http://www.permies.com/forums/forums/f-54/frugality JForum - http://www.jforum.net
[Car Payment] + [Monthly Insurance Cost] + [Vehicle Tax Amount \ 12] + [Yearly Vehicle Registration Cost \ 12] + [Inspection \ 12] + (Yearly Maintenance Costs \ 12) + [Fuel Cost] + [Yearly Oil & Fluid Change Cost \ 12] = Actual Monthly Payment

A car gets you from one place to another. Thats IT! People confuse transportation with status \ identity... A costly mistake! A driveway full of vehicles is a guaranteed path to financial woes. The corporations and governments are thriving on the money they make from your vehicle ownership. Investing it a vehicle is like throwing your cash into an incinerator. Sure, transportation is a necessary evil, but you have to gauge how much evil you are willing to tolerate and understand that when you sign your name on the dotted line you are agreeing to labor for years and years to pay for something. You might be able to buy something much cheaper that will get the job done just as well.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14648/130269 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14648/130269 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14640/130195 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14640/130195
You can get set up fairly decently to start using a straight razor for around $100 bucks even better for around $150.... and never have to buy anything again shaving related beyond an occasional puck of soap. Of course if you go high end you can spend a ton of money but you can get quality products and buy used and have a good life long shaving kit for a decent price.

Here is the way I went about it.
-Used razor strop in good shape $30
-Puck of shaving soap $5-$10
-Boar brush new $15
-Use KeenKutter razor in great shape $25 shipped off ebay ( I had to hone this myself to make it shave ready)
-Used Henkels Twin razor of ebay for $17 shipped (I had to rescale and hone)

Total investment $97

If you do not have a razor hone or a hone appropriate for razors you will need to get one. You can gt a nice antique barbers hone of ebay for usually around $25-$30

I know that sounds like a lot of money up front for a shaving kit but I can shave for the rest of my life with this and never toss another cartridge or old blade in the trash.

Yes as I said. This has led to a small collection and a restoration hobby so one can argue that I didn't save any money. But every razor I buy I purchase that the low end of what its worth and I do any restorations myself. I can sell every razor in my collection for more than I paid for it.
]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14631/130110 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14631/130110
How can I go about looking for free or inexpensive trees? ]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14591/129727 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14591/129727 this article on Facebook. It's about a community in Belgium which thrives and survives by recycling or diverting other peoples' waste.

An inspiring tale of frugality!]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14448/128635 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14448/128635
The body has some rust and was becoming unsightly. The tail lights were so loose that they bounced and rattled. Rain flowed freely into the lights. But how much do you spend on a vehicle of this value ?

Photos. 1. Rust has set in on the rear fenders.

2. Rattley lights. The spots for screws to hold them in place are rusted away.

3. More truck cancer.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14378/128089 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14378/128089 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14366/127991 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14366/127991
To make paper logs there are several schools of thought:

- simply roll 'm and burn 'm (newspaper)
- roll, soak, press and burn
- shred, soak in water and press with a specialised press, dry and burn
- shred, soak in water and form by hand or with homemade things, dry and burn.

The logs can be shaped round (rolled or handmade) with or without holes in the top or square (massive).

The consensus on burnin' them seems to be one in three logs (1 paper, 2 wood ratio).

I would love to hear experiences, pro's or cons and techniques on making the logs.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14332/127684 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14332/127684 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14329/127669 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14329/127669 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14303/127477 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14303/127477 http://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/
The author of this website claims to have lived for several years without money. And I'd believe him! There's an excellent FAQ all down one side, with vast amounts of insightful information given through simply answering questions. He's also got a blog at http://www.zerocurrency.blogspot.com/]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14161/126361 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/14161/126361 train an aspiring student who has not developed a technical skill to a marketable level. In the corporate level an internship can lead to full employment with good impression and they are usually paid.

