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The Frugal Family Guide (Back to the dark ages is good)
Newsweek.com ^ | Mar 7, 2009 | Steve Tuttle

Posted on 03/16/2009 4:32:51 AM PDT by raybbr

Last summer I was at my parents' cabin in rural Virginia and I noticed a dead mouse in a rusty old trap. I tossed it in the trash. Later that day I told my dad about the mouse, and he asked, "Where's the trap?" I told him it looked as though it were falling apart, and I'd thrown it out with the mouse still attached. He looked at me as if I'd punched him in the face. My mom chimed in: "We've had that trap since we got married!" I wasn't sure she was joking, and they got married almost 50 years ago. I sheepishly dug it out of the garbage and loaded it up with cheese again. Now it's become one of those perennial things they bring up every time I go home: "Remember when Steve threw out the mousetrap, mouse and all!?" This is followed by shuddering and head shaking, as they silently wonder where it all went wrong.

In today's cratering economy, my parents are looking pretty smart all of a sudden. President Obama talks a lot about personal sacrifice, and we all need to look for ways to cut costs these days. Maybe he ought to consider Bill and Joyce Tuttle as the nation's first thrift czars, because when it comes to pinching pennies and saving for the future, my parents are extreme.

Here are some real and true examples: my mom does not use a clothes dryer. "Why would I ever need that as long as we have the outdoors?" she says. (I'd like to answer that: there's nothing like pulling on a pair of frozen Fruit of the Looms straight off the line on a sleeting January morning. Thanks, Mom.) They don't own a credit card.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
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To: raybbr

Unfortunate that the money his parents have saved all these years by being frugal will be left to their idiot son who will probably go through it in no time.


41 posted on 03/16/2009 6:34:49 AM PDT by Calm_Cool_and_Elected (So many books, so little time!)
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To: raybbr

But, so were wages.


42 posted on 03/16/2009 6:34:59 AM PDT by maeng
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To: GeorgiaDawg32
You heard right you whippersnapper. Saw it with my own eyes. Of course that was up in Yankee land where folks are a bit tetched, if you know what I mean.

Not only was the gas cheap but with a fill-up, which was considered to be seven gallons, you frequently got a free drinking glass. My mother still talks about the matching set of glasses dad collected, each with the logo of the Philadelphia Phillies.

43 posted on 03/16/2009 6:39:43 AM PDT by Tarheel (From the Old North State)
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To: dangerdoc

As your muscles begin to atrophy, your ligaments, bones and tendons start to take over the work. As your muscles strengthen, they take the load off your bones.


44 posted on 03/16/2009 6:44:32 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: Calm_Cool_and_Elected

My Jewish landlady once told me “There is no fortune so great that a meshugganeh can’t go through it in their lifetime”.

Her daughter majored in theatre. “It’s nice but you can’t eat with it.”


45 posted on 03/16/2009 6:46:55 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: Tarheel

heh..one of my earliest memories was going down to the local gas station (wood floor, wood burning stove to keep warm) with my dad where the attendant would hand pump, via vacuum, from the under ground tank to a glass container on top of the pump, then let the gas flow into the car by gravity..I couldn’t have been more than 5 years old or so..(late 1950’s)..


46 posted on 03/16/2009 6:47:10 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32 (A democrat will break your leg, then hand you a crutch and take credit for your being able to walk.)
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To: raybbr

Steve Tuttle sounds like a good kid. Maybe rather than Newsweek changing him - he can change newsweek. I’ll bet Mom and Dad are proud of him.


47 posted on 03/16/2009 6:55:11 AM PDT by GOPJ (CEO:Chief Embezzlement Officer- CFO:Corporate Fraud Officer-CASH FLOW: money down the toilet.)
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To: raybbr

Lots of elm, different breed than the ones killed by Dutch elm disease.

They grow like weeds then up and die for no reason. I can count on a cord or two of dead elm every year. On one hand, its nice not to have to take down live trees but on the other hand, it is a PITA to split the bigger stuff.


48 posted on 03/16/2009 7:00:07 AM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: TXnMA

The only way I’ve had any luck is to let it sit for a year, cut into the end with a chainsaw about 4 inches then go after it with wedges and a sledgehammer. Needless to say much of my elm does not go into the stove.


49 posted on 03/16/2009 7:03:13 AM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: maeng
But, so were wages.

Interesting you bring that up. I worked at US Steel making about $7/hr starting wage. The company I worked for last year the starting wage (and if you look around) is about $8 - 10/hr. Not really that much of an increase for starters. A gallon of gas was twenty five cents and I made seven an hour now gas is two bucks and starting wages are eight to ten - a much greater percentage. Not to mention taxes, insurance, etc.

