We live in a rural area in Northern California, every few months we need to go to San Francisco area for a medical appt, about 5-6 hours away. The "keep the change" savings on my debit card is earmarked for the luxury (for me, not my daughter, who's age makes her invincible ha ha) of getting a motel rather than dealing with the stress of doctor visit plus10-12 hour travel in one day. I never miss it! BUT I pay $4 a month fee for the privilege now, since June or so with new bank fee schedules. Still worth it, I think, haven't done a recent analysis, too many other financial fish to fry. Hard to keep on top of it all. ~L ... View related article.
Yes yes yes! This is the kind of wedding I always, and always hoped my kids, would want. It's not really a "frugality" issue, it's a matter of having priorities well in place! You want to have a party to celebrate this wonderful event. And not to have lots of stress on needing conventions. I love it, wish you well, and know that this will be a great celebration. Congrats!
BTW, my daughter at kinda the last minute, after reserving the traditional fancy hall, etc etc,. downsized her wedding , luckily, to a BBQ reception at my funky house with a huge (unlandscaped, I might add) backyard. We bbq'd and and pot lucked (family, didn't asked most other guests to bring, but could have), had 75 people (!) and after most guests (like elderly relatives, work friends, etc left, we hung out around a fire in the evening, with her and her new husband's closest friends and a few beers. It was sublime! It had been bothering me all along that they seemed to be heading towards a very expensive couple of hours mostly based on "supposed to"s. but when it came right down to it, reason, and what's fun and not stressful, prevailed. And it will for you!
Glad you're starting out with that thought, it leaves some room for the inevitable escalation. Final thought. I really liked the suggestion of a lsmall cake top to save for your first anniverary, but the reality was for us, despite careful planning, my freezer malfunctioned during the first year while safekeeping the anniveray cake, and the newlyweds never even thought or asked for the cake top anyway!!! Pictures are great. and absolutely do not need to be professional. ... View related article.
Ladydragonfly13: just keep confidence and always always take a deep breath before speaking! Seriously, that's the advice from me. Been through both disability hearings and won(for a spouse who couldn't articulate well) and, some support groups where the woman I remember talked about spinning out of control and her brain leaving her when in court and nervous.
She had a high stakes situation. What worked for her, and I remember this and try to use the lesson after all these years, is that taking just A MOMENT to collect your thoughts before you answer a question is hardly noticeable to others, even though we tend to feel pressured to hurry,and gives us a great opportunity to respond carefully, rather than (my tendency to want to hurry and speak without thinking) saying the first (usually defensive and self-judging and sometimes kinda stupid) thing that comes to mind. something that always happens to me when I feel on the spot.
Disability ALWAYS seems to say no at the get go...insurance companies often do that too. Don't Please let that shake your confidence. Often all it takes is to simply trying again, but its very smart to be preparing ... View related article.
Jimjam: this is funny because I always eye the softener sheets for second uses. Guess it depends on whether the scent is compatible with the coffee variety! MMM..hazelnut lightly scented with mountain fresh! Seems like they really WOULD be the perfect texture, but a little scary due who knows what the fibre content might be as well as the scent. - I think I'd stick to muslin or any other scrap of clean, fairly loose weave cloth in a pinch. Just don't use old underwear if its not clean :-) (Don''t worry, I'm not on the internet right now either)
It's amazing some of the things I've done in a coffee emergency -My filterless french press has been sitting there waiting in the wings for just that that reason. And works during electric coffeemaker failure emergencies too. ... View related article.
This brings back memories of my more "conscious" (better habits) times before I don't remember why one day I decided to buy the paper ones instead. I always had (back in the day, I think I got lazy and forgot all about it until now) made coffee filters from scraps of muslin. The cone-shaped ones work in most all coffee makers if you make them tall enough. Tea filters too for bulk teas. By the cup or by the pot for coffee and tea! They all worked very well, and I made "single cup" versions (with a wire support in the rim) and auto coffeemaker size too.
All it took was a good rinse of the filter while the coffee was cooling enough to drink! Important to hang out on a hook or cup rack or something after a good rinse to allow to dry thoroughly to keep the flavor fresh. Hmm. I think I'll put together a few again this weekend! Now that I think about it, those single cup soakings tasted a whole lot like the coffee I had in a recent trip to France that I've been trying to copy. I'm totally going to try it! I have been thinking I needed to dust off my French Press (as cheap as a coffee maker to buy, buy the way) to replicate that great coffee. And no filters needed on those at all! ... View related article.
I'm happy with Netflix. I have the one at a time subscription. The downfall is me being organized enough to turn the movie back in right away. If it's something I think the rest of the family might want to see, then sometimes by the time I've let kids use it, several days have past. They've been really good. When I lost a movie, and after a month or so it didn't turn up ( motivation being mainly I couldn't get another movie) when I 'fessed up to Netflix, they only charged me 20 bucks for the loss! Way cheaper than I've experienced with Blockbuster, etc in the past.
