Frugal Living: misc.consumers.frugal-living - 25 new messages in 13 topics

Monday, February 2, 2009

misc.consumers.frugal-living - 25 new messages in 13 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: the great coffee wars
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/81d399d7a689e8a0?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:01 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

Woody wrote:

> On a different tack: Is it worthwhile to invest in a coffeemaker,

I just drink tap water and beer now.

> or do you get the same bang for your buck from instant?

Nope, real coffee is nothing like instant.

> (Experience tells me that cheap and crappy coffeemaker coffee tastes no better than instant does.)

When I was still drinking coffee, I used one of those cheap espresso things
the italians make that goes on the normal stove. Left instant coffee for dead.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:12 pm
From: Patricia Martin Steward

On Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:24:34 -0500, clams_casino
<PeterGriffin@DrunkinClam.com> wrote:
>Gary Heston wrote:
>>
>>Personally, I can't tell the difference between the
>>coffee at McDonalds or the (free) coffee at work.
>
>Or the hot water tap.

BWAH!

I'm reminded of a line from the movie Baghdad Cafe:
"This is not coffee. This is varm brown vater."

--
January 20, 2009
The end of an error

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Any one here going out of your way for free coffee?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/f9fa62160d926d42?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 5 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:09 pm
From: "Dave"

> > BTW how much is a happy meal? They got a special 2 days a week for
> > $1.39. Don't have kids so don't know the regular price.
>
> Do you have to be a child to buy a happy meal, or can an adult buy one for
> himself?
>
> Woody

Anyone can buy a happy meal. You can be a full-grown adult and order a
happy meal and eat it in the store. McD's doesn't care. A sale is a sale.
If you want to buy a happy meal, they will gladly sell one to you. Every
once in a while my wife will buy a happy meal at McD's as a quick snack. We
have a young son who loves happy meals. But she buys them for herself. Not
my thing, I try to avoid McD.s -Dave

== 2 of 5 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:53 pm
From: "Woody"

"Dave" <noway1@noway2.not> wrote in message
news:gm7qu5$48g$1@news.motzarella.org...
>
>
>> > BTW how much is a happy meal? They got a special 2 days a week for
>> > $1.39. Don't have kids so don't know the regular price.
>>
>> Do you have to be a child to buy a happy meal, or can an adult buy one
>> for
>> himself?
>>
>> Woody
>
> Anyone can buy a happy meal. You can be a full-grown adult and order a
> happy meal and eat it in the store. McD's doesn't care. A sale is a
> sale.
> If you want to buy a happy meal, they will gladly sell one to you. Every
> once in a while my wife will buy a happy meal at McD's as a quick snack.
> We
> have a young son who loves happy meals. But she buys them for herself.
> Not
> my thing, I try to avoid McD.s -Dave

I never feel properly McD'd unless I've had two Big Macs and a large fries.
A happy meal would be a coffee break snack for me. But, then, that's why I'm
5'6" and 203 lbs. :-(

Woody

== 3 of 5 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:36 pm
From: Dave Garland

Woody wrote:

> Do you have to be a child to buy a happy meal, or can an adult buy one for
> himself?

I've got a friend who's a diabetic, and buys the happy mean because
that's about the right portion size. He saves the toys and passes
them on to me to give to my nieces and nephews.

Dave

== 4 of 5 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:53 pm
From: "Dave"

>
> I've got a friend who's a diabetic, and buys the happy mean because
> that's about the right portion size. He saves the toys and passes
> them on to me to give to my nieces and nephews.
>
> Dave

I'm surprised to hear a diabetic eating at McDs. But that is a good point,
the happy meal portion size is about right for a full-grown adult for a
meal. -Dave

== 5 of 5 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:59 pm
From: clams_casino

Dave wrote:

>>>BTW how much is a happy meal? They got a special 2 days a week for
>>>$1.39. Don't have kids so don't know the regular price.
>>>
>>>
>>Do you have to be a child to buy a happy meal, or can an adult buy one for
>>himself?
>>
>>Woody
>>
>>
>
>Anyone can buy a happy meal.
>
>

I've bought a number of them for me, but often times the dollar menu is
a better price, unless you really want that toy.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Sakshat, Tata Nano, then Homes
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/fc4a6e0878fb732e?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:44 pm
From: vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com

India is producing the $1000 car, the Tata Nano.
India is producing the $10 laptop, the Sakshat.

Now India must produce the $10,000 house.

India will save Western Civilisation! In the Succession outlined by
Andrew Roberts and Walter Russell Meade, India will follow America,
England, Britain, Byzantium and Alexander as the heart of
globalisation.

