Recent content by OaklandCityFarmer

We've been using Mint.com for years now with great success! It's a very safe, trust worthy site, that has all the "right" online safety mechanisms in place for maintaining your financial records. It is owned by Intuit, which if you use TurboTax for your taxes and/or QuickBooks for your...

A great meal I learned from my mother when things were a little tight: 1 can of tomato sauce (or about 4-6 tomatoes pureed) 1/2 pound of any small sized pasta 2 tbsp of oil 2 cups of chicken/veggie/beef broth 4-6 cups water salt and pepper to taste you can also add some chicken or other meat...

Yeah, we got rid of our TV's a long time ago. It saves power and gives us so much more time to do other stuff. It was a gradual step process though. First we got rid of cable. Then we got rid of basic TV. We only used it to watch movies. Then we decided to upgrade the computer screen and get...

Have you considered using a whole house fan over an AC? They don't cool as quickly or as on demand as an AC but when used correctly can be very efficient. Many energy companies will give you a rebate offer if you buy one as well. Solar attic fans, which are relatively inexpensive, can also...

Basically we take the approach of what we need and what we want to groceries. It's 2 adults and 1 16 yo girl and we spend about $220-$250/month. We're trying to get it to $200 per month but that takes time. We do have a few rules that we abide by. 1. We only buy what we need first and if we...

That's the average kWh per day. We think it's pretty good but our goal is to get it under 5 kWh per day. That would be a $16 electricity bill! :D

Wow you guys have some crazy amounts of usage. July 7.16 June 8.43 (Took care of all standby power sources) May 8.88 (We got rid of our TV's) April 9.31 March 10.67 (Another cold month) February 14.93 (It was very cold and it's cheaper to use electricity than gas) January 5.9 (We were at...

I've made both vegan and egg mayonnaise and the only complaint I got was that the vegan one just didn't pan out. This is the recipe I used. I thought it was pretty similar to store bought Best Foods and no one really noticed the difference.

So, many of us own electronics like a microwave, a tv, a dvd/vcr, computers, cell phones amongst other items. Well for those of us who can't do without (I got rid of my microwave, tv, dvd and vcr 3 years ago) we need to seriously look at 'Standby Power' consumption. Many of the electronics...

Very well said! :clap

I bet some chunks of styrofoam along the side would really help it float! Nice job!

Hey Tutter, nice to see you on this forum too! So, one thing that may be of interest to you. Have you ever tried using jojoba oils? Many shampoos contain it now and it helps with the shine and strength of hair. Adding a few drops in a cleanser might the ticket. My very good friends own...

So many of us are new to the idea of self sufficiency and many have been doing it for many years now. Either way many have chose to purchase a new house, property or refinance an old house for repairs or to buy down debt. Through this there have been many unscrupulous practices from lenders and...

So this morning I woke up with a really bad sore throat and remembered my grandmothers remedy for it. 1 grapefruit 1 orange 1 lemon a sprig of mint 4 quarts water 1 tablespoon of honey cut all the fruits in half, break up the sprig of mint and boil for about 40-60 minutes. Everything will...

I think that many of the posts have been valid and there are some definite dangers to the overall environment regarding the use of mercury in CLF's. However. The actual amount of mercury in CFL's is low enough that if broken in a well ventilated room and not touched at all, the mercury will...