Frugal Living: 25 new messages in 10 topics

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

25 new messages in 10 topics - digest

misc.consumers.frugal-living
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living?hl=en

misc.consumers.frugal-living@googlegroups.com

Today's topics:

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Removing non-stick coating to salvage a pan?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/609894c6db4e02d3?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 11:03 am
From: Sheldon

Kenneth wrote:
>
> I've used cast iron happily for about 50 years, but have
> always thought the whole seasoning thing to be, well, (for
> want of a better word), silly.
>
> In terms of sticking, I could not detect a difference
> between a brand new, unseasoned pan, and one that I had
> carefully seasoned for years.
>
> Then, a few years ago, Consumer's Reports tested cast iron
> cookware.
>
> Among other aspects of their testing, they asked staff
> members to contact elderly relatives to see if they could
> find generations old, super-well seasoned pans, for
> comparison.
>
> As has been my experience, they could detect no difference

Except the elderly could no longer lift them.

I don't know why anyone needs cookware from the iron age, it's a
kitchen for cripe's sake... you wanna pump iron join Gold's Gym.

== 2 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:00 pm
From: Lou Decruss

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:56:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
<dishborealis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>"Lou Decruss" <Me@notvalid.com> wrote in message
>news:c1nts3l7tsg7qvm72qterkbrv56lttpp4u@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 18:00:11 -0500, Peter A <paitken@CRAPnc.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Soap does not - repeat, DOES NOT - remove seasoning from cast iron when
>>>used properly.
>>
>> Exactly!
>>
>>>So many people get all silly about cleaning cast iron.
>>
>> My favorite example of silliness is using salt. I tried it once and
>> found it useless.
>
>
>That's the only way I clean my cast iron pan.

As I said, I have more than one.

> I use coarse kosher salt and a
>paper towel. I only use the pan for eggs, and always at medium heat levels,
>so stuff never gets REALLY stuck on.

I use some of mine at heat levels that would immediately destroy
non-stick.

>Salt works fine.

So does soap.

Lou

== 3 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:01 pm
From: Lou Decruss

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:53:25 -0500, Kenneth
<usenet@soleSPAMLESSassociates.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:45:37 -0600, Lou Decruss
><Me@notvalid.com> wrote:
>
>>My favorite example of silliness is using salt. I tried it once and
>>found it useless.
>>
>>>I have 2 cast iron pans each about a decade old. They have great
>>>seasoning, and I regularly clean them with a weak detergent solution and
>>>a soft brush.
>
>Howdy,
>
>Yes, silliness abounds...
>
>I know that I am about to tread on religious matters, but
>here goes:
>
>I've used cast iron happily for about 50 years, but have
>always thought the whole seasoning thing to be, well, (for
>want of a better word), silly.
>
>In terms of sticking, I could not detect a difference
>between a brand new, unseasoned pan, and one that I had
>carefully seasoned for years.
>
>Then, a few years ago, Consumer's Reports tested cast iron
>cookware.
>
>Among other aspects of their testing, they asked staff
>members to contact elderly relatives to see if they could
>find generations old, super-well seasoned pans, for
>comparison.
>
>As has been my experience, they could detect no difference
>between those, and brand new off the shelf un-seasoned pans.

The new Lodge pans have a different finish than the older ones. I've
got lodge pans over 10 years old that aren't as good as the older
ones. For cooking meat on high heat there's no difference. But try
making eggs in a new Lodge pan.

