Invisible Privacy | Online Privacy

There in only one way to keep your private life private (and stay out of the dreaded New Hires list). You must work for yourself. If you are (or plan to be) a carpenter, a sales person, an artist, an architect, an interior decorator, a hairdresser, or any similar profession where you can work alone, I suggest you do work alone. The same applies to starting your own small business. You may not get rich, but you can certainly shoot for $100,000 a year. That will be sufficient to live a simple, debt-free life.

In fact, the absolute best kinds of home-based businesses are those that can be run alone or just with help from family members. Many a small business, although successful in the beginning, has come to grief when the owner was tempted to expand.

Business writer Michael LeBoeuf, in his book The Perfect Business, lists some of the problems connected with hiring one or more employees:

* Your freedom and flexibility will be forever restricted.

* You must give up privacy when an outsider comes into your home.

* You are now responsible for bringing in more money to cover wages and benefits.

* The government will burden you with odious payments and record-keeping chores.

* If an employee fails to show up for work, the extra work will either have to be done by you, or it won’t get done at all.

* Every time someone quits, you have to start all over.

To the above, I would add one more caveat. Judging by what I read in the papers these days, if you have to fire a woman, she might come back to you with a charge of discrimination or harassment. If you fire a man, he might come back with a gun.

(This information is taken from the e-book SKIP COLLEGE: Go Into Business for Yourself.)

Labels: employees, home-based business, internet privacy, New Hires, personal privacy, self employment, simple life, small business, The Perfect Business

I grew up during the 1930s in an uninsulated 20- x 20-foot tarpaper shack along the Minnesota-Ontario border. My job was to carry the water from a neighborhood well, split and carry in wood, and carry out garbage and waste water. Illumination came from kerosene lanterns. There was a path instead of a bath, and we used the Chic Sale even when the temperature dropped to 48 degrees below zero.

So then, are electricity, indoor plumbing, central heating and hot and cold water absolute necessities? Of course not, as any serious camper will confirm. On the other hand, I am not advocating a permanent return to the simple life, although in OFF THE GRID: Living and traveling in a van, truck, or converted cargo trailer, I do talk about one couple who did just that.

If you are in the process of losing your home, rent some shack or outbuilding from a farmer for as little as $100 a month. Rent one of those portable toilets that you see at construction sites, and haul your own water in 5-gallon jugs. You can buy cheap camping equipment at a thrift store or find it advertised on Craigslist. Millions of Americans lived like this during the Great Depression and many of us didn’t even feel deprived. Go ahead and try it during the coming summer months. Tell the kids it will be a grand adventure!

Labels: camping, great depression, low rent, off the grid, simple life