For nursery pots I started using old food cans, and pop bottles cut down to about 6" deep, & poke a few holes in the bottom. Seed saving from one year to the next. You can't save seed from foods you buy at the grocery store because most are hybrid varieties and won't reproduce true. You have to start with heirloom varieties, and save those seeds. Make my own compost from leaves, paper, grass and kitchen waste. You cut down on a lot of trash by composting junk mail and boxes that canned pet food comes in. Cardboard makes good compost, as does newspapers, paper grocery sacks, clothing labels, dryer lint and cereal boxes. Make your own seed starting mix from peat and perlite, because it needs to be sterile to prevent damping off and diseases that attack tender new growth. I make my own potting mix from screened compost, sand, used seed starting mix and perlite. It's especially important to have a loose, open potting mix with my nursery pots that have straight sides (cans and pop bottles) otherwise it would be too difficult to get plants out of them for up-potting. Cheryl

I'm not a butcher, but what I understand is that "wet aging" is the euphemism they've come up with for the product of huge meat processing plants, where they have the meat wrapped up in these individual vacuum-packed plastic bags - now I'm seeing not only the big pieces of meat like 20 lb pork loins and similar sized hunks of beef strip loins/rib eye, but smaller cuts as well, coming from the factory. "Dry aging" is what they do with meat in the cooler before its cut up - that can vary from a few days to weeks. And I understand that this is how the fancy steak houses do it - they buy the large cuts of meat that you refer to, then wrap it in cheese cloth or something similar that 'breathes' but protects the meat from drying out too much, changing that wrapping every few days in a cold store, and the end result is a steak they can sell for $70 a plate. But leaving a piece of meat in a sealed bag for an additional 3 weeks after you buy it? I don't think I'd try that. I'd guess that the "best before" date stamped on those big sealed packages is there for a good reason.

Earning money around the neighborhood is way less difficult than you'd think...my neighbor boys put out a little flyer advertising sweeping driveways (they're 8 and 6) and lo and behold, they've got regular gigs! Their mom even asked my DD to join in, because they didn't want to do it, they just wanted to send the flyer around LOL -- but they've got to live with the results of their actions, and their mom figured my DD would keep them on task :) So seriously, older folks *love* to have younger folks help around. I know I'd love to give the money to an "enterprising young man" over a service. And who knows where it will lead, whom he'll meet, etc. Cutting back on activities is difficult *if* you focus only on what you can't do. If you can go about finding things you *can* do instead, you'll find your time is completely full and maybe he can tell friends about it and take them to the things *he's* going to! We went to the coast on Saturday and attended a great free talk on fossils that entranced my daughter and all the kids in attendance, for two long hours--a *great* educator, IMO. I found out about it from the paper. The same presenter also gives expensive admission talks sometimes, but this one was sponsored by the state and was free. I consider it money saved :), and great education/exposure, and our friends are really interested to find out when he'll be speaking again. I found out from a friend that Apple computers has been doing free one-day media classes this summer. FREE. They do it every summer. Classes on podcasting, moviemaking, music, etc. I would bet where you are there are loads of great free opportunities; look in the paper with an eagle eye. They aren't promoted as obviously as the profit-making events, which makes it extra rewarding when you discover them :) Maybe your son will become the new source of cool unknown things to do. We just decided not to buy mochas out of the house and we figure it will save enough to pay for a medically necessary gym membership for me. That's how much we were subsidizing the Starbucks shareholders. I also drink a lot of protein drinks instead of breakfast, honestly, and sometimes (like today, when it's hot), instead of a dinner. I use protein and milk and ovaltine, or sometimes just make a smoothie with yogurt, fresh fruit, and protein powder (if you are interested, I'll tell you the names of the protein powders my daughter doesn't snub :)). Serving for serving, it's not expensive and it's *wonderful* nutrition. There are also products now that can do a passable job of drycleaning at home...you can have things *really* drycleaned much less often. I feel odd mentioning all these ideas like the above because I don't know what you're doing already in this regard. And re stocking up when foods are on sale: OH yeah. I buy organic ground beef *only* when it's on sale, then put it in the freezer. Same with frozen organic fruit/vegs. Bread freezes/defrosts very well too, so when the good bagged bread (not the fresh baked paper bags, the plastic bags, but there are some that are organic) is on sale, stock up and freeze it. Saves a significant amount of money. If you don't have a real freezer (non defrosting), you can probably get one for pretty inexpensive or possibly free off craigslist or freecycle. You could even post a wanted post and see what happens... and btw, this is probably a great thread for lots of people; I know I've learned from it already :)

cowboyind, Here I thought you were just getting a "buzzz" out of it. (;^)) Hadn't noticed that, as a matter of fact. Whether your message was hypothetical or not - the issue of the number of hypothetical hours remains the same. We earn "before-tax" money, but buy (most, i.e. non-deductible) goods with after-tax money. Which makes the concept of whether we want to exchange that amount of effort for so much money to buy certain goods even more relevant, for the number of hours is (almost) *always* larger. Another good idea along this line is, if we think that we really do want to buy the item, to ask ourselves whether we might be able to arrange to get the item at even less expense using another channel. For example, buy a (used) item at an auction, estate sale, etc. where there are quite often some really good bargains to be found. But - take care. Be sure that you know the market value of items that you desire before going, and keep your emotions in check. Sometimes, in the heat of an auction, people get their egos involved and bid items up to higher than retail value. Linens and some household accoutrements often go for next to nothing at auctions. With, often, a number of other itmes in a box - that you may be able to sell individually later in garage sales for more than you paid for the whole box, originally. So, you got what you wanted free - didn't you? Who can beat that? Unless you can get someone to pay you to take certain items off their hands. How often have you run on to such offers? Garage sales are a good source, as well. I bought a couple of (snmall) radios last year for $1.00 and $2.00. Good wishes to you and yours, ole joyful