My telephone rings off the hook---from buyers agents. But they don't impress. If I see a house I am interested in---THEY try to dictate "to me" --- "what" I will offer. All I want to see is that their Realtor asymmetrical knowledge and selfishness working for MY BENEFIT, not theirs. I ask them can you pay cash for that house? "Abaddee Abadee thats all folks." As I stated before I can pay cash for 3 houses with the money I saved for my "house fund" while renting the past 9 years. Cash through saving can really add up quickly. If I kept my house I sold in 1998 until today, I would have a cash equity of $200k for 9.5 years of mortgage and property tax payments. But ONLY IF I COULD SEEL THE HOUSE AT ZILLOW PRICES. I woul;d still have to slash the cash by at least 6% for Realtors.
My rent has always been less than my old house payments. So I figure deducting rent costs. Over the past 9 years I have paid about $90,000 to a landlord. The money is gone - poof! But I saved the difference between rent and PITI house payments.
Having a "real cash savings" is so much exciting fun, that we now SAVE MORE thast we ever could owning a house--- "a money pit". I save 100% of my after tax earnings. My wife saves about 70% of her after tax earnings. Our "house fund" is now over $600,000 of real cash. Try to think of all the money that Realtors would have scrapped off my savings if instead of renting my house, I was paying mortgage on it. The mortgage interest deduction isn't enough to matter. PLUS INTEREST MONEY IS LIKE TAX MONEY---I don't get to keep the money I worked for.
Come on honest Buyers agent- Realtor. Can you be aggressive enough for me to protect my money rather than spend it?
Barbara - Nothing, but in that case other people still have 15 minutes to place a bid. Snipers usually bid in the last 5 seconds so no one else can manually respond to their bid. They'll still lose plenty of auction is the other bidders placed an original bid in high enough.
I have always owned a house. Unfortunately, I sold in California just as I moved out of state, temporarily houseless in a very bad sellers market. I had plenty of cash, but over a period of a FEW days I read about the housing bubble in Fall 98! It was so bad in early 1998 after watching Realtors DO NOTHING, I sold my house myself over one weekend to my next door neighbor for the asking price. It took about 5 minutes. Of course the "do nothing" Realtor got his 6% and walked. Now I had, and have, cash and want to buy, but junk houses are selling for more than a nice house. So I have been saving and watching. I learned a new lesson. You CAN save more money than you can make playing the "move-up" housing game. The reason is that so many middlemen from Brokers to loan companies try to put their hands in your wallet. I have learned MORE about Real estate being a renter for the past 9 years, then buying and selling four houses the "move up" American way.
Here is the issue: Realtors ONLY GET PAID, when the deal closes. No close, no money. To put food on the table, they will do or say anything for their number one client--THEMSELVES.
Forget about the NAR and code of "ethics". Read THEIR NAR contract: "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ORAL STATEMENTS" of either agent. In other words lying is "ethical". If the NAR is "ethical", REMOVE this disclaimer!
Today my issue is: How can I, a cash buyer (because I saved and rented instead of paying it to Realtors and loan companies), find an HONEST agent to represent me?
Two events occur over and over:
1) If the deal is "good", the listing agent buys it for themselves---again PROVING who their client really is.
I watch the local MLS EACH DAY and call immediately when I see what I want. I am the "loan company" --- I don't need "permission" to buy a house. But the listing agents hide their listings (pocket listings) until the seller is weary and gives up. The Realtor then buys it themselves supposedly to "help" the seller, or they have a family member or straw buyer involved. Look at the steep discount a Realtor gets on THEIR OWN DEAL. Plus, blabbering sellers will have probably disclosed all the bad and ugly facts about the property that almost always exist.
2) The "Buyers" agent ONLY wants to represent prospects who can qualify to close or stupid enough to pay asking list price---OR ABOVE. In my area, Realtors have a new twist on an old scam. They will try to get sellers to list at a "lower" price (its already overpriced) to stimulate a pretend "bidding war" where they participate through shill "offers". I see this ALL THE TIME. Shill "buyers" (secretly working for the agents) will make low ball offers to break down the seller and/or they will make high ball offers that have poisonous AND impossible contingencies in them that will kill the deal. Of course on the surface it will look like a "legitimate offer", until you read all the "subject to's". The seller is ONLY looking at the dollar amount at first glance.
