Frugal Living: 22 new messages in 8 topics

Saturday, December 29, 2007

22 new messages in 8 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: Please help - I need to get my credit card debt under control
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/072147bbeeb4a6a6?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 3:55 pm
From: rochester@myaddress.rr.com

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful replies - which, unfortunately,
stood out noticeably on both counts from most of the others in this
thread.

I did call the highest-rate card that I have and was able to get the
rate down from 29% to 26%. Not too impressive, but every bit helps.
A few bucks more, on the same monthly payment, will now be trickling
into principal rather than interest.

I agree that this is not a point in my life where I have leverage I'd
like with the card companies. My task now is to go bttw on generating
income and apply it like crazy to the card balances. Never been a
"borrow and spend" person, but have some big digging out to do to
rectify the "borrow and survive" years.

Yes, Dave L, you alone seem to have "gotten it" about my car. It's an
Acura sedan that I bought slightly used and financed for three years.
I'm in sales, and although I deplore the BS about image, having a nice
car when I pull into the visitor lot at a client, or drive someone to
a meeting, is part and parcel of what I do, unfortunately. I'm a
fiend for regular maintenance and I am sure I've got 7+ years left on
the car; it will be long paid-off by the time I get rid of it. Same
with the family van, which was paid off a long time ago.

I'm going to look into bankrate.com. I realize that I'm not the "plum
borrower" a picky lender would snap up in a second, but I also assume
that there are some lenders out there savvy enough to know that 25+
years of very good credit, no missed payments, no defaults, balances
paid in full almost all that time, etc., is worth lending to at a
higher rate than their best customers get, that happens to be a lower
rate than I'm paying now. Not "more credit" but as a means to close
out the existing debt I have.

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 5:51 pm
From: Derald

"Melissa" <nospam@neo.rr.com> wrote:

>troll
>
>I thought I was the only one who thought that.
No, there are at least two of us who think that.
--
Derald

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 10:01 pm
From: "Dave L"

<rochester@myaddress.rr.com> wrote in message
news:ed2bn3pl950gko480karmto9lvnqfqjpup@4ax.com...
> Thanks for the kind and thoughtful replies - which, unfortunately,
> stood out noticeably on both counts from most of the others in this
> thread.

You're welcome!

> I did call the highest-rate card that I have and was able to get the
> rate down from 29% to 26%. Not too impressive, but every bit helps.
> A few bucks more, on the same monthly payment, will now be trickling
> into principal rather than interest.

With that debt, every little bit helps. Did you try to find out what kind
of plan your 4th cc might be able to give? If it's better than your highest
apr card, do it and transfer the balance if possible. You would benefit
from a lower apr and the bank would benefit from the recurring interest.
Although right now, they're getting their $$ from the merchants every time
you use the card.

> I agree that this is not a point in my life where I have leverage I'd
> like with the card companies. My task now is to go bttw on generating
> income and apply it like crazy to the card balances. Never been a
> "borrow and spend" person, but have some big digging out to do to
> rectify the "borrow and survive" years.

Not at the moment but paying the cards off one at a time will start giving
you more leverage. You still have a good FICO score which can work to your
benefit. It's your debt load that hurts right now.

> Yes, Dave L, you alone seem to have "gotten it" about my car. It's an
> Acura sedan that I bought slightly used and financed for three years.
> I'm in sales, and although I deplore the BS about image, having a nice
> car when I pull into the visitor lot at a client, or drive someone to
> a meeting, is part and parcel of what I do, unfortunately. I'm a
> fiend for regular maintenance and I am sure I've got 7+ years left on
> the car; it will be long paid-off by the time I get rid of it. Same
> with the family van, which was paid off a long time ago.

You've got a excellent car which will give years of service with your
regular maintenance. Acura is no slouch! Slightly used and 3 year
financing are both great moves, considering most people probably finance
4-5, and sometimes 6 years on new so they can keep up with the latest and
greatest.

