I've been doing pretty good these past two years, And I can attribute the improvements to all the encouragement, commeraderie, and ideas shared on GW forums. Thanks everyone! So, here's what I have been doing: ...selling plants that didn't work for my yard at my kids 4-H club rummage. I have gotten rid of plants that bother my migraines(sage, chysanthemum, and any other aromatic families,) clash with the color of the house (lots of magenta peonies were around this barn red house when we bought it,) or that needed to be thinned out (iris.) ...picked a rew buckets of mulch from our municipality's free mulch center every time I picked up my daughter from swim practice, since the high school is nearby. Getting mulch in small quantities was also great for preventing over-doing it injuries, and made the task of adding fresh mulch very easy. ...tried wintersowing. Yay!! I used up all of those seeds I had for years and meant to 'get around to.' Most still sprouted, and I got a lot of plants to fill areas that had just been weeds. For next year, I am going to wintersow directly in one gallon containers, with milk jug cloches, to reduce the potting up chores. I already have the milk jugs cut and strung up waiting in my potting shed. ...trying to not start another project before I get the previous one(s) done. Which basically means finishing up zillions of little projects I've already started. ...not bringing home any more 'other people's cast-offs,' unless I can put them in use immediately, as I have waaaaay to many pieces laying about, waiting for me to get 'around to-it.' ...collecting coffee grounds from Starbucks every time I am in that area. Best time to get a full bag for me has been late afternoon or evening. ...moving plants around in my yard. Some of my best design improvements to my yard have come from moving a plant from where it wasn't quite working, to a spot where it really fit. My garden is looking much better, with no money spent, just some time and care. So, for me, this year has been about using the resources I already had, which has been not only frugal, but good for my garden design, my health, and my marriage ;-) Jean

I have 4 kids so we do try to be frugal whenever possible! We save printer paper that is only printed on one side for scratch paper. We save school notes that are one sided so my kids can draw or do math problems on the other. We save big plastic yogurt containers and such for leftovers. Why buy tupperware?? And with these containers I can sent leftovers home with family when they come over for a big meal. I also save grocery store bags and pack my kids school lunches in them instead of buying those small paper bags. We save napkins from the bags of fast food restaurants. We also save the condiment packets and use them when needed or to pack in school lunches. I save some sales flyers for my kids to do crafts with. I also save some egg containers and some cereal boxes for the same thing. Sometimes we stuff newspaper inside some food boxes and tape the top shut. Then my kids play store with those items till they are falling apart and we then recycle them in our recycling bin. When a board game is missing too many pieces to use anymore we still save the pieces and my kids use them for crafts or to invent new games. I save all gift bags we receive presents in and most of the tissue paper. We then reuse them to give gifts. If my kids get a present they don't really like or my dh or I get a present I don't really need (and we have no gift receipt) they go on a closet shelf and are re-gifted to someone different for a birthday or holiday. If my kids tear out the knees of a pair of pants then I cut and sew to make them shorts or capris for that spring and summer. If my kids get a stain on anywhere but the sleeve of one of those long sleeve t-shirts then they wear it under a regular t-shirt for a new winter shirt. When I get address labels in the mail from one of those places that try to get you to donate money I save them and actually use them! I have never paid to get address labels made. When we are expecting rain we put a few buckets outside to catch the rain and then use that water later to water plants. Speaking of water we have all made a conscious effort to save on our water bill by turning off the water when brushing our teeth and only turn it on to rinse our toothbrush instead of leaving it on the whole time. We also all try to turn the shower off as we lather up with soap and shampoo and then turn it back on to rinse off. If we have pencils that are too small to write with anymore, but have good erasers left we save them so we can still use the eraser.

LuAnn and Lexi, you don't have to be an inexperienced college student to rack up huge debt with easily-gotten credit cards! I know people who are otherwise seemingly successful people who are paralyzed with credit card debt that they acquired while employed. I agree that they should teach consumerism in all high schools. DGS has a "Family Living" class that he has taken for the last three years. They learn to cook, sew, balance a check book, make out a budget -- that sort of thing. At home, we ridicule the commercials (it gives us something to do till our program comes back on) and we talk about how other people manage their money and some of the dumb things they do. I do think there should be more education given about how to resist sales pitches and understanding how credit works. You both have a point in the college thing. I have worked places where they would not even read the resume of someone who was not college educated. I have been on the other side of the coin where non-degreed people were welcomed because they would never expect to be paid very highly. Some of this depends on where you live and what kind of degree you have earned. And yes you do need to have a plan and know what you want to "be", but most kids fresh out of high school have no idea unless their parents pick a career for them and we all know that usually doesn't work out in the end. If you live in an area where there are lots of office buildings then you'd be safe to get a degree in Business Admin or Accounting. If you're in oil country, a degree in Geology might work. If you're near the coast, Marine Biology. If near pharmaceutical laboratories, Chemistry. And so on. It would be so much better if a kid straight out of high school could work for a couple of years and then go to college. But by that time, most of them are married and have brought children into this world. Having a family and the responsibilities that come with it makes it really hard to go to school. Not saying it can't be done, just that it's real hard on everybody. It is up to the individual whether they seek a job that takes advantage of their degree. Anyone can go to work at a fast-food place whether they have a degree or not. And there are times when you need to take whatever job you can get to put food on the table regardless of your experience and education. But a 22-year-old has forty years in which to earn income. That's a long time and surely somewhere along the road, an opportunity is going to come along that will require a degree. As for debt collectors, yes, they're a rude and hateful bunch. But there is no difference in the debt collector trying to collect on a college loan and one trying to collect on a car you couldn't afford on a non-college educated income, or a few loans you took out when you couldn't make ends meet. As for myself, one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't get a degree. For me, it would've made all the difference in the world.

