We recently had a local company come give us an estimate so my sample size is small, but recent. The company I called was the same one that moved us here 25 years ago but it was a corporate move so I wasn’t involved in details then. He walked through every room and took a detailed inventory of what was staying and what was moving with us, then spent about half an hour putting together a detailed estimate. Basement, garage, little outbuilding that holds the lawn mowers, etc. He was thorough! This company is fine moving things we pack ourselves but if the contents are damaged they won’t cover it unless the box is damaged- as in, it’s not their fault if we pack poorly. But if they drop a box it’ll show outside damage and that mean they’d cover it. Some movers won’t take boxes you pack yourself so getting several estimates might mean you have to mull over what each includes....they pack, you pack, etc. Timing can make a big difference in price - our guy said a move during cold months was a third cheaper and his estimate noted that if we move in spring or summer it will be more. We plan to move sometime between November and May and he totally didn’t think it was too early for the estimate. I would call now. Like you, this is our first ‘on our own’ move and it’s kind of overwhelming!

I’ve used empty two liter soda bottles to fill the bottom half of a half barrel planter, and it worked well for flowers. Caps on the bottles so they don’t collapse.

I tried Lush shampoo bars and gave them to my sisters one year. All three of us felt they were too harsh- our hair was dry and not shiny at all. But it’s been years- maybe they have improved a lot. Dh and I combined go through two large bottles of Biolage shampoo and one conditioner a year and recycle them. So not a big deal, I don’t think. For travel we have a tiny size refillable shampoo bottle that lasts us two weeks. If we needed more we’d just take two of those. We’ve had the same travel bottle since the liquid restrictions on airlines have been in place.

He’s such an intellect but he made his points without being offensive or arrogant. He’ll be missed- he was one of the great ones.

I hope my follow up post didn’t offend you. I really didn’t mean you because it seemed clear that your ds is interested in exploring cooking as a career. I was mostly thinking about people I know. One has a kid who has enjoyed doing musical theater and has done 25+ shows since junior high. And his mom is disappointed that he’s decided to go into engineering. Nothing wrong with either choice but she was mad that she spent all the time and money to let him do theater and considers it a waste.

Katilac, I agree. I thought the op’s son was interested in exploring a career in the food industry. I don’t especially like it when parents (or anyone, really) push to turn an interest/hobby into a full time thing. I love to quilt but it’s my happy activity. If I did it as a job it wouldn’t be much fun for me. Gentle nudging is great- I enjoy making cakes and I’m ok with making them for other people. But over the years it means my own family doesn’t even ask for a decorated cake because they see it as adding more work for me. And it is! So we usually have pie or an ice cream cake for our family celebrations.

Maybe he can explore the many ways to feed people. Expand beyond working in a restaurant...look at feeding homeless people, catering events, starting a company that makes ready made meals for people, personal chef services, industrial cooking like at a school or college, etc. In my little town of 20,000 people is a family who uses their local church’s certified kitchen and every day they make an assortment of meals and post on their Facebook page what they have for pickup. Pickup is between 3-5 pm and people comment ‘sold’ and which meal they want. It’s genius, I tell you. And during the school year they will deliver the meals to local schools so teachers can go straight home with a meal ready to eat. They work Monday through Friday only and take days off a few days a month. It’s this kind of out of the box thinking that appeals to young people who might not want a regular job like we were raised on. I’d also have him explore food trends like paleo and such. The ability to adapt to new trends is beneficial. Does your area have any cooking classes available? some places offer some fun classes that might help him focus an interest. The whole time we homeschooled I supplemented our income baking custom cakes and taking on personal chef gigs. There is definitely money to be made in the food industry- dh worked for McCormick, Nestle, Nabisco and food scientists have interesting jobs.

I agree with you. The company dh works for has sent most of their manufacturing to Mexico and after 15 years the plant there cannot reliably manufacture parts that pass inspection in his lab. Sooooo many parts fail and have to be remade. The company doesn’t care. They are saving money manufacturing there and their customers have grown used to replacing switches much more frequently. It sucks.

I’m so sorry.

I loved his writing and feared the worst when he disappeared from tv back in August. So sad to hear he is only expected to live a few more weeks. ‘Cancer sucks.

