One of your tips claims that using powdered milk for hot chocolate - and then at the end of the article, you say the powdered milk should only be mixed with cold water because it tends not to dissolve with warm or hot water.
Which is it> :-)
I was thinking of replacing the yucky coffee mate that I use for my tea at the office with powdered milk. I was doing some web-searching to see if it works well when I found your page. Now I still don't know.
This is good advice. Thanks, Sharon. It's too easy when your feeling down to spend more than you should, trying to "buy your mind off your problems". I used to have the same weakness for Fry's Electronics. One time shopping at Fry's, I saw 2 Buddhist monks in orange robes, one old and one young. They didn't have any items in their hands and they just walked around looking at things on the shelves like they were unreal or ghosts. They left without buying anything and without saying a word. I think (if I remember correctly) I put down whatever I thought I was going to buy and just went home instead.
I always find these tips hilarious. I realized recently that not everyone takes their shoes off when they enter their own house or someone else's. It's a Canadian thing apparently and a fairly obvious "cleaning hack."
I have the reverse method -- I evaluate the item honestly before I even look at the pricetag. If I would love it for any price (almost any price. . .), then I will consider it. Like the thrift store thing, though.
I love to shop at Asian grocers for produce, tea, and also for vegetarian "fake meat" products. Many Asians are buddhist, so most Asian grocers stock these products as well as meat.
I shop in these a lot - Chinese/Vietnames markets for produce, fish, noodles, rice, and sometimes meats. Ranch 99 in Northern CA is great, but so are some of the hole-in-the-wall places. I also recommend that people check out Indian groceries for rice, dal and spices - they are way cheaper than anywhere else. I shop in "ethnic" Asian markets about once every two weeks, and it's the main reason my grocery bills are so low. Of course, I also like all the weird Asian vegies too, so that really helps, as I have full range of choice in these places.
Very informing and compete review. Thanks for the time. I was actually able to capture pretty decent (not great) footage through Quicktime Player Pro (very smooth framerate at 640x480 supposedly, quite a bit smoother than your posted sample). Interestingly enough, you can even capture at full 1600x1200 quality although it's quite choppy (QT prefs>recording then selecting native resolution). At these settings, I obtained around 8-10 fps on my muscled mac pro, but the audio kept up at the very least and did not skip. I have to agree that the framing did look a little different than Skype for example (narrower framing by a good 20% I'd estimate), and that the movie captured at the "best" QT setting (640x480 H264) seems a little softer than it should be. The audio was fairly on par for a webcam, and the tin can effect was not so pronounced, although quite a way off from even a $100 condenser mic.
I am a translator, and I have been working on my own, from home since 2003. I wouldn't want to go back to the m-f, 9 to 5 job. I felt like a slave when I had to.
I wouldn't take the money even if me and my family needed it. It's not an ethical choice.. i mean if someone stole 1 million bucks walked two blocks down and threw it at you would you take it? What if someone was murdered for it? etc. It isn't right to take it.. you would feel guilty for the rest of your life and if someone was murdered for it, it would basically be like you helped kill them since you accepted the cash..
Good point -- the ISO certification process can be a way of meeting customer requirements and proving that you meet those requirements. And though I definitely think the post can apply to credit card processing chargebacks, the chargebacks and vendor compliance programs that I am focusing on are those with major retailers such as Target, Kohl's, etc.
Definitely give cloth diapers a serious thought. We use prefolds and covers and have found that to be the most economical and easy solution.
Have you *smelled* disposable diapers? The first time we tried them I about died. We can actually toss my daughter's cloth diapers (#1 and #2) into an open-air hamper and not smell a thing. But when we put one single disposable in our kitchen garbage can it stunk up the whole house. Yuck.
I lived in Boston for half a year awhile ago, right in the downtown area.
Having lived in NYC where we have just about every kind of food shop available (except those huge megastores) and pretty much 24/7 fruit/veggie/convenience stands, it was a shock.
No local fruit/veggie stands. One supermarket (albeit the amazing Shaw's, which has its own cab stand!) in the whole area, a cab ride away, along with a Trader Joe's, also a cab ride away, as it was not convenient to the T!
Then, I discovered a local chain of Asian stores, a few blocks from my very central downtown location.
Although I did not purchase meats or fish (didn't really like the look of it), it was a great source for affordable fruits/veggies and some very intriguing condiments (very well priced), noodles/pasta and fascinating frozen food. Not to mention great cheap kitchen/housewares items.
You do have to be careful about hygiene issues and if you don't know the suppliers' quality, it can be questionable. But this place had a good local rep. (There was a larger outlet, accessible by car, which was pretty clean and a lot better maintained than the one near my apartment.)