I understand family farms usually are not looking to hire due to the nature of their family business but it is disrespectful in my opinion to advertise a usually non-paid internship without specifically addressing a curriculum of any sort other than the promise of hard work. Further I believe if you want something from somebody there should be a mutual benefit i.e specific skills learned or paid internship and not just an opportunity to pet goats and hold chickens.

My suggestion to those looking to set up a farm internship of sorts is to state specific skills that will be willingly taught such as perhaps cheese making techniques, livestock management, farm finance, or other trade skills which allows an aspiring farmer to build relevant skills for industry.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13967/124809 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13967/124809
Obviously, depending on what one wants to do, a formal degree may be necessary. For me, I've been interested in becoming a landscape architect, and as such, just started a LA program this past semester. Well, it's not going as well as I had hoped, not because I'm not able to learn the stuff, but because I just haven't been able to focus enough to do the work. I've been distracted by finding work, and now that I've found a job, working, planning and planting gardens, and reading on my own time. It seems like the answer for me here is clear, that I should just quit school, learn on my own, take a PDC, and go for the homesteading/part time designing path, and leave the landscape architecture for those who are more focused and able to deal with bureaucracy than I.

My overarching question that I'm pointing to here is, in the end, which path is generally more successful in terms of making money, getting a college degree and trying to apply permaculture from that angle, or foregoing the debt (I already have 20k+ because of a previous aborted music education career path...), or simply working, saving, learning on your own, and building your business from that knowledge and experience. I know that some of the most successful people in the world dropped out of college, and even high school. Some of the greatest inventions/companies came from college drop outs, including facebook and apple.

So what is everyone's thoughts on this? Should I follow the marc zuckerburg and bill gates of the world, or should I keep at it and try to finish, even if it's a liberal arts degree or an associates from a community college. I've got to be close to something by now, but I'm not sure if I would even really benefit from it in the end, compared to studying at my own pace and working/saving. As my brother said to me, who recently finished a computer science associates degree, which he paid for with his own money he earned while working, he thinks of it as what he could be doing instead, such as working, getting experience, and saving, as opposed to being busy all the time while hemoraging money on supplies, transportation, books, and accumulating debt. This sounds like sound advice to me. What do you think?]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13844/123878 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13844/123878 ]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13671/122548 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13671/122548
Rather than paint these walls again I decided to "reuse" the original paint. I mean, "green" and all that, right? So I searched on the Internet for ways to reuse paint. Here's what I found:

Materials
----------
1/2 Cup of Borax
1 Bucket
1 Old Rag

Directions
-----------
1) Put Borax in Bucket of hot water.
2) Wet, wring and rub rag repeatedly on wall until done.


So this was really excellent. Now I have new (looking) paint on a lot of my walls (there are some left to do) and it only cost me about 20 cents worth of Borax (and some time, but I was bored anyway).]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13659/122429 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13659/122429
Told her thank you and drove home and immediately started planting.

While we did put some in the ground, we also got creative! We just moved into this house and the previous owners left behind an old beat up kid's wagon, so I filled it up with dirt and irises and then yesterday, we were driving through town and found that someone was throwing out a beautiful old, sturdy wooden crate. I grabbed it and we're planting a bunch in there too!]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13563/121727 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13563/121727
Knowing the the food I put in my mouth isn't killing me is priceless, and heck of a lot cheaper than hoping medicine will fix me later on. Also, the exercise I get mucking around in my projects is better than a gym membership (and the nearest gym would be 1 1/2 hours away if I wanted to go!)

Just thinking out loud very early this Sunday morning...]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13541/121493 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13541/121493 http://www.bearpawartist.com
This is the bus that was talked about in the podcast with myself and Paul Wheaton. I will include a link to that podcast once it is up.





