[valley]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

Wonder who that would be

He is obsessed with you.....'re cat, I tell ya!

[~Candy~]

I know....I know

[Davec]

Originally Posted by valley

He is obsessed with you.....'re cat, I tell ya!

Performing the duties required of a member of the Knights of Chava is not an obsession, it's a moral imperative.

[hewee]

Originally Posted by valley

lol...Dave is picking on another member so thats why you dont get it. He does it alot but he's harmless so dont let it spook you. He is as normal as they come.

Good tip on the soap, water and cloth for household cleaning. I find that that works on all but my dining room floors. Soap & water makes them streak so I have to use Murphy's Oil Soap. Speaking of mopping....use a rag..its good exercise and you dont miss the edges like you do with a mop, plus you can also catch and spots that are on the walls. I dont even use a bucket...just the kitchen sink. I get more exercise going back and forth to rinse the rags that way.

Thing is that you can use hot soapy water to mop but then clean the mop out with clean hot water and then rinse the floor with cold water.

[jonasdatum]

Originally Posted by hewee

Thing is that you can use hot soapy water to mop but then clean the mop out with clean hot water and then rinse the floor with cold water.

I thought temperature didn't make a difference unless it was to the point of removing skin and causing burns. Even when doing dishes, hot water helps remove stains and the like.

[valley]

Originally Posted by hewee

Thing is that you can use hot soapy water to mop but then clean the mop out with clean hot water and then rinse the floor with cold water.

but there's no rinsing needed with the Murphy's Oil Soap. You only have to go over one spot at a time and then its done.

[hewee]

Always good ti rinse because you cleaning up any thing left on the floor.

[Farmgirl22]

Jonas, I posted this recipe on the recipes thread called Kielbasa stew--I'm not sure how much cooking you do, but it's SUPER cheap to make, and REALLY easy. You can see it HERE.

Anyway, thought I would pass that on to you--since food seems to be the most expensive thing we buy here.

[jonasdatum]

Originally Posted by Farmgirl22

Jonas, I posted this recipe on the recipes thread called Kielbasa stew--I'm not sure how much cooking you do, but it's SUPER cheap to make, and REALLY easy. You can see it HERE.

Anyway, thought I would pass that on to you--since food seems to be the most expensive thing we buy here.

Thanks, I am much of a cook [since I am a single male], but worth investigating. I on occasion experiment with this and that when it comes with food. I don't have many pots; I threw most of them out because they were too old.

So how is the budgeting going? How much do you suspect you will get back in taxes? I suspect I'll receive about $900. I would buy my Xbox360 Elite full retail, but I could earn so much interest if I simply let the money stay in my savings. Besides I'll be working more hours and plan on getting it during the summer.

I admit that I am being nosey and pushy - what is status of your budget? Is it working?

[~Candy~]

How are you earning so much interest?

[jonasdatum]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

How are you earning so much interest?

No, no the $900 is my combined federal and state tax refund. LOL, I hope to one day earn that much interest in my savings account. However that will take smart investing, steady budgeting, my rebate card, recent job career mobility, and again my rebate card !

Just my savings are going great, with my budgeting, saving every penny I can, and basic dietary requirements:

Chocolate Soy Milk
Beef: Frequent purchase in different cuts.
Chicken: Frequent purchase in the form of chop meat.
Fish - Sparingly, but in regular intervals.
Mixed Vegetables - Normally frozen, but as with fruit I am trying to buy fresh more frequently.
Fruit When Economically viable.
Orange Juice & Fruit Juice: Different types like antioxidant and light & healthy.
Whole Wheat Bread/Grain/Rice/Pasta/Etc. - Cereal normally contains 25% or more of a verity of vitamins and minerals.
Water.
Canned Foods: Kept as emergency reserves. In case I can’t leave the house for a few days. I try to buy the overall healthiest varieties I can. I will normally start to eat them as they begin to expire, but I try to replace them as I eat them.

Don't forget the other budgeting tactics:

Hang dry my clothing whenver possible.

Following the care instructions on my clothing as carefully as possible.

[MikeSwim07]

Thats a good one. When you do the laundry, hang the clothes outside on a clothes line in the summer and in the winter hang the clothes on the doorknobs.

[Farmgirl22]

I know it's an up-front expense, but I think our deep-freeze has more than paid for itself. We bought ours new, ($200) but there are the occasional used ones to be found. Things like hamburger are cheap if bought in the 10 lb tubes that you portion yourself (I recently bought sterling silver which is a name brand in a 10 lb tube for $17--when you normally pay over $3/lb, that's a pretty decent deal)....and we buy frozen fruits/veggies instead of canned--we still have a couple of cans in case the power goes out, but mostly we eat the frozen stuff now. I also like to cook in big batches and freeze them in the deep-freezer....it saves me from cooking every night, and we can easily take them for lunch to work/school and save money on that.

