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Money saving ideas; Ways you save and also good ideas to make life better.
Topic Started: Dec 1 2011, 04:32 PM (5,871 Views)
starscream5000
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Got 70 MPG?

When you leave for the day, go to the breaker box and turn off everything except for the kitchen (fridge), water heater, and your AC/heater breaker. Have a timer on the AC/Heater and water heater to kick on like mentioned already.

No need for power sticks if the breakers are thrown!
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earthtoad


Lotsa Hype about "High Efficiency" Washers/Dryers....They Weigh the Wash load...Add ONLY the Amount of Water Needed...Spin at 1000+ Rpm to get all the Water Out...Yadda, Yadda....I Use the Extra Small or Small Load Cycle on the Washer.....Use just a Skosch of Low Suds Detergent (Learn Thru Experience)....Spin 'Em 2x or 3x....Run the Dryer w/No Heat for a Few Minutes to Reduce Wrinkles and HANG THEM UP TO DRY....Puts Moisture in your House in Winter....Not to Mention extending the Life of your Clothing.....Viola !!!.....High Efficiency Laundry.... :thumb
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DesmondGhostRider
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We live in an RV.
Everything is setup to be as productive as possible.
Small space, small heating and cooling bills.
Our electic bill is $40 a month even with me using a surround sound setup and my xbox and running a space heater.
We drive a geo...but with repairs that doesnt alwasys work out cheaper.
We buy most of our food from a discount food store.
We dont buy any new games or movies or have cable or internet.
If I want any of that, I buy it used.
I use my moms or mother in laws internet to keep it cheap.

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Old Man


when we built our retirement home we included a 14 ft square "pantry" room in the dry basement. Dry goods are stored in plastic containers (gallon mayonaise jugs etc) and we purchase drygoods and canned goods in bulk.

for instance a couple of years ago I found 3 pound coffee cans on sale for just over $2. I bought 36 of them (they were packed 36 to a case.----I just noticed that the same coffee has shot up to $14 a 3 pound can.
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BillHoo
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billy508
Dec 1 2011, 07:13 PM
Tell me more about growing mushrooms. i guess i could Google it but I had rather bother you. :banana :banana :banana
This is my latest hobby.

Do a search on youtube for cloning mushroom mycelia on cardboard

Also read this:
http://mycotopia.net/archives/discus/messages/5/2963.html?1004956125

www.mycotopia.net is a great resource, but there are several others.

The tek they describe is usually Psilocybe cubensis also known as Magic Mushrooms, but it works for Shitake, Lions Mane and Oyster mushrooms as well. These are all wood eaters. I do not condone growing magic mushrooms or "cubies". We're all adults here, make your own decisions.

Oyster mushrooms are a very aggressive wood-eating mushroom that happens to taste really good with sauteed with butter. WARNING! If you live in a dark moist, ofrested area and your house is made from wood, the spores can escape and start eating your house! You'll know if the wood on your home is good fodder for mushrooms if there is green moss growing on it. Nice and damp!

You can get grow kits online, or you can experiment with cloning oyster mushrooms bought from an asian grocery for a few bucks and some wet cardboard sterilized in a microwave oven in a takeout container.

Or try cultivating spawn on partially cooked Popcorn:
https://mycotopia.net/forums/fungi-magic-mushrooms/73213-turkeyranch-s-easy-popcorn-spawn-pictorial.html

https://mycotopia.net/forums/fungi-all-edible-medicinal-other-mushrooms/73763-cloning-oyster-tissue-grain.html

Then move onto a substrate for growing and fruiting.

Note: there are phases in which you have to refrigerate (not freeze) the spawn to trick it into thinking winter has passed and it's time to make mushrooms.

This is a detailed instruction on using newspapers pasteurized with a little clorox and grown out of shopping bags. I'm currently experimenting with mixing in coffee grounds and some grated drywall (gypsum)
https://mycotopia.net/forums/fungi-all-edible-medicinal-other-mushrooms/19704-cultivating-oyster-mushrooms-newspaper.html

These mushrooms need light, so a window sill with partial sun is good.

Here, they grow out the side of a plastic bag with a slit cut in it. The plastic acts like the bark of a tree log and protects the mycelial colony. The mushrooms seek oxygen and moisture, so they grow out the slits. the mushrooms themselves are fruiting bodies so they eject spores from which new colonies might develop outside the log:
Posted Image

btw, the white button, crimini, and portobella mushrooms grown on horse $h1t are nutritionally the worst to eat and hardest to grow, so I'd stay away from those. they are all the same species of mushroom, but at different life cycles and they contain naturally ocurring carcinogens.
Edited by BillHoo, Dec 2 2011, 04:48 PM.
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Memphis metro


:thumb
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Memphis metro


Old Man
Dec 2 2011, 01:09 PM
when we built our retirement home
For a retirement home I would like to build something similiar to this one day in some remote location. Then build a outside storage unit or a couple of 53 foot trailers for my junk.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/Katrina-Cottage.htm

Or one of these,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Bigeaux_houseboat.JPG
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JellyBeanDriver