]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13424/120684 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13424/120684
We've had and used our two for a few years and never washed them (we do wash the pillow cases regularly). They are so used that the care instruction tag has worn off. These pillows are so comfortable and flat. I'm just thinking I should, at least, wash them twice a decade.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13412/120530 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13412/120530 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13162/119017 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13162/119017
http://www.reddit.com/r/SurplusEngineering/

hope its ok to post it here, I've heard paul mention reddit and I guess he talked me into it. (I've found it's much cooler after you remove some the default subreddits by setting up an account in 5 seconds.)]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13139/118833 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13139/118833 I have high speed internet. I have multiple TV channels with a DVR. I have unlimited telephone use and 911 service at home. I have a cell phone that only costs me $3.33 monthly. That's pretty frugal if you ask me.................... :-D ]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13011/117646 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/13011/117646 The frugal firewood hounds of Victoria British Columbia, Canada ------ Last Saturday and Sunday, I presided over the largest free firewood frenzy that I've ever witnessed. It was part "feeding frenzy", part "social happening", and part "Gong Show" as every firewood hound in Victoria scrambled for the best pickings. My job was chop off slabs which stick too far beyond tailgates, to keep the peace, organize all of the vehicles, prevent theft of the saleable lumber and make sure everyone survives. So far I've succeeded but after 45 big truckloads the job is about half done, so the whole process will continue this Friday - Sunday.



THE PROBLEM

I got called out to look at this glorious mess last Wednesday.This sawmill is a 2 man operation based on two semi-portable saws. They've accumulated slabs for several years in an industrial area where a slab fire would be disasterous. The landlord and fire officials were involved in saving these guys from themselves. The yard has nowhere left to pile lumber and trucks need more space. I've been to mills employing 20 guys that had less scrap laying around and more space for equipment.

There are enough cedar slabs and cut-offs to fill 15 or 20 demolition bins. Slabwood has to be cheap or free to move it around here.

The dumpage cost would have run $2500 for what's been done so far.

THE SOLUTION ---- The following is a copy of the ad that brought in many people. I also phoned many from my customer list who have taken scraps from demolition projects.

----- THE AD ------I need to give away about 100 pick-up loads of wood from a small cedar mill that is over run with slabs and cutoffs. I'll cut wood to truck length. It's right on Keating X rd. in the industrial area. 2046 Keating X rd. Behind the closed down Home Hardware.

Saturday and Sunday 8:30 - 5:30 pm. There are signs and red and yellow caution tape marking the fence.

Dale. 250 588 3366. Other times will be announced until supply runs out and for those wanting multiple loads, I may offer a different time.

Update - It was a real circus at the scrap heap today. Many homes will be heated for free next season. As of Sunday night, 45 truck loads have gone. Lots more to go.

Doing it again next weekend ! If any of your friends are firewood hounds, tell them about this, then tell them your back is sore or risk getting dragged into this. Keep my number. A lot of my other work in tree service and demolition, involves some free wood.


THE PROCESS ---- The photos below document the event. --- Does anyone know what to do about a cell phone that won't stop ringing ? :cool:

Photo 1. I took this shot from atop the slab pile. This is about 30% of the total. There are slabs behind and to both sides of where I stood.

2. This one ton truck is overloaded a bit. The owner said he had to work later and would only have time for one load, so he made it a mega-load.

3. The bottom photo is of a father-son team who worked perfectly together. The old guy is quite agile. He worked from on top of the highest pile and tossed material to the truck and trailer below while his son stacked it well for maximum capacity. They took anything that wasn't rotten,good bad and ugly. This is the most efficient way to do it. A very large load was ready to go within an hour. I kept their #. People who work safely and efficiently without making life difficult for me and other customers on the jobsites are the first ones to get called when the next bonanza arrives.

Some people milled around the site looking only for nice thick chunks and then dragged the chosen peices over all the other scrap to their trucks. It took them much longer to fill their smaller trucks than it took the father-son team to get on a mega load. They also managed to squeeze their rig tight to the pile so others could pass. I had to get many other vehicles to move as they chose to stop in places that impeded traffic. It was a circus.

