Post Your Wins

[disneysteve]

I guess this belongs in the Win conversation.

I typically go to the supermarket deli and buy turkey breast. The one I get is $11.49/lb.
This week, instead of doing that I went to the meat department and bought 2 small turkey breasts for $7.19/lb.

I made a spice rub and then roasted them in the oven. We've been slicing them and making sandwiches. I think my wife used some on a salad also.

Not only are they cheaper, but I have no doubt that the deli stuff is highly processed and is probably full of sodium and preservatives and whatever other chemicals they throw in there. The fresh turkey breasts have none of that - just the seasoning I added. So cheaper and healthier. Win win.

[disneysteve]

There's a nifty little device called flip-it! I think my wife saw it a while back on Good Morning America. It's a cap with a little tripod. You put it on a bottle of lotion like shampoo or moisturizer. It makes it so the bottle stands upside down and lets you get out the last bits of product rather than them going to waste.

The set of caps goes for $16 on Amazon but my wife got a set for free from our local Buy Nothing group. My daughter and I both tried it this week. She used it on skin cream and I used it on shampoo. It worked great it both instances.

No more throwing out bottles that still have multiple uses of product remaining in them. It's quick and easy to remove the original pump and screw on the flip-it! cap instead. Wait a day for everything to drain down and you're good to go. I would say that even at $16, it's worth it because it will save you money in the long run tossing out bottles that aren't really empty but are too low for the pump to work.

[james.hendrickson]

I'm also posting a win.

So, here in Portland, people leave books and other free items in little covered cupboards along the side of the street. Here is an example:

So yesterday I was out for a run and I passed by one of these. The homeowners had left some free food out - I was able to score a couple of new sealed bottles of soy sauce and a couple of bags of rice. I had a look at the bottles and the rice - and both seemed to be intact (no holes, etc.). So I scored like 8 bucks worth of free food. And, I got some exercise as part of the deal.

Two wins: exercise and free food.

[disneysteve]

I'm also posting a win.

So, here in Portland, people leave books and other free items in little covered cupboards along the side of the street. Here is an example:

So yesterday I was out for a run and I passed by one of these. The homeowners had left some free food out - I was able to score a couple of new sealed bottles of soy sauce and a couple of bags of rice. I had a look at the bottles and the rice - and both seemed to be intact (no holes, etc.). So I scored like 8 bucks worth of free food. And, I got some exercise as part of the deal.

Two wins: exercise and free food.

We have those Little Free Libraries here too. I've never check them out but honestly don't really read. I haven't heard of folks leaving other items there but I can see them doing that, as long as it doesn't get out of hand with a bunch of stuff piled around.

I do see people giving away food products all the time in our Buy Nothing group. It's often because their grocery delivery service brought the wrong item or too many of something. I never claim food products as I'd rather see them go to people who are in need.

I am often surprised by how many people buy a multi-pack of something to try for the first time, try it once, and give away the rest of the pack because they don't like it. Why would you buy a 10-pack of something you've never had before? What a waste. At least they give it away and don't just toss it in the trash.

[james.hendrickson]

We have those Little Free Libraries here too. I've never check them out but honestly don't really read. I haven't heard of folks leaving other items there but I can see them doing that, as long as it doesn't get out of hand with a bunch of stuff piled around.

I do see people giving away food products all the time in our Buy Nothing group. It's often because their grocery delivery service brought the wrong item or too many of something. I never claim food products as I'd rather see them go to people who are in need.

I am often surprised by how many people buy a multi-pack of something to try for the first time, try it once, and give away the rest of the pack because they don't like it. Why would you buy a 10-pack of something you've never had before? What a waste. At least they give it away and don't just toss it in the trash.

Totally Disneysteve - I've also picked up some great old used books from some of these little free libraries. For example, last week I found a nice old Sci Fi book from the 1950s, a book on marketing and a book from Dolf De Rios (who is questionable, but has good resale value).

So...I love them.

The only downside is that some people say these little libraries encourage homelessness and pan handling - which are major issues here in Portland.

[disneysteve]

Totally Disneysteve - I've also picked up some great old used books from some of these little free libraries. For example, last week I found a nice old Sci Fi book from the 1950s, a book on marketing and a book from Dolf De Rios (who is questionable, but has good resale value).

So...I love them.

The only downside is that some people say these little libraries encourage homelessness and pan handling - which are major issues here in Portland.