- we only have 'cellphones', with no data plan. 2 phones sharing minutes + a VOIP line for ~$65/month. This VOIP line is for the side business. This is essentially 3 phone lines for $65/month, free nights and weekends, VOIP line is free period nationwide 24/7.
- Ooma VOIP line for our main 'landline'. No fees, not even regulatory fees.
- $10/month toll free fax number for the side business. No taxes, cheaper than a 2nd phone line (had 3 landlines once), toll free, faxes go to email and I can send faxes from email.
- No cable TV or satellite. Have 2 antennas on the roof pointed to Los Angeles. Free TV
- No landline, dry loop DSL internet only, was $14.95/month, now $24.95 a month but that's it - no taxes, no phone fees.
- been running CFL's ever since they were not very compact. Used to be circuline bulbs but at least they were electronic ballasted. Buy them when Edison subsidizes their cost.
- Slickdeals.net - if you don't know about it, find out about it. Especially the Hot Deals forum. Have scored many a discount on it including a mid-range Bosch dishwasher new for $250 shipped. Also washer/dryer pair of front loading machines for $800 back when they were going for $2500 a pair. Cut our water bill in half AND got a rebate from the state and the city on top of the savings.
- Walmart or Trader Joes for groceries. Albertsons, Vons, Ralphs are way too high.
- Redbox
- Grandfathered $5.00/month Netflix, comes with streaming (but capped)
- Groupon
- no bling
Edited by JellyBeanDriver, Dec 3 2011, 01:54 AM.
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Memphis metro


This thread is also about good ideas that make life better. Why has the people who build tvs not put a button on the tv you could push when you loose your tv remote that would make your remote beep so you can find it? Remote rage is becomming a problem of being a prerequisite to heartattacks and this could all be prevented.
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Scoobs
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:D

enginedoctorgeo
Dec 3 2011, 07:13 AM
This thread is also about good ideas that make life better. Why has the people who build tvs not put a button on the tv you could push when you loose your tv remote that would make your remote beep so you can find it? Remote rage is becomming a problem of being a prerequisite to heartattacks and this could all be prevented.
you know, i thought a while back about making one of these systems and patenting it.... but that was as far as it got, couldnt actually find anyu serious investor that wanted to jump on board, i had a perfect working prototype, a custom remote housing on a universal remote that i made myself with an injection molding machine, made the mold myself for it. but no 1 wanted in.
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nerys
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Grr

careful use breakers like that

if they are not SWITCH RATED you will "burn them up" over time doing this and a breaker costs a lot more than power strips.
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Memphis metro


nerys
Dec 3 2011, 08:59 AM
careful use breakers like that

if they are not SWITCH RATED you will "burn them up" over time doing this and a breaker costs a lot more than power strips.
I switch my welder and aircompressor on and off by breaker sometimes and have wished I had the electrician put me in a heavy switch for that purpose. I have often wondered if It was hurting anything to flip the breaker. Still not sure but I think I will install a switch anyway in the circuit. This brings this up front and center again. Guess I will look into a 220 switch and install it myself.

I did not know breakers have a switch rating. Never heard of that.
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Coche Blanco
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Troll Certified

enginedoctorgeo
Dec 3 2011, 07:13 AM
This thread is also about good ideas that make life better. Why has the people who build tvs not put a button on the tv you could push when you loose your tv remote that would make your remote beep so you can find it? Remote rage is becomming a problem of being a prerequisite to heartattacks and this could all be prevented.
We had an old Magnavox that did that, nifty feature. The only downside is the remote sucked and we ended up using a universal remote that didn't beep.
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nerys
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Grr

they don't have a switch rating which is why its a bad idea :-) (we have burned up a few doing this at work) and the ones we use are HARD TO FIND.

they sell specifically designed "switch rated" breakers that are designed to be used "as switched" so to speak.

also conservation is a practice in laziness for many. IE if its too hard to do people "flat out" won't do it.

if we had to goto the garage open it get to the panel and switch stuff off. well people in the household simply would not do it.

but a "switch" on a power strip. that's a little easier to get them to do (but still very hard)

now if its just you its a different story. my problem is getting OTHERS to turn crap off :-)
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billy508
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billy508

enginedoctorgeo
Dec 3 2011, 09:03 AM
nerys
Dec 3 2011, 08:59 AM
careful use breakers like that

if they are not SWITCH RATED you will "burn them up" over time doing this and a breaker costs a lot more than power strips.
I switch my welder and aircompressor on and off by breaker sometimes and have wished I had the electrician put me in a heavy switch for that purpose. I have often wondered if It was hurting anything to flip the breaker. Still not sure but I think I will install a switch anyway in the circuit. This brings this up front and center again. Guess I will look into a 220 switch and install it myself.

I did not know breakers have a switch rating. Never heard of that.
See the switch on top of the welder? I scored that switch off of a 220 volt pressure washer along with the cord. The switch on the welder went bad and I just added that one. Worked great for almost 20 years. Keep your eyes open and you might find something similar. I do the same thing with my other welder and air compressor. I use the breaker to deactivate the power cord going to them. Posted Image :banana :banana :banana
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