Lou

== 4 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:00 pm
From: Lou Decruss

On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:27:01 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
<teamarrows@eznet.net> wrote:

>On Mar 5, 12:45 pm, Lou Decruss <M...@notvalid.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 18:00:11 -0500, Peter A <pait...@CRAPnc.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Soap does not - repeat, DOES NOT - remove seasoning from cast iron when
>> >used properly.
>>
>> Exactly!
>>
>> >So many people get all silly about cleaning cast iron.
>>
>> My favorite example of silliness is using salt. I tried it once and
>> found it useless.
>>
>> >I have 2 cast iron pans each about a decade old. They have great
>> >seasoning, and I regularly clean them with a weak detergent solution and
>> >a soft brush.
>>
>> Everyone has their collecting vices. Mine is cast iron. I've got
>> well over 40 pieces. Including me, I've got 4 generations worth.
>> They ALL get cleaned with soap. My older Wagner and Griswold pans are
>> the choice always used for eggs. Just as non-stick as anything else
>> without the chemical smell.
>>
>> Lou
>
>re: I've got well over 40 pieces (of cast iron)
>
>Did you have to beef up your floor joists to support all that weight?
><g>

They're not all in the same place. But you're right. They are heavy.

Lou

== 5 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:01 pm
From: Lou Decruss

On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 11:03:29 -0800 (PST), Sheldon <PENMART01@aol.com>
wrote:

>Kenneth wrote:
>>
>> I've used cast iron happily for about 50 years, but have
>> always thought the whole seasoning thing to be, well, (for
>> want of a better word), silly.
>>
>> In terms of sticking, I could not detect a difference
>> between a brand new, unseasoned pan, and one that I had
>> carefully seasoned for years.
>>
>> Then, a few years ago, Consumer's Reports tested cast iron
>> cookware.
>>
>> Among other aspects of their testing, they asked staff
>> members to contact elderly relatives to see if they could
>> find generations old, super-well seasoned pans, for
>> comparison.
>>
>> As has been my experience, they could detect no difference
>
>Except the elderly could no longer lift them.

That's how I got some of mine.
>
>I don't know why anyone needs cookware from the iron age, it's a
>kitchen for cripe's sake... you wanna pump iron join Gold's Gym.

Maybe some of us are younger and stronger than you shemp.

Lou

== 6 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:51 pm
From: "HeyBub"

Lou Decruss wrote:
>>
>> You don't get the dressings out. Just wipe the bowls. The oils and
>> spices from prior uses flavor subsequent salads with a unique
>> palette of flavors and aromas.
>
> There's something wrong with you.
>

Everything I am I owe to using unwashed salad bowls.

And an ant farm I had as a kid.

== 7 of 7 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:53 pm
From: Kenneth

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:01:04 -0600, Lou Decruss
<Me@notvalid.com> wrote:

>The new Lodge pans have a different finish than the older ones. I've
>got lodge pans over 10 years old that aren't as good as the older
>ones. For cooking meat on high heat there's no difference. But try
>making eggs in a new Lodge pan.
>
>Lou

Hi Lou,

If they are coated with something, I would remove it.

Then, with an iron surface, when the pan is hot enough for
water droplets to "dance" rather than boil, and with some
butter tossed in, eggs will slide right out of the pan.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Water softener, iron reducing bacteria (IRB)
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/50960dcbcfdc675d?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 5 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 11:20 am
From: Meat Plow

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:59:33 -0800, szilagyic wrote:

> Hello:
>
> I have a gravel well which is around 5 years old. Over time we've
> been experiencing a buildup of IRB (iron reducing bacteria) everywhere
> in our plumbing, etc. My main concern is that we have a water
> softener and I'm sure it's caked inside. Is there anything that is
> non-toxic that I can put with the softener salt so that it will clean
> out the resin tank with each regeneration cycle? I found a product
> called "Boresaver Ultra C" but I don't know if it's safe for a water
> softener. Somebody recommended "Iron Out", but I don't know if this
> will work or if it's safe??
>
> I really appreciate all of the feedback on this...
>
> Thank you,

No kind of chemical is safe for potable water.

