About the Author of FLAT BROKE? JJ Luna grew up during the Great Depression of the1930s. He is among the millions still living who can tell stories about what were really hard times.
However, this report is not about the Great Depression. Rather, it is about surviving the present hard times that can result from losing your savings, your job, or your home.
Luna says he has never been “poor,” but admits to being fired from a number of jobs when he was young, and running completely out of cash in 1949, 1953, 1974, and  (hopefully for the last time!) in 1979.
“Losing your home or your job may be a blessing in disguise,” he says, remembering his own experiences and those of his friends. “Your best years may be yet to come.”

Click here to receipt your free Kindle book.


 

This eBook is a Kindle freebie only on May 7th and 8th. The information in OFF THE GRID: Live in a Van, Trailer, Truck, or Motorhome is based upon my own experiences living on the road, dating back to just after World War II. If you can imagine yourself in any of the following categories, then OFF THE GRID is for you! Save on Your Rent PaymentIn hard times, one of the best ways to cut expenses quickly and for as long as you need relief, is to stop paying rent. True, even an old truck or cargo trailer will cost something, but often these pay for themselves in less
than a year. A bonus is that when you sell it, you may get the major part of
your money back.Low-Cost VacationsThe cost of lodging, even on a three-week vacation, can easily run up to $2,000 or more. However, if you’ve got a light-weight fiberglass or converted cargo trailer—set up for cooking—even a two or three month holiday may be affordable.Permanent livingTens of thousands of Americans and Canadians live full time in a motorhome. There are prices for all budgets, from just over $2,000 to well over $1,000,000!High AdventureTravel up the Alaska Highway—a trip you will never forget!Personal PrivacyThe quickest way to assure yourself of total privacy is to travel in a van, trailer, truck or motorhome.  OFF THE GRID: Live in a Van, Trailer, Truck, or Motorhome 

Is there a catch?  Of course there is, because my minimum fee for a consultation is normally $2,950. Here are the conditions that must be met in order to obtain the discount:

1.  The time will be reduced to 90 minutes, plus  the usual follow-up by email.
2.  The location must be as shown, and at these specific dates:

       Wenatchee, Washington.  May 21st
        Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, May 22nd
        Missoula, Montana, May 23rd

Only one opening at each location.  Email me for details—Jack {at} jjluna.com

Federal agents have been have routinely using a sophisticated cell phone tracking tool called Stingray” for years. Stingray can pinpoint callers’ locations and listen to their conversations — all without getting a warrant.

According to Linda Lye, staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California in a blog post about the case, “Installed in an unmarked van, Stingray mimics a cellphone tower, so it can pinpoint the precise location of any mobile device in range and intercept conversations and data.”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/29/feds-fbi-warrantless-cell-tracking-very-common/#ixzz2RXKws4mX

How to Protect Yourself From Stingray1. Leave your mobile devices at home.  Do not turn any of them on except to make a call.2. If you must take any of them with you, keep it tightly wrapped in aluminum foil.3.  Use only a prepaid “burner” phone for outgoing calls. Activate Caller ID Blocking and never give that number out to anyone—not even your mother.

Now that Bitcoin has hit the skids, I am tempted to tell all my readers that "I told you so!" a year ago or more.  Ripple (not to be confused with the charitable donation tool of the same name). is supposed to be an improvement but I will stick to U.S. dollars. Only dollars will pay my property taxes, income taxes, coffee at Wendy's and Chevron gasoline.  (On second thought, at my age the coffee at Wendy's is free.)

For more information about how to stash your cash, stay tuned. My new ebook '"Invisible Money, Hidden Assets, Secret Accounts" will be available both on my website and in Amazon's Kindle Store some time next month.

OFF THE GRID: How to live in a van, truck, trailer or mobilehome is now on Kindle.

The information in this book is based upon my own experiences living on the road, dating back to just after World War II. If you can imagine yourself in any of the following categories, this book is for you!

Save on Your Rent Payment

In hard times, one of the best ways to cut expenses quickly and for as long as you need relief, is to stop paying rent. True, even an old truck or cargo trailer will cost something, but often these pay for themselves in less than a year. A bonus is that when you sell it, you may get the major part of your money back.

Low-Cost Vacations

The cost of lodging, even on a three-week vacation, can easily run up to $2,000 or more. However, if you’ve got a light-weight fiberglass or converted cargo trailer—set up for cooking—even a two or three month holiday may be affordable.

Permanent living

Tens of thousands of Americans and Canadians live full time in a motorhome. There are prices for all budgets, from just over $2,000 to well over $1,000,000!

High Adventure

Travel up the Alaska Highway—a trip you will never forget!