The funniest thing to watch is when someone gets it in their head that they must have a slab that is burried 5 feet deep in heavy scraps. Some choose to excavate and they usually find many more good slabs in the process. Others grab hold and yank with all of their might in an almost always futile attempt to extricate their prize which may prove to be anywhere from 3 to 20 feet long. This technique is sucessful about 5% of the time and only if it's a short one. :lol:

On Wednesday I will learn how to operate a Bobcat loader -- wish me luck -- and I'll clean up a big bin full of rotten scraps, skinny yard-stick shaped trimmings and wet sawdust that is a foot deep in places. This will clean up the site for this weekend when the process will continue until it's all gone.

OTHER USES --- About half of those who showed up plan to build things with some of their wood and only burn the scraps. Several garden structures including a greenhouse, trellises and benches are planned. Several burl slabs will be turned into one of a kind tables. I saved 5 exceptionally good chunks to build into my house. A 600 year old cedar burl is not something you find every day , unless you're involved in a giant mill clean-up.


]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12911/116885 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12911/116885 I have a lot of them saved up, seems a waste to throw them out in the recycling.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12878/116606 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12878/116606
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/chest_fridge.pdf

I was wondering if anyone here has been using this type of frig and what they think about it's daily use/convenience...?

VP

]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12845/116334 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12845/116334
I then planned on some day growing my own, but the work required hasn't worked out for me yet.

Then I had all these friends telling me how wonderful and a good deal loose leaf tea is. "Right," I thought, "if your a conosur with some spare change." Well, I decided to check it out - see what all the rave was. To my surprise, loose leaf was much cheaper- even with the set-up costs. Even better was buying ones marketed as loose leaf herbs, rather than teas.

Compare:
-4 oz of herbs cost $3-4 + $2 for 50 tea bags = $6 for 50+ teas VS. 1.5 oz of herbs+tea bags $3

Loose leaf costs: $0.12 a tea bag
Manufacturer prepared: $0.15 a tea bag

Loose leaf often have more flavor, are fresher, and can be mixed to your own blend. (As well as looking really pretty and fancy)

So, if your in to teas and haven't figured it out, this is my analysis. :)

...variations from here are growing your own herbs and using tea balls instead of throw-away bags...all reducing costs.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12820/116122 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12820/116122
This fine chair was posted minutes before I checked. I had to drive 4 city blocks. It's a rare find. The elderly lady who gave it to me, got it from her father. He brought it from England.

This is a perfect project for me. It needs some glue and leather work. My woodworking skills have never produced anything of this quality so my talents are better spent on preservation.

I'm willing to barter this chair to someone who is good with leather. Or a good cushion and back cover might be a low-tech way to go. I'd hate to devalue it with the wrong fix up. The old brass upholstery tacks will be difficult to extract without ruining them.

This chair is not as huge as the photo makes it appear. I think it would be a great fit for a woman under 5' 10" . Perfect for crafty work since the wings lend support when knitting etc.

Any suggestions welcome.

Drop in photos of your restorations and the steps taken.

This just in! On Craigslist Victoria, there's a free treddle powered lathe. A good grab for the right guy.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12753/115547 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12753/115547
Usually you get lots of greens in along with the chips as the local guys trim to keep powerlines safe.



Pro - can be had for free in many areas, just by knowing who to talk to
- could be a way to get it to break down faster to use as a mulch.
- improve soil compared to gravel
- easier to spread and fill pot holes

Con - wouldn't pack and hold together like gravel
- might be bumpy?
- 2wd vehicle get stuck in snow/ice more so than gravel
- snow plows would make a mess of it]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12720/115181 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12720/115181
A houseguest we are currently accomodating turned us on to this tidbit;

Simply scatter a few drops of water on a hard dried out peice of bread and stick it in the oven on a low setting. It will rehydrate quite nicely.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12526/113396 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12526/113396
***I did contact the Country Living Grain Mill company and they said that if there were enough requests, they could make a lifetime warranty manual blender or manual version of a Kitchen Aid Mixer (including parts for purchase for fixing and maintenence) if there were enough requests. I LOVE that idea! :)]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12430/112751 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12430/112751 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12412/112611 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12412/112611
I know... this isn't huge savings, but it's 30 bucks back in my pocket that I didn't have before. Its a start. :)

