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THE FRUGAL LIFE NEWS
Published Weekly by Randal Watkins
https://www.thefrugallife.com
August 26, 2002
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
A NOTE FOM RANDAL
Old Alumnus is Back
Big Chore LIsts
FINANCES
Looking For Extra Money To Help Payoff Your Debts? Check Your ‘Fridge.
GARDENING
Gardening For The Birds
SIMPLICITY/SUSTAINABILITY
Paper Bag Returns
FRUGAL TIPS
Stain Removal
Skunks
SHARING WHAT YOU KNOW
ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS QUESTIONS
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
SUBSCRIPTION INFO
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A NOTE FROM RANDAL
Hello Everyone,
I hope all of you enjoyed last weeks Finance article. I have the privilege
of bringing back an old alumnus of The Frugal Life News, Greg Moore. He
started with Sarah Kennington back in the inception.
I encourage you to look at his article and check out the Free Lesson. Being
out of debt is a great feeling. I am here to say, it’s obtainable! Greg
has a plan that has really helped people get there.
Hope you have relaxed some this summer and been able to do some of those
chores, jobs or projects you have been putting off. It’s so much fun to
remove something from your chore list, especially if it’s been there for a
long time too. I recently looked at my list and saw that I was getting
overwhelmed because of the number of different projects I needed to do. As
I prayed about my frustrations and discouragement, I realized that I was
looking at the whole list and being overwhelmed. I decided to put all the
chores on one big list and leave a space to assign a priority. I got all
the chores listed and then found some patterns and realized doing a few
certain tasks would eliminate or make it easier to accomplish the remaining
tasks.
The old adage about the journey of a thousand miles begining with the first
step, is so true.
We need rain bad! Hope you get the amount you need too.
Until next time!
Randal Watkins
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FOCUS ON FINANCES
LOOKING FOR EXTRA MONEY TO HELP PAYOFF YOUR DEBTS? CHECK YOUR ‘FRIDGE.
For the average American, food costs, including eating out, consume as much
as 30% of take-home pay. For a family that manages to bring home $3000 per
month, that’s $900 per month on food… $10,800 per year.
Find an alternative way to eat well and save 10% on your food costs and
you’ve found an extra $90 to help with your debts each month.
The routine guidance for slicing eating costs includes a number of
practices: Price Books, Coupons, Buying Store Brands, Sales, Bulk Buying,
Warehouse Clubs, to name a few.
These are all well and good and I can’t improve upon this list. Besides,
you’re undoubtedly already familiar with these ideas and more.
Instead, I’d like you to consider whether a change in your eating
“Lifestyle” would both improve your health and provide extra cash. That is,
“What” you eat may have more impact on your food costs than “How” you buy
it.
The simplest way to do this, conceptually, is to exclude meat from your
diet. This will cut the average grocery bill by as much as 33%.
Of course, simple concepts often have complex implementations. Just like
paying off all of your debts.
I’ve seen the idea of even ONE meatless meal provoke a severe negative
emotional response. Which is why I prefer a “Health Supporting Diet” as
opposed to the more emotionally charged “Vegetarian” diet. The idea of a
Health Supporting Diet comes from author and M.D. John McDougall’s book,
“The McDougall Plan”.
For a myriad of health reasons, he recommends a plant-based diet interrupted
on occasion by “Feast Days” in which you can choose to eat meat and other
rich foods.
When you combine a Health Supporting Diet with a Debt Freedom Plan, the
result is improved physical and financial health. So, consider switching to
a Health Supporting Diet. You’ll find you have extra money. Which in turn
helps you pay off your debts faster.
This gives you a reason to celebrate… which you can do by having a Feast
Day!
Once you’ve established a new eating Lifestyle, all of the other “How to
buy” ideas further amplify your savings.
By the way…
Do you know why they call rich foods, “rich”? They’re called, “rich”,
because before mass commercial animal farming, only the rich could afford to
eat these foods.
—————–
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, CLICK HERE:
http://www.debtintowealth.com/frugal.html
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FOCUS ON GARDENING
GARDENING FOR THE BIRDS
Gardening for birds provides many benefits for the
garden as well as for the birds. Good flowers to
include are zinnias, cosmos, tithonia, sunflowers,
beebalm monardas, foxglove and snapdragons.