Personal Privacy

The quickest way to assure yourself of total privacy is to travel in a van, trailer, truck or motorhome.

Temporary low price is only $4.99.   Order now!

Here's one of the headlines today at CNN:
Baby shot dead in stroller; 2 Georgia teens charged with murder
Said Sherry West, the the mother of the dead baby:  ""A boy approached me and told me he wanted my money, and I told him I didn't have any money. And he said, 'Give me your money or I'm going to kill you and I'm going to shoot your baby and kill your baby,' and I said, 'I don't have any money,' and 'Don't kill my baby.... And then, all of a sudden, he walked over and he shot my baby in the face."
How many others have been shot and killed by muggers who were desperate for money? Perhaps some would have been killed anyway, but many other would have been saved. Some of these attackers are drug addicts desperate for a fix.  Just hand them the cash and they may be off and running!

Personally, I never leave home with less than $300 and neither does my wife, although we do not advertise that fact. I urge you to never to carry less than $50, and $100 is a much safer sum. Now, don't tell me you haven't even got $50 to your name.  (But if that is the case, then how about $2.99?  That's all it will cost you to download FLAT BROKE? How to Get Back on Your Feet Fast!    

Although I do not know who killed Tom Clements, nor what the killer's motive was, I think any reader of Dirty Tricks for Savvy Chicks knows exactly why he died at that moment in time.  He died because he opened the door to a stranger.


If there is one safety tip I preach ad nauseam, it is to never answer the door to anyone you do not recognize. Not to the FedEx man. Not to the UPS man, Not to some woman with blood on her face who asks to use you telephone. This applied in spades to Tom Clements, who was Colorado's top state prison official!

Read and put into practice what you learn from Dirty Tricks for Savvy Chicks.  It could save your life!

FLAT BROKE? has, until now, been priced at $14 and sold only on my website. However, it is now available in Amazon's Kindle Store for just $2.99.  Contents:

The Story of Homer Croy
      Bad news may be good news in disguise
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
      This chapter alone may get you back on track!
How to Survive the Loss of Your Home
       The many advantages of renting rather than owning 5
How to Survive the Loss of Your Job  
        This may open to door to pursuing your dreams       
How to Raise Some Immediate Cash
         How the author raised cash when it seemed impossible, and how you can too

Instead, wait until tomorrow morning, March 17.  Rosie Enriquez has a few shelf LLCs with names that seem okay to her but that no one else has shown interest in.  She therefore plans to quietly reduce the price on these to $355, but that's not all.

She will include the services of the resident agent for four years ahead rather than the normal three.

You may not like the names either, but why not send her an email and ask for the list? 

Her email is rosie (at) senoritarosie.com. For the subject line, put DISCOUNT SHELF LLCs

Today's is a guest blog by an anonymous friend:

          Smart phones are now pretty much electronic oxygen; everybody needs one every day. For more and more people, their whole lives are wrapped up in their Smart Phone – contacts, calendar, messages, web surfing.  It’s a device that also goes with you everywhere.
          Did you ever wonder what, exactly, your phone can tell about you? Most people don’t pay any attention to the little snitch that runs around in your pocket.  Perhaps it’s time you do.  A recent document release discloses exactly how much information your friendly phone accumulates.
          Some background is needed to put things in context. If you are stopped by the police, there is a chance that you and the contents of your pockets will be examined.  If you are actually arrested, you will be exposed to a “search incident to arrest” and you and the contents of your pockets are fair game. That includes your Smart phone.  Under current case law, your phone can be searched for evidence of whatever crime you committed, especially if the police obtain a warrant. Your phone will squeal if a warrant is obtained.
          So what do the police find on your phone?  A recently unsealed search warrant from Michigan reveals all:
·        Everything you could possibly want to know about the technical features of the phone, software and apps that the phone runs.
·        The carrier, account information and account names connected to the phone.
·        Your complete call log – incoming, outgoing and missed.
·        Your complete text message history.
·        Your complete chat history.
·        Your contacts lists.
·        All data stored on your phone – documents, photos, etc.
·        Your browser history.
·        Your browser bookmarks.
          Alarmed?  It gets better.  Your little snitch also discloses the cell towers and Wi-Fi networks it has been using to keep in touch with the larger world, neatly arranged by time and date.  In the seized phone, there were 659 such contacts, including 227 cell towers, 28 Wi-Fi hotspots connected to and 403 Wi-Fi hotspots contacted. In addition, there was a “media site” which was identified, probably Netflix or something similar.
          So what does all that mean?  It means with a little time and effort, by extrapolating cell tower locations and Wi-Fi locations and placing those locations on a map, your movements can be tracked without any outside assistance. Now granted, cell towers and Wi-Fi networks broadcast over a grid the size of a few city blocks, but still, your phone knows you were in the area.
          So maybe, if you really want to be sneaky, you should leave the little snitch at home.