I'm also looking at the possibility of starting to convert the paper wastes into heat for my house during the winter months. That could prove to be exponentially more money saved.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12383/112414 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12383/112414 This sourdough is easy and cheap...The starter I keep going is mixed in with flour, water, salt, dried garlic, and herbs(I do half white/whole wheat) and is let rise. More flour is kneaded in and spread out to about 3/4 inch thick to let rise a little more. This is chopped into toaster sized biscuits and cooked stove-top in a pan about 5 minutes each side. As needed I cut them in half and toast to perfection (inside isn't fully cooked just on pan).

Sourdough is supposed to be good for digestion etc and I have read this is partly due to gluten breakdown. It's tasty! Once a culture is going it is hard to kill and can be kept indefinitely only requiring flour and water.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12359/112231 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12359/112231
Cheers!]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12338/112127 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12338/112127 Re-purposing and multi-purposing manufactured items is a far more environmentally sound approach than recycling things for their resource value.

One of my most commonly used phrases is "highest and best use". When considering what to do with a particular resource, l always ask myself- "What is the highest and best use for this item?" Many items which have become obsolete may be obtained for next to nothing and put to a much better use than scrapping.

I hope to use this thread to examine various uses for commonly scrapped items which are more valuable transformed and re-used . This relates closely to something Paul posted recently where he ranks recycling, reuse,and refusal. Instead of making this about pop cans and clothes pins, let's make it about bigger and more expensive manufactured items. I will give you a few of mine first and then let's all describe an expensive item that could be re-purposed.

Oil tanks----- The type of oil tank commonly seen in residential use are the aprox. 250 gallon ones with elongated oval ends. When these are no longer needed for oil storage, they are useful as either containers of various sorts or they can be chopped up for their heavy guage sheet metal.------------from a previous posting entitled Free metal fasteners for your post and beam building -------------- There are millions of used oil tanks which need to be removed from residences across North America. Where I live it costs about $150 to remove your standard oval tank. These tanks must be drained and cleaned. While most of my competitors clean up these tanks and then toss them into the scrap bin, I have made good use of the very thick sheet metal which they are formed from.

Post-and beam construction requires lots of metal fasteners in I,L and T shapes. The metal in oil tanks is quite a bit thicker than some of the commercially available fasteners and it's a waste product. Using a very light grinder with super thin cutting blades I have chopped many tanks into useful shapes. It helps to lay everything out ahead of time with a marker since certain shapes leave scraps which naturally lead into another shape. Wear earplugs, goggles, thick leather gloves and a good mask. The cut pieces can be edged with doubled up course sandpaper bent in a U-shape so that it does two edges at once. Wear gloves!

Most tanks have a portion near the bottom which is rusty since moisture accumulates within. I never use this crappy metal since there is an unlimited supply of perfectly good stuff and it's better than free.

Plate glass----- is abundant and very often free. Great for greenhouse walls (use only tempered patio door glass for roof...safety) Cut into squares or rectangles you can make tiles for kitchen counters and floors. I've cut glass using a simple wheel type cutter and dressed the edges with sandpaper. 5 min per sq. ft. tile.

Tractors----- This is gleaned from a thread in HOMESTEAD entitled Stationary Engine from retired tractor--------- In searching out old tractors I've discovered that many "parts tractors" have a good engine and transmission but are not economic to fix up completely. Some have sustained steering damage, some have lost their body metal and many go cheap because they have bad rubber. A decent running Ford 8n in my area goes for $2500 with attachments. But a perfectly good unit with bad rubber and no toys goes for $500. This is much less than I would expect to pay for a 20+ hp stationary engine. I could see mounting an old tractor on concrete piers and using not only the power take-off but also utilizing the suspended rear wheels as power sources. The wheels would be suspended a foot off the ground with the front anchored in concrete as well. ----------- no need to rewrite the whole thing here

Other obsolete farm equipment ----- Farm equipment bone yards contain equipment with salvagable wheels, augers, tanks, flails, etc. which can be utilized for innumerable projects.

