we have 4 cats (two are rescue kitties) and a 55 gallon fish tank. The tank and stand were freebies from a friend and we grow cat nip, but other than that our pets aren't an area where we're particularly frugal. We have talked about making homemade pet food to stay at the quality level they are used to for less but haven't done it yet.
I have 2 dogs and 11 cats (all fixed). I can't have kids, and my husband doesn't want to adopt, so my pets are my kids. I'm really an animal person, and I volunteer a lot at our local no-kill shelter, too. Pets are definitely worth the cost!
It won't work here -- not for a long time, anyway. Most Americans are so unused to paying for ALL of the products they consume (cradle to grave) that just making them pay to dispose of their own waste in proportion to the amount they generate will spawn a lot of passive-aggressive circumvention of the rules. And, given what passes for civic "discussion" in the U.S. these days, I can see the notion of such a solution stalling out as Congress squabbles over whether these fees constitute taxes -- regardless of their long-term benefit.
Listen to the discussion about increasing the tax on gasoline (much whining about how punitive a tax would be while the price goes up anyway and people finally start paying their own freight) and you'll get a taste of what it would be like to discuss a direct charge for garbage disposal.
Money origami! That is so adorable. I love that. I'm always looking for unique gift ideas. This is great for the perosn who has everything or the college grad.
I never considered that anyone would think it was bad to receive a refund. I suppose I could save to owe the government a little bit at the end of the year, but I still prefer receiving a refund check in the mail. I think it's just personal preference, especially when you consider that I put the money from Uncle Sam into a savings account. Getting the refund just helps me be more fiscally responsible.
It would be nice to have more consumer pressure to force businesses to start being smarter with their packaging. As it is, though, I already have problems with people dumping their garbage in my bin - I guess that that could be solved through a series of padlocks.
We have very little garbage because our city composts yard waste and we are avid recycler - my company (not located in Seattle) only composts paper, so I bring plastic and cans home to be recylced in Seattle. So I suppose I wouldn't mind paying for trash, since we don't produce much of it.
I agree the fees and tactics aren't very fair. But I only use mycard for the 5% savings account which there is not fee to use since I can load money for free at HEB. 5% is a crapload for a saving account with no minimum balance and no fees to put money on it.
I lived in Germany for a time and really liked the bins. However, I lived in a dorm, and some of the other international students didn't quite "get it" - which led to the entire building spending an afternoon sorting the garbage ourselves (I think it was punishment by the Hausfrau).
If people follow the rules, it would work fine. I just have little faith in most of the general public, and think that trash would end up on the side of the road and other places.
I think its a great idea. I recycle as much as I can and get very upset when the other people in my household go behind my back and throw away recyclable material. I do know that we will eventually run out of places to put our trash, so we should at least give this a shot.
I do have one more. There is a product and I am sorry but I don't know the name of it, but it uses canned air to blast your way through the clog. I have found this product to be useful without the use of chemicals. It usually comes with more than one treatment to a can. I found one on amazon I won't name names, but Power Plumber Pressurized Drain cleaner is a search name you can use. The ones I had were named something else (can't remember) but I haven't seen them retail since I bought mine at a yard sale. I take drain cleaning as a multi pronged approach, you need several tricks in the bag for the drain you are working on. I am a landlord, so I try to keep available several options. Another tip I read somewhere was for a hair clog. The guy said his wife got her hair removal cream for her legs out and poured some in and that did the trick. so I guess I just gave 2 here.
I have an awesome Jack Russell Terrier named Cooper that I adopted two years ago. Pets are totally worth the cost! Cooper went through Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced training classes which were around $100 each and, honestly, I learned a lot too and had as much fun as he did! I feed him quality food and treats and keep him current on his exams and shots, plus we walk and play a lot for exercise, so he stays healthy and hopefully will continue to do so which saves money as well as gives him a good life. I don't mind spending money on him. He's a part of the family!
If one were to look, they would see the issuance of unsolicited cards is how the multi-billion dollar conglomerate Visa got started. I don't know how I feel about it, but i do know that it is nothing new or shocking.
