What do you do to cut expenses down?

[Mini Horses]

Mom doesn't want to make any changes here

How old is your mom?

In many different threads you have mentioned things she "doesn't" want, do, prefer, allow, eat -- etc. So just wondering about her. It appears you have "retired" and live in her house -- with some limitations. LOL

Emotionally, mentally and physically things change as we age. I'm certain you are aware. Because I continue to work and am very active, I feel that I am flexible with some areas and not so in others. Namely, don't mess with MY farm without asking. If she "uses" the land in any way I could see this being an issue. If she just lets it sit and you could grow a nice garden, it seems more productive and she would appreciate it. Just wondering.

As to some of the issues -- solar, permaculture, etc. I can see where she may be concerned about the "look and outcome" of a project given the consideration for some professional installation or a "this may work" set up.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Thanks, Mini. that's good information to have. I could easily do without TV. I'd be happy with the occasional movie. Hubby, is a different story. He enjoys Nascar, and some sports. Occasionally history. So, while I would gladly drop cable all together, that is not an option here. We're paying 200/mo for bundled TV, telephone, and internet.

I showed some hot air solar heater designs to hubby a couple weeks ago. Our heating costs are not very high b/c we have primarily wood, with oil and pellet back up. But, if we built some solar heaters, that would further reduce our heating cost. I could envision us using solar during the day, and oil or wood at night. Wouldn't that be sweet?

 

[flowerbug]

How old is your mom?

In many different threads you have mentioned things she "doesn't" want, do, prefer, allow, eat -- etc. So just wondering about her. It appears you have "retired" and live in her house -- with some limitations. LOL

Emotionally, mentally and physically things change as we age. I'm certain you are aware. Because I continue to work and am very active, I feel that I am flexible with some areas and not so in others. Namely, don't mess with MY farm without asking. If she "uses" the land in any way I could see this being an issue. If she just lets it sit and you could grow a nice garden, it seems more productive and she would appreciate it. Just wondering.

As to some of the issues -- solar, permaculture, etc. I can see where she may be concerned about the "look and outcome" of a project given the consideration for some professional installation or a "this may work" set up.

correct. it is her house and her gardens. i am here for protection and to help out as best i can and sometimes we agree on how that goes and other times i just have to cope or work around her preferences.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

correct. it is her house and her gardens. i am here for protection and to help out as best i can and sometimes we agree on how that goes and other times i just have to cope or work around her preferences.

Same. I just moved into my Dad's house, as he is recently widowed at 94. Home, alone, at 94.....isolated. Feels he shouldn't be driving anymore. Blind in 1 eye. Getting hard of hearing. I came back for stepmoms funeral, and he asked me to move in with him. I hope it helps ease his worries somewhat.

 

[flowerbug]

Same. I just moved into my Dad's house, as he is recently widowed at 94. Home, alone, at 94.....isolated. Feels he shouldn't be driving anymore. Blind in 1 eye. Getting hard of hearing. I came back for stepmoms funeral, and he asked me to move in with him. I hope it helps ease his worries somewhat.

it may be difficult at times, but take some deep breaths and hold on as best you can.

i'm glad i live with a best friend and someone i love. i wouldn't have it any other way considering all she's done for me. the rest of my siblings can't really do this for her. if i weren't here she'd have had to move or do something else.

plus i get hugs in the morning, daytime and evening.

 

[mischief]

lol at "being naughty"... i wish we had some solar hot water heat going on here. we don't sometimes have much sun in the winter for weeks or even a month at a time, but when the sun does come out it would be nice to be able to use that free solar gain heat for hot water and space heating if possible. alas, Mom doesn't want to make any changes here so i can't get that set up. it's one of the more cost effective uses of solar energy instead of converting it to electricity and then converting it back to heat for hot water.

I had two choices- water tank/solar power....at the time, I couldnt get my head around the solar power thing and knew I did need water- for the garden and for emergencies.
Two of the best choices I ever made were getting a gas (bottle not mains) cooktop- when the power goes out, I can still make a meal. I always have a couple of spare tanks to hand and my water tank- I can water whatever I want and dont need to feel like I am wasting a valuable resource

 

[wyoDreamer]

We live in a rural area - broadband internet is not available, to far away from everything else - so we have to go satellite with Hughes Net to get anything with decent speed. Wish we had other, more affordable options. We got rid of TV services and just watch what is available over the airwaves. Surprised at the variety of stations that are available. We have NetFlix for movies - we have 2 DVDs sitting on the tv-stand at any time - only $16 per month for unlimited movies - just limited to having 2 at a time on hand, lol. drop one in the mail and 2 days later we have a new movie in the mail.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Do you pay postage? Do they come with return mailers?

 

[wyoDreamer]

RETURN MAILERS - no postage needed. The envelope the movie comes in tears off a flap and then it will stick down a shorter flap to send back out. Just insert disk, stick the flap down and put into mailbox.

You go through their listing on-line and select movies that you would like to see. Your list is prioritized so what is on top is what they will try to send, but you may not get them in order of 1-2-3. If they are new movies and very popular, you may need to wait for someone to send back a disk, so in the mean time, they will send your 4th choice, or your 12th choice, depending on what is available. I think we have 30 requests on our list - but we have had the last 2 movies for 3 months, lol.

 

[flowerbug]

we don't have cable tv or internet via the phone company. it took some guy putting up radio packet network towers to get decent internet here. satelite was too expensive and i heard too many negatives about those companies to want to get involved with them. i've been mostly happy with the service i have. Mom watches DVDs quite a bit from the library.