Scrap vehicles----- quite often vehicles are no longer roadworthy but they can still be useful on the farm. Scrap busses and trucks make cheap storage spaces. A garage on wheels never needs to be liscensed if it stays home. If you hear banjo music when you pull into the driveway, it's time to stop collecting old vehicles. :)


Big pipes and tanks----- Anyone building a rocket stove, water storage or various mixers and animal feed storage and distribution should check the scrapyard.

Buildings----- A building in the wrong place has a negative value. You can charge to dispose of it. Movers are always glad to give an estemate before you commit.

Mobile Homes ----- Live in it while you build, turn it into a barn or storage later. Earth berm it if you want to hide it. Demolish it and the steel frame makes a great base for a cottage or for a mobile sawmill. Mobiles often go for free. I've charged for disposal. They make a great scaffold if a pole barn is built around them. Beware of banjo music!


Tell us about other scrap machines or other things which have become obsolete and how you envision re-using those things.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12321/111965 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12321/111965
Recycling is really lame compared to reuse.

And reuse is lame compared to reduce.

Today came the thought: how lame?

After a chewing on it a while .... I came up with:

reuse is 20 times better than recycle.

reduce is 20 times better than reuse.

Therefore, reduce is 400 times better than recycle.

Minimalism and Frugality reign supreme. Although there are some aspects of minimalism that say to not keep things that could be re-used. So I would think it would be important to find some balance in that space.

]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12271/111513 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12271/111513 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12195/110753 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12195/110753
So I thought it would be good to gather a bit more anecdotal evidence...anyone have any stories about this?

A second thought i'm having is putting the deep freeze in a root cellar...it would benefit a lot from being in the cool, especially in the fall and spring...and the heat output might help keep the root cellar from freezing as well..could be regulated with a vent... it's still a lot more electricity though. :-(]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12187/110688 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12187/110688 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12186/110686 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12186/110686
I work at a restaurant and I'm starting to see all the waste around me much differently. It's like I work in the belly of this inefficient ruminator and there's loads of viable energy, nutrients, and carbon flowing out the rear end. I found permaculture by way of being a wanna be farmer also poor, cheap, and otherwise financially strapped. I like that most permaculturists start with what they have laying around and transform their system from there. We live in the the most wasteful society in the world, what "we have" is waste, all around us.

So I started by gathering cardboard, I'd break it down between waiting tables and fill the car by the end of my shift. I hate running a weed whacker (some call it a whipper, I don't) and cardboard is great for keeping weeds down where you don't want them, amongst many many other things. I've heard nasty things about the chemicals now used in gluing the layers of paper to make cardboard so I stick to the least processed looking boxes. I'm now into collecting veggie oil (about 600gallons so far) and food scraps. Ooooh the food scraps! its been a pretty hilarious ongoing project that started with the zen-like request, "no meat, no cheese." The rules were too much, often i was diving in after bowls of lettuce being scraped into the garbage right in front of me. So now its everything, bits of filet mignon, lotsa pasta, pretty much everything from that Silverstien poem about the girl who wouldn't take the garbage out. I take it out, and I dont just compost it anymore I feed it all to the chickens. The 10 ladies and 2 fellas have a an electronet defined pasture (about 1700 sq. ft.) with really deep and free! old hay bedding over the whole thing. I dump about 10 5gal. buckets on the area each week, more when the college students are in town. The chooks (first time using that term, makes me feel like a farmer) leave the coop every morning and tear it up and that is where I'll extend my annuals to next year or work on building hugels and berries, not sure yet. Point is, the fertility is there where I want it and it was fun to watch happen.

I was wondering what kind of commercial/industrial/municipal waste sources you ("yinz guys" if you're this close to Pittsburgh) have exploited to build fertility or infastructure on your homesteads? I've got an old diesel truck now and I'd appreciate any wisdom regarding the art of pickin the world's waste to build the farm of the future.

