Cash Only Living

Prices Are Seriously Out of Control!

2026-10-13T14:56:47.327-07:00

I don't go shopping (except for food) very often so imagine my shock when I saw these prices when I went to Target yesterday...

$22.49 for NyQuil??? Let's hope we don't get sick this winter!

And $14.99 for some Benadryl tablets???

Body wash for $9.99?? (not even a big bottle!)

And some sort of lip gloss for $10?!?

Since when are batteries this expensive? (I bought some rechargeable ones that we use now)

Then there are these tiny, single serving bags of Doritos for $2.79...that's highway robbery!

Weather and Other Stuff

2026-09-30T11:13:25.897-07:00

This month has just flown by! Work is still fine (but I definitely need to start thinking about retirement), gas prices (along with everything else!) are insane, and the weather was pretty stormy for a few days which was a nice change!

Quick Update

2026-09-05T09:29:35.744-07:00

It's been a busy couple weeks as we move into fall...

We are enjoying the lower temperatures (yes we can actually feel the difference between 110 degrees and 95 degrees!).
Work is still in some ways a PITA. There are several old guys on our team that are one annoyance away from retiring with a few day's notice...I am probably right behind them!
Prices on everything continue to rise. Our food stockpile is bursting at the seams so we don't want to buy much more (we don't want to waste it because it expires before we can eat it).
We look forward to getting outside and doing more activities in the fall since we have been practically home-bound all summer.
It may storm tomorrow (I love storms in the desert!).
Monday is Labor Day. There are lots of sales but at this point, we literally don't need a single thing.
The feral cats are still cute as ever...

!0 Things from This Week

2026-08-25T14:46:57.163-07:00

In no particular order...

I cant believe it is almost September! This year has flown by!
RIP Dolly Parton. I knew she had been sick but like other larger-than-life cultural icons, you never think they will actually die. :(
Our sunrises are as pretty as our sunsets!
Exactly half of our lemon tree is suddenly dead, no idea why :(
We replaced all of the carpet upstairs with vinyl plank flooring last week (we did the downstairs a couple years ago). It should be cooler and easier to clean--not to mention it won't collect dust and dirt like carpet--but it takes a bit of getting used to on our feet. Also, hubby and I determined we are way too old and frail to be moving furniture these days.
According to my work email (and meetings...and fire app), most of the west is on fire! eeekkk
Speaking of disasters, September is National Preparedness Month. Here is a great daily calendar of preparedness tasks everyone should complete for the month.
I can't believe that everywhere we go there is wall-to-wall Halloween advertising--the holiday is still a full two months away!
Here is an interesting 'Almost Tariff-Proof' Grocery Guide.
I'm thinking about retiring. I love my job so I am not in a hurry to retire but it suddenly dawned on me that I am nearing retirement age (how did that happen??? It seems like I was just 40 a year or so ago!). So I guess making a graceful exit from the world of work is something I should start planning for.

50 Items for Your Evacuation Bag

2026-08-09T11:46:57.240-07:00

It's been a scary (and busy) couple of weeks in Eastern Washington state. With wildfires, mandatory evacuations, and permanent displacement for hundreds of people, this is a good reminder that everyone should be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Here are 50 items that should be in your evacuation bag/vehicle:

Case of water
Cash/credit cards
ALL of your prescription medications (if your house burns down, it can be difficult to get replacement refills)
Laptop/charging cord
Cell phone/charging cord
Important documents (passports, birth certificates, marriage/divorce/military/immigration docs, etc)
All of your files backed up on a thumb drive
Copies of financial/insurance/other important records
A paper map of your city/state
A video tour of your entire home for insurance purposes
Any irreplaceable heirlooms
Jewelry
Firearms/ammo/holster/pepper spray
Pets/carrier/leash/food/meds/water bowl, etc
Shoes/couple of changes of clothes for each family member
Toiletry kit for each family member/makeup/sunglasses
A bag of snacks and easy to prepare food/MREs/etc
Can opener/utensils, plate and bowl for each person
Insulated cooler
Wet Wipes/hand sanitizer
Kleenex/paper towels
Ziploc bags
Notebook and pen/envelope for receipts
Camping gear (sleeping bags, tent, cooking gear, mess kits, water purifier, etc)
Necessary health aids: dentures/hearing aids and charger/cane/wheel chair/glasses/contacts/etc
Stuff for infant/baby/toddler if applicable (diapers, wipes, bottles, food, formula, favorite toys, etc)
Stuff for elderly or infirm family members (diapers, CPAP, feminine hygiene products, etc)
Throw blankets
Weather appropriate clothing (coat, hat, gloves in the winter)
Tablets for each family member with pre-loaded books, movies, games, etc
Headphones or earbuds for each family member
Battery banks to recharge phones
Portable battery bank and solar panel kit
Battery box jumper for car battery
Portable air compressor for tires
Other entertainment options: coloring books/crayons, puzzle books, playing cards, etc
Small AM/FM radio/extra batteries
First aid kit/sunscreen/bug spray/umbrella
Vehicle emergency kit
Flashlights/extra batteries
Portable toilet kit/wag bags
PPEs (nitrile gloves, N95 masks, goggles, leather work gloves, etc)
Basic tool kit (hammer, pliers, wrench, screwdrivers, etc)
Spare tire/jack
Fire extinguisher
Signal material (flares, whistle, etc)
Specialized radios: NOAA weather, HAM radio
Compass
Knife and/or multi tool
Other: paracord, duct tape, tarp, zipties, sewing kit, matches