I didn't mean to blame the victims of terrorism. All that I said was that that there would have been a much better chance of those planes never hitting those towers had the U.S. been more even-handed in supporting the Palestinians to develop their lives as they have with Israel, for the last almost 60 years. After all - the Palestinians were there first, with only a few Jews in their midst, prior to 1948. And some who were leaders of Jewish militant groups (let's not use the word "terrorist" - such concepts get in the way of clear thinking, and in such crucial days as we live, clear thinking is vital) that carried out some rather nasty enterprises prior to and about 1948 ... ... later went on to be Prime Minster, President, or whatever, of Israel. Some of the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries could have helped, but didn't - more or else wanting to rub Israel's nose in the mess, possibly. There's enough blame to go around, for sure. It seems to me that we need to take a much longer and more balanced view of life and history. The United States has been badly injured by foreigners only three times during its history ... -the British burned Washington, way back when, -Japan attacked Pearl Harbour - in 1941, but World War II started in 1939 and -some Middle Easterners flew some civilian airliners using civilian jet fuel to destroy two large towers in New York. Which pictures we have seen over and over, hundreds of times, till those pictures are etched on the screen of our minds. At a cost to them of, what - some say something like half a million? Resulting in the U.S. spending billions to build a big security fence. Going deep into debt to do so, to which they are adding huge annual deficits. However... The death toll there was something under 3,000. Which happened getting near to five years (over 1,600 days) ago. As it is, they say that about 25,000 kids die of poor water, poor nutrition, malaria (of which we don't have much in our part of the world, so drug companies with their eye on sales in this area aren't deeply concerned about it) and other diseases, with little medical help and without the necessary education to learn how to cope effectively with some of those issues ... ... every day. Something near 25,000 die ... every day: 1,600 X 25,000 is ... how many? As it is, I am ashamed of my country's lack of concern to help people in other parts of the world get ahead. Our government said years ago that we were going to aim at spending 0.07% (less than 1%) of our GNP to support such projects. We have never come near that (modest) goal. We've fallen back from what we did achieve, a few years ago, when our country was running large deficits. Some of us who feel that such action is needed if we are to develop a healthy world down the line have sought to have our government, supported by the people, honour that commitment. Our country has been adding more to pollution in recent years, rather than cutting back on it, as well. And, as my Dad moved 60 years ago from this area of the country, where he was having breathing problems, to a cleaner area where he enjoyed 40 years go good health (prior to his death, 20 years ago) I have a personal interest in working on those issues, as well. And I'm very thankful that, at age 77, I am enjoying the good health that enables me to work harder at it. Believe me - it's an uphill battle. But we keep at it. Smiling as we go. After all - God's the general ... I'm just a foot soldier. Seems to me God loves the various parts of the world, and the people who inhabit those parts, equally. So - shouldn't I, as well? And - for those who don't believe in God ... ... taking an interest in the welfare of needy parts of the world is a matter of our continued survival. Maybe not for me - but it surely will affect our grandkids. We were surprised by what happened to those towers. Do we feel that we are immune? We aren't. Do we feel that we can build a wall around ourselves that'll be successful in keeping the unwashed horde out? Forget that, as well. The Russians couldn't in Berlin ... Israel can't ... and we can't, either. China doesn't need to throw missles at us. All that they need do is ask us to pay all of those U.S. (and other) bonds that they hold. Which will scuttle the U.S. Dollar. This is a multi-pronged issue. To focus on one portion of it, even though that is a temptation ... is a mistake. Could be a fatal one, for people in our part of the world continuing to enjoy our privileges. History is fluid (and getting more so): civilizations come - civilizations go. Ours isn't carved in stone. Hope you enjoy your weekend. ole joyful