I live in the Bay Area so not *cold* but it can get chilly in the winter but I can honestly say I've never turned on a heater in my life. Weird huh?
I am very warm blooded!
My house was built in 1926 and my husband thinks it's freezing ("you can hang meat in here!")
Not looking forward to menopause! :)
hey everyone,
i just decided to try to get into distilling cuz im broke and am in construction so i have no work right now and i really like liquor, lol. anyway ZORCY YOU ARE AWESOME!!!! i sat here and read ur post and all of almost 300 of the comments in one sitting. i am VERY interested in distilling and i wanted to make sure im doing everything right before i start. im mixing your posted portions of water sugar and yeast into food grade plastic buckets and letting it ferment for about a week or so. im then getting a large pot and sealing it or getting a pressure cooker. from wut ive gotten, it is better to use a a large pot and seal it. is this right, and wut is the cheapest but still effective way to seal the edges? i drill a hole for the copper pipe on top of the pot and run the pipe through a cork into the pot. do i need the cork or can i just seal it, and wut is the cheapest but most effective thing to use to seal all holes drilled? i then run the copper and spiral it into a large bucket filled with cold water and some ice and out the bottom/side of the large bucket into the collection bottle. i am suppose to bring the mash to 173-185 degrees and throw away anything that come out before 173 degrees. what is the best temp to maintain in order to get the highest proof of liquor? do i have to filter the liquor? if its not strong enough can i run it through the still again in order to higher the proof and do i just run it through by itself or mix it with distilled water or something? im really sorry im bothering you with this, but it would b so awesome if you could fill me in on everything at once so i do it the right way and the safe way. you can e-mail me if you want at NAX447@hotmail.com. or just post. if you wanna answer questions with references to previous comments that's fine, and im willing to try to send you some of what i make in return for your help. im gonna get into using essences and make alot of different types of alcohol. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
I have read that the closer you are to the ambient temperature, the less energy per degree you are spending/saving - so a drop from 68 to 58 saves more for us (at 0 outside right now) than for someone living in a place where it's 50 degrees outdoors, and saves more than a drop from 58-48. Which makes sense, but i couldn't find a source just now.
55 is not that cold - I was raised in a 55 degree house, and we keep our heat between 58 and 62 (64 sometimes for guests). When my son was an infant we layered baby longjohns under footie pajamas and he was always fine.
The thing that's hard is switching temperatures - it's hard for your body to get used to a new temperature, and it's hard to be acclimated or dressed properly if you're going from a 75 degree office to a -20 outdoors to a 65 degree house.
As stated before - it's not a credit card - it's a prepaid card. If you don;t load any money on it then it is never activated.
I've used NetSpend for almost 4 years now and ordered two additional cards for my kids. This way when they are out with friends and low on cash I can instantly put money on their card and it costs me nothing to do so. You can also do direct deposit for free to a NetSpend account. The only time it actually costs you money to use their card is at an ATM or when loading at one of their stores. I use mine for my paypal account mainly so if it gets pirated I won't be out much cash and there's no way that someone could run up any serious debt on it. They also have a great savings account plan with good interest.
Not as evil as people are making them out to be but I do agree that it's a bit over the top to be sending the cards out unsolicited. Blame Capitol One for that.
PS. Call 888-995-HOPE and get housing counseling. They can conference with the mortgage lender to a HOPE counselor number at most lenders. You may request MHA Help Team ONLY if you are in the trial period to escalate it to treasury. And actually, #1 is wrong too, as Jim explained. Plus, the guidelines are not exactly being followed and some permanents have the same payment for the life of the loan.
Jim is correct. #5 is dead wrong, but the others are true. Unemployment must last at least 9 months to qualify as income, which is difficult to prove[the treasury guidelines are to use 75% of unemployment income, which is not being followed]. I deal with this 15-20 times per day as a MHA Escalation Team member submitting info to Treasury/Fannie Mae. Anything i can do to help let me know.