> I'm going to look into bankrate.com. I realize that I'm not the "plum
> borrower" a picky lender would snap up in a second, but I also assume
> that there are some lenders out there savvy enough to know that 25+
> years of very good credit, no missed payments, no defaults, balances
> paid in full almost all that time, etc., is worth lending to at a
> higher rate than their best customers get, that happens to be a lower
> rate than I'm paying now. Not "more credit" but as a means to close
> out the existing debt I have.

Yes, bankrate.com is an excellent site. Suze Orman is a great speaker if
you can catch her on tv. Don't know how much you can pull from her website
but it's http://www.suzeorman.com/.

She has some books you can check out at
the library. You can also check www.myfico.com for tips. If you belong to
a credit union, make sure you check them too. Shop around and use

www.bankrate.com to your advantage!

-Dave

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Cheap survival idea to stay warm?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/b29f75b086954dfc?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 3:55 pm
From: "Lou"

<keithcorn7@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dea64a0d-8dad-447d-beaa-f03785aea80d@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> Hi folks,
>
> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
> inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>
> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
> gas is expensive too.
>
> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
> Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
An electric blanket or maybe better yet, an electric throw. Put it over
your lap when you sit down, and turn it on. Uses little electricity, much
cheaper to buy than the materials for an inside shed, and no effort involved
beyond plugging it in and pressing a switch.

== 2 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 4:19 pm
From: PaPaPeng

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:33:03 -0800 (PST), keithcorn7@gmail.com wrote:

>I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.

1. A reversible ceiling fan will circulate warm air collected on the
ceiling back onto you.

2. What about a ceiling mounted or ceiling height privacy surround
curtain around your work station? Electric space heater only. Avoid
liquid fuel combustion heaters as they generate poisonous exhaust
fumes as well as being a fire hazard. I don't believe any
manufacturer's safety claims.

3. Or an infrared sun lamp playing on your back shoulder region. Warm
shoulders are all I need to feel toasty.

4. There is a 12 volt car seat pad warmer. The trickle charge from a
cary battery charger should set you up. You always can do with a car
battery charger anyway.

5. Make your own chair backrest pouch to hold a hot water rubber
bottle. Padded to hold the heat longer and spread it gently over a
larger body area. Or else as a backpack pouch. While searching for a
hot water bottle alternative in gel pack heaters I found this product
that is worn like a collar around the shoulders.
http://wholebodyhealing.com/wbhealing/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=139&zenid=03d8223d0e34508e4e2d4b42eff61712
Theratherm Small (or neck)
$105.00CDN $83.00CDN
Save: 21% off
7" x 15" - (18 cm x 38 cm)

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
The Theratherm Digital moist heating pad is easier to use than the
other electric heating pads on the market due to its unique digital
hand control. Most competitive units require continuous contact with a
spring-loaded switch to generate and maintain heat from the pad. The
digital controller allows one to set the temperature and time as well
as features a lockout mode to guard against remiss touching of the
controls during treatment.

Looks like this assistive devices category is where you should look.

== 3 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 4:48 pm
From: "J. Davidson"

Thermal underwear.
J. Davidson
Gunner Asch <gunner@NOSPAM.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:r4van3l2hnrgu6a4p6tl9n1d16bivv27mf@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:32:49 -0800, nobody@nowheres.com
> (the_blogologist) wrote:
>
> >Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of
cooling it.
> >>
> >> > Anything I could order thru the Internet?
> >>
> >> Yep, a coolroom.
> >
> >He said CHEAP survival idea to stay warm.
>
>
> Set up his tent in the room, with his desk inside of it.
>
> Looks wierd, but will keep you warm with a small heater or some
> incandescent light bulbs
>
> Gunner
>
>
>
> "Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
> Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
> off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
> them self determination under "play nice" rules.
>
> Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you
> for torturing the cat." Gunner

== 4 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 5:25 pm
From: hot-ham-and-cheese@hotmail.com