Home maintenance is where we put it. Our garage fridge has Pepsi and bottled water for our lawn care guys and other contractors. ‘Folks, that’s what happens when you buy a 140 year old house. You do whatever it takes to keep your repair guys happy, and we’ve found cold drinks and offering to let them use our bathroom and take breaks on our shaded deck works really well. I cannot wait to move to something newer....like a house from the 60’s! HA

I have painted both front and back doors within the past year. back door was metal and I washed, sanded a bit, then spray painted primer and red paint. The front door is 140 year old wood and I lightly sanded it, and primed and painted using outdoor enamel- with a brush. Both turned out well but of course the metal door looks better -partly because there’s no brush marks using spray paint, and partly because after 140 years, the front door had soooo many coats of paint that had chipped and peeled but I didn’t want to remove lead paint. I think you could use either method for your door.

I vote mismatched.

He was so talented.

Last week we had to have our dryer repaired for the first time, and it was under $100. We bought the dryer 26 years ago. I asked the repair guy if we should replace instead of repair and he laughed. usually he’s very upfront w us when we need to replace instead of repair, but I guess a dryer igniter is no big deal. It’s a Kenmore....but back when they made them well. ‘I don’t care whether the washer dryer match, but I’m probably not typical. We’re on like the third or fourth washer since we bought this dryer so ours hasn’t matched in ages, but they are the same color (white). I thought you meant matched like a matching pair.

I’d for sure make it in advance and sauce it up and put it in freezer bags. Move them to the fridge the day before and warm it up the day of. You could get one hunk of meat, weigh it, cook it and shred, add sauce, and weigh the final product. Then you should have a good idea of how much meat you’ll need,

Oh I thought she listed ham sandwiches for lunches. but yeah, breaking out each meal is so helpful. Imean, tonight dh and I had pinto beans and cornbread. But tomorrow night will be chicken fajitas and salad. The two meals cost wildly different amounts.

That’s what I assume. However, if after I or a teen dropped the person at home the person choked on vomit or had a medical emergency due to drugs (opioids can be pretty dangerous), I would feel awful that I hadn’t informed the parents to watch their kid.

I know you’re joking, but for real, dh and I recently were talking about how much money we’ve saved in the past few years and how budgeting isn’t even an issue. We were patting ourselves on the back for finally figuring out this money thing...and then we realized we are no longer raising kids or paying college tuition. Food, clothes, tuition, extracurriculars...not paying all those are the reason our savings account is so healthy these days. Not our superior budgeting abilities.

I was scratching my head because her blog is mostly posts about how to spend a whole lot of money. One recent post was about Happy Hour at Starbucks. A half price drink is more than she spends to feed one family member for an entire day. Another post was a Shopkins sale for $15 or so. I came to the conclusion that her real high comes from saving money even if it’s on stuff that’s unnecessary. I know she’s not buying all the stuff she blogs about- nobody could buy that much stuff- but she seems to get a rush from buying something-anything- at a discount. Living within your means or below your means is fine- a lot better than living way beyond your means. But there’s no prize for not spending the money necessary to keep your children adequately nourished. ‘Even the Frugalwoods have loosened up their pursestrings now that they have children.

If you decide to eat intuitively without addressing your disordered eating, how will you know whether it’s your body’s or your disordered eating’s intuition making the calls? It’s great that your volunteer job is fulfilling you, but if it’s time to really address your eating issues (and your psych seems to think it is, and you coming here to post kind of indicates you are ready), you might not want to wait the six weeks. (Hugs).

I’m sorry. Sometimes family tension just drains everything out of me and yet I do love each and every one of them (ok, not my sister in law!) and it further complicates things because it’s even more draining to sort out my feelings. Hugs to you, Jenny, ‘cause I know it’s hard. ‘I really like Rosie’s angry art idea. I’ve noticed that when I’m struggling with a family member my bullet journal is SO pretty. Even the boring spending tracker pages get extra art when I’m stressed. It’s evidently my therapy. Even dh has noticed it...though he did want to be sure he isn’t the source of my stress. (hugs)

In our town grad parties are held for weeks after graduation- often as late as early July. I want to encourage you to wait until your flood cleanup is done, baseball is over, and plan a special graduation dinner for your family. It will be great- no rushing around the day of graduation, and you can enjoy the family time. ‘It sucks that a baseball game is dictating the schedule!

I agree with you. People also don’t think to add the amount they pay for kids to eat school lunches or money they spend eating out. The eating out is often considered entertainment, and I get that, but if you eat out a few times a week it definitely means you can get by with fewer groceries. The town I live has enough poverty that the school system is part of a program where every student gets free breakfast and lunch. doctor’s kids, poor kids, everyone. The only money the school takes is if your kid wants extra milk or a second meal. That is a HUGE help to a family’s grocery budget!

I felt like that pizza was mostly crust. That wouldn’t work for us.