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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 4:24 pm
Whenever I read the title of this thread, I always think of Steve Martin's The Jerk and his purpose.
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 4:29 pm
ROFL Mamie!
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Holly
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 5:31 pm
Mamie, I LOVED that movie. To this day, over 20 years later, I still smile when I think about the opening scene voiceover "I was born a poor black child..." Somehow, that just hit my funny bone so much that I couldn't stop laughing for half the movie, especially when the camera panned to almost-albino looking Steve! And his "special purpose"....BWAH!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 9:53 pm
LOL Mamie. I love that move.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 1:36 pm
I took the change out of my bottle (been doing it on a somewhat regular basis so I can deposit it in the bank) to cash in the other day. It's been, oh I'd guess about six weeks since I'd done it. Dakota and I had a bet, if she won I'd buy her and Caleb a candy bar, about how much there was in it. She looked at it, picked up the bag, looked again and said at least $60. I said $13. Hehe, ok, I admit here I did under-estimate, her and Caleb have been rather good lately and deserved a treat, and while I knew she would be closer, I thought she was still quite a bit off. So we took it over and poured it in the machine, sure enough I was off, but surprisingly to me...Kota was pretty damn close. Was $69.74. I haven't been saving as much change as before, Darrens taking some to buy a newspaper on his way to work and the kids have been taking it to get gatorade or bottles of water (cold) at school. Even saving a little though sure does add up.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 4:22 pm
So true,it really is amazing how it adds up. I have one of those coin sorters and I throw my extra change in it and then put it in rollers, I am currently carrying 20.50 in rolled coins in my purse. I keep forgetting to spend it and I bet it is making my bag heavier than it should be, LOL.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 9:51 am
It really does add up. We have a jar with a digital counter in the lid. It says $27.37 right now and is only about 1/10th full. We have another one without the counter that is getting very heavy. I know it is money we already have, but it always feels like found money, extra money when we cash it in!
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 12:45 pm
Happymom, jar with a digital counter? What? Never heard of that. Tell me more.
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Christy358
Member
07-10-2007
| Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 8:12 pm
Extra 40% off of all sale merch at Dillards now thru Saturday. Lots of mens stuff. (you know that never goes out of style) Great time to think ahead about gifts.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 9:59 pm
Happymom, I think it feels like found money, at least for me, cuz when I look at the bottle of change sitting there, I don't really think about it as money. It's not like I'm gonna grab a handful of change and run off to spend it, lol. And really no matter how much is in there it just doesn't look like a whole lot. $20 in change looks a lot different than a $20 bill. Christy do you have any idea how long that sale is going to last? It sounds excellent but I won't have time to go to Dillards til next week.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Thursday, October 02, 2008 - 1:09 pm
War, I guess I don't really think of it as money either until we empty it and cash it in. My kids don't think of dollar bills as money! They don't like them and don't like to spend them...they cash them in with me for a five or whatever. (Middle daughter actually paid us for the ipod she bought partly with ones! We got about 80 or more ones from her!) In a way it gets annoying because ones are money too and they have complained on occasion that they don't want to take ones. These days we aren't buying stuff like movie tickets for them, just can't. Color...http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2795572 will take you to linens 'n things and you can see what it looks like. I am going to find out what and when to plant to grow some vegs for next year. I hope I am successful. I think I will suggest going in on things from costco with friends. My mom will also go in on things with me. Then we can take advantage of low prices and not have to store 25 lb of flour for example, or have food that goes to waste.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, October 02, 2008 - 10:12 pm
Happy, I split a lot of Costco stuff (and the price) with my aunt and sis/bil. I love their fruits and veggies, but no way would we ever eat enough before it went bad. I don't need all the big packs of meat and that's something else we can split. Same with canned foods, cheese, eggs, foil, sandwich bags, etc. My kids are still young enough to appreciate dollar bills (and Kota loves quarters.) I don't expect that to last much longer, lol.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, October 13, 2008 - 1:04 am
With winter coming up, I'm wondering how others are planning to save on heating and electric bills? The question is coming up sooner for us this year than normal, the last few days have been cold enough we had to start up the hall heater for nights. Our big plan this year is to use the wood burning stove more often instead of the heater in the living room. It will require more time spent in the den (while the wood burning stove heats up the living room, it's not much) but that's ok. That should also mean less lights, tv, etc in the living room too. We only use the heater in the hall at night so I'm hoping the gas bill is down this year. Any other ideas?
