Oh my goodness, joyful Ed, I can just picture that couch sticking out of your car with your son running behind...that is just too funny. It reminds me of the time my neighbors put a couch out to the trash and some college girls stopped by in the middle of the night to pick it up. My Dh and I watched them heave it onto the roof of their car and the car nearly went up on one end. They were giggling hysterically the whole time. Now,whenever we have bulk garbage day I tell my Dh that the "mole people" will be out after dark.

The only "unusual" thing I've done this year to save money is that I took out every single screw out of an old dryer we were getting rid of...I'm not sure why, I have tons of them in my house right now.

I hope this isn't unusual - just common sense! We buy those fund raising coupon books as we do make use of them to save money. Every year the book expires and has to be replaced. So...as a bunch of co-workers have exactly the same coupon books, we have coupon exchanges to trade coupons which we have not used for those in the other book that do need. Works well and is a reason to go out for dinner sometimes. Not always sure it saves money unless you assume we were going to go out anyways.

A simple money saving tip is to share meals in restaurants. I used to eat like a pig but am now quite happy to share most meals with my wife. We have never had a problem asking for an extra plate and I will add a little extra to the tip.

I keep a little book where I write down the amount I've saved from some of my "schemes". Notice I did not say hair-brained, but have been known to have a few of them. One of my latest schemes is to go on electrical averaging for my electric bill. It doesn't save any money but It helps my budgeting. When someone pokes fun at my frugalness I pull out my little book and recite some of my savings. I'm up to $1500 now and still looking for savings. The biggest savings I know of is to not spend the money in the first place.

This seems obvious but took me 9 months to figure out! My son has a disability, and part of this occupational therapy is Listening Therpay. It's listening to special CDs thorugh special headphones for 1/2 and hour twice a day. It's been like a miracle & has helped him a great deal. He's using my walkman-style CD player so he can take it around the house & in the car. The CD player came with a car adapter, but not a house adapter. I've been buying batteries at Sam's Club for 9 months, but the thing EATS batteries and I have to buy a jumbo pack about every 3 weeks. Last week I stopped into Radio Shack with the CD player, and they were able to hook me up with a house plug-in adapter for $14. I've probably spent $100 in batteries because I thought it was "too expensive" to buy an adapter. Well, wisdom comes late but at least I won't have to spend another $100 in batteries!

Momma Bird I have one of those adapters...and so far have used it on radio cassette player, small hand held TV, and a child's sewing machine (which eats batteries ) ...it was worth the $8.00 ....which is what I paid..but I've had it over 9 years now. And you just reminded me how much $$ I saved with it...so thanks.

Those adapters are also available with several sized "plugs" on the end. Sometimes you may have an adapter for a calculator, that won't fit something else, but I have seen a universal adapter.

My mom's motto:

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, then do without.

Unfortunately, I've rebelled to some degree with the justification of doing my part to keep the economy moving. That's not to say I don't enjoy saving money, I weigh convenience and avoid deprivation.

Well, we're thinking about moving to northern maine and living in a cheap camper for a year, after that we will build a log home from ourselves by hand (not with a kit). It will take about 3 years of our lives from now til then, but in the end, no 30 year mortgage.

Pretty unusual, most of our friends think we're nuts.

Am I unusual...I prefer ecclectic...

We purchased a 100 year old Victorian in Upstate NY recently and I've been having a blast furnishing it. We moved from your typical 3 bdrm raised ranch into a 4 bedroom Victorian with formal dining area, family room, parlor and screened in porch. I stay at home with 5 kids, hubby works his butt of to support us and does quite well, but there's not a lot of room left in the budget to furnish these extra rooms.

Well....creativity to the rescue. I picked up an antique victorala stand (components removed sometime in the 70's) and added a headboard from a single bed, painted it and voila...a very cool arts and craft style sideboard/china cabinet in my dining room. total cost $10 including paint

Purchased two sadly looking dining room chairs at a garage sale circa 1920 for $4 each...sanded them, stained them and recovered them and now I have two very pretty chairs in my parlor...paired them with a footstool that i recovered to match and a old pedastal tabe with a glass top over wood..slipped the same material in between wood and glass...it's a cozy little spot to chat! entire project costed $45 for material...used same stain that i used to refinish my floors last spring.

