opening a lot of new accounts at once, and maintain long-term relationships with creditors. A high credit score is not as important as staying out of debt.

I have a lot of credit card debt — how do I pay it off?
Don’t listen to anyone who tells you there’s only one way. There are a number of approaches, and the important thing is to pick the one that works for you. I’ve written about two popular approaches to debt elimination. Pick the one that works best for your personal psychology.

Where can I find more information on credit and credit cards?
As I mentioned earlier, Index Credit Cards is a fantastic resource. Several people have told me that the credit talk forum at CardRatings is also excellent.

More to come!
Now I need your help — if you know of other resources that should be listed here, let me know. I’ll add them as they’re submitted.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

Backpacking and camping are awesome frugal activities. It costs nothing to take a hike. It costs a bit more to camp overnight, but even that can be done inexpensively. While browsing the web for camping stuff, I stumbled upon a great list of frugal suggestions that were originally posted to the Usenet group rec.scouting on 03 December 1994!

According to the original poster:

These low-cost equipment/ideas/fixes for Scouting and camping in general [were] originally found on a F-Net Scouting board and [were] reposted on Fidonet on Nov 11/92 by Steve Simmons. The file evidently originated with BSA Troop 886 in the USA.

This list is HUGE. Here are my favorite ideas:

  1. Channel lock pliers make good pot holders.
  2. Nylon rope can be used as shoe laces.
  3. Use a large zip lock plastic bag, filled with air, as a pillow.
  4. A plastic bottle makes a good latrine for cold weather camping. (You don’t
    have to ‘go’ very far from your sleeping bag). Keep it just outside the tent flap.
  5. Carry several pieces of lumber cut into two-inch squares to summer camp and
    use these to level platform, tent, and cot.
  6. Old shower curtains make great ground tarps.
  7. Waterproof matches by dipping them in nail polish.
  8. Waterproof matches by dipping in melted paraffin.
  9. Make fire starters by filling paper condiment cups with saw dust and pouring
    paraffin into the cup.
  10. A length of chain and a piece of coat hanger bent into an S-shape will allow
    you to hang your lantern from a tree limb.
  11. Keep batteries in prescription bottles.
  12. Prescription bottles also make good match safes.
  13. In fact, prescription bottles (or 35mm file containers) make good storage places for small items of all sorts.
  14. A frisbee will add support to paper plates when the plate is placed inside
    the frisbee.
  15. Laundry lint makes good tinder.
  16. Keep the water in your canteen cooler by wrapping the canteen in foil.
  17. When it comes time to pack up at the end of a camp, a wet toothbrush, face
    cloth and bar of soap wrapped in foil won’t dampen the other things in your
    kit.
  18. To prevent batteries from wearing down if a flashlight is accidently nudged
    on while you’re traveling, put the flashlight batteries in backwards.
  19. To protect your feet from blisters, smear soap on the inside of your inner
    sock at the heel and underneath the toes. Carry along a bar of soap and,
    when you feel your feet become tender, give it a try.
  20. To keep mosquitoes away rub the inside of an orange peel on face, arms and
    legs.
  21. Wrap fishing gear in foil to keep line from tangling and hooks from rusting.
    By lining the compartments of a tackle box with foil, you can prevent rust
    damage to plugs and other equipment.
  22. To remove musty smell from canteen, put three teaspoons of baking soda into
    the canteen with a bit of water. Swish it around and let sit for an hour,
    then rinse out the canteen.
  23. An empty plastic soda bottle, cut off to a convenient height, will work as a
    camp bowl. You may want to sandpaper the cut to smooth the edge.
  24. Save inner cardboard tubes from kitchen and toilet rolls, stuff with waste
    paper and use as fire-lighters.
  25. Use zip-lock bags for mixing foods, be sure it is closed tight and the top
    is held shut before shaking or kneading.
  26. Duct tape can be used to repair most everything on a trip. Use it to patch
    tents, mend poles, hold up schedules, patch torn shoes, hold poles for
    mosquito nets to cots, etc.

If you like these, check out the entire list.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

I mentioned my little brother earlier because he was taught his son that two pairs of shoes equals one iPod. (Remember that they’re moving, and his wife is packing sixty pairs of shoes.) He just called to chat. I told him I was busy, but he offered me another story and gave me permission to print it.

His wife used to work at Nordstrom. While there she took advantage of the employee discount. A lot. In fact, she spent over $10,000 on clothes during that period. (Meaning $20,000 retail price, I think.)

Even when the family didn’t have any money, she’d come home with clothes. My brother would call her on it, but she’d deny that they clothes were new. “Come on,” he’d say. “I know what’s in your closet.” One day he complained to her about the new clothes she was wearing, and she claimed they were old, when he pointed out that there was a price tag still dangling from whatever it was she was wearing.

After that, she started to be more subtle about bringing home new clothes. She’d buy them, stash them in her trunk, and then sneak them into the closet. My brother didn’t discover this for a while, though. He only found out because one day they had to take her car to a family Christmas gathering. He went outside to put some food in the trunk, and there were several Nordstrom bags full of clothes. He was not pleased. He began to refer to these mysterious new clothes as “trunk clothes”.

A few months ago, my brother managed to convince his wife to get rid of some of her clothes. She filled two bins full of goods to take to a consignment shop. But she never took them. They just sat around for a while, taking up space. Recently she moved the bins to a storage shed. She’s trying to make room to clean out her closets for real.

Today her mother came to help her clean. My sister-in-law wants to keep all of the clothes, but her mother won’t let her. “Fine,” my sister-in-law said. “I’ll take them to Goodwill.” (Goodwill is a thrift store — I’m not sure how universal they are.)

“You can’t take them to Goodwill,” my brother told her. “You need to take them to a consignment shop. You need to get some money for them. Especially if they’re trunk clothes.”

“That’s too much of a bother,” his wife said, glowering at the use of the phrase ‘trunk clothes’.

“Then you need to itemize each piece of clothing so that we can claim it on our taxes.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, so my brother explained. But that didn’t sound any better to her. “I’m not doing that. You do that,” she said. But my brother refused, so she said, “Fine, I’ll just give them away.”

“You cannot give them away,” he told her. “That’s TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.”

My brother laughs when he tells this story. Though he’s frustrated, he’s not angry. He knows that his wife has a spending problem, and it bugs him, but he also sees the humor in the situation, which is one of his special gifts. I, too, once had a spending problem, but I certainly never spent $10,000 on trunk clothes. It was on computers. And books.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

Here’s a tip I cannot believe I’m sharing in public.

For years I’ve battled dandruff. I mean I’ve had it bad. Recently it’s reached nightmarish proportions — my scalp was like North Dakota in January.

I tried all sorts of remedies. I tried Selsun Blue. I tried Head and Shoulders. I tried Denorex. Nothing worked. I even tried not washing my hair at all. That didn’t help the dandruff and just created the added grossness of greasy hair.

Frustrated, I was ready to make a doctor’s appointment, ready to spend vast sums of money to defeat the dandruff. Then, on a whim, my wife bought me a bottle of baby shampoo. You know the stuff: “tearless”, etc. I was skeptical, but willing to try anything. You know what? It worked!

I’ve been washing my hair with baby shampoo daily for the past two weeks. It hasn’t eliminated the dandruff completely, but it has reduced it dramatically. I mean by an order of magnitude. To levels of normality.

I cannot vouch that baby shampoo will work for everyone, but if you too have a dandruff problem, it cannot hurt to try. It’s an easy and cheap solution. And do me a favor: if you try this, post back here to say whether or not it worked for you.

Source: getrichslowly.org