On Dec 28, 8:48 pm, "J. Davidson" <fredjacquel...@bellsouth.net>
wrote:
> Thermal underwear.
> J. DavidsonGunner Asch <gun...@NOSPAM.earthlink.net> wrote in message
>
> news:r4van3l2hnrgu6a4p6tl9n1d16bivv27mf@4ax.com...
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:32:49 -0800, nob...@nowheres.com
> > (the_blogologist) wrote:
>
> > >Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of
> cooling it.
>
> > >> > Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> > >> Yep, a coolroom.
>
> > >He said CHEAP survival idea to stay warm.
>
> > Set up his tent in the room, with his desk inside of it.
>
> > Looks wierd, but will keep you warm with a small heater or some
> > incandescent light bulbs
>
> > Gunner

A blanket draped across your back and rest your stocking feet on a
heating pad.

== 5 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 5:31 pm
From: hot-ham-and-cheese@hotmail.com

On Dec 28, 7:13 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
<mmea...@TRASHsonic.net> wrote:
> keithco...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> > building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> > inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> > some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> I also sit at my desk and type, sometimes at any time of the day or
> night, in an older house with bad insulation and cold air convection in
> the winter and have no money on a single-parent budget to do any
> improvements. What I have is a comforter that I bought at a thrift
> store and made into a snug sack:
>
> http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1980-01-01/Snug-and-Warm-in-a-Snug...
>
> Works wonders and is not hard to do. If you are particularly
> hypothyroid and/or cold-blooded like I am (guilty on both counts), find
> something that when you wrap it around you, you feel the heat radiating
> back to you. I actually just have mine mainly held together with safety
> pins until I my cracked rib heals and I can lift my sewing machine onto
> a table to put in the zipper.
>
> --
> Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
> work with excellence.

Are those great big (4 inches) safety pins still available? That
might be useful in a kit.

== 6 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 6:01 pm
From: Winston_Smith

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:33:03 -0800 (PST), keithcorn7@gmail.com wrote:

>Hi folks,
>
>I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
>run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
>inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
>up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
>a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>
>I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
>the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
>gas is expensive too.
>
>I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.

Probably a room with a south wall is a candidate since it will get
some solar heating. Setup your day workshop in your sleeping area.
The body does heat the room somewhat and it's a shame to loose that if
you switch rooms morning and night. If your bedroom isn't where the
best room for heating is, move it. If nothing else just drag the
mattress and put it on the floor.

Instead of plastic on the windows use those cheap metalised plastic
emergency blankets. I've seen them for a dollar or $1.50 at Harbor
Freight some time back. One will do a huge window. They stop drafts
the same as your plain plastic but they also reflect heat back in.
It's a window that gets sun, then them make it so you can put it up
and down. They will make the room awfully dark.

If you stay with plain plastic, put up two layers separated by maybe
half an inch.

Some others have said a tent and I know that works because I've used
it. A small cabin tent should be cheap out of season. It's OK if
it's a used one and it leaks since you are indoors.

Or just use the idea of a tent with expedient material. Improvise
some sort of frame to make a small work room in a room - walls and
ceiling - out of blankets. Go to a thrift store and buy the ugliest
drapes they have for cheap or closeout comforters or just cheap tarps.

Use floor lamps as posts if nothing else, not operating of course. Or
get some threaded pipes and 3 way corner pieces. Or even just
friction fitted PVC if you keep the runs short. Or string some
picture hanging wire from sturdy hooks to hang blankets on - and over.
Or the frame from one of those summer time shade awnings for the yard.

Wear warm socks, several of them, perhaps a heating pad on the floor
under your feet.

Something like 40% of the heat is lost through the top of the head.
Wear some sort of hat. I prefer a watch cap in cold weather.

A couple cats or a large dog supply a lot of body heat.

Good luck. Let us know what you wind up doing.

>I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
>build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
>with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
>Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
>Sincerely,
>Keith

== 7 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 6:10 pm
From: "Stormin Mormon"

Thanks, mate. Glad someone reads my revolving list of reposts.

