About Frugal Friday...

[ecosophia]

Last week's Frugal Friday post only got 27 comments, and the one before that only got 18. That's below the threshold I'd set early on, to call for a review of the project. 

I can think of three options at this point: 

1) Close down the Frugal Friday posts on the assumption that they've basically fulfilled their purpose. 

2) Switch to a Frugal Ideas post once a month, to serve the same purpose with a little less work on my part and a higher likelihood of getting worthwhile discussions. 

3) Keep things going the way they've been. 

This is where I'd like your feedback, faithful readers. What would you prefer? Which of these options seems best to you -- or is there another option you'd prefer? Inquiring Druids want to know. 

Comments

my vote

[(Anonymous)]

Monthly would work great for me.

Re: my vote

[(Anonymous)]

Monthly is great for me as well

Denis

[executedbygandhi]

In my opinion number 2 is a good compromise.

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe a trial run of option 2 would be good? I do check in here somewhat regularly to see what ideas others have for frugal living.

[adara9]

I vote for 2, as I feel like having a place to share current frugalities over time is worthwhile. The effectiveness of different strategies waxes and wanes as circumstances change, and seeing how fellow travelers are realizing frugality in their current lives is helpful.

[methylethyl]

The posts have been extremely encouraging and useful, but as we are a limited number of people, it seems like we've all shared our best frugal strategies. The well is not infinite.

Once a month might still be worth a trial.

Monthly...

[kayr]

I am afraid I don't have too many frugal ideas that others haven't beat me to the "post". I like the monthly idea.

[(Anonymous)]

I really enjoy these, but the main issue is that ideas get lost across history. I think a lot of the "low hanging fruit" has been covered already, too. There are only so many ways to save money on laundry detergents/clothes washing/drying, or to remind people that yes they, too, can make or learn to make their own X instead of buying it (if they have the time to tradeoff, and whatever minimal tools are required, of course).

However, the process of sharing tips and tricks has a nice way of triggering a re-think about everything one is doing and where else one could save money, so there's a pleasant utility to the occasional reminder-via-blog-post.

It might be nice to go to once a month, with clear guidelines on when you'll stop accepting posts for the current one and expect people to wait until the next one to post.

However, if you wrapped it up, it would have been a good run. Maybe the occasional reminder to your readers that these posts exist and see if there rises a clamour for another one, and then do them as needed, rather than on a set schedule?

Thank you very much for the moderation work for these so far!

-- V.O.G

I enjoy Frugal Friday and I make a point of posting an idea every week.

[teresa_from_hershey]

I enjoy Frugal Friday!
I make a point of posting every week, unless I'm out of town when it's difficult.
I read all the posts.

I keep a list of potential topics so I've always got something to say and isn't there always something to say about thrift and frugality, even if it's a reminder to keep at it?

Anyway, you're a busy man so if Frugal Friday isn't getting results, I can understand you dropping it.

There's only so much time in the day and you must be frugal with time as well as with money.

Furnace filters and their usage and a "winterize your AC" tip

[teresa_from_hershey]

You should replace your furnace filter regularly but have you considered what that means? The filter is the lungs of your furnace. A dirty filter makes your furnace work harder than it needs to.

1. If your furnace is tied into your air conditioner -- that is, they use the same blower and ductwork -- you NEED to change your furnace filter during the air conditioning season! Our AC tech told me that it's MORE important to change the filter during the AC season than the winter because the AC needs it more.

2. Did your furnace or AC run? I change out our filter faithfully yet I do skip some months. In spring and fall, we don't use the furnace OR the AC, so I skip changing the filter for that month. This works out to a new filter not 12 months of the year but 10 months or even 9 months depending on what the weather is like and how long I can avoid having the heat come on in the winter.

3. Big Box home stores like Home Depot often run deals on furnace filters. They're expensive for a cardboard frame containing corrugated foam and wire. But, if you buy a year's supply (12), you get four more filters free. Or something like that. It varies from store to store. We last bought three years of filters to get 12 free ones. Because of how I change filters, 48 filters will last me five years or more.

4. Filters vary in quality. Unless you've got family members with significant allergies AND you've got a long-haired menagerie, use the middle-grade filter. They catch more dust than the super-cheapies and yet still cost much less than the premiums. You're better off, with significant allergies and a long-haired menagerie with vacuuming every day, combing out the livestock, lining vents with anti-allergy filters, washing bedding faithfully in scalding water, and getting rid of rugs.

And an Air Conditioner tip from my AC tech. Cover your outdoor unit with a tarp for the winter! This will keep out leaves, dust, debris, and windblown junk from ending up inside the outdoor unit. The tech must vacuum it all out in the spring and he may not get every particle that's caught inside. Bungie cord down a tarp, like a muffin top, over the outdoor unit when you stop using the AC. Keep the bungie cord AWAY from the delicate cooling fins. Uncover the unit before you turn on the unit in summer.