My most recent salvages is from a pile of trash in my neighbors basement. Complaining that it would cost her $250 to have it removed, I asked for a looksy...hehehe...so far I have recovered two antique milk jugs that would run me an easy $60 each at an antique store...I've painted them to match my house and now have 2 lovely planters for annuals next spring. An old wooden sofa and chair with cushions from that trash pile has now been recovered and resides on my front porch...it's a great place to watch the bats at night. 3 old picture frames have been repainted and now house our kids' pictures and of course, I can't forget the tacky wooden planters that were filled with plastic flowers...they've been painted and are now window boxes...total cost zilch!!!! i used left over paint from other projects and a floral printed duvet cover that my grandmother gave me that wasn't suitable for my bedroom but is more than perfect for patio furniture (you know how granny's are)...although, I did buy a couple of clay pots, painted them and planted clippings from some of my houseplants as a gift to my wonderful neighbor.

oh man, i could go on and on...I may be unusual when it comes to saving money, but i've got a cute, cozy home and my hubby isn't stressed about the credit card bills or bank balance.

Money saving ideas can lead to hobbies...my kids think I'm nuts but they love the stuff we've done and have started to get involved...this weekend, we are building rocking horses out of some scrap lumber and old rocking chairs for our 1 year old twins.

So, if you have stuff hanging around, try putting out in your yard with a free sign...this mole just may be driving through your neighborhood!!!!!

I thank you in advance. ...

Hi all,

Some time ago had keyboard that had 3 keys that added a letter/figure every time used them.

A pain to delete all the extra letters/figures.

Bought another keyboard - thought got a good deal at $15.00 (before 7% Fed, 8% Prov. sales tax).

Recently knocked over glass of juice, some went into keyboard.

(Note: Don't eat/drink near computer.)

Shut system down, unplugged keyboard.

Heard on another frugal site several years ago of a guy whose keyboard wasn't doing well, he heard of washing it in water with some detergent. He thought he had nothing to lose - so tried it.

Said that, after several days drying thoroughly, it worked fine.

I drained my keyboard.

Flushed water over end where juice went in. Drained it.

Put it to dry - part of time in sun on roof of car in parking lot of townhouse complex (6 units per building). After a couple of hours, landlady knocked on door, keyboard in hand - did you forget this on car, Ed?

Despite having claimed I'm not computer-addicted, withdrawal pains were too strong.

Dug out old keyboard, put it to use.

Frustrating clearing the extra letters/figures.

Persevered.

For about two days.

Then the extra letter dropping syndrome stopped.

Keyboard working normally.

Still using it, after about a week.

New keyboard sitting on shelf.

My "reusing is great" spirit is rejoicing.

Have a great weekend, all.

jes' ole Ed

A note to Ed - Following the devastating floods in Houston last summer, I guarantee you can dry out just about any computer components. We had a warehouse FULL of computers that spent a good 20+ hours in 18" of flood water. We spent last summer drying them out, blasting them w/air compressors and cleaning them - almost every one of them fired right up!

Thank you from getting this thread's idea from "bellayachying from waitpersons" to "A Good Thing".

I don't really have anything unusual to contribute, but I do have something to say.

I spent most of the last year up in my folk's house trying to preserve/restore what my Dad wanted.It's a lot easier to preserve than restore. Whatever you can do (a coat of paint, some rust resolution, a new board here and there) will be well worth what it will cost next year.

Note to Janet:

What a heart-rending summer you must have had!

You must have been devastated when the flooding first took place.

Did you have a good idea from early on that many of the computers would probably be O.K.?

Even so - what a huge amount of work - when you had your usual routines that needed to be done. Massive disruption of regular program.

Thanks for sharing.

Guess that's a large part of what this place is all about, isn't it?

Ed

Just an extra note - the flushed and dried keyboard, referred to above, is still working fine.

ole joyful

P.S. This must be my shortest ever post. EB

Simple file to hold receipts. returned cheques, etc. Also magazines.

We get milk in square, plastic-coated cardboard containers 8" tall by 2-3/4" or 3-3/4" wide, with top folded to make a shape like a roof.

When container empty, rinse well, let dry.

Cut around top of column, discard roof-like top, of two containers. Cut down side adjacent to glued join, to near bottom, then branch to each corner, on each container.

If you have a ruler or other narrow straightedge about 1/8" thick, lie it along wall next to wall which you cut down, hold the edge against the cut wall, bend the cut wall over the edge of the straightedge to make about a 1/8" space. It's difficult, as the straightedge wants to slide away. I've made a jig of 1/8" plywood just the right width for the wider one - it's a big help. Very easily done, if you have a small piece of scrap plywood - just two sawcuts.

Repeat with the other side of the cut wall.

Slide the other container into that container so that the container with the wall with the bend is on the outside. One glued join being at the top of the each of the front and back walls strengthens the wall structure - as does the wall with the bend, especially if you could make the bend continuous.

