How cheap have you been?

[1crosscut]

This summer I was putting gas into my AA truck when I noticed a middle aged gal using the sponge / window squeegee to wash areas of her car. I thought this a bit odd but figured she was just getting some of the worst of the bugs off prior to her going through the automated car attached to the gas station. She seemed to be doing a pretty thorough job of it though. After filling her car she drove right on past the car wash and left. Very interesting indeed.
So what have you done to save $$'s?

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by 1crosscut

This summer I was putting gas into my AA truck when I noticed a middle aged gal using the sponge / window squeegee to wash areas of her car. I thought this a bit odd but figured she was just getting some of the worst of the bugs off prior to her going through the automated car attached to the gas station. She seemed to be doing a pretty thorough job of it though. After filling her car she drove right on past the car wash and left. Very interesting indeed.
So what have you done to save $$'s?

After the last divorce, stayed single..................

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

What have I done to save DOLLARS?-------I put some money in a fruit jar, tied a LOOOONG YELLOW string on it & tole Buster T. to go bury it.---I FORGOT about the gardeners' ROTARY MOWER!!!
Bill W.

[RUNNERBUN]

I would have chased after her and asked her to marry me. Just think of all the surplus house keeping money you would have to spend on your toys.

[ronn]

That's my kind of gal!

maybe off topic, but the wife and I have picked up fresh road kill deer and brought it home and butchered it up............... mighty tasty!

[WestCoast]

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about 1962 i put a new clutch in my 49 ford, no new pressure plate or throw out bearing, about 4 months later lost the throw out bearing, and had to do the job all over again

[roundvalley]

I seperate 2 ply toilet paper.

[Bulligen]

I weld all the little ends of used welding rods together so I have another welding rod !

[Tom Wesenberg]

Service stations used to close at 9 or 10 PM, then I could drive up to the pumps, squeeze the handle and get a cup or two of free gas from each hose. 30 cents a gallon, so make every cent count.

Darn jerks changed the nozzles so that doesn't work these days.

[J Franklin]

Repaired a BIC knockoff lighter a couple of times.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by 1crosscut

This summer I was putting gas into my AA truck when I noticed a middle aged gal using the sponge / window squeegee to wash areas of her car. I thought this a bit odd but figured she was just getting some of the worst of the bugs off prior to her going through the automated car attached to the gas station. She seemed to be doing a pretty thorough job of it though. After filling her car she drove right on past the car wash and left. Very interesting indeed.
So what have you done to save $$'s?

ive done this before... usually in a rainstorm haha, drive under, fill up with gas, take squeegee to all windows, bird droppings, grille, headlights, leaf stains, kicked up mud that doesnt seem to want to come off. then drove out into the rainstorm haha.

ive seen people use a mcdonalds cup and "steal" the squeegie fluid to put in thier washer resivor tanks...

[C26Pinelake]

Who said Model A Ford people were not eccentric ? Wayne

[Patrick L.]

Originally Posted by 31 model a

after the last divorce, stayed single..................

lmao ! :d

[Big hammer]

One of my mentors over haul a 12v battery he drain the electrons out,turn it ups side down,washed it out,added new acid,and charged it! Batteries were less than 20$

[Ray in La Mesa]

Ditto with Bulligen. I also try to repair anything that is broken before I buy new, like now I'm fixing 2004 Chevy air conditioning vent louvers- replacing the tiny plastic rotating tip with pieces of paper clip mounted in holes drilled in each vent vane. It worked!

[Mitch//pa]

i turn my depends inside out

[Vin-tin]

Originally Posted by roundvalley

I seperate 2 ply toilet paper.

Yea but the money you save will just be spent on extra hand soap. Right?

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

I buy CANNED beans, cheeper than runnin' up my power bill, boilin' them in a pot.
Bill W.

[mike657894]

i used a old poly quilted blanket(10$) for my soft
top pad on my fordor. it worked great.

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by roundvalley

I seperate 2 ply toilet paper.

ROTFLMAO!!!! Good one. Brings back a memory while billeted in an old German/Italian POW camp at Ft Gordon, open latrine, I mean open!!!! Two lines of crappers facing each other. This guy comes in, does his dump and take one (1) square of paper to wipe, I said, you're in the Army now and you can take more than one (1) square. Looked at me as if I was nuts!!!!

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

i turn my depends inside out

Another good one!!!!!!!!!!!