Thanks again Toby and ALL Yinz Permies,
Parker
]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12121/110026 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12121/110026 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12106/109912 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12106/109912
Chelsea has their top 10 titles on sale this month at 35% off.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12103/109891 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12103/109891 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12092/109790 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12092/109790
http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/thirty-melbournians-wore-the-same-paid-of-jeans-five-days-a-week-for-three-months/story-e6frflri-1226234633404#ixzz1iWMqNgvc

On second thought, I actually have. In the '90s I spent a lot of time deployed in the army, often with limited opportunities, time or water to do laundry. The undergarments got washed much more frequently than the outer garments, at the time I chalked it up to the durability and design of the uniform fabrics.

]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12048/109476 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12048/109476 http://affordablemedz.com/]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12021/109272 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/12021/109272
Monica from At Wits End Homestead is our how-to tour guide with this quick video. She points out that this is a Finnish custom - her husband is from Finland.

It doesn't have to be Christmas trees. It can be any conifer/pine/fir/spruce branches. Wipe your feet in the winter, and then the branches break down to feed the soil in spring.



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I bought the basic tools including the mirror and scraper, but do not have a water-pik or prophy paste. Would it be damaging if I did the scaling without the polish after? Have no insurance and can't afford dental care (USA).

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it separates unburned charcoal from the ashes... i shake it over a plastic bag for ash collecting


and in the colander remains the unburned charcoal.


i reuse this unburned charcoal wich sometimes is nearly the half the little BBQ needs...


then i only need to ad some dry straw as tinder and some more charcoal, and here we go again...


ashes has many uses i use them for washing kitchen stuff (cups, spoon, dish, frypan and hands) it's good removing gease even with cold water]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11747/107171 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11747/107171 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11732/107041 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11732/107041
One thing I have been learning is to grow what the locals do, more than what I am used to from the North. In the North, we grew things like peas, root crops, cole crops, tomatoes, etc. Hard to grow was peppers, okra, melons, and anything that took 100 days or more to mature. Zuccinis were a plaque they grew so well and produced so much.

Here, peppers, okra, melons, mustard greens, carrots, onions, chayote, passion fruits, bananas, plantains, pineapple, figs, mangos, tropical spinach, squash (like hubbard), all so easy it is scary. But, zuccini dies lol. Tomatoes, only cherry ones are easy. Cabbage isn't too hard, brocolli surprisingly enough, pretty easy. Lettuce, a bit difficult. Cukes, not too hard, either. Potatoes, not going to happen here (too low). Yucca, incredibly easy. Papa chinas, naturalized - and taste better than potatoes to me.

To lower cost, and frustration, we have been changing our diet to adjust to what is easy to grow.

And you have never had a pineapple till you have had an organic one, straight from the garden, fully matured!

I guess what I am saying is that one way to save a lot of money is eat what is easy to grow, instead of driving yourself to distraction trying to grow things that are difficult.]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11715/106915 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11715/106915
The most inefficient and problematic things are still in corporate manufacturing, practice, and methodology. Consumer responsibility is a newer thing recent to the 70's (villinize ourselves instead of bad practice on grandiose levels). For example Boise Cascade in Kettle Falls WA can cut their power bill by tens of thousands by doing things like not turning on all the motors at once after a power outage, or not allowing personal heaters everywhere (people stand around in T-shirts in winter, when nearly outside). There are a few hundred examples of ways that one single place could save electricity. (It just happens to be one I am familiar with)

If we wanted a big difference in some of our consumer products reducing their power usage there are some big factors. You may of heard about "phantom power" which is and is not real. How it works is many manufactures are unwilling to invest in high enough quality parts for the things you use, to allow regular cold starts of the items. They continually run electricity through their transformer (which steps down voltage before it is rectified into DC for use) at full use but there is no draw on the DC side until you flip a piss ant switch barely worth somewhere in-between the penny in your pocket and the lint in it. If These items where made of a highly quality they would last for potentially generations while being able to cold start.