You can also use up older fruit to make your own kids roll ups or fruit leathers. You just puree the fruit until smooth, then spread on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at the lowest temperature until is is the consistency you like. Store in freezer bags or rolled up in wax paper. Kids love it and it is made with real fruit not the sugar stuff from the box you get at the store.
One other really super handy tool you can use which has literally saved me over 1,000.00 on an outside drain, is a bladder type tool. It comes in different circumferances and attaches to a garden hose. You need to fit this bladder tool which has been attached to your hose down the drain pipe. Once in you turn on the water and wait for a few minutes till the bladder fills and the force of the water pushes the clog out. Before I found this tool, I spent 800.00 on 2 occasions having the plumber come out with his water jetting equipment to clear a clog in my extremely long run to the street. That bladder for the large outdoor pipe cost me 20.00. I used it a second time so it cost me a total of 20.00 for what would have cost me 1600.00 had I had to have that service performed. These tools are extremely effective if you get them down the right pipe. I had one case where I couldn't get into the bend so I had to get a plumber to come out. He pulled a huge wad of steel wool out of that pipe Every other time these bladders have been a life saver for me. The smaller sizes are cheaper, under 10.00 probably. They can be used over and over. Warning, the bladder has to fit inside the pipe so that the bladder can expand and fill the pipe hole so you have to use the appropriate size.
I have owned a zip it and I will tell you how you can make your own if you can't locate one in your local retail hardware store. Besides, you might need it right now. You will probably be able to find what you need in the garbage bin of your local hardware store so don't leave without getting a handful. What is it you ask? The plastic strapping material used for boxes and lumber. It could be yellow or white thick plastic strapping material about 3/8 of an inch wide. The thicker the better. I recently pulled some from a box of paper and noticed it was thinner. Next just take your scissors and nick both sides of the strap with 1/4 inch cuts at an angle probably about a 75 degree angle all along the strip. Hopefully your strip is about 3 feet. Nick as much you want, making sure you don't cut through. When your done, and it will probably take you no more than 2 minutes to make your own, you will have a free "grip it" and you will have it for free. Works as well or better than the one you buy at the hardware store. The problem with the zip it is that you usually can't find it when you need it thus the homemade version I came up with. I refuse to buy something like that twice.
We have a 13 year old dog. I'd say our three biggest expenses are:
1) veterinary bills. The only way I can think of to save in this area is to sign up for insurance (some plans pay for annual exams)
2) dog food. I snag to get our brand when it's both on sale and when I have a coupon.
3) dog treats. Again, I'll try to watch for sales/coupons or buy items we haven't tried before just because I can get a good deal. I've also bought the cheaper brands of dog food to use as a treat. He just gets a little bit, but it's different, so it's a treat to him.
In LA, we also have three bins - black for trash, green for yard, blue for all recyclables. No sorting. It's not hard to set up a recycling system in your house. We have plastic bin in the laundry room for kitchen recycling (laundry room is next to the kitchen and the garbage bins are right outside the laundry room). We have a nice basket in the office for paper recycling. Once a week, my husband dumps them baskets/bin at the same time he empties the house trash bags.
Now that we started composting, we usually end up with one small bag of trash and one bag of kitty litter each week. The recycling bin is usually half full. The yard bin may or may not be full, depending on the season.
My parents have reduced their trash so much that they were able to get a small trash bin from their city, and had their trash collection bill cut in half!
Composting is also easy to set up. My city has reduced-price compost bins. I bought one, then bought a ceramic composting crock for $20 at Cost Plus. When the crock gets full every couple of days, I take it out. The total time investment is ten minutes per week, but the trash reduction has been significant.
anyone who was a first time home buyer in the 2010 calendar year, should qualify for this tax credit. It is totally unfair to only extend to those who were under agreement by May 1. What about the rest of us who did so in June and closed in July??? why should we be left out from this credit! why should we be penalized? rediculous!
we have 4 cats (two are rescue kitties) and a 55 gallon fish tank. The tank and stand were freebies from a friend and we grow cat nip, but other than that our pets aren't an area where we're particularly frugal. We have talked about making homemade pet food to stay at the quality level they are used to for less but haven't done it yet.
Yes, I currently have 2 pets... an 11 year old cat and 12 year old dog. They are great company as well as a great source of entertainment for my son.
