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A HEALING MOMENT – Free Email Devotional
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A Healing Moment
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THE FRUGAL LIFE NEWS
Published Twice Monthly by Randal Watkins
https://www.thefrugallife.com
The Frugal Life
October 27, 2003
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A NOTE FROM RANDAL
Hello Everyone,
Hope your year is still going well. It has turned cold here and that has brought about the annual apple festivals. I really enjoy this time of year because I get fresh apples and cider. Something I wasn’t used to until we moved to Virginia nearly 3 years ago.
We had someone post in every forum an ad that is not characteristic of The Frugal Life. I removed the ads and have written to the person responsible. In the future, please help me out if you see something questionable email/calll me and let me know. We want the forum to keep the correct focus and I will remove any posts that are not in line with our objectives.
Thanks again for sharing and subscribing to The Frugal Life News.
Until next time,
Randal
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FRUGAL FINANCES
“Is This a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?”
“The number of dual-income families in which husband and wife both work declined last year for the first time since the federal government began tracking the numbers nearly a decade ago.” — Boston Globe
My question… “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”
This Boston Globe article states that the reason behind this decline is jobs lost during the current recession.
So, it’s not a matter of choice.
Being forced to go from 2 incomes to 1 income would appear, at first glance, to be a bad thing, especially if it was believed that 2 incomes were necessary to make ends meet.
According to the Globe, the median income for two-income households was $66,000 in 2001. For one-income households it was $34,500.
Let’s assume that paycheck #1 of a two-income family is $34,500 and paycheck
#2 is $31,500 – for a total of $66,000.
If this household has the traditional 40% debt to income ratio, $26,400 is being used to service debt. Add a conservative 15% for taxes ($4,725) on paycheck #2 and total debt service plus taxes equal $31,125.00.
Virtually 100% of the second paycheck is consumed by debt service and taxes.
Put another way, if they paid off their debt, paycheck #2 doesn’t have to wait to be laid off. They can choose to quit. And, if they have young children at home, this may be a very good thing.
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Payoff All of your Debts in 5-7 Years using the money you ALREADY make!
Greg Moore is the author of the Debt Freedom Course, “DebtIntoWealth — Lessons from My Journey to Debt Freedom”.
For your FREE Lesson 1 of this course and/or to find out why financial guru and best-selling author, Suze Orman, is advising her millions of followers to “Pay Everything Off as Fast As Possible!”, CLICK HERE:
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FRUGAL HOME / GARDENING
HOW TO GROW GARDEN (ENGLISH) PEAS
English peas are frost-hardy cool-season shelling peas that can be grown in most parts of the U.S. (Note: Southern peas (cowpeas) are entirely different and usually grown like beans.)
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Depends on variety chosen
Here’s How:
1. When your garden soil has warmed up to 45°F. and is dry enough to cultivate without sticking to garden tools, it’s time to plant.
2. English peas prefer a humusy, well-drained soil with the pH around 6.5. Raised beds amended with organic matter can improve drainage.
3. Sow seeds one and a half inches deep in sandy soils, one inch deep in clay soils. Plant in a sunny location.
4. Sow double rows six to ten inches apart, with one to two inches between peas within a row.
5. Some varieties are self-supporting, but taller ones will need support in place at planting time. Make supports taller than the plant will grow, or the plant tops may shade the lower parts.
For 5 more points on “Here’s How” go here:
GOT PETS?
Visit Healthy Pet Corner for lots of information, products, and links for birds, cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, and reptiles.
http://www.healthypetcorner.com
All for Pets
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FRUGAL SIMPLICITY
DRINKING YOURSELF TO THE POOR HOUSE
by Donna Watkins – Editor of A Touch of Nature
http://www.theherbsplace.com/atn.html
A Touch of Nature
Our bodies need water! Our bodies are made up of 70% water and we need to flush out the old and put in the new. Drinking sodas and coffee and iced tea does not do the same thing as water.
When we began living frugally, one thing that went was all the beverages other than water. It was amazing how much money we saved! We took water with us when we went shopping or traveling and it seemed that giving up all those drinks we bought at the grocery store or while driving about added up to enough to provide more travel time.