[montanafordman]

Not cheap in many of your eyes, but to my generation my actions might be considered unusual. Most people in their early/mid 30's or younger prioritize TV, computer, and videogame entertainment above all else and if something breaks they lack the mechanical aptitude or desire to figure it out and repair it themselves. Instead they tend to buy something new or pay someone else to do it. I hate paying other people to do things I can do myself even if there is a learning curve required. I also like to pocket all those savings toward new tools and the restoration of my Model A. Here are a few examples:

1. Cancelled my cable TV service in favor of free broadcast TV over an antenna and Netflix @ 11 bucks a month.

2. Went with DSL service over Cable internet (cheaper but not as fast)

3. I do all my own vehicle and house maintenance and repair whenever possible. This goes much farther than what most people my age would consider. My daily driver is a 1998 F150 (17 years old) with 200K on the ticker. I've rebuilt the entire front end, used my welder to extract broken exhaust manifold studs and replace exhaust manifolds, manifold gaskets, major tune up of all emission components, EGR tube/valve etc. U joints.. the list goes on. The truck is well maintained and looks nearly as good as it did when it was new. It runs great and have no immediate plans to get anything else. Another big factor is that I don't have the means to buy a new 30-40K 4x4 pickup.

A major wind storm just took out some fence posts in my yard AGAIN (although in a different area). The wood posts were cemented in too which makes it a major PITA to dig them out. Looks like I'll be breaking out the high lift jack and chain to pull the remains of the concrete and post out of the ground and doing more fence work... beats paying a contractor for the labor though.

4. My TV recently went on the fritz, and instead of dropping 500-1000 bucks on a new one I did some research and when I opened it up I found 1 bad capacitor, which I replaced and also found out the main culprit was the audio/visual input circuit board. I found a used one on EBay and repaired my TV for a grand total of $90.

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by montanafordman

Not cheap in many of your eyes, but to my generation my actions might be considered unusual. Most people in their early/mid 30's or younger prioritize TV, computer, and videogame entertainment above all else and if something breaks they lack the mechanical aptitude or desire to figure it out and repair it themselves. Instead they tend to buy something new or pay someone else to do it. I hate paying other people to do things I can do myself even if there is a learning curve required. I also like to pocket all those savings toward new tools and the restoration of my Model A. Here are a few examples:

1. Cancelled my cable TV service in favor of free broadcast TV over an antenna and Netflix @ 11 bucks a month.

2. Went with DSL service over Cable internet (cheaper but not as fast)

3. I do all my own vehicle and house maintenance and repair whenever possible. This goes much farther than what most people my age would consider. My daily driver is a 1998 F150 (17 years old) with 200K on the ticker. I've rebuilt the entire front end, used my welder to extract broken exhaust manifold studs and replace exhaust manifolds, manifold gaskets, major tune up of all emission components, EGR tube/valve etc. U joints.. the list goes on. The truck is well maintained and looks nearly as good as it did when it was new. It runs great and have no immediate plans to get anything else. Another big factor is that I don't have the means to buy a new 30-40K 4x4 pickup.

A major wind storm just took out some fence posts in my yard AGAIN (although in a different area). The wood posts were cemented in too which makes it a major PITA to dig them out. Looks like I'll be breaking out the high lift jack and chain to pull the remains of the concrete and post out of the ground and doing more fence work... beats paying a contractor for the labor though.

4. My TV recently went on the fritz, and instead of dropping 500-1000 bucks on a new one I did some research and when I opened it up I found 1 bad capacitor, which I replaced and also found out the main culprit was the audio/visual input circuit board. I found a used one on EBay and repaired my TV for a grand total of $90.

Having cowboyed in Montana, Stillwater County, I know exactly how resourceful the people of Montana are, they had to be and still have to be to survive.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Tonys' TV was CRACKLING & POPPING, like a lightning storm, we opened it & blew out all the LINT & it worked PERFECTLY!
Bill W.

[ronn]

"i turn my depends inside out"

Mitch, surprised you dont run them through your dishwasher and hang them out on the cloths line.................

[rowens55]

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Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

i turn my depends inside out

Me too, but I wasn't gonna admit it!!

[Mitch//pa]

sometimes i send the old ones to DAD

SA soooonout

[Jason in TX]

I have a row of 6 lightbulbs over the bathroom sink that have a single filament between two posts inside the glass. When one burns out (filament breaks) I will unscrew the bulb and try it inother socket so that the long end of the broken filament dangles down to come in contact with the short end of the broken filament, momentairly arcing inside the light bulb and in essence welding the filament back together again.

