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@OliverHancock  
That’s rough. From what I’ve seen though, you do seem like a nice guy. It’s good to know your experiences didn’t make you permanently bitter or angry as it does so many people that go through similar circumstances.

@OliverHancock  
on image

In the end I’m no better than the most of us. I’m no hero and I’m not really successful by almost any measure of the word… But I’m alive still. I’m still doing my best to be positive. Donated evaporative cooling towels to the police force and the protesters both today cause I figured nobody is going to treat each other like a human being and listen to each other if they’re all too hot to focus on anything.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
I’m pretty unkillable it seems though so at least there’s that. Lost my uncle and mom to suicide and my dad to homicide, grandparents kicked me out as a teenager for being gay. Lol, I feel disconnected from poor people because I feel like so many of them use their victimhood as an excuse to be assholes, but I feel disconnected from the mainstream and such because they feel the opposite, overly insensitive, careless, and clueless about what it’s actually like in the real world.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Thanks, I hope my meds kick in soon. I don’t want to make an ass of myself and ruin a good thing. Nerves and anxiety keep me up late and I get tired and say stupid shit sometimes but I don’t mean to.

It is really weird though, that you can essentially get away with a lot by just pretending you’re wealthy. Just dress and shave like you are and speak with an “academically-enriched vernacular.” Also be white, I’m sure that helps. But anywho.

@OliverHancock  
That’s an inspiring story. Always nice to hear when bad times can still lead to success. Sorry you had the experience in the first place, but glad you made the best of it and overcame it in the end.

@OliverHancock  
Lol
 
@OliverHancock  
And no worries, I have what I need. May not have my old life of luxury anymore, but I still have food, a roof over my head, my dog, and my truck. Among other things. So I’m good, I’ll recover.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
I guess I don’t really know how to relate cause I’ve never had much money to begin with. Been below poverty level the vast majority of my life.
 
I do remember living on the street though. I went from getting by decently well with most of the necessary essentials, to being on the street with nothing but the clothes on my back and a synthesizer 4 years ago. Kept the synth at a friend’s place and snuck into a college, had good hygiene and blended in with the students and played piano in their practice rooms. Then I would sleep underneath the pianos. Bunch of suburbanite yuppies paid me little to no attention, as suburbanites generally do not notice finer details in their surroundings so long as they don’t inconvenience them directly in some way. (Lol, sorry but it’s the truth.)
 
That was the nights I could get down there. There was a few times I just slept on the street.
 
The point is that life is tough now, but I have much more now than I’ve ever had before only a few years later, so anything is possible.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Sorry to hear it’s been bad.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Also, don’t be afraid to push the limits of what you think is possible now and then when it comes to prepping and saving money. Don’t settle just because you saved more than the people around you or more than you used to. Think outside the box.
 
Case in point:  
Gee, the healthcare system keeps charging me a lot of money to wait in a line for 2 hours and then pay for a prescription when I get strep throat and such, but hey, at least I take care of my fish really well so they’re unlikely to get sick often in the first place, and when my fish do get sick, then I can treat their strep throat, boils, staph infection, etc. with a whole variety of legally obtainable “fish forms” of antibiotics.
 

 
Aw fudgemuffins, don’t you hate it when you forget to press the anon button or vice versa? /)_^ Oh wellllll lol. I gotta get some shut-eye anywho. Have a good one. 👍✌️

@Anonymous #83D9  
Yeah. Went from being part of the 1% to below the poverty line in the span of about 8 months due to extraordinary, unforeseen events. And the whole Coronavirus thing just made it all the worse. Still have a lot of nice things, but in terms of liquid assets, I’m bankrupt. Never saw that one coming.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
This is why the hood boys and rednecks don’t always fare as poorly in bad situations as people might think. It’s up to the individual and the mindset and experience/practice to a vast extent. Poor people know how to be poor. Although I do worry about mental health with a lot of people, and access to decent healthcare is… limited, to say the least.

@Anonymous #83D9  
That’s all good advice. For pretty much my entire life up until late 2018, I was the kind of person that never really looked at prices of anything. If I wanted something, I bought it. A rather sudden life shift flipped me around to the polar opposite of that reality and adjusting has been.. rather extreme.

