Posts (page 2)

"If you are in a hole stop digging!"  Our current plan is to spend our way out of debt nationally. Just invites inflation(hyper?)

Personally here are some tips/plan.  Hope somebody else can write on this as well.

"Pay with cash or do without." No money , no shiny.
I read this years ago, wished I had it tattooed on my brain then!  OK, so I ignored this advice.  How about you?

Stop digging! Start paying with cash, keep tracking it!

This will slow the finical bleeding.

Now, write out ALL your debts.  How much to who.
Order debts from smallest to largest.
Pay more on smallest till it is paid in full.
Roll payment on to next lowest, so on and so forth.

Bought a couple of courses on this, all pretty much the same.  Dave Ramsey does the best job on this stuff.

Back up a step, do you have a Emergency Fund? Before all else stash 2-6 months of money to cover expenses.
Lose your job?  Bank don't care.

Might sell some stuff to raise cash.  eBay is your friend there. 

Think on paper, and don't play the blame game.  Be a grown up and pay your bills.  So what if your now X ran up the tab on the way out.  You got it pay it.

Get another job?  Lower expenses!  Eat at home. Buy tickets early.  Skip some stuff.  Turn off some lights and put on a sweater.  Little stuff will add up.

This is advice I am taking.
Invest in your business and grow your garden of wealth

Tim

Ok. I admit to be a computer guy.  I build them and fix them after they break.  So here are a few tips.

Viruses et al.  Computers get sick from playing with the wrong servers(think playground)

Install at least TWO anti-virus programs, no they will not like each other so what!  Free is a good price.  pop over to majorgeeks.com What a selection, enjoy!  AVG, Avast, Norton get some and get updated and running! (avast can be set to run at boot to clean the beast from the beginning!)

Spybot Search & Destroy.  Use it. digs out malware etc

CCleaner, stands for crap cleaner.  dumps excess crud off your drive.  Real useful to get speed up.

Firewall?  Protect your system, install one.  The Windows one just is not enough!  I unplug my modem when PC is off.

Ever run Scan Disk or Defrag?  will help system run faster.(they came free as part of Windows)

Back up your data.  Your system will fail.  Lost a great deal this way.  Try a online backup service.  DVD disks are good for 5 years or so.  Not trustworthy enough for me.

Hardware side:
have more RAM installed.
Video or Sound card as well.
External 1 Tera Byte drives are under $150 now and 2 TB internals are not bad either.  (Downloading the Library of Congress?)  can use to mirror your drives and serve as local backup.

Tape a reminder on your screen: "Finish" Kevin might tell you why.(upper right hand corner)

Numbers?  We don't need no stinkin' numbers!

Welcome tax day in the USA!

Rob will kick you butt if yo aren't keepin' good records.  How often you tracking your income and expenses?

Yann, knows who pays his rent.  Do you?

Follow the money trail.  Cui Bono?

Once upon a time I did Tech Support for QuickBooks.  Lots of people in business are clueless about the importance of numbers.  Explaining a P/L and Balance Sheet to a Muffler shop in NC.  High comedy at best.

Computer tracking of your business is key.  The days of book keeping in a notebook is so over.

Get some software, learn how to use it.  Enter your info daily if you can, weekly if you must.

Jim Rohn, "Story don't fit in the little box." or something to that effect.

Track your time too.  Is X getting you to Y? Why not?

Tim
More coffee, skipping the Tea Party

We study SUCCESS.  We attend seminars, listen to audios, watch streaming videos by Gurus.
Chasing the edge. Always reaching for the Elusive Obvious...
"Enough is never Enough!"

Ever look at the flip side?

Have you defined success and failure?  What do they mean to you?  How do you define them in reference to others?  your kids?

Dig deeper.

Failure means you found a way it does not work.  Post-it Notes, failure, it was to be Super Glue.  Ask Steve Chambers a story or two.

I failed at lots of things, thankfully! Not in Construction or Meat Packing anymore. Couldn't read til I was twelve.  Now I measure my library in cubic feet(hard drive is pretty full too!)

Note failure and stress are engineering terms first.  And labels/traps second.

