October Frugals

[Teacher Terry]

Early morning, I hope the career change is successful for your child. My son is actually doing the same.

[Yppej]

I am pondering how much to spend making copies of my presentation for the next Board of Health meeting. Some of the graphs would look best in color - which is 35 cents per page at my local copy place, whereas black and white is 10 cents per page. I also do not know if I should estimate high or low on the number of people who will attend.

[early morning]

thanks, tt - hope it goes well for your son, also! Did a little routine kitchen maintenance this AM - ran vinegar through both sides of our coffee pot, hoping to keep it fit and working for a long time! The used vinegar then gets put into the toilet bowl to remove lime. Hot water used to clear coffee machine afterwards is poured into kitchen drain to keep it from greasing up. I don't use a lot of really hot water in the kitchen sink, so that's always a concern of mine. We've never had a problem with the kitchen sink drain, and I aim to keep it that way! I try to do this every month, as life w/o a coffee pot is dark, indeed! Of course I have a tiny gas burner and a French press, and always keep coarsely ground coffee in the freezer - so we are actually covered for coffee in case of a power outage. In addition, I have a small back-up pot, plus a Keurig that I had in my office before I retired - so I guess I'm pretty safe in the coffee machine area, also! I would like a hand-crank grinder, though. Just in case. I count coffee as a frugal, because it's cheaper than therapy!

[JaneV2.0]

thanks, tt - hope it goes well for your son, also! Did a little routine kitchen maintenance this AM - ran vinegar through both sides of our coffee pot, hoping to keep it fit and working for a long time! The used vinegar then gets put into the toilet bowl to remove lime. Hot water used to clear coffee machine afterwards is poured into kitchen drain to keep it from greasing up. I don't use a lot of really hot water in the kitchen sink, so that's always a concern of mine. We've never had a problem with the kitchen sink drain, and I aim to keep it that way! I try to do this every month, as life w/o a coffee pot is dark, indeed! Of course I have a tiny gas burner and a French press, and always keep coarsely ground coffee in the freezer - so we are actually covered for coffee in case of a power outage. In addition, I have a small back-up pot, plus a Keurig that I had in my office before I retired - so I guess I'm pretty safe in the coffee machine area, also! I would like a hand-crank grinder, though. Just in case. I count coffee as a frugal, because it's cheaper than therapy!

Oh dear--I guess I'd have to grind beans with a mortar and pestle. Though I think I have a string-operated chopper around here somewhere.

[happystuff]

While I love my coffee, I'm not an aficionado and will do instant in a pinch. When I need my coffee, it's better than nothing.

[catherine]

I am pondering how much to spend making copies of my presentation for the next Board of Health meeting. Some of the graphs would look best in color - which is 35 cents per page at my local copy place, whereas black and white is 10 cents per page. I also do not know if I should estimate high or low on the number of people who will attend.

Can you do two slides per page, double sided? I'm assuming if it's a presentation, they can follow along with a smaller version. Can the Board of Health store it on their site, where people can access it after the fact?

Also, my DD recently gave me millennial insider knowledge that if you call it a Powerpoint presentation, it will date you. It's now called a "slide deck" So, beware!

[catherine]

Did a little routine kitchen maintenance this AM - ran vinegar through both sides of our coffee pot, hoping to keep it fit and working for a long time! The used vinegar then gets put into the toilet bowl to remove lime. Hot water used to clear coffee machine afterwards is poured into kitchen drain to keep it from greasing up. I don't use a lot of really hot water in the kitchen sink, so that's always a concern of mine. We've never had a problem with the kitchen sink drain, and I aim to keep it that way! I try to do this every month, as life w/o a coffee pot is dark, indeed! Of course I have a tiny gas burner and a French press, and always keep coarsely ground coffee in the freezer - so we are actually covered for coffee in case of a power outage. In addition, I have a small back-up pot, plus a Keurig that I had in my office before I retired - so I guess I'm pretty safe in the coffee machine area, also! I would like a hand-crank grinder, though. Just in case. I count coffee as a frugal, because it's cheaper than therapy!

I'm with you! Back-ups for coffee are essential! Over the past few years I went from a Keurig, to a Cuisinart auto-grind/drip. When we moved up here, I switched to French press, which I love.
I actually figured out the cost per cup of coffee the other day, because I hate to spend money on the good stuff (Green Mountain) but I also don't like the cheap stuff. So it turns out the good stuff is .27 an 8-oz mug, if I buy it NOT on sale at about $10/13oz, and the cheap stuff is .17 a mug.

However, I often find Green Mountain on sale for $6 so that brings it to roughly the same price as the cheap stuff. In any case, a bargain!

My other coffee-frugal is I never throw any away. The French press makes 3-4 cups/mugs. If it gets cold, I nuke it. it's fine. I don't waste any.

Forget about instant. Blecchh.

[happystuff]

Forget about instant. Blecchh.

Yeah, I get that a lot - LOL. Normal mornings coffee is ground pour-thru single cup. Weekends is coffee press. Instant, again, is in a pinch. lol

Oh, and like you, we don't waste any coffee. Leftover goes in the fridge to be reheated whenever.

[nswef]

Portorico.com Delicious coffee- I like the Organic Fair Trade French Mexican and get it ground to one notch past Melita. They go on sale a few times a year and you save $1 or $2 a pound. They ship free if you order $75 worth.

Is there a secret to French Press? I tried it a few times ( not an expensive press) and wasn't thrilled...messy, got cold fast and I hate microwaving coffee...will drink it cold rather than reheat it.

[happystuff]

This is my french press. Actually keeps the coffee hot for quite a while.

https://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Vacuu...75016209&psc=1