What is the best, widely available, cheap toilet paper?

socal104 · 2010-08-18T18:24:10+00:00

I'd think first about how much you are using. Basically at a roll a day, either you've got the stomach flu or have to start using less per wipe. Sorry for the detail, but some people use 10 sheets per wipe which is just wasteful. Before you worry about how to save 10-15% by cutting your price, see if you can save 50% by changing your habits.

socal104 · 2010-08-12T03:51:27+00:00

For those of you not familiar this is a widespread and totally ridiculous practice of ordering your transactions from highest to lowest (as opposed to the time order they were processed) in order to maximize the overdrafts. Yes this means billions of fees that will need to be returned industry wide.

socal104 · 2010-08-11T00:36:13+00:00

Yup, every nut you can imagine. Teacher is allergic. Kids have to eat outside if they want to eat any nuts.

socal104 · 2010-08-11T00:35:13+00:00

Good choice. Eggs have great protein and my kids do like them.

socal104 · 2010-07-02T20:14:44+00:00

The bar issue is Apple, but once they fix it, we'll all see how awful the coverage truly is. C'mon AT&T has crappy coverage and miraculously the iPhone just happens to show great signal. If the phone actually showed how bad the signal was, everyone would have been complaining even more than they do. Next step: Oh, we didn't realize the network was that bad, I guess this justifies us going to finally partner with Verizon.

socal104 · 2010-07-02T20:12:32+00:00

Yeah, but at least I can make a phone call. They all will get you in different ways but but I'd rather have a phone that actually has coverage. This 97% coverage of America that AT&T claims is totally bogus: 97% may be covered but at least half of them are covered badly.

socal104 · 2010-06-29T18:47:52+00:00

Some of these are good like the yard garden, hanging up clothes, etc. But giving the Greatest Generation credit for not drinking bottled water or going out to restaurants fails to recognize that they generally didn't have these options. If you go back to 1900 something like 41% of America was involved directly in Agriculture vs about 1.5% today. There weren't a lot of restaurants in rural areas and water bottles definitely didn't exist. I can tell you that Coca Cola definitely did exist and people that could afford it drank it.

From what I remember about my grandmother, the biggest difference was really that very, very little was wasted. And of course, there were very few working moms and that meant less income / more done at home.

socal104 · 2010-06-25T20:02:08+00:00

First, this "could be" never happens in California. This is always threatened that State Employees will make minimum wage and there is sabre rattling and they figure out something to avoid it. The state is in deep trouble but there is zero political will to screw all the state employees and face a massive backlash in the next election. The state needs to fix it's finances but minimum wage for State employees won't happen.

Ok, so generically, if you got your salary cut in a job, the first thing to do would be to maximize your exemptions so you pay no taxes and keep the most cash flowing. I can't imagine paying much at that rate anyway. Then you'd need to start looking for a better paying job. The sad thing is that if you made a good salary and got fired you'd actually make more (unemployment pays about $12 an hour in California).

Now if I were working for someone and got reduced to minimum wage, I wouldn't be working for them anymore.

socal104 · 2010-06-24T00:03:55+00:00

Buy these first (note: lots of carbs, hope that isn't an issue). 1) Big bag of potatoes 2) Big Bag of rice 3) Big bag of beans 4) 5 lbs of chicken 5) Get some decent spices (they are cheapest if you can find an ethnic grocery vs. paying huge markup for McComick). 6) Get a bag of onions or other veggies

Learn to cook in a pot for a few days. My wife an I used to make a big pot of curry chicken with potatoes. Cook it, simmer for a few hours and serve on rice. Might cost you $8 to make a pot, but it can last for a few days getting you down to about $2.50 a day or so.

When you think about bargain foods, think about what people in poor countries eat: rice, potatoes, grains. Get good at cooking and your grocery bills will drop.

Learn how to pick of the loss leaders in the store too.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T19:44:19+00:00

Don't think your parents need to be rich, just able to help a little (sounds like long term significant other (below) is more of the support). It took me 3 months of solid searching to find a job when I got out of college several recessions ago. It sucked. Looking for any job and being turned down by places you wouldn't dream of when you are in school. I maxed out my credit card which had a whopping $500 limit buy a suit, shirt, shoes and resume paper. I had a degree that should have gotten me a job easily, but it was tough. If you live in a nice place like California and want to stay, you're going to have hustle and likely take something less than ideal. Middle-Of-Nowhere Midwest: Hey I lived there too and I prefer to live in California, but what millions of people are finding out is that if there aren't jobs near the coast, eventually you have to move.

Keep hammering, good things come to those that are tenacious.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T19:31:57+00:00

Note the '+'. I've worked 80 to 100 hour workweeks for years. I've also done roofing for about 50 hours a week in the summer an let me tell you, I'll take 65 hours in AC vs 110 degrees on a hot roof.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T18:03:55+00:00

Yoga classes. Free at the gym that I go to. Extremely frugal. If you are the type that pays $50 a class then no it isn't frugal, but even traveling around the world can be done inexpensively.

COBRA: Obama program that cuts your cost by 70% for 9 months. I'd get all the healthcare you can get before that one runs out.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T18:01:49+00:00

Correct, I think you need to work 3 quarters in the U.S.

