Hi Lisa That is a horrible price for Vemiculite. I pay less than a third of that for the fine garden grade also sold by Grace . Find a place that sells cinder blocks or building bricks. They should carry both the Perlite and Vermiculite. Guys who build in ground pools will also know where to buy the stuff. Grace in Canada has 1-800 numbers that connect directly to their sales desk. The guys are more than happy to suggest product and tell you the names of the companies who sell their products in my area. Check Grace in the US for a 1-800 number. I had the same problem you had, the cement suppliers seem to only know the product by it's use. I asked several times if my supplier had fine vermiculite only to be told no they didn't, even though they carried both ZONOLITE PoolPad and BlockFill. They didn't know they were vermiculite. I asked if they carried chicken grit and they said they never heard of the stuff. But they do sell it, but it's called just GRIT. It can be a challenge. It took me several months to line up suppliers for my stuff because I kept asking all the wrong questions.:)

marthavilla - I use several resources but the main one is www.grocerysmarts.com There is a pull-down menu from which to select your state, and you'll then see lists for your local grocery stores that have ad prices matched up with any applicable coupons. (The prices are also rated so you know when things are really good deals. The people who make the lists track this info in a database.) I like this particular service because it's free (as opposed to something like The Grocery Game, which is $5 a month) and because it includes links to any printable coupons right in the list. Other coupons that come from the newspaper inserts are referenced as RP (Red Plum), SS (Smart Source) or PG (Proctor and Gamble), along with the corresponding date of the inserts. I get five Sunday papers each week, plus I have friends that give me extra coupon inserts, so I'm able to stock up when things are at their cheapest. I get free things almost every week, usually thanks to double coupons, and I have a basement storage room (about 17x17) that is packed full of our "stockpile." We have aisles of shelving set up so it's like a mini grocery store. ;o) I spend quite a bit less on groceries than I used to, plus we now have this room of food and necessities that we are constantly using/replenishing. I actually teach a class at our local community college on how to do this type of shopping, so if you're interested, I can email you the handouts for the class. For some reason I can't get GW to let me add my new email address to my profile, but if yours is set up to allow email, I can send it that way. :o)

Hi Ellie, Thanks. That small quilt was made to be a sample, but thanks for the placemat idea. It's now going to DGS. DS and DD both have full size quilts from the same idea. Hi Flamingo, Your bags are cute and just the right size. Are you selling them? People tell me to sell grocery bags because people want them right now, but I haven't. Hi Wildchild, Are you from SoCal too? It's pretty lonely here with our views sometimes. Don't even get me started on bottled water, lol. When exactly did tap water become poisenous? Why don't people know that if it's in the tap water, it's also in those plastic bottles, being that it comes from the same tap? All our water has been recycled since the beginning of time, and there's no magic in bottled water. Check out this take on bottled water by Penn and Teller. Warning, there may be cussing in it. It's right on the money. Linda Here is a link that might be useful: Penn and Teller on bottled water

Most of mine live in the car. I live in a condo, so I'm not making a special trip out to the car (down a flight of stairs, out the building, and walking halfway around the building to the assigned parking spot) just to put the bags back. I fold them so they all fit in one bag, then hang them on the doorknob of the front door and take them out to the car the next time I leave. I have one bag hanging in the broom closet for returnable bottles, which I mostly remember to take with me when I head to the supermarket. I return the bottles and then use the bag for groceries. I have a small nylon bag, that is the size and shape of a plastic grocery bag, that folds up into its own little pouch. That lives in my handbag, ready for any spontaneous, impromptu purchases.