It's always so tough to see so much food go to waste when so many people are hungry. I am doing my best to be better at home, but it's good to see places like buffets being proactive. Thanks Kate.
buffet that has taken measures against wasted food. They have a policy that any wholesome food that is left in the steam table or on the buffets at the end of the night goes to a soup kitchen or a battered women's shelter, or some such worth cause. Therefore, if the customer wastes food, he or she is depriving that charity of food for no good reason. So if the customer leaves food on the plate, more than a few grains of rice or whatever, there's a surcharge of $1. In other words, a mandatory donation/penalty for wasting food. The collected surcharges are also given to the soup kitchen or whatever charity each evening. The usual rules against taking home leftovers from an all-you-can-eat meal applied.
I thought this was a brilliant idea. The restaurant was very upfront about the rule. I never saw anyone raise a stink about it, but I imagine they must have gotten some flak. I wish more restaurants would do something similar.
I just went wild over at Maghound. Thank you so much for pointing this out to me. I am a magazine junkie, and this is a godsend. I got magazines for myself, my son, my husband and my classroom. I found out that 15 is the maximum per cart! Another cool thing is that if you order a magazine that only publishes six times a year, for example, you can make a list of substitute magazines that will be sent on the months that the one you chose isn't available.
This saves me tons of money because since I can't afford to get all of the subscriptions I'd like to have at once, I often buy at the stand. Now that temptation is gone. Yea~!
I am also really hating that with the subscriptions that I have, the companies keep sending bills way before they are due, and sometimes duplicate bill. Also, if you get a subscription through a third party, often you will find that you can never, ever cancel the magazine subscription...if you remember who you got it through!
This post is just slam packed with great financial resources!
Does anyone have an extra blog ads invite? (I'm trying to get in before a big CBS interview is aired.) Thanks!
~The Bargain Shopper Lady
A man goes into a restaurant for dinner and sees all the employees wearing Obama campaign buttons. After his meal the waiter brings the bill and says “Aren’t you so glad Obama won the election”. The man thinks for a minute and turns to his waiter and says “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to tip you $20 tip for all the hard work you did serving my family and I, but I’m going to give you only $9.00 and I’m going to give the rest to the homeless guy outside the restaurant and tell him it from you. The waiter was very upset with and asked why the homeless guy should get $11.00 when he didn’t do any of the work? The man replied “this is what our new president is going to do to me”. The waiter left very upset.
Moral of the story is. People like the theory of his plans, but they won’t like it in practice!
Bookswim could be a great source for bestselling books, which are nearly impossible to come by at my library. They have bestselling books, but often a few years after they hit the NYT or other lists; and some books have huge waiting lists if they are owned by the library. I've been waiting months for a book on how Google got started. I have plenty to read but would like to stay up to date.
I've thought about whether WB should cover non-uber-frugal ideas and my conclusion was "yes"; helping people sort through product/service offerings and marketing messages without making people feel guilty is great. Thanks for starting!
Read the story. It does not say "A" beer. It says "ten men go out for beer". Typical Democrat readers, they always miss the point so they can jump to their own misinterpretations.
I'm personally a fan of the library but I have a friend who is a traveling MT, she spends about 3 months in each assignment and LOVES to read! This is a perfect service for her so she doesn't have to waste time finding libraries, etc, but saves a lot of money by not paying Barnes and Noble prices for book. I don't think the point of this article was to cater to every person but I found a great Christmas present idea.
I bought some I savings bonds in 2001 that pay a fixed rate of 3% for their life, plus the CPI. Right now the return is nearly 8%--compounding--federal tax deferred and state and local tax-free. I'd say that is a pretty sweet deal. I've averaged 6% over seven years, which is better than money markets or the S&P 500 over that time period.
Not only has the fixed interest been reduced over time, but the Treasury has put tighter limits on the amount you can buy each year. It used to be $30,000, and now I think it is $5,000. At least small investors can still participate in a decent return, conservative investment.
Not sure where the library critics live, but in addition to the fact that Linsey clearly addressed when one may or may not choose to use an alternative service, I would like to point out that not all library systems are created equal.
