Hello ~ I bought ten acres in a rural are twenty five years ago, & have dealt with many of the issues on this forum. I'd like to add my comments re recyclables: If you find yourself with a lot of non-recyclable 'garbbage' it's often a sign you are eating things that are *not healthful.* These days, most *aware* non-vegetarians now realize the hazzards of corporate-produced meat ~ & the presence of heavy metals, like mercury, in seafood. So either raise some rabbits (easily done, even in the city!), or chickens for meat--or stop buying meat on styrofoam trays! Change your grocery shopping habits: take shopping bags along--filled with your own reusable plastic bags, etc. Buy in bulk when possible ~ cheaper &, if you buy organic, much healthier & more *delicious. Re-think products you buy & use in your homes: Years ago I learned that baking soda & vinegar were safe & inexpensive replacements for nearly all household cleaning products! Chemical cleaners are seldom needed & harmful to you & your environment. Baking soda will scrub a tub or sink, remove odors from the refrig, & makes an excellent substitute for toothpaste ~ & now we've learned that fluoride in toothpaste is carcinogenic, it's best avoided ~ & one more item stays out of a land fill. Nothing cleans & shines windows & glass better than vinegar & water; use wadded newspaper to shine the glass! It can't be beat. Once you begin shopping regularly at bulk/health food stores, you'll learn to take along your own jars & containers: for bulk honey, peanut butter, cooking oil, soy sauce, even shampoo & lotions, etc. Take stock of your recyclables--& one by one--try to replace items by 'bulk buy' or making at home. Years ago I noticed yogurt tubs comprised the bulk of my plastic recyclables. I've since made yogurt at home with organic milk ~ a process that takes only *minutes & requires nothing more than clean jars, a floating thermometer, & a small picnic cooler. Voila! Now, must head out to replant the strawberry bed! Just my 2 cents, LOL-- Cheers!

Just an FYI to everyone frustrated with gettting their mailbox destroyed. As sick as I am too with getting my mailbox destroyed (mine by people driving on the shoulder of the road pulling around cars waiting to turn left in front of my house) please heed my warning about making your mailbox post too rigid. If it's within the highway right-of-way it will be considered a "deadly fixed object" (DFO) if anyone ever hits it with their car, motorcycle, or maybe even a bicycle. That is a fact. That's why sign posts and other items in the right of way are legally required to have breakaway posts and shear bolts. I'm a civil engineer and I've designed guardrail for DOT to protect cars from DFO's. If someone hits your super-mega-heavy duty mailbox post or brick structure and gets hurt, you WILL get sued and you will easily lose if it's within the right-of-way, which most mailboxes are. If a good lawyer can show that their client got hurt as a result of hitting your DFO (even though they shouldn't have been off the travelled way), you will be in major trouble. I've seen it. It sucks. It's a sad fact. I too have wanted to drive a concrete-embedded railroad rail into the ground as my mailbox post, but it's just asking for trouble. I'd also be very hesitant about the concrete box-in-a-box. Someone swerves to miss an animal or slides on a slipper road, shears off your wooden post, and your concrete mailbox comes through their windshield and kills them..... not good. Kiss your house goodbye. If you have trouble with baseball bats, drive a wooden post in the ground about a foot "upstream" in the driving direction; they'll hit THAT first and won't be able to get to your mailbox. But if a car hits it, it will break away; no lawsuit. As much as it sucks, be careful. Lawyers will have a field day.

Think about what your target audience for these would be -- people who want something for free or very close to it. So altho I'm certain they'd have "value" to many people interested in learning others' tips, I'd think the effort to sell wouldn't give you much in return. (Also, many libraries have some of the books that the creator(s) of the Tightwad Gazettes have compiled)

She doesn't do the yearly thing either. I used to subscribe and she stopped I think 2001 or 02 ? I think.... I have it in my file cabinet. .... I would have to go dig it out to find out the exact date but it really doesn't matter cause they don't do them anymore. Amy said she and the family were ready for privacy.