50 posted on 03/16/2009 7:24:30 AM PDT by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: raybbr

But when you look at the executive, upper middle class and union wage, it is much higher now than in the 70’s. That is why a car cost about 1000% more now. In the early 70’s one could buy a new pickup truck for about $2,800 to $3,800 dollars. We did and making about $5.00 an hour.


51 posted on 03/16/2009 7:39:01 AM PDT by maeng
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To: spodefly
"...My goal is to be sure there is not one spare penny left to pay to the bloated, rotting corpse of government...."

Dude, you and me both. However, there will soon be a law against this, and you will go to the death camp. sorry about that.

52 posted on 03/16/2009 8:00:53 AM PDT by I Buried My Guns (I just hope CW2 comes before my creaky knees give out completely!)
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To: raybbr
Thanks for a gently-used, second-hand, but still-a-lot-of-wear-in-it tagline, anyhow.

BTW, his folks are just like my late mother and father. And you know what? They were right.

53 posted on 03/16/2009 8:08:49 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Landlord told me that hard times were near/Didn't mean a thing 'cause they're already here.")
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To: raybbr

And bread was 4 loaves for $1. I remember those days, too.


54 posted on 03/16/2009 9:31:00 AM PDT by cookiedough
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To: cookiedough

And hamburger meat was 3 lbs. for a $1.


55 posted on 03/16/2009 9:33:08 AM PDT by OB1kNOb (Communist China is doing more to foster capitalism in their country than our politicians are doing.)
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To: TXnMA

The link to #5 is broken. Can you give any more info about the tool?

Specifically how much does it weigh and is is available with a fiberglass handle?


56 posted on 03/16/2009 10:22:19 AM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: dangerdoc
I'm on crutches right now, and can't make it out across the soft & muddy yard to my shed to check the tool itself, (for weight and printed info) but, IIRC, the head weight is somewhere around six pounds. Also (AFAIK) they only come with fiberglass handles...

I'll bet that if you go to some big place like Lowe's, Tractor Supply, or Home Depot they will have them. (I got mine in a tiny local hdw store in Norfolk, MA ...)

Don't recall what I paid, but wasn't terribly more than for a plain maul.

Whatever the price, IMO, it was worth it in saved effort, stuck mauls, etc...

57 posted on 03/16/2009 5:19:43 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: TXnMA

I have a 6 lb. maul with a broken wooden handle, it’s on my to do list.

I wore out the fiberglass handle on my 8 lb. maul this winter, didn’t know you could to that but I got about 50 cords out of it.

I have one of those 12 lb metal monster mauls, the handle is too short and I don’t like the ballance, but I finished the season with it. It makes me tired but I’m a big guy and I went through the last four cords pretty quickly with it.

I also have a 3 lb hammer, 8 and 12 pound sledge hammer with a small collections wedges inclucing a wood grenade, none of them are particularly fun to use.

To sum up, I’m open to a variety of tools. I’ve been looking for a new handle for my 8 lb maul and have been in several hardware stores including HQ and several small mom and pop operations, I’ve never seen a maul like that one. If they’re not too expensive, I would buy one out of curiosity. I wonder how many cords it would last. It may be a little light for my taste, I’m getting older and momentum is easier to generate than speed when your joints start getting less limber.

I wish I could find a 10 to 12 lb. maul with a normal length handle.

Sorry if I’m a little wordy, it’s bedtime and it’s hard to be pithy when drowsy.


58 posted on 03/16/2009 7:38:26 PM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: dangerdoc
Your wood-splitting volume is much larger than mine. In fact, rather than go through the agonies of building my retirement home, I bought an existing house adjoining my 65 acres of timber land -- and it has neither a wood fireplace nor a wood-burning stove. Bummer -- but Texas winters don't require much heating, either...

BTW, while I was searching for info on my maul, I found this listing for three different fiberglass maul handle replacement kits:

http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Fiberglass-Replacement-Handle-881-43323368

59 posted on 03/17/2009 9:57:43 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: dangerdoc
I finally found the source for the thing; it's called "Chopper 1":

http://www.chopperaxe.com/

It even has animations of the mechanism and demo movies of it in action.

And, I found a review/test/comparison article. It refers to the weight as "seven pounds"...

Apparently, I was wrong: it comes with a wooden handle. Stupid me -- the one in the picture had a wooden handle... :-(

60 posted on 03/17/2009 10:29:33 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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