Frugal meep

I put my kitchen sponges in the dishwasher, and use them until they fall apart. I save about $1 a month this way. I always wash clothes in cold water.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-27 at 13:16:41, ghostrider asked to smell your meep</span>

This list may not be of extreme examples, but I can say that we never spend money wastefully and it adds up.

Try to wash clothes in cold

Turn down the water heater

Make sure no wasteful energy is being used (TV on when nobody is watching)

Use coupons when shopping

Buy cleaners and other consumables in large, concentrated quantities and then dilute for personal use (ie A $18 gallon bottle of concentrated electrostatic air cleaner CaCL solution.. dilute for use as needed. Compared to a $10, 1 quart bottle that is already diluted. I can get around 30 diluted bottles out of my gallon.... Savings = $9.40 a bottle or $282 if I ever use up the entire gallon.)

Buy at the grocery store that is employee owned and doesn't advertise... savings equals easily 30 - 40% each shopping trip, quality as good or better. The corollary is never, ever buy on impulse at one of the dollar raping grocers.

Support a local farm (CSA) and get a nice rebate in doing so from insurance plan. Win for farmer, win for our house.. both on price and quality. No more wilted lettuce after two days.

Never buy a book new... always half.com or borrow from library.

"Borrow" as much media as possible.

Wear clothes until they are worn out or fashionable again. No need to run out and buy new meep every season.

Always comparison shop.

Never buy on credit if I can't pay off immediately (except house loan)... never pay interest.

Lastly, never ever buy meep that is useless. I feel bad for less-well off meepers in Walmart, partic around Christmas, buying totally worthless meep for their relatives. meep that has no practical use or intrinsic quality... all for the pursuit of purchasing. Think about what you meeping need, and pass it by if it doesn't serve a logical purpose.

PS... I also don't flush the toilet for a week, just to save on water.

LK, your co-workers are wacky.

I hit the dollar store for bargain dinner napkins, bath and hand soap and cleaning supplies.

When I find coffee on sale CHEAP CHEAP I load up with four or more bags same goes for pasta and rice.

Ditto on the toothpaste and deodorant routine. I add a bit of water to the last few drops of shampoo, conditioner and dish soap.

My roommate squeezes the small slivers of his bath soap together into a medium size bar to be used as hand soap. Since I know where his soap has been I prefer to use store bought hand soap instead.

I recycle old toothbrushes after a good cleaning in rubbing alcohol to be used to clean and polish shoes and boots in the winter.

I cook large meals (pasta sauce, chili, stews etc) which can be frozen... this is more of a time saver than a money issue.

In the past I've turned off the water heater when I wasn't home during the day, but since our water heater is located in the basement of the building and the door is often locked this is no longer an option.

1. invite people over for drinks instead of going to a bar. wait til they're drunk and switch over to what they're drinking.

2. split a meal with a friend at a mexican food restaurant and fill up on chips/salsa/tortillas.

3. make my own kitchen/bathroom cleaner i.e. diluted bleach in a spray bottle.

4. make my own pickled jalapenos. my jalapeno budget has decreased by 2/3 while my jalapeno intake has doubled.

5. feed my cat the same bargain brand dog food my dogs eat.
   

the last one probably doesn't save as much money as it is gratifying to hear a finicky meep cat beg daily for something it refused to eat for a week and a half when i stopped buying it meowmixwhateverthemeep.

ghostrider: I put my kitchen sponges in the dishwasher, and use them until they fall apart.

Sterilize sponges in the microwave. Soak the sponge in water and microwave for 2 minutes. Remove with tongs. The sponges will actually last a bit longer than if washed in the dishwasher. The same goes for the green scrubbers.

I grind up several cloves of garlic in the food processor and put in a glass jar with a bit of olive oil, refrigerate. It will keep for a few weeks and is a lot cheaper than the meepty stuff in the store.

I too hit the meat market manager's specials.

My wife does this thing called the Grocery Game, which tells you which coupons are most effective and when. Yesterday, we went to the grocery store and got $61 worth of baby food, wipes, milk, and other goods for $20 (Kroger rules when it comes to coupons and specials).

When possible, the wife and I ride together to work.

I've been gettin jewy lately.

Farmer's market gives you a great dollar multiplier on some things, like tomatoes and asparagus and apples. This one's obvious, but I'm late to that particular party and am enjoying the meep out of it.

