Archive for the ‘Frugality’ Category

Vintage Specialized Racing Bike Found At Goodwill

Posted: July 3, 2013 in Adventures, Frugality, SB Tips, Sports
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I can’t believe what I discovered at Goodwill today. At the thrift store I scored a super rare vintage Specialized Allez Sport racing bicycle! Winning. It took all my hustling skills to acquire it.

I walked around looking for treasure, but couldn’t find anything on the shelves, or in the glass displays. I’m always looking for things to flip. Right when I almost called off the hunt, I went to the back and peered through the doors marked employees only. All I could see were bins, and the bike of my dreams. I’ve been wanting a road bike so I can cruise down the Oregon Coast to hike and camp.

I found an employee, and she said the bike won’t be available until they price it tomorrow. I didn’t accept that. I told her I really need a bike, and I’d like to talk to the manager. He came over, and I said I’d be very grateful if he could sell it to me. So he brought it out, and said I can have it for $24.95! Unbelievable. It’s super clean, and loaded with custom parts. I said deal, and paid the man cash. It was even cheaper because I was in Washington, but showed my Oregon I.D., so I didn’t have to pay sales tax. I rode off into the sunset. I can’t find anything on this ride. If you know something about it, please share. I don’t know the year. If you want it, I can make you a deal.

Update: My local Specialized dealer informed me this is a 1994 Allez Sport. It retailed for $650 new.

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Making Elk Sausages In Oregon With Recipe

Posted: May 30, 2013 in Frugality, Grub, Health & Nutrition, SB Tips
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Produced by Cameron McKirdy

My bro known as “Tactical Gypsy” sent me these delicious pictures to blog about. He loves his elk. You can see all the spices and flavorings used to produce the glorious nuggets. Half of the loaves are spicy, half mild. Both varieties went well with pepper jack cheese, sharp cheddar, and even brie on crackers. Most of these will be stored in the freezer tonight, the others gifts.

Here’s the recipe:
8 LBS Elk burger
1/2 cup Morton’s Tender Quick. Mix well & let sit overnight in fridge.

Add… 1 1/2 TBSP Coarse pepper, 1 1/2 TBSP Garlic powder, 1 1/2 TBSP Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, 1 TBSP Mustard seed, 1 Tsp Cayenne pepper, 3 TBSP Liquid smoke…. MIX well!

Make 8 rolls/loaves. Put on broiler pan & bake 4Hrs @ 250* turning 1/4 turn every 1/2 Hr. Make sure internal heat gets to 150*.

Cool to room temp before wrapping and freezing.

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Survival Bros Goes Clamming in Seaside Oregon – HD Video

Posted: April 28, 2013 in Frugality, Grub, HD Videos, Health & Nutrition, Sports
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Produced by Cameron McKirdy

It’s not easy to set the alarm for 5:30 AM. But the prospect of free food was too alluring. My bro and I geared up, and went down to the beach in Seaside OR, right off of Avenue U. There were swarms of foragers looking for clam shows. The dimples in the sand were everywhere. We got our limit of 15 razor clams in about 30 minutes. Mission successful! We will be back soon. I hope my video entertains, and informs. We had fun shooting it. Maybe next time Survival Bros will show you how we cook the squirmy grub. Thanks for visiting this blog. Comments are always appreciated. Happy hunting. Peace and love.

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This is just under the limit for 2 people with licenses.

Cooking Bacon and Elk Steak Chili

Posted: April 28, 2013 in Frugality, Grub, Health & Nutrition
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My bro and I created the dankest bacon elk chili ever! It didn’t last long. We took elk steak hunted locally in the Saddle Mountain Hunting Unit near Cannon Beach, and combined it with bacon ends, and 2 cans of beef chili.

For spices we put in a pinch of paprika, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper. We had the crispy bacon simmering in Pabst beer. The chili sat on low, covered. The elk was cut into small 1/2 inch squares. Plus, we had to make corn bread as a side.

The result was a hearty meal, that had heat. It was spicy, and smoky. If only we had king bolete mushrooms to add. We saved the bacon fat for other elk cooking adventures. Talk about real grub.

