[quote user="Toni B."]Has anyone here made a decision to change their lifestyle and go with something totally different? What age were you when you made this change? What reaction did you get from friends and family? Was it tough making the transition? Did something happen to prompt the change? Was the change temporary or permanent? ...

[quote user="cfisher2008"]I want to start sewing- I feel it is a useful skill to learn. I know sewing used to be very cost-effective. But I am wondering if it is still frugal. The cost of fabric seems really high, and I feel that I might be able to find used clothing cheaper than sewing. Any thoughts? [/quote]

 I wear orthopedic shoes. To get the shoes with the qualities that I need, the cost is in the range of $150. Sometimes I am able to get them "on sale," but that also means they are being discontinued and I must look for another style. They are not cute and stylish, but I am pain free. The bad news is that they are only in black. The ...

 

[quote user="Pat"]There are ordinances against weeds,[/quote]  Wow! I thought my state and town had a lot of laws and ordinances! We usually get adequate rainfall for lawns, and if we have a drought, which does happen, we have ordinances that restrict water usage. I haven't been on the planning board for years, but I am not ...

[quote user="Pat"]What do you do to save water on the lawn and garden? [/quote]  We have never watered the "lawns" except the first year we planted grass. After that is was on its own. I happen to like dandelions, and I am not disappointed every year. We do cut it, however, and when it is green, it looks rather nice. ...

 [quote user="Hofmama"]If you can win people's trust, it's a lot easier to survive.[/quote]   Character is always important. Survival does hinge on your ability to bloom wherever you are planted!  

[quote user="Hofmama"]I think having some precious metal on hand is good because its portable and pretty universally valuable. If things were to get truly bad (and I'm perhaps influenced by the fact that my husbands grandparents fled Uzbekistan, so it's not very far back in the family history that things got real bad), having ...