For example, some only go within their state or other provider network, for example with the military libraries (they may occasionally go outside the network there, but for the most part not to my knowledge). If you live in a state where that state's inter library system is well stocked overall, you might have a prayer of replacing Netflix. Personally, I was never able to trump Netflix at the libraries we had access to in Northern Maine, and the interlibrary loan was not as quick as you might think since everything is so spread out up there. Also, unless you live close by (and we did not) you may end up (which we did) spending more in gas to get the "free" flicks at the library than we spent on Netflix.
And that's not even addressing the books. For those who are not used to stocking books in heavy supply for young readers, trust me: They fly through them quicker than you might ever predict. Something Linsey clearly pointed out for the benefit of our readers in her artice. Let's make sure we all thoroughly read the piece before attacking her integrity, shall we?
I'm with you, Mr. Williams, on the germs concern. The website at BabyPlays states the following regarding germs on their website:
"BabyPlays takes the health and safety of your children very seriously. BabyPlays Toys are sanitized using a 100% All Natural, Organic cleaning product that is approved by the EPA. For more information on what product we are using for sanitization please e-mail: cleantoys@babyplays.com"
I'd rather just buy my own toys (even used) and clean them thoroughly myself. We just survived 6 vicious cases of the flu last week, and I'm not taking any chances!
Hardly. I took the time to research these services to show you how they were in some cases NOT a good deal. For a quick review of my points, I suggest rereading my bottom lines on each. They will not be a money-saver for many, and I think I was pretty clear about that. (Although like any and all products and services, there will be an audience it might be a good deal for.)
have you heard about library??? they even have toys there for kids, and videos to watch right there, and some have play rooms, and magazines, and CDs, and tapes, and everything. why? I thought this was supposed to be about WISE and SMART money management on a small budget. but it sounds like a paid advertisement for the above mentioned services.
bookswim is really not worth it if you have any decent library services in your area. No matter how much or what you read. Also most libraries offer some sort of homebound or mobile service and some are even doing books by mail (same model as bookswim).
Also, like the reader said above, libraries have ILL departments to get you materials that they don't have and also generally have either multiple locations or participate in a network that shares materials. Just because your neighborhood library doesn't have the movie/book you want, doesn't mean they can't get it for you in a matter of days. Also, if they really don't have access, libraries will generally purchase anything their users request.
I easily replaced netflix with my library system and don't miss it at all. I get all the latest dvds on the same pace as my friends - without paying 20 bucks a month for them. Also, many libraries don't even charge late fees any more.
I'd recommend checking out the stuff you're already paying for (via your taxes) before adding other expenses to your list.
personally, I think all restaurants should be Dominos pizza but that's just me [can't beat their 5-5-5 deal!]; anyway, I cannot believe you're downing Demolition Man. This is one of my all-time FAVORITE cheesy movies !!:-)
lol!
and here is my favorite spiel (i mean, speech) from the movie (thanks to imdb):
"Edgar Friendly: You see, according to Cocteau's plan I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder - "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener". "
Not sure if I like the idea of swapping germs via toy rental. It's like letting your kids play with the toys in the pediatricains office on their next wellness visit during flu season.
Our library offers interlibrary loan. We can get pretty much get anything anyone would ever want to read. It also has an extensive magazine selection. If anyone wants to actually purchase a particular issue, one can locally. I'm with you about yard sales for toys too. Why pay retail?
What about Diet Pepsi? It's my one vice I have left. I have one 20 oz. a day and that's it. Can Diet Pepsi raise your blood sugar? I've hard that it can.
Mine was 380 last Sunday and is now 174 so for those of you who pray, please say a prayer for me!