This guy has a nifty engineer's take on water heaters...

Does it Save Energy to Turn Off Your Water Heater When You Go on Vacation? So for our hot water heater it costs about $.84 of electricity to keep the water tank hot while we are away on an 8.5 day vacation, and $.60 of electricity to get the water back up to temperature if we turn the tank off. The net energy savings is about 2.4 kwh, which translates into a cost savings of about $.24.

If you work out the kilowatt-hour math, turning lights off when you leave a room saves like pennies a month. Not that it's a bad idea, just that it's not the dollarsuck I originally thought.

When getting glasses warm for espresso, I've started microwaving water instead of running the hot water til those long meeping pipes push the hot water all the way from the bathroom. Me and the LBP also spent a couple grueling hours wrapping all the hot water heater pipes in insulation, put new sweeps on both doors, and just last night I replaced the broken trim+weatherstripping on the back door.

Combine dregs of all soaps (hand, dish, body, shampoo) into pretty jars to use for bubble bath.

Make my own salsa.

Wash out, peel labels and reuse 90% of jars and fill with ^ salsa.

I'm a klepto when traveling alone. I take towels, shampoo and shower caps; whatever I can get my grubby hands on.

I help grow and jar horseradish

I love going to the farmer's market, but I usually buy a meepload of stuff really cheap only to let it compost in my fridge.

Someone needs to tell linkswarm about canning, all de do's and don'ts.

Thought of some more..

We re-use our ziploc bags, partic during CSA season. A little water and soap... brand new and non-smelly. We can reuse a bag around four times this way. Savings=marginal.

We have attended several auctions this year not to acquire meep, but very useful and nice furniture. One Pennsylvania house couch table = $100, one very nice Cherry kitchen table with six chairs = $185. A little elbow grease on refinishing the table and reupholstering the chairs saved us at least $1300 (cost of new table at local retail rape store - cost of auctioned goods and repairs).

Stop giving so many damned gifts, just to give them.

Invite friends over to do cheap, but fun activities like boardgaming. Drinks are sooooo much cheaper and cooking together is fun/cheaper.

Donate useless meep like its going out style, to gain the tax break come the following April.

Married to a wife that doesn't shop for self-gratification, so she has the same worldview on possessions and cash flow.

Use only one Satellite receiver for multiple rooms, so as to not pay the extra $5/month/per receiver meep rape charge from Sat company. Upfront costs are a bit more to get remote control extenders, but well worth the savings in the long run.

Buy used materials when appropriate. Does it need to be shiny and new? If N, then find used.

Never pay for porn. So much easier today. Hard to believe that one actually had to pay once.

Never pay for meep, unless its in a gloryhole.

LORDKAHUNA: I love going to the farmer's market, but I usually buy a meepload of stuff really cheap only to let it compost in my fridge. Someone needs to tell linkswarm about canning, all de do's and don'ts.

Funny you mention that, I am going to be taking an extension course in canning methods (water bath, etc.) The way I see it, I could drastically reduce the amount of veggies I buy during winter to basically just lettuce. The amount I buy during summer is almost zero. I'll prolly end up buying a pressure canner, unless I can be 100% sure water bath is safe. Will report back to share knowledge, recipes, gossip, whatnot.

I buy from locally own stores when possible since I grew up with the most of owners and paying cash will get the price down a bit. I enjoy growing my own food and the little woman knows how to can stuff. Farmers markets are the meep.

Ghostie the local extension office is a wealth of information as you prolly already know. I took the master gardener class at the extension and have enjoyed being a member and this years president of the Lake meepberland Master Garden Association.

link to Principles of Home Canning

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/fcs3/fcs3325/fcs3325.htm

More canning stuff

http://diogenes.uky.edu/search?site=uk&output=xml_no_dtd&client=uk&proxystylesheet=uk&numgm=5&q=canning

meep sniffing can't spell edit

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-27 at 17:40:23, fastlane asked to smell your meep</span>

I use grocery bags as trash bags for my smaller bins.

Brita filter instead of bottled water.

I save napkins from food places.

I buy "manager's special" meats (read: oh meep about to expire) and freeze it.

I don't recharge my devices while I sleep so I can unplug them pretty soon after they're done.

