Ouch, Christine! You clearly have a low opinion of urban areas--I hope you haven't had negative experiences and that you're just repeating what you've heard. Normally when I hear this type of thing, it's from people who steer clear of urban neighborhoods and don't have personal experiences with them. We bought ...

OK. So I didn't start out today meaning for it to be a dumpster diving day. BUT, when driving through a residential neighborhood, I spotted a really cool chucky knit thing. So I pulled over & it was a knit 100% wool throw blanket. But there was also a garbage bag next to it that appeared to be full of blankets.  Brought it home & ...

Oh--and this from my dad's facebook page from last week--since it seems to be on-topic. JKA: This man was headed down the alley to the dumpster. He was on the phone (clinched shoulder-to-jaw). He had an ordinary bag of trash in one hand, but the other held a large cardboard suitcase labeled "REGRETS". MH: I know what a scavenger ...

Well--I appear to be of the minority opinion here, and I rarely actually climb into a dumpster, but quite a bit can be taken from beside a dumpster, or pulled out from where you can reach it. So, I would agree that dumpster diving is frugal, green, and a just plain fun thing to do. Not too long ago I pulled some potted plants out of dumpster-- but ...

 Thanks for the head's up, zohner! These lots tend to be owned by the city & not the bank (they're not worth paying the taxes on), but I will make sure to clear that up before doing anything over there...

 I suspect that the only people who spend in those higher ranges are people who can afford to eat out on a daily basis. I mean, I could get up there if I had to!

I dunno. If your son made an 18 and isn't motivated to do better on his own, he might just not be ready for college right now. You don't need to be trying to bribe a child who's that old. My younger brother (24) -- just finished his undergraduate degree--after 5 1/2 years! Took me 3 1/2 with a double major at the same school. I ...

[quote user="MarthaMFI"] actually the private schools don't have classes like that because they are strictly academic.  no fun courses except maybe art or drama. [/quote]    Oh contraire!  That depends completely on the private school you're talking about. Some of them are all about academics--but ...

 It might very well cost us nearly that to re-shingle a roof here... Houses in Birmingham often cost much less than what they would cost to build, so we also have things like empty lots that just sit. (Because it's so much cheaper to buy than it is to build---and if you built something it would instantly be worth less than the cost ...

LOL. At least you're not the kid whose mom packs real cutlery, cloth napkins, and uses an embarrassing array of containers. (I refuse to buy an expensive and hard to clean metal water bottle when a 12-oz glass bottle (that was packaging for cola-cola in a previous life) works just as well. And I'm sure-as-**** not sending a juice box.) I ...