Shaving costs during this time

Originally Posted by Propflux01
Originally Posted by pandus13

DO NOT caulk out any window shut!!! use the sticky foam or the clear plastic-blowdryer sheet kits.

What do you mean by "caulk out" ?

Many years ago, while I was living in older buildings in Chicago, The old wood windows, where caulked shut/in place/all seams sealed and painted over. You could not open them.
Later, I had to deal with a vinyl window caulked with clear (more like yellowed) caulk, and it was a bear to pull out of tracks and clean/scrape.
 
Have had a full beard since my Navy days. Grew it in 1972 thanks to facial hair restrictions rolled back by then Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt. Been keeping it short for quite a while but now I'm gonna let it do its thing.
 
From my experience, simply avoid going to Target and maybe Walgreens. If you never set foot in Target, you should be able to retire early.
- cvlw
 
My father died before I was born and my mother and I lived with her parents.

I wanted an erector set and grandpa ordered one. My mother said -- the kid doesn't need anything that good, but he showed it to me and then sent it back. I got Tinker Toys instead.

This was because grandpa (who owned the town grocery) fed the whole place and was paid very little-- and the entire family constantly harped on not spending money on anything frivolous:

BECAUSE THE DEPRESSION WAS COMING BACK AGAIN!

Always remembered that and it's served me well for 75 years.

Specifics: I cut the cord (Dish) years ago, and it's served me well-- Roku gives me everything I need. Also--- podcasts are great, wastes all sorts of lock in time. Drive a four year old Soul bought from Hertz-- that's as high as I go and with less driving I've sworn to keep it going til the wheels fall off. Try to eschew buying stuff, my house is messy enough without bringing more things in the door. Like cruises but usually got inside cabins-- may have to rethink that one! Thought you were literally talking about shaving-- so I'm going to answer by saying I use a single Walmart five blade a month. Found out that carefully drying the thing greatly extends its life-- probably could go two months on one cartridge if I had to. Plus-- I have some Norelco self-haircut device. Adjustable blade won't adjust but I glued the thing back together and give myself buzz cuts. In fact I'm going in to do that just now.
 
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Originally Posted by pandus13
Are you renting the equipment from the internet/cable provider? If you use your own, the payout seem to be at 6-13 months.

To replace the Comcast XB6 I rent with a comperable modem and router it would take almost 2 years to pay it back, as much as I hate ISP rentals, with as expensive as modern network gear is I'd say renting is probably the better option, that way it's not your problem when it breaks, and you can always exchange it for the latest and greatest as the ISP upgrades. Plus on Comcast if you subscribe to the 300mb or higher plan it's only $20/mo for the "xFi Advantage" which includes the modem rental and unlimited data, although right now caps have been suspended I think, but normally I'd recommend that to anyone who does a lot of streaming on Comcast outside of the Northeast where they don't institute caps because Verizon would absolutely steamroll them if they did.
 
Originally Posted by blufeb95
Originally Posted by pandus13
Are you renting the equipment from the internet/cable provider? If you use your own, the payout seem to be at 6-13 months.

To replace the Comcast XB6 I rent with a comperable modem and router it would take almost 2 years to pay it back, as much as I hate ISP rentals, with as expensive as modern network gear is I'd say renting is probably the better option, that way it's not your problem when it breaks, and you can always exchange it for the latest and greatest as the ISP upgrades. Plus on Comcast if you subscribe to the 300mb or higher plan it's only $20/mo for the "xFi Advantage" which includes the modem rental and unlimited data, although right now caps have been suspended I think, but normally I'd recommend that to anyone who does a lot of streaming on Comcast outside of the Northeast where they don't institute caps because Verizon would absolutely steamroll them if they did.

Several years ago I bought about a $180 Netgear router from Costco-- works fine, but when my girl friend's router died, I bought her a sub $30 Tenda AC1200 router from Amazon. Works just as well, since we both have about 60 MBps down (just rechecked-- it's now running at 20). Spectrum includes the modem, so nothing to buy there. When my router dies, I'll be moving to a AC1200 router-- probably the Tenda or whatever else is cheap. Thirty bucks every five years is enough to pay for routers. I have ten plus devices hanging off mine, but she has at least five. We both live alone so we're probably not hitting it that hard.
 