Telescope the two boxes to the right length to contain business-sized envelopes, staple walls and ends.

Collect some business-sized envelopes, preferably non-window ones, that have been opened along the long side. Label them on top right and left corners, e.g., if receipts by months, "Jan", "Feb", "Mar", etc.

Can cut about 1/3 way from top at each end of envelope, fold front panel inside, if desired - makes it easier to see contents. More jamming when you replace an envelope, however.

Store them in the milk-carton file holder.

As I write cheques to charities, I keep receipts in one such file.

Another for income-tax-related documents from employer, investment houses, medical receipts, etc. in income tax season.

Another for utility, credit card, etc. bills that need to be dealt with soon - often write date due on envelope.

I keep stock dividend, other cheques for deposit in this file, as well - haven't seen need to separate them, as they are both related to bank accounts.

Glued a piece of plain paper to the front of the holder with dates that various bills are due as a reminder.

Another holder for priority mail, items that need an early reply, etc.

Also, if you buy fruit pies, their boxes are about the right size to use as a file for a number of magazines. I've cut large cardboard boxes that I've collected to make thicker files for such magazines. Made a pattern that I now reproduce when needed.

Financial cost is zero. I like doing hand work, so don't object to the time involved.

HTH

Have an interesting, instructive week - in which you can find opportunities to help others, etc.

Remember - a bit of humour or a laugh is a great stress reliever. ...

When fruit is in season--we peel the fruit and freeze the diced pieces for fruit pies, etc. all winter. The peelings are never thrown away--those go into making jelly. Only afterwards, are the strained peelings fed to the chickens to make EGGS!

All eggshells are dried and crumbled in the garden around plants--it impales the slugs without drawing them all to your garden like traps will.

When deadheading your flowers--save them, dry the seeds and put them in a pretty seed envelope to trade or gift.

Use cleaned recycled zip lock bags to organize things in your drawer (like gravy packets, thread, etc..)

Use bird seed to plant sunflowers (works beautifully for very little $)

Hi all,

The current keyboard is going fine - and I'm quite sure that it's still the one that was dropping in the extra letters for a time.

That I had stopped using in frustration, then began to use again after the replacement got the juice spilled into it.

I have the bad habit of eating while keyboarding.

Every now and again turn it over, then tap it on the desktop - first tapping one corner, then holding at a different angle, tap another corner, etc.

A lot of small crumbs and stuff drop out.

Try that with your keyboard - might be surprising what comes out.

Always be ready for a new and interesting adventure.

joyful guy

Keyboard Cleaning Tip: my DH has one of those beard trimmers with the height adjustment. It came with a tiny little brush with fairly stiff brissles about 3/4" long. I use the brush to sweep crumbs out from between keys in our keyboard. It does a great job. Also, canned air (I know, I know...paying money for air is the only thing sillier than paying money for water!) really is the greatest thing for really deep cleaning electronics. Best!

Hi again, all,

The keyboard that was dropping in extra letters unbidden for a while - but then stopped, is still working.

At least - I think that this is that one.

I keep incoming mail (that isn't sorted by category) in boxes that I pick up at the grocery to bring home groceries. About the size to hold a file folder seems about right.

Good wishes to all.

ole joyful

I just tried the turned over keyboard cleaning tip from Joyful and my goodness the delights to be found. Thanks Ed..I'll remember that..who could have made a small sandwich with all the crumbs from mine. Bud

Over Xmas vacation every one in my house came down with either the flu(new version naturally) or strep throat .Since symptems were similar it meant doctor visits for all.Our local doctors were swamped and though Dad and kids managed appointments at their doctor's, mine was at a local clinic and the closest appointment was for 2 weeks later. Local walkins were too expensive so I tried something a veteran fish hobbiest told me about.I went to the pet store and bought fish meds.Took the required amount...LOL I'm about a 10 gallon tank.. with no ill effects.Don't want to suggest that I run for antibiotics for every ill. I don't because I'm allergic to most and afraid to overuse the few options left to me, however, I work around many elderly and sick clients who would have suffered far more than I if I had exposed them to strep.Interesting experiment but not one to try unless you are desperate.Sandy

Some useful ideas.

Some fun.

Right here.

Enjoy.

o j

I read this on another forum a couple years ago but haven't tried it. You know all that junk mail you get with the stamped and preaddressed envelope inside? Just put white out on the address area and use it for your own mail. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

What a wonderful older thread.