I also really like the instant internet video I can watch for free. So much so that that I've been contemplating buying the device that Netflix sells (about $100) to be able to watch them on my TV instead of my computer. BUT...I can't find any information as to whether that equipment will be useless if I discover a different source of the streaming videos. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it a "branded" item that I will lose the investment in if I decide to use a different service other than Netflix? ... View related article.
Easy to say, VERY hard to do, even though I agree completely with you and try hard to do the same. It takes a considerable shift in thinking as they get older, since we're WIRED to step in when they'rre young. And sometimes it also takes considerable tough-biting. (5 kids, youngest 17, oldest 28). The 17to 22 year-olds are the ones I'm still trying hard to reign myself in on. Trying to remember the age-appropriateness of each situation. ... View related article.
I remember the time when the kids were very young I pumped up a tire every morning for over a month (with one of those dollar store bicycle pumps) because I just didn't have the money for a new (even used) replacement. Didn't know about "Fix-a flat" at the time :-) and probalby would have had to wait for my monthly check anyway to have been able to afford a can of it.
It least you are being aware of the need to keep that oil in your car. So as not to ruin it suddenly and completely. But oil really is expensive. The Stop leak stuff suggested just might be a help to get by for a little while. And the carpooling, etc advice to reduce car usage is good too.
Here's another thought, just in case you don't know the oil leak source. I just had my car serviced (lucky me), and the mechanic noticed my oil was almost completely empty!! (blush). Seems the last time we changed the oil (a DYI job) we didn't tighten the oil filter properly...it all leaked out. So, well, sometimes big things are really not so bad, if you can logic out the problem. Good luck, wish I could give you better advice about how to deal with this. (Oh, and that same car with the bad tire...I'd bought it previously at one of those same kind of "weekly payment" dealerships...it was a really tough twice monthly payment for a year and a half, but was a good car that lasted me several years. Despite my lack of financial ability to maintain it well. ... View related article.
Tawnda this sounds like a great, thoughtful gift on so many levels. The type of gift I always hope my creativity will spark, but rarely does in such a clever, thoughtful way that all ties together. And priceless to the recipient, I'm sure. NICE! ... View related article.
Both Deeli and MCW have advice that "rang" true for me. I've had this problem for years. And eventually had problems hearing well also. Turns out for me, I have a combination of "Meniere's disease" (google it) and have these funny little bends in my Eustachian tubes that cause them to get "clogged up" easily. Three things said to help cause Meniere's are : Stress, "molecular water retention", and cigarette smoking. So here's what's helped me this last year after finally getting this diagnosed:
When ENT talked about molecular water retention, and stress as primary causes, it struck me that the last couple of checkups I'd had a little higher than normal blood pressure, nothing alarming, but raising each time. So I went back to my regular doc. And asked if there might be a relationship. At the time I went (when my ears were driving me crazy) , my blood pressure turned out to be even higher than the "slight " increases that had started to happen.
So, I started a small amount of blood pressure medication, and started watching my salt intake! I've never been much of a fan of salty foods, but it is SURPRISING as heck the amount of salt preloaded into processed foods, ketchup, etc. I love cheese and crackers. And "cheap" cheese, as well as many other "lower end" foods, have a higher salt content than some of their higher quality counterparts. Here's the good thing; most fruits and veggies, and unprocessed foods have little if no sodium contents. the "Healthy Choice"-like frozen meals are as sodium laden as the regular brands, for example.
Quite an education. And generally keeping an eye on my salt intake, the blood pressure meds, and nasal irrigation (netti-pot) to clear my Eustachian tubes has REALLY helped me to keep that ol ringing under control. So maybe try something similar - a combo of medical evaluation and sensible "grass roots" attempts might help you.
As an aside. After being conscious about all this for many months, and choosing carefully (if I had fast food or high-processed food for lunch, had something fresh and veggie based for dinner) I had a very disruptive and scary vertigo episode one evening while cooking dinner. Threw up for 24 hours with out having the balance to even walk to the bathroom to do it. Out of the blue, it seemed. I thought about it later...I'd had cottage cheese for lunch (remember I said I love cheese? CC, my favorite, has a really high sodium content so I'd pretty much taken it out of my diet altogether). I'd been doing so well, for so long I kinda forgot about it all and ate a WHOLE carton for lunch that day. And had terrible vertigo that evening. When I talked to my ENT, I was told I might be "salt-sensitive" . A nice way to look at it. So I am reinforced to watch what I eat. Watch the blood pressure (THAT turned out to be REALLY good that I investigated -silent killer and all). And I am careful about jumping onto ear congestion. Make a a big difference. So, please do check it out. Both informally, and possibly medical advice if you don't see improvement on your own. ... View related article.
