<p>If one is so inclined, you can always get free internet from the library. No need to mooch off the neighbor. It won’t work around here either, my neighbors the tightwads all have password protected wireless. (how dare they.) </p>
<p>Back in the day, I save on books and zines by reading and borrowing from the library. Dvds /movies are borrowed from the library too. The trick is borrow the latest, they tend to get really scratched up after a while in circulation.</p>
<p>I’ve read various stories of people leaching internet service getting arrested, typically with unauthorized theft of services.</p>
<p>mikasauntie:</p>
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<p>A good idea! Thank you; I will add that to the list.</p>
<p>dis-grace:</p>
<p>Re: “Stray Cat Pie,” there are several cookbooks available. Mind you, you have to order them from England. One has the infelicitous name of “101 ■■■■■ Pies,” and the other is a volume of pies for a wide range of meats. It’s published by Fleet Street Press and is called “Lovett’s Lovely Pies.” That volume puts a decided different spin on the “mince” in “mince pie,” but the cat recipes have been improved in the latest edition over the recipes in the earlier editions.</p>
<p>munchkin:</p>
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<p>The neighborhood library is too far to walk to, alas. It is not at this time a hotspot, though I believe that is coming eventually. The McDonald’s near us, which is within walking distance, is, however, and that is convenient for not-late-night Internet access. I don’t know that I’d really want to be sitting on the curb outside the restaurant with my laptop at midnight.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that though many of my neighbors have gone to password protected wireless, one or more of them has never changed the default WEP, which is on the bottom of the modem, and which appears to be the same for all the modems that are of the same brand/type from the phone company.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>I had left off a few other water-saving strategies that we are now implementing. Of course we don’t water the grass or wash the cars; never have, never will. These relate to inside water usage, but I did not post them for fear of upsetting delicate sensibilities, but I assume that some of you can guess what some of these are.</p>
<p>So far not cutting back a whole lot. My business involves in shorting stock markets and downturn like this actually means higher profits. Yeah I may get the shaft when market turns the other way around so nothing is assured. What I am worrying about is cost of heating oil next winter. No dealer in my area is offering lock-in rates because of extreme volatility. By the way when I order beer in restaurant I usually make my seconds a domestic. Reason: all that taste hits you mostly in first gulps; anything afterward is just B-E-E-R.</p>
<p>We are being very careful. Paying full freight for D1. DH and I in industries that are downsizing. We are nervous and it shows in our spending.</p>
<p>I am buying store brands when it doesn’t matter, i.e. napkins, (not tp though!), milk, eggs. Definetely go shopping on 2x coupon day, and buy whatever is on sale…brands are becoming less important, except MAYO…has to be hellmans! I am a Coke fan, but if it isn’t on sale, I can easily be a Pepsi fan, same goes for bottle water…Food Lion tastes the same as Dasani to me!</p>
<p>Where we just recently got hit was filling our propane tank (our entire house is propane), ly I paid 480 to heat all yr, this yr it was 860…ouch! Can’t complain too much, since that is for cooking, water heater and heating the entire house 4K sqft. </p>
<p>I have also noticed many people in my town paying to have wells dug instead of using city water. In one neighborhood it seems as every other house now has a well or a sign saying this yard is having a well dug.</p>
<p>As far as the beer…I was listening to talk radio and they were talking about how many restaurants that charge for the larger size (pt size) are actually being shorted. Several people from TGI Fridays called in and said the glass size is actually the same so you are paying $2 more for the same amount…something about the glass is larger, but the bottom part is thicker and so it is an illusion</p>
<p>In daily life, I’ve been barely affected–but my father’s a successful lawyer and my mother is a teacher at one of the highest-paying districts in the nation. </p>
<p>However, on an abstract level, I’ve been hit hard. In the initial market crash, I lost around thirty grand out of my college fund.</p>