I love that way of thinking that the pets have you and not the other way around. :)
My golden sheds like crazy, so I know what you mean about vacuuming a lot.
I have 2 dogs and 11 cats (all fixed). I can't have kids, and my husband doesn't want to adopt, so my pets are my kids. I'm really an animal person, and I volunteer a lot at our local no-kill shelter, too. Pets are definitely worth the cost!
It won't work here -- not for a long time, anyway. Most Americans are so unused to paying for ALL of the products they consume (cradle to grave) that just making them pay to dispose of their own waste in proportion to the amount they generate will spawn a lot of passive-aggressive circumvention of the rules. And, given what passes for civic "discussion" in the U.S. these days, I can see the notion of such a solution stalling out as Congress squabbles over whether these fees constitute taxes -- regardless of their long-term benefit.
Listen to the discussion about increasing the tax on gasoline (much whining about how punitive a tax would be while the price goes up anyway and people finally start paying their own freight) and you'll get a taste of what it would be like to discuss a direct charge for garbage disposal.
Money origami! That is so adorable. I love that. I'm always looking for unique gift ideas. This is great for the perosn who has everything or the college grad.
It's so beneficial to learn how to cook. It will save you a great deal of money, make you a more marketable catch and I find it relaxing.
I never considered that anyone would think it was bad to receive a refund. I suppose I could save to owe the government a little bit at the end of the year, but I still prefer receiving a refund check in the mail. I think it's just personal preference, especially when you consider that I put the money from Uncle Sam into a savings account. Getting the refund just helps me be more fiscally responsible.
I have one black lab/corgi mix. She is our only "daughter" and that is what she is to us! She is the PERFECT replacement for a baby at this time :)
It would be nice to have more consumer pressure to force businesses to start being smarter with their packaging. As it is, though, I already have problems with people dumping their garbage in my bin - I guess that that could be solved through a series of padlocks.
We have very little garbage because our city composts yard waste and we are avid recycler - my company (not located in Seattle) only composts paper, so I bring plastic and cans home to be recylced in Seattle. So I suppose I wouldn't mind paying for trash, since we don't produce much of it.
I agree the fees and tactics aren't very fair. But I only use mycard for the 5% savings account which there is not fee to use since I can load money for free at HEB. 5% is a crapload for a saving account with no minimum balance and no fees to put money on it.
World's best cat litter is made from corn is lightweight and flushable, its a little pricier but it lasts longer.
I lived in Germany for a time and really liked the bins. However, I lived in a dorm, and some of the other international students didn't quite "get it" - which led to the entire building spending an afternoon sorting the garbage ourselves (I think it was punishment by the Hausfrau).
If people follow the rules, it would work fine. I just have little faith in most of the general public, and think that trash would end up on the side of the road and other places.
I think its a great idea. I recycle as much as I can and get very upset when the other people in my household go behind my back and throw away recyclable material. I do know that we will eventually run out of places to put our trash, so we should at least give this a shot.
I do have one more. There is a product and I am sorry but I don't know the name of it, but it uses canned air to blast your way through the clog. I have found this product to be useful without the use of chemicals. It usually comes with more than one treatment to a can. I found one on amazon I won't name names, but Power Plumber Pressurized Drain cleaner is a search name you can use. The ones I had were named something else (can't remember) but I haven't seen them retail since I bought mine at a yard sale. I take drain cleaning as a multi pronged approach, you need several tricks in the bag for the drain you are working on. I am a landlord, so I try to keep available several options. Another tip I read somewhere was for a hair clog. The guy said his wife got her hair removal cream for her legs out and poured some in and that did the trick. so I guess I just gave 2 here.
Thanks for all the great tips guys, these are excellent! And please, keep 'em coming, i appreciate them and so do our other readers.
I have an awesome Jack Russell Terrier named Cooper that I adopted two years ago. Pets are totally worth the cost! Cooper went through Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced training classes which were around $100 each and, honestly, I learned a lot too and had as much fun as he did! I feed him quality food and treats and keep him current on his exams and shots, plus we walk and play a lot for exercise, so he stays healthy and hopefully will continue to do so which saves money as well as gives him a good life. I don't mind spending money on him. He's a part of the family!