I don't hang my clothes out to dry because we simply don't have the place for that--there's not even enough chairs and stuff in my house to drape them over!! However, we also bought a new energy efficient dryer--it dries 2x the amount of clothes in the same amount of time. For those of you with family that's something to look into--if you're by yourself, that may or may not be worth it.

I also bought the more expensive light bulbs that are supposed to save money on the electric bill--AND last up to 3 years, but I'm not sure if they are worth it since it takes them SO long to warm up and light the room. Ours keep the room nearly dark for about 3 minutes before they kick in....I didn't think they were supposed to be that way, but they all are, so I guess that's the way they are supposed to be after all.

[Bastiat]

Originally Posted by Farmgirl22

I also bought the more expensive light bulbs that are supposed to save money on the electric bill--AND last up to 3 years, but I'm not sure if they are worth it since it takes them SO long to warm up and light the room. Ours keep the room nearly dark for about 3 minutes before they kick in....I didn't think they were supposed to be that way, but they all are, so I guess that's the way they are supposed to be after all.

Read here>http://www.weeklystandard.com/conten...kutui.asp?pg=2

You're not going to be happy.

[jonasdatum]

Originally Posted by Farmgirl22

I know it's an up-front expense, but I think our deep-freeze has more than paid for itself. We bought ours new, ($200) but there are the occasional used ones to be found. Things like hamburger are cheap if bought in the 10 lb tubes that you portion yourself (I recently bought sterling silver which is a name brand in a 10 lb tube for $17--when you normally pay over $3/lb, that's a pretty decent deal)....and we buy frozen fruits/veggies instead of canned--we still have a couple of cans in case the power goes out, but mostly we eat the frozen stuff now. I also like to cook in big batches and freeze them in the deep-freezer....it saves me from cooking every night, and we can easily take them for lunch to work/school and save money on that.

I don't hang my clothes out to dry because we simply don't have the place for that--there's not even enough chairs and stuff in my house to drape them over!! However, we also bought a new energy efficient dryer--it dries 2x the amount of clothes in the same amount of time. For those of you with family that's something to look into--if you're by yourself, that may or may not be worth it.

I also bought the more expensive light bulbs that are supposed to save money on the electric bill--AND last up to 3 years, but I'm not sure if they are worth it since it takes them SO long to warm up and light the room. Ours keep the room nearly dark for about 3 minutes before they kick in....I didn't think they were supposed to be that way, but they all are, so I guess that's the way they are supposed to be after all.

I have a rack that obtained I to dry many of my clothing on. Its primary design purpose is to organize clothing, but when I first noticed it in the store I knew its potential. Before then I would hang clothing in the bathroom and lay them out on the couch. The best part is that the clothing is ususally what I wear during the course of the week so there isn't even a need to remove them from the unit.

I don't use many light bulbs and should get into the practice of using the energy efficient ones since soon the current standard issue will be discontinued. Light bulbs normally last me 4 to 6 months if not longer. In one room I could put 4 bulbs in the device, but instead use only one. Why, because that is normally all I need.

What about utilizing credit card rewards to your benfit?

Another good tool for budgeting is self-control and sacrfiice! For example saw a love array of foods that look great and were within my self-defined dietary requirements, but I deined myself. Why because that same amount of money could feed me for a day or two.

Who can forget doing your own taxes. Since most tax returns are extremely simple why not do them yourself and save yourself the fees? If you know you can, are unsure of how, then why not pay somebody to prepare them once? Then you just transcribe and emulate and adjust what has already been done since the laws for most people haven't change in years.

My first time I had to file I had somebody else do it and they just filled out a 1040EZ. When I inquired it was relaid to me "... well you didn't ask for any deducitons..." Since most know how I try to utilitze all my money that wouldn't have needed to be stated as far as I am concerned. That would be ask one of you to do my tax return and I fax you every single form I had. Would you really need to ask me that question; it is safely asumed. So every year I've done them myself and every year I recieved more money until I hit pleateu with what I can get back in my return.

Next year I am contemplating not even using the tax software at all and doing it the old fashioned way: pen, pencil, calculator (need to learn all the functions anyway), and paper. If only to save $20 or so in software cost. O yea that is really cheap, but that $20 can earn me more money. LOL, however I buy the software to ensure a higher rate of accuaracy.