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Originally Posted by skyactiv
If you smoke cigarettes and are staying home from work, it's a good time to give up smoking.

Only bad habit I never picked up, because I ate a lot of butts out of my mother's ashtray when I was a toddler. My son in law is now laid off, think he gave up the habit months ago, but was shocked by how much money he wasted.

My mother's last words were "I think something's wrong with me. I only took down a pack and a half today." She also told me her biggest disappointment in me was that I wasn't bald (pretty much achieved that) and that I didn't smoke. Tremendous waste of money to screw up your lungs at a time when you're probably going to need them.
 
Originally Posted by blufeb95
Originally Posted by pandus13
Are you renting the equipment from the internet/cable provider? If you use your own, the payout seem to be at 6-13 months.

To replace the Comcast XB6 I rent with a comperable modem and router it would take almost 2 years to pay it back, as much as I hate ISP rentals, with as expensive as modern network gear is I'd say renting is probably the better option, that way it's not your problem when it breaks, and you can always exchange it for the latest and greatest as the ISP upgrades. Plus on Comcast if you subscribe to the 300mb or higher plan it's only $20/mo for the "xFi Advantage" which includes the modem rental and unlimited data, although right now caps have been suspended I think, but normally I'd recommend that to anyone who does a lot of streaming on Comcast outside of the Northeast where they don't institute caps because Verizon would absolutely steamroll them if they did.


They don't really break. I've had mine for 4 years now. Paid around $180 for it back then. It was about $10 a month back then but now I think it's up to $13 a month. So I've probably saved over $300 in that time period.

Originally Posted by pandus13
Many years ago, while I was living in older buildings in Chicago, The old wood windows, where caulked shut/in place/all seams sealed and painted over. You could not open them.
Later, I had to deal with a vinyl window caulked with clear (more like yellowed) caulk, and it was a bear to pull out of tracks and clean/scrape.


That would have been a housing code violation. Windows always need to open and close.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by blufeb95
Originally Posted by pandus13
Are you renting the equipment from the internet/cable provider? If you use your own, the payout seem to be at 6-13 months.

To replace the Comcast XB6 I rent with a comperable modem and router it would take almost 2 years to pay it back, as much as I hate ISP rentals, with as expensive as modern network gear is I'd say renting is probably the better option, that way it's not your problem when it breaks, and you can always exchange it for the latest and greatest as the ISP upgrades. Plus on Comcast if you subscribe to the 300mb or higher plan it's only $20/mo for the "xFi Advantage" which includes the modem rental and unlimited data, although right now caps have been suspended I think, but normally I'd recommend that to anyone who does a lot of streaming on Comcast outside of the Northeast where they don't institute caps because Verizon would absolutely steamroll them if they did.


They don't really break. I've had mine for 4 years now. Paid around $180 for it back then. It was about $10 a month back then but now I think it's up to $13 a month. So I've probably saved over $300 in that time period.

We had a router that went 9 years, but it started being kinda wonky, was fine most of the time but then I had issues with my work laptop connecting. People looked at me like I had 2 heads if I said the router was that old, and that they need to be replaced every few years.
21.gif


I think we're stuck renting now, don't remember.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by blufeb95
Originally Posted by pandus13
Are you renting the equipment from the internet/cable provider? If you use your own, the payout seem to be at 6-13 months.

To replace the Comcast XB6 I rent with a comperable modem and router it would take almost 2 years to pay it back, as much as I hate ISP rentals, with as expensive as modern network gear is I'd say renting is probably the better option, that way it's not your problem when it breaks, and you can always exchange it for the latest and greatest as the ISP upgrades. Plus on Comcast if you subscribe to the 300mb or higher plan it's only $20/mo for the "xFi Advantage" which includes the modem rental and unlimited data, although right now caps have been suspended I think, but normally I'd recommend that to anyone who does a lot of streaming on Comcast outside of the Northeast where they don't institute caps because Verizon would absolutely steamroll them if they did.