We give 3 canned goods to the food bank every week, doubling it during the food drives. On a weekly basis, it doesn't cost us much, and I know that people are hungry all year, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When the earthquake struck Haiti, I sorrowed, and donated as usual to the local food bank. I know that people all over are digging deep to help Haiti, and I don't want to neglect our regular contribution and leave perhaps a neighbour without enough food to get by while trying to find a better job.
There are also click-to-donate sites - I know they need paying customers visiting the ads of their donors to pay for these clicks, and I'm not normally one of them, but I do what I can, as I can.
While my husband is at work, I often turn the heat back to 63º or even lower. However, he positively shivers at 66º and I'm just not sure he's going to be a willing penguin with me. The really bad drawback is being in public places where the heat is sometimes 10 or more degrees higher than I've accustomed myself to. It can be miserable.
Having said all that, the real challenge here in Northeast Texas is not heat but air conditioning. A brick house, facing south and with few trees can climb into the 90s inside without air. The air conditioning will run nonstop at the height of summer. Makes me LOVE winter!
I am a member of Kaiser Permanente and when I went to get a prescription filled at their pharmacy I inquired how much one of them "pill chopping thingys" cost. They just gave me one. Granted, with what I pay for my monthly premiums, it's likely my pill splitter cost's a WHOLE lot more than what Paul paid. Good luck to any of you who are going to try and score a free one from Kaiser!
We don't have an income right now, and it's been off and on for the last 3 years.
However, we have still found ways to give.
One of the things I have done is to teach others in my area how to garden. I regularly have free garden tours and teach about what will grow here. Many people think they can't grow anything in the desert and are surprised when they see all that we are growing (and eating!) from our garden.
I also have a website dedicated to helping others live on less.
If you don't have any money to give, here is a list of things I've put together that you can give:
#1 The affects to your credit are short term and not long term. Once the debt is negotiated by a debt settlement company, the creditor agrees to update the credit report, showing a zero balance and stating that the account is paid or "paid as settled"
I went through a debt settlement company and I finished the program 1 year ago, my credit score is 793 and my wife’s is 843. Now our score did go down at the beginning, but after the drop, it continued to increase to what it is today.
#2 Paying taxes on the savings. This can happen, but if you are insolvent then you do not have to pay these taxes. In other words, if you owe more money (overall, including all debts) than you own (your home, auto, etc) and most of American Citizens have more debt than assets since most people's home value is less than what is owed, then all you have to do is go to IRS.gov and download from #982. If you have more debts than assets, then you do not have to pay this tax.
Keep in mind that you have to fill out this form, only if you receive a 1099 from the creditor once the debt is settled.
#3 Fees. Think about this for one second. Every year you pay fees in the form of interest on your debt. If you pay 12% interest on your debts, then you are essentially paying 12% fee every year to your creditors and next year you will pay that fee again and again.
The part you forgot to mention is the 15% fee charged is not an annual fee, it is a one-time fee and doesn't continue. Therefore, if you are in a 3 year debt settlement program, then you can average the fee over three years, which equates to only 5% per year. If your interest rates are higher than 5%, then it clearly makes sense, especially when you do not have to pay back the entire amount.
#4 BBB. If you did your research, you would already know that the BBB is no longer rating debt settlement companies. In fact, one of the VP's of the BBB, has a vested interest in a consumer counseling program which directly competes directly with debt settlement companies. Go to credit.com and search for "BBB and debt settlement companies" and you will see that the BBB stopped rating all of the debt settlement companies.
The BBB is not a government agency; they are a private company collecting fees for business being accredited. Because they are not rating debt settlement companies, they are essentially doing the consumer a HUGE injustice, because they are no longer separating the good companies from the bad companies, which is terrible for the consumer. The main function of the BBB is to separate the good from the bad and they are taking the position that all debt settlement companies are bad.
The last thing that no one mentions is financial related. If the banks been collecting payments for the last 5 years, then why does the debtor still owe money. Because the amount being collected by the banks in minimum monthly payments (even if you do not use the cards) will take much longer than 5 years. Typically it is closer to 20+ years and that is just on 12%. Go to cnnmoney.com and they have a calculator you can use to see how long it will to pay off your debts by making the minimum payments, it will scare you to death.