A cash buyer is extremely sensitive to PRICE, more than any other buyer. Its their money. All money brought to the table is their money. It is NOT OPM - Other Peoples Money. So the Escrow "closing party" of hungry vultures is paid for 100% by the buyer, and the buyer knows the second the ink is dry, that the house will have dropped a few thousand more. don't believe it? Ask a Realtor present at the "party" to tell you how much the house is worth NOW. They will offer an opinion of a lower amount even though they were sitting their divving up YOUR MONEY for their shenanigans.
Goal: Show me ONE Buyers agent who will Represent ONLY ME! I have not found one. If I chisel down the price---they buy it. EVERY TIME.
The MLS is filled with OVERPRICED JUNK. If they are NOT junk and priced correctly, Realtors grab them up.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS for the buyer of ANY PROPERTY:
Why is the seller selling? ---what is the REAL reason?
If its the '5 D's of Realtors': Death, Destitution, Divorce, Disease, Disaster, than the seller must sell. ie THEY ARE TRULY MOTIVATED SELLERS. But only if they have REAL equity....not Realtor hype and dreams. Look only at the ink on the paper. If you don't see it--its not there.
I am looking for a house that was purchased BEFORE the fall of 1998, and has not been refinanced, Heloc'd or have liens on it. But as soon as the Realtor (sharks-or snakes) see these--they grab them up or hide them for "investor" friends.
These houses WILL have equity if the house has not been destroyed. If the seller is a "5D" seller, they will be happy to close the deal with cash. FAST !! I don't mind paying the sharks their commission- IF I GET A DEAL.
Okay "honest buyers agents" ---Here I am. To give you "your 3-6%". But where are you? Buying up the non-junk houses for yourselves.
Speaking of food morals, if you can get over the weirdness factor, I think that dog is some of the best meat for things like enchiladas. It's really good. I've had it on two occasions in other countries where dogs aren't necessarily considered pets.
I have not been able to pay my credit card bill for 5 months now because after college I had a hard time finding a job, and the reps tell me that after the sixth month period, they will send my account to collections or litigation if I don't enter a payment plan with them. I explained to them that I will have a job soon and I can start paying them regularly each month, but they said they have to automatic debit my account for a set amount of around $70 a month. I asked why couldn't I just send about $100 a month myself because I just don't like to give anyone control over MY bank account.
They said this would not work because with me doing it, their money isn't guaranteed and if I chose to do this they would send me to collections. My job is steady, but it is not 100% just as no job is 100%. If I allow them to automatic debit, anything could go wrong, and God forbid something were to happen with my job, and they continue to withdraw from my account. Then not only do I have a problem with debt, but I have an additional problem with the bank. On the other hand, I don't want to go to collections because of the daily phone calls and potential harrassment and bad credit marks. I really want to just pay them each month with me writing the check, not them taking my money out each month. I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions??
(seriously, spaghetti sauce with liver is amazing).
OK, maybe I need the recipe for this. Once many years ago, when we were young and broke the only thing left of the cow we had butchered was the liver. In an attempt to disguise it, I ground the liver, and spent the entire day cooking it in a spaghetti sauce, only to find that neither of us could get it down. Since my husband had no idea what he was eating, I can't say he was put off by any mental association he might have had with his family's monthly liver and onions dinners. Both of us went hungry that night, and when we talk about hard times, or my cooking failures that night always takes the cake.
Certain things are cheap because they don't appeal to the masses, and often it isn't just the thought of eating it. I find calf testicles very tough, liver and kidney unedable, not to mention that since they filter the body toxins for the previous owner, they aren't great for yours. Chicken feet scare me, have you ever watched were chickens walk? Not opposed to trying something new, but those chicken feet are going to need a bath in Clorox before I dig in.