They don't really break. I've had mine for 4 years now. Paid around $180 for it back then. It was about $10 a month back then but now I think it's up to $13 a month. So I've probably saved over $300 in that time period.

We had a router that went 9 years, but it started being kinda wonky, was fine most of the time but then I had issues with my work laptop connecting. People looked at me like I had 2 heads if I said the router was that old, and that they need to be replaced every few years.
21.gif


I think we're stuck renting now, don't remember.


The speeds keep going up and the old ones become obsolete. If you're renting, you can easily find a modem in the $100-$200 range depending on the options you have. it's somewhat limited if you have triple play because there's only a few modems out there that do data and voice. Many more options if you only do data.
 
We don't do this any more, but when costs were tight we had a budget plan that worked really well. We added up the "fixed" costs, and allocated the remaining money available to various accounts (food, clothing, etc). Then we kept track of literally every dollar spent in these variable accounts. You only have to keep track of your spending in a very few areas and that will keep you within your budget. And you would look at the remaining money in the variable account (a monthly or quarterly or annual bucket depending on the item) if you're thinking of going out for a meal, buying a gift, buying some beer, etc.

And of course "fixed" costs aren't really fixed. This may not be the best time to consider it but do you really need 2 large vehicles? And as you point out the telephone, cable and cell phone costs might not be fixed.

I wouldn't turn the heat down very much while we're at home. But when we lived in a colder area we had a thermostat that turned the heat down quite a bit at night and while we were away at work.

A regular feature in a major Canadian newspaper is an account of different family's finances. I'm surprised by how much people spend on eating out, gifts, "entertainment" and "unaccounted". It might seem obvious, but one key to spending less is to just stop spending.

We have never skimped on food. My wife cooks almost every meal from scratch. Food is expensive but prepared food is very expensive. And I'm a value hound when buying groceries. For example I buy whichever fruit is on special this week. The prices cycle and over time we have an excellent variety. But you don't have grapes this week if grapes are expensive this week. But you might have them next week when they're half price. And if a staple is on sale I buy a lot of it (for example a flat, or a dozen cans, or a big block of something we will use over time anyway).
 
The OP needs to create a spreadsheet of moneys going out by category and then see what are essential and what are not and can be flexed. All our circumstances are different.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359


They don't really break. I've had mine for 4 years now. Paid around $180 for it back then. It was about $10 a month back then but now I think it's up to $13 a month. So I've probably saved over $300 in that time period.



A plain modem will run you in the $100-200, then you have to spend $100-200 on a good router, or if you buy a DOCSIS 3.1 all in one unit it's atleast $300. At $14 month that takes over 2 years to pay back, and with the cost of the initial investment and the fact that we're coming up on some major DOCSIS updates and 802.11ax wireless, I'd just rent one of their stupid gateways, and I've always been one of those hardcore own your own modem guys, but after spending several hundreds of dollars on TiVo equipment to not break even and lose On Demand support, I'm kind of done buying equipment that requires several hundred dollars of initial investment with a more than 2 year pay back time, it was one thing when it was like a little over $100 to get a modem and router that was just as good if not better than the ISP equipment but now it's ridiculous and the ISP equipment is actually really good, to get a router that completely matches all the 802.11ac wave2 capabilities of the XB6 it'd be well north of $200.
 
Originally Posted by Brybo86
Originally Posted by CT8
My parents taught me that when the times are good , save up for when the times are bad.

You mean uncle Joseph?

No, Mary and Charlie.
 
Originally Posted by blufeb95
Originally Posted by Wolf359


They don't really break. I've had mine for 4 years now. Paid around $180 for it back then. It was about $10 a month back then but now I think it's up to $13 a month. So I've probably saved over $300 in that time period.