I use razors a little longer than I should. (that meep is meeping expensive)

edit:

I should probably mention my entertainment setup: internet + external HD + S-Video to RCA cable = :cool:

no need to burn anything, and if my friends want to watch something at their place I just bring the lappy bag.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-30 at 05:53:52, JohnLenin asked to smell your meep</span>

• I've done canning using a water bath and it has always been fine. Stuff has lasted as long as I needed it. But buy a canning kit or components thereof especially the rubber coated tong-like jar lifter, wide mouth funnel etc. . The deal is to be clean and sterile the whole time. And throw in a bit 'o citric acid in the jars.

I buy Pear's soap, it's not the cheapest but lasts a lot longer than cheaper soaps. Doesn't have a ghastly cheap perfume odour. Rinses off well. But has a oval divet on each side, and that's where you put the sliver ones, fit in great. Bit of water and it molds to the new bar and becomes as One.

Which brings up the idea that sometimes buying better quality (just as buying bigger quantity) can be the cheapest way to go. Socks and underwear - high end.

Buy almost all clothes from thrift stores. And get them given to me by guys I know who are getting tubby. Used furniture, appliances, lamps etc. Get them cheap, or if you know someone who is moving, ask for stuff.

There's freecycle email updates. In my area, you join the yahoo group and request something you need or offer something you want to get rid of - for free.

Grow food. Know food growers. I've gotten into sprouting seeds and grains. Mung beans, sunflower seeds (make a really nice veg pate in a food processor-like instrument). alfalfa and a bunch more. It doesn't get any fresher, and sprouted things have high nutritional value - and the seeds are cheap when you see how much you get.

A juicer is a good thing to look for. A good way to used blemished, kind of old fruits, veggies. You can juice beets, celery etc.

Make my own shaving gel lubricant like goop. Simmer flax seeds for about 20 min. let it sit and settle then strain the liquid. I got a mirror to use in the shower for shaving. I'm getting more shaves from the blades and the quality of shave is excellent.

Cook, bake more. Take my own lunch. And when on the road in general, bring my own food. It's always good to learn how to fix stuff.

Danny_Inferno: It's always good to learn how to fix stuff.

This is awesome advice.

I paid a mechanic to fix the doors on my car and it cost me 300 bux a door. A few months later I had the same issue and saved (scraped) up the cash to do it again. On a whim I raided Steel's toolbox and fixed those meepers myself, then I took that cash and bought a new laptop.

WOOTS

Owning tools or using Stool's tools is a great moneysaver.

(LOL "ools")

I've noticed an odd tendency in some people to buy the small short-term item, even if they'd definitely use all of the big one and it won't spoil, like detergent or toilet paper. I always buy the bulk item if it's the right brand/version (ruling out silly meep like the 45-gallon jug of ketchup or the caulking-gun-sized tube of Prep H).

We hit the Salvation Army on Family Day about once a month. All the regularly cheap clothing is half price. This is only really worth it if you can get into one of the big distribution center Salvation Army stores. We typically will spend anywhere between $50-100 but leave with probably $400-500 worth of clothes. The majority of the time, most of the clothes are brand new name brand meep with the original tags still on them.

This tip goes double if you have kids and particularly infants.

It's always good to learn how to fix stuff. QFMFT

It's also good to know how to build/fabricate/renovate/reverse engineer stuff.

Recently, I have been going through all the tech garbage I have laying around (unused routers, hard drives, RAM, etc) and selling that meep on e-bay. That is how I am paying for Christmas presents this year. Plus it clears out a bunch of meep that was getting in my way.

I have gotten free furniture from Craig's List. Specifically, a huge 7'x10' hardwood entertainment center.

I do almost all of the maintenance on both of our cars (about the only thing my dad ever gave me that was worth a meep was teaching me to fix cars) So long as it doesn't involve pulling the engine, I can/have fixed it, and if I had a chain hoist even that wouldn't be a problem.

Danny_Inferno: I buy Pear's soap, it's not the cheapest but lasts a lot longer than cheaper soaps.

I get my Pear's soap from the local dollar store 2 bars for a dollar or 4 for a dollar when it's really on sale.

Plastic groceries bags get recycled into small trans can liners and lunch bags.

Bulk items are a problem since I don't have much storage space. On my last trip to Costco back in January I hauled in a case of meep paper that sat in a corner of the living room until it was gone.

Movies are utorrent (DVDrips) downloads burned to DVD same for music.

All of the ideas everyone has mentioned are great ideas.