10 Things from This Week

2026-08-07T14:32:54.670-07:00

It's been a busy week!

It is still hot here (around 110 degrees everyday) and our source of water (Lake Mead) has hit its lowest point ever. eeekkk
Of course our sunrises and sunsets are still beautiful!
We saw this clever idea on TV so I bought a cheap plastic shoe holder on Amazon and hubby organized it perfectly.
I also bought this very small, very cute vacuum on Amazon and was surprised at how well it works! It seems to work as well as the Dyson we tried for a fraction of the price plus it has a cord so I don't have to charge the battery every half hour.
EVERYTHING at the grocery store has increased in price. We only bought loss leaders today (a big tub of coffee was half off at only $10,99) but we skipped the hamburger all together (the price was shocking high...for hamburger. Ugh).
Half of the state of Washington seems to be on fire. I thought August would be quiet for work but, because of the fire response, we are having meetings everyday even on Sundays!
The stores were packed today. I forgot that kids in Las Vegas go back to school on Monday.
AI keeps escaping its set boundaries. Scary when you think about the possibilities.
A reminder to occasionally check for unclaimed property and class action lawsuits.
I love bucket lists. Here are a bunch of great bucket list ideas for fall.

Scam Averted?

2026-08-03T15:48:22.251-07:00

There are so many scams going around these days! I think we barely avoided becoming a victim of fraud today and it was all my fault (and I knew better!).

I checked my email today and got an email from Netflix saying that hubby's credit card on the account expired and we needed to add a new card for payment. Stupidly, I clicked the link in the email and entered the new card info and the second I hit 'submit' I thought "something is not right here". While it was true that hubby's card had expired (he had just got the new card in the mail), I did several things wrong...

#1, never click through a link in an email to enter personal information. Close out the email, go online to the business website, and provide the information that way.

#2, even though the email looks legit, it may not be. This scam email said Netflix Service but other email from Netflix just says 'Netflix'.

#3, click on the email name and check it out. When I clicked on the email name 'Netflix Service' it showed the email link as some woman's name @ hotrod something .com. Definitely not Netflix.

#4, when in doubt, Google and see if this is a scam. Apparently it is and there was even a reddit thread about this exact scam.

So after a moment of panic, I closed the email and "account" I had logged into and called the bank immediately. We had the bank cancel and reissue the card with a new number and cancel any pending charges. Then I logged into our Netflix account and changed the password then logged out (I entered the email and password through the email link so not only did the scammer get the credit card info, they got the Netflix user name and password). Next I logged into the account with the new password and put in a new credit card for them to charge.

Whew! I hoped that fixed any potential scam we could have become a victim of but we will definitely be watching our credit card accounts in the next couple of weeks. I have all of my credit reports frozen to avoid fraud so we will be freezing hubby's credit reports as well. I also haven't pulled our free annual credit reports in quite a while so I will do that too. Aaarrggg

Some Random Pictures

2026-07-28T09:00:40.432-07:00

I finally took an OK picture of the moon...

Our evening skies are beautiful...

Our feral cat is hot (but won't venture into our house where it is much cooler)...

Free Books!

2026-07-24T15:51:11.651-07:00

We were at the military base yesterday and I saw a cart labeled 'free books'. I am now the happy owner of two new (to me) free books! On a side note, I noticed that when we went to the Goodwill earlier this week people were buying up the DVD movies like crazy (myself included!).

