Category Archives: MONEY / INCOME

Budgeting and finances. Gainful projects– what can you do to make ends meet. Pick up cans along the road, make things for sale – although sewing clothing ect would mostly go under that heading BUT the marketing of the product would go here. Main and side jobs would go here- as an example medical procedures would go under MEDICAL but the practice of healthcare would go here.

Office supplies

Office Supplies

It is a good idea to have some office supplies on hand. Below is a list that can be helpful. Now is
A great time to get these items as they will be on sale for back to school. Also look at second hand stores and garage sales for these items, too.

pens
pencils
filler paper
composition or spiral notebooks
tape
stapler and extra staples
ruler
highlighters
colored pencils
erasers
paper clips and larger clips
3 ring notebooks various sizes
copy paper, various colors of copy paper
paper dividers
index cards, dividers and card box
scissors
sharpies
3 hole punch or single
power strips
power adapter
labels
file folders and labels
some type of file cabinet or portable file
if you use mechanical pencils have extra erasers and whatever size lead
envelopes of different sizes
extra checks if you use them
forever stamps
sticky notes of different sizes
a paper dictionary and thesaurus
glue, Elmore type and super glue
rubber bands

If you have a computer
whatever programs you are using
if you have a printer have extra ink and copy paper.
A shredder is good to have to prevent someone getting into your trash and getting your info.

Holidays Can Save You Money

Holidays Can Save You Money

 

Looking at holidays, they usually are a time of spending lots of money; however, you can save a lot by shopping the sales and at the end of the holiday get at least 50% off.  All holidays and back to school, and end of summer and winter are great times to save.

 

Since winter is over, check prices on coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, ice scrappers and snow shovels.  If you know you are going to need these for next year, go ahead and get a snow shovel this year at lower prices. With children get coats for next year at 50% or more off, just buy the next size up.  Shoes can be a little tricky because you are not sure how much their feet are going to grow. But, you should be okay with just getting 1 or 2 sizes larger especially if you are buying boots.

 

After summer is over you can find sunglasses, summer jewelry, swimming pools, chemicals, swimming suits, patio furniture and grills are all on sale. Just watch for the time they put them on sale before back to school and the holidays start.

 

Also after summer is over Back to School will be going on, this is the best time to get underwear, socks, and especially jeans.  Also, if you need things like sheets or towels, the stores will have sales on that for college kids starting school. Sometimes they have bundles like a whole set of towels (washcloths, hand towels and bath towel) all together for a lower price.  Also if you need small appliances they will be cheaper during this time again for college kids.  If you are lucky you can get back to school sales on the college dorm stuff.

 

However, I have not seen a cheaper price on jeans, underwear and etc. before school starts. Then after schools starts they usually just put the jeans that are left back with the rest of the stock.  Also stock up on pencils, paper, notebooks, etc. they will not be as cheap as they are just BEFORE school starts. Again, most stores put these items back into their regular stock after school starts. You may even want to give art supplies that you get on sale during back to school for Christmas or Birthday presents. If you know that you are going to do a project that you might need extra school supplies, buy those supplies then, it will save you much.

 

If you purchase material to sew with, watch seasonal cloth after the season. Also with Hobby Lobby the 40% off of 1 item does include cut material.  I love the coupons that Hobby Lobby and Michael’s have.  That is what I usually purchase for Christmas, but start early because you can only get 1 item a week.  There are so many things to choose from in these 2 stores that you are sure to find something for everyone and that will spread out your Christmas and Birthday shopping throughout most of the year. The coupons are also good for online purchasing.

 

Of course after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, watch out for decorations, lights, wrapping paper, candy, costumes and other things that might be interesting to you and get them after the holiday to use for next year. Yes, you will have to store them, however, you will have to store them later anyway and why not save 50% or more on them.  I know K-Mart here in my town will put their holiday merchandise for 50% off the day before the holiday but Wal-Mart will not put it on special until the day after the holiday. So, you have to watch your stores and see how they do their 50% off. Hobby Lobby will also put their decorations on 40% off a few weeks before the holiday.

 

So, with this information save on these items so you have more money for other things.

Easter is over

Easter is over.

 

By the time you read this, Easter will be over for this year. NOW is the time to go to the store and stock up on Easter CANDY as it will be on clearance, normally half price or cheaper. Especially the jelly-beans and other such candy that will be relatively shelf stable and most not affected by heat- in this case room temperature so that when you open the container that you are storing it in that it has not melted into a solid mass.

 

If you store this candy in airtight containers in a reasonably cool area it will be just as good for next year as it is now. Come next year you will have cheaper candy for the season and can repeat the process year after year. The price of the candy and most likely everything else is only going to climb. So you will be SAVING money in this process too. Let us say that next year about this time a family member has lost their job, well the candy is already on hand for the kids and you don’t have to expend anything extra. And here is the biggest plus to this action, if something bad happens and you need to get into the candy sooner it is once again already on hand.