<p>We are solidly middle class, and yes, we are feeling the recession. We live in the NYC metro area, and food prices have gone crazy. As a result, we have changed grocery stores, we buy only one meat item/week, we bring our lunches to work, and we rarely eat out (pizza once a week is about it).</p>
<p>Fortunately, NYC provides lots of free or low-cost entertainment, so we haven’t really felt the pinch there. We also don’t own a car, and we live in a tiny apartment, so we are already pretty frugal. We have had to advise our daughter, who attends NYU, to curb her monthly spending on food/sundries. (Our college costs are kept reasonably low due to a scholarship benefit through our employer, which covers her entire tuition.)</p>
<p>We also have noticed a major drop in our retirement account, which has been tough to bear.</p>
<p>We’ve discovered every 2 for 1 Happy Hour in town that serves free food (making lemonade out of lemons :)</p>
<p>Investigating “inverse ETFs” (wuh? I have a learning curve here)…</p>
<p>We have house (includes business) for sale - if we sell, we’re downsizing (paying cash)…</p>
<p>Paid off cars - will be driving them for their duration - esp the one that gets 25mpg…</p>
<p>Voting Obama…</p>
<p>Only shopping thru Amazon for specific needs/wants…</p>
<p>Doing my own cleaning…</p>
<p>Increasing 401K contribution by 4x to 20% of income…</p>
<p>Watching lots of TV, surfing online, going to more than one movie on the same single movie ticket purchase…</p>
<p>Shaving & bathing dogs ourselves…</p>
<p>Doing own landscaping/lawn work - planted orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit trees…actually picking and eating avocados and mangos</p>
<p>Staying at inexpensive rental house for vacation in Carolina mountains (lots of free hiking) so we can buy our own groceries and not eat out…</p>
<p>Renewing Costco membership…no longer shopping at Whole Foods…</p>
<p>Looking for job in my original field of accounting…nursery business is down <em>70%</em>…</p>
<p>Using private homeopathic MD physician, in addition to standard health care, who practices preventive medicine (measures hormones, Vit D, etc)…</p>
<p>Plus, plus, plus…</p>
<p>^^all of those sound great, except for “going to more than one movie on the same single movie ticket purchase…”</p>
<p>That’s unethical.</p>
<p>Many of the local churches have a prayer line for those needing help. I think it’s a great idea.
PM me if you would like to join saying a few prayers to help those unemployed, looking for work, losing their home and feeling desperate.</p>
<p>Just returned from my walk with DH-- need to get more vitamin D so walked with DH up to the drugstore where I had a “buy 2 get one free” coupon for greeting cards. So we bought each other our anniversary cards and I picked up a wedding card that I needed, as well as a big container of Folgers coffee (36 oz) on sale for $5.99-- needed it for the office. Then the receipt prints out with $7.50 in cashback which I will use on some future purchase. Every little bit helps.</p>
<p>As far as the two movies on one ticket purchase, I say the theater quietly approves it by only monitoring limited seat new movie showings. They’d much prefer you stay and buy their overpriced soda, popcorn and hot dogs which you need to do if you’re staying 4 hours!</p>
<p>We also burn wood off of our property…h does all the cutting and splitting…cars are old…we never eat out except if we have a gift card…the thermostat is not about 62 in the winter (and we are in northern New England and it gets COLD)…and 58 at night is not unusual. Throw on another cat…they keep you toasty! Speaking of which - I do our pets shots except rabies which saves a boodle.</p>
<p>We live in the Boonies, I drive 30 miles one way to work and many days turn around and bring DD13 back to ballet near my job (another 35 miles one way). DH traded some labor (he owns a body shop) for a cute little 1993 Geo Metro convertible which gets 34.8 MPG for me (much better than my Dodge Caravan at 23 MPG) and now that is my primary car. It kills me when I have to drive the van anywhere (the Geo is a 2 seater so if I have DS and DD w/ me we have to take the van).</p>
<p>I have noticed that at work we used to order out at least 1-3 times per week, now it is less than once a month. I have been bringing boxes of cereal to work and bringing my milk from home. Making my own coffees/lattes to go in the morning. Running errands or working OT while DD13 is at ballet classes. </p>
<p>We bought a quarter cow from DH’s cousin. For $1.69/lb we have over 70 lbs of lean ground beef, steaks, roasts etc. And it is all organic and free range.
