heat, gas, groceries, rent ... these are KT issues
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Traumatised at the grocery ;-)
Comments (106)Here's another scenario. Our mother abandoned my dad and us children (7 of us) when I was 13. (Yes, lots of therapy and I'm grown and fine now). But I can remember standing around with hotdogs on forks over our gas stove. We threw countless pot pies in the oven. I can't tell you how many times we'd peddle to the store and buy a box of mac and cheese and that was dinner. My dad simply couldn't do it all and he didn't know how. All of us are now great cooks including my brothers. Any one of them could put on a full Thanksgiving meal that would rival my grandmother's (or my mother's for that matter. For all her faults, she was a great cook). So necessity is the mother of invention. Even if there's nobody to teach you, you can teach yourself, IF you're interested. For my brothers and sisters, nobody ever wanted to be hungry again, and we'd had enough boxed and canned food to last a life time, so we all hit the kitchen with gusto in our early 20's. It's funny though. My husband, who's also a wonderful cook, still says that I make enough to feed an army. There's a reason for that - I never want anyone to be hungry. We both work full days, but our girls know how to make reasonable meals. They've been taught to make some of their favorites such as fettucine alfredo. Sometimes, we'll simply say, you two are in charge of dinner tomorrow night and it can't be pizza in the oven. So they make a simple pasta and that's fine. Two nights ago, they made Ina's French Potato Salad with herbs. They can make fresh pesto with our garden basil. When they're grown, if they want everything out of a can, that's their choice, but at least they will have been shown the basics. My oldest can out bake me every time, including breads. She has a gift, so I'm just not worried about it. They'll figure it out, just like we did! And who knows about canned cucumbers! I have a boatload of fresh that are bound for bread and butter pickling this weekend!...See MoreReusable grocery bags, and stains on carpet
Comments (22)"cynic- Why do your put your pasta, sugar and flour in the freezer? Is that to kill any pantry bugs? That's exactly why maire_cate! We don't have anywhere near the problems that some states have with the bugs but I've been in the back rooms of enough grocery stores to say, in the freezer! I actually put them in a plastic bag to bring them home, then into the freezer, plastic bag and all for 2-3 days minimum. I've never had to clean out flour bugs from my house and hope I never will have that duty. Or should I say dooty? Say Wildchild, about your comment "Like my friend the people I see using the cheap non washable bags are those who can least afford them." Are you talking about paper/plastic from the store? Usually they're "free", but with reuseables, many stores here give a 5 credit. We all know the cost of these bags are factored into the overhead, therefore into pricing at the store. If you're referencing the reuseable bags you buy, I haven't seen one yet that can't be washed so if that's the reference, where do you get this idea? I've even washed plastic bags from the store! (The cheapie "free" ones.) Also, I have to question your position: "But if you follow the money you will see that this is just another way for stores to save money on regular bags and make a profit on cheap reusable, most of which will end up in the landfills taking more space than plastic or even paper." *If* the store has you bring a bag, AND not give you a credit for not taking a bag, then yes it's another way to save money and to that I say why not? Stores *are* in business to make a profit. However, if the store gives the credit, then I dispute your position since the bags probably cost the store less than 5¢ each so in many cases, it can cost the store money for people to bring the bags in, to say nothing of the loss of bags people don't purchase - grab, use and not mention it to the cashier. Next I'll take issue with the landfill: Yes, one reuseable probably takes more space than one paper or plastic, but I don't think it's fair to say we'll throw the reuseables away after only one use! Or for that matter after 2-3 uses even. Therefore they would keep a number of bags out of the landfill so, are you suggesting that one reuseable takes more landfill space than 50-100 other bags? I don't know what the ratio is, but I know I've used mine now at least 10 times each and they're still like new. Granted there's some wobble room there since some of the other bags would get reused as trash bags. Sometimes get reused even several times (for Aldi trips, carrying things to the vehicle and the like). And yes, sometimes I'll take a bag on top of it as mentioned. But I can't "buy" the theory that there's more landfill space used. You'll have to "sell" me on that one! For the toilet paper core, I agree completely. I've said they should have a minimal size tube in it, 1" maximum. For that matter, make the toilet paper holder thinner. 1/4" would be more than adequate. However, people buy from looks. They tried reducing core size years ago and are trying it again but in the past people rejected it as they did compaction of the laundry detergents. Didn't think they were getting their money's worth. I buy Scott 1000 sheet cheekscrape and it takes less room in the closet, costs less and is as good quality as most any other and far better than many. Compare how many rolls you need to get 1000 sheets sometime folks and you'll see what I mean. On cardboard, Aldi let's you (encourages you actually to) take and use the boxes in the store. Saves them trash costs. You dispose of it. And finally, I can't hit submit until I address the "China Syndrome"! I keep seeing the woe-is-me posts on here about all the business going to China and although yes I think it's sad, I realize what's going on. Why do we get so much from China? Because that's what people BUY! I remember the tearful threads about Walmart not carrying fabric in some stores anymore. That's not carried because people don't BUY it! Trust me, if people bought fabric and made their own clothes and such, Walmart would probably have a store called Cloth*Mart, charge you $75/year to enter it, make you check out 3 times to leave and charge you 50% more than buying it somewhere else! And people would brag about how much they save! But until people buy, they won't keep selling. Stores need "turns". It costs them money to keep the lights on and every item has to carry its weight on profit. Oops, one other thing. I found the comments on that link about sanitation of the reuseable bags to be quite interesting and I think they made a valid point. Don't forget to read the comments there if you read the article....See Morehow much do you spend on groceries a month?
