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THE FRUGAL LIFE NEWS
Published Weekly by Randal Watkins
https://www.thefrugallife.com
August 12, 2002
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The Frugal Life News is sent to subscribers only.
If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter,
please DO NOT reply to this email. Please see the
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PLEASE NOTE: Due to the large volume of email we receive
from The Frugal Life site and response from the more than
15,600 subscribers, we cannot reply to your questions and
suggestions, but we will try to post all of them as time and
space permits within the context of this newsletter. This is
a caring and sharing newsletter, so feel free to participate.
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
A NOTE FOM RANDAL
New Article Index
FINANCES
25 Ways to Invest $1,000
GARDENING
Butterfly Gardens
SIMPLICITY
How to Buy Green Electricity
FRUGAL TIPS
SHARING WHAT YOU KNOW
ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS QUESTIONS
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
SUBSCRIPTION INFO
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A NOTE FROM RANDAL
Hello Everyone,
We sure got lots of good ideas for some stain problems and a frugal wedding.
I think it’s great you can submit a question and get back such a quick
response.
Some of you have indicated that it would be nice to have an index for The
Frugal Life site. In the past, you have had to use the search engine we
have on the site and sometimes that proves too difficult. I have started
indexing the pages (I will continue to add all existing articles and any new
ones) and they will all be listed on
Frugal Topics
Please continue to refer or forward our ezine to your associates, friends
and family. I believe we are serving an important niche to those of us who
want to live frugally. Your spreading the word is worth more than any
advertisements we could ever purchase. Thanks again!
Until next week!
Randal Watkins
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FOCUS ON FINANCES
25 WAYS TO INVEST $1,000.(financial planning)(Cover Story)(Statistical Data
Included) by Janet Bodnar – July, 2001 Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine
What inflation? For a grand or less, you can BUILD A PORTFOLIO, advance your
career, spiff up your home, or patronize a budding Picasso.
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FOCUS ON GARDENING
BUTTERFLY GARDENS
Butterflies bring not only color and movement to your garden, they pollinate
your flowers as well, and their larval stages provide food for birds. Some
butterfly garden choices are:
Lavender, thyme, cosmos, nicotiana, purple coneflower, allysum, lychnis,
daisies, garden phlox, butterfly bush, sweet rocket, tagetes marigold, and
stinging nettles.
Butterflies need water also, so keep a water source available. Please
remember to change the water frequently to not breed mosquitoes.
Learn more here: http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/backyard.htm
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FOCUS ON SIMPLICITY
HOW TO BUY GREEN ELECTRICITY
Buying clean electricity is a simple and effective way for people to make an
immediate environmental difference and help build a sustainable future.
Where can you buy green electricity? What are the benefits of green
electricity? Find out by clicking here:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/N1zFL.p1uuFM/green_power <a
href=” http://actionnetwork.org/ct/N1zFL.p1uuFM/green_power “> </a
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FRUGAL TIPS – From Our Subscribers
Hi, I submitted a tip about luggage tags, and someone else responded saying
that this gives people the prime opportunity to clean out your home. My
question is, what happens in the case that your luggage is lost? How do the
airlines know where to send it once it is found if it is not tagged?
I live overseas in Bermuda, and I am constantly travelling. I have had to
deal with lost luggage on several occasions, and although it is computer
coded, this info can be lost. I doubt that any luggage handlers overseas
are going to come to Bermuda to rob my home.
So, what is your suggestion for luggage tags? Just a name and contact
number? – Raquel
Editor’s Note: I wanted to give opportunity for Raquel to answer the
response from last week. However, I won’t be printing any more responses on
this topic in the near future. I think it can go either way. Personally, I
believe Raquel’s approach is sound and I think the local authorities could
easily figure out that connection if there ever happened to be a robbery off
of the luggage tag address. I have for years worked out of my home and
included my address on all my bags. I have never had problems with a
robbery but I have had plenty of problems with lost bags. My attached
address sure helped to get the bags back to me.
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The name of this website says it all:
http://www.whowouldbuythat.com
Please notice that every other item there has a bid – Karl
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We’ve been using natural pet foods since 1978. What
they use in pet foods these days is disgusting! Want
to know what’s in those “premium” pet foods?
http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=79
We always recommend natural food for a healthy pet,
so now we’ve chosen a brand that passes our high
standards. Oven-baked and loaded with good ingredients.
Check it out now! http://www.theherbsplace.com/frr.html
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SHARING WHAT YOU KNOW
Q. When I rearrange the furniture in the livingroom the indentations from
the furniture never dissapear. Any suggeations?? – Debbie
Q. Just removed old carpet and found hardwood flooring underneath. The
carpet was glued to the flooring. Anybody know of a product to use to get
the glue off or can you tell me how I should go about this to try to restore
the floor? Thanks so very much in advance!!- Janice
Please post your questions/answers to our new bulletin board. You can find directions here.