A plain modem will run you in the $100-200, then you have to spend $100-200 on a good router, or if you buy a DOCSIS 3.1 all in one unit it's atleast $300. At $14 month that takes over 2 years to pay back, and with the cost of the initial investment and the fact that we're coming up on some major DOCSIS updates and 802.11ax wireless, I'd just rent one of their stupid gateways, and I've always been one of those hardcore own your own modem guys, but after spending several hundreds of dollars on TiVo equipment to not break even and lose On Demand support, I'm kind of done buying equipment that requires several hundred dollars of initial investment with a more than 2 year pay back time, it was one thing when it was like a little over $100 to get a modem and router that was just as good if not better than the ISP equipment but now it's ridiculous and the ISP equipment is actually really good, to get a router that completely matches all the 802.11ac wave2 capabilities of the XB6 it'd be well north of $200.

I think the OP is talking about saving money and tightening costs/expenses.
Full speed + full options Comcast does not fall in the same plane.

Over the years many have posted deals and equipment good enough consumer grade modem/modem+router combo and wifi.
Your choice may not suit OP's current situation.
 
Xfinity mobile up to 1gb is $12/mo. Just got it this year really like it. $13 with tax. They have so many hotspots my data use this month is about .03gb. I have Xfinity internet only and an antenna on the roof for about 5 years now. I like it better than cable.
 
A 10 pound resealable bag of complete buttermilk pancake mix can be bought for around $8.00 at Sams club or a few other places. Get a scale that measures down to the gram and is powered by AA batteries, or one that plugs in. The small 3 Volt watch batteries in scales that are powered by them do not last long, and the scale uses 2 of them, and they cost too much, so avoid scales that are powered by them.

Fill a one-gallon zip-lock bag about half full of pancake flower and use that near the scale to avoid spilling any. Use a cup to transfer the powder from the 10 Lb bag to the 1 gallon bag so you do not spill and waste any when ever you have to refill the 1 gallon bag. Each day use a large spoon to transfer the powder from the 1 gallon bag to a small bowl like a used margarine tub that is on the scale so you do not spill any. It helps to tilt the top of the 1 gallon bag so it is over the container the powder is going into but not touching it so you do not spill any, and it does not effect the weight measurement on the scale. You want to use a container like this to mix the water and powder in so when it is poured out into the skillet there is little waste of it sticking to the wall of the container. If you use a large cup too much sticks to the long inner part of the cup.

10 Lbs of complete buttermilk pancake mix = 4540 grams

A big pancake is 60 grams of powder, so 4540 / 60 = 75 pancakes

A medium pancake is 40 grams of powder, so 4540 / 40 = 113 pancakes

75 or 113 pancakes will last a long time, for a very low over-all cost.

When you add the water also weigh the amount of water in grams to equal 1.1 X the weight of the powder and the mix will come out perfect every time.

By pancake syrup in big bottles, and buy one very small bottle and clean and refill it.

Pancakes are a filling part of breakfast, and they are low cost.

A small non-stick skillet helps when cooking them. The light-gray silicon coated one I bought from Bed-Bath-and-Beyond is amazing in how well food does not stick to it. I clean the skillet with a paper towel and a few drops of cooking oil, or canola oil, or Pam and even though it sits for a day after I wipe it, if anything may have grown in the oil while it sat it is killed off by heating it before use.
 
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Originally Posted by CT8
My parents taught me that when the times are good , save up for when the times are bad.
this is a lesson lost on most of the current generation, they don't know the value of a hard earned dollar since mom and dad and govt. are paying their way all the way to 26 years old they never had to get a summer job, or work part time after school or work thru college
 
Eggs are another low cost food.

Homemade Ice-Tea is a low cost drink. A 5 Lb bag of sugar goes a long way at only using 85 grams per 89 oz container. And 3 Lipton tea bags is enough to make a whole pot of tea. Let it cool of 1/2 a day and use a funnel to fill a used orange-juice container and put it in the fridge. You do not have to buy pre-made Ice-Tea. Home made is much cheaper, and with just enough sugar to satisfy the taste but much less than the store bought stuff it is healthier to drink.
 
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