It’s what you don’t prepare for….

Posted: 28th April 2013 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Family, Health, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/Jill A Brown

Photo: Creative Commons/Jill A Brown

As a prepper, there are literally dozens of SHTF scenarios that I actively prepare for. But it is often the mundane problems that can have the most devastating impact. Sometimes, we are just so focused on the obvious threats that we overlook the everyday dangers to our well-being. This “deer in the headlights” aspect for preparedness really hit home for me recently. Over the last month I’ve been grappling with a very personal issue, but I think it is time to share it with everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

A Career…..what the heck is that?!?

Posted: 18th March 2013 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Economics, Money, Recession, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/ vonSchnauzer

Photo: Creative Commons/ vonSchnauzer

I always find it an amusing experience to chat with people who drank the corporate cool-aid.  These are guys who actually believe in the system’s propaganda.  Seriously, they think that their place in society is defined by their job!  Only they don’t call it a day job, they call it their “career”!!!!  My reaction to such people is a combination of much amusement and not a small amount of sadness. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyday life in the Gun Free Zone!

Posted: 10th February 2013 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Collapse, Family, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/Hamed Saber

Photo: Creative Commons/Hamed Saber

As many of you know, my family and I currently reside in the New York Metro region.  As such, we live under the most draconian gun control laws in the entire country.  For all intents and purposes, citizens of New York City are banned from owning fire arms of any kind.   Here in NYC, even BB guns are considered firearms.  I’m totally serious, a person can go to jail in NYC for owning a BB gun!  Heck, a man can even go to prison for owning a knife with a blade longer than 4 inches!  So unfortunately I’ve been reduced to defending myself and my loved ones with a slingshot :( Read the rest of this entry »

Freedom at last and 2013 Goals!

Posted: 10th January 2013 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Consumerism, Debt, Economics, Family, Passive Income, Self-Sufficiency
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2013 fireworks

Photo: Creative Commons/Amani Hasan

As of today, we are officially DEBT FREE!!!!!  For the first time in my entire adult life, I don’t owe anything to the bank.  We have finally escaped the evil chains of debt serfdom.  This has been a truly massive undertaking.  Over the course of 38 months, my wife and I systematically paid off $192,141 dollars of debt.  It has been a hard journey but well worth the sacrifice. Read the rest of this entry »

Performance Report on my 2012 Goals!

Posted: 18th December 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Debt, Family, Home Business, Passive Income, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/laverrue

Photo: Creative Commons/laverrue

As another year comes to an end, it is a good time to give a performance report on how I did with my 2012 goals.  Creating goals is a key step towards actually getting important stuff done.  And evaluating the results of these goals can really help me understand not only where I succeeded but also where I crashed and burned.  This past year, I did in fact meet many of my goals, but I also failed on a number of them. Read the rest of this entry »

12 Yummy vegetable parts that people throw away!

Posted: 9th December 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Consumerism, Family, Frugality, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/whylogwhy

Photo: Creative Commons/whylogwhy

As winter approaches, I settle into a well-worn routine.  I clean up my garden beds, carefully tuck away the tools, and then proceed to put down garlic bulbs for the coming spring.  As I go about these tasks, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the ridiculous amount of food that we got from our little vegetable garden this year.   This is a piece of land that could comfortably fit inside of a small bedroom.  Yet this 200 square feet of cultivated soil has proved so fruitful that we basically didn’t buy any produce during the summer.  During the fall season, every other meal that we cooked contained some garden crops.  Even as winter descends upon our little corner of the country, my family is still eating canned tomato sauce, frozen kale, and air-dried garlic from our little garden. Read the rest of this entry »

What to do after becoming debt free?

Posted: 27th November 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Debt, Family, Frugality, Passive Income, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/Philip Taylor

Photo: Creative Commons/Philip Taylor

For more than two and a half years, my wife and I have been doing our utmost to pay off a giant mountain of debt.  Through a combination of extreme industry and monk-like frugality, we were able to dramatically reduce our overall debts, month after month, year after year.  Our efforts have not been in vain.   If the economy manages to keep itself together, the $192,141 dollars of debt that we started with should be entirely paid off in just a couple of months!  You can find all the gory details of our debt paying Odyssey in my microblog. Read the rest of this entry »

How to negotiate down the price of anything!

Posted: 14th November 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Debt, Depression, Frugality, Money
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Photo: Creative Commons/JD Hancock

Photo: Creative Commons/JD Hancock

As many of you know, my family and I are in debt. Like most families in America, we unwittingly trapped ourselves into this situation and must dig our way out of it. So for the last 2 years, we have been doing everything in our power to cast off the shackles of debt slavery. And the single most important weapon we brought to the fight is our ability to lower living expenses. Read the rest of this entry »

The Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy!

Posted: 5th November 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Collapse, Self-Sufficiency
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Photo: Creative Commons/ Sister72

Photo: Creative Commons/ Sister72

Hurricane Sandy was one hell of a storm.  This city has never suffered such a huge blow.  Plenty of my friends are still without power and heat.  Some of my friends had to evacuate their homes.  And 2 of my friends lost everything they had due to the massive flooding here in the NYC metro region. Read the rest of this entry »

The Art of Frugal Gift-Giving

Posted: 29th October 2012 by ThrivingAdmistCollapse in Consumerism, Economics, Family, Frugality
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Photo: Creative Commons/ kevin dooley

Photo: Creative Commons/ kevin dooley

So a huge storm is hitting my part of the country.  The local news channels have warned us to expect widespread power outages and possibly massive flooding.  In fact, the mayor of NYC has even begun evacuating parts of the city.  Since I’m probably going to be stuck at home for the next couple of days, I figure it’s a good time to post about the fine art of frugal gift-giving. Read the rest of this entry »

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