If you were so worried you could technically install your own switch into items that circumvent turning the power off. You can also have a switch that turns sockets on and off.

The "war" of stereo's needing lots of power to sound good is also a hilarity among consumer products. I will say some stereos sound good with outrageous amounts of power and exist only in such a way they can operate at that level (and are not sold at any box store, basically it is all shit). Then for us more concerned people there are different options not available largely due to manufacturing costs. For example you can make your ears bleed with less than 3 watts per channel if the speakers are not only efficient but designed in a good box made out of something better than plastic and fiberboard. Such speakers can be powered by a stereo that runs off batteries (cheap way to make a stereo sound good) for a few weeks off one charge (to give an idea of how little power is used). Unfortunately you have to make this stuff unless you have a decent amount of money because we can't afford to pay someone a living wage in our country to make it for us generally... but hey this is a forum where people make their own stuff. My greater point being how moving forward without moving backwards; we can be smarter, use technology, be more sustainable, all at the same.

To me I see a reject of things we want until we can make or afford a better alternative.

Longevity of things can be increased with better wall sockets. It is a huge expenses but no one should ever use short of hospital grade plug ins or equivalent (there are non-marked ones made by different manufactures). They can cost $8-13 a piece but the benefits are worth it. First they are not a common failure item where as historically sockets have been fire hazards. What do you expect for a non-subsidized item that cost $1.50? Next the better the grip the easier, with less heat, your items will operate. When the grip is poor carbon build up begins to happen. This constrains the current flow. When current flow is constrained the draw of electricity naturally wants to raise the voltage but the limitations to this are great.

More later... just thoughts.



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I see the oster blenders all the time at thrift shops for a couple bucks.

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/make-a-blender-out-of-a-mason-jar-114977

so the magic bullet really is just marketing an old idea.

I love finding out little hacks like this!]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11677/106489 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11677/106489


The main attraction was the "refresh" feature. When you set it to "refresh", it drains the battery, then charges it, and measures the amount of charge. Then it drains the battery again, charges, measures, etc. over and over until the amount of charge is no longer growing. This can take up to a week, but it really does quite a good job of getting the batteries close to their original capacity. So whenever my batteries don't seem to be holding as much as they used to (which isn't real often), I'll put them through a refresh cycle.

Then one day at work I took some old batteries to our battery recycling bucket, and I noticed that someone had discarded some rechargeable batteries. I took them home, put them through a refresh cycle, and voila, they work fine now. Over the last few months I have been checking the battery bucket regularly and now have more batteries than I will ever need.

Of course there are a few that are not recoverable (i.e. will not take a charge), but that seems to only be about 10% of them.

Now you could say that if I were truly frugal I would not have any battery-powered gizmo's, but I'm not quite there yet, especially my kids. But in the meantime this charger is keeping me well-supplied.

Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-BC-700-Battery-Charger/dp/B000RSOV50]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11657/106324 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11657/106324 http://www.theresilientfamily.com/2011/10/the-key-to-wealth-stop-acting-rich/

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It occurred to me that when we file, the IRS thinks we are poor, well below poverty.

Interesting, financially we are doing very well indeed, but what is considered income, well that is low. I guess we aren't much into consuming - except good, homegrown food.

And just think all the time we save not shopping! ]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11541/105338 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11541/105338 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11511/105042 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11511/105042 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11506/104988 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11506/104988 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DCwN28y8o

They are missing the main and most important point IMHO.

If one insists on things that last and you buy less you should also then have the option to work less to earn money to buy useless things
or it's all for naught.

Then if we are smart enough not to let governments steal our leisure time and increased productivity as increased taxes
one could could conceivably work just 3 to 6 months a year.

Think about it. I think we need a new film looking at this perspective. ]]> http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11452/104590 http://www.permies.com/forums/posts/preList/11452/104590