I'm thinking the guy either needs a partition, for smaller section of room,
more heat, or creative heat sources. Some ideas posted thus far are really
excellent.

Christopher A. Young
.
.

"the_blogologist" <nobody@nowheres.com> wrote in message
news:1i9u2d1.92xi3aoutce7N%nobody@nowheres.com...

Btw, this was from Stormin Mormon about a month ago:

"During the one of the worst years of the horror of the Russian
Revolution, 1920, many people froze and starved to death, even in
their apartments in Moscow. It was a prime lesson on what can happen
here.

"In Moscow, oddly enough, the electricity was still on for most of the
winter, so one tactic was to make a small hut/igloo out of matresses
in the middle of your apartment and then run an electrical cord into
it with a light bulb on it the end to heat up your little hut."

I remember similar stories about Russians building a room in a room, but
I bet you don't want to make that much of a mess. Someone might suspect
cultist type activity ;-D

== 8 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 6:13 pm
From: keithcorn7@gmail.com

On Dec 28, 8:01 pm, Winston_Smith <not_r...@bogus.net> wrote:
> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:33:03 -0800 (PST), keithco...@gmail.com wrote:
> >Hi folks,
>
> >I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
> >run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
> >inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
> >up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
> >a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>
> >I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
> >the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
> >gas is expensive too.
>
> >I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> >building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> >inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> >some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> Probably a room with a south wall is a candidate since it will get
> some solar heating. Setup your day workshop in your sleeping area.
> The body does heat the room somewhat and it's a shame to loose that if
> you switch rooms morning and night. If your bedroom isn't where the
> best room for heating is, move it. If nothing else just drag the
> mattress and put it on the floor.
>
> Instead of plastic on the windows use those cheap metalised plastic
> emergency blankets. I've seen them for a dollar or $1.50 at Harbor
> Freight some time back. One will do a huge window. They stop drafts
> the same as your plain plastic but they also reflect heat back in.
> It's a window that gets sun, then them make it so you can put it up
> and down. They will make the room awfully dark.
>
> If you stay with plain plastic, put up two layers separated by maybe
> half an inch.
>
> Some others have said a tent and I know that works because I've used
> it. A small cabin tent should be cheap out of season. It's OK if
> it's a used one and it leaks since you are indoors.
>
> Or just use the idea of a tent with expedient material. Improvise
> some sort of frame to make a small work room in a room - walls and
> ceiling - out of blankets. Go to a thrift store and buy the ugliest
> drapes they have for cheap or closeout comforters or just cheap tarps.
>
> Use floor lamps as posts if nothing else, not operating of course. Or
> get some threaded pipes and 3 way corner pieces. Or even just
> friction fitted PVC if you keep the runs short. Or string some
> picture hanging wire from sturdy hooks to hang blankets on - and over.
> Or the frame from one of those summer time shade awnings for the yard.
>
> Wear warm socks, several of them, perhaps a heating pad on the floor
> under your feet.
>
> Something like 40% of the heat is lost through the top of the head.
> Wear some sort of hat. I prefer a watch cap in cold weather.
>
> A couple cats or a large dog supply a lot of body heat.
>
> Good luck. Let us know what you wind up doing.
>
> >I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
> >build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
> >with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
> >Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> >Sincerely,
> >Keith

Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it. Probably I
should take you all to bed with me, then it would be really toasty.
(Just kidding.)
I think I will tape off a part of a room with plastic and put just my
desk and bed in that area and have a space heater blowing at me.

For the next year, I will build myself a little lumber stall around my
desk, just for the space heater and my body and will take a warm water
bottle to bed or get married.
I will sew that snugbag that Melinda suggested if I should be still
single next fall. Looks mighty cozy.

;)

Best regards,
Keith Corn

== 9 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 6:29 pm
From: Gunner Asch

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:44:43 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
<cayoung61**spamblock##@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Ceiling fan, to blow some of the heat down?
>
>Tarps from Habor Freight, maybe, to make a smaller section of room?

