Main > Living > Survival
Watch the weather closely. Being able to foretell a weather change can help to avoid a potential survival situation.
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Main > Living > Survival
Drink before you are thirsty. Once you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.
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Main > Living > Survival
Have two or more plans or projects going at all times. That way, regardless of weather, materials shortage, or whatever other variables may come up, you will be able to keep yourself occupied. This also helps to prevent disappointment and keeps your spirits up. This is very important in the wilderness.
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Main > Living > Survival
One of the best set of books to learn almost all of the survival skills is the Boy Scout Hand Book and the Boy Scout Field Guide. Every thing from making shelters, collecting food, water, to building materials. How to choose a camping site. Which plants and critters to eat, etc. Two other books are the US Army Survival Manual and The SAS Survival Handbook.
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Main > Living > Annoyances > Tele-marketing and surveys
Enter your phone numbers in a national "Do not call" registry:
US: link
Australia: link
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Main > Living > Work
Slow Down. Life is simply too short, so don't let things pass you in a blur. Take steps to stop and enjoy the things and people around you.
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Main > Living > Work
Simplify. It seems human nature for just about everyone to take on too many tasks and responsibilities, to try to do too much, and to own too much. Find a way to simplify your life
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Fire extinguisher: This is a must in the kitchen. Get the powder-type extinguisher, and once it reaches its expiry date, get another one.
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Some general cooking tips:- Prepare everything you need before you start.
- start cooking the dish that takes longest first. That way, it can be cooking while you prepare the other items.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Tape a note pad to the inside of one of your kitchen cabinet doors and create a running grocery list by jotting down items as you think of them or run out.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Turn off the burner before removing a pan from the stove, so that you don't forget to turn it off.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Credit & store cards
You know you have too much credit card debt when . . .- Your debt is not decreasing and you cannot make any savings.
- You make minimum payments on your credit cards.
- You have more than two or three credit cards, and you're at or near your credit limit on at least one of them.
- You take out cash advances on your credit card to pay other bills.
- You've tried to purchase something with your credit card and it has been declined, or you've been denied credit, or your checks have bounced.
- You get calls from debt collectors.
- You lie to your spouse or other family member about your spending or hide credit card statements from family members.
If you realize that you are in over your head, the sooner you act, the easier it will be to get out from under the burden of debt. There's no easy fix, but it is possible to turn your finances around if you work at it. You can make a start by making a priority of paying off the loans that have the highest interest rates. Another method is to pay-off a small debt first, just to give you confidence.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Credit & store cards
Avoid credit cards: by using a cash or debit card rather than a credit card you won't be able to spend more money than you have. If you tend to get carried away when shopping you should seriously consider this option.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living
Organise yourself: Create a home-page with links to your most-used documents. Make it your browser's home page, with the file on your hard disk, not on the internet.
You might link to:
- financial documents, budget, bank account, shopping sites
- work-in-progress (your novel, memoirs, website)
- search engines
- libraries, dictionaries, book stores
- television and movie guides
- newspapers
- games
- health information (sports, recipes, medical dictionaries)
- discussion groups
- tutorials or lessons
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Warning: Avoid aluminium cookware to cook certain kinds of vegetables. For example: beetroot, beetroot greens, spinach, silverbeet, chard, rhubarb, parsley etc.
The reason is that some greens are high in oxalic acid which eats away the cookware coating on aluminium, that is there to prevent aluminium poisoning. So if cookware becomes more shiny after cooking, best not to eat the food.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Annoyances
Contemporary feminism: Encouraging women to unleash their sexuality is stupid. Flooding the mass media with images of women's sexuality only encourages women to see their sexuality as the fullest expression of what a woman is. No sexual interest? No woman. No admirers? No woman. No one else around? No woman.
Try to encourage women to unleash their intelligence!... or is that not their greatest character trait?