Panera Cares – Pay What You Can Cafe

Posted: April 4, 2013 in Adventures, Frugality, Giving Back, Health & Nutrition, SB Tips, Survival Bros Challenges
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You can eat for free at Panera Cares in Portland. If you’ve never heard of this concept, customers can simply order whatever they want, and pay only what they can. I had to test this. I had $5 on me.

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I had to have their turkey sandwich on fresh focaccia bread. Plus, I hooked up a dark coffee. And my side was a small red apple. The suggested value was $8.88. I put what I had in the wooden donation box. Then I scarfed some epic grub.

If you can’t pay anything for your meal, you are encouraged to work there for an hour. All the employees at the cafe were friendly. Panera Cares is a great opportunity for people to get job experience. It’s a real resource for Portland. I can’t wait to go back. Support this place. 4143 NE Halsey St, Portland, OR Panera Cares

Test Driving Electric Bikes in Seattle & Portland

Posted: April 1, 2013 in Adventures, Frugality, Product Reviews, Sports
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I just rode an ebike for the first time! I love it. It hauled. And with dual disc brakes, I stopped on a dime. I priced models at Electric & Folding Bikes Northwest www.ebikesnw.com They start at around $1,000. I want to charge an electric bike with my Powertraveller solar panels. I’m looking at some designs from Currie Tech for Survival Bros, because me and my people are going places. That will be the day. Have a good one. Thanks for visiting the Survival Bros blog.

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Cameron McKirdy at Columbia Scooters in Portland OR www.columbiascooters.com

Trading Up for a New Knife

Posted: March 16, 2013 in Adventures, Frugality, SB Tips
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By Cameron McKirdy
Last week I traded an antique wooden chest for a bunch of used Swiss Army knives. I kept some, and swapped out others for a new Buck folder.

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They call this classic the Buck Stockman. I liked it because it has three fatty blades. It’s nothing special, but it will do work. The knife dealer in my town said it was made in China, so it’s not the best quality, compaired to Buck knives made in America. But I will use this folder. The blades on the mini Victorinox tools don’t have much of a surface to work with. They are perfect for the small emergency caches I’ve been burying. All in all, I made a good trade up. The knife dealer pays out half of the retail value of the item. Makes sense. It’s fair to me.

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I swooped these old knives from an estate sale today. I paid a little too much. $10. I offered $5, but got rejected. I forked it over because it was for a good cause. I should still be able to make a few bucks on these, or trade up later. I’d like another multitool for them. I’m really digging these older knifes with wood handles, so I may keep the large one. The little folding knife was designed to work with a pocket watch. You can see where it would attached to a chain.

I’m hooked on collecting knives. I can’t wait for next weekend so I can hit up more garage sales. The time to buy is when people have to sell. Buying used is way more fun that paying full retail for something. I like that these objects have a history, and I get to add to it. Peace and love.

Trading with a Friend for Smaller Goods

Posted: February 25, 2013 in Frugality, SB Tips, Uncategorized
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Today I met up with an old friend interested in trading pocket knifes, for my antique wooden chest. I’ve been packing this cool, big box around for years, but felt like swapping it out for smaller items I can potentially trade or sell later.

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I got this ornate chest in Tigard, OR at a St. Vincent De Pauls for $40 or so. I was going to restore it, but liked the rough, vintage look, and couldn’t bring myself to refinish the wood. I never cleaned the tin exterior either. It made a great shoe box for awhile, but I had my eye on a stash of Swiss Army knives my buddy acquired from an estate sale. We are both hustlers, so I felt like meeting to get some deals going.

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I picked these 18 multitools out of my friend’s collection. I will end up putting a few in small emergency caches to be buried. Some will be gifts, and others I will use for odd jobs. A couple have lights built in too. It felt good to trade for items that won’t be a burden to move. I’m always traveling, so bulk is bad. I will do more deals with this contact, and the possibilities are endless with online networking. Don’t miss out. Be social.