 

OK that is the why of it, now for the nuts and bolts of HOW to store the candy for medium to long term storage. The 2 main choices of storing dry food rigid or soft sided. The rigid containers come in 2 flavors which are glass or metal. The soft sided are basically plastic or Mylar. I like the metal cans the best in general as they are stackable and mice can not chew into them. Of the 2 main metal cans, I like new paint cans as they can be opened and resealed without damaging the cans.

 

What I do is take a 1 gallon slide or zip lockable plastic bag and put it inside the 1 gallon paint can. Then I put the bags of candy still the original packages into the bag in the can. As I get ready to close the big bag [and then the can itself] I put an oxygen package inside, you can also use those chemical hot hands packages in too.  They are the same thing except for the size. Either way they absorb both the oxygen and the moisture which in turn extends the storage life of the product.

 

Even if you do not add the packets the candy should be good for MANY years as is. As an example look at the fallout shelter candy that is still good after 50 years in storage.

Gun shows

gun shows

This weekend some of us went to a gun show. There were a large contingent of venders and the event seemed to be well attended. In addition to the expected tables of guns / accessories and a few cutlery venders there were a few with art type stuff. The art stuff included scenes cut into shovels, saws and fry pans.

 

One guy had concealed carry vests which did not have that ‘tactical look’ to them that shouts ‘GUN’. The vests that I looked at could easily fit in, in a business setting, wedding guest or even church meeting.

 

There was only one vendor dealing with food storage and books.  He also had cast iron cookware along with the hot pads to handle them. Among the books were ones by Vicky Tate about cooking with food storage and pamphlets on survival by Dave Canterbury. One of the things that I like about Dave Canterbury is that he is down to earth and practical. You may know him from his TV series called ‘dual survivors’ with Cody Lundin.

 

Most of the prices were reasonable.

 

All in all it was a fun 2 hours.

Stock Your First Aid Kit

How to Stock Your First Aid Kit for Less

 

With Dollar Tree you can easily stock your First Aid Kit for less. When Dollar Tree first came into town they were an answer to prayer on budgeting for prepping supplies.  With everything costing only $1 it sure helps the bottom line in getting all types of survival supplies on hand. First of all I don’t like the pre-manufactured First Aid Kits. They mainly have bandage supplies and not much else.  When you put together your First Aid Kit for your family you need to take into consideration what types of health conditions your individuals have.  For example if you have a child that is always getting splinters in their hands and then it getting infected you will want to make sure you have tweezers and antibiotic ointment in your kit.  Also, if someone in your family has constipation often then make sure you have stool softeners & laxatives in the First Aid Kit.  The basic items that you can get at Dollar Tree are:

 

 

Assorted sizes of bandaids

Gauze and telfa pads assorted sizes

Disposable masks

Super Glue

Bandage tape

Rolled Gauze

Elastic Bandage

Triple Antibiotic Ointment

Hydrocortisone Ointment

A & D Ointment

Hydrogen Peroxide

Wet Wipes

Cold Packs

Anti-diarrheal

Laxatives

Pepto Bismal

Tums

Zantac

Thermometer

Cough Drops

Chest Rub

Dental Floss

Cotton Swabs

Cotton Balls

Chap Stick

Petroleum Jelly

Sunscreen

Aspirin tablets

Tylenol liquid if you have younger children and tablets for older children and adults

Athlete Foot Powder

Advil or Ibuprofen-liquid if you have young children & tablets for older children &

adults

Benadryl liquid if you have young children and tablets for older children and adults

Some type of cold medicine whatever works on your family

Nasal Spray like Afrin if it works for your family [it is also good for bloody noses]

Nail Clippers and file or if you can get a kit that also has tweezers in it

Some type of mild bar soap or even baby soap

Some type of skin lotion

Small garbage bags

Plastic or rubber gloves

Package of feminine pads works great for stopping large amounts of blood

Baking soda you make a paste by adding water and it helps on insect stings or sunburn

Super Glue this is exactly what the ER uses to close cuts

Small flashlight

Duct tape

Aluminum foil-take about 2 feet and fold up and put in kit

Scissors

Disposable filter masks

Something to put all of this in

If you have a diabetic you can use tube frosting for quick sugar

 

Whew, what a lot of supplies. But imagine all this you can get at the Dollar Tree for just a dollar. Much better than paying even Wal-Mart prices for these items. If you can get at least this much then the rest will be easier to afford.

 

A time for travel the summer project

 

                     

 

A Time For Travel ~ The Christmas Project by Czaplewski, Janice (Oct 25, 2013)

 

A Time for Travel ~ The Christmas Project is about four cousins who invent a time travel machine over Christmas vacation. They set the time for 200 years in the past and set the location for the MarbleArchCaves in Northern Ireland. That is not where they end up!