-- My wife donates to a local church 4 times a month, and sometimes brings home some pretty cool free clothes for me and the kids.

-- We winterize the house which saves a ton of money on our gas bill

-- All of our snail mail becomes used as kindling for the fireplace. We also burn cardboard boxes and any other safe material we get at the grocery. The fireplace saves us a ton on gas as well throughout the winter months.

-- Use plastic bags from the grocery store as garbage bags (yay Jon!)

-- We keep a record of every purchase we've ever made in the last 7 years in a filing cabinet. It sounds CODish, but it allows us to see exactly where our money goes, and allows us to penny-pinch so our savings can continuously grow.

-- We buy stuff in bulk

-- I do all of our own home repairs and auto repairs, except when the water heater meep the bed.

I are going to try my hand at making wine for cheap Christmas presents. I will post a thread with images when 1). process begins 2). I learn how to upload images to LS. So far it looks like 15 dollars for supplies from the brew shop/wine shop, including corks , Juice ( either a niagra concentrate, or perhaps apple, or apple/niagra.) Juice will cost about 15 dollars, and the yield is supposed to be 12 meepty bottles of white. We are getting bottles out of other peoples recycling bins on trash day . If this works, I'll be producing and drinking a batch every couple of months, and that will be a savings of over two thirds. meep Napa valley.

We have WinnDixie grocery store down here which is a large chain struggling to stay in business. They have weekly sales which are often 2-4-1. I live almost exclusively off this sale shopping list sometimes lucking into the "Manager's (This meep is about to rot) Special" on top of that. Also if I have the time and money I'll shop at a local meat market which is about half the price of the cheaper grocery store and often better quality.

I never ever buy clothes retail from Macy's, Gap or other such stores. The same stuff at Marshall's or TJ Maxx outlets covers my man-meep and pasty meep just fine for $10. Besides I'm married in 4 months, no need for fancy plumage any longer.

Even though I want HD cable really badly I don't buy the package with the fancy decoder box. My Tivo which has a subscription for another year is standard broadcast quality and I realize I watch 95%+ tivo so the HD would be a waste.

Drink more dink mixes than bottled or canned soda.

Eat at work 2 dinners per week on the company. Often scam leftovers for at least one lunch. Also I wait to get to work to have my first cup of coffee. Never buy $4 coffee, I still don't get this phenomenon of consumerism.

If I fish, I eat what I catch. I used to be a strictly catch and release kind of guy but now I'll try to take one dinner's worth home.

Learning to cook delicious slow-cook dishes with cheaper cuts of meat.

I started saving all my receipts for sales-tax deduction and in case I need or to return something that I might have just discarded before. This has paid off far more than I expected.

This will be my last season auto racing for a while :(

With longer hair I only get about Two cuts a year.

I go to less concerts and don't drink like I Used to. Also I almost never visit bars for more than one or two drinks to be polite to friends. Still working on the wif on this one, She loves to order about a bazillion Bacardi & Diet Cokes and wonder why we don't have money.

I continue to work on my cars and home projects DIY as much as possible.

I Pick up change if I see it.

Overall I'm about one Earlybird Coupon away from a yarmulke.

Never want to hear any of you make fun of my Jewness again.

Go vegetarian, or at least some form thereof (pescatarian, etc) avoidance of meat will save bookoo at the supermarket and will keep the flesh clear of any growth hormones or otherwise evil plots to turn us all into brawndo swilling idiocrats

i also read somewhere that eating a vegetarian diet saves more energy than any other consumer choice, ie cows/pigs/chicken require a ton of carbon to feed

otherwise i recommend CCFL bulbs (get a some sort of shade/filter to avoid the otherwise creepshow luminescence) and an IR space heater (sunpower, edenpure, et al)

I see the diff here. I wear $7 jeans from Costco, and wear $5 shirts from Target, but I never buy bargain meat. Most folks have a sweet tooth, but I have a meat tooth. nothing but the best as far as steaks is concerned. My jewness has limits. I save everywhere except for my grub.

sugarslim: Go meep

fixed that for ya

I refuse to chintz on meat and toilet paper. Both my ends gotta be kept happy.

I have never paid to fly anywhere. I shamelessly plead poverty until some family member pays my way to funerals and etc.

Aged beef is better beef anyway and you can make a lower to marginal steak taste great with a little effort.