Comments (38)My tally includes *everything* rung up at the grocery store, and the food and household items at Costco, and the non-prescription items at the drug store. I never walk down the "Concentrated Sugar and Salt" aisles -- soda, chips, 'energy' drinks. I do buy limited amounts of cakes, cookies, ice cream, chocolate bars. (Small portions of sweets are plenty to satisfy a sweet tooth. We may eat four pints of ice cream per summer. We split a Costco muffin into thirds.) We have excellent tap water, and we drink it! We have wine with dinner. I make three cups of coffee in the morning -- no "hot ice cream sodas" from a 'coffee' shop. We have a pot of tea with cookies in the afternoons while reading or watching a DVD. I make dinner most nights -- chicken, meat or fish with fresh or frozen veg, a starch, salad sometimes. Lunch is soup and crackers w/cheese or leftovers. Breakfast is cereal w/fruit and toast -- O.J., bacon and eggs once a week. We eat a a few crackers between meals. A gallon of 1% milk lasts a week. I freeze bread and rolls. I don't have separate freezer, and I 'stockpile' a few months' supply of paper goods. I suspect the eating 'out' and 'snacks' are sabotaging some budgets -- as well as health. Portion size is another killer. DH and I were each at least 20 lbs. overweight in our late forties. When I stopped entering the aisle of salt and soda, we dropped back to 'normal': 115 lbs. for me and 185 lbs. for him. Ah, yes...the dog food! Our rescue Westie is 13 and can no longer tolerate kibble. Hill's special diet canned food is $3/can. He eats a can a day. He also requires abit of Pepcid AC and 25 mg Tramadol twice a day. I'm ready to make ground beef + cottage cheese for him -- would have to be cheaper. Salgal -- Can you post the Hawaii stats? I figure I spend 20% more when we are on Maui. Food is more expensive. I 'cook' less. However, we tend to eat less in the warm weather....See MorePropane Gas Tank in Ground vs Oil Heat
Comments (11)This might sound far fetched but if you're building a new home, you dont need to burn anything to heat and cook and you'd save a tremendous amount of money by not. Geothermal takes energy from the ground and condenses it to make heat for your home. In the summer the system works the other way, takes energy (heat) from your home and sends it back into the ground, to cool your home. It's incredibly efficient and robust. But the cost is high, though federal incentives are still in effect, and some states have them too, in addition. Alternatively, and the option I'm choosing for my home and have more experience with: Mini-split systems / Air Source Heat Pumps. This is the same thing as geothermal, except instead of drilling a well, these use the outside air as its source. Both systems are heat pumps, they move energy from one area to another. Every home has at least one already - The refrigerator! The warm air you feel on your toes when you stand in front of the fridge (closed) is the energy being removed from inside. Air-source heat pumps do the same thing on a larger scale, and in both directions, allowing you to heat & cool your home comfortably even on the coldest and hottest days. Ultimately, it comes down to money. These systems will cost you similar up front to a typical combustion heating system with AC, but your operating costs will be less, sometimes significantly less. And it'll always be safer. There's no exhaust gases with this equipment. The catch? You might need your home to be built with energy efficiency in mind. I would love to chat more if you're interested. This is sort of my passion. The technology is there, and it's economical. I'm currently designing/building my own home that will have no combustion appliances and be 100% electric. And I'm in a cheap natural gas area, too. It'll still be less costly to own and live in....See MoreKathsgrdn
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