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Boiled eggs: A pinch of salt to the boiling water prevents eggs from bursting out of cracks. When cooked, wait for the egg to cool and shrink, before shelling.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Money > Credit & store cards
Know that credit card companies are designed to earn their income via consumer debt repayments. They know very well, and deliberately profit from, the irrational optimism of consumers. That is, people usually believe their ability to repay a debt in the future will be better than their ability today.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > LETS
LETS can alleviate poverty, by using an alternative currency to pay for local items like food and accommodation, thereby increasing the proportion of your federal currency available for bills.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Annoyances
Murderous Dictators: Murderous dictators are a common annoyance. The best way to get rid of them is to contact the CIA and argue that they have outlived their usefulness.
Diogenes (25)
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Main > Living > Relationships > Divorce
Divorce should be the first thing one considers when entering into any serious relationship. As with most areas of life, there is no sense in delaying the inevitable.
Diogenes (25)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Add popcorn that doesn't pop to a pot of rice and boil it all together.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Money > Debt
Bankruptcy: If you've gotten yourself too deeply into debt, and debt repayments are ruining your life and the lives of your family, then you can file for bankruptcy. That's what bankruptcy is for. That is, bankruptcy is a humanitarian service for those who cannot cope with their debt and who need a lifeline and a fresh start. The disadvantage of bankruptcy is that you may lose your home, and your credit rating will be damaged for a long time. Bankruptcy effectively puts someone else in charge of your finances to pay your debts. They will sell your assets and garnish your wages until the debt is paid or the bankruptcy expires (eg, after three years).
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Economical tips:- Save the wrappers from margarine or butter in a ziploc bag in the freezer. The next time one of your recipes call for greasing a cake pan, etc. pull out one of these wrappers and use it for that purpose.
- Whirl almost any kind of leftover soup (minus bones) in blender to get a sauce or gravy for vegetables or meat.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Banking & loans
Consolidate loans and bank accounts: To reduce the amount of bank fees you are paying, consolidate all your bank accounts into one. If you have several credit cards, try to reduce them all down to one. If you have several different loans, consolidate them all into a single loan. This can save you a huge amount of money.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Banking & loans
Loans: Sometimes loans are necessary: for example, for a business expansion, or to purchase your first home. But it is not smart to go into debt on your credit card to purchase things like LCD televisions. If you make it a habit to go into debt on your credit card, it can end up being a heavy burden. For items that cost less than $10,000, try to save the money for them before you purchase.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Credit & store cards > Balance transfers
Credit cards: If the high interest rates on your credit card are hurting you, you can often transfer your debt to a new credit card from another company and pay a highly reduced rate of interest for a period of time (eg, six months). This can give you an opportunity to get on top of your repayments.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Banking & loans
Bank fees: - Shop around to find low or no-fee bank accounts and credit cards. They are out there, but the banks don't particularly want you to know about them.
- If you accidentally overdraw your account and get charged a large penalty fee, phone your bank and ask that the fee be withdrawn. They will often comply with your wishes so long as it doesn't happen too often.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money
Emergency money: It is wise to have, say, $5000 put aside to cover unexpected expenses. This amount will vary, depending on how much your unexpected expenses are likely to be. This money can be put in an interest-earning account, so at least you won't lose money due to inflation.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Money > Credit & store cards
Card Management: If you have several cards, you are best off accruing your points on one only, with a backup card in case you max out your main card, or their system is down when you go to make a purchase. But that doesn't mean you should get rid of your other cards, though you should make it impossible to use them. Choose two that are most favourable and put the rest in a relative's house somewhere where they won't attract attention - like in a garage or something. Alternatively, freeze them in a small container in the freezer.
myxlfidian (150)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking > Cooking with the Sun
Solar cooking focusses reflected sunlight onto a black container. One should also strive to retain any heat thus generated. Parabolic cookers use the former principle best, box cookers use the latter principle best.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Clothing
Socks: Buy multiple pairs of identical socks, so you won't have any trouble finding matching pairs. Holey socks become spare parts to repair other socks, or can be worn with new ones to reduce wear. Same goes for underpants.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking
Onions: When preparing onions, avoid tears by wearing swimming goggles.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Living > Survival
Survival equipment is great, but make sure you know how to use it before you find yourself in a survival situation. For example, if you have a water-still, make sure you know how to use it. Or if you have a GPS unit, know how to save a waypoint and find your way back to it.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Annoyances > Noise
Headphones can be used so as not to annoy others with your noise. Headphones can be cordless if necessary.
