Recent comments

  • Should We All Just Stop Paying the Mortgage?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Seems like a plan Stan!! Apparently its NOT so Good to be Good! Interesting reading, I like you have struggled to ALWAYS make my morgage payment, my husband and I took out a fixed rate for 2 years ( 1 year ago) because, in our opinion, that's all the time we think the system has left. Everyone should start preparing for a VERY different way of life to come, the more I read the more convinced I am and unfortunately I dont think its going to be good.

  • How to Make Moonshine   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Warman
    Yeast can break down simple carbs. There are complex carbs in the grains. The yeast will attack the stuff it can until it runs out. When you add BeanO, an enzyme, breaks down the carbs to simple carbs and allows the yeast to carry on and convert it to alcohol. You could just as easily add malted grains. They are a bit more expensive and not as convienent. If you have a full bucket of sugar fermenting, it will bubble, but not foam so much. If you have the same amount of sugars in a wash that is loaded with grains, it will foam more. During heavy fermentation, that will overflow. If you allow the first part of the sugar to ferment, then add the BeanO, half the foaming is done and will cause less foaming.

    Branflake,
    Aluminum breaks down over time with regular use. Even using the pressure cooker for cooking, you get some. Very small amounts over time. If you raise the temps, it does it faster. If you add chemicals, it does it faster. If you combine chemicals and heat, you can picture it happening a lot faster. Some aluminum comes out of the system with sweat. It causes the gray shirt stains under your arms. They sell tape for the bottom of your feet, too. As far as propanol, looks like you have to set out to make it. Looking up the production on wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol makes it look like no accident. I would not worry about it,

  • How to Erase Your Medical Debt   16 years 5 weeks ago

    good moring every one i have a qu if you have unpaid medical bills. from the past and how do you go about paying them off if you dont live in the same state any more. collections will let the banks know that you owe money but they wont give them info on how you can pay them back??????/

  • How to Make Moonshine   16 years 5 weeks ago

    people worry about methonal but when making moonshine does it also produce propanol and if so how do you get rid of that

  • I Got Duped! Dealing With Credit Card and Merchant Disputes   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Helpful information.

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Are we talking about solving the Yang-Mills equations in an n-dimensional vector space here? It's multiplication, nothing more. You look at the pre-tax total. You multiply by .15, maybe .20. Is this difficult?

    And if you're the guy who says "let's put it on my card" after everyone else has paid cash, what's wrong with that? Especially if everyone who paid cash is dumb enough to have tipped far more than they should, thus taking care of your share, too.

    Maybe it's a regional thing, but I think tipping for a takeout order is nuts.

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Our tax is 8%... we double the tax and round up.

  • How to Make Moonshine   16 years 5 weeks ago

    I know this q had been asked but why does aluminum release poison when distilling alcohol but with a pressure cooker cooking other things it does not poison or was this just an old wives tale

  • Ultimate Credit Card Perks Checklist: Benefits You Don't Know About   16 years 5 weeks ago

    I bought an iPod a few years ago and it died before the 1 yr warranty was up and all, I got was the run around from Citibank who refused to do anything even though I bought it using their credit card. I barely even used the iPod. Apple just wanted to give me a refurbished unit. I find that the consumer really has to work to get any of the benefits to work for them even though we are using a credit card to buy certain items for the fact that they will reimburse us.

  • Sun Screens Can Really Cost You – By the Ounce or By the Tumor   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Thanks for all this info. My doctor, too, warned me that most people don't use enough sunscreen. She said it should actually be visible, not rubbed into the skin.

  • Life Insurance for Your Business   16 years 5 weeks ago

    @Life - Cheers!

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Maybe said server should get a job where a bad day doesn't mean less money for them. Really, though, I detest this tipping practice. I'd much rather have a higher bill that I am expecting than all this arbitrary tipping. What really is annoying is all the people who aren't paid three bucks an hour trying to get tips these days. They get nada from me in their little tip jars.

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Lately, I've been leaving cash as a tip and writing "CASH" on the tip line of the credit card receipt. I just think it's easier for the server.
    Minimum tip: 20%. Generally it's 25% because some people don't tip, and because serving is a physically strenuous job that requires you to be nice to people who sometimes are jerks.
    That said: I have no problem complaining, politely, about bad service. If it's kosher to include a link, here's the MSN Money column I wrote on the subject:
    http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/c...

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Lately, I've been leaving cash as a tip and writing "CASH" on the tip line of the credit card receipt. I just think it's easier for the server.
    Minimum tip: 20%. Generally it's 25% because some people don't tip, and because serving is a physically strenuous job that requires you to be nice to people who sometimes are jerks.
    That said: I have no problem complaining, politely, about bad service. If it's kosher to include a link, here's the MSN Money column I wrote on the subject:
    http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/c...