I bought three 1" shoulder steaks from the manager's special last week for $7, marinated them for 24 hours, lightly seared and then grilled them over a medium heat with mesquite and created amazing meal that lasted the wife and I two meals.

But don't get me wrong, here in the land of cows and honey, I can get a nice, 9 oz filet mingon for $4.50 and there's nothing better than one of those cooked rare-medium-rare with a nice syrah and prepared vegetables, but there is certainly something to be said for a well-cooked cheap steak, simple salad and a bottle of beer.

BigDinWaunakee: PS... I also don't flush the toilet for a week, just to save on water.

Now that's just nasty. Whiz off the back porch and meep on company time. My toilets wouldn't flush that much meep and paper.

growth hormone infested charnel from the likes of tyson, IBP, et al attests its own risks, never mind the fact that some of these beasts are fed the remains of their relatives, but the enlightened swarm is aware of all of this, fear not, we shall be able to purchase new livers very soon, they shall be produced by Kuato

though one could hope to preserve his or hers original fleshware through organic victuals, it is only a matter of time before montsanto's GMO frankenseeds by way of cross-pollination and whatever other unintended evolutionary mechanism completely mutate modern agriculture as we know it, leaving us all with tentacles and webbed toes, diabetes, and a penchance for meepmeep.

Salvacion solamente por Dios

Coffee grounds recycled through a french press make a good cuppa.

Cept for undies and socks I get almost all of my clothes at thrift stores, Eddie Bauer for a buck fiddy?-meep yeah!

meep outside somewhere's on the 15 acres not so much to save water but because I can't smoke inside. I been smokin and liking the Grand Prix smokes for awhile, if they weren't so cheap I'd roll my own.

Save catfood in her dish under wraps in the fridge and dole it out sparingly and regularly, she thinks she's gettin treated all the time.

Me and Dad are looking forward to raiding the $75 anysize boneyard at the Window Mart after shelling out $300 for two custom fit ones, lose alot of heat through the glass.

One word- Dollarstore, cleaning supplies, tissues, snack mix, sodas.

I don't really think of it as economizing or cheap or anything to make good use of the veggies you can grow in summertime, I'm still as of this writing getting tomatos off the vine, freeze warning tomorrow. The quality of the salsa and pico de gallo and spaghetti sauce I make is outstanding.

Home canning is really very easy- I was hesitant at first but it's simple as can be short of the cutting and prepping. I didn't think I could do it without a woman's assistance. Necessity and all.

Second or thirds on the DIY when and IF you can.

After a couple of brief homeless periods I will always pick up every penny I see, and frequently deposit them in the got one/ need one tray at the conv store.

fastlane:

BigDinWaunakee: PS... I also don't flush the toilet for a week, just to save on water.

Now that's just nasty. Whiz off the back porch and meep on company time. My toilets wouldn't flush that much meep and paper.

see bidet thread

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-28 at 05:00:36, magicchex asked to smell your meep</span>

Dudes,

I recently learned a kick-meep trick.

I always have a ton of really dry bread -- it's in the fridge, so it's not moldy or anything, just hard like a brick. We're talking baguettes, bakery bread, the good stuff. Like Ghostrider's meat tooth, I seem to have a bread tooth.

Anyway, I used to throw it out. But, it turns out that if you wrap the bread in a wet paper towel, and microwave that meep for 30-45 seconds, the steam from the napkin transfers into the bread and revitalizes it.

I was skeptical about this when I first heard it, but after I tried it on a few fairly hopeless crusty old breadloaves, I must say this works really well.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-28 at 08:09:11, Crackalackin asked to smell your meep</span>

fastlane:

BigDinWaunakee: PS... I also don't flush the toilet for a week, just to save on water.

Now that's just nasty. Whiz off the back porch and meep on company time. My toilets wouldn't flush that much meep and paper.

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

Holy Schmoley... I tried the "microwave the blue dish scrubber" trick, and it friggin worked like a charm! Rinse sponge, keep enough water within so as not to pour out, toss in mike @ 100% for several minutes, watch steaming/bubbling action. Remove when cool and wallah... non-smelly dish scrubber. Thanks for that tip.

Wrecker:

fastlane:

BigDinWaunakee: PS... I also don't flush the toilet for a week, just to save on water.

Now that's just nasty. Whiz off the back porch and meep on company time. My toilets wouldn't flush that much meep and paper.