I do love a BBQ tongue sandwich, and I have never wrinkled my nose at anything put in front of me. However, I am OK with wasting parts of animals that I don't like. Seriously it's like saying that if you order something online for your home, you must also display the bubblewrap and box. As long as I find a use for it, recycle it, donate it to a friend, enrich the garden, I am OK with it.
There is a lot of conflicting information about consuming soy products. All the propaganda about soy being dangerous is mostly hype, just like soy being a wonder food is probably overhyped. Like any other food, it's good for you when consumed in moderation and part of a balanced diet consisting mostly of minimally processed foods. As a vegetarian, I find people constantly telling me that enjoying some tofu stir fry is going to make me grow "moobs" annoying. The fact of the matter is that soy has very limited estrogenic effects. You'd have to eat an unnaturally huge quantity to really see significant estrogenic effects. Having excess body fat will have a bigger estrogenic effect than consuming soy. Also, milk (at least in the US) tends to be produced by pumping up cows with estrogen, making dairy a bigger source of dietary estrogens than soy. Even eating beef during pregnancy has also been shown to adversely affect male fetus genital development. I'd be more worried about overall diet rather than being worried about just soy.
We recently converted part of our small New England city backyard into an intensive organic garden, and in less than a year we're already seeing the benefits.
On our little patch of land (about 1/3 an acre) we've got 14 blueberry bushes, a peach tree, blackberries, strawberries and tons of produce - everything from beets and broccoli to habanero peppers and tomatoes - growing in seven 16' x 4" garden beds. We left a small tuft of grass for the dog to run around on, but otherwise it's all productive.
The startup costs were nothing to sneeze at - we spent almost $600 for plants and materials, including piping for a homemade gravity fed drip irrigation system fed by rain barrels.
It really has paid off, though. In a few months we've already "made back" about half of that on food savings.
Right now, we're freezing and canning hundreds of pounds of yummy organic food for the winter. We just purchased a second freezer, and it's almost full.
It's not that hard to do, either. We work full time, so it was important for us to keep it easy. We use newspaper and straw marsh hay to cut down on weeding, and spend maybe 3-4 hours a week working in the garden (staking tomatoes, light weeding, harvesting produce). Canning and freezing get done at night, and add another 2 hours a day during the harvest season.
I've tried knitting and came to the same conclusion as everyone else - the yarn is more expensive than getting a ready-made sweater. But with food prices rising, growing your own victory garden makes sense.
Just wanted to point out that many vegetarians do not eat eggs and no vegetarians use Worcestershire sauce because it contains ground anchovy (fish meal).
Good tips, though. Vegetarians can easily leave these ingredients out or substitute egg replacers or other seasonings.
I'll be interested to see how you do. I also wanted to mention that my pickles were a bit weak for my taste. I have been doubling the salt and vinegar in my batch with much better results. I you like more pucker to your pickle, you might want to play with the formula a bit until you get it just right!
That each Super 8 is individually managed, so there is no guarantee that it will be of good repute or quality. That being said, I challenge you to find any franchise that you can make the same guarantee -- at least Super 8 has been very cooperative of my needs in the past (and more than willing to reduce or refund my money if there are any issues -- hookers and drugdealers notwithstanding...)
You can't even get a basic tent campsite at most places for less than $12.
Many people have reported success with this promotion. And for those who are really, truly pinching pennies, it has been a blessing for them: last-minute business travelers, those going out of town for a funeral or other emergency, or even the couple needing a place to crash en route to a more romantic destination.
What's to stop snipers from placing their bid in the 30 seconds leading up to the 15 minute window? I have no experience with sniping, and have very rarely bid on anything on eBay, but as long as the bid is in before the 15 minutes, then in theory there's no extension of time, right?
The health concerns aren't all that conflicting. Soy isn't as healthy for us as once touted, especially for males. I'd hate to be feeding my boys "no grandchildren" burgers. We buy rice or nut milks, sometimes cheaper than regular milk.
I've heard some harmful things about soy as well. There's a history of breast cancer in my family, so I was told to avoid soy or limit my soy intake because of the effects on estrogen. Does anyone know more about this?
That being said, our local grocery store's in-house brand sells tofu for a really great price. It's a lot cheaper than meat. However, I have never seen soy beans in bulk for the low price mentioned in this article. Perhaps they aren't so cheap outside the US?