Re: Furnace filters and their usage and a "winterize your AC" tip

[(Anonymous)]

Depending on your furnace's duct size, you might be able to get a washable filter. The cost is much higher up front but it can pay for itself over time. The downside is that the washable ones tend to be corser so if you're using your filters to take say smoke or smells or allergens out of the air and not just dust it might not be for you.

On the gripping hand, you save even more since the corser filters do not impede air flow as much so the fan need not work as hard, meaning you save on the electric bill, too.

[kylec]

I think with most of the low hanging frugal fruit harvested, a monthly version would be fine.

Frugality

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I vote for a once a month post.

That said, I want to tell everyone about my ninety-year old Mother in Law. Her Doctor put her on some pills that she had a terrible time with for two years. She nearly died and another Doctor found out her symptoms were caused by the pills her Doctor had prescribed for her.

She was fine for a couple of years and went back to her original Doctor to get some pills to help her sleep. Her Doctor prescribed the same pills that had made her so ill. The Doctor looked her in the face and promised these were not the same pills.

I looked up the pills and told her they were the same pills and to get off them. She said she was off them as to that moment. Since then, she has cut down or eliminated more prescriptions from her Doctor. The result seems to be bountiful good health. She is also exercising by walking up and down the stairs at her apartment building.

She is saving not only money on bad prescriptions, she is saving her health.

Maxine

Change

[(Anonymous)]

Please do not change at this time folks around were I live are not in a good place both mind and body. I am guilty of not posting as much will try an do better. Blueberry

Frugal Love

[(Anonymous)]

I love Frugal Friday! I don't have a lot of tips myself, which is part of the reason I have found it so valuable.

Thanks to these posts, I have fire cider and homemade bread sitting on my counter right now.

I would miss it.

However, given decrease in posts, and the amount of work, once a month might be enough.

With heartfelt thanks to you and the posters, Heloise

Re: Frugal Love

[michele7]

I also love Frugal Friday!! If every Friday is too much, what about every other Friday? I would like to encourage folks to try ideas and report back on what worked for you. Your twist on someone else's tip, may help others.

Back up Power

[(Anonymous)]

Let me give this a try. "Solar Generators" are expensive and if one part fails in the plastic box you are SOL. Build your own like building a stereo system in days past. You will need a battery, power inverter, plastic box to the hold the stuff. Plus Smart battery charger an if going solar a solar panel and charge controller and other stuff. IMHO best to get a kit with all the solar stuff makes life simpler for most folks. My last build has a 1280 Watt hour battery 2500 watt pure sine wave inverter I know over kill inverters do not like electric motors. Placed in a plastic tool box on wheels like a hand truck cost under 500 USD including a smart charger. Will run a fridge over 24 hours. Will list brands and source in another post if ok. If you buy something off the shelf cost around 1100-1400 USD. Blueberry

Re: Back up Power

[atmosphericriver]

Yes, if you want this type of thing, it is much less expensive to buy the separate components, the added advantage to buying separate components is that if one part breaks, you can replace it without having to throw out the entire unit as you would with an off the shelf all in one unit.

I also agree with you about the name battery (or solar) generator ! They are NOT generators, sounds like a California Bureaucrat came up with that to make the argument that a gas generator can easily be replaced with this thing with a similar name.

That said, for alot of situations they can be useful. If someone feels they need one, besides of course buying the components separately, the inverter you get can also be carried outside and used straight off your car battery, you need an extension cord long enough to get to your refrigerator. Your car has a built in gas powered generator( alternator) and fuel supply, idle the car when running a larger load.

So when you have separate components, you can use them in different ways. Used to be that Steve Harris had a website and instructions for those kind of battery/inverter set ups to use in the house and how to connect the inverter straight to the car. www.battery1234.com, although that is down atm or forever ? I dont know. www.steven1234.com is up but those links with the instructions and links of what to buy are not. His web presentation and the pop up may seem spammy, but it isnt, just rough websites. His free how to survive the storm ideas are actually worth looking at.

You dont need to have the refrigerator powered 24/7 during an outage, in the "old days" when I moved to this neighborhood, the women who had a generator, and not every one did then by a long shot, they were small too, they did not leave them running all day, they would run the generator in the morning for an hour or two and then again in the evening for 2 hours. And that was how much time the refrigerator received power. Keep the door closed. dont open it. Just saying that you dont need to keep it connected to the inverter/battery set up 24/7 if you have a small battery. Or to the car idling with the inverter connected to the car battery, just do it twice a day.

I have a larger wired in backup battery bank, so I can usually power the refrigerator 4 days or longer if there is any sun.

Frugal Quarterly

[(Anonymous)]

I would like to have a Monthly or Quarterly Frugal Friday with a THEME appropriate to the upcoming season. In this way, it would emulate a print option in case the ‘net version gets Carrington-Evented away and it could lay down tracks in space to become a new source of income for the Host.