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

I have read that rhyme on several sites recently about conservation. I didn't really think he let meep stand for a week in his toilet. Just poking BigD with my flaccid penix.

No, OK, I fess up... no stagnant waste in a shallow toilet pond.

But I once was renting a place where the plumbing went out for like 8 days. Unfortunately, one of my roommates was none to bright and decided to lay down some logs and evacuate his urine for two days, sans running water. Needless to say, the bathroom and its vicinity were off-limits, and took around a week after the first flush to smell right. There also was a skylight built into the bathroom, so it got nice and greenhouse warm during the day.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-28 at 17:50:06, BigDinWaunakee asked to chew on his testes</span>

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-28 at 17:51:15, BigDinWaunakee asked to smell your meep</span>

I usually grab handfulls of Splenda packets when In McDonalds for my coffee(at home). That meep ain't cheap and it's not stealing. Technically.

When buying soda or candy for a few vending machines I have I usually keep an eye on the weekly mailer for coupons or specials at the local stores. Oddly enough, Costco usually has the worst prices on soda n' such. Smart and Final usually wins.

I save money on soda by not buying it anymore. Think about it.

JohnLenin: I save money on soda by not buying it anymore. Think about it.

I save kicks in IRC by banning Johnlenin

Think about it

When I am shopping and want something a little extravagant, i often will put it in someone else's shopping cart. It gives me almost as much satisfaction as if i'd bought it for myself.

I always buy placebos.

ghostrider: I always buy placebos.

I tried that and got addicted. The withdrawals are worse than you can imagine.

Excellent ideas by everyone.

Shaving Protip: Buy an old school safety razor (I use a Merkur HD) and buy Feather brand razor blades. Nothing like the feel of cold japanese steel across your face in the morning. I'm a big fan of the wetshave. Make sure you actually spend good money on good shaving soaps, it's really worth it but cheaper than the gillette foam meep.

Cost

Merkur HD Safety Razor = $35 Feather Razors = $7 for 10 blades Knowing you shave like your grandpa = Priceless

Note: each blade should last you a couple of weeks.

I normally use Dr. Bronners for a majority of cleaning issues in the house(including shampoo/body soap. Buying alot of things when it's on sale is key(ala pasta, pasta sauce, managers special meat, rice, etc). I don't do so well with the fresh veggies(they tend to rot before I get around to them), but if I buy salad stuff(lettuce, carrots, radish, broccoli) wash/cut and bag it up myself, I'll get around to eating it all. Don't throw cukes and tomatoes in the bag as they go bad ultra-quick and will ruin your otherwise good bag salad.

Clothes are either really nice and long lasting(REI or other outfitter) or really cheap(thriftstore). No need for buying clothes more than once every couple of years.

Netflix + burner = visual entertainment

Waffles + mp3 player = audio entertainment

I live with friends so rent is $300/month. I don't need more than my own bedroom anyways.

IT Protip: Trade work for meep you need. I've gotten so much goodness from bartering for computer work. Barter is great... it's a much more personal transaction than price paid = transaction. I've made some good friends and usually get freebies worth more than what I've done(note... this trade works exceptionally well with massage therapists who need help installing quickbooks).

Gethoht: Excellent ideas by everyone. Shaving Protip: Buy an old school safety razor (I use a Merkur HD) and buy Feather brand razor blades. Nothing like the feel of cold japanese steel across your face in the morning. I'm a big fan of the wetshave. Make sure you actually spend good money on good shaving soaps, it's really worth it but cheaper than the gillette foam meep. Cost Merkur HD Safety Razor = $35 Feather Razors = $7 for 10 blades Knowing you shave like your grandpa = Priceless Note: each blade should last you a couple of weeks.

I can't not use my Gillette Fusion Power; anything less cuts my face. I use just warm water, no soap (Thanks LK for this protip!). Last time I was at Target, instead of buying four cartridges for $13, they had a "starter" kit or something that included a Fusion, 3 cartridges, and shave gel for $8. Bought a few of these, gave the gel and empty razors away.

Protip: The cartridges for Power and not Power versions of Gillette razors only differ in color. Get the non-Power to save a couple bucks.

My dad is able to use a single razor with his Fusion Power for 3-4 weeks. He used to solely shave with disposables he kept for weeks because nothing else ever had a major improvement over those until I had him try the Fusion Power. He hasn't looked back since, and at $8/3 = $2.66 for a blade for 4 weeks for him, it's very cost effective. I probably use a blade every 1-2 weeks.