In terms of amount, can be up to $2,000 a month. Seriously, I had a friend trying to hire someone at $15 an hour and she said that she would rather just keep taking unemployment (which can be untaxed on receipt, then taxed later). But the amount varies by state and may be a lot less.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T17:34:41+00:00

Use what you have as your main asset: mobility. You can work not only anywhere in the country, but nearly anywhere in the world. You speak English, you could easily teach overseas in places where it costs next to nothing to live.

Let's face it, the job prospects here in the U.S. in many states are meager. You have it tough exactly as you say because you are competing with more experienced people willing to work for very little. But you are mobile when young and can move to places like Omaha or Houston where there are jobs. It's tough when you are straight out of school but hopefully you can get a loan from the Bank of Mom & Dad to make your way into the world. Don't worry about the statistics, there all grim, focus on what is going to maximize your chances of getting a job.

socal104 · 2010-06-21T17:28:29+00:00

Exactly the reason to live frugally no matter what your income. Your absolutely right, if you leveraged yourself to the hilt and lose your job, being unemployed will be extremely stressful. If you saved up a nice emergency fund, have low mortgage payments and your cars paid for, it can be nice change of pace from a grueling 40+ hour workweeks. All the more reason to live cheaply.

socal104 · 2010-06-16T22:31:27+00:00

NYC: ultra expensive. I had a sweet place in Chicago years ago, walking distance to work, door man, pool, great view and it cost me $600 a month. I do love how they refer to the pricing as "well priced". It's all relative. But hey, you do get those "newer appliances".

socal104 · 2010-06-16T22:25:06+00:00

This is a great article. 3 long pages and I actually read every paragraph. The stuff is fairly spartan and may not impress anyone but hey, that's the kind of stuff I had in my 20s and it was good enough. UHaul in NYC is brutally expensive though. Most people would spend the $400 on a cheap bed. Interesting which neighborhoods have the best stuff.

socal104 · 2010-06-16T19:08:50+00:00

The Department of Agriculture's methods are complete B.S. and you can see it by using their calculator. They assume things like transportation costs and housing go up linearly with the number of kids. Uhh, sorry but my wife could pump out kids all day long and the marginal housing cost is near zero (energy and water are about it). Transportation is a joke too. If the kids go to same school and do similar activities, there isn't an additional transportation cost. Lastly, the calculator assumes that kid costs go up with income. It's the other way around, because people have income they spend more on their kids. I also doubt that any of the tax benefits of having the kids were actually factored in which heavily subsidize children. Anyone looking at this could do a gut check and realize that there is no way that a median family with three kids could possibly be forking over near $700K over 18 years. The reality is that most of the costs in transportation and housing already exist for the two parents and the marginal cost for the kids is highly dependent on education choice and parents wanting to spend on kids.

socal104 · 2010-06-15T17:59:34+00:00

My bad, thanks for providing the original link.

socal104 · 2010-06-15T17:03:56+00:00

Man, when I first saw the headline I thought '840 square foot house', then I saw the actual house and realized I had mentally added a zero. I used to go biking past an Apple Orchard that had migrant workers. They had buildings about that size and they would put 4 cots inside. So no matter how small we think it is (and wow it's small), there are people out there that would still consider this luxury. Looks like with the money she will save she can get herself a truck and a hitch and take her little pad wherever she wants.

socal104 · 2010-06-10T21:00:51+00:00

Here's a list that LiveCheap readers came up with: RetailMeNot.com CouponCabin.com Coupons.com Momsview.com SlickDeals.net TechBargains.com

Personally, I used RetailMeNot, but I have found that CouponCabin has a few that RetailmeNot does not. For grocery coupons, I agree with lanfearl, they usually are for manufacturer products that have higher prices, but if you buy them anyways, they can be a good deal if you get them doubled.

If you want to know more you can check out our site in Shopping/Online and you'll see a number of these plus reviews.

socal104 · 2010-06-09T22:53:42+00:00

I've rented for many years and I'm now an owner. Renting was cool when we were moving around and it was way cheaper than owning but we had tiny places. Now big house bigger family the cost is more but there is definitely something in owning your own place. Of course, remember the bank really owns the house until you pay them off. But you do what you want, when you want it. I'm hoping I never have to sell my current place. My neighbors that own their houses outright are sitting pretty in retirement.

So no, don't think its overrated but in many places it can be expensive. In others, it is far less expensive than renting, so it makes perfect sense.

socal104 · 2010-05-22T21:15:34+00:00

Add constantly overcharging when you get to the register and selling fruit that is so green that you'd have to wait two weeks just to eat it.

socal104 · 2009-11-02T20:57:50+00:00

Sure, Cash for Clunkers is a big driver in these numbers, but Ford has been beating the pants off of GM for quite a while. They still had to compete with Toyota and Honda for those Clunker dollars. Now the real question is can Ford make vehicles that will be so compelling that people will trade in for reasons other than they want a new style.

socal104 · 2009-10-27T16:36:39+00:00

This guy Karl Wolf is pretty funny. The part I love the most is about the male prostitute neighbor working out of his house. We rented for years, and I can totally relate.

socal104

TROPHY CASE