I miss that place because now back in NYC, chinatown is a long subway ride away and a big schlepp to go for just a few things.
As for pricing, it can vary widely. If you buy within an ethnic-based community, prices are generally lower (Has to be so that the locals will buy regularly). But elsewhere, prices often much higher.
I find many of the comments here to be oddly judgmental about other people's decisions.
I mean, I don't have cable, because I don't derive any value from it; it would be money down the drain. But some people have cable for various good reasons that make sense to them and their family.
Being a frugal person does not mean forcing yourself to follow a set of accepted guidelines for frugal people. It means knowing what's really important to you and your family, adjusting your expenses to reflect that, and making sure that in the process you're getting the best value for your money, and not getting into high-interest debt.
So if you're a movie junkie and you think an HDTV is important, there's no need to apologize to the people who insist you should buy a used TV set from ebay. If you've made the decision to buy it with your eyes wide open and aware of all the other things you might want or need to spend money on, and you purchased it within your means, then you are living wisely and taking care of what's important to you.
If people think you're a spendthrift or a show-off because you have an HDTV, that's their problem, not yours. You made your purchase decision after assessing your needs and your budget. They're trying to fit you into the same mold they've crammed themselves into.
If people think that because I have a cellphone, I must be one of those jerks who spends unthinkingly, can't stop talking loudly, and can't bear to be disconnected for five minutes, that's not my problem at all.
They have no idea what factors went into my decision to carry a cellphone, and they have no idea how I use it. But for the sake of addressing the stereotypes; I run a tight household budget, and no expense goes unexamined on a monthly basis; the pay-as-you-go cell phone passes muster every month. And I only answer calls when I'm not talking to someone else, not driving, and not affecting other people's enjoyment of a public space.
Old Chinese proverb.People who live by the crystal ball wind up eating glass.
One of your tips claims that using powdered milk for hot chocolate - and then at the end of the article, you say the powdered milk should only be mixed with cold water because it tends not to dissolve with warm or hot water.
Which is it> :-)
I was thinking of replacing the yucky coffee mate that I use for my tea at the office with powdered milk. I was doing some web-searching to see if it works well when I found your page. Now I still don't know.
I like this tip: Never, ever lie. Many people think they can get away with it.
+100!
It's important to just walk away. Don't buy junk at the thrift store either as things just accumulate.
Rgds,
RB
Rich By 30 Retire By 40
This is good advice. Thanks, Sharon. It's too easy when your feeling down to spend more than you should, trying to "buy your mind off your problems". I used to have the same weakness for Fry's Electronics. One time shopping at Fry's, I saw 2 Buddhist monks in orange robes, one old and one young. They didn't have any items in their hands and they just walked around looking at things on the shelves like they were unreal or ghosts. They left without buying anything and without saying a word. I think (if I remember correctly) I put down whatever I thought I was going to buy and just went home instead.
H-Mart on Parker road has all those things, and more. The place is a wonder.
I always find these tips hilarious. I realized recently that not everyone takes their shoes off when they enter their own house or someone else's. It's a Canadian thing apparently and a fairly obvious "cleaning hack."
I have the reverse method -- I evaluate the item honestly before I even look at the pricetag. If I would love it for any price (almost any price. . .), then I will consider it. Like the thrift store thing, though.
I love to shop at Asian grocers for produce, tea, and also for vegetarian "fake meat" products. Many Asians are buddhist, so most Asian grocers stock these products as well as meat.
I shop in these a lot - Chinese/Vietnames markets for produce, fish, noodles, rice, and sometimes meats. Ranch 99 in Northern CA is great, but so are some of the hole-in-the-wall places. I also recommend that people check out Indian groceries for rice, dal and spices - they are way cheaper than anywhere else. I shop in "ethnic" Asian markets about once every two weeks, and it's the main reason my grocery bills are so low. Of course, I also like all the weird Asian vegies too, so that really helps, as I have full range of choice in these places.
That's so funny, I do the same thing - would I buy this in a thrift store? Sometimes the low price tags influence us a little too much.
Very informing and compete review. Thanks for the time. I was actually able to capture pretty decent (not great) footage through Quicktime Player Pro (very smooth framerate at 640x480 supposedly, quite a bit smoother than your posted sample). Interestingly enough, you can even capture at full 1600x1200 quality although it's quite choppy (QT prefs>recording then selecting native resolution). At these settings, I obtained around 8-10 fps on my muscled mac pro, but the audio kept up at the very least and did not skip. I have to agree that the framing did look a little different than Skype for example (narrower framing by a good 20% I'd estimate), and that the movie captured at the "best" QT setting (640x480 H264) seems a little softer than it should be. The audio was fairly on par for a webcam, and the tin can effect was not so pronounced, although quite a way off from even a $100 condenser mic.