  • Dumpster-Diving 101: 6 Strategies for Success   16 years 5 weeks ago

    I would suggest that night divers try to be QUIET when they work after hours. My windows are right next to the Dumpsters. Every now and then I hear loud talking about what scroungers are finding, the crashing of items as they get moved around (the sound of breaking glass is particularly unnerving late at night), and sometimes the SLAM! of the Dumpster lids.
    As the former manager, I appreciate your including the caveat to leave the area tidy. I've had to clean up after messy folks. It's no fun.
    But as someone who has gotten her own share of freebies this way, I have to agree that the price is right.

  • 20 Signs That You Were Raised By TRUE Money-Savers   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Tx for your comment, Vegihiker 32!

    I, too, was under the impression that "cafeteria lunches" were just for the poor kids until I went to high school and realized you could actually just buy them. My dad made me a baloney sandwich every day. I actually still like baloney. :-)

    I love WiseBread for that reason, too (your final paragraph).

  • Dissecting "Gift Guilt" - When Does Receiving a Gift Make You Feel Bad?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    I have just received two of the most extravagant gifts I've ever been given, and it has given me the worst kind of unsettling gift guilt. I really LOVE my gifts -- a designer hand bag and a designer watch. They were graduation gifts, because I just graduated from dental school, so in a way I feel that I deserve the gifts for my accomplishment. Also they are professional looking so that they are perfect for me to start my new life as an income-earning professional rather than a starving student. But, my practical and self-depricating side thinks they are too expensive for me!

    One gift came from my husband, and he gave it to me in front of my mother-in-law, and I felt a huge flush of guilt that I was receiving something so expensive from the person that has been supporting me for years, and I thought what does his Mom think of me accepting something so expensive from her son. My face turned red. And I actually said out loud that I felt guilty. Aggh. Which I know wasn't gracious, so then I felt even more guilty. Aggh. But for the rest of the evening I was beaming over the watch, so I hope that made up for it!

    I'll have to give my husband an amazing gift in the future. Do kids count as gifts?

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Always a Whole Dollar Tipper...unless I have a bunch of change then I throw that in as well to save carrying it around. I usually pay with a credit card but tip with cash left on the table. I figure 20% tip, round it up and if it comes to say $8 then I will leave $10.

    I like to tip well so I may tip higher. I earned low wages for a portion of my life so I like to make sure that I'm not causing someone else to have to scrimp. Even if the service was really bad I will leave a tip but not go back again.

  • Not free to be poor   16 years 5 weeks ago

    In this generation where technology has surpassed the living environment, it's certainly very hard to adopt the frugal living. But having a deep sense of responsibility may be the driving force to attain a living that is beyond our means. Making current adjustments and dealing with quality resolutions of our living attachments makes us prepared for a valuable future.

  • Deposit insurance for money funds   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Well as every deal takes a pro's and con's for it. The risk in taking the responsibility and the advantage of prior agreements are both in the hands of the beneficiaries. Delivering a very strategic management over our funds is our defense against the deviation and uncertainties in the market.

  • Life Insurance for Your Business   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Business is our major source of income that is why it is very essential to acquire a foremost protection to ensure the investment worth of our assets in cases of uncertainties. These article gives an importance to our businesses and creates a wide understanding of the purpose of investing on such plans and policies.

  • Health Care Reform: Good for People Like Me   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Frugal living gives the best shot to a very substantial overview of everything. It provides a very relevant thinking that somehow results to an intelligent understanding.

    I agree with the idea that health isn't just a right. It's our own personal responsibility rather. Being aware of our responsibilities makes the sense out of the mere definition that gives difference of what needs and wants are. Living to generate our needs is the basics of our life and the dedication to pursuance is the value of providing what we want in life.

  • How to Examine Your Healthcare Plan and Save   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Though health care plans are guaranteed to have future health security, its always important to have knowledge on the current status of your expenses in terms of payment mode and the prior costs that is incurred upon your insurance. Having to consider variables that may provide you with the best services at a very reasonable price and beneficial opportunities are essential. You should always be vibrant in assuring that your money gets the worth of their services.

  • How to Examine Your Healthcare Plan and Save   16 years 5 weeks ago

    Though health care plans are guaranteed to have future health security, its always important to have knowledge on the current status of your expenses in terms of payment mode and the prior costs that is incurred upon your insurance. Having to consider variables that may provide you with the best services at a very reasonable price and beneficial opportunities are essential. You should always be vibrant in assuring that your money gets the worth of their services.

  • Do You Practice Math When You Leave a Tip?   16 years 5 weeks ago

    I normally tip about 20% using the 'easy 20' method... I also try to tip in cash whenever I can so they don't have to claim the income if they fell like sticking it to Uncle Sam.