USA returning World War Two soldier needed homes, so sheetrock was
invented. Steel stud housing (the steel is really a c-section of
sheet metal) had began to replace wood studs becauseof New Orleans WW2
termites, but now, after Katrina, the industry really took off. India
can take it further. See links.

http://www.usabldg.com/
http://www.gensteel.com/
http://www.anthemsteel.com
http://www.buysuperstud.com/
http://www.nucorbuildingsystems.com/
http://www.abc26.com/pages/abc26news_completestorylist_landing/?Termites-Threaten-New-Orleans-Levees=1&blockID=106530&feedID=1154

- = -
Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vjp2/vasos.htm
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
[Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Remorse begets zeal] [Windows is for Bimbos]

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 5:43 pm
From: PeterD

On Mon, 2 Feb 2009 22:44:38 +0000 (UTC),
vjp2.at@at.BioStrategist.dot.dot.com wrote:

>India is producing the $1000 car, the Tata Nano.

Bull shit, not in any civilized country they aren't.

>India is producing the $10 laptop, the Sakshat.

More bull...

>
>Now India must produce the $10,000 house.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha... OK, we've had our laugh.

Now go away, troll... (See, I'm not calling him a spammer since his
post is so silly that it isn't spam!)

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Consumer Reports coffee value test
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/ee5c0c1d161da281?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:55 pm
From: "Woody"

Eight O'Clock Coffee's 100% Colombian, at $6.28 a pound, was chosen as
Consumer Reports best coffee buy in their latest study:

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/02/priciest-coffee-isn-t-necessarily-the-best.aspx

There *must* be someone somewhere who disagrees with this; nyet?

Woody

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:18 pm
From: Patricia Martin Steward

On Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:55:31 -0500, "Woody" <email@munged.com> wrote:

>Eight O'Clock Coffee's 100% Colombian, at $6.28 a pound, was chosen as
>Consumer Reports best coffee buy in their latest study:
>
>http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/02/priciest-coffee-isn-t-necessarily-the-best.aspx
>
>There *must* be someone somewhere who disagrees with this; nyet?

GOD, yes. Six dollars a pound? Insanity.

My regular coffee is Melitta Classic. When it goes on sale for $4.99,
I stock up. I just looked at the can, and it's 1 lb. 7 oz.

It's very finely ground, so it makes a strong cup, which is what I
like.
--
January 20, 2009
The end of an error

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:59 pm
From: Derald

"Woody" <email@munged.com> wrote:

>There *must* be someone somewhere who disagrees with this; nyet?
To what purpose?

== 4 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 4:06 pm
From: "Woody"

"Patricia Martin Steward" <patstew@noteranews.com> wrote in message
news:7lveo4t1r93g17n66gkeo8j4qadt14u77u@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:55:31 -0500, "Woody" <email@munged.com> wrote:
>
>>Eight O'Clock Coffee's 100% Colombian, at $6.28 a pound, was chosen as
>>Consumer Reports best coffee buy in their latest study:
>>
>>http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/02/priciest-coffee-isn-t-necessarily-the-best.aspx
>>
>>There *must* be someone somewhere who disagrees with this; nyet?
>
> GOD, yes. Six dollars a pound? Insanity.
>
> My regular coffee is Melitta Classic. When it goes on sale for $4.99,
> I stock up. I just looked at the can, and it's 1 lb. 7 oz.
>
> It's very finely ground, so it makes a strong cup, which is what I
> like.

I think the Consumer Reports recommendation was based on a combination of
price and taste quality, not just price.

On the other hand, taste is kinda subjective.

To quote a random Dungeons & Dragons player, "Beauty is in the eyes of the
Beholder."

Woody

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 4:22 pm
From: SMS

That's quite expensive. If you find a Costco that has a roaster in the
store, 3 pounds of 100% Columbian beans are around $13, available in
different roasts.

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 5:18 pm
From: George

Woody wrote:
> Eight O'Clock Coffee's 100% Colombian, at $6.28 a pound, was chosen as
> Consumer Reports best coffee buy in their latest study:
>
> http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/02/priciest-coffee-isn-t-necessarily-the-best.aspx
>
> There *must* be someone somewhere who disagrees with this; nyet?
>
> Woody
>
>
Been buying it for years (but beans not the pre-ground stuff) and turned
a couple friends onto it when they asked why the coffee tasted so good.
The 2 lb 4 oz bag sells for under $10 at the large local family owned
market where we buy most of our stuff.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: The IRS, viabilty and the perfection of no resistance
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/bec600159a8cbc04?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:58 pm
From: albundy2@mailinator.com

