Tools for the smart poor.

Here are some things that I figured may help reducing the cost of living in the long run.

1. Pressure Cookers
if you eat a lot of beans and whole grains — which you should :P — it makes cooking time of bigger beans, say chick peas go from 4 hours to approximately 30 minutes counting all the hassle of getting the pressure up in the cooker, and at the hand, lowering the pressure.

Pressure cookers have evolved a lot since their first appearance on the marker about 50 years ago. Although the new generation models seem quite pricy comparatively to the one at the re-use-it centre for $30, ranging from $100 to $400, there are several advantages to them:
If you don't have a cooker that cooks at the standards 10 or 15 psi, you constantly have to modify every recipe and the results are less predictable. Pressure cookers that use less than 15 psi defeat the speed of cooking, cost more money in cooking fuel, and lessen the nutritional value of foods, plus, they waste your time.

Also, good cookers are usually stainless steal instead of aluminum. Although it hasn’t been 'proven' that aluminum cookware is harmful, I think it would be smart to be able to use it the least possible. I think the same of good ol'plastic cooking ware, or anti-stick cookware. I just prefer not to trust these too much.

2. Instant Water Heaters

When we lived up at our old landlord's cabin it wasn't all that relaxing but it was amazing the money saved because of the lack of usual appliances. First I must say two things: A] this was a very small place: 16 feet by 16 feet to be exact. Yep, probably smaller than, huh, your living room. B] We were only two living there, so it might have been easier to operate the instant water heater because of these factors.

There are obvious disadvantages to tanks water heaters. Here they are:

A] Bulky – That can be a major issue if you are poor. Space is limited and has to be used efficiently. Somebody told me that when they went to Japan, a lot of apartments had instant water heaters. The problem here is that, as poor people, we often don’t get to choose what is installed in the apartment we live in. None-the-less, I think it is still worth thinking about and being informed of alternatives…

B] Energy wastage – Tanks are more or less efficient at retaining their heat [stand-by heat loss] and rely on heating elements that go on and off constantly over 24 hours, amounting for a significant portion of the heating bills. Some tanks also heat water to a very high temperature, using even more energy to maintaining it at that temperature.

C] Durability – It is said that Tankless usually last about 20 years, versus 10-15 for tanks. Tankless are also more resistant to corrosion. Tanks are also more prone to leaking and therefore possibly damaging floors and wall bases as well.

In hotter locations, People use a Tankless system in combination with a solar hot water tank system to bring the water to a higher temperature at certain period of the year.

Ok, this is all very exciting, but there are certain things to consider when using a Tankless Water Heater. First, there are two kinds of Tankless: point-of-use and central Tankless Water Heaters.

The point-of-use are the cheapest, most common ones, where the water heater usually sits as close as possible to the faucet [very common in Japan]. Central Tankless are more expensive as they require a redesign of the whole building’s water heating system.

There a subdivision into gas/propane Tankless and electric tankless. Electric ones are less efficient but require less installation modifications.

Note: these are just my personal notes. You can get better thorough information here:
http://www.toolbase.org/techinv/techDetails.aspx?technologyID=1


3. Sowing Machine
Sowing machines are the new cool ahahah! Seriously, if you do not own one [as I do not] you may not realize what you can do with them. My mom which was not only the coolest mom, regardless of her many faults [which I won’t go into here hahahah], she was the smartest, made a point of gently showing us [both my bro and I!] how to use it.

You see, my mom was pretty dang poor when she was a kid. So she learned to use her homemaker skills taught to her, not only by her mom but in school [if you were a girl in the fifties, that’s what they taught you] to good use. She would make her own hats, bags, skirts, etc. she would study fashion magazines, buy various patterns, mod’ them, and recreate the coolest outfits the way she liked them. She would modify cheap outfits to look better…she even made her own wedding dress out of a cheap ugly one…S-M-R-T she was. I’ve compared our photo albums with other families’. Dude, by ‘modern’ standards, my mom definitely had taste compare to other, wealthier kids.

Another story: when I was twenty, I went out with a guy who was very poor as well. I couldn’t believe that he would pay ten dollar to get his pants bottom hemmed or a couple box to get a button put back on. I did it for him…but I sure wish that he would have learned how to. Sigh…

All to say. This tool could possibly help you to be not only more creative, but cooler as well.



4. Energy Star Washer
5. Clothe Line, or rack or other drying apparatus
6. Bycicles and motorcycles
7. Energy Efficient wood stove