There is a GW Money Saving Tips forum that is terrific! Lots of ways to stretch the $s or recycle what you have. By the way, I get all my buckets FREE from drywallers and restaurants. There is also FREECYCLE. Let folks know you are a recycler...amazing the calls you might get. Of course, a thank you pan of brownies, or some garden fresh produce, sweetens the memory. In a previous neighborhood, I provided the leaf bags for a friend with a forest of shedding trees. This friend put the leaves thru a leaf shredder for me and called when he had 4-6 bags ready for hauling!

Cure? Is there a cure????? I think you are outa luck on that one Kathleen. LOL I keep telling myself to just not go to any of the stores that have the neat dishes and accessories--but I do love to browse and see all the pretty things. However, looking makes me want some of those and more of that! Even my little 4 year old GD told me she has the "I wants", I told her I have the same problem. I asked her if she was ready to go to work so we'd have more money to buy things. She said "Gramma, I don't know how to work, but we could ask my Daddy to give us some money so we could buy them!" Out of the mouths of babes! LOL Of course I told her I thought that was a wonderful idea! ;o) Luvs

Happy new year! I would normally have replied much sooner, but everything has been so busy with Christmas, then new year and all the rest. Anyway, I have to agree that conservation is by far the best thing we can do right now, and I believe that it will allways be useful as almost all energy comes with a penalty. Both environmental and financial. I've been thinking about conservation quite a bit recently as I'm trying to get a rough idea how much it would cost to build an affordable house (you might have seen my posts about it?) and I want it to be economical to live in. This is partly an environmental concern, but also because it would be misguided to build an affordable house that isn't also affordable to live in. The majority of most anyone's wages go towards their house, so if I can build a house that uses minimal energy I can spend the money in other more enjoyable ways. I can also design it in such a way it comes in to the lowest possible tax category, but that's beyond the scope of this forum. One of the things that surprises me is when I say I want to build a low energy house that uses renewable energy, people tend to picture something very expensive and custom built. When I researched it I found that commonly they're high end houses built for wealthy customers who were willing to spend a lot of money to have luxury items, like solar PV panels and houses built half underground. I don't however see why houses that use very little energy have to be reserved for wealthy people building custom houses, after all one of the main attractions of a low energy house is the very small monthly bills. A low energy house design/concept that comes within (preferably below) average house prices is long overdue, and also has a massive market potential. Admittedly domestic energy use is a fraction of that used by industrial processes, and also accounts for a similarly small percentage of pollution, but I know nothing about industrial processes and (thankfully) don't pay the bills for them either. At least not directly. I do however know something about houses and how I believe they could work better. My main aim is to build it smaller, but use the space in such a way it's relatively spacious with plenty of storage. I also want to exchange traditional and generally energy wasting and expensive materials for newer materials that cost less. Insulation, and lots of it, is important. I also want high quality finishing materials, but avoiding ornate details and using a more minimalist style should keep the costs reasonable. The other main issue is using the most energy efficient appliances possible, and also installing some renewable stuff like solar hot water heating. At least in concept it seems to work, and hopefully one day I will be able to try it out.

LOL, OJ, I thought it was going to be.... "Stop Eating" Easier said than done for most folks, including myself, unfortunately. But you know, I've really been thinking along the lines of ... since I already know I'd feel better and look better ... and probably live longer... if I were successful in shedding all these pounds I've accumulated over the years ... and yet I haven't, or at least I've taken them off and then put them right back on ... Maybe it's time this old tightwad put a new spin on weight loss. I know there are a lot of folks out there who will think, "Now you've lost your mind, Ilene, because it's expensive to eat right." And yes, it can be. But it's also expensive to eat WRONG. Have you priced a bag of chips lately? Ice cream? And face it, on a diet I'm probably going to eat less, in volume, than I would while indulging. It can be expensive to join a health club, too. I joined the YMCA many years ago, and I went in for my workout every other day for almost a year. I kept waiting for it to become fun, or addictive, or ... SOMETHING ... and it never happened. I joined in March and I was still there the first of the following year, and I saw all those "newbies" coming in, in their brand-new workout clothes and shoes. After a month or two, they weren't there any more. All the money they'd invested in all the trappings was wasted. Is anybody up for joining me in a Frugal Diet? --Ilene