more random rants

Well, as we say in the midwest about gas--you can either complain about gas prices and not go anywhere, or you can get gas and go where you need to go. It costs over $40 to fill up my G6, but I still fill it so I can drive around when I need to.

As far as home storage goes, I get as much as I can from the dollar store. Usually they have laundry baskets and small lidded storage containers that fit almost anywhere.
Everything is super expensive, though, even getting down into Walmart... I went there one day to get 4 soup bowls that were oven-safe so I could make French Onion soup, and they were over $2.50 a piece... they were the most expensive part of the dinner!

I know huh, I try to get storage from the dollar store. But now even the dollar store is expensive

it costs my dad $100 to fill up his truck! crazy huh!

I've just come out of hospital after four months of battling a mental disease, and ignorant jerks at school say my illness isn't real and I should feel bad because I don't have something "real" like cancer.

Rant over.

oh hon, I suffer from depression. its real. those idots know nada. Big hug. if you want to talk I am here. lots of love.

Thanks so much. Crafty people are always the most understanding, because we're sensitive

that we are

@Kasia - There are no "fake" and "real" illnesses. I went through cancer and I had people refusing to shake my hand out of fear that I would "infect" them. Stupid a**holes.

We all have our ignorant jerks in our life. Don't let them bother you. Think about all the people that think you're wonderful and care about you - like me. If you need to talk, just PM. Lots of love.

@Michelle - I know what it feels like, my paycheck is late (again!) this month and everything seems so expensive! Today I covered an extra shift and I was joking with a colleague, saying we both need to find a way to live without eating.

Earning the equivalent of 700 canadian dollars a month and having to pay 526 dollars a month for my rent, I had to come up with a few tricks.

First off, don't waste food. It may sound weird, but we do throw away a lot of food that could have been eaten, and the quickest way of saving is... to eat it. For reference and help, check www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

Second: cook your food instead of buying ready meals or eating out - it saves you a lot in terms of money.

Third: join a Freecycle group - a mailing list of people that give away things they would otherwise throw away. I furnished my place this way - and someone also gave me a wonderful 28 inches TV. Check www.freecycle.org for more information.

Last but not least try and buy what you need, especially clothes and house items, at dollar stores, thrift stores, and yard sales. If you manage, organise a swapping event with your friends - everybody brings in clothes and other stuff they don't use anymore and then you swap them. It *is* real - one man's trash is another man's treasure. I don't know if you have them in Canada, but here in Italy we have thrift stores that take your items and sell them for you for a commission. They're a good way to earn some extra money. Or you could try selling what you don't need, or your crafts, on Ebay or Etsy.

Just a few thoughts

That's good advice for saving money, Mary

My fiance and I live in an apartment that costs $400 a month, and utilities cost $120 or so at the end of the month. We're both pretty much living off of financial aid since it's been hard for both of us to find decent jobs and we do everything we can to save money.

We avoid Walmart and other superstores as much as we can, since it usually leads us into buying things we didn't come for. We do our grocery shopping at an actual grocery store, and only try to buy for a few days at a time. Usually we're able to make 3 days worth of food last for a week or more because we don't want to have stuff go to waste if we cook too much of it.
When we first moved in together though, we spent over $100 a week on groceries and usually our bread would end up going bad before we could finish even one loaf... We've gotten down to spending about $50 on food every week and we usually buy things like rice, soup mixes, and other things that can be stored for a while. We eat a lot of pasta, too, because it doesn't go bad too quickly.
Plus, if we have cooked just way too much, we invite one of our friends over to have dinner with us so we don't have to throw what would be leftovers out, lol.

I have some stuff I need to sell, I wish there was a pawn shop near by. Its equipment like printers and presses. I can't sell them online because it would be too exprensive to ship

forgot to mention that I freeze any leftovers. I hate wasting food. I try not to go up to town to often(i live in a small village with a grocery store and hardware store) but you have to travel 45 mins to go to the mall which has clothing stores and other stuff.

But whenever I go up (even with a list) I end up sending more then I need too)

here is a tip, that helped me. did you know that you don't need to pay all your bill in one go!?

it depends on your bill, but I pay half my bill at the beginning on the month with check #1 and then the rest at the end of the month

Well, not *all* crafty people are sensitive. I'm not, but we are all different, right?

I do want to note that you must be careful splitting those bills; some companies will tack on extra interest or fees just for having to process two payments. They act like it's SUCH a big deal having to sort your money. I found this out the hard way once with a "lovely" company called Bill Me Later. Jerks.

You guys might find the Frugal Living movement interesting. I couldn't imagine going back to un-frugal life. It really puts all those "necessities" that we don't need into perspective. And the extra cash in your savings and pocket is awesome.

I agree

I didn't get taxed extra for doing it, I guess my companies are cool with it

and my random rants

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! don't wanna go into work today. Only got two small ads to make, bummer

oh wells

*peeks* can I join in?

I just got a part time job, that's making me take 40 hours and paying me the still only part time wage.
My 'boss' is younger than me, and completely disgusting... I work in food service, this is not a good thing.
If I hear him blow his nose or snort/cough without covering his mouth, I may just injure him.
I had to get a job because my fiancee was laid off by a dying company because no-one wants to spend money to repair tv's, they'd rather buy new ones.
His specialty is TV repair, and he has 5 years of exp, and a 2 year electronic engineering degree, and everyone wants 10 years exp, and a 4 year engineering degree, which is insane!
He can't take any of the jobs that have been offered to him, because they only want to pay him $8/hr, and he's making $12/hr on unemployment and we're barley surviving.
My grade is suffering because I have to work to make sure we survive.
We're getting married on May 21st, and would loose more money than save if we just called it off and went without a wedding.