It's always so tough to see so much food go to waste when so many people are hungry. I am doing my best to be better at home, but it's good to see places like buffets being proactive. Thanks Kate.
buffet that has taken measures against wasted food. They have a policy that any wholesome food that is left in the steam table or on the buffets at the end of the night goes to a soup kitchen or a battered women's shelter, or some such worth cause. Therefore, if the customer wastes food, he or she is depriving that charity of food for no good reason. So if the customer leaves food on the plate, more than a few grains of rice or whatever, there's a surcharge of $1. In other words, a mandatory donation/penalty for wasting food. The collected surcharges are also given to the soup kitchen or whatever charity each evening. The usual rules against taking home leftovers from an all-you-can-eat meal applied.
I thought this was a brilliant idea. The restaurant was very upfront about the rule. I never saw anyone raise a stink about it, but I imagine they must have gotten some flak. I wish more restaurants would do something similar.
that was so cool
I just went wild over at Maghound. Thank you so much for pointing this out to me. I am a magazine junkie, and this is a godsend. I got magazines for myself, my son, my husband and my classroom. I found out that 15 is the maximum per cart! Another cool thing is that if you order a magazine that only publishes six times a year, for example, you can make a list of substitute magazines that will be sent on the months that the one you chose isn't available.
This saves me tons of money because since I can't afford to get all of the subscriptions I'd like to have at once, I often buy at the stand. Now that temptation is gone. Yea~!
I am also really hating that with the subscriptions that I have, the companies keep sending bills way before they are due, and sometimes duplicate bill. Also, if you get a subscription through a third party, often you will find that you can never, ever cancel the magazine subscription...if you remember who you got it through!
Again, this is just great.
I've got two I bonds from the same period--a couple of my better investments. I'll be holding those right to final maturity.
This post is just slam packed with great financial resources!
Does anyone have an extra blog ads invite? (I'm trying to get in before a big CBS interview is aired.) Thanks!
~The Bargain Shopper Lady
A man goes into a restaurant for dinner and sees all the employees wearing Obama campaign buttons. After his meal the waiter brings the bill and says “Aren’t you so glad Obama won the election”. The man thinks for a minute and turns to his waiter and says “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to tip you $20 tip for all the hard work you did serving my family and I, but I’m going to give you only $9.00 and I’m going to give the rest to the homeless guy outside the restaurant and tell him it from you. The waiter was very upset with and asked why the homeless guy should get $11.00 when he didn’t do any of the work? The man replied “this is what our new president is going to do to me”. The waiter left very upset.
Moral of the story is. People like the theory of his plans, but they won’t like it in practice!
How do I change to region 0, anybody?
Bookswim could be a great source for bestselling books, which are nearly impossible to come by at my library. They have bestselling books, but often a few years after they hit the NYT or other lists; and some books have huge waiting lists if they are owned by the library. I've been waiting months for a book on how Google got started. I have plenty to read but would like to stay up to date.
I've thought about whether WB should cover non-uber-frugal ideas and my conclusion was "yes"; helping people sort through product/service offerings and marketing messages without making people feel guilty is great. Thanks for starting!
Read the story. It does not say "A" beer. It says "ten men go out for beer". Typical Democrat readers, they always miss the point so they can jump to their own misinterpretations.
This is a nice collection of pf articles. Thanks for a mention to our post on early retirement.
Have a nice weekend :).
Cheers,
FIRE Finance
I'm personally a fan of the library but I have a friend who is a traveling MT, she spends about 3 months in each assignment and LOVES to read! This is a perfect service for her so she doesn't have to waste time finding libraries, etc, but saves a lot of money by not paying Barnes and Noble prices for book. I don't think the point of this article was to cater to every person but I found a great Christmas present idea.
I bought some I savings bonds in 2001 that pay a fixed rate of 3% for their life, plus the CPI. Right now the return is nearly 8%--compounding--federal tax deferred and state and local tax-free. I'd say that is a pretty sweet deal. I've averaged 6% over seven years, which is better than money markets or the S&P 500 over that time period.
Not only has the fixed interest been reduced over time, but the Treasury has put tighter limits on the amount you can buy each year. It used to be $30,000, and now I think it is $5,000. At least small investors can still participate in a decent return, conservative investment.
Not sure where the library critics live, but in addition to the fact that Linsey clearly addressed when one may or may not choose to use an alternative service, I would like to point out that not all library systems are created equal.