LORDKAHUNA: I love going to the farmer's market, but I usually buy a meepload of stuff really cheap only to let it compost in my fridge. Someone needs to tell linkswarm about canning, all de do's and don'ts.

From what l can remember from watching my 60 year old red neck grandma can tomatoes:

1. If you have a double sink, this is good. Fill one side with HOT water, and the other with cold.

2. Wash the tomatoes beforehand, of course. Dunk the tomato in the hot water for like 2 seconds, take it out, and the skin should peel right off.

3. Place them in a Mason jar. They should be relatively squishier than when you started. Fill the jar and seal with those Kerr-brand lids and screw-on's.

4. After that, dunk the entire can in hot water. This seals the lid to the can.

5. It's very important to mention labeling the cans. Both the month and the year. The 'maters will keep for a good few years.

i don't know about other vegetables, but that's what to do with tomatoes.

<span class="post_was_edited">On 2008-10-31 at 05:55:12, sunny77 asked to smell your meep</span>

I believe a squirt of lemon juice helps with acidity of the tomatoes also.

Perhaps a frugality tip, but minor savings, moreso of a quality tip:

Around four years ago, I weened my face off of shaving cream... you know the meep in the dispenser bottles that foams up.

Yeah, I stumbled across an article about how shaving cream just meeps up your derma and really makes the process of shaving mostly painful and ineffective. Being a scientist and skeptic, I decided to give it a try. The articles seemed well reasoned, so there may have been truth to the claim. Furthermore, they weren't trying to hock anything, and unless they owned stocks in soap, they were just being helpful.

In short, the goal was to remove shaving creams from my shaving routine and switching over to just soap or shaving soap (more expensive, but it lasts forever). What got me on this path was the fact that someone bought me a container of shaving soap, I tried it, I butchered may face, and decided to find out what caused this act of torture.

So, the transition wasn't pretty, because the first two or three shaves aren't too comfortable. As your skin is transitioning from its normal mush caused by shaving cream, over to the taught skin encountered with just soap, I guess something has to go.

In the end, after three shaves, I was able to shave the closest and most comfortable in my shaving lifetime (no more chicken neck, blood, scratching, nubs, missed hair), just with plain bar soap or shaving soap. I also do a double step of shaving, by using a straight blade disposable, followed by a wet electric shave, both times using just plain soap. Key thing is that you have to keep the soap slick with water, otherwise its like meeping a dry meep.

I figure that I save around $5/year while upgrading in quality.

can only really think of a couple

• pay all utility bills via direct debit and sign up for any paper-free bill schemes... there are discounts to be had for this. also, you get email reminders for meter-readings which can be entered on-line saving the whole 'estimated bill' bollox

• buy all petrol from supermarkets using loyalty cards. these tend to also be the cheapest with the price wars the now.

• make @3 pints soup on sunday with all veg that probably ends up in the bin, portion out @400ml and freeze them. lunch sorted at yer work for the week!

• big bottle of diluting juice and refill a wee empty bottle costs a meep of a lot less than cans of juice (soda, pop, whatever...)

I saw a razor sharpener on teevee way back when, seemed like a good idea; has anyone tried one?

sugarslim: I saw a razor sharpener on teevee way back when, seemed like a good idea; has anyone tried one?

Actually, my Stepfather Patented a little Puck that you put in a glass of water, Store your Razor in the cup and it never Dulls. I believe the concept is removing mineral deposits form the blade which is what causes a blade to 'Dull' more than actual wear. I believe he had an agreement to sell the things on QVC or somemeep but I don't think that ever happened.

In my previous post I mentioned a goop I make by boiling flax seeds in water. It's great for shaving, but can be runny if it's not thick enough. It's super slick, great for massages and other personal lubricant needs.

Danny_Inferno: In my previous post I mentioned a goop I make by boiling flax seeds in water. It's great for shaving, but can be runny if it's not thick enough. It's super slick, great for massages and other personal lubricant needs.

Hmmm. Does it warm up like KY? I'll have to mix up, then lube up to research its effectiveness.

LORDKAHUNA: Someone needs to tell linkswarm about canning, all de do's and don'ts.

All I need to know about canning is that if you meep it up, you'll probably get botulism :/