Also, if the debtor has been paying the creditor for 5 years, then the creditor most likely has received everything they lent to you. But why do you owe almost the same amount that you originally borrowed, because a majority of your payment goes toward interest.
Now, when the bank receives a settlement of 40%, then that is icing on the cake at this point. They already collected everything you borrowed and now they are getting another 40%. I feel that 40% is more than enough.
I also bought a condo nearly 4 years ago at a price $10K under the similar neighborhood comps and WELL under what I could afford. I put about $5K in improvements and now will be lucky to break even as I have to sell since I'm being transferred out of state. Sad thing is, I can't rent the place out - we're not allowed. So I'm going to have to float an apartment and the condo until it sells then spend MORE money to sell it - no wonder people walk away!!
In response to some comments above -- changes to the tax code are made by Congress. All the President can do is propose, encourage & support changes to the law. Congress has the real power here, as usual. As we've seen with health care, the current Congress is not interested in rubber-stamping anything. The President's job is to try to get people talking by publicizing an agenda and circulating reports, drafts, etc. -- we'll have to wait and see if the effort was successful or not, and what form it takes by the time it's passed through multiple layers of Congress.
Also, to the person who mentioned contributing to something different because of working for a church -- typically when the media talks about 401k, they almost always mean 401k or 403b accounts (403b being the "501c3 employer" version of a 401k) -- so it may well apply to you after all.
In any event, changes he's pushing for in a January 2010 speech are highly unlikely to make any difference to what's filed by April 15th 2010 based on 2009 incomes. Some people have already filed by now, and no laws have yet been written, debated, or passed. Trying to change the rules for 2009 when it's already 2010 would be an incredibly expensive endeavor as we've seen with some of the "stimulus check" stuff that was done in past years -- which required the IRS to hire scads of expensive contractors to work overtime to reprogram everything in a hurry...and it still took 6 months to get the checks cut.
It's actually pretty late to try to make changes to even the 2010 code in my opinion, because people need time to make plans to take the best advantage of them. Otherwise you end up having to maximize a contribution all at once instead of spreading it out over multiple months, or you end up giving the government a year-long no-cost loan by overpaying tax all year and getting it back in a refund.
Now is a dandy time to reform the 2011 code, though, because that would give people enough time to make all their changes to their deductions, budgets, accounts, and so on by the time annual enrollment comes around and allows you to tweak your payroll deductions.
That said, with the cost of living varying so widely across the country, I'm not sure anything targeted at income alone will ever address middle-class needs in a broad way -- but it's the only lever we seem to know how to pull. Expanding the income ranges and contribution limits on FSAs, IRAs, etc. might work out nicely for quite a few people on paper, but I'm not sure if that'll work out for as many in practice -- I'm surprised that more people don't make use of tax-advantaged accounts of various kinds, but I think they're not as broadly understood as they should be.
I am a widow living on a low income but I don't want to give up "giving". I sponsor a "foster child" every month. That fits into my budget. But in December I donate to several more charities. The way I fit this into my budget is to try to "save it back" in January and February. I spend the absolute minimum necessary to pay bills and buy groceries. No extras. To make sure I don't give in to being enticed by an irresistible bargain - I don't go shopping. And for entertainment I catch up on books I've wanted to read, watch tv, and visit friends. And maybe catch up on a little housework I've been putting off.
I try to give a little whenever I stumble across a fundraiser in the grocery store or gas station. Usually donations are just a dollar, like buying a "shoe" for Juvenile Diabetes or a cross for the Red Cross, or a dollar for a local food pantry. I also give my time as well to our local Rural Services center, which provides access to programs for our local poor population.
One of the joys about working for a not-for-profit health care center is that I feel like I'm constantly working to help the uninsured. Yes, I do get compensated for this, but far less than I would if I worked elsewhere.
I work at home and don't turn on the central heat during the day unless I absolutely have to. I dress in warm layers and wear a hat or scarf when needed. I also use a heating pad on my office chair, positioned at my lower back.