== 2 of 5 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 11:26 am
From: "Rod Speed"

Meat Plow <meat@petitmorte.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:59:33 -0800, szilagyic wrote:
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> I have a gravel well which is around 5 years old. Over time we've
>> been experiencing a buildup of IRB (iron reducing bacteria)
>> everywhere in our plumbing, etc. My main concern is that we have a
>> water softener and I'm sure it's caked inside. Is there anything
>> that is non-toxic that I can put with the softener salt so that it
>> will clean out the resin tank with each regeneration cycle? I found
>> a product called "Boresaver Ultra C" but I don't know if it's safe
>> for a water softener. Somebody recommended "Iron Out", but I don't
>> know if this will work or if it's safe??
>>
>> I really appreciate all of the feedback on this...
>>
>> Thank you,
>
> No kind of chemical is safe for potable water.

Wrong. Plenty of chemicals are completely safe in
potable water and get included in bottled potable water.

== 3 of 5 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 12:18 pm
From: Oren

On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:59:33 -0800 (PST), szilagyic@gmail.com wrote:

>Hello:
>
>I have a gravel well which is around 5 years old. Over time we've
>been experiencing a buildup of IRB (iron reducing bacteria) everywhere
>in our plumbing, etc. My main concern is that we have a water
>softener and I'm sure it's caked inside. Is there anything that is
>non-toxic that I can put with the softener salt so that it will clean
>out the resin tank with each regeneration cycle? I found a product
>called "Boresaver Ultra C" but I don't know if it's safe for a water
>softener. Somebody recommended "Iron Out", but I don't know if this
>will work or if it's safe??
>
>I really appreciate all of the feedback on this...
>
>Thank you,

Snipped from web site:

...A resin cleaning compound must be used regularly to protect the
resin. The most common resin cleaning compounds contain sodium
hydrosulfite or phosphoric acid. Some water softener salt contains a
resin cleaner...

Yes, I have used this company with outstanding results.

FAQ Link - (Iron)

http://www.qualitywatertreatment.com/faqs_iron_filters.html

== 4 of 5 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 12:26 pm
From: clams_casino

Oren wrote:

> The most common resin cleaning compounds contain sodium
>hydrosulfite or phosphoric acid.
>

Sounds like a little Dr Pepper should be a solution :-)

== 5 of 5 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 12:28 pm
From: hchickpea@hotmail.com

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:20:58 -0500, Meat Plow <meat@petitmorte.net>
wrote:

>On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:59:33 -0800, szilagyic wrote:
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> I have a gravel well which is around 5 years old. Over time we've
>> been experiencing a buildup of IRB (iron reducing bacteria) everywhere
>> in our plumbing, etc. My main concern is that we have a water
>> softener and I'm sure it's caked inside. Is there anything that is
>> non-toxic that I can put with the softener salt so that it will clean
>> out the resin tank with each regeneration cycle? I found a product
>> called "Boresaver Ultra C" but I don't know if it's safe for a water
>> softener. Somebody recommended "Iron Out", but I don't know if this
>> will work or if it's safe??
>>
>> I really appreciate all of the feedback on this...
>>
>> Thank you,
>
>No kind of chemical is safe for potable water.

Not true. Chlorine is used to MAKE water potable.

A common method of sanitizing wells is to dump a bottle of bleach into
the well, let it sit for a day, then pump it through the system until
the bleach smell is gone. This reduces the number of bacteria to a
safer level. Municipal systems do much the same thing twice a year.

Some other general guidelines:
http://www.state.sd.us/DENR/DES/Drinking/disinfection.htm

As for removing iron from water, there are some filters that will do
this.
Try here:
http://www.purestfilters.com/whole_house_system.htm

For potable drinking water that you don't have to worry about, look
for a "Big Berkey" filter system. About the only thing that might
pass through the media is nitrates and nitrites, which pregnant women
should avoid. The up front price is a little steep, but it is a long
term purchase.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: TEPHLON-coated drum
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/f48415e45c510b05?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 12:45 pm
From: The Real Bev

Charles van Blommestein wrote:

> I am wondering how "safe"; if so I am to cook any food with the
> coating of tephlon inside this drum. I know that tephlon is SUPPOSED
> TO provide a non-stick surface. I am just concerned with how SECURE
> this tephlon is coated on the inside of this drum to withstand the
> certain scrubbing I will need to do when I wash (clean) it. And how
> "valuable" will this tephlon coating provide with only the expected
> rice I cook in it?