Our family used to eat soy products and drank a lot of soy milk. Then I started reading reports that it isn't the 'health food' it's made out to be. The more I read, the more alarmed I became. We stopped completely. It's especially damaging to males because of the estrogenic effects.
If you're worried about the possible health issues caused by consuming too much soy (and there's so much conflicting info out there, it's hard to tell whether you should be or not), you can make your burgers out of black beans, your milk out of almonds or rice, and your tofu out of... well, okay, you're stuck with soy for the tofu. :)
I think you're doing a fantastic thing! You're living the life I hope I'll get to live one day. My husband and I are currently both working and trying to pay off credit cards and loans from college. But after that I hope to stay at home and be a homemaker and wife. I think saying that women who stay at home without kids are jobless is a gross understatment. I know that when I take vacation time to get away from the office, and stay home vs going away on a trip, I work 2 or 3 times harder at home than when I'm getting paid.
Besides, if you and your husband are happy with the arrangment, who cares?
To paraphrase Orson Welles, I hate obsessing over money as much as I hate eating peanuts. I just can't stop eating peanuts (he actually said this in reference to watching TV).
Obsession over money bothers me, but I find myself obsessing over it at times. I'm guessing that wouldn't change if I had more of it.
I have to confess, I've converted to the DVD set, if not for the simple fact that Netflix won't deliver VHS. And, the selection on Netflix is pretty amazing. You can find some of the most obscure stuff on that site.
That said, I can see your POV, and yes, we've had DVDs abused and broken, but videotapes are not immune to this. One thing that bums me out about DVDs is that few minutes in the beginning where we lose control of our players and have to sit through the government warnings. I grew up with the incredible sense of empowerment in being able to fast forward through all that. Those glorious days are gone.
Great post, Jason. I agree, the idea of a simpler, less frenzied and more economical way to spend time with the family is a win-win situation. I like the ideas of tiki torches if it would just stop raining in Vermont. And again, I think the key is spending quality time with the family rather than running out the door on yet another excursion.
When I was single, staying on the cheap was a no brainer, and if the place was a dump with hookers and drug dealers, even better. Now that we have kids, we have become way more discriminating in where we stay. The kids couldn't care less, but my wife won't buy into the collegiate mentality that embraces filth and squalor. With that in mind, the most important issue, hands down, is cleanliness.
We've stayed at Super 8s, and they seemed fine, though we've never made a reservation for one. Seems counter to the whole approach to motels, but it is a great deal. So while this doesn't apply to the $8 deal, you can always check the room out before you sign the dotted line. I've yet to find a motel that made issue of this.
Thanks for the heads up, Linsey. Always looking for a way to save $$ when we road trip.
Sustainable food production seems to be the way to go. It makes perfect sense to support your local economy and to treat the environment and your source of food with some degree of respect. All stereotypes about vegan-hippies aside, there are just a huge number of benefits to a more responsible approach to food production, especially in lieu of all the recent health related problems that can all be traced back to our food (i.e., tomatoes, lettuce and spinach, not to mention beef and chicken).
At some point we as consumers need to get past the idea of cheap, plentiful comestibles (which are less nutritious and contribute to obesity) and embrace a more long term, common sense approach to eating. The benefits are far-reaching: we get safer, healthier food, it supports our communities, and it is much easier on your environment, which will benefit us and future generations. Regardless of your political position, these are all positive attributes.
Thanks for the interesting article. We've travelled to Domenica and Carriacou and they both seem to suppport small scale, sustainable farms, but more out of necessity. It's just the way things are done because they don't have technology or the need to produce things on a large scale.
Thanks for the informative article. We're trying eat less meat, and soy seems to be the food of choice. We also like the idea of making more of our own food, so we'll definitely check this out. How cool would it be to make homemade tofu? You'd be the envy of your next vegan cookout.