I had been running the heat only at night until I discovered an electric mattress pad a couple of months ago. Greatest invention ever. I turn it on about an hour before I go to bed and slip between toasty sheets. Keeps me warm all night, and lowered my electric bill.
I can't imagine imperfect splitting of a coumadin would make much of a difference. Labwork is done frequently and this med can be very hard to regulate for a lot of people, by much more of a margin than slightly different doses, for example 4.8 mg one day and 5.2 mg another day.
You kidding? They are not going to help my family one bit any more than the fake "freeze" in going to help the national economy. It's all smoke and mirrors as the middle class grows poorer with each passing day. So much for "hope and change". At this rate we won't even get to keep the change in our pockets.
2010 will be the last year that we can contribute to an IRA.
I would rather see a deduction for interest earned to encourage people to save. For example, the first $5000 of interest wouldn't be taxed.
i live in portland too, and i try my best not to heat my condo apartment. i just can't afford it - if my electric bill goes beyond $70/ mo., i have to seriously start cutting back on food to make up the difference. this year has been pretty good so far (knock on wood!), but last year with several major snowstorms that had us stuck in the house for days, we were not nearly so lucky.
we layer up here - there are several blankets on the couch and the bed, and we have a plethora of slippers, sweatpants, sweatshirts, and sweaters for hanging out and sleeping in if necessary. it makes life cozy :).
I am more about donating my gently used items or "freebies" (as mentioned, the sample/trial size personal care products). Waste not, want not, I guess. I just feel (slightly?) paranoid sending money to some charities and not knowing exactly to what purpose it is being spent.
I live in the Bay Area so not *cold* but it can get chilly in the winter but I can honestly say I've never turned on a heater in my life. Weird huh?
I am very warm blooded!
My house was built in 1926 and my husband thinks it's freezing ("you can hang meat in here!")
Not looking forward to menopause! :)
You agree to keep your comments:
■relevant to the topic
■respectful of others, and
■suitable for a family forum.
Please keep this in mind when you post.
meat does not go with cheese,
the reference is neither necessary nor respectful
hey everyone,
i just decided to try to get into distilling cuz im broke and am in construction so i have no work right now and i really like liquor, lol. anyway ZORCY YOU ARE AWESOME!!!! i sat here and read ur post and all of almost 300 of the comments in one sitting. i am VERY interested in distilling and i wanted to make sure im doing everything right before i start. im mixing your posted portions of water sugar and yeast into food grade plastic buckets and letting it ferment for about a week or so. im then getting a large pot and sealing it or getting a pressure cooker. from wut ive gotten, it is better to use a a large pot and seal it. is this right, and wut is the cheapest but still effective way to seal the edges? i drill a hole for the copper pipe on top of the pot and run the pipe through a cork into the pot. do i need the cork or can i just seal it, and wut is the cheapest but most effective thing to use to seal all holes drilled? i then run the copper and spiral it into a large bucket filled with cold water and some ice and out the bottom/side of the large bucket into the collection bottle. i am suppose to bring the mash to 173-185 degrees and throw away anything that come out before 173 degrees. what is the best temp to maintain in order to get the highest proof of liquor? do i have to filter the liquor? if its not strong enough can i run it through the still again in order to higher the proof and do i just run it through by itself or mix it with distilled water or something? im really sorry im bothering you with this, but it would b so awesome if you could fill me in on everything at once so i do it the right way and the safe way. you can e-mail me if you want at NAX447@hotmail.com. or just post. if you wanna answer questions with references to previous comments that's fine, and im willing to try to send you some of what i make in return for your help. im gonna get into using essences and make alot of different types of alcohol. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
For cost savings, I found this (about programmable thermostats):
"By turning your thermostat back 10°–15° for 8 hours, you can save about 5%–15% a year on your heating bill"
I found it here: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/my...
I have read that the closer you are to the ambient temperature, the less energy per degree you are spending/saving - so a drop from 68 to 58 saves more for us (at 0 outside right now) than for someone living in a place where it's 50 degrees outdoors, and saves more than a drop from 58-48. Which makes sense, but i couldn't find a source just now.