Why would you need to scrub it? The whole point of the teflon pot is
that you don't need to scrub it to get it clean. I just soak the pot
for a while and then use a scotchbrite cloth to get rid of the debris.

I wouldn't want a non-teflon rice cooker.

--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: FREE child's tableware set -- from Sprout and Mott's for Tots!...
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/c6c315ea7adaea79?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 12:54 pm
From: lightninsurf

http://www.freestuffestore.com/new.html
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with bowl and lid, juice cup, fork, and spoon --
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Free sample Garlic Gold...
Free sample Dr. Hotze PowerPak essential vitamins...
FREE Comedy DVD from Outreach Comedy...
FREE Pledge(R) Multi Surface Wipes sample...

http://www.Sensodyne.com
get your free sample of ProNamel or
Sensodyne Toothpaste.
USA addresses...

http://www.freestuffestore.com/new.html
latest freebies including free samples,
freeware, webmaster freebies and fun,
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wide web. See the download of the day...

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Playing is Free, Fun & Easy!

Have a great day!
Happy freebie hunting!
http://www.FreeStuffeStore.com

==============================================================================
TOPIC: How Will You All Adapt to $4.00 per gallon gasoline?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/27e47bb40833e110?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 1:57 pm
From: Dennis

On Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:49:46 -0500, Shawn Hirn <srhi@comcast.net>
wrote:

>In article <dndrs3tlbqthfqg9d7tc8o9r0j70lnrb70@4ax.com>,
> Dennis <dgw80@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:03:10 -0500, Shawn Hirn <srhi@comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >In article <7isos3lvre6ufcalqkgv16dnbfteg09rft@4ax.com>,
>> > Dennis <dgw80@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> I agree that teachers should be reasonably well paid, but I also think
>> >> that taxpayers should get good value for their money. That means
>> >> abolish the current practices of tenure and advancement based on
>> >> seniority and make it a meritocracy like you see in most successful
>> >> businesses (at least in lower levels).
>> >
>> >How would that work? Remember, the devil is in the details.
>>
>> Um, just like it does in successful businesses. There are plenty of
>> working examples to draw from. (Think high-tech.)
>
>Specifics please.

Sorry, you'll just have to look them up yourself, there are lots of
working examples. I'm not interested in doing your homework for you.
Here, I will get you started with a suggestion -- look into the
environment at Intel.

> Making vague references is silly.

So are strawman tangents like this:

>The error many
>people make in discussing educational reform is they liken K-12
>education to business. That is a mistake. Children in a classroom are
>not economic entities; they and their teachers do not follow economic
>theory. Childhood learning is not a commodity you can trade like oil or
>grain. This is why there are very few for-profit schools. In fact, the
>only school system I know that was publicly traded was delisted.

Complete non-sequitur.

The comparison is between management of employees of public schools
and management of employees of successful businesses. No reason in
the world that both couldn't use the same practices. The students
don't enter into it at all.

Try again.

Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 2:08 pm
From: Dennis

On Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:20:41 -0500, Shawn Hirn <srhi@comcast.net>
wrote:

>In article <v2ers39k68agp8pigf86jfl4k941m9fpfb@4ax.com>,
> Dennis <dgw80@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:02:27 -0500, Shawn Hirn <srhi@comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > That's the problem with the American educational system,
>> >not enough is being invested to hire good teachers, and the
>> >certification process is far too onerous and turns off good people
>> >toward other careers.
>>
>> Agreed, that is one problem. The other is that the deadwood is not
>> pruned like it is in most successful businesses. There are plenty of
>> marginal teachers coasting on the public dime. Thank the unions,
>> mostly.
>
>Unions deserve some credit for sheltering ineffective teachers; however,
>so does the economy. One reason ineffective teachers are not booted out
>of the classroom before they earn tenure is that there is severe glut of
>people willing to go into the teaching professions due to poorly
>competitive pay scales. As a result, many school districts, especially
>in impoverished school districts don't have the budget to attract more
>and better teachers.

