Archived Message of “The Frugal Life
News”
Published by The Frugal Life.com
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This is the food we personally use! It does make a difference!
HEALTHY PET FOODS – LIFE’S ABUNDANCE
What you feed your pet matters! Not only to the pet but to your
pocketbook. Many “natural” and “quality” pet foods have
ingredients you don’t want your pet eating. Read more about
Life’s Abundance dog food – it will make a difference in your pet’s
health. http://www.healthypetcorner.com/HPN/la4dog.html
Life’s Abundance
Give Your Pet the Best! -100% MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE!
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THE FRUGAL LIFE NEWS
Published Weekly by Randal Watkins
https://www.thefrugallife.com
The Frugal Life
July 26, 2003
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The Frugal Life News is sent to subscribers only. Manage
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A NOTE FROM RANDAL
Hello Everyone,
Hope your summer time has been enjoyable and relaxing. I have been enjoying
the nice weather and the break from the rains we were having so much of a
few months back.
We have been busy this summer building “our” house. A month ago, we made
the decision not to move into this house. Many of you have been involved in
our progress since the beginning. Thanks for your kind emails.
We will be selling the house because to us it was important to have the
trees very close to the house. When they installed the septic tank they
wiped out the trees behind the house and this changed our overall view and
design for the property. This isn’t a big deal to most people but it is to
us. Since we own everything, we will be actively seeking a buyer for the
house.
By next issue we should have a website link with all the particulars that
you can look at and hopefully share with anyone looking for a home/vacation
home near the Blue Ridge mountains.
Thanks again for sharing and subscribing to The Frugal Life News.
Until next time,
Randal
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FRUGAL FINANCES
RAZOR BLADES AND RAZORS?
In June I received a debt card solicitation (you probably know them by their
marketing name, “Credit Cards”) offering 0% balance transfers until January
2005!
It took a moment to mentally calculate that they were offering an interest
free loan for the remaining 6 months of 2003 and ALL of 2004… an
astonishing 18 months of “Free” money!
With the recent lowering of the Federal Funds rate to 1% you can expect
another round of ZERO interest bait from debt card companies and other
retailers.
18 months interest free certainly got my imagination spinning. I can recall
when 6 months was unheard of.
Are debt card companies getting more desperate or is this a rehash of the
highly successful “Razor Blades and Razors” marketing strategy?
In this strategy, razor manufacturers essentially gave away their razors so
that they could sell more razor blades.
Analogously, debt card companies may be giving away interest on loans so
that they can make money on fees — late payments, over limit, cash advance,
etc.
In 2002, 33% of debt card industry profits came from fees!
And, to top it off, most fees will terminate the 0% deal and whack you with
a rate as high as 25%!
Is this a brilliant strategy or what?
If this next barrage of ZEROs tempts you, make sure you have a plan that
guarantees that you won’t get caught in this FEE trap.
You know what they say about Free Lunch…
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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
A DOZEN WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON YARD CARE AND RELATED ITEMS
by: Dr. Charlotte Gorman*
1. To help protect your house from winter winds and, thus, save on heating
bills, consider planting a windbreak. Call your Land Grant University’s
County Extension Service for specific information on how to correctly design
your windbreak (such as how far trees should be from your house and what
kind of trees to plant). In certain areas of the U.S., actual fuel savings
from windbreak protection can be about 18 to 27 percent.
2. Using plant materials wisely can help reduce your energy costs. Winter
heating bills may be reduced as much as 15 percent while the energy needed
for summer cooling may be cut 50 percent or more. Check with your Land Grant
University’s County Extension Service for information on energy efficient
landscaping (such as proper placement of deciduous and evergreen trees and
shrubs in relation to your house).
3. Use drought resistant grasses and plants which can survive on limited
amounts of water. Ask your County Agricultural Extension Agent about drought
resistant grasses and plants that are adapted to your area. The fewer times
you must water your yard and plants, the lower your water bill.
4. Water your lawn and outdoor plants only when necessary and water deeply.
Frequent shallow watering draws roots near the surface where they are
subject to sunburn and drying out. Unnecessary watering wastes water, time,
and your money.
*Dr. Charlotte Gorman is an Extension Agent, Family & Consumer Sciences,
Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A & M University System. She is the
author of The Frugal Mind, The Little Book of Living Frugal, and Speak for
Yourself.
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
FREE PIANO LESSONS ONLINE
PianoNanny.com provides an excellent educational site which is a free public
service. Check this out to see if you can use it. The instructor for the
course is film composer and jazz musician, Clinton Clark. Each lesson takes
about 35 minutes to complete.
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 FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS
MOSQUITO PROTECTION
There is a natural remedy – catnip – that has been proven more
effective than DEET. Go here:
-Martha
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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:
Automobile Forum
1. Any suggestions for a Senior who needs to upgrade present car? Have
very little to spend each month and no savings to fall back on. Would
appreciate any input! Thanks.
Cleaning Forum
1. I was interested in the homemade laundry detergent listed a couple of
issues back, but I have some questions. We have very hard water. Does the
washing soda address this? If not, would it work to add softner salt to the
mixture, and if so, how much? I sometimes use Calgon or other water
softener, but this kind of defeats the purpose of “frugality” at 6 bucks for
a 20 load box.
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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.