I fill my tank about every three mows (3 gal), and I have about 2/3 acre of actual grass to mow. So I guess it costs me about $3.50 per mow. Gas could be $10 a gallon and I'd still mow twice a week. Between tilling, grading, sodding, rolling, and fertilizing, aerating and thatching, I put a lot of money and effort into that lawn and I don't intend to neglect it when it comes to keeping it the proper length. I refuse to let gas prices alter my lifestyle. Since my wife stays home with the kids and I drive 25 minutes each way to work, it would make sense to leave the GMC in the garage and drive the VW to work, rather than the other way around. But I never claimed to have any sense. I guess I'm just a whipper-snapper here in this forum, but when I was old enough to mow but too young to work--1984 to 1989--I'd charge my grandfathers' friends $10 to mow yards which were less than 1/4 acre (pushed, no trimming, their mower). Gas was around a dollar then. Twenty years later, my neighbor's kid charges the other neighbor $20 to mow a 1/2 acre lawn (basically the same rate). And his parents even thought that was a bit steep. So even though fuel has tripled in price as of late, it wasn't until recently that inflation really started to affect so many other things. But I wouldn't say a homeowners' lawn-mowing frequency is one of them. Here is a link that might be useful: gas price index

We are just getting prices from contractors in NYC for our 35 sq ft (actually a little less since it's not quite 7 x 5) and prices are $7,500 - $20,000 from 4 different places. The bathroom is over 50 years old and we have just been living with it for a while. It's all contractor work, no DIY. We cannot move plumbing so the layout won't change. I'm not really sure what the $7,500 price includes since the contractor would really not elaborate beyond "a basic bathroom" that includes wall to wall new tile (what we have now). One vendor who did not do a site visit (only looked at photos) came in around $15K. I am waiting on formal proposals from 2 contractors that visited this week and I gave them the wish list below that does not include any fixtures choices or finish choices but they are steering us toward custom and semi custom. One vendor said not to spend too much since we could price out the market for resale (we are not selling anytime soon, if at all) so he came down to $20K from $25K. There is one more contractor on the list that we plan to call for an estimate. A neighbor spent $40K on her bathroom. I have not seen it but just heard the price this week so I will make it a point to visit to have a look. replace bathtub/drain & replace fixtures, adjustable rain shower with separate handheld replace medicine cabinet make laundry hamper area into storage (framed with shelving) demo wall to wall tile, replace tile add recessed storage on rear shower wall install new lighting paint entire room (replace bathroom and bedroom doors - only two doors in the apartment so they should match) replace metal towel bar in shower replace storage cabinets (towels & other products) install vessel sink and fixtures add handheld sprayer for toilet (may get washlet seat if elongated toilet will fit) cover and tile over pipes; add mesh venting remove shower door (install curved shower rod) replace ceramic towel bar (8 hooks?) & switch plate add vertical toilet paper holder upgrade & add electric outlets (2 x 2); not on same circuit as lights Labor only estimates so far: $12,650 $13,200 Materials $3,355 (low) - $7,355 (high) One GC sources and stores the materials which seem to be at least 25% -50% higher for some items than I've seen locally. This post was edited by kdnyc on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 15:24

$360,000 to build + $200,000 for 40 acres with 330' lakeshore in MN. The cost to build includes about $30,000 for gravel driveway, $7,500 for underground electricity, well for $6,250 and $10,500 for septic. 4 BR/2.5 bath. 1,450 sq ft main finished, 1,100 2nd level finished, 1,450 basement unfinished, 780 bonus room unfinished. 2-car garage unfinished, 28'x28'=780 sq ft. Colonial variation with 6 dormers. 9' ceilings throughout including basement. Open floor plan two story great room/kitchen/dining room. Master BR and laundry on Main Floor. Split-faced block, Hardiboard siding. 8/12 pitch with architectural 40-yr shingles. Upper mid-level finishes. Large porcelain tile, BR-111 Amendoim wood floor, 48" stainless steel double oven stove with custom 48" range hood, maple stair treads and railings with white balusters, maple fireplace hearth surround, custom mudroom lockers, geothermal HVAC including radiant floor in basement plus desuperheater, garage and bathroom tile floors, closed cell sprayfoam insulation, quality vinyl argon-filled casement windows. Finished building August, 2009. Hopefully plan on never moving. I was nervous building in a severe market collapse because I didn't know what would happen if our appraisal was less than what it cost to build. Local lender really helped as well as one-time close construction to permanent loan as they had an incentive to get it closed. I was technically the GC although we had an experienced, quality builder. I did the tile, wood floors, built master shower, painting, basement waterproofing, interior and exterior drain tile, much of radiant tubing and below slab insulation, closet systems, pantry, low voltage wiring including Cat6 and coax to multiple locations in each room, security wiring, music system and speaker wiring, fireplace mantle, hearth and surround, etc. On-site every day after work and many days before work too and every weekend.

Iowagirl, I bought a Canon PIXMA Pro 9000, which prints 13x19 too. (Is that what you have?) These big printers are BIG, aren't they? I could barely drag mine into the house, and it's still in its box waiting for me to reorganize my desk to make room for it. Although the printer apparently produces stunning color photos, it doesn't do that great a job with black & white. I knew this when I ordered it, but a good greyscale printer costs around $800--well out of my budget. So I'll continue to send those out to Mpix or Adoramapix. I use Photoshop Elements, but I'd like to check out the link to your gadget anyway. Thanks!