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ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS QUESTIONS
Q. Does anyone know how to remove the pencil-like marks on dinnerware that
are caused by using stainless utensils to cut food or stir coffee? I’ve
tried powdered cleansers, even an abrasive eraser, but nothing really works.
Please help! – Barb
To find all the responses go to https://www.thefrugallife.com/thefrugallife/dinnerware.html
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Q. My fiance and I are planning a wedding for spring of 2003. We are
working with a tight budget, and would love to get some ideas from The
Frugal Life readers on how to go about this major task without depleting our
savings. We are planning to have the wedding and reception at a church,
which should be relatively inexpensive, and I will be taking our engagement
pictures. I’m especially concerned with the cost of catering. Also, I would
love to have some creative ideas for gifts for the wedding party (it will be
all family members). Thank you in advance for your wonderful ideas!!
-Janelle
I was overwhelmed with the response on this question. I had so many
responses I couldn t post them all. However, for some innovative answers to
a Frugal Wedding go to https://www.thefrugallife.com/thefrugallife/frugalwed.html
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Q. I’m having a terrible time removing dark eye make-up stains from light
colored terry cloth washcloths. I’ve tried a lot of different
things…desolvit, bleach, goop, spray ‘n wash, dishwasher powder, soaking
all night…nothing seems to work… any suggestions?? – Patty
For some great ideas check out https://www.thefrugallife.com/thefrugallife/eyemakeup.html
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Q. I left a lovely mostly white baby’s quilt in our motorhome for several
weeks. It must have gotten damp because now it has several big mildew stains
on it. I’ve tried everything I know of, including Oxyclean, Simple Green,
dishwasher detergent soaks, etc. They just won’t come out. The quilt appears
to be all cotton. Any suggestions for getting rid of them? Debbie B.
A. Try lemon juice and sunshine. Squeeze on the juice and lay the blanket
in the sun.
A. My sister in law soaked an old christening gown in plain milk. It took
a while (several times), but the stains came out. LCR
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Q. We are in the process of building another house and our aim is to build
“green”. I need to know if any of you have any good or bad experience with
bamboo flooring or cork flooring. Thanks – Randal
I suggest that your reader take his question to the experts, and pwople who
have direct experience with this. Subscribe to an online discussion board
like gr****************************@cr***.org and post a question by mailing
to gr***********@cr***.org
I use this list specifically, because I JUST read discussions of this
question there, and it is brought up frequently. There are other boards,
like st************************@cr***.org that deals mostly with green,
sustainable, super energy efficient straw bale buildings and lifestyle –
Cathy
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Q. Does anyone know how to successfully repel cats – we like them and do
not want to harm them, however they are using the kids sandbox and our horse
shoe pits as litter boxes! we’ve tried spraying the horse shoe pits with
hot pepper spray to no avail – Betty and Harold
A. I haven’t tried, But my neighbor says to spray Ammonia on the area to be
rid of cats. This I plan to try on my horse shoe pits! – Kevin
A. Try dousing the area with ammonia. Cats hate the smell and it doesn’t
evaporate immediately. My grandmother used to sprinkle it around the base
of her garbage cans and it kept ALL the wildlife (cats included) far away.
Also, cats hate the smell of citrus…so any sprays or perfumes with this
smell would be successful. Good luck – Carol
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Q. My 7-yr old son is typically messy. One afternoon he managed to open a
Go-Gurt and it flew all over the interior back seats of my van. I tried to
use several stain and spot removers to get the stain out, but it’s not
working. Any suggestions on cleaning the interior cloth seats in a car?
Thanks! – Teresa
A. To the person who has a question about cleaning the interior of her
vehicle-“brake & parts clean” sold in autozone parts stores is what I use
in cleaning my cloth interior of my vehicle. I have been using it for years
and haven’t had a problem yet….spray it on the spots or the whole seat and
let it sit about 2 minutes–if the spot is really tough you might want to
use a brush to gently scrub the spot–then wipe whole area with a damp
cloth. You need to use in a well ventilated place…roll all the windows
down and leave them for a while after you’ve cleaned… there will be a
slight odor for a few hours but it’s worth it because it will really does
the cleaning job. My husband worked in a car dealership years ago and
learned the trick there…
A. I have discovered a product at the Dollar General for $2.00. It cleans
EVERYTHING!
The name of the product is Thunderblast. Try it, you’ll like it.
I have used it to clean car mats of catsup and chocolate and it is wonderful
in the house too and on the RV.. I am not a salesperson, but I could almost
go door-to-door selling this product-It is that good. – Janet
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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.