Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review

Reading, learning, it’s what I enjoy doing. Before the internet, I would go to the three local libraries in my hometown, I would check out as many books as each on would allow, take them all home, read-read-read until I had gotten through all of them, then I return the books to their respective homes and start all over again. I tended to read non-fiction, I preferred them over fiction most of the time. With the exception of a few notable authors such as Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, and such…

With the advent of the internet and ebooks, I mostly read what I can get in digital format, including audiobooks. So these last couple of books I’ve read, I have held in my hand, turned pages, it was quite old-school for me. J I love it. Now, on to the book review.


Tough Times Survival Guide Vol. 1


Have you ever listened to a compilation music CD? You know the kind that has multiple artists on it; they usually take the best or favorites from each artist from a similar genre and put all on one CD. With compilation CDs, they give you the chance to listen to a variety of different artists in the same genre, this exposes you to artists you may have never heard of before, chances are you probably wouldn’t have picked up their work unless you had heard the song on that compilation CD first.

Well that is what this book is like, instead of being written by a single author, Paladin Publishing took the best from a multitude of authors and combined it to make the book Tough Times Survival Guide Vol. 1. Just like compilation music CDs, getting this book will allow you to read the works of many different authors and you just may find a few that you are very interested in, you really like what they have to say and now you can find more works by this author.

Tough Times Survival Guide Vol 1 is a compilation of 25 different authors who write about making do, finding work, staying safe and becoming more self-reliant. This book focuses on money related/financial subjects. But it’s not what you might think. You will not find stock tips in this book, instead you will learn different ways to stretch your money, how to live on very little money, how to survive in these perilous times.

One of my favorite chapters is the first one, it’s about fixing things instead of replacing them. Mr. Romney gives some very good tips about repair trade secrets; I especially like the epoxy tips, such as fixing engine motors and such, the formulas and exact products are listed making it easy for you to find exactly what you need to make these repairs, and much more. Who knew you could do so much with epoxy?

Gleaning and scrounging are other subjects discussed in this book, I got some ideas that I might not have come up with on my own. Of course another favorite was the author of Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead, that was right up my alley.

If you are willing to roll up your sleeves and swallow your pride, you can find lots of useful stuff in dumpsters, much more than trash. You’d be shocked to see what people throw away, perfectly good electronics, foods that have gone out of date (but are still good), clothes…  With the tips and tricks in this book, you will learn the ins and outs of dumpster diving, which ones to look in first and which ones to stay away from.  You can not only furnish your own place, you can find and repair items (electronics, gadgets and such) and sell the refurbished items for cash, or trade or barter with it.

Another good chapter is written by one of my favorite DIY authors, James Ballou, I did a review of one of his books Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance. His chapter in this book is about homemade drills, a very handy thing to have around.  I highly recommend  James Ballou’s books, read my review of one of his book here: http://www.off-grid.net/2009/10/03/makeshift-workshop-skills-for-survival-and-self-reliance-book-review/

How would you like to learn how to build your own computer, or better yet be able to find free computers?  You can learn about tent living and how and where to get free firewood & other fuels. There’s even a chapter on how to live on the streets, something I hope I don’t have to do but it’s still good knowledge to have. It may even make you look at street people with a new eye.

Ever heard of the “underground economy”? Learn about alternative employment, from self-employment to the tax-free underground economy. There are many ways of making money besides the regular 9-5 job.  You’ll find tips on how to get a job, what industries to look at when looking for quick employment…  You’ll learn some banking tips that will help you keep more of your money instead of lining the pocket of the bankers.

In this book you’ll find:

1. The fine art of gleaning food
2. Full-time tent living
3. Secrets of haggling
4. Bill collector psychology
5. Free fuel for cold times
6. Where to find free computers
7. How to get a job in a war zone
8. The lucky 7 dumpster diving spots
9. What to do before you’re fired
10. The top 10 websites for getting by in tough times
Plus 15 more essays written by top Paladin-Press authors or specially commissioned for this book.

If you are a survivalist, homeless (or about to be), living on the edge, unemployed or underemployed (and who isn’t?), this book is for you, it contains useful, easy to implement ways to save and keep more of your hard earned money, and who doesn’t want to do that?

You can find this book, as well as the next version of this book here:
http://paladinpress.com/product/1192/79

or buy it here TOUGH TIMES SURVIVAL GUIDE, VOLUME 1

Click here to listen to a podcast interview with some of the authors of this book.

Read my other book reviews here:
Click here to see my other book reviews

Click here to read my book review process. 



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Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha (included for the text reader),

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