55 is not that cold - I was raised in a 55 degree house, and we keep our heat between 58 and 62 (64 sometimes for guests). When my son was an infant we layered baby longjohns under footie pajamas and he was always fine.
The thing that's hard is switching temperatures - it's hard for your body to get used to a new temperature, and it's hard to be acclimated or dressed properly if you're going from a 75 degree office to a -20 outdoors to a 65 degree house.
As stated before - it's not a credit card - it's a prepaid card. If you don;t load any money on it then it is never activated.
I've used NetSpend for almost 4 years now and ordered two additional cards for my kids. This way when they are out with friends and low on cash I can instantly put money on their card and it costs me nothing to do so. You can also do direct deposit for free to a NetSpend account. The only time it actually costs you money to use their card is at an ATM or when loading at one of their stores. I use mine for my paypal account mainly so if it gets pirated I won't be out much cash and there's no way that someone could run up any serious debt on it. They also have a great savings account plan with good interest.
Not as evil as people are making them out to be but I do agree that it's a bit over the top to be sending the cards out unsolicited. Blame Capitol One for that.
"NG Bill January 2007: $278, thermostat temp: 65
NG Bill March 2007: $156, t. temp: 58
...
7 degrees made a difference of $122/month on the bill."
Its much colder in January than March. So much of the difference in your bill was simply due to it being warmer in March.
PS. Call 888-995-HOPE and get housing counseling. They can conference with the mortgage lender to a HOPE counselor number at most lenders. You may request MHA Help Team ONLY if you are in the trial period to escalate it to treasury. And actually, #1 is wrong too, as Jim explained. Plus, the guidelines are not exactly being followed and some permanents have the same payment for the life of the loan.
Jim is correct. #5 is dead wrong, but the others are true. Unemployment must last at least 9 months to qualify as income, which is difficult to prove[the treasury guidelines are to use 75% of unemployment income, which is not being followed]. I deal with this 15-20 times per day as a MHA Escalation Team member submitting info to Treasury/Fannie Mae. Anything i can do to help let me know.
We give 3 canned goods to the food bank every week, doubling it during the food drives. On a weekly basis, it doesn't cost us much, and I know that people are hungry all year, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When the earthquake struck Haiti, I sorrowed, and donated as usual to the local food bank. I know that people all over are digging deep to help Haiti, and I don't want to neglect our regular contribution and leave perhaps a neighbour without enough food to get by while trying to find a better job.
There are also click-to-donate sites - I know they need paying customers visiting the ads of their donors to pay for these clicks, and I'm not normally one of them, but I do what I can, as I can.
While my husband is at work, I often turn the heat back to 63º or even lower. However, he positively shivers at 66º and I'm just not sure he's going to be a willing penguin with me. The really bad drawback is being in public places where the heat is sometimes 10 or more degrees higher than I've accustomed myself to. It can be miserable.
Having said all that, the real challenge here in Northeast Texas is not heat but air conditioning. A brick house, facing south and with few trees can climb into the 90s inside without air. The air conditioning will run nonstop at the height of summer. Makes me LOVE winter!
I am a member of Kaiser Permanente and when I went to get a prescription filled at their pharmacy I inquired how much one of them "pill chopping thingys" cost. They just gave me one. Granted, with what I pay for my monthly premiums, it's likely my pill splitter cost's a WHOLE lot more than what Paul paid. Good luck to any of you who are going to try and score a free one from Kaiser!
We don't have an income right now, and it's been off and on for the last 3 years.
However, we have still found ways to give.
One of the things I have done is to teach others in my area how to garden. I regularly have free garden tours and teach about what will grow here. Many people think they can't grow anything in the desert and are surprised when they see all that we are growing (and eating!) from our garden.
I also have a website dedicated to helping others live on less.