For example, some only go within their state or other provider network, for example with the military libraries (they may occasionally go outside the network there, but for the most part not to my knowledge). If you live in a state where that state's inter library system is well stocked overall, you might have a prayer of replacing Netflix. Personally, I was never able to trump Netflix at the libraries we had access to in Northern Maine, and the interlibrary loan was not as quick as you might think since everything is so spread out up there. Also, unless you live close by (and we did not) you may end up (which we did) spending more in gas to get the "free" flicks at the library than we spent on Netflix.
And that's not even addressing the books. For those who are not used to stocking books in heavy supply for young readers, trust me: They fly through them quicker than you might ever predict. Something Linsey clearly pointed out for the benefit of our readers in her artice. Let's make sure we all thoroughly read the piece before attacking her integrity, shall we?
Thanks for the reminder!
Linsey
http://www.paperbackswap.com
I'm with you, Mr. Williams, on the germs concern. The website at BabyPlays states the following regarding germs on their website:
"BabyPlays takes the health and safety of your children very seriously. BabyPlays Toys are sanitized using a 100% All Natural, Organic cleaning product that is approved by the EPA. For more information on what product we are using for sanitization please e-mail: cleantoys@babyplays.com"
I'd rather just buy my own toys (even used) and clean them thoroughly myself. We just survived 6 vicious cases of the flu last week, and I'm not taking any chances!
Thanks for commenting!
Linsey Knerl
Hardly. I took the time to research these services to show you how they were in some cases NOT a good deal. For a quick review of my points, I suggest rereading my bottom lines on each. They will not be a money-saver for many, and I think I was pretty clear about that. (Although like any and all products and services, there will be an audience it might be a good deal for.)
And yes, I love my library. :)
Thanks for reading.
Linsey Knerl
have you heard about library??? they even have toys there for kids, and videos to watch right there, and some have play rooms, and magazines, and CDs, and tapes, and everything. why? I thought this was supposed to be about WISE and SMART money management on a small budget. but it sounds like a paid advertisement for the above mentioned services.
bookswim is really not worth it if you have any decent library services in your area. No matter how much or what you read. Also most libraries offer some sort of homebound or mobile service and some are even doing books by mail (same model as bookswim).
Also, like the reader said above, libraries have ILL departments to get you materials that they don't have and also generally have either multiple locations or participate in a network that shares materials. Just because your neighborhood library doesn't have the movie/book you want, doesn't mean they can't get it for you in a matter of days. Also, if they really don't have access, libraries will generally purchase anything their users request.
I easily replaced netflix with my library system and don't miss it at all. I get all the latest dvds on the same pace as my friends - without paying 20 bucks a month for them. Also, many libraries don't even charge late fees any more.
I'd recommend checking out the stuff you're already paying for (via your taxes) before adding other expenses to your list.
personally, I think all restaurants should be Dominos pizza but that's just me [can't beat their 5-5-5 deal!]; anyway, I cannot believe you're downing Demolition Man. This is one of my all-time FAVORITE cheesy movies !!:-)
lol!
and here is my favorite spiel (i mean, speech) from the movie (thanks to imdb):
"Edgar Friendly: You see, according to Cocteau's plan I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder - "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener". "
Not sure if I like the idea of swapping germs via toy rental. It's like letting your kids play with the toys in the pediatricains office on their next wellness visit during flu season.
Our library offers interlibrary loan. We can get pretty much get anything anyone would ever want to read. It also has an extensive magazine selection. If anyone wants to actually purchase a particular issue, one can locally. I'm with you about yard sales for toys too. Why pay retail?
What about Diet Pepsi? It's my one vice I have left. I have one 20 oz. a day and that's it. Can Diet Pepsi raise your blood sugar? I've hard that it can.
Mine was 380 last Sunday and is now 174 so for those of you who pray, please say a prayer for me!
I wish I could adopt a sibling group. :(
But, whenever I've looked into adoption, it was so prohibitively expensive, it seems like we'll never afford it.