On Jan 30, 8:02 am, phil scott <p...@philscott.net> wrote:
> There is no lasting economic or other viability without a moral/
> ethical base...
>
> debunkable as merely a respect for Life generally, and humanity,
> including oneself (not to be mistaken for blind arrogance, thats
> fatal)...
>
> A prerequisite to morality and ethics however is intelligence,
> Intelligence only occurs with abject honesty.
>
> Stepping though that in reverse, beginning with abject honesty, you
> can bail yourself out of a degraded condition.... pay your karmic and
> other debts and be graciously viable... (takes decades in my
> experience) ....Yer girl friend catching fish for you off the poop
> deck as you panay them in the galley...
>
> with a few hundred yards between you and the vicious morons working
> for the IRS... who are now forced to give up globally .... btw....
> their ruthlessness had indeed produced their desired result, no
> resistance,,, in fact the perfection of no resistance, death,
>
> smart those folk.
>
> no money honey, and their attempts to collect from the collapsing
> economy merely destroying the last viable vestigages of their own
> interests, their own personal sit on their ass 'job' ..... and their
> own sit on their ass retirements....total wastes to the end.
>
> . pooooof.
>
> we had been discussing this eventuality for a while you know.
>
> Phil scott

The IRS never give up. They will find a way to tax poverty. Negative
interest rates might be coming. Tom Vu will return to Vietnam rather
than pay up. Even Obama appointees are now paying taxes.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: glennsacks.com: "In the UK You Can't Sue For Paternity Fraud" (plus
some GOOD news)
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/d491bf5fd66821a6?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:58 pm
From: lenona321@yahoo.com

On Feb 1, 7:39 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:

> > albeit rarely.
>
> Not that rarely now that DNA allows incontrovertible proof of paternity.
>
> > So why in this case? What distinguishes it from other cases of paternity fraud?
>
> The circumstances, just like with every legal ruling.

Unfortunately, "circumstances" don't necessarily help the man. See
this (you may not believe it, but Reason Magazine is pretty reliable).

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29035.html

Since this is from 2004 (I read it about 2 years ago) I don't
understand why it showed up in Google News just over three weeks ago,
on Jan. 12th. (I was searching on "paternity fraud" when I
rediscovered it.)

In a nutshell, it tells the story of California's Tony Pierce, who got
targeted for child support by a woman who knew perfectly well she'd
never even met him - and the courts didn't care what Pierce's DNA test
said. Apparently, the courts' attitude is pretty common, even if women
like that aren't. The reason? Quote:

Once paternity is "established," even if the government has never
communicated with the father, the county court imposes a payment rate
and schedule under the statistically mistaken assumption that he makes
a full-time salary at minimum wage. (State audits have found that a
full 80 percent of default dads don't make even that much.) To collect
the money, the county may put a garnish order on the purported
father's paycheck or place liens on his assets. If the mother has
received welfare assistance after the child was born, the man will be
hit with a bill to pay back the state, plus 10 percent annual
interest. "That's what they're trying to do, is get some reimbursement
to the state," says Carolyn Kelly, public relations officer for the
Contra Costa County DCSS. "As you can imagine, [that's] millions and
millions and millions and millions of dollars."

(end)

>
> > Apparently the mother, Jamie Hope and the biological father Oba
> > Wallace, knew or strongly suspected the child was Wallace's from the
> > time it was two years old. Nevertheless, when Hope filed an action to
> > collect child support from Samuels, she unequivocally named him as the
> > father. That's what Judge Roper didn't like; he said it constituted fraud
> > and obligated her to repay Samuels. (Of course Wallace never made any
> > such claim in court, so why he should have to pay Samuels isn't clear.)
>
> It aint just about claims.

Glad you think so, but, assuming the real father didn't want a child,
Franklin and other MRAs (men's rights activists) have an unfortunate
tendency to lump unwilling fathers together with men who were never
biological fathers at all, as if they both deserved complete sympathy.
(Of course, we're not talking about adoptive fathers here.) Maybe
Franklin was saying that since the crime lies with the mother, she
should be paying for everything. However, the biological father SHOULD
have been supporting his child, so why not try to ensure the child
doesn't suffer, as she would if the mother had to make all the
payments to Samuels?

Lenona.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Wall St. Journal: On saving on phone service and cable
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/159cdc61827d4f54?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:02 pm
From: lenona321@yahoo.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310097165622001.html

Granted, this article isn't exactly aimed at people who are truly
struggling, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Lenona.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: the electronic cigarette: a good buy?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/424be27492308245?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 2:25 pm
From: Coffee's For Closers

In article <owIhl.183120$9i5.11073@en-nntp-07.dc1.easynews.com>,
email@munged.com says...
> This is obviously addressed to smokers. Anti-smoking Nazis wishing to preach
> on the evils of smoking are free to reply in another thread, preferably with
> the header "I'm an anti-smoking Nazi."
>
> I'm wondering if electronic cigarettes are a good buy. Up here cigarettes
> are quite expensive, plus you can't smoke indoors almost anywhere. If you
> use an electronic cigarette, has there been a problem with you smoking it
> on, for example, a long bus ride?