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Monday, October 13, 2008 - 7:31 am
Since I moved from my cozy warm apartment (where my heater was on 24/7 in the winter) into a house with little to no insulation and 1950's windows, I haven't been able to use my heater much at all because it's just too expensive. I usually only turn it on for about an hour in the morning while I'm showering and getting ready for the day, although I try to wait until November before I use it. I have a couple of Cozy Chic throws and an afghan I crocheted, and we bundle up with those when we're sitting around watching TV. We also each have a Cozy Chic robe that we often throw on over our clothes because they're so nice and warm. And our beds are piled high with blankets in the winter!
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Christy358
Member
07-10-2007
| Monday, October 13, 2008 - 7:37 am
Living in Phoenix means our bills are just opposite. I use air conditioning most of the year. Looking forward to low electric bills in the winter. My heater might come on sometime in Jan, but not before.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, October 13, 2008 - 8:45 am
Can I come visit, Christy, I'm freezing this morning, lol! Merry, you just described my house. 1950's windows and no insulation. Over the years, we've replaced windows with more energy efficient ones except for in the den and two of the bedrooms. I'd love to find some way to seal those up better. We did seal the swamp cooler on top of the house this weekend which helped a lot. But, we've also still got the window swamp cooler in the living room. Decided to leave it til next weekend because I'd seen we were supposed to have temps in the 80's this week (don't think that's going to happen today, was 48 when I took Kota to school.)
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 4:53 pm
Wargod, I'm from Florida now and when I go back to Michigan in the spring I was always cold and couldn't get anything done. Bought an old fashoned electric blanket and am happy. They have an auto shut off now. Bottle and can deposit returns are used for gas at the cash pump. I argue with the phone company each season when putting it on vacation. They threaten to take away my number but I tell them I don't care and ask for a supervisor. I refuse to pay them $10.00 a month for not using the system. I get coupon books for all kinds of stores, restaurants, putt putt golf, the zoo and anything else for visitors from the Chamber of Commerce. I don't dry my clothes all the way. I tumble them for about 15 min. then hang them up on one of those garmet racks. I use foil thermal sheet rolls from HD and cut them to slightly larger than window size when leaving Mich. I reuse them each year. It cost about $200 to buy the first year but my largest gas bill while gone was $37.00 so it's more than paid me back.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 10:48 pm
I'm going to have to check into the foil thermal sheet Csnog. Sounds like it really works. I'd love to seal the windows in the den (have two doors if I need fresh air) and those in the bedrooms. Not sure what it is about the back of the house but it stays freezing cold, kids won't even play in their rooms during the day. I hate being cold, it makes me miserable. We have light weight blankets around the living room and den that I love. Can't really drag them around to do housework though, lol. Next couple days are supposed to be in the upper 80's. Of course I just took Kota over this afternoon to Walmart and bought her a couple light weight sweatsuits (one high school musical, one tinkerbelle) cuz the poor kid only had three pair of pants that fit. I've got to get her some more winter clothes but at least she has enough to make do with for now. My nieghbor just had a yard sale and Kota bought herself a pair of jeans from her, I asked her to check and see if she had any left and I'd buy them. Should ask her about boy clothes too come to think of it. I'd be mighty happy to pay a couple bucks for a good pair of jeans! With the colder weather, I have a breakfast tip (since I just did it today, lol.) I hate mornings and do what I can to make them easier on me. I made up 3 dozen pancakes this afternoon, then put them two to a baggie and freeze them. When the kids get up, they take out a pack and microwave them. They get a hot breakfast and I don't have to cook first thing in the morning, lol. Also cheaper than cereal and those individual packages of oatmeal.