10 Tech Things

2026-07-22T13:39:14.918-07:00

I have always loved tech but these days. the invasive surveillance by big tech companies is seriously getting out of hand. My tech set up these days to avoid the surveillance-industrial complex...

I bought a Pixel 9a and "deGoogled" it (yes there is some irony there) by installing Graphene OS. It's a pretty simple process which is outlined on this YouTube channel.
This phone does not take the best pictures so I do have a Galaxy S26 Ultra with no sim card in it that I use for quality photos and videos. I would prefer a point-and-shoot camera but the cost for these once cheap cameras has increased by 500% over the past 20 years!
I use Mint mobile for my cell carrier due to their cheap $15 per month plan. For more secure calling here is an option. My life is quite boring so no super secret squirrel calls or texts for me, just a bunch of boring texts and calls between me and hubby and me and a few friends.
I have several laptops, one with Windows 11 for work-only stuff, one with Windows 10 which I use occasionally because it has old versions of MS Office and Adobe Photoshop on it, and two that I changed the operating systems to Linux Mint, a more privacy-focused operating system. There are lots of videos on how to do this on YouTube.
I also use privacy-respecting browsers (Brave, Firefox, Vanadium), free and open-source software (LibreOffice, VLC, Handbrake, etc), and secure apps (Signal, Organic Maps, etc).
I have gone old-school for some work things such as using a paper calendar book, a paper and pen for writing notes, and phone calls when needed (more secure than email).
And I am going more old-school for my entertainment options too. Hubby loves Netflix (way too much tracking) but I prefer over-the-air antenna for my dumb TV, books and DVDs from the Goodwill instead of reading everything on a Kindle, and listening to the radio instead of streaming music.
Other entertainment options I have tried include HAM radio, paper books of crossword and find-a-word puzzles, going outside and taking a walk, playing darts, jigsaw puzzles, and I am thinking about getting a metal detector.
I have pretty much closed all of my social media accounts (reddit, X, Instagram), but still have Facebook to keep in touch with the kids and grandkids (although I am looking for a way to delete this account as well).
While I would need to be a hermit to avoid all tracking, I am making small changes, like paying cash instead of credit card sometimes, writing letters (I have a few friends that still like to write letters), and having in-person conversations with friends.

10 Random Things

2026-07-21T14:25:11.982-07:00

In no particular order...

So much eagle drama. It is fascinating to watch the eagles hatch then eventually fly on the Big Bear eagle cam. This season included an accidental fledge when one eaglet fell out of the nest and the mom eagle being found injured a couple days ago.
And so much bear drama on the live bear cams.
Here is a coupon for Great Clips.
And here is a warning about surveillance pricing.
Here are three ways the world's population may be annihilated (one, two, three).
Flock cameras are all over the news this week.
I was shopping at Walmart and not only did it offer to take the payment from my credit card cash rewards (?!?) but I also got an email survey about my shopping experience (I never provided my email address to Walmart). This constant digital surveillance is distressing!
As of yesterday people can no longer access old.reddit (I closed my reddit account a few years ago but still like to read through threads without being logged in). I can still access regular reddit.com but their new layout is atrocious.
I saw this video on YouTube and now I am worried about my later years...so many things to consider as you age!
Finally, I just love these kind of old photos!

10 Summer Money Saving Tips

2026-07-10T15:44:40.582-07:00

Our favorite Mexican place has either acquired some new decor or they are already decorating for Halloween! Here are some quick, money-saving tips...

Stock up on stamps before the price increases on Sunday.
I just checked the Target ad for next week and they have some steep discounts on school supplies. Now would be a great time for parents to start stocking up on these items.
Ditto early school clothes shopping by hitting up thrift stores, garage sales, checking the sale racks at Walmart and Ross, etc. For new items like shoes, socks, etc, I like sierra.com
July is also the time to sign up for/plan to attend free school supply events (here is an example for my local area) for families in need.
If I was single (it's hard for a family to do this) and broke, I would get rid of my car and buy a $60 monthly bus pass. You can't even buy a tank of gas for $60 these days!
Now is a great time to forage for wild black berries, huckleberries, etc. We went to a casino yesterday that grows champagne grapes and their grapes were ready to pick! Here are other things to forage for in the summer.
If you are looking for free or inexpensive ways to keep your kids busy for the rest of the summer, here are a bunch of ideas.
One of the best places for kids in our area is the library! Our library system offers free meals, movies, activities, events, etc. for kids all summer long.
If you are looking for last-minute vacation ideas, Kayak Explore lets you search a map of the US and world by cheap airline prices.
If you can't afford a new computer for your kids (memory prices are sky high these days), consider rehabbing an old or used laptop by installing Linux. It's easy, free, and better than Windows IMHO. Plus it includes a bunch of free software like LibreOffice, VLC, etc.

