beaniecat

@beaniecat (329)

United States • Age 56

Joined myLot 16 years ago

All Activity

Responses (194)

beaniecat's Responses

Most of you will agree that this is NOT being frugal...

reinydawn @reinydawn (11643) • United States 11 Jan 09

I have this pencil... It was given to me as a graduation gift 6 years ago when I got my Accounting degree. It's a Mont Blanc, which costs a couple hundred dollars - yes, for a PENCIL! Well, last Christmas, my boss bought me the...

24 responses •

10 people

beaniecat I wouldn't have paid that much to fix a pencil. However, you have to decide what's important to you. I hope it lasts a long time at that rate.

3 Feb 09

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1 comment

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2 people

It looks like we won't be refinancing our house any time soon

reinydawn @reinydawn (11643) • United States 27 Jan 09

We really wanted to take advantage of the low interest rates going on now and refinance our house. We have a main mortgage and a home equity loan. We wanted to consolidate them and have just one loan, and a lower combined rate....

7 responses •

2 people

beaniecat I'm sorry it hasn't worked out for you to refinance. I hope you can do something before you ARM rates changes. We were lucky and ours appraised for enough to get the loan that we needed. We combined our first and second and lowered our total payments. It's a...

3 Feb 09

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1 comment

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1 person

Growing your own food

Raven1 @Raven1 (577) • Australia 19 Jan 09

It never fails to surprise me how few people grow their own fruit and vegetables. It's not only ridiculously easy, it can save you SO much money and it's healthier for you at the same time. Does anyone else here grow their own...

fruit

growing food

vegetable gardens

18 responses •

5 people

beaniecat I plan to try growing my own this summer. We have very rocky soil here, so I'm going to try to do container gardening. I look forward to some home grown veggies.

20 Jan 09

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2 comments

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2 people

How much do you think you'll save....

bubblyapple @bubblyapple (2653) • Philippines 19 Jan 09

if you'll give up buying coffee from Starbucks each day? if you'll give up eating out every single day? if you start bringing lunch to school? if you start unplugging you appliances at home? Just some things to think...

7 responses

beaniecat Don't forget you can save money if you quit smoking. Not just the price of the smokes, but a lot of companies are starting to offer discounts on health insurance if you aren't a smoker. Another thing to cut that adds up are the snacks and sodas at work, or...

20 Jan 09

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1 comment

how to save money during a recession

livinglegend7 @livinglegend7 (114) • United States 20 Jan 09

The best way to save money is to buy large amount of certain foods when they are on sale and use coupons as much as possible. Instead of going out to eat 5 to 10 times a month I cut it down to one time a month and I have saved a...

7 responses •

2 people

beaniecat I joined weight watchers at the start of the month. Even with the monthly fee, we've saved money because we don't eat out much and I am cooking more instead of buying those unhealthy convenience foods. I'll also save money by being able to get into my good...

20 Jan 09

What a deal!

saundyl @saundyl (9783) • Canada 19 Jan 09

Today i went to get some iced tea and batteries. I got those but then on the way out to my car i realized the little batteries i got were missing as was my card for movie gallery and my reciept (all in a little baggie). I ran back...

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2 people

beaniecat Sounds like you got a lucky break. Funny how things turn out that way. Especially after you thought you'd lost your purchase.

20 Jan 09

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2 comments

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1 person

The Cheapest Meals To Cook During A Recession To Save Money

livinglegend7 @livinglegend7 (114) • United States 17 Jan 09

I cook a lot of Pasta Dishes which can be extermley cheap when you can get Spaghetti sauce on sale. I also cook a lot chicken which with vegetables.

16 responses •

4 people

beaniecat Dave Ramsey is always saying "beans and rice, beans and rice." Beans have protein that you need and can replace expensive meat. I was reading about how people survived the great depression and they made a lot of dishes with cornmeal.

18 Jan 09

What are you doing to save money?

LaurenInLA @LaurenInLA (2270) • United States 17 Jan 09

I'm very new to living frugally. Since the economic upheaval, I've become more and more concerned with how we spend our money. So much waste. One of the first things that I took a look at were our phone bills. We have a land line,...

44 responses •

7 people

beaniecat I read in the New York Times that the average American wastes 27% of the food that they buy. That means if you spend $500 a month in food, you are wasting $135 a month. We are trying to do better about making sure things don't go bad and get tossed.

18 Jan 09

How Much Money Do You Spend On Canned Goods

livinglegend7 @livinglegend7 (114) • United States 18 Jan 09

I spend $25 a week stocking up on can goods because of the bad economy. The reason why I spend so, much money on canned goods because, the United States economy could go into hyper-inflation when the value of the dollar is worth...

9 responses •

2 people

beaniecat How do you track you supplies to make sure that you used them before their expiration date? I was surprised when I went through my pantry to donate items to a local food bank, how many things had expired and we don't keep a big stock pile. You don't want to...

18 Jan 09

Decorating with a Sharpie Marker

ladym33 @ladym33 (10979) • United States 18 Jan 09

I just saw this on another site, this man decorated his basement using a $10 worth of Sharpie markers. Of course he had a lot of talent to go with that, but look at this amazing job he...

basement

frugal decorating

12 responses •

3 people

beaniecat Now that is some frugal decorating, not to mention a conversation starter. I don't think I'd try it myself. But gotta give him credit for being quite creative.