Fans are indeed the way to go. Ceiling fans or even simple desk fans
placed high and blowing down, pushing the hot air at the ceiling down
to the floor.

Works very well.

Ive made "heat bazookas" out of 12" cardboard tubes, with a fan at
one end pulling the heat down from the ceiling and out vents at the
bottom.

Ganged computer fans will work also, though the noise will drive you
nuts.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

== 10 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 9:20 pm
From: Jeff

Rod Speed wrote:
> keithcorn7@gmail.com wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
>> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
>> inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
>> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
>> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>>
>> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
>> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
>> gas is expensive too.
>>
>> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.

Oh man, I used to work with a blanket wrapped over my head in my 1920
house. Then I started insulating and the improvement is beyond dramatic.

If you can afford ~ $160, buy 20 bags of Cocoon cellulose insulation,
the insulation blower comes free with that amount. Drill one inch holes
in the outside walls (details at http://greenfiber.com/ ) and insulate
the outside wall and add the rest to the attic. Buy a few rolls of R13
(you can get 40 sf for ~$10) fiberglass and insulate under the floor,
you can also stuff it in any windows you don't need. Insulate the rooms
you are living in and that will make a huge difference. This is a two
person job and you would need a friend to get the insulation and blower.

Otherwise try this. Put your desk in an inside corner. Close off that
space with blankets hung from the ceiling (on eyescrews and rope). You
can pin blankets together so they reach to the floor.

In the meantime, search and destroy any air leaks in your house envelope.

Currently, I'm in a 10' x 10' room that I could never heat before. It
was only warm next to the heater, while it was running. I can now keep
that room toasty with an oil filled radiator cycling on low. The cost
of the insulation to do this room was ~ $50. Of course, insulating the
adjacent rooms helps.

You can not heat an uninsulated house.

Jeff

>>
>> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
>> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
>> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>>
>> Do you have any ideas?
>
> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of cooling it.
>
>> Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> Yep, a coolroom.
>
>

== 11 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 9:52 pm
From: Gunner Asch

On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:20:17 -0500, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:

>Rod Speed wrote:
>> keithcorn7@gmail.com wrote:
>>> Hi folks,
>>>
>>> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
>>> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
>>> inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
>>> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
>>> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>>>
>>> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
>>> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
>>> gas is expensive too.
>>>
>>> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>>> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>>> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>>> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> Oh man, I used to work with a blanket wrapped over my head in my 1920
> house. Then I started insulating and the improvement is beyond dramatic.
>
> If you can afford ~ $160, buy 20 bags of Cocoon cellulose insulation,
>the insulation blower comes free with that amount. Drill one inch holes
>in the outside walls (details at http://greenfiber.com/ ) and insulate
>the outside wall and add the rest to the attic. Buy a few rolls of R13
>(you can get 40 sf for ~$10) fiberglass and insulate under the floor,
>you can also stuff it in any windows you don't need. Insulate the rooms
>you are living in and that will make a huge difference. This is a two
>person job and you would need a friend to get the insulation and blower.
>
> Otherwise try this. Put your desk in an inside corner. Close off that
>space with blankets hung from the ceiling (on eyescrews and rope). You
>can pin blankets together so they reach to the floor.
>
> In the meantime, search and destroy any air leaks in your house envelope.
>
> Currently, I'm in a 10' x 10' room that I could never heat before. It
>was only warm next to the heater, while it was running. I can now keep
>that room toasty with an oil filled radiator cycling on low. The cost
>of the insulation to do this room was ~ $50. Of course, insulating the
>adjacent rooms helps.
>
> You can not heat an uninsulated house.
>
> Jeff

Excellent post!

