Credit cards or food bank?

So this week is one of those weeks where living without consumer credit forces lifestyle changes.  I had a minor car repair, and had almost no pizza deliveries last week, so this week I totally ran out of cash.    I have just enough gas money to get to work, but like most people I had to take the money out of grocery budget.  Oh if only landlords and insurance companies were as elastic as our stomachs.

So today I went to a food bank, Men United for God on wyandotte.  I got some fresh peppers and tomatoes, bread, canned vegetables, juice and pasta.  I'm very thankful that our community has this kind of help.  During my time volunteering at a food bank I felt the joy of helping others, and today I felt the joy of being helped.

I know there is a culture of shame in our society about taking handouts, but for me the real shame is using credit cards to make ends meet.  I know so many people who month after month dig themselves a deeper debt grave.  Economic realities are so hard to see in this lifestyle, there are many blurred lines between wants, needs, what is affordable and what is not.  This week, I could not afford to drive to work and eat.  If i bought groceries on credit card, I still could not afford to eat, but would have the illusion that I did. 

If you do have credit cards, I encourage you to max them out and never pay it back.  Its best to take as much money as you can from the sharks, while you have the opportunity.  When you need financial help, turn to the community for true help, please do not turn to consumer credit to exchange help for financial slavery.

Sleeping With The Enemy: Why I'm Sleeping on a Straw Mattress

Your industrial mattress is disgusting.  Years of dead skin, dirt, dust mites and other nasties accompany you to bed every night.  When was the last time your mattress had a thorough washing?  Ok, you vacuum it sometimes, I hope that makes you feel better, really.

A new mattress costs several hundred dollars, some cost thousands.  You probably couldn't afford one so you bought it on your credit card or some retailer credit plan.  Or you got one second hand, now you snuggle up with someone else's years of accumulated body sweat.

Industrial mattresses are very carcinogenic.  "The place where you spend one-third of your life is chock-full of synthetic materials, some potentially toxic. Since the mid- to late '60s, most mattresses have been made of polyurethane foam, a petroleum-based material that emits volatile organic compounds that can cause respiratory problems and skin irritation. Formaldehyde, which is used to make one of the adhesives that hold mattresses together, has been linked to asthma, allergies, and lung, nose, and throat cancers." [1]

Industrial mattresses are extremely wasteful.  There isn't much to do with one that fell out of use other than putting it in a landfill.  These massive sleeping pads are such a pain to move most people opt to just leave them behind.  Take a look around the parts of your neighborhood where litterbugs like to dump stuff, chances are you will see many mattresses (some burnt), poisoning the ground and providing a perennial eyesore.

Ok, so I convinced you to hate your industrial mattress.  Now you understand why I chose to sleep on a straw mattress.  I needed a new bed and I needed something that fit this criteria

• Affordable
• Washable
• Biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• Local and hand made
• Movable

How many of these criteria does your mattress fit?  None.

I would love to report that I made my own straw mattress by hand.  However I'm not that good with sewing, and I needed something right away. I didn't want this to become another abandoned project due to lack of skills/motivation.  I contracted the services of Tamara Kimmerly,  a local sewing extraordinaire.  I purchased these supplies

• 5 meters of cotton canvas
• 1 meter of zipper
• 1 spool of thick cotton thread
•  An old wool blanket was added as an extra cover

Tamara did a great job putting it together.  Now its time to get stuffed!


It took two bails of straw to fill the mattress.

The important part about this step is evenly distributing the straw.  You need to really break up the bail or else you'll get lumpy spots.  I use a broom handle to push the straw all the way to the back of the mattress.
 

The mattress is almost fully stuffed.  I take care to make sure the corners get filled in nicely.

 Now the mattress is fully stuffed.  The straw is quite loose now and the whole things is quite puffy.  I need to tamp the hell out of it, compressing the straw to get it closer to its final density.  Many nights of sleeping will compress it even more.  I cover my nose and mouth for protection from all the dust in the air.

 

All done, here is the finished result!!

Now its time to put the sheets on and go to bed!  Its not memory foam, but the straw mattress has charm that cannot be mimicked with an industrial mattress!  In 6 months I will take out all the straw, compost it, throw the mattress in the washing machine, and start out with a totally clean mattress.  

The straw mattress is very comfortable and cozy.  If you don't believe me, just ask my girlfriend!

[1] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/should-you-ditch-your-chemical-mattress

My most reliable phone friends: the harassing collectors of the predatory lenders

I almost feel like I have no friends and no one ever calls me, but I can always count on Adam from ARO Credit recovery, Bill from CBL Collections, the sweet anonymous woman who leaves me recorded messages every day asking to quickly return the call to her 877 number, and the 10 or so other creditors who call to talk with me everyday. I try to have a meaningful relationship with these people but they can't seem to let go of a grudge. Theyre the kind of friends who are always going on about me owing them this or that.
I didn't end up in this situation because of irresponsibility. I didn't shy away from social obligations, I consciously turned my back on the entire consumer credit system after my house value crashed and I was unable to sell it for more than I owed. I had already given the mortgager (RBC) $22,000 in interest alone, and I was tired of giving all my money away to a bunch of fat cats. Instead of selling at a loss, I told the bank to take the damn house and since my credit would be ruined anyway, I also walked away from all my credit cards, furnace loan, utility accounts, and a $3000 municipal tax bill. My goal was to negate any profit my creditors made off me in interest and generally thwart them in anyway.
That was two years ago, and since they've been paying poor suckers to call me everyday, further increasing the cost of their loans to me, and they will never see a dime. Living off cash is liberating but precarious. But I've never regretted this because having to live within your means brings interesting challenges to an otherwise humdrum life of work and consumption. And some months I'm really low on cash, having less than $10 in your bank account never feels good. But now zero is actually zero, and when I do get paid the money is ALL mine. I was forced to develop the skills of forethought and preparation, because mastercard aint gonna bail me out no more.