Happy 4th of July!

2026-07-04T14:30:35.251-07:00

I wish you all a happy and safe 4th of July! FYI, I used Gemini AI to create the above picture. I said 'please make me a picture of a flag with 1776-2026 to celebrate the 4th of July'. It took about 30 seconds for it to generate the picture. I said 'thank you that's perfect', and it answered back 'you are welcome, please have a happy and safe 4th of July'. It's a tad bit eerie that this is just the beginning of AI yet it can take a basic command and come up with this photo plus it wished me a happy holiday. eeekkk

Grocery Prices eeekkk

2026-07-03T16:04:35.384-07:00

Food prices are out of control! Yesterday was the first time we went into a restaurant for lunch (our favorite Hawaiian place), saw the updated prices ($19.95 for one plate lunch) then turned around and left. For a basic lunch of rice, macaroni salad, three shrimp, a small fried fish, and a small portion of kalbi, I will make it myself for a quarter of the price. Then we did our usual weekly grocery shopping trip today and again, I was shocked at how expensive many things were (that single USA balloon was $18.99 and the bags of chips were half the usual size!)...

10 Happy Things

2026-06-26T16:58:40.654-07:00

In no particular order...

Gracie the missing giraffe has been found!
This website will link you to programs that will pay you to move to a new location.
And this program will pay you to collect pythons!
Obligatory cute cat pictures.
Here are a bunch of 4th of July freebies and deals.
We just got our annual house insurance bill and it only went up $10 over last year (I was expecting a double digit increase!).
I avoided buying anything from the Amazon Prime Days sale (although I was certainly tempted to buy several things!).
The live bear cams are now up (although I have yet to see any bears...).
I'm loving all of the positive videos from the World Cup visitors.
Finally, here are some cool and useful charts.

10 Things I'm Worrying About Today

2026-06-24T18:58:02.770-07:00

In no particular order...

Three big earthquakes within a few hours...eeekkk
Our ridiculously corrupt government (examples here, here, and here).
And even more surveillance on the horizon.
People sweltering in the European heatwave.
And people being so callous to others in need.
Inflation increasing (yet there is non-stop coverage of Amazon Prime Days sales).
Wildfires happening all over the west.
AI problems (data centers, taking jobs, taking over)
But wait...there's more!
And private equity buying up...everything.

Obviously I need a news fast...

AI AI Oh!

2026-06-22T18:51:53.277-07:00

So AI is taking over...everything. On the one hand I am old and like using my brain, but on the other hand, using it saves me So. Much. Time. Aside from the obvious AI slop that is all over YouTube, there are so many ways to use this new technology...

When Chat GPT was first released, I didn't really have a use for it but I told it to write me a song in the style of Kanye West (he may be a creeper but he is a talented songwriter). Within seconds it produced better lyrics than Kanye could and I was shocked!
Then I had a PDF document that I couldn't un-PDF and faced the task of typing out an entire document so I could rearrange it. In desperation I uploaded it to Gemini AI and it printed out the document perfectly into a Word document and I was able to get my revisions done in record time.
Next, I had some bylaws for an organization that I said I would review and update. Thinking that I could spend a couple hours revising and researching or I could ask Gemini AI to revise the bylaws according to current 501c3 rules, I uploaded the document and within a literal minute had an updated, accurate, and beautifully revised document. Awesome!
I wanted to see what Gemini AI could do with photos so I uploaded a photo of hubby, told it to turn the photo into a cartoon, and it downloaded a cartoon-looking picture of hubby which I used for our Facebook page. Cute!
My friend emailed me at zero-dark-thirty this morning and said "can you please write me a letter to our leasing company asking to be released from our current lease a couple months early because my new house just closed?". I simply cut and paste her exact words into Gemini AI and within a minute it printed out a letter for her to send. Her only comment was "you write so quickly and professionally!" I did tell her it was AI and not me doing the work. She was shocked.
I was talking to a friend who is a district manager with a company that recently asked him to run a second district when that manager quit unexpectedly. I asked him if he ever uses AI and he said "yes, all day, everyday". I suggested that with AI, he could permanently run both districts, make a higher salary for doing the extra work, yet the company can also save money by not hiring a new full time district manager. He said he was already on it and is expecting a job offer, at much higher pay, any day now.
Finally, I attended a meeting today and I asked who had their AI avatar on. The host said one lady in our group couldn't attend the meeting so she had her avatar attend the meeting in her place (basically it records the meeting and sends the recording to her inbox). Yikes this technology is evolving quickly!