Read more about establishing a bird garden here:
http://www.rainyside.com/landscaping/BirdGarden.html
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FOCUS ON SIMPLICITY/SUSTAINABILITY
PAPER BAG RETURNS
Also, just wanted to mention that in our area, when we bring paper grocery
bags back to the store for a second or third or fourth use, we get a 5 cent
credit per bag….That’s money in my little boy’s pocket on those days! See
if your market does it too. Thanks for all your great work! Kelly
Editor’s Note: This is a good example of simplicity/sustainability not just
recycling but using it 3-4 times then recycling and getting rewarded by the
company.
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FRUGAL TIPS – From Our Subscribers
STAIN REMOVAL
I learned this from my son-in-law. Sprinkle enough baking soda on the stain
to cover it completely. Pour some hydrogen peroxide on the stain. This
works on a great many stains. It will remove shoe polish, baby formula and
other baby stains, deodorant stains (the yellow under the arms).
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SKUNKS
Here are some helpful tips in riding you or your pets from this unmistakable
odor. Definitely no gray areas here – pure black & white *Big Smile*
1. Use equal amounts of vinegar and water to wash with. Rinse with clear
water. Repeat
2. Wash down with tomato juice, then follow up with a good shampoo. Rinse
with a gallon of water plus 2 tablespoons of ammonia. Rinse with clear
water.
Caution: If you have an animal with white fur, using tomato juice just might
give them a brand new look – hope you like the colors pink or orange ;)
3. Mix 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and enough
dishwashing liquid to make a substance which resembles a thick gravy.
Shampoo as normal.
* Be careful not to get any of these ingredients in the eyes!
Of course – we would rather not have to use these methods at all, so we can
do our best to keep skunks away in the first place.
Because skunks come to our yard looking for something good to eat, keep
trash and pet food in tight containers – out of reach of “little paws”!
But then again…
Skunks aren’t all bad! Did you know…
Skunks rarely attack unless they feel cornered, or they are defending their
young. If a skunk feels unable to flee, they will usually warn before
spraying by fluffing its fur, shaking its tail, stamping the ground with its
front feet, growling, stand up on its hind legs, or spit. Of course, if all
else fails – they let it fly!
Skunks are omnivorous and often go 5-10 miles each night looking for field
mice and other small rodents, lizards, frogs, acorns, fallen fruit, beetles,
larvae, earthworms, black widow spiders, and scorpions!
Because they are “carrion” eaters, they help to keep our roadways and
neighborhoods clean! It’s estimated that 70 percent of a skunk’s diet
consists of insects considered harmful to humans!
Here little skunkie ;)
Copyright © of Pearl Sanborn – Reprinted with permission
Lots of great articles like this one, and a free newsletter here:
Homesteading, Cottage Living, Frugality!
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SHARING WHAT YOU KNOW
Q. Okay, here’s the problem…I WORK AT A REAL ESTATE OFFICE. Every week
we receive flyers promoting properties..anywhere between 500 to 1000 sheets
of paper. This is such a waste to just continually throw out in the
trash…can anybody come up with a way to reuse this paper in some fashion?
And this is just one office, this goes on at all of them…And I’m not one o
those “greenies”, either, it’s just such waste.. Some of the flyers are
colored and some shiny like magazine paper..i know there’s good suggestions
out there..please help
Q. I need information on how to make a raised garden and how to plant
potatoes in containers, Thanks!
Q. I have mold spots on my camper and have tried everything to get them
out. It looks as though its trapped between the inside and outside of
canvas. Help!!!!!!
Please post your questions/answers to our new bulletin board. You can find directions here.
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ANSWERS TO PREVIOUS QUESTIONS
Q. With the mortgage rates so low I’d like to sell our home and find
another. Where do I start to shop for the best mortgage rate? How do I go
about finding these mortgage companies to compare points, rates, fees etc..
I seem to hear about theses low rates but it doesn’t look like the banks are
offering them – Annette
A. http://www.bankrate.com is a great place to start..
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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.