They might get kind of expensive if you are one of those smokers
who automatically flicks/drops/tosses the butt, as a reflexive
part of the smoking ritual.

Those types remind me of monkeys flinging turds.

--
Want Privacy?
http://www.MinistryOfPrivacy.com/

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Reason Magazine: "Americans Are Saving More...As if Things Weren't Bad
Enough"
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/4385a9b919271f2e?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 3:21 pm
From: lenona321@yahoo.com

Yes, the headline is tongue-in-cheek.

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/131449.html

By Jacob Sullum.

First paragraph:

"In November I noted how the recession has turned standard economic
wisdom on its head, so that formerly good things, such as frugality,
are bemoaned, while formerly bad things, such as unconstrained
borrowing and spending, are recalled with nostalgia. The New York
Times has a good example today, treating an increased saving rate as
bad news.....

(snip)

.......Not until the 11th paragraph are we obliquely reminded that
economists used to complain about how terrible Americans were at
saving money, preferring instant gratification even when they couldn't
afford it, thereby reducing the availability of capital so that the
U.S. economy (and government) became dangerously dependent on foreign
investors....."

And here's his November article:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/130142.html

BTW, Sullum is the author of "Saying Yes." From the back cover:

"Jacob Sullum has produced a thoughtful, sane, and logical analysis of
our drug laws. Is that even LEGAL?"
-- Dave Barry.

"I've never used a recreational drug (or even had a sip of alcohol) in
my life, but Jacob Sullum makes a great case to stop the drug wars. He
exposes the tricks of the drug warriors, who scam the crowd with
huckster patter about magical substances that force people to do
evil."
- Penn Jillette, the larger, louder half of Penn & Teller

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585423181/reasonmagazineA/

Lenona.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: truth in advertising
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/3dde73ec7dbfb978?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 4:11 pm
From: "Woody"

TV ad by a local furniture chain: "We've demanded lower prices from our
suppliers to save you money!"

Heh. As if. More like, "We'd love to charge you higher prices but then you
won't buy, so we demanded lower prices from our suppliers in order to match
the prices our competitors down the street charge so we can try to drive
them out of business, and we still get to keep our profit margin."

I've heard people can get arrested and flung in gaol for lying in an
advertisement. Any lawyers out there wanna take on this case pro bono?

Woody

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 6:35 pm
From: albundy2@mailinator.com

On Feb 2, 7:11 pm, "Woody" <em...@munged.com> wrote:
> TV ad by a local furniture chain: "We've demanded lower prices from our
> suppliers to save you money!"
>
> Heh. As if. More like, "We'd love to charge you higher prices but then you
> won't buy, so we demanded lower prices from our suppliers in order to match
> the prices our competitors down the street charge so we can try to drive
> them out of business, and we still get to keep our profit margin."
>
> I've heard people can get arrested and flung in gaol for lying in an
> advertisement. Any lawyers out there wanna take on this case pro bono?
>
> Woody

The courts have pretty much ruled that you can say almost anything in
an ad. The wording is too subjective to pin them down. Even when the
claims are egregious, they often only have to cease and desist from
that particular add. I always like the Grapefruit 45 ads where you
were supposed to lost weight while you slept. The acid in the fruit
burned off the fat. Of course sleeping instead of eating all night
helps lose weight too.
My local food chain has an add very similar to that furniture ad of
yours. About the only cheap thing they sell is milk for some reason,
and a quality brand at that. I went in today just for milk and it was
$1.79 a gallon. I joked with the clerk that they were giving it away.
He pointed to the small print that said you had to purchase $10 to get
that price. Well, I wanted the milk regardless and went to the self
scanner. Low and behold, it gave me the $1.79 price for the single
purchase.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: 2.5 million Americans lost jobs - ObaMa0 hires 1.5 million foreigners
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/62b42e3e14d96437?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 5:07 pm
From: hpope@lycos.com

On Feb 2, 5:35 pm, obamao.sux.donki.dix...@gmail.com wrote:
> 2.5 million Americans lost jobs - ObaMa0 hires 1.5 million foreigners
>
> http://www.numbersusa.com/content/resources/video/commercials/elevato...

Ain't it wonderful?

mitch

==============================================================================
TOPIC: It's Not Going to Be OK
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/cc41abba01c2e475?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 30 2009 5:28 pm
From: josejarvie@ssnet.net

Published on Monday, February 2, 2009 by TruthDig.com

It's Not Going to Be OK
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090202_its_not_going_to_be_ok/

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Ping SMS: What abt this?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/t/8f8f2807aa1f8064?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 2 2009 6:01 pm
From: me@privacy.net

If wanting a "data" plan yet not wanting a contract
what abt this? Read link

http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000430&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News

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Monday, February 2, 2009

misc.consumers.frugal-living - 25 new messages in 13 topics - digest

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