Follow Brooklyn, Caleb, Genevieve, and Kennedy as they explore the castles and caves of ancient Ireland on their grand adventures. What will they do once they get there and their time travel machine doesn’t work? Will they find the leprechauns, dragons, fairies and unicorns they are looking for? Will they get home?

 

Watch for the second book in the series, A Time For Travel ~ The Summer Project coming soon.

 

A Time For Travel ~ The Summer Project is the second book in the series. Go along with Kennedy, Brooklyn, Genevieve, and Caleb on another grand time travel adventure into the past.

They travel to Northern Ireland to the year 1570. They discover smugglers stealing gold that the leprechauns have hidden in a cave. They need help to capture them but are pirates really the best choice to go to for help?

The chase leads them from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland to England to Scotland and back again.

Will they catch the smugglers? Will they be able to return the gold? What happens after the time machine crashes?

see also http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/ready-or-not/

surviving rising costs

Manager’s Guide to Cost Reduction by Czaplewski, Janice (Feb 5, 2014)

 

This book is for managers to get the overview and understand the process. Order the full sized, full color companion workbook for the people that will be doing the projects.

If you have an questions or comments, feel free to contact Janice Czaplewski at Janice@entire360.com.

 

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/a-time-for-travel-the-christmas-project/

Earning a living – book

A new and practical book from one of my favorite authors.

 

Cost Containment Workbook: Complete Guide to Material Cost Reduction and Containment by Czaplewski, Janice (Feb 4, 2014)

 

As any business owner or CEO knows, manufacturing costs are constantly rising and you have to fight the battle every day to guard your profit margin.

If you are using a Catapult to fight rising costs and your competition is using a Howitzer, you need to read this book.

In this economy, if ever there was a time to use a howitzer to attack the castle where the profits are stored, this is it. Well, maybe it’s not quite that serious, but you certainly can’t sit back and just hope it gets better. The only way it will get better is if you are proactive, and the sooner you start the more impact you can have.

This book will help you evaluate your situation to see if you need to do a cost reduction project, help you choose the project, walk you through the steps of a project, and even take it to the next level with cost containment. After you have done the work to reduce the costs, you want to make sure they don’t creep up on you after the project is complete.

There are some really good tips to make the process easier and at the end of the book there are even “Excel Hints” to help you with the spreadsheets.

Just remember that if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. Are you ready to do something different? If so, try these proven methods – today!


There are two books in this set. One is for the managers and [this] one is a full color workbook for the people who will be doing the cost reduction projects.

 

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/a-time-for-travel-the-christmas-project/

R I C E

Many injuries respond well to

R.I.C.E.

  • Rest,
  • Ice,
  • Compression and
  • Elevation

Rest means to reduce how much and how ‘hard’ you use the affected body part. An example of this would be staying off of a sprained ankle instead of running a marathon.

Ice has the effect of constricting blood vessels in the affected area which will decrease bleeding and swelling, which in turn will lessen the pain levels and damage.

Compression also lessens the amount of blood and extra cellular fluid in the area. Compression will force much of the fluid away from the damaged area kinda like wringing water out of a towel.

Elevation slows bleeding and helps fluid in the tissue to migrate back into healthier tissue via gravity.

excerpted from a new book from a member of our group –

Ready? OR Not

~

Things WILL happen!

Quick Start Guide

What do I store for Leather Crafting?

What do I store for Leather Crafting?

 

For Leather Crafting storage it depends on what you are going to make out of leather.  You can make belts, gloves or mittens, vest, coats, pants, shoes, knife sheaths and carrying items. The carrying items includes gun holsters, wallets, cell phone cases, backpacks, book covers and briefcases to name just a few. This will also determine what type of leather to get. There are different thicknesses of leather for different uses.

So it would be ideal if you store several different thicknesses for different projects.

OR you can learn how to tan and otherwise process the skins from the animals you kill for food.

 

After you decide what you will probably make out of leather you can then decide what type of tools to have. There are some basic tools to get or you can just get a Leather Craft Set. Your basic tools would include:

 

  • cutting board
  • mallet
  • strip and strap cutter
  • awl
  • swivel knife
  • bottle of leather finish
  • bottle of leather dye
  • sponges
  • painting brushes
  • sinew
  • sewing  palm protector
  • leather scissors
  • some needles
  • carving and decorative tools
  • instruction books
  • hardware such as belt buckles, lace hooks, snaps, Conchos and clasp

 

You can make trade goods when things are bad that you can trade for things that you need. Can you imagine while you are evacuating your shoe falls apart. It would be great if you knew how to repair it and had the tools. Leather craft is a good skill to obtain so think about learning at least the basics. If you have a Tandy store close to you, check with them on classes that they have to offer. If not check on You-Tube for instructions.