As I say again and again, both in How to be Invisible and Dirty Tricks for Savvy Chicks, never receive mail, pizza, courier services, or anything else at your home address.  The penalty of doing so is illustrated in an article in today's Consumerist.

If the woman involved had not been receiving anything at home, she would then have known that the FedEx package (containing large vacuum-packed bags of marijuana)  could not possibly be for her.  Thus, she would never have signed for it.

To read the article, click here.

A year or so ago I ran across a Fake TV unit on Amazon.  Unfortunately, I was influenced by some negative reviews, and did not order it at that time.

However, a month ago I decided to order one anyway, and check it out.  What a surprise! This is a great little gadget which perfectly duplicates the flickering light of a computer screen.  I set it up within three feet of an upstairs window that was covered with a thin curtain. It turns itself on at dark and can be set to run for either four or seven hours each night.

When it was dark, I checked the window from the street.  Super-realistic but perhaps too bright.  I went back and moved the unit to seven feet back from the window. Perfect!

I brought a friend around who always says he doesn't worry about burglars.  Nevertheless, when he saw the effect, he ordered one right away.

From time to time I plan to buy a new product and test it out. If I don't like it I'll return it, but if I do like it I will recommend it and explain why.  To cover my costs and time, I will include a link to an Amazon affiliates account.  Your cost will be the same as if you order directly, but Amazon will give me a tiny commission.  Okay with you?  If so, click here to order the Fake TV:

 If you order it, please let me know if it meets your expectations.

What other products might you wish to see reviewed here?  Please leave a comment or email me at Jack [at]  jjluna.com.

As all readers of  How to be Invisible know,  I advise never financing the purchase of a car because (among other things) it makes anonymous ownership impossible. The most frequent complaint I get is, "But I must finance the car because I don't have the cash!"  That's often because they want to buy some low-maintenance car such as a Honda or a Toyota.  Hondas and Toyotas are great cars--in fact, we currently have threeToyotas--but they aren't cheap.

Two months go, some Mexican friends asked me to help them look for a Toyota with less than 80,000 miles on it.  They had $8000 in cash. I suggested they forget the Toyota and buy a Mercury Grand Marquis. "Consumers Report rates them highly, they usually have leather seats, seat six, and get 22 mph on the highway."

The next day I located a one-owner 2001 Grand Marquis on Craigslist with 73,000 miles. It had a few dings and there was a tear in the leather upholstery but it was mechanically sound.  They bought it for $2970 and are happy campers.

Last week one of my readers asked me how to get $5000 together as that's what he needed to buy a decent vehicle. I told him to check Craigslist for a Grand Marquis.  Within two days he located a one-owner 2000 model with 83,000 miles. "Asking price is $2500," he said. "Its in good shape mechanically, but needs headliner repair, new tires and has a few dings in the rear bumper. It drives/handles nicely. Does $2500 sound like a fair price to you?"

I suggested a lower offer due to the worn tires and the headliner repair, and received this message from him yesterday:  "I called and spoke with her. I followed your idea and told her since it needed new tires and headliner repair, that I thought the asking price was a bit high. I explained about the expense of parts, etc. She asked me to give her a few minutes to think on it, and she'd call me back. Within 12 minutes flat, she called me back and asked if $1800 would sound fair. SOLD!"

Since Mercury Grand Marquis are excellent cars and almost trouble-free, what makes them so cheap?

Answer:  Younger car-buyers consider these to be an “old-folks” car so they don’t even look for them.  But the very fact that older people were buying them a dozen years ago usually means that (1) the cars are never abused, (2) maintenance was by the dealer, and (3) the cars are sold because the driver has either gotten too old to drive, or has died.

Last fall our son in Montana said he needed a good car for about $5000 so I said I would find him a cream-puff one-owner low-mileage six-passenger Grand Marquis with not a mark on it. Two weeks later we picked up the 2001 model you see below. The man sold it only because it had been his wife’s car and the wife had died.

Does what I say make sense, folks?

The above headline is from a post by Bob Sullivan, a columnist at NBC News. His blog, The Red Tape Chronicles, is among the most popular consumer affairs columns on the Web. The incredible invasion of privacy for wage-earners outlined by Sullivan is beyond belief.  Rather than quote a few paragraph, I urge you to read the full account.
The only remedy:
Quit your job and work for yourself.
(If you disagree, feel free to leave a comment!)