My telephone rings off the hook---from buyers agents. But they don't impress. If I see a house I am interested in---THEY try to dictate "to me" --- "what" I will offer. All I want to see is that their Realtor asymmetrical knowledge and selfishness working for MY BENEFIT, not theirs. I ask them can you pay cash for that house? "Abaddee Abadee thats all folks." As I stated before I can pay cash for 3 houses with the money I saved for my "house fund" while renting the past 9 years. Cash through saving can really add up quickly. If I kept my house I sold in 1998 until today, I would have a cash equity of $200k for 9.5 years of mortgage and property tax payments. But ONLY IF I COULD SEEL THE HOUSE AT ZILLOW PRICES. I woul;d still have to slash the cash by at least 6% for Realtors.
My rent has always been less than my old house payments. So I figure deducting rent costs. Over the past 9 years I have paid about $90,000 to a landlord. The money is gone - poof! But I saved the difference between rent and PITI house payments.
Having a "real cash savings" is so much exciting fun, that we now SAVE MORE thast we ever could owning a house--- "a money pit". I save 100% of my after tax earnings. My wife saves about 70% of her after tax earnings. Our "house fund" is now over $600,000 of real cash. Try to think of all the money that Realtors would have scrapped off my savings if instead of renting my house, I was paying mortgage on it. The mortgage interest deduction isn't enough to matter. PLUS INTEREST MONEY IS LIKE TAX MONEY---I don't get to keep the money I worked for.
Come on honest Buyers agent- Realtor. Can you be aggressive enough for me to protect my money rather than spend it?
Barbara - Nothing, but in that case other people still have 15 minutes to place a bid. Snipers usually bid in the last 5 seconds so no one else can manually respond to their bid. They'll still lose plenty of auction is the other bidders placed an original bid in high enough.
I have always owned a house. Unfortunately, I sold in California just as I moved out of state, temporarily houseless in a very bad sellers market. I had plenty of cash, but over a period of a FEW days I read about the housing bubble in Fall 98! It was so bad in early 1998 after watching Realtors DO NOTHING, I sold my house myself over one weekend to my next door neighbor for the asking price. It took about 5 minutes. Of course the "do nothing" Realtor got his 6% and walked. Now I had, and have, cash and want to buy, but junk houses are selling for more than a nice house. So I have been saving and watching. I learned a new lesson. You CAN save more money than you can make playing the "move-up" housing game. The reason is that so many middlemen from Brokers to loan companies try to put their hands in your wallet. I have learned MORE about Real estate being a renter for the past 9 years, then buying and selling four houses the "move up" American way.
Here is the issue: Realtors ONLY GET PAID, when the deal closes. No close, no money. To put food on the table, they will do or say anything for their number one client--THEMSELVES.
Forget about the NAR and code of "ethics". Read THEIR NAR contract: "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ORAL STATEMENTS" of either agent. In other words lying is "ethical". If the NAR is "ethical", REMOVE this disclaimer!
Today my issue is: How can I, a cash buyer (because I saved and rented instead of paying it to Realtors and loan companies), find an HONEST agent to represent me?
Two events occur over and over:
1) If the deal is "good", the listing agent buys it for themselves---again PROVING who their client really is.
I watch the local MLS EACH DAY and call immediately when I see what I want. I am the "loan company" --- I don't need "permission" to buy a house. But the listing agents hide their listings (pocket listings) until the seller is weary and gives up. The Realtor then buys it themselves supposedly to "help" the seller, or they have a family member or straw buyer involved. Look at the steep discount a Realtor gets on THEIR OWN DEAL. Plus, blabbering sellers will have probably disclosed all the bad and ugly facts about the property that almost always exist.
2) The "Buyers" agent ONLY wants to represent prospects who can qualify to close or stupid enough to pay asking list price---OR ABOVE. In my area, Realtors have a new twist on an old scam. They will try to get sellers to list at a "lower" price (its already overpriced) to stimulate a pretend "bidding war" where they participate through shill "offers". I see this ALL THE TIME. Shill "buyers" (secretly working for the agents) will make low ball offers to break down the seller and/or they will make high ball offers that have poisonous AND impossible contingencies in them that will kill the deal. Of course on the surface it will look like a "legitimate offer", until you read all the "subject to's". The seller is ONLY looking at the dollar amount at first glance.