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Christy358
Member
07-10-2007
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 12:10 am
War, you can come visit anytime. Esp if you do Fly Lady stuff! (cooking optional)
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 12:20 am
LOL, Christy, I'm all for cleaning but I hate cooking. I do it only cuz I don't want to eat the same four meals the kids can cook over and over again and Darren usually isn't home in time to cook dinner.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 3:43 am
This may not seem pretty, but sure made a difference back when I lived in a coldy oldie duplex with oil tank heat and no insulation. Made storm windows INSIDE with clear plastic tarp rolls, like you use for paint spills (reused several years after peeling the tape off the plastic each year, once they were cut to size). You only need 3/4 to 1-inch air pocket for thermal windows - it's not so much the plastic that counts, just the air pocket doing the insulating. I simply taped the plastic straight around the wall inside of the window which gave me about 3 inches air pocket & very effective. Not scotch tape (ETA, which doesn't stay sticking later), I used a little better quality Rubbermaidish type tape to hold plastic in place, you might want to test before sticking. Later in the spring, I carefully peeled it off so that it didn't ruin the paint. Sure, it cut down on the "view". But the difference was that I could run around in regular clothes and cut my heat bills in half. With the shorter daylight, by the time I got off work it was dark and not much 'view' to be seen anyways. Inside, the drapes covered, so nobody noticed. I'm sure there are fancy products available, but this was a quick & cheap way by using stuff I already had at home.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 4:26 am
Another item to consider. Our Conservation folks at the electric company gave them for free, but they're quite cheap at HD for around $1 per package of perhaps 6-10 pads. Foam type insulating pads to place underneath the plastic electrical outlet covers (especially needed on outside walls). You just unscrew the covers, tuck them in and re-screw back the cover to leave permanently in place & lasts forever. Makes a heck of a difference, since that area typically isn't much covered by any insulation inside the wallboards. Worthwhile investment, but might call your utility Conservation Representative to see if they can mail them to you.
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 6:32 am
The foil thermal is padded and is in the insulation department of Home Depot about $25.00 a roll. Lowes wanted $5.00 a roll more. It's a foil blanket used to wrap your water heater. They have 3 sizes but I found the middle size was padded more. Didn't take the time to read it. I first used it on my garage door because the builder of the condo didn't install an insulated door. I cut it into the squares to fit and then used spray adhesive to keep it in place. This cut down the north wind and cut the garage at least 20 degree's. Then I got to thinking about my windows. lol I cut it about an inch larger so I can push it into the corners of the windows. When you foil the windows it will make your room totaly dark. I'm not there so it doesn't matter. As I neared the end of closing the house for the winter I put a flashlight at the door of each room until I left. Everything is unplugged. Even when home, if its not used its unplugged. I took all the lightbulbs out of the ceiling of my kitchen except for one. My SIL checks on the house once a month and he thinks I'm nuts. I call it thrifty because I dislike giving the electric, gas, phone or dish any money while gone. Seems to be a game with me. Sorry to say my kids didn't get our message while growing up. Biscottiii, I also installed the pads in the electric outlets. They do help a lot. I went in the basement and used "Great Stuff" in any and all holes. I forgot to wear gloves and picked that crap off my fingers all the way to Florida.
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Csnog
Member
07-18-2002
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 6:40 am
Oh, I forgot to say that I had to use a sheet on the facing outside of the window so the foil wouldn't show. The association would dissaprove.
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 6:54 am
I did the same thing that Biscotti did in an old duplex I lived in...bought the clear plastic that comes in large rolls (I think you can buy it from moving companies) and taped it on the outside of my windows (1920s duplex with original windows means absolutely ZERO insulation...but loved my attic fan!). It didn't cost much and really kept the drafts out. That house was so cold...we were using geckos because we had a cockroach problem and one of them froze to death on the floor of our bathroom! My current house now came with these acrylic windows (I think they came from Sears) that are attached to the inside of my regular windows by magnetic strips. It really helps on insulation. You simply remove them when you want to open the windows. They are clear so you can see through them -- I didn't really even notice them until I wanted to open the windows. And I really notice now when I forget to put them back on because my daughter's upstairs bedroom gets warmer quicker (Texas - its still warm here).
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