Agreed, that is a factor. But when a decision is made to replace an
ineffective teacher, unions make it more difficult to proceed.

I saw a segment on a TV news show that told of a building in a New
York City school district where teachers who have demonstrated such
misconduct that they cannot be allowed around students still go to
work each day. They are paid to do nothing. The school district
can't fire them because of the union.

The term used is "rubber room". Here is one article that references
the issue:

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22870

Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 5:17 pm
From: Marsha

Shawn Hirn wrote:
> In article <fqfslt$67l$3@news.datemas.de>, Marsha <mas@xeb.net> wrote:
>
>
>>George Grapman wrote:
>>
>>>clams_casino wrote:
>>> I have to disagree with your thinking that it is not a full time
>>>job.The hours in the class room are not 40 hours a week x 52 weeks but
>>>you have to look at time on after school meetings and lesson plans.
>>
>>Is it even 40 hrs week x 52 weeks? Even with ongoing education, I don't
>>think it's anywhere near that, with summers off and 2-week Christmas
>>breaks, Spring break, and all the holidays. Are teachers working at all
>>of those times? Is is even an 8-hour day?
>
>
> If this is such a good deal in your community, why don't you get a job
> teaching?

Well that was a bit snarky. It was a simple question, and I still don't
think it adds up to anywhere near most other professions' hours and
benefits. FYI, I'm a bit too old to go back to school. I also don't
like unions, especially the teachers union in this town, which is
basically a bunch of bullies.

Marsha

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 5:51 pm
From: SMS

Al Bundy wrote:

> I spend less on gas now than when it was $2. I cut out driving by
> consolidating trips, biking and walking. The bonus of saving on
> maintenance has been quite noticeable too. It would be hard to go back
> to the old ways. I believe if others conserved, the demand would be
> reduced enough to help prices.

The current price levels have much more to do with the weak dollar than
any supply issues. Every time interest rates are cut the dollar weakens
further, and oil prices (in dollars) go up.

Probably the first thing we need to do is address the $2 trillion dollar
cost of the Iraq war. The deficit spending to finance the war is a big
part of why the economy is doing so poorly. If McCain is elected, things
will only get worse.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Walgreen's printer cart refills
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/951ae5037894005f?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 2:25 pm
From: Al Bundy

On Mar 5, 10:53 am, Ken <kenk6...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Al Bundy <MSfort...@mcpmail.com> wrote in news:21e1138f-bd8d-4fb3-8430-
> f28217d5a...@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com:
>
> > You could shake them when they are new. Their should not be much shake
> > if full.
>
> I don't hear anything, but then my hearing is not very good.
>
> > The best way is to weigh them at the start and finish with a
> > postal scale.
>
> Walgreen ~3.5 oz. full, ~3.2 empty. Nu-Kote (remanufactured) ~5 oz. full.
> I have no new HP cart to weigh. Evidently the Walgreen refill has much
> less ink. But Wal-Mart seems to have quit carrying Nu-Kote and I've not
> seen them elsewhere - like Staples. I'll have to do the math - maybe the
> new HP cart is cheaper than the Walgreen refill. Can't recall the HP 45
> price at Wal-Mart though. Have to check next time I go.
>
> > They are designed to hold 42ml or anything less. I
> > refill mine and can add extra.
>
> I used to refill my own carts before I got this printer but stopped when
> I read cart makers were adding chips to the carts to make them not work
> if refilled. They stopped doing that?
>
> > An empty cart goes around 70g and a
> > full one about 110g roughly. There can be slight differences so
> > weighing the one you have is most accurate. I would say a new one that
> > weighed in at under 100g would be seriously short. I believe HP says
> > over 400 page capacity at 5%.
>
> Wish I had a scale that weighed in grams but this situation is not worth
> buying one specially.
>
> --
> "When you choose the lesser of two evils, always
> remember that it is still an evil." - Max Lerner