I've been "restoring" a bulb that has burnt out about 6 times now for the past few years!

[Tinker]

Originally Posted by montanafordman

4. My TV recently went on the fritz, and instead of dropping 500-1000 bucks on a new one I did some research and when I opened it up I found 1 bad capacitor, which I replaced and also found out the main culprit was the audio/visual input circuit board. I found a used one on EBay and repaired my TV for a grand total of $90.

Let me guess Samsung tv? That was a issue with them and had one go out myself. Capacitors installed were to small for the power supply.

[Stretch Cab]

My grandfather was the creator of "Cheap". He built the Model T Depot Hack that I have to replicate one he drove as a kid to hall laundry. He rebuilt the motor using all used gaskets. Motor runs good but leaks live a sieve.
He had a saying, "Use it up, wear it out, use what you have or do without". Or another one was, "Poor people have poor ways".

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by Tinker

Let me guess Samsung tv? That was a issue with them and had one go out myself. Capacitors installed were to small for the power supply.

Got bit by a Samsung TV here too.Was just out of warranty they told me too bad so sad. Big flat screen wasn't cheap. Piece of crap never own one again.

[montanafordman]

Originally Posted by Tinker

Let me guess Samsung tv? That was a issue with them and had one go out myself. Capacitors installed were to small for the power supply.

You guessed it!

Mine is a 2008 vintage Samsung 40" TV. I could tell one capacitor was bad because it was slightly bulged and leaked a trace amount out the top. It may have caused the A/V source board to go bad for all I know. I replaced all the main capacitors for about $5 and the A/V circuit board was $85 shipped. Seemed a lot more logical than buying a new one. Taking it to a repair man would have made the cost much closer to buying a new TV. From what I heard Samsung got quite a bit of heat for that error and in many cases payed for the repairs on many TVs out of warranty (might have been a class action lawsuit). Its amazing since the cost of capacitors is so cheap that it seems like a stupid way to cut corners. Probably lost in the long run but bean counters will cut 5 cents off each unit if they can - and multiply that out by the thousands or more and they think it makes economic sense until it comes back to bite them.

I had my TV for about 7 years until it gave me trouble. Most would write it off as being at the end of its life cycle but for $90 I'm hoping to get at least another 7 years out of it.

[Anteek29]

LOL...you guys are so creative...and entertaining. Wife and I rinse, wipe and re-use our paper plates several times before tossing them.

[Rex_A_Lott]

Back when SC had inspection stickers I always let mine run out and then got it renewed the next day, so it was due the next month the next year. Every 12 years I beat them out of the $4 inspection fee.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Anteek29

LOL...you guys are so creative...and entertaining. Wife and I rinse, wipe and re-use our paper plates several times before tossing them.

ill reuse paper plates if thier not soaked with anything.

i think the cheapest thing i do is make my own shooting targets, stack of 500 of the cheapest plates you can buy and a spraycan of florescent pink spraypaint to spray a quick dot about size of a half dollar or so in the center of the plate will last a very long time

discarded pallets are a great source for lumber for those quick and dirty projects in the basement or garage. half the time the 2x4's are better quality than some of the crap they are trying to sell in the big box stores

[Jason in TX]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

discarded pallets are a great source for lumber for those quick and dirty projects in the basement or garage. half the time the 2x4's are better quality than some of the crap they are trying to sell in the big box stores

Ha! You reminded me how excited I get when I see someone put out a set of bed rails by the side of the road. FREE ANGLE IRON! I cut up bed rails all the time and use the steel for various projects, jigs, brackets, etc.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

...
discarded pallets are a great source for lumber for those quick and dirty projects in the basement or garage. half the time the 2x4's are better quality than some of the crap they are trying to sell in the big box stores

Way back when I was first married in my early 20's, I had no money for anything. I was working in a print shop that had just received some new equipment from Germany. It came on oak skids. I salvaged all that lumber and had enough to completely build a "picket" fence around the yard to contain my first born son. Borrowed a table saw and a post hole digger from my FIL to accomplish the task. Even had enough lumber left to build a clothes line. Only oak fence I've ever seen.

[KGBnut]

After an uncle died we were cleaning out his workshop. My father found a box labeled

"String - Too Short to Use."

