<p>If you do plant vegetation near a home, be sure not to make it TOO close, since water near structures invites termites & other critters that can be harmful to the structure. We also have vegetation near our home that helps keep it cool (good thing to have in HI’s hot/temperate climate).</p>
<p>I’d strongly advise not to plant trees that grow too tall near the house! The builder put two white pines on either side of my model home. Wish I’d taken them down then - they were over 40 feet tall when they started dying and I had to get them taken out - almost $3000, after receiving multiple bids - yikes! In addition, I know two people who have had tall oaks fall on their roof.</p>
<p>For travel, I have become a fiend about researching airfares - statravel is good for both students and parents, and studentuniverse is very good as well. I just heard about air-hitch and am tempted to try it - super prices, but best for major hubs.</p>
<p>Priceline is great for hotels (less good for flights IMO, because of flight times and stopovers) in large cities. A basic strategy, for those who haven’t used it yet, is to choose one area within a city, put a price of about 50% of the quoted rack rate, then add areas one at a time and increase by $1 each bid until you get a very low price in a reasonable area.</p>
<p>Yulsie, About trees, we had some that ended up pulling up part of our cement pathway because of their roots. New sidewalks (even if not replacing all of it) can cost quite a bit!</p>
<p>There are books that will tell you which kinds of trees have shallow roots that will crack sidewalks – that info is very helpful when landscaping. Also, a quality nursery can advise about roots and which trees are best to use to help shade a home.</p>
<p>Please add your own low cost recipes – food is one area where a family can make or break the budget!</p>
<p>I posted one in #89</p>
<p>jlauer, I agree with you about food. I try to buy more fresh fruit and veggies than processed food. I also buy in bulk. I will go to stores like BJs/Costco and buy cereal, detergents, plastic bags in bulk. I find that way I have it at home when I need it, and don’t need to pay top price in a grocery store for a small quantity. I do not buy items like fresh fruit in bulk b/c too much is wasted. If I could split it with a neighbor I would do so. I will buy lettuce in bulk b/c that will be eaten, although I would not make a special trip just for that. I find that our local green grocer has very good prices on fruit/veggies.</p>
<p>Not necessarily a savings in $, but a tip for summer and really year round- I make iced tea using herbal/green teas. It is healthy and I don’t need to carry around as many 2 liter soda bottles, juice bottes, and for those using items like Crystal Light this may be cheaper alternative. I did buy an iced tea maker.</p>
<p>Money saving tip for some- I don’t do this, but a friend of mine goes to a discount bakery and buys older bread (not past the date of sale). She puts it into the freezer and then her kids defrost the individual slices for school sandwiches.</p>
<p>Not necessarily a money saver, but it could be- I have a small fruit and vegetable garden in my yard. I also plant some herbs in there (expensive in the grocery store).</p>
<p>Yes, fresh herbs are VERY expensive in the store. I just wish I had a green thumb when it comes to herbs. Everytime I’ve tried to grow an indoor container herb garden (so it will be easily accessible & bug free), the plants don’t do very well even tho I put them in a sunny window.</p>
<p>I have had the same bad luck with herbs that I tried to keep in a pot during the winter. In the summer though, it is fun to just pick them from my yard as needed. Honestly, it does require buying gardening material, so it is a fun hobby, but not necessarily a money saver.</p>
<p>I grow many herbs in my garden and have found some distinctly easier to grow than others. Chives come back year after year and are the first to emerge and the last to die. Sage plants only last a few years so I plan to replace them. Rosemary grows well in the warmer parts of my garden but not in the cooler ones (zone 6 vs. zone 7). Lemon balm comes back from seed all over the place (I had one plant in a pot and the seeds escaped). (Lemon balm makes lovely iced tea, either as an herbal tea or added to black tea.) Tarragon comes back year after year. So does oregano. I grow basil in a big pot in a hot spot on the deck, along with cilantro. Herb leaves make a nice addition to salads.</p>
<p>I don’t try to grow any herbs inside though, as I find it impossible. Instead I puree them with olive oil and freeze that in small batches. It’s not quite the same but it gets me through the winter. (Some people use ice cube trays and then drop the cubes into a bag.) I also make several batches of herbed olive oil–heating multiple herbs in the oil and then straining the herbs out–and refrigerate that.</p>
<p>I definitely save money vs. buying herbs, but I think my tomatoes cost about $5 each.</p>
<p>dmd</p>
<p>How do you keep the bugs out of your herbs? Do you use Sevin?</p>
<p>Rosemary is amazing- I have a shrub- that is huge- I even make wreaths out of it at xmas
Tarragon is a little more fragile-
chives grow well in a pot- the mints will take over your garden- cilantro and parsleys grow well
I have various oreganos and sages in the front garden they have gotten bigger every year- some you can even walk on-
catmint I don’t plant in the front anymore, since I was being watched as contributing to the deliquency of the neighborhood.