A cash buyer is extremely sensitive to PRICE, more than any other buyer. Its their money. All money brought to the table is their money. It is NOT OPM - Other Peoples Money. So the Escrow "closing party" of hungry vultures is paid for 100% by the buyer, and the buyer knows the second the ink is dry, that the house will have dropped a few thousand more. don't believe it? Ask a Realtor present at the "party" to tell you how much the house is worth NOW. They will offer an opinion of a lower amount even though they were sitting their divving up YOUR MONEY for their shenanigans.
Goal: Show me ONE Buyers agent who will Represent ONLY ME! I have not found one. If I chisel down the price---they buy it. EVERY TIME.
The MLS is filled with OVERPRICED JUNK. If they are NOT junk and priced correctly, Realtors grab them up.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS for the buyer of ANY PROPERTY:
Why is the seller selling? ---what is the REAL reason?
If its the '5 D's of Realtors': Death, Destitution, Divorce, Disease, Disaster, than the seller must sell. ie THEY ARE TRULY MOTIVATED SELLERS. But only if they have REAL equity....not Realtor hype and dreams. Look only at the ink on the paper. If you don't see it--its not there.
I am looking for a house that was purchased BEFORE the fall of 1998, and has not been refinanced, Heloc'd or have liens on it. But as soon as the Realtor (sharks-or snakes) see these--they grab them up or hide them for "investor" friends.
These houses WILL have equity if the house has not been destroyed. If the seller is a "5D" seller, they will be happy to close the deal with cash. FAST !! I don't mind paying the sharks their commission- IF I GET A DEAL.
Okay "honest buyers agents" ---Here I am. To give you "your 3-6%". But where are you? Buying up the non-junk houses for yourselves.
Speaking of food morals, if you can get over the weirdness factor, I think that dog is some of the best meat for things like enchiladas. It's really good. I've had it on two occasions in other countries where dogs aren't necessarily considered pets.
Try it sometime if you are in another country.
I have not been able to pay my credit card bill for 5 months now because after college I had a hard time finding a job, and the reps tell me that after the sixth month period, they will send my account to collections or litigation if I don't enter a payment plan with them. I explained to them that I will have a job soon and I can start paying them regularly each month, but they said they have to automatic debit my account for a set amount of around $70 a month. I asked why couldn't I just send about $100 a month myself because I just don't like to give anyone control over MY bank account.
They said this would not work because with me doing it, their money isn't guaranteed and if I chose to do this they would send me to collections. My job is steady, but it is not 100% just as no job is 100%. If I allow them to automatic debit, anything could go wrong, and God forbid something were to happen with my job, and they continue to withdraw from my account. Then not only do I have a problem with debt, but I have an additional problem with the bank. On the other hand, I don't want to go to collections because of the daily phone calls and potential harrassment and bad credit marks. I really want to just pay them each month with me writing the check, not them taking my money out each month. I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions??
(seriously, spaghetti sauce with liver is amazing).
OK, maybe I need the recipe for this. Once many years ago, when we were young and broke the only thing left of the cow we had butchered was the liver. In an attempt to disguise it, I ground the liver, and spent the entire day cooking it in a spaghetti sauce, only to find that neither of us could get it down. Since my husband had no idea what he was eating, I can't say he was put off by any mental association he might have had with his family's monthly liver and onions dinners. Both of us went hungry that night, and when we talk about hard times, or my cooking failures that night always takes the cake.
Certain things are cheap because they don't appeal to the masses, and often it isn't just the thought of eating it. I find calf testicles very tough, liver and kidney unedable, not to mention that since they filter the body toxins for the previous owner, they aren't great for yours. Chicken feet scare me, have you ever watched were chickens walk? Not opposed to trying something new, but those chicken feet are going to need a bath in Clorox before I dig in.
I do love a BBQ tongue sandwich, and I have never wrinkled my nose at anything put in front of me. However, I am OK with wasting parts of animals that I don't like. Seriously it's like saying that if you order something online for your home, you must also display the bubblewrap and box. As long as I find a use for it, recycle it, donate it to a friend, enrich the garden, I am OK with it.
