Posted on 04/26/2009 3:37:32 PM PDT by llevrok
One of the last saves was our ancient dryer. We had purchased two of the same model over time from a repair shop that resold them cheap. He just cannibalized one to get the part for the other and it has now worked an extra 6 months. A screw froze and broke in the lawn tractor/mower. We went on line and for $12 with shipping, the part is on its way. I love it.
We both came from families that never repaired anything. It made a mess, or got oil on the driveway or just wasn't something they understood. My husband would have loved to have taken auto or wood shop, but was discouraged from doing that. But he understands how things work and reads the manuals. Even I have learned to at least figure out what is wrong with something, even if I usually can't do anything about it. But, then, I am spoiled.
I saw an article recently on the Frugal Dad blog about repurposing an old laptop with a defunct battery to use as a netbook. He installed the Linux Ubuntu operating system. Pretty interesting stuff. If all you need is to surf and check email you don’t need a supercharged computer and Linus is perfect for that. It’s fun to play with, too.
Puppy Linux is even slimmer, letting you boot from a thumb drive.
You might enjoy our survival thread. We could use a new poster like you there:
Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today - an On going Thread #2]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2181392/posts
Another addition:
Use old suitcases to keep all these items secure. When you need them just pick them up by the handle and you are ready to “rock and roll.” :) Someone told me to do that with old photo albums and all that kind of thing. Especially good for those living in high fire areas or floods where you are needing to evac in a HURRY.
Thank YOU!!!
GOOD JOB!!
And isn’t there a real satisfaction to take something old and banged up and then restore it to something useful and beautiful once again? Why pay for new? Go to garage sales and flea markets. Bargain, bargain, bargain. Bring home your finds and go for it.
As for cooking from scratch...I know it takes a little longer as do you but...it IS worth it when we know we fixed it with clean hands and we put in the food what WE want in there. It really doesn’t take long to grab some fresh veggies, wash them good and then put them in a pan to cook while doing other things. A simple, nutritious meal can be on the table by the time everyone goes and gets changed from school or work and does all the things they do before eating dinner. One child can set the table. Whomever does the cooking does NOT have to clear the table or clean up. That is for the ones who were off doing something else while one person was doing the cooking. It CAN be done and can be done systematically when everyone has a chore and pulls together. If not...then that’s chaos and ... nothing we can do about that. That’s something that has to be solved by each individual family. Sometimes...I think we make life TOO HARD on ourselves and...I wish most people would remember we don’t have to wait for government to do things FOR us or TELL us when or what we should do. We KNOW what to do and if we don’t...we are all smarter than the government thinks we are and therefore...we can figure it out on our own. They don’t know what they are doing anyway. It’s up to all of us to take care of ourselves.
Your welcome :)
I hope my kids look up to me the same way you look up to yours.
I’m sure they do and they always will. :) God bless you and your family.
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