joyfulguy: Go ahead and tell about Saurday night baths. Its part of our heritage that happened not so long ago, but might seem primitive by today standards. My sister and I with our 2 parents lived in a small 4 room house on a small farm in southern Illinois. Electricity did not reach these farms until 1947. During the 1940s, my sister and I bathed in a No.3 galvanized wash tub placed behind the kitchen stove to afford a screen. (Be careful not to back into the kitchen stove if it was fired up.) Water came from a pitcher pump at the kitchen sink. It drew water from a cistern. The cistern was replenished by rain water from the roof of the house. (We prayed for rain when the cistern ran low.) Water wss heated on the kitchen stove. The stove also contained a copper water tank that eventually heated 5 to 10 gallons of water. On hot summer nights, water may have been heated outside in another tub at the clothes washing site. We bathed on Saturday night so that we'd be fresh for church the next morning. That was the only scheduled bath of the week. In summer, just before supper, we might go the swimming hole in the river; It was only 1/4 mile from the house. That was a great way to rinse the sweat off and cool down. In 1947 after electric powewr came to the countryside (REA), the bathing routine did not change due to practicalities. After I entered high school in 1950, I got a shower every day at the end of the physical Ed class. That became my source of bathing (and athlete's foot). You probably should save the descriptions of outhouses for another time, but those were part of the landscape. Farm houses built in 1900 did not have plumbing. If you were out in a field, you went behind a bush. (My uncle cautioned me: "Do not squat with your spurs on!")

Shoot, entering 'joyfulguy' and 'saving' gave 44 pages of results. All look like good money saving tips. You're far from gone. You're pretty close to right Jim. 10 regular posters left on GP (lilo, west, mwheel, janis, don, gandle, me, you, gmax, anneliese). I really miss marda (and eileen with her many screen names), dickens, endorph (and his ooolala-ing), John, Sheila, KathyJane... I could go on forever. So many really wonderful people gone from GardenParty. So many wonderful people left. I hope Don's ablation went well. I wish Missy would update us! Here is a link that might be useful: joyfulguy and saving

I used to recommend to clients (and others - mostly anyone who would listen) that they have a 3 - 6 months worth of wage income in a financial cushion, in case of layoff, emergency or other need ... and in the volatile economy and employment situation we've seen in recent years, more like 9 months' worth to a year's usual income in the cushion. And to some I said that I didn't always have such myself, but had a credit card whose balance owing I paid in full every month, and a fully secured line of credit at the bank (with interest rate level below what they charge on unsecured lines) which I'd draw on to pay off the credit card in full monthly, then save strenuously to retire the debt owing on the line of credit as soon as possible. I want my savings working for me ... not my debts working for someone else or another entity. When I have that ... I say that part of my work is producing nothing (current result) for me. Wait a minute ... since I've been retired, I'm not "working", right? Oh, well ... part of the pension goes to pay someone or an agency whose money I used temporarily. I want it working for me ... or one of the charities/churches that I choose to support. ole joyful

Just spent part of the afternoon arranging with stockbroker to make a gift of stocks that have gone up in value to a major charity, to distribute to a number of others. When I cash the stock, put the proceeds in the bank and write cheques to the charities, come tax time I have to deduct the purchase price from the sale price and pay income tax at regular rate on half of the difference. But when I donate them to a charity, I avoid paying income tax on the capital gain. For the past couple of years I've been able to avoid federal income tax ... largely by gifts to charities, churches and making political contributions. We had both federal and provincial elections last year, so larger political contributions, and larger charitable contributions, helped avoid tax on an increase in income, last year. I like them apples better! ole joyful.