If one were to look, they would see the issuance of unsolicited cards is how the multi-billion dollar conglomerate Visa got started. I don't know how I feel about it, but i do know that it is nothing new or shocking.
You can also use up older fruit to make your own kids roll ups or fruit leathers. You just puree the fruit until smooth, then spread on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at the lowest temperature until is is the consistency you like. Store in freezer bags or rolled up in wax paper. Kids love it and it is made with real fruit not the sugar stuff from the box you get at the store.
One other really super handy tool you can use which has literally saved me over 1,000.00 on an outside drain, is a bladder type tool. It comes in different circumferances and attaches to a garden hose. You need to fit this bladder tool which has been attached to your hose down the drain pipe. Once in you turn on the water and wait for a few minutes till the bladder fills and the force of the water pushes the clog out. Before I found this tool, I spent 800.00 on 2 occasions having the plumber come out with his water jetting equipment to clear a clog in my extremely long run to the street. That bladder for the large outdoor pipe cost me 20.00. I used it a second time so it cost me a total of 20.00 for what would have cost me 1600.00 had I had to have that service performed. These tools are extremely effective if you get them down the right pipe. I had one case where I couldn't get into the bend so I had to get a plumber to come out. He pulled a huge wad of steel wool out of that pipe Every other time these bladders have been a life saver for me. The smaller sizes are cheaper, under 10.00 probably. They can be used over and over. Warning, the bladder has to fit inside the pipe so that the bladder can expand and fill the pipe hole so you have to use the appropriate size.
I have owned a zip it and I will tell you how you can make your own if you can't locate one in your local retail hardware store. Besides, you might need it right now. You will probably be able to find what you need in the garbage bin of your local hardware store so don't leave without getting a handful. What is it you ask? The plastic strapping material used for boxes and lumber. It could be yellow or white thick plastic strapping material about 3/8 of an inch wide. The thicker the better. I recently pulled some from a box of paper and noticed it was thinner. Next just take your scissors and nick both sides of the strap with 1/4 inch cuts at an angle probably about a 75 degree angle all along the strip. Hopefully your strip is about 3 feet. Nick as much you want, making sure you don't cut through. When your done, and it will probably take you no more than 2 minutes to make your own, you will have a free "grip it" and you will have it for free. Works as well or better than the one you buy at the hardware store. The problem with the zip it is that you usually can't find it when you need it thus the homemade version I came up with. I refuse to buy something like that twice.
We have a 13 year old dog. I'd say our three biggest expenses are:
1) veterinary bills. The only way I can think of to save in this area is to sign up for insurance (some plans pay for annual exams)
2) dog food. I snag to get our brand when it's both on sale and when I have a coupon.
3) dog treats. Again, I'll try to watch for sales/coupons or buy items we haven't tried before just because I can get a good deal. I've also bought the cheaper brands of dog food to use as a treat. He just gets a little bit, but it's different, so it's a treat to him.
In LA, we also have three bins - black for trash, green for yard, blue for all recyclables. No sorting. It's not hard to set up a recycling system in your house. We have plastic bin in the laundry room for kitchen recycling (laundry room is next to the kitchen and the garbage bins are right outside the laundry room). We have a nice basket in the office for paper recycling. Once a week, my husband dumps them baskets/bin at the same time he empties the house trash bags.
Now that we started composting, we usually end up with one small bag of trash and one bag of kitty litter each week. The recycling bin is usually half full. The yard bin may or may not be full, depending on the season.
My parents have reduced their trash so much that they were able to get a small trash bin from their city, and had their trash collection bill cut in half!
Composting is also easy to set up. My city has reduced-price compost bins. I bought one, then bought a ceramic composting crock for $20 at Cost Plus. When the crock gets full every couple of days, I take it out. The total time investment is ten minutes per week, but the trash reduction has been significant.
anyone who was a first time home buyer in the 2010 calendar year, should qualify for this tax credit. It is totally unfair to only extend to those who were under agreement by May 1. What about the rest of us who did so in June and closed in July??? why should we be left out from this credit! why should we be penalized? rediculous!