Tim

Three weeks without food.  Some of us can go longer!(I include myself in that number)

In the Bible there are examples of Fasting.  40 days...  Have some experience missing meals.  You'll be hungry Day One then Day Three.  Finally you get hungry on Day Forty(I am told)

I pack food!  In your Three day(72 hour kit) have food and water and other gear.  Think, maybe Life Boat Rations.  They are temperature stable and non-thirst provoking.  NASA developed some food that is 98% absorb-able! (not much too worry about at other end!)  Can get at Nitropak.com  Two week supply fits in a 2qt. canteen cover.

Think about foraging(hunting,gathering) and having a stash of stable food.  Make friends with a Mormon.  Those folks make being prepared a saintly devotion. (They want to you have a one year supply.)

Remember the Government doesn't expect to help you for at least three days.  You are on your own, Buck-O!

Tim
PS The Police are NOT required by Law to protect you.

Spent Easter in Urgent Care with a Feverish puking kid.(Will fix a nice dinner when can enjoy it.)

Three days.  Not a long time when you get thirsty.
Have at least a gallon(4 liters) per person per day. Weight is 8 pounds, 3.5 Kg.  Not gonna carry that much!

Find, collect and clean your water.  Get a filter!  Boil it or bleach it!  Use a coffee filter to get the gunk out, then treat it.

"Dig the well before you get thirsty."  There is water everywhere.  Learn to see it.

Drink more water.  Too much coffee dries you out inside.  The air sucks the water from you too.  Too hot or cold will dehydrate you.  Pace your work.

This is just a intro.  Plenty to learn(your life might depend on it)

Tim
Ps yes, I am off to comment on other Blogs(JJ!)

Home Depot has 12 inch nails/spikes less than a buck a piece are great tent stakes!

Put tent up before trip!  Was missing the roof!  Used tarp.

Sleep with head up hill.

Bring spare batteries all sizes.  Back up hand pump for air mattress.

Kids had fun.  Bringing better food next time.
Tim

Three hours without shelter.
First thing you do when camping is set up your tent and get camp ready.  Why? Cause you might not be in any shape to do it when you get back.  The great outdoors will suck the life out of you if you are not  prepared.  Over heat or cold will whip you. Hyper/hypothermia not your friend.
So cover up and make a camp.  No tent? No house?  What are you gonna do? Think!

The best thing to get behind or under something.  Block the wind or sun.  Next trap the air to insulate you from the weather.  98.6 is where you want to keep it!

I like to keep a big trash bag in my vehicle.  Poncho? Tent? stuff the bag, climb in and get some sleep.
Plan ahead.  Learn the principles of adaptation.  Use whatever is on hand.

This is also the section where you get to build a fire maybe.  Pack some matches.  Cotton ball loaded with petroleum jelly will burn hot(will light less willing kindling)  Plenty of fire starters on the market.  Have at least one.  Magnifying glass?

Get in control of your environment. "Be Prepared!"

Tim

Covered thinking. 
3 minutes without air.  What does that mean? Well 4-6 before brain damage is what book says. 
For the sake of brevity go with 3 minutes. 
How do folks lose it in a fire? Fire eats the oxygen. Get low and get out. Put on your Escape Hood.  Goes over whole head and will keep you going.

Pandemic! Bird Flu, Airborne viruses...  Wear a filter mask.(get something rated to N95 or N100)

Do you have a way to seal up your home?  3M is your friend.  Plastic works great(go maybe 4mil on the roll)  Duct Tape is key to sealing up leaks, in you, the car or house.

Disasters are dusty.  The old bandanna, wet it down, and head for the exit.

"The fish discovers air , when it is out of the water." Been breathing along time so we kinda take it for granted.

Being gassed is not fun as many a rioter has found. Cover your eyes and airways(mask maybe?) get away from the crazy people.(Note for our friends in London town)

Is this everything? Not by a long shot. Writing a book on this stuff(maybe, if April thinks it is ok)

Camping later with my Scouts.  Will be back soon enough.

Tim

"You can go 3 seconds without thinking,
3 minutes without breathing,
3 hours without shelter,
3 days without water,
3 weeks without food."

This is about survival.  Plan ahead and get your priorities straight.

What is your plan?  The economy is in the can and not getting any nicer.  Kevin Hogan and Steve Chambers talked about for nine freakin hours!  People the house is on fire! Get out!

My little boy can explain this rule.  Three seconds w/o think, you don't get to panic for long.  Planning prevents panic.  Get on the plane where are the exits?  What'ca gonna do now?  Play the what if game.

Prior planning prevents poor performance.   Or the 5 P's.

Enough for now.  Will give you more as we trek along.

Tim