I would also like the backlog of tips already shared to be collected into 4 Seasonal booklets to be offered for sale as either an electronic or print on demand version. This supposes that people freely give permission to reprint their named contribution. I consider anonymous tips to be already in the public domain.

Or, alternatively, a curated index of topics touched on, with links. The index could be printed every Friday by an automated push and be not much trouble.

Re: Frugal Quarterly

[thinking_turtle]

I like the idea of a theme! Like travel, cleaning, cooking, cars...

Perhaps a vote for next month's theme, like there is for the fifth Wednesday of the month?

I would say....

[degringolade]

I enjoyed, but I think that it is a finished product.

I would say shut it down, if one of the regulars wants to spend their time, you would be a great cheerleader and resource. But it's done it's job. Let it go.

You have plenty of other irons in the fire and they are more interesting.

#2

[fringewood]

I'd say number two: switch to a Frugal Ideas post once a month, to serve the same purpose with a little less work for you and a higher likelihood of getting worthwhile discussions.

[slclaire]

Once a month works for me. I also like the idea of collecting the tips from its existence into a downloadable document, so that we can print them out. But it would need to be someone other than me who does that, as I have other commitments I need to meet.

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe frugal Friday monthly with a theme? Like frugal.. home living, investing, food, health stuff ie: skin care water filter

[(Anonymous)]

I also like the idea of ince a month with a theme.

Asking for help

[michele7]

We have started a project that requires lumber. We hit up the big box stores, but the lumber was awful. We asked around and our neighbor and son in law pointed us to a lumber yard in a city about 25 minutes away. Prices were cheaper and the lumber was better. Until you ask, you don't know what others know.

Re: Asking for help

[atmosphericriver]

yes, I do not buy lumber at the big box store, in this area that is Home Depot, as it is not good. I will buy plywood there, but usually dont. There are 4 or 5 lumber yards closer and the wood is alot better, however the big box store is less expensive, so if need alot of plywood, it can be worth it

Once a month sounds like a great idea

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
I like having Frugal Friday, but have not contributed much. I think once a month would work well and spur me to perhaps contribute more. Thanks for doing this. I am so happy you are in the world and doing all that you do.

What else is there to say?

[isaac_hill]

I'd either shut it down or go monthly, as others have said, ain't much fruit left. I'd probably be a good idea to harvest all the info and put it in a book or something.

Once a Month is About Right

[dr_coyote]

Try once a month for a while, and if that isn't working it's time to close it.

I've really enjoyed this series, read through all of the posts, and even managed to keep up with posting something new once a week for the first year. But things have dried up a bit, and so slowing down the pace to once a month seems about right.

#2, emphasis on themes

[kallianeira]

Dear JMG,

2 years of Frugal Fridays have led to significant positive differences in my life. I was inured to being frugal but the range of knowledge of your commentariat has enhanced my awareness of numerous topics of which I knew little to nothing. We did not all grow up in the same context nor with common ways of understanding systems, possibilities, or even basic functions of things in life. Poor but also impoverished in practical wisdom... How to make roux, what it even is? That there are filters in airconditioners? How and why to make berms? Seriously, I didn't get a practical education!

I also appreciate the emergent function of this group whereby one can ask for advice and suggestions ... my next post might well have been such a query about computer systems. Or insights into various types of diet. Collectively we are rather superior to any search engine.
Although much of it has been gone over a number of times now, I think there is still scope for high quality information to be raised and shared. Perhaps a monthly ideas post and an attempt to formulate threads more cohesively and less desultorily (by us, not the moderator!) would keep it viable.

Let me echo Blueberry's sentiment that some of us are not in the best place - which is likely only to increase in extent as descent persists - and so future queries and solutions (and solidarity) we share may be relatively more valuable than heretofore.

Thank you so much for your trouble, JMG, whatever you decide.

I vote for option 2

[mistyfriday]

While it is true that much of the low hanging fruit has been covered, I think a monthly post would be valuable.

frugal friday future

[atmosphericriver]

It is so hard to know what 2026 will bring for folks. Wether it is once a month or not it probably isnt too hard to restart or increase if things go south economically, and interest in Frugal then rises, frequency can easily be increased.

I would say to take a complete break over the holidays, no frugal friday until January, do the first friday in January and see then if people write in doing poorly can do once a week or stay at once a month, But take the total break now

The downside to infrequent comment periods is that it is then much harder to remember which friday. Maybe its just me, but I dont think so, keeping track of the days of the week is easy, we always know it is friday or tuesday or whathave you. Knowing off hand if this friday is the 2nd or 3rd friday or whatever of the month is not so automatic. SO it could be that trying to make it once a month with get less responses.

Re: frugal friday future

[(Anonymous)]

> The downside to infrequent comment periods is that it is then much harder to remember which friday.

May I recommend to use an RSS reader?
Either as a browser plugin [1] or a separate program. I use Akregator, but that's not readily available on most platforms[2].

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/feedbroreader/
[2] https://apps.kde.org/akregator/