This will last us a good 6 months till he sends another cow in.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, DH’s Auto Body Shop is busier than ever. He specializes in restorations of antique cars and by far that and other “cosmetic” work (not collision) are 90% of his business. </p>
<p>We are lucky in that we live in the country (well water = no water bill) and in one of the communities where our power is municipally owned therefore we run everything (heat, water, pool, AC, DH’s business) on electric for about $200/month average. No gas or heating oil bill and our property taxes are not the worst in our area by far.</p>
<p>DD will be taking her car to college bc it is 4.5 hours away and I think the benefit and gas savings will outweigh the cost of keeping her insurance. DH does ALL of our car repairs and maintenance and is teaching DD’s to do the same. </p>
<p>We save on daycare for DS3 on school holidays and vacations by paying DD13 half of what we pay his regular daycare provider to watch him and she gets pocket money and uses it to buy some of the frivolities she wants. Both D’s are also learning the value of shopping at secondhand stores. </p>
<p>DD17 is a big cheapskate. She holds a job and has a car but only really drives to/from work as cannot stand paying for gas already!! Never goes to the movies or out shopping.</p>
<p>As a family my DH has never been one for eating out so we don’t much anyway but we have cut down pizza to once or twice a month (last time we got pizza our standard order had gone up by about $4!!). DH’s truck is a 2001, my van a 2000, DD17’s car is a 1999 and all were bought at auto auctions and paid for in cash. We have never had a car payment.</p>
<p>Thank god for DH bc our house is almost paid for after only 9 years. I have good health/dental at work braces paid for 50% and cheap premiums but co-pays will kill you anyhow.</p>
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<p>owlice, by not feeding the stray cats outside, you run the risk of emaciating the cats to the point where (a) they are unuseable as pie filling and (b) take more energy to cook than the nutrional value warrants.</p>
<p>I’ve had wonderful success in substituting squirrel for stray cat in various recipies. They are also abundant, prolific, and can be easily coaxed into capitvity with generic, store brand peanut butter. I reduce costs for bait by buying slightly outdated stock at the clearance rack.</p>
<p>Try it… you’ll not notice the difference.</p>
<p>Food for thought so to speak…</p>
<p>violadad, oh, I’d nab the cats right after the free meals ended. Cat meat freezes just fine!</p>
<p>I’ll have to try substituting squirrel; thanks for the tip! Do you have any squirrel-specific recipes you’d like to share, or favorite cookbooks?</p>
<p>I’ve had good luck with gathering free venison from the side of the road. It helps to carry carving and gutting tools in the trunk of the car, along with what’s needed to wrap the fresh steaks, so that I don’t need to miss an opportunity when it presents itself.</p>
<p>I’ll have to look through the squirrel recipes. Most are family favorites, and I’ll have to commit them to paper. I’ve adapted the ones I’ve been given to suit our tastes. Besides, it’s cooking, not baking. No real proportions, just wing it. Common weeds substitute nicely for fresh herbs as well if your neighbor’s garden is inaccessible…</p>
<p>Don’t limit yourself to just venison… it can be a virtual meatcounter roadside depending on your locale and the time of year.</p>
<p>I’ve found that if you do have a long way to travel with newly acquired meat, you can save time and energy by cooking on route. If you can’t swipe a few veggies, onions or garlic from a roadside farmstand or field, you can use wild onion, mushrooms, maybe some dandelion to taste.</p>
<p>My favorite is manifold venison loin. Just wrap the loin in foil (doesn’t have to be new). Candy wrappers, sandwich wrappers, thin sheet metal or any scrap found along the way will work. A roll of the foil faced (not cloth) duct tape works to bind the small pieces. You can find a roll in the back of any good ac/furnace repair or sheet metal van.</p>
<p>Just open the car (or truck) hood, place the wrapped loin on the manifold and put the pedal to the metal. Figure 12-14 minutes a pound at 60 mph for rare, adjust time for speed, traffic conditions and personal preference.</p>
<p>Dinner’s ready when you get home. (Trick: cut the loin to just the proper weight to insure you won’t have to idle or take an extra trip or three around the block.)</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>Thanks, violadad! I have a spare kitchen scale; I’ll add that to the supplies in the trunk of my car.</p>
<p>Have you ever considered raising your own meat? Guinea pigs multiply quickly and are cheap to house and feed, and even better, they are often available for free from children and the Humane Society.</p>
<p>will have to start looking for more chipmunks…mmmm chipsteak sandwiches.</p>