I have never found growing vegetables to be very cost effective, at least not for us. By the time I've put so much money and labor into into it, it's way more costly than buying veggies at the store. We don't eat huge quantities of them, of course, being just Mark and I. And one veggie or a salad with our main dish is all we eat at night. So that's a false economy for us. The only veggies I grow are the ones I want to just for taste, like one or two tomato plants and some herbs. I grow the herbs primarily for ornamental value and for the bees, but I do use them. So none of that is affected at all by the economy for me, except that I buy fewer of them. My biggest problem is trying not to water too much, because it runs our power bill up a lot. (Our irrigation system and all our hose bibs are on a well with an electric pump.) So I guess you could say that's an economic consideration. Plus a conservation one, in not wanting to use too much water. I still buy mulch where I need it to look pretty, and use my free oak leaves in other places, but I would do that, regardless. The main reason I've cut back on buying plants right now (and on accepting cuttings and shared plants) is because I simply can't work outside until this weather cools down. It was 98 here yesterday!!!! I'm not going outside at ALL in near-100 degree weather. I don't care if everything out there croaks. If I WENT out, it would be ME croaking!! Evelyn, I still need some of your rain. I could see through my windows that my coleus and other plants are lying about on the ground, limp and pitiful. Even my huge lemon grass is wilted and shrivled. I guess at my house, my garden concerns are currently more nature-related than economy-related. I might feel differently when I'm ready to get back out there again in the fall, and discover I can't afford to buy plants any more. Marcia

LOL Becky!!! What made me have a fear of it was because I watched the guy till up my garden area and I thought that thing was gonna shoot straight up in the air a few times. I almost went running across the garden at one point to catch him! Which would have probably hurt me more than him! HAHAHA! Good thing he didn't see me, he probably would have died laughing at me. I'll use the lawn mower, weed eater, edger and blower though... Go figure. ROFL! (At least Becky has an excuse not to mow! LOL) Bonnie! That's funny too! Neighbors, ain't they great for a good laugh. :D Christy, I'll cross my fingers that you get that tiller when they move. :) I did my flower beds by hand again this year and it was horrible! Took me 2 weeks to get them right. Don't wanna do that again EVER!

Indeed, an antique thread resurrected. A number of misdirected answers, the OP was talking about a Brother monochromatic (ie black/gray) laser printer. Most laser toner cartridges are good for thousands of copies. Third party compatible toner cartridges bought from a reliable source (Staples, Office Max, etc) are excellent and cheap. A home/non business user who prints things frivolously is unlikely to have to spend much money on replacement toner cartridges. I've suggested before, I think it's much cheaper and easier to make the occasionally required color copies/prints/photos at Fed Ex or drug stores than to struggle with color ink jets at home. Or, for someone who frequently makes a small number of color pages, have a laser for daily use and restrict the color printer to color pages. All this equipment is cheap, it's the ink jet cartridges that are ridiculously expensive.

i got an independent 52" liner at an outlet for $600 a while ago before they went bankrupt. i think you might be able to find some even better deals on it now since independent went bankrupt. As long as your abakka blower uses a 10 inch duct, you can use the independent liner. i plan on having a custom hood made out of precast concrete or stucco because those metal ones are sooo pricey (but beautiful). after you add the thickness of the hood, if you make it at least 1 inch thick on either side, you would have a deep 54" hood. it is possible your contractor can frame one for you too.