I was a beautician & any perm should easily last 3 mos so she is getting the perms way too often. I have friends that get perms & they last about 3 months so 6 weeks is taking advantage of a client(patron-your wife) Hair should not be washed for 3 days after a perm or you relax the curl & it will get straight too soon. Most older folks heads sweat at times if they get overheated, wear heavy crocheted or woolen caps on their heads(or wigs) & the head can get very smelly- I call it old people smell. I know some people get used to it on their spouse or on themselves & no longer notice it or could be their sense of smell is terribly diminished. I was called to hospital or nursing home in the past as you have to be licensed to cut hair & wash it in CA. Some hair smelled really bad, relatives never mentioned that, probably to be polite to their relative or they had gotten used to it. I think caregivers appreciate taking care of folks with clean hair(& showered) I received many compliments about how good my dad smelled & what a pleasure it was to care for him. Also a clean head has another advantage as not nearly as likely to get infection from scratching their head & breaking open the fragile skin. A clean head just makes a person more comfortable & even if your wife can't express it I'm sure she would not want to smell around her friends. You are a wonderful hubby to care about her & take this step. About hair length if she usually wore it fairly short about to the neck or inch below then that is probably what she would prefer. 3 to 5 inch long hair is easier to keep looking nice & with a perm & weekly washing all she should need is just a comb or brush threw it to look presentable. If you don't remember how long she wore it few years ago Just look at pics of her.

Technically speaking, it's not legal to change an addressee on a postage affixed envelope. In reality, the post office isn't too picky about it. Technically, you're supposed to take it to the post office and have it replaced. Like I said, I don't think they're too picky, and have done it before. But we are talking about an organization who sued the Boy Scouts for putting their fundraiser brochures on mail boxes! Ob $aver thought: My favorite is paying bills online. Between postage, envelope and check fees, it's realistically 50¢ per bill saved. I'm saving $25/year easily, plus the gas of going to a mail box. Another favorite is my little "pantry". I hate going to the store and people who have to run to the store every day for something are nuts. Worst case, I can always make a can of soup. Plus I have a few groceries in case of a storm. Another phrase I enjoyed came from one of the spouse-swap programs where the minimalist/frugal wife's motto was "Do I need it? Do I love it? Does it make me money?" If not, toss it. Oh, and I was proud of myself... My washer was dumping water all over the floor and I thought I'd have to replace a washer after only 26 years of dependable service. Hey Joyful, shouldn't that have been under warranty??? ;) Being crippled up like I am these days, I can't do too much but I was curious to see if there was a chance of it just being a hose or something, plus I couldn't really wreck it, so, after tearing it open, sure enough, all that happened was two hose clamps lost their tension. A trip to the auto parts store, 2 - 25¢ hose clamps, maybe an hour, well, couple hours of "work" (more play and confidence builder) and I saved the cost of a new machine and disposal of the old. So what would that be? Anywhere from $100-$500 per hour pay, tax free, and I'm washing away again. Maybe I'll get another 26 years out of it? Well maybe not, but I'd expect a couple years of use anyway. Oh, other little things, like making a non-electric humidifier out of an ice cream pail sitting in front of the heat register. Cut holes in the top to keep the cat from playing in there. Plus I had to set it into a dishpan because she got mad and tipped it over! There's so many things, I can't think of them. But I enjoy reading others ideas too. I guess I try to make money spending an investment. For instance the Frugal Gazette books to me are an investment since they give you ideas and motivation. Use the library for movie borrowing & rental. Bought a few dozen popular movies for $1 each and share them with a lot of people. Shop for things on the internet to see what they'll cost, then know if it's a good buy when you go out. I had to buy a new dryer and saved $200 by buying a floor model at the "BB" Store. Researched things I wanted and checked reviews and the like. My $5/mo ISP has paid for itself so many times it's hilarious.

Audrey, I know just what you are going through. I am in the same place. I do have friends who take me to Church and we have a Women Alone group at the Church once a month.I don't drive so what bothers me the most is having to ask to go to the store.My cousin and her husband have been doing that for me and they seem to be okay with it.They take me to the doctors appointments and to the grocery store.They say that they are happy to come and visit me and Daisy.Tom takes her for two walks while he is here and Sue says she likes to go shopping.I am grateful to them.It is just so hard being alone day and night.I have never lived alone and I keep my CD playing so that it is not so quiet. I do read and try to find things to keep me busy.Do you have a pet? I don't know what I would do without mine. I will keep you in my prayers.I have been on this site for many years and am grateful to be able to come here. The people here are so helpful and caring.

I almost bought a blue hydrangea in Wal-mart today. I didn't, though, because I never have had good luck with them. I planted purple potatoes too this year and they are all sprouting nicely. They're Purple Viking and Purple Majesty. Most growing in grow bags and a few in other raised beds. This is the first year I've gotten small asparagus from roots I planted a long time ago. I never thought I'd get any. Planted some 3 year old purple asparagus roots this year and have already harvested a few smallish ones. Some are too small to pick this time around. They came up just a few days after planting! I also bought some Vego-type beds, only mine are Birdies. I still have to put one together. I just transplanted some Kale, spinach and cabbage seedlings into the bigger one this afternoon. The round one I first had them in, soil had sunk quite a bit after a lot of rain so will fill it back up to the top and plant some sweet potato slips in it. Not sure how the cabbage will do, have only tried to grow them once or twice many years ago without success. Last year, though, I had a volunteer come up from kitchen scraps I tossed under some straw in the garden. Best tasting cabbage I've eaten in a long time. Made me hopeful I could grow more. Fun2BeHere, I love snapdragons, one of my favorite flowers but I never seem to have any luck with them and I don't know why. I can grow almost any other flower but that one.