So I guess whether we love AI or hate AI, it is here to stay. I didn't like the concept at first but remembered the movie 'Hidden Figures' that I watched several years ago. The computers (ladies who computed math equations) were being replaced by computers (the machines). Instead of complaining about the change like most people were doing, one lady jumped into learning the new system thereby securing herself a new job as a trainer for how to use the new machines. In this vein, I try to watch a few "how to use AI" videos each evening so I can find new and effective ways to enhance my work with the new technology.

10 Quick Things

2026-06-17T21:07:13.891-07:00

In no particular order...

Our sunrises and sunsets are beautiful (mostly due to the wildfire smoke coming over from Arizona).
It has been hot hot hot here...109 degrees, 107 degrees, 108 degrees...yikes!
We haven't seen the feral cats in ages (we hope someone is keeping them in their house where it is nice and cool).
Sunday is both Father's Day and the Summer Solstice.
My friend just moved back to Las Vegas and bought a new home. She is having an Indian housewarming ceremony and I did a double take when the invitation said the party starts at 6am!
School is out and there are kids everywhere! However in our area, summer vacation is short-lived as they go back to school in mid August.
One of our ceiling light bulbs has been burned out for months but since it is in the section of our house where the ceiling is about 25 feet high, neither hubby or I thought it would be safe for us to change it. Cue me noticing a couple of guys trimming palm trees in our neighborhood so I told them to come to my house with their ladder when they got finished working; they quickly set up their ladder and changed it for me!
This lady is so me these days.
Things that are stressing me out: funding for my job (will probably evaporate soon according to the governor), prices (high...on everything), news (negative and tragic...plane crashes, murdery people, a video of a lady bungie jumping off a 130-foot tall bridge where they forgot to attach the bungie cord to her....ugh).
Some happy news...international visitors are raving about the wonders of the US! There are hundreds of videos like this on YouTube.

10 Random Things

2026-06-05T19:04:52.337-07:00

These are lemons (or they will be when they are ready to pick in late November!).
The baby eagles that were hatched only a couple months ago are almost ready to fly!
10 Things that Are a Complete Waste of Money After 60 (I wholeheartedly agree with all of these).
I am using AI more and more these days, especially if I can't "un-PDF" a document. I just upload the PDF to Gemini AI and tell it to print out all of the content in the document then I copy and paste the results into a Word document and I've saved myself hours of typing! Next up...agentic AI!
Summer is definitely here...100 degrees+ for several days and this is just the beginning :/
I watch a LOT of tech videos but in an effort to save money (and because I already have too much tech already), I just order cute new covers for my phone and tablet (about $10 each) instead of new devices (about $1000 each).
I wish we lived further north. I've never seen the aurora borealis before but apparently many people in the Lower 48 have the opportunity to see it this weekend.
Speaking of nature, there was an earthquake in Vegas yesterday but hubby and I didn't even feel it.
FWIW, I think everyone should have a 30-day (at minimum!) stockpile of food on hand.
A month from now, the US will turn 250 years old!

Hot Cats

2026-06-03T16:09:11.068-07:00

It's over 100 degrees here this week and these poor feral cats are hot!

100 Extreme Money-Saving Tips

2026-06-02T16:46:51.938-07:00

I came across this article on how people survived the Great Depression and it brought back memories of my grandparents who were young adults during the Depression. Pretty much everything they did to save money during that time carried with then through the entirety of their lives. Even when financial times were much better, they never changed their money-saving ways; these skills were so ingrained in their everyday behavior that it even rubbed off on me--I still have these habits nearly a century after the Great Depression!

Here are the things that helped them--and me--save money during difficult financial times...