I am a translator, and I have been working on my own, from home since 2003. I wouldn't want to go back to the m-f, 9 to 5 job. I felt like a slave when I had to.
I wouldn't take the money even if me and my family needed it. It's not an ethical choice.. i mean if someone stole 1 million bucks walked two blocks down and threw it at you would you take it? What if someone was murdered for it? etc. It isn't right to take it.. you would feel guilty for the rest of your life and if someone was murdered for it, it would basically be like you helped kill them since you accepted the cash..
Looks like im the only one here that wouldn't sell their soul for any amount of money... I must say i'm pretty shocked.
Your tip about billable hours is one I use quite often to evaluate what I can get away with buying.
How many hours of enjoyment will an item provide for you, and for how many hours of work?
There are so many things that are free or next to nothing and yet are much more useful and enriching.
Good point -- the ISO certification process can be a way of meeting customer requirements and proving that you meet those requirements. And though I definitely think the post can apply to credit card processing chargebacks, the chargebacks and vendor compliance programs that I am focusing on are those with major retailers such as Target, Kohl's, etc.
Definitely give cloth diapers a serious thought. We use prefolds and covers and have found that to be the most economical and easy solution.
Have you *smelled* disposable diapers? The first time we tried them I about died. We can actually toss my daughter's cloth diapers (#1 and #2) into an open-air hamper and not smell a thing. But when we put one single disposable in our kitchen garbage can it stunk up the whole house. Yuck.
I lived in Boston for half a year awhile ago, right in the downtown area.
Having lived in NYC where we have just about every kind of food shop available (except those huge megastores) and pretty much 24/7 fruit/veggie/convenience stands, it was a shock.
No local fruit/veggie stands. One supermarket (albeit the amazing Shaw's, which has its own cab stand!) in the whole area, a cab ride away, along with a Trader Joe's, also a cab ride away, as it was not convenient to the T!
Then, I discovered a local chain of Asian stores, a few blocks from my very central downtown location.
Although I did not purchase meats or fish (didn't really like the look of it), it was a great source for affordable fruits/veggies and some very intriguing condiments (very well priced), noodles/pasta and fascinating frozen food. Not to mention great cheap kitchen/housewares items.
You do have to be careful about hygiene issues and if you don't know the suppliers' quality, it can be questionable. But this place had a good local rep. (There was a larger outlet, accessible by car, which was pretty clean and a lot better maintained than the one near my apartment.)
I miss that place because now back in NYC, chinatown is a long subway ride away and a big schlepp to go for just a few things.
As for pricing, it can vary widely. If you buy within an ethnic-based community, prices are generally lower (Has to be so that the locals will buy regularly). But elsewhere, prices often much higher.
Really your work is much impressive...Thank you
This would be my ideal situation. I have a long way to go until I get there though.
Hi Nora - I like the simple breakdown of the 3 types of LI careers...makes it easy for people to figure out which one will work best for them.
Thanks also for the link love :)
think twice [at least!] before spending once.
I find many of the comments here to be oddly judgmental about other people's decisions.
I mean, I don't have cable, because I don't derive any value from it; it would be money down the drain. But some people have cable for various good reasons that make sense to them and their family.
Being a frugal person does not mean forcing yourself to follow a set of accepted guidelines for frugal people. It means knowing what's really important to you and your family, adjusting your expenses to reflect that, and making sure that in the process you're getting the best value for your money, and not getting into high-interest debt.
So if you're a movie junkie and you think an HDTV is important, there's no need to apologize to the people who insist you should buy a used TV set from ebay. If you've made the decision to buy it with your eyes wide open and aware of all the other things you might want or need to spend money on, and you purchased it within your means, then you are living wisely and taking care of what's important to you.
If people think you're a spendthrift or a show-off because you have an HDTV, that's their problem, not yours. You made your purchase decision after assessing your needs and your budget. They're trying to fit you into the same mold they've crammed themselves into.
If people think that because I have a cellphone, I must be one of those jerks who spends unthinkingly, can't stop talking loudly, and can't bear to be disconnected for five minutes, that's not my problem at all.
They have no idea what factors went into my decision to carry a cellphone, and they have no idea how I use it. But for the sake of addressing the stereotypes; I run a tight household budget, and no expense goes unexamined on a monthly basis; the pay-as-you-go cell phone passes muster every month. And I only answer calls when I'm not talking to someone else, not driving, and not affecting other people's enjoyment of a public space.