There is a lot of conflicting information about consuming soy products. All the propaganda about soy being dangerous is mostly hype, just like soy being a wonder food is probably overhyped. Like any other food, it's good for you when consumed in moderation and part of a balanced diet consisting mostly of minimally processed foods. As a vegetarian, I find people constantly telling me that enjoying some tofu stir fry is going to make me grow "moobs" annoying. The fact of the matter is that soy has very limited estrogenic effects. You'd have to eat an unnaturally huge quantity to really see significant estrogenic effects. Having excess body fat will have a bigger estrogenic effect than consuming soy. Also, milk (at least in the US) tends to be produced by pumping up cows with estrogen, making dairy a bigger source of dietary estrogens than soy. Even eating beef during pregnancy has also been shown to adversely affect male fetus genital development. I'd be more worried about overall diet rather than being worried about just soy.
You can read more about soy information (and misinformation) at:
vegfamily.com
and
T-nation.com
We recently converted part of our small New England city backyard into an intensive organic garden, and in less than a year we're already seeing the benefits.
On our little patch of land (about 1/3 an acre) we've got 14 blueberry bushes, a peach tree, blackberries, strawberries and tons of produce - everything from beets and broccoli to habanero peppers and tomatoes - growing in seven 16' x 4" garden beds. We left a small tuft of grass for the dog to run around on, but otherwise it's all productive.
The startup costs were nothing to sneeze at - we spent almost $600 for plants and materials, including piping for a homemade gravity fed drip irrigation system fed by rain barrels.
It really has paid off, though. In a few months we've already "made back" about half of that on food savings.
Right now, we're freezing and canning hundreds of pounds of yummy organic food for the winter. We just purchased a second freezer, and it's almost full.
It's not that hard to do, either. We work full time, so it was important for us to keep it easy. We use newspaper and straw marsh hay to cut down on weeding, and spend maybe 3-4 hours a week working in the garden (staking tomatoes, light weeding, harvesting produce). Canning and freezing get done at night, and add another 2 hours a day during the harvest season.
I've tried knitting and came to the same conclusion as everyone else - the yarn is more expensive than getting a ready-made sweater. But with food prices rising, growing your own victory garden makes sense.
Two generations of Seventh-day Adventists have grown up eating large quantities of highly processed soy-meat without any ill effects
Of course there are plenty of other reasons why the SDA lifestyle is healthy, but we can say that SDA's are not being killed off by all that soy.
Just wanted to point out that many vegetarians do not eat eggs and no vegetarians use Worcestershire sauce because it contains ground anchovy (fish meal).
Good tips, though. Vegetarians can easily leave these ingredients out or substitute egg replacers or other seasonings.
I'll be interested to see how you do. I also wanted to mention that my pickles were a bit weak for my taste. I have been doubling the salt and vinegar in my batch with much better results. I you like more pucker to your pickle, you might want to play with the formula a bit until you get it just right!
That each Super 8 is individually managed, so there is no guarantee that it will be of good repute or quality. That being said, I challenge you to find any franchise that you can make the same guarantee -- at least Super 8 has been very cooperative of my needs in the past (and more than willing to reduce or refund my money if there are any issues -- hookers and drugdealers notwithstanding...)
You can't even get a basic tent campsite at most places for less than $12.
Many people have reported success with this promotion. And for those who are really, truly pinching pennies, it has been a blessing for them: last-minute business travelers, those going out of town for a funeral or other emergency, or even the couple needing a place to crash en route to a more romantic destination.
Good luck!
What's to stop snipers from placing their bid in the 30 seconds leading up to the 15 minute window? I have no experience with sniping, and have very rarely bid on anything on eBay, but as long as the bid is in before the 15 minutes, then in theory there's no extension of time, right?
The health concerns aren't all that conflicting. Soy isn't as healthy for us as once touted, especially for males. I'd hate to be feeding my boys "no grandchildren" burgers. We buy rice or nut milks, sometimes cheaper than regular milk.
I've heard some harmful things about soy as well. There's a history of breast cancer in my family, so I was told to avoid soy or limit my soy intake because of the effects on estrogen. Does anyone know more about this?