Take the bus instead of having a car (this is more time-consuming but can save a fortune!).
Walk or ride a bike to do your errands.
Car pool to and from work.
Try bartering for the things you need.
Shop thrift stores, yard sales, etc. to save money on the things you need.
Ask for hand-me-down clothes and tell people you will gladly take the things they want to give away.
Grow your own food (fruit, veges, chickens, etc).
Forage for food.
Ask local farmers if you can glean their harvested fields.
Hunt and fish for a hobby as well as to fill your freezer.
Buy in bulk and preserve (can, pickle, freeze, etc) the food for future use.
Repair instead of throwing items out and buying a new ones.
Make coffee at home and take it with you in a thermos.
Skip restaurants/fast food and always cook at home.
If you will be out, take food from home with you to eat.
Utilize the free services of your local library system.
Use preventive maintenance to make things (furnace, clothing, teeth, etc) last longer.
Don't buy an item unless you absolutely need it.
Consider alternative ways to acquire items you don't use often (rent, borrow from a friend or neighbor, etc).
Use less of an item (shampoo, toothpaste, laundry soap, etc) than the manufacturer recommends (it usually works just as well). I also add water to shampoo to make it stretch.
Use washable rags for cleaning instead of disposable paper products.
Hang clothes to dry instead of using a dryer.
Cut and chop your own firewood if you can heat your home this way.
Look for ways to save water/electricity/natural gas in order to lower those bills.
Save money on personal care by doing it yourself (nails, haircuts, etc) or go to a beauty school for these highly discounted services.
Ditto dental care (go to a dental school instead of a regular dentist).
Consider "medical tourism" to Mexico or other countries for highly discounted medications, glasses, dental care, medical care, etc.
For vacations, go on day trips instead of far-flung travel, go camping instead of staying in an expensive hotel, drive instead of flying, etc.
Use an over-the-air antenna to watch TV instead of having cable or expensive streaming services.
Listen to the radio instead of subscription services like Spotify.
Use the cheapest phone service you can find. Years ago this would have been a "party line", these days it would be a $15 a month Mint Mobile plan.
For extreme folks, skip the cell phone all together and only communicate with people over wifi (at home or at work or use free wifi in public places).
Don't let food go to waste--eat leftovers, freeze leftovers for a future meal, turn small bits of meat or vegetables into a soup, use old bread for bread pudding, etc.
Add food scraps/coffee grounds/egg shells/etc to your compost pile.
DIY as much as possible--watch YouTube for videos on how to fix your home, fix your car, plan your wedding, sew a dress,etc.
When you have a problem that requires money to fix, brainstorm several ways to do it the cheapest way possible (instead of having a computer printer that requires expensive ink, I have documents printed out at the library/Office Depot/casino business center instead for about 10 cents a page).
Stop bad habits. Drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling, etc are a huge waste of money.
Choose cheap hobbies (walking, disc golf, etc) over expensive hobbies (golf, boating, anything to do with horses).
Never carry debt. Save your money until you can afford the item instead of paying interest on a loan.
Pay cash instead of using credit cards.
Avoid subscriptions as much as possible (these can really add up over time).
Avoid scams and money-sinks (like time shares, get-rich-quick schemes, MLMs, etc).
Skip the gym membership and walk around your neighborhood/mall, work in the yard, do high-intensity cleaning, etc.
Pay attention to freebies (free stuff and events listed in the paper/social media, free furniture left on the curb on trash day that you can rehab, free stuff that neighbors want to get ride of when updating their homes, etc).
Look for alternate ways to fund your education (scholarships, join the military, skip college and do an apprenticeship, etc).
Skip "normal" bills if possible (process your own trash, use solar panels and battery banks to replace all or some of your grid electricity, etc).
Drive your car until the wheels fall off (at $50k for a new car these days, we will drive our old car until it dies a permanent death!).
Downsize and minimize your home/belongings/social commitments/etc.
Volunteer at an event/venue so you can get free entry to the venue/event.
Pick a good spouse (this can make a huge difference in your financial well being).
If you have a lousy spouse who is a financial/emotional drain, get divorced (usually there is a cost up front but it can save you money in the long run).
Raise good kids (this can save you money in the long run and the world will thank you for this).
Instead of planting ornamental trees and shrubs, plant fruit trees and berry bushes.
Instead of planting flowers, plant vegetables (actually plant some of both!).
Think long and hard about having kids or pets (some people skip both based on the extreme financial commitment required).
Avoid financial problems of your own making (ie: speeding tickets, parking tickets, not paying off credit cards each month, buying more house/car than you can afford, etc).
Don't fall for advertising that makes you buy junk you don't need.
Shop around for car and house insurance at each renewal time.
Google for discounts that pertain to your situation (student, veteran, senior, first responder, etc).
Consider retiring in a foreign country to save money (some people actually do this!).
Eat less. Many Americans eat 3000 to 5000 calories a day which is enough for two or three people. Skip snacking, junk food, and eating huge meals.