I've wondered if there are ever any books of value in them. I'll have to stop and check them out. There are several near my house. The homelessness issue isn't a problem here as all the ones I see are in residential neighborhoods. The pan handlers aren't around here. They're all over in the city.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Do users of little free libraries return books after reading them, or just hold on to them? I have put books into two of them before, but have not borrowed yet.

Why would they encourage homelessness and panhandling? I'm not getting the connection.

[kork13]

Do users of little free libraries return books after reading them, or just hold on to them? I have put books into two of them before, but have not borrowed yet.

We've often traded books with the little libraries -- we love them. There's one near my family, next to our favorite foot/bike path & park -- we check it probably every few times we pass by (often). My boys love to read. We'll take a couple books fairly often, then periodically we'll tell the boys to choose some books to put back into the little library. Sometimes it's the same books, other times it's books that we've gotten somehow else. I try to enforce a "1 out/1 in" rule, so that we don't wind up with even more books than we already have (literally hundreds of kids books, not to mention my own collection). Especially when we see that it's looking a little sparse, we'll make an special effort to add some books from home. That's really the entire idea of these things -- give some, take some, and share the joy of reading.

Why would they encourage homelessness and panhandling? I'm not getting the connection.

I'm assumed James' statement to this effect was more about Portland leaving food or other items alongside the books. Strange IMO, but then again, they also like to say "Keep Portland Weird".

[Fishindude77]

I built one of those little libraries for my daughter to put in their front yard. She's in a good neighborhood where homeless and panhandlers are not a problem. There is no set policy regarding the return of books you borrowed from it. Folks around the neighborhood use it as intended, take books, return books, leave books, etc. It seems to be getting used.

[james.hendrickson]

So, yesterday was Coca Cola dividend day, I got paid a few bucks, and this morning when I was out for my daily walk, I found a nickle. So, a couple of small wins - but wins nonetheless.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Not a win for me but I thought about you James twice in 2 days picking up what I thought were nickels. Yesterday in my parking lot a shiny looking nickel thing caught my eye so I went to pick it up only to find it was a 2032 coin battery. Today while jogging around my neighborhood again what looked like a nickel was another 2032 coin battery. Both I tossed in the bushes so no one else gets head faked anymore.

[james.hendrickson]

Not a win for me but I thought about you James twice in 2 days picking up what I thought were nickels. Yesterday in my parking lot a shiny looking nickel thing caught my eye so I went to pick it up only to find it was a 2032 coin battery. Today while jogging around my neighborhood again what looked like a nickel was another 2032 coin battery. Both I tossed in the bushes so no one else gets head faked anymore.

Well, at least you're getting out of the house. The average American watches TV three hours a day and doesn't exercise.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Well, at least you're getting out of the house. The average American watches TV three hours a day and doesn't exercise.

It didn't occur to me as a win but since you pointed it out as a win, this is my daily routine; 100 sit ups (ie, 25, 25, 25, 25), 50 squats, 1 mile jog around my neighborhood, weights, burpies, etc. Every morning for breakfast a cup of milk, an avocado or banana, coffee. For lunch (when WFH 3x/week) a kale smoothie w/frozen blueberries/strawberries. Dinner meat w/veggies and rice or potatoes. A 90 yr old once gave me 3 sold tips or advice for longevity; 1) move your body well, 2) feed your body well, 3) rest your body well. Words of wisdom.

[ua_guy]

I've been cutting my own hair for 21 years, that's 1092 weeks, and if I cut my hair roughly every 4 weeks on average, that's 273 haircuts. If each haircut cost $25, that's $6825 I haven't spent.

Well, OK, subtract the two pairs of trimmers I've had over the same period and a couple of replacement blades. We'll call that expense a total of $250 on the high side, so we'll net the savings at about $6500 for a round number.

[scfr]

A couple weeks ago we went to a concert by an amazing musician at a small local concert venue. For the 2 of us, we paid $48 total, $46 for the tickets and $2 for parking. The concert was awesome, the acoustics were great, the musician was really in to it, and the intimate setting allowed the audience and musician to interact with each other. We really got our money's worth, and got to support a lesser-known deserving artist. (The same day several of my colleagues drove about 3 hours each way to see Beyonce. While I don't have anything against stadium concerts or Beyonce, I no longer have any desire to pay a small fortune to be one of 57K in a massive venue full of screaming fans.)