Kevin Solway (173)
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Main > Living > Annoyances
Television Sets: Television sets can be destroyed by blunt force, or they can be dropped from high elevations. Less drastically, the following product will turn off any television set: link
[guest]
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Main > Living > Living on a budget
General:- Disconnect the power to any items on standby power (i.e. turned off PCs, TVs etc).
- Rent a small unit (one bedroom) with two people - the rent can't rise too much. Rent near places of work so fuel usage is minimised.
- Buy a pushbike for short trips to save on fuel.
- Get a new air filter for your car every year as they save fuel.
- Buy a front loader washing machine with a short cycle time or quickwash (1.5hrs) to save on power and get government water rebates in some areas. Also, if you buy a good brand your clothes will last longer, saving there also. Sell your old washing machine.
- Keep a record of all car repair and other warranties so you don't go over the warranty period when something might need a second repair. If you don't know when something expires, you can't take advantage of the warranty if there are any initial signs of product or service failure, as you don't know when it ends.
- Download free electronic copies of books instead of buying the hard copy. Same with movies, TV series, software on filesharing sites.
- Hire DVDs on "$2 Tuesday" (or the equivalent, where you live)
- Always stay on old broadband, mobile or phone plans if the monthly access fee is low. Big companies will not kick you off a plan you've had for years — but they want to, because they often release cheap deals when a new service is offered that is no longer profitable after a few years.
thesource (378)
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Main > Living > Annoyances
Tip: when posting tips at this site, use the "preview" feature first.
Diogenes (25)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking > Choosing foods well
When buying a chicken, look for one that has smooth but firm skin. It should also appear plump and white with no odour.
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking > Choosing foods well
When choosing a coconut, check that the three soft "eyes" on the shell are intact, dry and mould-free.
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Shopping
Look on the bottom shelf for the cheapest items, because those products with the lowest profit margin are made the least visible, in the hopes that you won't buy them.
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Shopping
At Aldi there are a number of products that are half-price compared to normal supermarkets, and the quality is usually indistinguishable from the more expensive products.
myxlfidian (150)
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Main > Living > Work
Organization and prioritisation always helps. For example, if you are a contractor working in a week with a public holiday, try to work from 7:30am to 6pm for the four working days that week. You'll get paid for 40 hours that week despite losing one working day.
myxlfidian (150)
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Main > Living > Food & drink > Food and cooking > Jar-opening
Push a knife tip into the gap between the lid and the jar and twist it to leverage the gap wider. At some point the vacuum in the jar should release and the indentation on the top should pop up. Now that there is no pressure holding it the lid should twist off very easily.
Laird Shaw (4)
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Main > Living > Living on a budget > Shopping
Buy in bulk. Find the closest bulk wholesale warehouses open to the public in the yellow pages. Not only is it cheaper, but you can be free of shopping for months.
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Main > Living > Annoyances > Noise
Babies: If you live in an apartment block with thin walls and they put someone with a baby into one of them, get a doctor's certificate that you are being noise stressed to break your lease without penalty. Or offer them a reasonable amount of cash to help them move out.
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Main > Living > Relationships > Making friends
Compliment people and ask people about themselves. Be in a happy and positive frame of mind.
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Main > Living > Funerals
Be sure to let your friends and family know what your plans are for your funeral. If you only mention them in your will, it may not be read until after all the funeral arrangements have been made, and your friends and relatives may be vulnerable to manipulation by greedy and manipulative morticians.
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Main > Living > Funerals
Shop around widely, and always ask if there will be any extra charges.
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Main > Living > Funerals
Don't be ripped-off on the cost of the casket. Choose a "minimum container" and drape it with attractive material of your own taste.
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