I just emptied my keyboard (WOW!) and am now off to hunt up the white out. I think I'll run that last suggestion by some friendly folks at the local Post Office b4 trying it myself. Will report findings later.

Sue

I've been reusing envelopes, particularly the expensive bubble lined ones for years. I find it easier and neater to stick a typing label over the existing address.

I'm a bit embarrassed about this, but here goes.....

My daughter's school gives the kid's bmi tests (body mass index) tests to identify which kids are overweight and to make the parents aware of it. My 8 year old daughter's bmi came in at 92% which the school identified as "overweight". Now, this is a fairly active child, who is fairly muscular with maybe a couple of extra pounds on her (which i actually think is more of a normal developmental thing, I think she is going to shoot up in height very soon and it will all even out), but no way would anyone looking at her consider her overweight. At first I was upset to get the letter from the school identifying her as overweight, but the next day they send home a brochure from the YMCA. It was for a program the Y is running, a healthy kids program and it is for clinically overweight and obese children. The part of the brochure that caught my eye was that with the $30.00 class enrollment fee came a free one year membership to the YMCA. My child participates in quite a few Y activities and we always have to pay the non-member fee because we just can't swing the family membership fee of 71.00 per month. My brain started thinking.....if i enrolled my child in this healthy kids class she would get a membership and she would have access to all of the free programs at the Y, and for the not-free programs I would only have to pay the reduced member rate. So, as of last night, my daughter attends the healthy kids program at the Y (and she loved it! she got to use the scaled down kid's fitness equipment and is learning about proper eating habits). I felt kind of like an imposter, my daughter was by far the smallest one in the program and while I do think it is a great program....I'm not sure she really needs to be in it. But hey, it's open enrollment, (the class cannot be determined to be "full" because of a federal grant...so it's not like she's taking a space away from someone who absolutely should be in the class)...and in my defense, the school did tell me she was "overweight". The only part of the program that really disturbs me is that the kids are required to meet with a psychologist to discuss "weight issues".....In thinking about it now, I think I might have gone a bit too far to try to save a couple dollars.

jiggreen (who might win a bad parenting award for this money saving idea)

Posted by yesican; You know all that junk mail you get with the stamped and preaddressed envelope inside? Just put white out on the address area and use it for your own mail. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I can tell you why it won't work. These envelopes are not really *stamped* with postage that has already been purchased.

These envelopes you get that are pre-addressed and have that little mark in the corner probably say on them "postage will be paid by addresse". Which means that you send them out in the mail, and when the company receives them, THEY pay when they get them delivered. Sort of like the old 'postage due' stamps. The receiver will have to pay if they accept the mail.

The post office no longer delivers 'postage due' mail to private mail boxes and merely does a 'return to sender'. Mail carriers do not have the time to go around and ring doorbells asking people if they want to pay the postage on a letter mailed to them and collect the money and give a receipt.

My original response might have been misleading, I didn't realise anyone wanted to use the envelopes marked as postage paid without actually placing their own stamp on them.

If the envelopes have an unused real stamp it's ok to use them for your own mail, but those printed on postage paid envelops (becoming more common now) are no good for anything other than posting back to the company who issued them. You can still reuse the envelop if you put a stamp over the printed postage paid area, but it's not like free postage.

The thing is, they're not really postage paid. The company don't pay for every envelope they issue, they only pay for the ones returned to them.

Bry,

When I read your post, I assumed you are maybe a seed trader/collector. I am quite actively trading seeds at different times of the year, and we traders remove the older stamps, and labels, or paste a new label and stamps over them and then reuse the already used envelope. Saves having to buy them new all of the time.
I've received in 7 different seed trades/offerings in the last week, and all of them were in recycled envelopes.

Sue

There are some things around the house that I use envelopes for where I prefer windowless ones.

While some of the envelopes that come to me are window-free, many are not.

But all of those "Return Postage Paid" envelopes are windowless.

ole joyful

Use one used envelope a month for keeping paid bills in marked month used, than put in old folder that i clean out once a year. Other used envelopes for note paper here at computer and to post messages on frig.
Use venitian blind slats cut in 4" peices for plant markers.
Use wire clotheshangers straightened out for wire used for all kinds of things.
Use old cookie tins for storing my sewing and craft things.
Use an old glazed teapot with a missing handle but beautifully decorated as a pen and pencil holder.
vickie

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.

Hey cynic,

So - you frequent those "spouse-swap" sites?

I love your story about the washer - I wouldn't count on another 20 years or so, though - would you settle for, maybe, five?

You've got to be a soul after my own heart.

Have a lovely week.

ole joyful