Do meal-prep cooking and put several meals in the freezer for those times when you are tired and feel like ordering food to be delivered.
Try dumpster diving (especially around universities at the end of the school year).
Find free stuff, rehab/clean up the item, then sell the item on FB/CL.
Shop loss leaders at the grocery store every week then build your meals around these items.
Eat cheap and healthy (a giant box of oatmeal is $10 at Costco and can make breakfast for months; 25 pound bags of beans or rice can be the base of numerous meals).
Consider reusable items over disposable items (plastic sandwich boxes over ziploc bags, dryer balls over dryer sheets, storing food in plastic containers instead of plastic wrap, etc).
Buy and hold items for years (ie: buy a car instead of leasing, buy a house and keep it for years instead of renting, etc).
Buy items that hold their value (ie: a Honda, guns, gold jewelry, etc).
Buy items that last forever (cast iron pans, quality tools, Speed Queen washers, etc).
Pay more for quality products with great warranties (Darn Tough socks, Osprey packs, etc).
Buy bug spray each season and spray around your house for pests instead of hiring an exterminator.
Buy a big Sunday newspaper, use the coupons to save on groceries, then use the newspaper in place of paper towels for draining fish, cleaning windows, etc.
Look through your junk mail for money-saving coupons.
When you are looking for one-time use items like wedding dresses or prom dresses, check thrift stores or ask to borrow from friends rather than paying retail for these items.
Don't increase your standard of living when your paycheck increases.
If you want to get out of debt and 'live like no one else', follow Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps.
Buy inexpensive items until you know you will use that item everyday (ie: buy a hand mixer for cooking/baking and skip the fancy Kitchen Aid mixer until you know you will use it a lot).
If you know you want to buy/upgrade an item, be patient and wait for the item to come on sale; you can save hundreds of dollars this way.
Buy an item based on your needs, don't buy "the best" item if you don't need it. I buy mid-range laptops because, while I use them everyday, all I use them for is writing documents and Zoom meetings not big number crunching and video production.
Don't loan money. Ever. We give small amounts of money as gifts to people in need but if people need a loan they should go to a bank.
Have an emergency fund instead of relying on credit cards for this.
Be completely debt free (your emergency fund can cover many more months of an illness or job loss if you don't have house/car/student loan payments to pay).
If you must get a mortgage to buy a house, get it for a 15 year term and save a fortune on interest (also buy less house than you can afford rather than the most expensive house you can get a mortgage for).
Use apps to save money (at restaurants, at grocery stores,etc).
If there is a place the family likes to visit often (zoo, museum, National Park) consider buying an annual pass.
Even used cars are expensive these days but a low-mile, high-quality used car will be cheaper than buying a brand new car.
Once you have a good-sized emergency fund, consider raising your insurance deductibles to $1000 or more. Also read the policy thoroughly to make sure it doesn't cover things you don't need.
These days we swear by having bidets on each toilets which saves a lot of money on toilet paper (this is much better, IMHO, than using pages from the Sears catalog like they did in my grandparent's day before indoor plumbing!).
To save money on heating, dress in layers, wear sox to bed, if you will be watching TV, use a blanket instead of turning up the heat, etc. In my grandparent's day, they would fill a hot water bottle and put it by their feet when they went to bed to stay warm.
Although I am pretty much a minimalist, my grandparents saved everything. Buttons, rubber bands, wire, bacon grease, magazines, foil, wrapping paper from gifts...literally everything just in case it could be useful later.
Take care of your clothes to make them last longer--remove stains, iron before wearing, sew on a lost button or frayed hem, etc.
Reuse containers--years ago every home had a collection of jelly jars used for drinking, these days we use take-home containers from restaurants to give food to the neighbors, pasta sauce jars to store beans, etc.
A great compost can be made from chicken droppings, food scraps, leaves, etc. Let cure for many months and it works wonders in the garden.
These days literally anything from cooking to gardening to much more can be learned from YouTube while years ago, most information came via word of mouth from friends and neighbors. Use both of these resources to learn things.
Many hours of entertainment can be had from board games, card games, picnics in the park, walking in the woods, etc.
When cooking, skipping or limiting an expensive item, like making bean chili instead of meat chili, or cutting up a small piece of meat to add to the stew and adding more vegetables, was a common thing back then and now as well.
Skip all of the "influencer" stuff like unending hair and face products. Polishing your nails on special occasions is healthier than using chemicals on your nails everyday, false eyelashes are ick, and don't even get me started on GLP-1 drugs that make people look skeletal. Yikes
Make your own bottled water/sports drinks/soda by bringing these things from home in an insulated tumbler.
Finally, doing without used to be a thing. These days Amazon can deliver literally everything you want or need but years ago this wasn't an option. Sometimes you had to make do or do without.

