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pinkieplum -> RE: How Are You Coping with the Recession? (6/22/2008 3:27:38 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Termyn8or
Absolutely N/no O/one i know writes quite the way You do. i just love reading Yr stuff, Terrmy.
I used to spend $9 a day on cigarettes, Winston Select, until they discontinued them. I tried other brands but nothing hits the spot. I refuse to pay top dollar for something I don't want so I found a good source of tobacco, and now have a Woman making me cigarettes for $5 per carton. Tobacco and tubes run about $10 and the machines are about $50 for the good ones.
This has always been a deficit of mine. i never know how much cash i have in my purse; or what the daily costs of any item might be; or how to 'break down' budget items into smaller classes. All i know to do is pay the rent and utiltlies and then project a weekly budget for the weeks ahead until the next check arrives. Still, i have managed with my limited skills to survive thus far.
One of the biggest things was to stop giving away. No more junkets to Mr Hero with the crew, and I mean junket because when an order of fast food gets to be $30 something has to give.
Only rarely do i take S/someone out for a meal. i haven't been able to afford that for ages. On the rare occassions when i eat out with S/someone, W/we go dutch.
Don't get caught with those cigarettes, that is illegal. If anyone ever says anything just say they are a gift.
F**king government. Thanks for the heads up.
And now I only buy cases of beer. It is the most cost effective way. I do have enough control to stop when it is time to stop, and not just drink the whole thing. If not, the plan would not work.
He, he. i don't drink and if i did it certainly wouldn't be beer. But then Yr probably not grieving over the lost opportunity to get regular pedicures, LOL.
There is another substance that I now buy larger quantities of to save money.
So I am saving about 20% on beer, 25% on 'substance' and a whopping 66% on cigarettes.
Back to the cigs, pink, if you like I can put you on this list to get one of those cig making machines, I would get a little credit for it. They will send you the machine for free and all you do is buy their tobacco and tubes. Later you can unsubscribe from the tobacco deal and keep the machine.There are several places locally with quite a selection of different tobaccos. The tobacco from the company with the machines is quite good though and you can just stick with it if you are satisfied with it.
May i please try a pack first to see if i like them? i've tried generic brand cigarettes and i just can't stand them. The tobacco is so loosely packed i never feel like i'm actually smoking. Thanks for the offer, Termy.
I don't know what brand you smoke, but be it menthol or not, lite or not, they have the components. For lites you order lite tubes, the filters are different.
Salem Slim Lights 100's.
I am about to pickup a carton today. Almost ran out so I bought a pack of Pall Mall. The homemade ones are actually better than the Pall Malls.
Right now I have two Selects left. They are in original packs and up on my knick knack shelf. They go well with the fondue pot still taped together from the thrift store, the OLD Cleveland Browns and Indians glasses, and the one stolen from Red Lobster, the boat made out of the pounded metal that is then blackened with a torch and then buffed (does anyone know the name of that type of art ?), the booze bottles and the 350 Chevy semi-race camshaft which doubles as home protection when a gun is not necessary. About the Confederate flag up there, I remind you that there were abolishionist states in the south.
What's a camshaft? Excellent move -- stealing a glass from Red Lobster. But i gotta say Termy, You sure do decorate differently than i do, LOL.
Next I plan to start cooking alot more, which will delight some if they happen to be around. I used to NEVER eat out or order, but I got tired of cooking. Well now I am tired of working as well, so I will start again. At least when you cook at home and sometimes people just show up, it is nothing to give them a plate of food. But even buying fast food for other people can get into some money. Even at today's prices you can give them a Filet Mignon at home for what a double meat Roman burger costs. Actually recently I made stroganoff the right way, with filet mignon, I will be doing it again.
i'm not cooking. i absolutely refuse. i hate everything about cooking, from the shopping to the crowded cupboards to the prep work to the mess -- and all for what? The hell with it -- i can always heat up a can of soup. (i know this makes me a little odd, but i dun care.)
When I make stuff like that there is never enough. The one time I made paprikash I used six chickens, I had to borrow a pot because I didn't have one big enough. So many people got on the 'list' that it was gone the next day. But still, what does a chicken cost ? The rest is water, butter, flour and imported paprika (well onions too). The dumplings used to be cheap until eggs started getting ridiculous. But even then it is cheap.
It costs me about $25 to make a nice pot of spagetti sauce now, but you get so many servings out of it, just do the math. I always put in extra meat and since I don't like to eat alot of pasta, that gives way to sausage and or meatball sandwiches later. Just like the pizza place charges like four bucks for. But I don't have that much into it. I also make my own pizza, but really don't save any money on it because of how I make it. But I get a better pizza. Unfortunately again there are seldom any leftovers unless I make two. One f the secrets to making a good pizza at home is a good cooling surface.It must come out of the pan as soon as it is done in the oven, then you have to let it sit, have a cigarette and then move it for further cooling, you have to let it exude it's excess moisture. I use a marble slab for that, it works really well.
But now we are going into summer and I won't be cooking alot of these things. I don't know what to do right now but maybe more fried foods, cookouts etc. All I know is that ordering out is a drag on my personal economy. It's probably going to be more stirfrys and things like that now. I REALLY know how to spice chicken.
i know You like it here Termy, but i'm not quite as content. i can't find a decent chinese food place that delivers. There are no Thai or Vietnamese resturants near me. i can't find a Jewish deli anywhere. i hate the baked goods -- even the ones from the bakery.
i don't have much of a 'palate' and i'm certainly not a 'foodie', but i can't eat stuff that grosses me out -- and Eastern European cooking (at least as it's done around here) defintely gags me.
i'm a bit resentful about this. i moved house from Florida to a 3rd or 4th market city up North and i expected certain amenities. Diversity. Great FM radio. Better medical care.
Then i get here and the radio just sucks; the food is strange and there are few alternatives, i live right next to Parma, which has no non-white residents, etc. etc. etc.
i will say the museums and such like down in University Circle are wonderful, and there are little pockets of the city i love -- Lakeland, Little Italy, that funky part of Rocky River.
i love the downtown area too. i've never felt unsafe there; i can park for free if i'm willing to hoof it; and there is some interesting architecture, especially down by the courthouse.
And I don't think I'll be putting my AC units in this year. I made it through those 93 degree days already, so with good fans, well, I should be able to get by.
i guess it depends on Y/your home's design and Y/your personal tolerances. i can't get a cross-breeze going in this townhouse. But my house in Cincinnati had a whole house fan; it was great. i really did not miss A/C and it wasn't loud either.
Main thing right now is to get the Buick running. It gets alot better mileage than the truck, but it has a wiring problem (oh joy). Meantime looking for something even better on gas. I bought it because parts are cheap and they are easy to fix. Well this one stuck it to me with a problem that is not easy to fix. That is the next thing to deal with. But even then it is a Park Avenue and at best it can give 20 MPG, possibly a hair more if driven just right. Need something better, just a little shitcan to get to work in. A four banger, possibly with a stickshift. The only thing I might carry back and forth to work is paper or a CDROM. My tools are there, and even they would fit in a shitcan if I were to quit or something.
T
O Gawd i dread anything to do with my car. Right now i need to send in the registration fees --which are really high -- and replace the windshield wipers. It's hard for me to 'guess' when to change the oil because i drive so little, but i'm sure it needs that too.
Weirdly, both oil changes and dry cleaning cost twice as much here as they did in Florida. i suppose it's some environmental thing.
*hugs*
pinkieplum
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