I thought it was pretty funny.

When we were leaving, I found that he had put the box in the car to bring home and save. Thirty years later he still has it, and still fishes around in it when he needs a short piece.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Jason in TX

Ha! You reminded me how excited I get when I see someone put out a set of bed rails by the side of the road. FREE ANGLE IRON! I cut up bed rails all the time and use the steel for various projects, jigs, brackets, etc.

yea... we used to have several bedframes but alas got turned into trailer brackets, lawnmower handle repair, etc lol. so when the time came and i got a bigger bed i had to borrow a frame from a friend haha.

ive even found metal/steel banding strips to be useful, rather springy and can flex a bit and sometimes just thin enough for shims and whatnot.

i wish more of our scrapyards would let you buy stuff out of them, they say once it enters the yard it isnt leaving... see so much useful bits and bobs of stuff when i go.

[pooch]

I use a 9 inch cutting wheel til it is too small to clear the grinder gearhead, about 4 1/2 inches, then use it on my 4 inch angle grinder until it won't clear that gearhead .

It is about 1 1/2 inches diameter before I toss it.

Once got a stack of worn 14 inch or thereabouts cutting wheels, the big ones off a drop saw, that were worn to about 9 1/2 inches so would not fit on my big grinder with the guard on.

I always run the 4 inch with no guard, and yes, I do have a few scars from it, but running the big one with an oversize cutting wheel and no guard is a bit scary.

Once it is down at 9 inches diameter the guard goes back on that one .

[pooch]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

yea... we used to have several bedframes but alas got turned into trailer brackets, lawnmower handle repair, etc lol. so when the time came and i got a bigger bed i had to borrow a frame from a friend haha.

ive even found metal/steel banding strips to be useful, rather springy and can flex a bit and sometimes just thin enough for shims and whatnot.

i wish more of our scrapyards would let you buy stuff out of them, they say once it enters the yard it isnt leaving... see so much useful bits and bobs of stuff when i go.

Our scrap yards (tips) are now called 'recycling centres'.

Have been for many years, like a big garage sale, some of my best stuff has come from there.

Many parts on my current model A/s have bits of metal from the tip.

And I use bed frames made of angle all the time, it is very good hi-tensile and thin and light angle .

[CWilson]

During my junior year of college I barely had enough money to pay for tuition and an apartment. I lived the school year on fish I could catch, or meat I could hunt. (not 100% but I'd say close to 85%) Never had to worry about roommates stealing my food. (except the walleye fillets, and goose jerky)

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by CWilson

During my junior year of college I barely had enough money to pay for tuition and an apartment. I lived the school year on fish I could catch, or meat I could hunt. (not 100% but I'd say close to 85%) Never had to worry about roommates stealing my food. (except the walleye fillets, and goose jerky)

I admire people like you that had the initiative to do whatever necessary to get an education. You are to be commended for sure! Wayne

[J Wade]

I thought everyone went out in a rain storm with a rag to wash their truck. Problem is if you don't finish then you have to wait for another rain and here in West Texas that can be a while

[mike657894]

Originally Posted by CWilson

During my junior year of college I barely had enough money to pay for tuition and an apartment. I lived the school year on fish I could catch, or meat I could hunt. (not 100% but I'd say close to 85%) Never had to worry about roommates stealing my food. (except the walleye fillets, and goose jerky)

i live cheap i buy pinto beans from walmart for 20$ for 16lbs. its about a six month supply and i eat them boiled plain and split up in sandwich bags.

[burner31]

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The old man used to bring his work vehicle home, as a young taxpayer I figured I was paying for it anyways, so I would boost 5-10 gallons of gas out of it after he went to bed.
(He was a cop)

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by mike657894

i live cheap i buy pinto beans from walmart for 20$ for 16lbs. its about a six month supply and i eat them boiled plain and split up in sandwich bags.

Sorry but, curiosity has the best of me....are you invited to many parties??????

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by 31 Model A

Sorry but, curiosity has the best of me....are you invited to many parties??????

Funny!!!

[Tinker]

Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

Got bit by a Samsung TV here too.Was just out of warranty they told me too bad so sad. Big flat screen wasn't cheap. Piece of crap never own one again.

Yep same here. Only a month or two after warranty.

Just as montanafordman said, bulging capacitors tops. BrotherInLaw replaced them for a couple dollars with larger capacitors.