If you don't have any money to give, here is a list of things I've put together that you can give:
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/helpingothers.aspx
#1 The affects to your credit are short term and not long term. Once the debt is negotiated by a debt settlement company, the creditor agrees to update the credit report, showing a zero balance and stating that the account is paid or "paid as settled"
I went through a debt settlement company and I finished the program 1 year ago, my credit score is 793 and my wife’s is 843. Now our score did go down at the beginning, but after the drop, it continued to increase to what it is today.
#2 Paying taxes on the savings. This can happen, but if you are insolvent then you do not have to pay these taxes. In other words, if you owe more money (overall, including all debts) than you own (your home, auto, etc) and most of American Citizens have more debt than assets since most people's home value is less than what is owed, then all you have to do is go to IRS.gov and download from #982. If you have more debts than assets, then you do not have to pay this tax.
Keep in mind that you have to fill out this form, only if you receive a 1099 from the creditor once the debt is settled.
#3 Fees. Think about this for one second. Every year you pay fees in the form of interest on your debt. If you pay 12% interest on your debts, then you are essentially paying 12% fee every year to your creditors and next year you will pay that fee again and again.
The part you forgot to mention is the 15% fee charged is not an annual fee, it is a one-time fee and doesn't continue. Therefore, if you are in a 3 year debt settlement program, then you can average the fee over three years, which equates to only 5% per year. If your interest rates are higher than 5%, then it clearly makes sense, especially when you do not have to pay back the entire amount.
#4 BBB. If you did your research, you would already know that the BBB is no longer rating debt settlement companies. In fact, one of the VP's of the BBB, has a vested interest in a consumer counseling program which directly competes directly with debt settlement companies. Go to credit.com and search for "BBB and debt settlement companies" and you will see that the BBB stopped rating all of the debt settlement companies.
The BBB is not a government agency; they are a private company collecting fees for business being accredited. Because they are not rating debt settlement companies, they are essentially doing the consumer a HUGE injustice, because they are no longer separating the good companies from the bad companies, which is terrible for the consumer. The main function of the BBB is to separate the good from the bad and they are taking the position that all debt settlement companies are bad.
The last thing that no one mentions is financial related. If the banks been collecting payments for the last 5 years, then why does the debtor still owe money. Because the amount being collected by the banks in minimum monthly payments (even if you do not use the cards) will take much longer than 5 years. Typically it is closer to 20+ years and that is just on 12%. Go to cnnmoney.com and they have a calculator you can use to see how long it will to pay off your debts by making the minimum payments, it will scare you to death.
Also, if the debtor has been paying the creditor for 5 years, then the creditor most likely has received everything they lent to you. But why do you owe almost the same amount that you originally borrowed, because a majority of your payment goes toward interest.
Now, when the bank receives a settlement of 40%, then that is icing on the cake at this point. They already collected everything you borrowed and now they are getting another 40%. I feel that 40% is more than enough.
I also bought a condo nearly 4 years ago at a price $10K under the similar neighborhood comps and WELL under what I could afford. I put about $5K in improvements and now will be lucky to break even as I have to sell since I'm being transferred out of state. Sad thing is, I can't rent the place out - we're not allowed. So I'm going to have to float an apartment and the condo until it sells then spend MORE money to sell it - no wonder people walk away!!
In response to some comments above -- changes to the tax code are made by Congress. All the President can do is propose, encourage & support changes to the law. Congress has the real power here, as usual. As we've seen with health care, the current Congress is not interested in rubber-stamping anything. The President's job is to try to get people talking by publicizing an agenda and circulating reports, drafts, etc. -- we'll have to wait and see if the effort was successful or not, and what form it takes by the time it's passed through multiple layers of Congress.
Also, to the person who mentioned contributing to something different because of working for a church -- typically when the media talks about 401k, they almost always mean 401k or 403b accounts (403b being the "501c3 employer" version of a 401k) -- so it may well apply to you after all.