Gunner

>
>
>>>
>>> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
>>> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
>>> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>>>
>>> Do you have any ideas?
>>
>> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of cooling it.
>>
>>> Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>>
>> Yep, a coolroom.
>>
>>

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

== 12 of 12 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 10:05 pm
From: Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply

Lou wrote:
>
> An electric blanket or maybe better yet, an electric throw. Put it over
> your lap when you sit down, and turn it on. Uses little electricity, much
> cheaper to buy than the materials for an inside shed, and no effort involved
> beyond plugging it in and pressing a switch.

Be careful with this. I got some bad burns from an electric blanket
that I never felt until it was too late.

--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Free Hy-Vee Coffee Sample
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/bd2ce67b992066ce?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 4:51 pm
From: "FreebiesPl.us"

Free Hy-Vee Coffee Sample
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==============================================================================
TOPIC: Would you like to learn Chinese
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/28ad229dea2f2318?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 5:55 pm
From: Julia

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TOPIC: AMT ??
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/24c6087a6b1730b9?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 6:41 pm
From:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>
> I don't understand the losers like you who don't realize that the top
> 10% of earners in the US pay about 95% of the taxes.
> It is people like you who don't pay their fair share, and then they
> want tax cuts fir them but not for the people who are actually paying
> the taxes

Huh? How am I not paying "my fair share"? I am self employed and live in NY
(boonies, upstate-horrendously high percentage of tax). I pay $13,000 a
year in taxes between state and federal income plus school and property on a
gross income of $30,000 and a 2 bedroom/1 bath house (1,500 sq) assessed at
$79,000 (full value), that I bought for $45,000 in 1991. How is 43% of my
GROSS income not "paying my fair share"? Are you insane? Maybe if I'd
decided to be a high-school dropout and had kids instead of going to college
and being self-supporting I'd be getting some deductions, ya think? Do you
really think that any of the super rich fork over 43% of THEIR gross income
every year in taxes? I didn't think so. It's not the dollars, it's the
percentage, stupid!!

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 8:36 pm
From: "SpammersDie"

<h> wrote in message news:4775b371$0$16645$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
>>
>> I don't understand the losers like you who don't realize that the top
>> 10% of earners in the US pay about 95% of the taxes.
>> It is people like you who don't pay their fair share, and then they
>> want tax cuts fir them but not for the people who are actually paying
>> the taxes
>
> Huh? How am I not paying "my fair share"? I am self employed and live in
> NY (boonies, upstate-horrendously high percentage of tax). I pay $13,000
> a year in taxes between state and federal income plus school and property
> on a gross income of $30,000 and a 2 bedroom/1 bath house (1,500 sq)
> assessed at $79,000 (full value), that I bought for $45,000 in 1991. How
> is 43% of my GROSS income not "paying my fair share"? Are you insane?
> Maybe if I'd decided to be a high-school dropout and had kids instead of
> going to college and being self-supporting I'd be getting some deductions,
> ya think? Do you really think that any of the super rich fork over 43% of
> THEIR gross income every year in taxes? I didn't think so.
> It's not the dollars, it's the percentage, stupid!!

Why? "Percentages" don't pay the bills. Dollars do. Even if we accept your
unproven assertion that the "super rich" aren't paying anywhere near the
same percentage, they're still contributing far more dollars than you to the
kitty.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: ♀♂buy cheap canvas wholesale price【$150】www.cheapest-sell.cn♂♀
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/8394253fa7600285?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 10:42 pm
From: xiaoshifeng008@gmail.com

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TOPIC: Free Mp3 Songs At WWW.SongsPedia.Com
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/fa9875f77175164b?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 10:53 pm
From: Majestics

Download Free Mp3 Songs, English , Indian And Pakistani At www.songspedia.com

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Cookware & Bakeware
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/1f6b435c47268231?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Dec 28 2007 11:45 pm
From: Richi

Casseroles
Cookware Sets
Fry Pan
Kadhai
Muffin Pans
Others
Pressure Cooker
Pressure Handi
Tawa / Griddle
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==============================================================================

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Saturday, December 29, 2007

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