@MagpulDynamicPie
 
The main thing is sticking to the budget. If you say, “okay I normally save $100 a month, but this month I have to get these 5 more expensive flabberwockies than usual, then I’m going to only save $75 this month, I’m going to forego my normal weekly jumbushumbus treat, and bake my own bread this month in order to stick to my budget. Even though I could theoretically just barely pay for it all by not saving $75, I might have an emergency and have to use that $75. So I’ll do it for the flabberwockies and remember how important they are to me this month.
 
 
Bad explanation but I think you get what I’m saying.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Every dollar must have a purpose. If it doesn’t, you need to adjust.
 
Also, try to pay for something once and only once, unless there is no practical way to do so, in which case maybe you’re better off bucking traditional wisdom and going to the other end of the spectrum to have sheer numbers on your side for particular items.
 
I can buy 1 Leatherman multitool for $75 and might lose it or break it anyway, or I can buy 3 Gerbers for the same price… But I can save my money another week, find some sales and get a deal on 2 Gerbers and a Leatherman only $25 or so beyond the original price of just the Leatherman alone. Best of both philosophies.
 
Find multiple income sources- do odd jobs for neighbors or donate plasma for extra cash.
 
Don’t beat yourself up when you screw up, or if you simply need to spend a few bucks or so here and there on something frivolous, especially if it’s for someone other than yourself… Just don’t make it a habit. Instead, take pride in the lengthy learning process and the slow but steady progress.
 
Sales and clearances rule. Have enough extra money and supplies at all times that you can wait. Then, only buy things when they’re on sale. Always check the clearance aisles/orange/yellow/red tags, etc. You never know what you’ll find.
 
I got a 4 pack of lightbulbs for 65 cents the other day. They usually cost 7 bucks. In a couple more years when my old bulbs burn out, I’ll be thanking myself, just like I do whenever any “unnecessary purchase” that I bought on sale years ago ends up coming in handy at some time, which happens to the majority of oddball sale items that I buy.
 
Often times they are used for repairs or working on a project a neighbor needs done. I didn’t need a caulking gun 4 years ago, but when it was on clearance for 40% of the original price and it was within my budget, meaning I hadn’t already bought too much “unnecessary shit” that week/month yet, then I knew it was a good buy and would come in handy someday like it did this week. (Made 20 bucks sealing a couple leak for a neighbor, 1000% return on my investment 4 years later.)
 
P.s. for the record, I actually like a lot of Gerber’s tools about as much as Leatherman. There’s an argument to be made for some that you don’t even need the “top of the line” when it comes to brands and products with a lot of things, and that durability difference just isn’t worth $50 period. Obviously durability is of huge importance, but it’s just something to note that you don’t always get 100% of what you pay for, and there can be many diminishing returns.

@Anonymous #83D9  
I’m still trying to learn the art of budgeting and desperately need to these days.

I’ve also got a carrier and 2 sets of level III body armor plates, a high-power .177 pellet rifle for hunting small game, a 3800 lumen flashlight, a katana, 20 gallons of water, exercise equipment, fishing gear, a water filter, purification tablets, personal cooling amenities, firestarting equipment, $3,000 tucked away somewhere not in my place of residence, 2 “gas mask” full face respirators and filter cartridges, many tools and knives, a year’s worth of food for 2 people, radios, candles, portable lights, solar chargers, lots of medicine and first aid supplies, a small but tight-knit network of friends and family, and a modest but useful amount of knowledge in multiple disciplines.
 
I don’t find it necessary to “flex” my day-to-day fun stuff, but I thought perhaps my essentials might inspire someone to start getting the same.
 
Oh, and don’t mind the smashed guitar on the ground from the last post, or wonder about the lack of an actual firearm on this one. PTSD is just a bitch sometimes, and sometimes you don’t always have your proudest moments, but you know your limitations and that’s okay.
 
Just be prepared in as much as you reasonably can.
 
I did this all on a budget. I only live on about $12,000 or less a year. A little over $16,000 or if you count the portion of the rent that Uncle Sam is subsidizing.
 
Regardless, you’d be surprised what you can accomplish if you just spend your money wisely.

 
I got more in the bathroom.

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