In any event, changes he's pushing for in a January 2010 speech are highly unlikely to make any difference to what's filed by April 15th 2010 based on 2009 incomes. Some people have already filed by now, and no laws have yet been written, debated, or passed. Trying to change the rules for 2009 when it's already 2010 would be an incredibly expensive endeavor as we've seen with some of the "stimulus check" stuff that was done in past years -- which required the IRS to hire scads of expensive contractors to work overtime to reprogram everything in a hurry...and it still took 6 months to get the checks cut.
It's actually pretty late to try to make changes to even the 2010 code in my opinion, because people need time to make plans to take the best advantage of them. Otherwise you end up having to maximize a contribution all at once instead of spreading it out over multiple months, or you end up giving the government a year-long no-cost loan by overpaying tax all year and getting it back in a refund.
Now is a dandy time to reform the 2011 code, though, because that would give people enough time to make all their changes to their deductions, budgets, accounts, and so on by the time annual enrollment comes around and allows you to tweak your payroll deductions.
That said, with the cost of living varying so widely across the country, I'm not sure anything targeted at income alone will ever address middle-class needs in a broad way -- but it's the only lever we seem to know how to pull. Expanding the income ranges and contribution limits on FSAs, IRAs, etc. might work out nicely for quite a few people on paper, but I'm not sure if that'll work out for as many in practice -- I'm surprised that more people don't make use of tax-advantaged accounts of various kinds, but I think they're not as broadly understood as they should be.
I am a widow living on a low income but I don't want to give up "giving". I sponsor a "foster child" every month. That fits into my budget. But in December I donate to several more charities. The way I fit this into my budget is to try to "save it back" in January and February. I spend the absolute minimum necessary to pay bills and buy groceries. No extras. To make sure I don't give in to being enticed by an irresistible bargain - I don't go shopping. And for entertainment I catch up on books I've wanted to read, watch tv, and visit friends. And maybe catch up on a little housework I've been putting off.
I try to give a little whenever I stumble across a fundraiser in the grocery store or gas station. Usually donations are just a dollar, like buying a "shoe" for Juvenile Diabetes or a cross for the Red Cross, or a dollar for a local food pantry. I also give my time as well to our local Rural Services center, which provides access to programs for our local poor population.
One of the joys about working for a not-for-profit health care center is that I feel like I'm constantly working to help the uninsured. Yes, I do get compensated for this, but far less than I would if I worked elsewhere.
I work at home and don't turn on the central heat during the day unless I absolutely have to. I dress in warm layers and wear a hat or scarf when needed. I also use a heating pad on my office chair, positioned at my lower back.
I had been running the heat only at night until I discovered an electric mattress pad a couple of months ago. Greatest invention ever. I turn it on about an hour before I go to bed and slip between toasty sheets. Keeps me warm all night, and lowered my electric bill.
I can't imagine imperfect splitting of a coumadin would make much of a difference. Labwork is done frequently and this med can be very hard to regulate for a lot of people, by much more of a margin than slightly different doses, for example 4.8 mg one day and 5.2 mg another day.
You kidding? They are not going to help my family one bit any more than the fake "freeze" in going to help the national economy. It's all smoke and mirrors as the middle class grows poorer with each passing day. So much for "hope and change". At this rate we won't even get to keep the change in our pockets.
2010 will be the last year that we can contribute to an IRA.
I would rather see a deduction for interest earned to encourage people to save. For example, the first $5000 of interest wouldn't be taxed.
I do this as much as possible. I buy a 3 month supply and get 6 months worth. :)
i live in portland too, and i try my best not to heat my condo apartment. i just can't afford it - if my electric bill goes beyond $70/ mo., i have to seriously start cutting back on food to make up the difference. this year has been pretty good so far (knock on wood!), but last year with several major snowstorms that had us stuck in the house for days, we were not nearly so lucky.
we layer up here - there are several blankets on the couch and the bed, and we have a plethora of slippers, sweatpants, sweatshirts, and sweaters for hanging out and sleeping in if necessary. it makes life cozy :).
I am more about donating my gently used items or "freebies" (as mentioned, the sample/trial size personal care products). Waste not, want not, I guess. I just feel (slightly?) paranoid sending money to some charities and not knowing exactly to what purpose it is being spent.