That being said, our local grocery store's in-house brand sells tofu for a really great price. It's a lot cheaper than meat. However, I have never seen soy beans in bulk for the low price mentioned in this article. Perhaps they aren't so cheap outside the US?
Our family used to eat soy products and drank a lot of soy milk. Then I started reading reports that it isn't the 'health food' it's made out to be. The more I read, the more alarmed I became. We stopped completely. It's especially damaging to males because of the estrogenic effects.
If you're worried about the possible health issues caused by consuming too much soy (and there's so much conflicting info out there, it's hard to tell whether you should be or not), you can make your burgers out of black beans, your milk out of almonds or rice, and your tofu out of... well, okay, you're stuck with soy for the tofu. :)
Thanks for the article.
I think you're doing a fantastic thing! You're living the life I hope I'll get to live one day. My husband and I are currently both working and trying to pay off credit cards and loans from college. But after that I hope to stay at home and be a homemaker and wife. I think saying that women who stay at home without kids are jobless is a gross understatment. I know that when I take vacation time to get away from the office, and stay home vs going away on a trip, I work 2 or 3 times harder at home than when I'm getting paid.
Besides, if you and your husband are happy with the arrangment, who cares?
To paraphrase Orson Welles, I hate obsessing over money as much as I hate eating peanuts. I just can't stop eating peanuts (he actually said this in reference to watching TV).
Obsession over money bothers me, but I find myself obsessing over it at times. I'm guessing that wouldn't change if I had more of it.
I have to confess, I've converted to the DVD set, if not for the simple fact that Netflix won't deliver VHS. And, the selection on Netflix is pretty amazing. You can find some of the most obscure stuff on that site.
That said, I can see your POV, and yes, we've had DVDs abused and broken, but videotapes are not immune to this. One thing that bums me out about DVDs is that few minutes in the beginning where we lose control of our players and have to sit through the government warnings. I grew up with the incredible sense of empowerment in being able to fast forward through all that. Those glorious days are gone.
Great post, Jason. I agree, the idea of a simpler, less frenzied and more economical way to spend time with the family is a win-win situation. I like the ideas of tiki torches if it would just stop raining in Vermont. And again, I think the key is spending quality time with the family rather than running out the door on yet another excursion.
When I was single, staying on the cheap was a no brainer, and if the place was a dump with hookers and drug dealers, even better. Now that we have kids, we have become way more discriminating in where we stay. The kids couldn't care less, but my wife won't buy into the collegiate mentality that embraces filth and squalor. With that in mind, the most important issue, hands down, is cleanliness.
We've stayed at Super 8s, and they seemed fine, though we've never made a reservation for one. Seems counter to the whole approach to motels, but it is a great deal. So while this doesn't apply to the $8 deal, you can always check the room out before you sign the dotted line. I've yet to find a motel that made issue of this.
Thanks for the heads up, Linsey. Always looking for a way to save $$ when we road trip.
Sustainable food production seems to be the way to go. It makes perfect sense to support your local economy and to treat the environment and your source of food with some degree of respect. All stereotypes about vegan-hippies aside, there are just a huge number of benefits to a more responsible approach to food production, especially in lieu of all the recent health related problems that can all be traced back to our food (i.e., tomatoes, lettuce and spinach, not to mention beef and chicken).
At some point we as consumers need to get past the idea of cheap, plentiful comestibles (which are less nutritious and contribute to obesity) and embrace a more long term, common sense approach to eating. The benefits are far-reaching: we get safer, healthier food, it supports our communities, and it is much easier on your environment, which will benefit us and future generations. Regardless of your political position, these are all positive attributes.
Thanks for the interesting article. We've travelled to Domenica and Carriacou and they both seem to suppport small scale, sustainable farms, but more out of necessity. It's just the way things are done because they don't have technology or the need to produce things on a large scale.
Thanks for the informative article. We're trying eat less meat, and soy seems to be the food of choice. We also like the idea of making more of our own food, so we'll definitely check this out. How cool would it be to make homemade tofu? You'd be the envy of your next vegan cookout.
Hi I really like soya milk and thanks for the tips.