If your measurements are accurate, the Wallgreen cart holds 3.5-3.2oz.
or 0.3oz. That converts to 8.5g. of ink. That's only about 20% of the
42ml. that the original HP45 calls for. No wonder they don't have the
guts to print it on the package.
True, newer printers use chipped carts. There are some ways to reset
them and work around it though. I can ride these old printers a long
time and then maybe move to a laser.

I suppose people have even taken things to the post office lobby to
weigh things just in case they wanted to mail them.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: eyeglasses
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/704f1c7f43520862?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 3:50 pm
From: Jim Prescott

In article <fqknsr$43p$1@aioe.org>,
Terryc <newsfourspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote:
>My thoughts were that if I could source lenses, then I could copy the
>prescription. I have my eyes checked almost quarterly. it is just that
>from day to day focal lengths change,so rather than spend $1,000+ on a
>board of eye glasses to cater, I was wonderig if I could roll my own so
>to speak.

zennioptical.com sells complete prescription eyeglasses for as little
as $8. You could order several each with its own prescription. With
multiples of the same frame you could even mix and match.
--
Jim Prescott - Computing and Networking Group jgp@seas.rochester.edu
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Rochester, NY

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 4:34 pm
From: Terryc

Jim Prescott wrote:

> zennioptical.com sells complete prescription eyeglasses for as little
> as $8. You could order several each with its own prescription. With
> multiples of the same frame you could even mix and match.

At that price, worth checking out. Thanks.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: recycling a box just cost me 50c
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/02b68c2ffba451c4?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 4:23 pm
From: val189

On Feb 29, 9:26 am, "OhioGuy" <n...@none.net> wrote:

> What should I have done?

Waste gas and time to go home and repack it in a non priority box,
waste more time for return trip to the PO ...... Or see the reason
behind their policy, pay the 50 cents and chalk it up to experience.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 5:32 pm
From: "Evelyn C. Leeper"

val189 wrote:
> On Feb 29, 9:26 am, "OhioGuy" <n...@none.net> wrote:
>
>> What should I have done?
>
> Waste gas and time to go home and repack it in a non priority box,
> waste more time for return trip to the PO ...... Or see the reason
> behind their policy, pay the 50 cents and chalk it up to experience.

I (and a lot of other people) understand the reason. We just wish there
were some way to be able to re-use the box instead of throwing it out.
Even recycling is a second-best to re-using.

I agree with the previous suggestion: the USPS should just stop giving
boxes away.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Heretic: someone who disagrees with you about
something neither of you knows anything about.

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TOPIC: What's your monthly grocery spending?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/0abb53d245c656d6?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 4:34 pm
From: val189

On Mar 4, 11:01 am, "OhioGuy" <n...@none.net> wrote:
> I just read an article which stated that the average family of 4 here in
> the USA spends $900 a month on groceries, plus
>
> We have a family of 4, and our grocery budget

budget or bills?

is only $180 a month. Until
> last month, it was $160 a month, but we had to raise it a bit because many
> food prices have gone up 20 to 30% in the past year.

You must be eating out 6 days out of 7, and/or your family of 4 is you
and three fleas. You ain't tellin' all.

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TOPIC: Best credit card for international purchases
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/e7989ff39fb02022?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 5 2008 4:53 pm
From: imascot

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:47ceb444$0$36407$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

> There are two types of fees. Visa/MC add their own 1% fee. You can't
> escape this (except perhaps with Capital One). Many banks add their own
> surcharges and fees, and many do not. The difference can be quite large.
>

And American Express charges a 2% fee.

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