Comments on: Empower Yourself With Know-How

By: Knowledge is Power « Piggy Bank Power

Knowledge is Power « Piggy Bank Power — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:26:54 +0000

[...] I’ve discovered it’s very helpful for frugal living to know it all. In a recent post on Domestic Cents, the author states the following: “Many, many of the ways I have learned to [...]

By: Nicki

Nicki — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 11:40:49 +0000

I’m glad you found me and also glad you “ran on a bit …” I love to read the comments! It is always very exciting for me to hear from people that aren’t American.

By: Scribhneoir

Scribhneoir — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:06:55 +0000

Great post – it is great to be able to do practical things for yourself.

When I first started reading American blogs I wondered what people meant by cooking from scratch – it never occurred to me that there was anything special about preparing meals from unprocessed food.

My partner is a very practical man and can look after any vehicle we own which saves us a lot of money.

We have learnt to build our own wind turbine and live off-grid on a few acres, using sun and wind power. Our system has grown over the years and we have learnt a lot about managing and maintaining it. It provides all the power we need at the moment.

Early in the year we were given the bones of a poly-tunnel in return for dismantling and removing it, so next year we hope to erect it and start growing food. Our land here is very rough and boggy and the tunnel will make growing food seem less overwhelming than trying to recover three acres of bad land.

Right now we are in the process of building our own house – from scratch
We started slowly last year and have been buying or bartering for materials since then. We don’t have a bank loan or mortgage to do it, we are probably building the lowest cost house in this area for years.

This country has suffered badly with greed in the last few years, it was like a contagion that spread across the country, the Celtic Tiger virus. So many people have over-extended their spending and are really suffering now. At the last count there are 300,000 empty, newly built or unfinished houses in Ireland, a memorial to developer madness.

Sorry I have kinda just run on a bit…

I just found your blog by reading through an old post on smallnotebook http://smallnotebook.org/2008/11/24/finding-contentment-where-you-are-right-now/ I really enjoyed your comment and followed you here – really looking forward to have a wonder around…

By: finallygettingtoeven.com

finallygettingtoeven.com — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:10:07 +0000

I have loved to learn my whole life (well outside the 4 walls of the ‘schoolroom’ that is…lol).. Anytime anything needs repaired, maintained, re-purposed, made from scratch, etc I hit the library, internet, friends and I try my best to do it myself before I call anyone in that requires a payment.

By: Brie

Brie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:18:00 +0000

Hi Nicki, I found your blog recently and enjoy it. I hope to keep up with your posts.

As for us, we love to cook so that saves us probably a few hundred dollars each month, easily. Regarding the car, my husband uses the Haynes repair manual to determine whether we can fix whatever the problem is. It may take a while, but it’s saved us some trips to the mechanic!

By: Benjamin Bankruptcy

Benjamin Bankruptcy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:05:36 +0000

I’ve got some basic handyman skills but we decided to redo the bathroom and kitchen and I realised how truely inadequate they where. If I had some electrical and plumbing skills I would have saved thousands.

By: Elisa | blissfulE

Elisa | blissfulE — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:12:47 +0000

I hadn’t thought about the payoff from taking a technical class – how the money I invest will surely save me even more in the long run. Great idea!
Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..learning to read and write