http://www.wisebread.com/forums Dollar-stretching tips, green/simple living, DIY, budgeting and general home economics. en Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:55:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.wisebread.com/forums/images/wb-graphics/misc/rss.jpg http://www.wisebread.com/forums http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/free-cheap-paint-9811.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:39:15 GMT After our oldest decided to move out on his own I decided to turn his old room into my office. After years of teenager abuse the walls looked horrible and could have used a coat of paint when we moved in three years ago. I really didn't have the cash budgeted to buy a bunch of paint. Considering paint even at the big box stores is running $25 to $35 a gallon it suddenly became a big project.

The city has a reuse room at the hazardous waste drop off building. Any cleaning chemicals or paint that is still useable is put there for people to take for free. I found an almost full can of mocha colored wall paint, 3/4 of a gallon of dark brown and about half a gallon of a light green color. The two browns were enough to do most of my office. The mocha on 3 walls and the brown on the lower half of the wall that has a step in and shelf due to the split level house foundation. I then bought a quart of olive green to do the top half of the wall because the free green was too light. So I painted my entire office for about $6. I went back the following week and found 3 full or nearly full cans of beige wall paint. We are going to keep collecting partial cans of beige indoor paint in colors that are near each other in hue then mix them together to end up with more gallons of paint.

I have also found partial gallons for really cheap, about $3 at the local Habitat for Humanity re-store. ]]> Frugal Living lucille http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/free-cheap-paint-9811.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/winters-coming-9810.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:56:17 GMT Hey guys

Seeing as winter is approaching fast I though I'd post a link to an article about saving money this winter on your energy costs. This is specifically for your heating costs.

It doesn't give you all the stuff they repeat every year. There's some good tips in there! :D

Here's the link

-Dean ]]> Frugal Living dean0088 http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/winters-coming-9810.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/eating-out-restaurant-com-9041.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:01:03 GMT These days, the economy being what it is, my husband and I don't have tons of spare cash to squander on full fare. So there's nothing I love more than getting a good deal on dining out. Anytime we get turned on to a good deal at a modest restaurant, we never hesitate to cancel our Saturday night reservations at McDonalds. About a year ago, we stumbled on Restaurant.com and tried it out to see if we could save some money. Well we sure did, and generally we like it, but there are some drawbacks that every consumer should be aware of. If you understand the drawbacks, Restaurant.com can be a great deal and we still use them in addition to just going to great dirt cheap restaurants

http://www.livecheap.com/food/restau...eal-or-no-deal ]]> Frugal Living Cheap N Legal http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/eating-out-restaurant-com-9041.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/products-being-made-more-poorly-9018.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:15:08 GMT Is it me or are a lot of things being made much more poorly these days? I bought sheets the other day at a well known better chain dept store and they were like tissue paper--I paid a fair amount for them--they were not cheap--also I bought glasses at a private optical shop and purchased a medium price frame and it was very poorly made--I could go on about products I have seen that seem much more poorly made. anyone else feel that way? Is it me or are a lot of things being made much more poorly these days? I bought sheets the other day at a well known better chain dept store and they were like tissue paper--I paid a fair amount for them--they were not cheap--also I bought glasses at a private optical shop and purchased a medium price frame and it was very poorly made--I could go on about products I have seen that seem much more poorly made. anyone else feel that way? ]]> Frugal Living dreamsandshadows http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/products-being-made-more-poorly-9018.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/save-money-save-whole-forests-8601.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:44:32 GMT Even "recycled paper" toilet paper is usually still mostly from virgin trees, from old-growth forests. So, either you're paying top dollar for the eco stuff, which is still eating up forests, or you're paying less for standard toilet paper, but you're still paying a lot, especially if you're a stay-at-home mom like me, have a daughter or two, etc.

So, I started Pixie Wipes! They're luxury cloth wipes for going #1, they save 95% of tp costs, and they're beautiful and soft. You don't have linty tp left behind, and we sell little mini-baskets with easy-access lids for discreet, odorless storage till laundry day. You just add them to your hot wash, and they're clean as can be.

We used to spend $24/month on 7th Generation, but now we spend maybe $12. Every time I pee, I feel great, knowing I'm saving money and making a huge difference for the environment. Check out our gorgeous home-made wipes at pixiewipes.com! ]]> Frugal Living Garden_variety http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/save-money-save-whole-forests-8601.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/your-best-cheap-deal-year-8382.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:41:58 GMT As we are heading into the end of the year, I was thinking about what a fantastic year 2009 was.....for bargains. While unemployment shot through the roof, our auto manufacturers went bankrupt, and our deficit ballooned into the 13 figure range....that's right WOW 13 big ones, the deals this year were just amazing and it hasn't let up. Maybe you picked up a cash for clunkers car? Or maybe you got a HDTV for $600? Perhaps you picked up a house at 60% off or a home theater for $200.

For me the big deals were in furniture as it seemed like every furniture store finally called it quits. Great high end stuff for bargains that I have never seen before. If I had to pick one deal it would be the following:

New full size hardwood desk and matching double-wide two drawer filing cabinet. Originally priced at $1,750. Negotiated cash price..... $200. The salesman was fuming, but hey they were going out of business. Sure I had to get a UHaul to deliver it myself but worth every penny for breaking my back.

So what are your best deals this year?

SoCal
___________
www.LiveCheap.com ]]> Frugal Living Socal104 http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/your-best-cheap-deal-year-8382.html http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/how-cheap-you-find-out-now-8336.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:55:16 GMT I posted this is the finance section, but its probably more appropriate over here.

That's the question over on LiveCheap.com. There's a quiz that you can take that will tell you numerically from 1 to 100. The current high score is 90 and somebody that must be way too rich (or poor) scored a 34! I am a pretty cheap guy and I scored 83:).



http://www.LiveCheap.com

Post your score here if you dare. My guess is that the Wisebread posters will range from the 60s to 80s. So far the scores are in the 60 to high 80s, but nobody has touched the 90 score yet! ]]> Frugal Living Socal104 http://www.wisebread.com/forums/frugal-living/how-cheap-you-find-out-now-8336.html