I havent had much luck so far with fennel, although the neighbors have a great plant.
Lavender of course grows like wildfre here- I have never sprayed anything-perhaps the birds eat the bugs?
I did have a weird experience the other day though- my H and I were walking underneath a neighbors ( fruiti)cherry tree which hung over the sidewalk & about 10,000- what looked like thrips sprang out of the tree and into our hair, our clothing etc- good thing I was on my way to the local cocktail bar- I had to have an extra drink it was traumatizing!</p>
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<p>Been there! Here we are awaiting the annual plague of Japanese beetles that come around June and stay til about August. They fly in your hair, your face, whatever. They eat every pretty flower in sight 
And they are ugly. </p>
<p>Growing roses is impossible here because of them — I miss my Mr Lincoln’s, Chrysler Imperials, Queen Elizabeths, Peace, Icebergs, Miss All American Beauties, Double Delights, etc… that I was able to have in California. :(</p>
<p>I have no problem with bugs. I have never sprayed. If you weather the bugs for a while, the bugs that other bugs and birds and frogs like to eat will attract the appropriate predators. Eventually things come into balance. Most of my garden is edible, and those sprays are nasty.</p>
<p>I do, however, go out at dusk and cut all the slugs I can find in half with a pair of shears. It not only releases tension, it really does cut down on the population.</p>
<p>Wow, dmd, that’s hard core. My H drowns them in beer traps–we figure they die happy! :)</p>
<p>I really dont notice that many slugs- I sometimes sprinkle salt on them- but lately I have seen more snails- not in my garden so much, but around the neighborhood-
The neighbors also used to have ducks- but I haven’t heard them lately- perhaps they were xmas dinner?
I think we should get some ducks to let loose in the neighborhood to get the slugs, and some goats to keep my raspberries in line-</p>
<p>Before we sold the sticks and bricks, I had a huge organic raised-bed garden for ten years. It’s a serious money-saver if you compost and forget about chemical fertilizers. You really don’t need them. (Of course, you CAN spend lots of money on gimmicky gardening stuff, or you can just use what you really need and your kitchen garbage and make money at it.) I even did a little catering on the side, and people raved abut the massive herbal decorations–all free. </p>
<p>Bugs and slugs aren’t a big problem if you put suet out for the birds until warm weather and then stop. The birds transfer their attention to the garden and get their “animal” protein there from then on.</p>
<p>We don’t seem to get “balance” here with the japanese beetles - they are like a plague of locusts descending upon the South for a few months. If I knew what animal/bird considered the beetles to be “prey”, I’d make sure I have a bunch here.</p>
<p>If you do, please post one (I posted one, earlier).</p>
<p>We eat pinto beans on cornbread a lot, but you have to have southern blood to enjoy it. Add chow-chow or salsa to the beans for a little kick. Add a salad and you’ve got the perfect meal, especially if you add a little fried okra. I fry the okra in olive oil. Cook the beans all day in the crock pot and add a little onion and/or ham if you like.</p>
<p>over30</p>
<p>do you make your own cornbread? In a heated cast iron pan in the oven?</p>
<p>Do you cook your own pinto beans or do you use canned?</p>
<p>What is chow-chow?</p>