FULL BUDWEISER BREWERY TOUR IN ST. LOUIS

Posted: February 11, 2013 in Adventures, Frugality, SB Tips
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When in St. Louis, I made it out to Budweiser Headquarters, and home of the world-famous Clydesdale horses.  The giant Bud complex is a national historic landmark.  The state-of-the-art bottling plant makes about 6 six-packs per second.  And it takes a month to produce a beer.  Watch the HD video of my tour, and let me know what you think.  I had a blast on the 45 minute tour.  The best was scoring pretzels, and two free beers.  Urban foraging at it’s finest.  Take the tour if you have a chance.

– Cameron

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Saving Money One Bite At A Time

Posted: January 5, 2013 in Adventures, Comedy and Art, Frugality, Health & Nutrition, SB Tips
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The McKirdy Bros Professionally Eating Ribs

The McKirdy Bros Professionally Eating Ribs

Times are tough, for many people this isn’t the first time they’ve struggled to make ends meet. I’d like to humbly share a time in my life my frugality took a dark but interesting turn. It was 2008 and I was a student at the University of Oregon. My major was international studies and so, in a way I was honing my skills for a life of financial hardship. I was “in between jobs” as they say, and while I had saved enough money to still afford rent, my savings were diminishing fast. Food was expensive. I had contributed to society, paid my taxes for long enough for me to feel less guilty about what I was scheming. I looked to the homeless for inspiration and I found none. “They are doing it all wrong” I said to myself.
 
I had long been a fan of free food so I started brainstorming of all the past places food was a plenty. Buffets. Breakfast buffets. Continental breakfasts. The Holiday Inn Express was closest to my house, so that’s where I first walked in as confidently as possible, to a hotel I’ve never been in before. Oatmeal. Apples. Oranges. Muffins. It was a beautiful display of food not meant for me, which made it even more exciting. I had my backpack on me because my Spanish class was in a half an hour. I ate what I could, and opened my bag to shove a bundle of bananas in. I took an extra muffin for my friend because he was broke like me, and as it turns out I’m very generous with other people’s food. This went on for a while. So long that I started to rank the hotels. Phoenix Inn had apple juice and hot chocolate so I gave it a B+. But breakfast was only one meal out of the suggested 3 a day. I had started noticing official University of Oregon food golf carts zipping around campus. I was lucky enough to have experienced this before at catered public events and so I knew they had the goods. One day in between classes I saw a green cart zip right in front of me and if it were possible I would have jumped right on the back and followed it to wherever it was going, but I had to be more inconspicuous. So, I ran. Calmly. Like I was late for a class across campus. Finally the cart stopped in front of the law building. Taking from future lawyers was alright by me. I wasn’t stealing. I was taking something being offered just not to me. Oh was it delicious. The pasta was seasoned and covered in feta cheese and oil. I was in heaven. The breakfasts and occasional catered meal kept me for only so long. I did some grocery shopping rather often to buy my bulk items of hummus, rice, beans and oats. Cheap nutritious foods. I was at Whole Foods when I noticed a bread man checking the dates of each loaf and then collecting the ones that were about to expire. I striked up a  conversation and he told me that he could give me some just not in the store. He told me to meet him out back. A couple of minutes later he was noticeably more casual with me. He didn’t care about the bread. So I took all that I could. Six loaves of organic whole wheat bread. It only lasted me a few days. 
 
Turns out he gave the rest to the Eugene food pantry, but they always had plenty of bread from other donations besides his company. I looked into the pantry and I qualified. I rode my bike to the pantry, and again only had my backpack. They told me to go outside and they would bring me my food allowance. They rolled out a two level push cart full of canned foods, cold milk and other dairy products including a very cheap pint of chocolate ice cream. I could only carry about a quarter of what I was alloted. I wouldn’t have eaten most of the other stuff any way because it was full of MSG, salt and I knew it would taste awful. 

Eventually I was able to get a job and save up some money so I didn’t have to go to all the trouble, but I had a good run. Without all the ways I found to get free food I am sure I would have started charging groceries on a credit card. I hope I don’t have to do it again, but it is nice to know that sometimes beggars can be choosers if you’re smart enough. I am very thankful for each and every free bite to this day. 

Andrew McKirdy

Andrew Scoring Free Organic Bread

Andrew Scoring Free Organic Bread

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