Water is better for you than any other beverage and if you don’t like the taste, you can pay for a water purifier pretty quickly when you consider these prices:
Diet Snapple 16oz $1.29 = $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16oz $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20oz $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16oz $1.25 = $10 .00 per gallon
Evian water 9oz for $1.49 = $21.19 per gallon
$21.19 FOR A GALLON OF WATER! ….and from what Consumer Reports says,
sometimes our tap water is better than the bottled. Yikes! Is bottled water pure or is it hype? Here’s a link to the online version of NRDC’s petition to the FDA and results of the 4-year study of the bottled water industry, including its bacterial and chemical contamination problems.
If you’d like to read why it’s important to drink water and find a link to an article on “Why I Don’t Drink Sodas,” visit this site:
http://www.theherbsplace.com/water.html
Have a family meeting. Decide together to stop guzzling the money guzzling beverages and find a way to enjoy good-tasting, thirst-quenching water. Your body and pocketbook will thank you!
MAKE YOUR OWN CLEANING, BATH, and BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Here’s a kit with everything you will need to start making your own pampering and cleaning products for pennies with the easy-to-follow recipe guide.
http://www.theherbsplace.com/essentialstarter.html
Make Your Own
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FRUGAL TIPS
If the shelves in your shower stay too wet and make the soap ‘melt’, put it in a net produce bag and hang it over the shower head or faucet. It will dry out between showers and last longer.
This tip and others can be found here:
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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FORUM?
Maybe you can help these folks out with a few suggestions? Or post some of your own questions. LOG-IN TO POST Here’s the link:
https://www.thefrugallife.com/bulletinboard.html
Questions Needing Answers at The Forum:
Cleaning Forum
1. Please help…I have an airing cupboard where I keep the linen for the beds. Over the years the linen has started to smell strange. Can anyone tell me what to do about this. I have washed them and put them back only to have the smell come back. June
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HOME-BASED BUSINESS IDEAS
NATURAL PET FOODS AND SUPPLEMENTS
Life’s Abundance has great products by Dr. Jane Bicks and Dr. Barry Sears who developed the Zone Diet for Overweight Dogs. Besides dog, cat and horse products, you will have a non-toxic line of cleaning products – safe for pets and children. Visit this website for more information. This type of site is also available for $10.95/month (plus an initial $20 set-up fee).
http://www.healthypetcorner.com/HPN/busopform.html
href=”http://www.healthypetcorner.com/HPN/busopform.html”> Life’s Abundance
HOME SPA PARTY PLAN – MAKE BATH & BODY PRODUCTS
Have you noticed how popular bath and pampering products have become? The HomeSpa Party Plan taps into that craze. Guests at HomeSpa parties will learn how to make bath salts, personalized perfumes, body spritzers and more using essential oils, while you make a nice income from Nature’s Sunshine. http://www.theherbsplace.com/essentialspa.html
ARE YOU A NATURAL HEALTH NUT?
If you’ve been a natural health nut, you have a lot of information others need to have. Earn an income selling over 600 natural health products, skin care, water filters, beverages, essential oils, and more. Earn trips and car allowance. Websites are also available for $15.95/month.
http://www.theherbsplace.com/busop.html
FLINT RIVER RANCH OVEN-BAKED PET FOODS
If you have pets, they’ll love Flint River and you can make an income providing good pet foods and other pet products to friends, neighbors and your family. Pets keep eating, so customers keep buying. If you love animals, this is a very rewarding home-based business. With only 100 volume a month you can earn 19% on all sales.
http://www.healthypetcorner.com/FRR/busop.html
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Information in The Frugal Life News (TFL) has been derived from sources believed accurate and reliable. In no event shall *The Frugal Life,* Randal Watkins, or the TFL staff be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of information herein.
TFL does not knowingly accept ads from advertisers deemed detrimental to TFL’s readers, however, publication of an ad in TFL does not constitute an endorsement for such product or service.
There is no remuneration for suggestions, tips, or ideas submitted by readers. All suggestions, tips, and ideas, submitted for publication in The Frugal Life, become the property of The Frugal Life, notwithstanding similar rights of the reader submitting such suggestions, tips, or ideas. TFL publishes readers’ names with their suggestions, tips, and ideas unless a reader requests otherwise at the time of the submission.