Basic Necessities

[CENTER]Basic Necessities[/CENTER]



1) Shelter and bedding to sleep every night. (Exorbitantly expensive where I live!)

2) Access to hot water. If you use oil for heating your water, at this point in time, then you are probably going broke! (Also, if you pay for the heating of your living space, you can buy inexpensive "Elmers" calk, to apply to drafty cracks that will help keep heating costs down.)

3) Bars of soap. (Best if bought in bulk.)

4) Shampoo (Best if bought in bulk, in my opinion.)

5) Razors for shaving. (I use disposables and think it best if bought in bulk also.)

6) Nail Clippers (For finger as well as toe nails.)

7) Toilet Paper. (Again, buy mass quantities.)

8) Tooth Paste and Tooth Brushes. (Be sure to stock up on 'em.)

9) Food. (Try to hoarde as much canned, packaged and frozen goods as humanly possible -buying food in bulk is usually cheaper, look for deals.)

10) A good flashlight or two and many long-burning candles. (Buy your batteries and candles in bulk as they tend to last a long time, and be sure to buy cigarrette lighters by the package.)

11) First aid kit.

12) Also, gather your birth certificate, social security card and other essential documents in a metal-type box for protection and easy retrieval.

13) Clothes: Clothes are most problematic. Try to buy your winter clothes in the warm season and your summer clothes in the cold seasons; buy winter coats, cloth hats and gloves in July, and buy shorts and tee-shirts and sandals in January. And also, with a little detergent you can always wash items in a sink and hang them indoors to dry. Since clothing items tend to last, it seems best to emphasize the maintainence of your clothing items as opposed to the cost of actually purshasing them. Wash towels and bedding often in warm water or a touch of bleach to cut the risk of bed-bugs, dust mites, etc. (Keep well stocked and buy plenty of pairs of underwear and socks!)

14) Hair Cut: You can always buy a pair of scissors and teach your self to cut your own hair if necessary.

15) Privacy for detumescence: men require a certain amount of privacy to achieve detumescence. Without this element studies have shown that men may become violent and ultimately end up in the prison system.

16) Money: often we buy things out of emotional need rather than bare necessity. If we can recognize this fact then perhaps we can discover ways within ourselves to reign in spending. (It would be good to remember that Socrates did not own a red sports car!) Always tabulate the costs of any regular, recurring payments to see where the money is going. For example, it is cheaper in the long run to purchase energy efficient items; I'm talkin' about big ticket durable items like washing machines and dryers and refriderators and heaters. It is probably better to adopt a 'do it yourself' attitude when it comes to solving some of our money problems: instead of spending money for emotional security we could try to actually learn about human nature and the reasons that cause all of us to be so perennially frightened and needy as I believe we, as humans, really are. And remember, air and sunlight are always free!

17) Organization. Try to find the time to think in the long term. People who think in the short term end up going in circles making the same mistakes over and over again. As human beings we are in constant need to better ourselves. But since our minds work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, our futures are often darkened by our inability to control all of our impulses and passions and we end up becoming frustrated and emotionally disrupted. Young people are especially at risk.

The solution is to stick with the absolutely most basic things that we can think of. One of the best pieces of advice that I ever heard was a woman who said that whenever she feels off balance she looks at the ground. We must look at the ground and as corny as it sounds we must stick to advancing our basic thinking, organizing, speaking and communicating skills. Walking and talking is really no joke in my opinion. Learning basic mathematics and the English language by themseves is exceedingly difficult. When we are young we speak and write without knowing the nature of language. Most people maintain this ignorance throughout their lives. To learn just one word or two can be a great achievement, especially if we come to know them by way of historical etymologies and Latin and Greek roots. To learn an interesting new word and use it in speech with others during adult conversation is, I think, an underrated experience.

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