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Category Archives: Frugal Living
Replacing Hood Release Cable on a 2003 Saturn Ion
Just a quick note on this one. We have an old Saturn with 155,000+ miles on it. Things are at the stage where lots of stuff is starting to break (exhaust, front brakes, starter) and need repairs, but it still … Continue reading
Posted in Automobile, DIY, Frugal Living, Handyman
Tagged Cable, Hood Release, Ion, Saturn
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DIY Crock Pot Sous Vide System
On a visit to some friends I became aware of the whole topic of Sous Vide “under vacuum” (SV) cooking, the concept of using a controlled water bath to cook food (particularly meats) at low(er) temperatures for more consistent and … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, DIY, Frugal Living, Handyman, Sous Vide
Tagged 1-Wire, Arduino, DIY, hack, WebControl PLC
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Hack: Recycled Scrubbies!
We love to save money and the environment. Aways great when you can get a two-fer, and here’s one! Do you need non-scratching scrubbing pads for cleaning around the house? Did you know that the woven plastic netting from vegetable … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Frugal Living
Tagged BBQ, Food, Free, hack, onion bag, scrubbies, scrubby
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Spicing Up Your Dance Collection with Pepperplate
In this post I will lay out some history of how I have managed my dance collection and what I am currently exploring as a way to greatly simplify the work of building and maintaining that collection and making it … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Contra, Dance, DIY, Frugal Living, Linux, Recipes, Windows
Tagged caller, dance cards, dance leader, Pepperplate, software
2 Comments
Better Than a Rooftop Box – Take 2
After a bit of a delay I finally got around to finish painting the trailer begun some time ago. I think it has turned out really well but is eggregiously over-engineered – hence it has a new acronym-derived nickname: MOET … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Frugal Living, Trailer, Travel
Tagged cargo trailer, rooftop box, travel trailer, utility trailer
5 Comments
Autumn Olive – Crab Apple Jam
I’ve become a little bit crazy about foraging for unloved natural foods available nearby. For a little over a year following a class given by Russ Cohen, we tried to find Autumn Olive (AO) in our area, checking out just … Continue reading
Posted in Foraging, Recipes
Tagged autumn olive, canning, coconut oil, crab apple, crabapple, invasives, jam, jelly, natural set, preserving
6 Comments
Unlimited Home Phone Service for Under $3/Month
UPDATE JUN 2015: We’re now two years in and the Anveo solution has been working great. We added an 888 toll-free number for emergency calls to home and to give out for other purposes. SPAM callers are routinely added to … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Frugal Living, Web Architecture
Tagged Galaxyvoice, Google Apps, google voice, Phone Service, SIP, VOIP
4 Comments
Silencing a Harbor Freight Item 93575 Safe
Harbor Freight sells a pretty decent safe for secure storage of selected items in the home, their item number 93575. With the right discount coupon the cost was about $24, just a couple of dollars more than their smaller safe … Continue reading
Motley Fool: Immoral or Incompetent?
I have to say I feel quite let down. When I first started investing to save for my retirement (quite some time ago) I came across material from the Gardiner brothers, a.k.a. the “Motley Fools”. The information was funny and … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Frugal Living, Investing
Tagged email, hack, immoral, incompetency, incompetent, investment, motley fool, motleyfool, SPAM
12 Comments
Password and Files Encryption/Sync/Backup: Gettin ‘er Done!
One of my to-do list items for quite some time now has been to get my computer files organized and to set up automated backup and synchronization across my computing devices. I’d kept putting this one off because I wanted … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Debian, Frugal Living, Linux, Mint
Tagged eeepc, encryption, LastPass, Linux, Linux Mint, LMDE, Password, security, SpiderOak, Sync, synchronization, TrueCrypt
2 Comments
Palm GnuKeyring Conversion to KeepassX
I was a very early user of the original PalmPilot device. Way back when I actually had the PalmPersonal syncing with my ’90s era Sun Microsystems SPARCstation 4 work calendar and email, etc. I eventually moved on to a Treo90 … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Debian, Frugal Living, Linux, Mint
Tagged Keepass, KeepassX, Linux, Linux Mint, Password, Sync
2 Comments
Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) on an Asus EeePC 1000HA
I’m a long time user of UNIX-based computers and have been using Linux exclusively for my primary computing for close to 10 years now. For the past couple of years Linux Mint has become my favorite distribution for desktop and … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Debian, Frugal Living, Linux, Mint
Tagged Aurora, battery life, Eeebuntu, eeepc, Jupiter Applet, Linux Mint, Power Saving, Ubuntu
4 Comments
Better than a rooftop box, and roomier too!
I’m one half of a “new parents” team focused on our little daughter. Wow, kids require so much stuff! So, we were planning an extended car trip and I knew we were not going to be able to comfortably fit … Continue reading
Posted in DIY, Frugal Living, Handyman, Trailer, Travel
Tagged 90153, enclosed, harbor freight, led, trailer
3 Comments
Linux Mint 11 (was Debian/Xfce) on a HP Pavilion ze4600
My brother’s Win XP laptop died. He has limited computer needs, really just needs to use some web applications like Facebook, Yahoo mail, Hulu and Youtube. In the past he has had significant virus issues under Windows and I’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in Computer, Frugal Living, Linux, Mint, Ubuntu
Tagged LMDE Debian HP Laptop Xfce
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One Year of Mobile Phone Service for ~$120, with New Phone!
Yes, I’m frugal. Not so much when I’m giving a gift to someone else, but otherwise I really like getting only what I need for what I want to pay or less. So I grew disenchanted with standard monthly mobile … Continue reading
Posted in Frugal Living
Tagged cell phone, cheap phone service, google voice, great value, lg500g, number porting, tracfone
2 Comments
Reviving “Dead” NiMH Batteries
I prefer to use rechargeable batteries whenever possible. Recently I noticed that several of our AA cells were being reported as dead (“null” when inserted) by the charger. Some of them were rather new, so I was a bit miffed … Continue reading
A Frugal Shopper’s Bonus: Ebates
One of the earliest sites I joined on the internet was this one, way back in 2002 – wow, 2002! Seems like things have changed so much, so quickly! OK, back to the real point of this post. I’m frugal, … Continue reading
Posted in Customer, Frugal Living
Tagged Cash Back, EBates, Frugal, Rebate, Savings, Website
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Contra Dance Calling Log
Update 1/1/2019: This post is no longer maintained and now well out of date as I’ve been calling and leading dancing regularly for over a decade now. I lead contra dances at regular series about New England and also in … Continue reading
Posted in Contra, Dance, Frugal Living, Historic, Non-Profits
Tagged Concord Scout House, contra, contra dance calling, Dance
2 Comments