How to Trim a Palm Tree...And Other Things

2026-05-21T19:20:40.142-07:00

Every once in a while I look out my window and see something unusual...

And in other news...

I wish you all a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend! We will probably go to the free military buffet at the South Point Casino on Monday as this is something we usually do on the holiday.
When things get stressful (which work has been lately...I would love to elaborate but policy says I can't talk about ______ and confidentiality protocol says I can't talk about ________ ) I zone out occasionally and watch live cat videos here and here.
I will also be voting in the mid term primaries this weekend (everyone should vote like their life depends on it...because it does).
I will be avoiding people as much as possible, which is kind of normal for me (measles, ebola, and hantavirus oh my!).
There are 100 days between this coming Sunday and the last day of August so I may do some sort of '100 Days of Summer' project.
Finally, for those of you who will be out and about, Memorial Day is a free entry day to the National Parks.

The State of the Economy?

2026-05-16T16:01:26.777-07:00

Some random observations...

They now sell half loaves of bread (literally labeled half loaf) at the Dollar Tree. Of course they charge the same price as a whole loaf of bread for it :/
A quick note if you use an OTA antenna on your TV, rescan every once in a while. We did this a few days ago and found that dozens of new channels have been added!
I got a Starbucks gift card for Mother's Day so I swung by our local Starbucks to pick up a coffee Frapuccino and I couldn't believe that in the short time I waited for my drink, more than a half dozen Doordashers came in to pick up Starbucks orders. That seems like a crazy expensive way to get a coffee!
Here is a subreddit on the proverbial cat distribution system.
Also from reddit, a great list of frugal tips.
Polymarket and similar sites prove that people will bet on literally anything!
Finally, here are some uplifting memes...

Apparently It Is Now Summer...

2026-05-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

...because it is 100+ degrees this week! eeekkk

In other news...

Please get your kids their basic vaccines! Currently our hospitals are on high alert for measles and I can't believe some parents won't get their kids tried-and-true vaccines that have been around for ages and prevent their kids from getting debilitating--sometimes deadly--yet easily preventable diseases!
We are also gearing up for the FIFA World Cup which will take place around the US this summer. It takes a metric crapton of work to get the emergency medical side prepared for such an event but one place I won't be this summer is at these events--mainly because I don't like crowds AND the tickets can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for ONE game. That's insane!
Here is a good preparedness checklist for your important documents.
My "you gotta be kidding" list...apparently it is a thing that kids aren't being potty trained prior to kindergarten??? "Personal pricing" sounds like AI evil at its peak. And I can think of nothing worse than being trapped on a cruise ships when a deadly virus outbreak happens...that's like the plot of a horror movie!

I'm hoping for a safe and wonderful summer for you all!

10 Random Things

2026-05-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

In no particular order...

We have an entire herd of feral cats that stop by each evening for dinner (examples above).
Find lots of good frugal tips here.
I've never tried to crochet before but after seeing these examples I might give it a try!
I'm glad I am pretty close to retirement age although I love my job and will work as long as they want to keep me...all this AI, Claude, n8n, Open Claw stuff is both mind blowing at what it can accomplish and slightly terrifying at what it is doing/will do to the job market!
In other news, I can't believe Spirit Airline shut down, those yellow planes are a common sight in Las Vegas. Here's how to protect yourself in such a situation.
Here are some amazing things...
And here are some old time videos that suddenly popped into my YouTube feed that I really like watching (reminds me of my grandparents time).
Here are a bunch of frugal meal ideas...
...and a bunch of general frugal living tips.
Finally, I like the pretty way the vegetables are arranged at the grocery store (although the prices are, like everything these days, outrageous)!