18 Jan 09

Your "new" tires might be 12 years old-beware!

dragon54u @dragon54u (31634) • United States 16 May 08

I saw a blurb on the local news and watched the 20/20 report on tires that are brand new but have been on the shelves for years. People have been killed by those tires. They look perfectly sound and have brand-new tread but as...

faulty new tires

new old tires

tires expiration dates

4 responses •

3 people

beaniecat I'm looking for new tires soon. That would make me really made to pay out that kind of money thinking I'm getting new tires only to find out the old ones I have on my car now are probably safer with 25% of the tread left than a set that is 12 years old. I'll...

5 Jan 09

I just brought some new Tires~~~~

marciascott @marciascott (25529) • United States 11 Dec 08

And wouldn't you know someone came in my Parking lot and slash one of them. that made me so mad, I was going to work and I keep hearing this noise, I said to myself oh, I hope it isn't my Motor. Well I didn't think it was my tires...

parking

tires

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4 people

beaniecat I doubt the warranty will cover this. It usually covers road hazards - probably not vandalism. Sounds like a group of teenagers with too much time on their hands.Hope they get it stopped.

5 Jan 09

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1 person

Frugal Living... Best Kept Secrets of living a Frugal Life? Please Share!

neededhope @neededhope (1085) • United States 1 Jan 09

I was wondering what everyones best kept secrets of living a frugal life. I have a tendency to spend a lot at times and others very protective of our money. And currently I want to live a full life but I don't want to just blow...

7 responses •

2 people

beaniecat Being frugal has become a challenge for me that I enjoy. I love finding ways to cut the grocery budget as small as possible and sharing the deals that I find on a social networking site. I keep track of the things that I get for free as sort of a way to keep...

4 Jan 09

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1 comment

I need some ideas!

jennifer611 @jennifer611 (2514) • United States 3 Jan 09

I have 4 kids and I need some ideas on how to make my dollars stretch when it comes to groceries. do you have any ideas for low cost meals? ideas on how to make your dollars and food stretch for a whole month would be great.

groceries

low cost shopping

meals

13 responses •

3 people

beaniecat I plan meals around what the biggest sale items are for the week. When roasts were on sale buy one get one free, I bought the two biggest that I could find and cut them each in half to make four. I also look for meat on the days that the store normally marks...

4 Jan 09

What are the things you have splurged on in 2008?

dolce_vita78 @dolce_vita78 (8062) • Philippines 30 Dec 08

As the year is about to end, all of us try to look back. We go over the things that we have done the whole year. Perhaps one of the things we overlook are the stuffs that we have spent much money on. Well, this is one of the...

28 responses •

7 people

beaniecat I bought a new washer and dryer. Normally, I wouldn't buy something like that until the old one died but I got an incredible deal and these are stackable, so they will give me some extra room in the laundry room. Also, they should use a lot less electricity...

2 Jan 09

Gift Wrapping using Magazines

SydneyHazelton @SydneyHazelton (4586) • Singapore 30 Dec 08

I was recently inspired when the primetime morning show I watched which showed how to recycle magazines for wrapping gifts. They looked fantastic because of the glossy pages of the magazine. Today I tried doing just that. I took...

39 responses •

12 people

beaniecat I haven't done this. However, yours does look nice. My grandmother used to use the funnies from the Sunday paper.

1 Jan 09

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1 comment

Piggy Banks are the Hot Gift This Year

rosettaresearch @rosettaresearch (1285) • United States 31 Dec 08

In response to the financial meltdown, people are starting to save again. So, they are buying piggy banks. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081231/us_nm/us_usa_economy_piggybank But seriously, $31 for a piggy bank kinda defeats...

14 responses •

4 people

beaniecat I agree $31 for a piggy bank does seem to defeat the purpose. Coinstar ran a recent promotion that if you took in $40 in loose change and exchanged it for a gift card, they would send you an additional $10 gift card. So you can do a lot better with that loose...

1 Jan 09

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1 comment

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1 person

How Much Money Do You Plan To Spend On Christmas Gifts This Year

livinglegend7 @livinglegend7 (114) • United States 12 Nov 08

I am asking personel question about how much money you plan to spend on Christmas this year because, of the bad economy. I was talking to some of my friends and it seems like everybody is going to cut back a least 25% from last...

christmas

economy

gifts

15 responses

beaniecat My family decided to buy fewer presents by alternating families instead of buying for everyone. We started rotating families, so this year I am buying for my brother and his family and not the other two siblings and their kids. It makes 9 less people. If I...

17 Nov 08

How Many Friends And Family Have Lost There Jobs Over The Last Six Months?

livinglegend7 @livinglegend7 (114) • United States 13 Nov 08

This has been a trying time for families and friends who have lost jobs over the last six months in America. The "Wall Street Crisis" has started trickling down to the Average American and they are losing there jobs everyday....

american

jobswall street crisis

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1 person

beaniecat My family has been very lucky and no one has lost their job yet. However, my best-friend from high school lost their house in foreclosure, a neighbor is now only working 3 weeks a month and his wife lost one of her two part-time jobs. Another friend hasn't...

17 Nov 08