8 Simple Ways to Survive Cities & Improve Your Lifestyle
8 Simple Ways to Survive Cities & Improve Your Lifestyle
Surviving inside cities is hard. Been there, done that.
Rising costs, rising crime, violent demonstrations, discrimination, racism. All reported as getting worse.
The wrong solution is to hunker down and pretend it isn’t really that way.
The real solution is to be prepared and cut your losses.
If you’re still reading or listening to corporate “news” these days, then then you already know how bad it is. But that’s really just how bad they want you to think it is.
Because corporate “news” preaches fear in order to sell advertising, mostly drug ads.
Here’s the typical family living in cities:
Lives from pay-check to pay-check.
Not enough in savings to last more than a month or two if the breadwinners lost one of their jobs (and many have three jobs between two people.)
Constantly worried about crime in their city and neighborhood.
Surrounded by “stuff” which requires payments and isn’t worth selling on eBay or a pawn shop.
No real retirement planned out, just some 401K’s which are dubious at best.
When the next disaster happens in your city, you’re going to be dependent on your local and national government for assistance. And figure long wait times when, not if that happens. (Study Houston and Puerto Rico hurricane response for similarities and contrasts.)
The Reason Cities Attract Bad News and Disasters
A lot of people existing in a small area under unsustainable conditions.
Electrical, Water, and Food supplies can be simply interrupted. This has been proved over and over. Your water, and food comes in from outside the city, usually. Electrical isn’t all generated within the city, in many cases not at all.
When the power goes down, the jobs quit. That means no pay.
That’s why losers like ISIS, Al-Queda, and Antifa target metropolitan areas. Lots of people easily hurt. Lots of media to cover them and spread their message.
You won’t see a media report about some loser getting in a pickup truck and running over cows in Montana, then getting out with toy guns and screaming nonsense. When a barn blows down from a tornado, it hardly sees air time, unless it winds up across an interstate highway.
That’s not “news.” Nobody got hurt (except the cows, and media doesn’t care about animals unless they are cute puppies and kittens brought into the studio.)
Our corporate media is clearly stupid. And inbred into this nonsense. So don’t look to them for sane analysis. Don’t look to them for help improve your lifestyle. They don’t care unless it loses them advertisers.
How You Can Save Yourself and Your Family
Here’s some simple and sensical steps you can take:
Immediately, get emergency supplies to last 48 hours for when the worst happens. Then work out investing in packages of freeze-dried foods. Get enough for about 3 months stockpiled under your bed or some under-utilized space. Start gardening in flower boxes, on rooftops, or in neighborhood vacant areas if you can. (Oddly, this is often cheaper than buying fresh food.)
Wean corporate “news” out of your life. Get your entertainment from books or inexpensive DVD’s that are worth re-reading/re-watching. Keep informed from selected Internet sources you can trust as factual. Get that amount of inbred hate out of your life and replace it with entertaining and/or inspiring content. Your library is your friend.
Get a budget that allows you to live within your current income. Quit charging stuff on your credit card. The one exception os to pay this off entirely within the end of the month, to keep records for taxes. But you probably won’t be there for awhile. A debit card is your best bet if you want the ease of plastic. One that won’t charge it to credit if you run out. Save up for stuff you want and pay cash when you can. Manage your reserves for emergencies.
Organize your life to get out of debt. This is probably a long-term scene. In some cases, you can convert your credit card balances into a personal loan which will equal your current payment. I was able to pay off my debts in just three years using this approach.
De-clutter and minimalize in your life. Read up on these. Your life can be better when the only things you have in it fill a real purpose. Don’t just get stuff for no real reason or use. Give useless stuff away or re-sell it. And if you’re still paying it off, maybe they’ll take it back. Again, read up on all the regular articles that come out in this area. Live comfortably, but stop impulse buying.
Start a side business which is Internet-based. Much like Bezos started Amazon by reselling books online. Set it up so you aren’t having to manufacture stuff to re-sell. Make it content-based. “Content Inc.” by Joe Pulizzi is the roadmap for this.
Stay out of politics other than voting. Attending demonstrations is a good way to get hurt. Lots of losers like Antifa show up and start violence. Stay away from these areas when they are announced. Be safe. But meanwhile, work to replace elected officials. Mark Twain said, “Politicians are like babies. They should be changed often — and for the same reason.” Corruption happens eventually when people stay in office too long. Fact of life.
When you can afford to move out of cities, do so. (No debts, your online business is replacing your other income, you have streamlined your possessions.) Cities are failed projects (as Joe Salatin maintains) and are targets for violent extremists, including corporate media. Once you can live independently of your surroundings, move to a more affordable and pleasant area. Wherever you want. And consider a Tiny Home on wheels you can relocate simply.
I’ve been watching this mess for years, and finally thought to give you a heads up. Because you deserve it.
Get Peace of Mind and Improve Your Lifestyle
What you’ll wind up with is peace of mind and an independent lifestyle which can be protected. (Those who lived in the Houston area with a Tiny Home could simply have pulled it to higher ground out of the storm’s path and come back to help their neighbors clean up.)
It’s completely your choice what you want to do with your life.
Good luck with this.
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Originally published at Living Sensical.