I’ve started watching how to videos about bonsai lately. I’ve alway been curious but the time to grow and keeping the trees alive always seems intimidating.
Plus the folks who do this professionally seem to repot semi regularly and cut away a ton of roots. Everytime I’ve tried to repot something, I’ve killed it.
Bonsai is a wonderful hobby and it can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. Check out the subreddit for helpful beginner info. Don’t get discouraged, 99% of people kill their first two or three trees. I’ve posted here but the community is non-existent. Look for a local gardening club to point you in the right direction. Chinese elms are probably the best beginner tree hands down.
That was my first thought. All the little adapters from Radioshack you used to be able to grab on a whim. Need to connect some RCA jacks to your headphone plugs? Or need a universal ac adapter with an assortment of dc plugs?
Cant really get that stuff anywhere but online now.
A surprising number of those things have ended up being at my local Best Buy (including both of your examples), but lower level components like resistors are impossible to find. Even at hobby shops there are only components specifically related to rc vehicles, nothing miscellaneous.
Edit: I guess this was a common opinion. You’d think interest had picked up with so many electronics “maker” things popping up with Arduino or the Pi.
I feel like Wilko had the odd bit, but if I was like, I need a lightening to audio wire, or a USB to USBC adapter then I'd struggle. You have to order those. I guess I notice because I'm in a ridiculous job where sometimes you need those things immediately and it's a nightmare.
I’m in a ridiculous job where sometimes you need those things immediately
There was a great story about why Jamie Hyneman had so much stuff in his workshop, and it sounds exactly as you describe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn6_TE9i5r8
Used to be so many stores that sold parts for self repair. Most of them have disappeared (at least around me), and the few that remain are either a ridiculous drive away, or ridiculously expensive. Like, sure, I could drive 3 hours to your store, buy the part I need for 70 bucks, and drive 3 hours back home.
Or I can go online and order the part and have it in a day or two for less than quarter of the price.
Im lucky theres a dude nearby selling parts out of a small shop. Hes a wizard at appliances, too, so even though the parts a lot more expensive (because he sells OEM stuff and not Chinese knock offs), hes got a lot of knowledge you can glean from him.
I’m not even that unusual of a size - just taller than most, and with weight gain I have actually entered easier to find sizes. (Used to joke that I could find lots of them that would fit if I could wear them rotated 90 degrees - switching the waist and inseam numbers)
So I used to be able to go to a department store and with a lot of searching, find some pairs and try them on to confirm that they fit.
Then it started getting scarce. On the final offline jeans shopping trip, I went to JC Penny and bought literally every pair of jeans they had in stock that fit me - about 10 pairs.
Now I would just have to buy online if I want any new ones (not counting specially shops)
But you gotta pay the membership fee. Only worth it if you spend enough to cover that fee in rebates and savings; and then shopping at Costco isn’t what I would call “poor”, but maybe it works out?
There are other grocery stores that have hot food bars and sell the rotisserie chicken, too.
Depending on details, the $5 / month can be well worth it for what options open up. The rotisserie chicken is $5 and significantly larger than the $8-10 chickens anywhere else. If you just get 2 of those per month you could come out ahead.
The challenge with Costco is that the options aren’t always so similar. Sure, their price on Charmin is better than anywhere else, but is it cheaper than the Aldi brand? What about their organic vs cheap produce elsewhere? When I got a Costco membership, I did not save any money, but I have been getting better quality stuff. That said, I am not on a tight budget, so my shopping habits are different
Apparently so. €760 per month is the minimum monthly wage in Portugal. Works out at less than €5 per hour if you assume 160 hours per month which seems very low. For reference, Ireland is €11.30. While cost of living is higher here you can still pick up a full uncooked chicken for around €5 depending on the shop.
Local supermarket here does 4 chicken legs for €2.55.
Thanks. Yeah that is a big assed chicken for Ireland tbh but it’s still more expensive overall.
I feel like you guys have been badly burned by price gouging. I remember seeing a thing on Reddit about egg prices skyrocketing and they had barely budged here so I found it odd.
The price of most groceries have at least doubled. I can still get store brand eggs for about $1.50 a dozen but other brands are easily 3+ dollars now. Meanwhile supermarkets are posting record profits.
Back when I used to eat meat (6 or so years ago), my grocery store would always have huge bags of chicken thighs which were cheaper than a whole chicken. May not be the case anymore.
I’m not poor but this always helps everyone. Wait for a while before you buy the thing off your shopping list. Wait for a week and reconsider whether you indeed need it.
If the answer is still yes, buy it. It is a must do for expensive things. Never break this rule for any massive purchase like a car or something!
To add a light structure to this approach I always liked the “wait $100 a day” approach. Want to buy something that costs $300. Wait three days after you have decided you want it. Want to buy something over $1000, think about it for a couple weeks. A $50 impulsive purchase, maybe think about it over lunch.
Yea for me every extra hundred is at least a couple days, even a $20 item usually sits in the cart until i make a decision on if i actually need/want it enough to warrant it
You are not wrong. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my adult life and I’ve adjusted the threshold as I go. Really the point is to slow down your decision making and reduce impulsive purchases.
…also, thank you for calling me out. I grew up pretty poor, and didn’t ever make much more than minimum wage until I was over 30. I think I internalized the frugal lifestyle as part of my identity during that time, and I often forget that is not my situation anymore. I appreciate the occasional reminder to be more grateful of my current privilege.
Interesting I guess this is why my partner does this. Kind of drives me nuts though because then we’ll have something on the list for months and he keeps putting it off until I finally just go on my own to buy it because I actually need it. Obviously not for big purchases but for stuff we don’t use often like flour or jam or something.
Growing up my parents sheltered me a lot more from the financial instability we faced, his did not and he’s still stuck in survival mode even though we are past it, so we have very different spending habits.
I try to never buy something the same day I learn of it. I’ll take someone’s business card, look it up online, comeback later, etc. that way it’s only if I really care about it and not just feeling pressured or spending money for fun (buying stuff feels like an accomplishment, but the feeling never lasts).
I’m not sure what you mean here. I can only think the confusion is on business cards, where I am from it common for little shops and individual vendors to have business cards to look them up later. Sales people for big things too like cars, and houses.
I was looking for a new car (leasing) and kept checking different for some weeks until I stumbled upon one offer that was 100€ less than any other while being essentially the same (power, space, etc). That was nice and I don’t really care about brands as long as they are somewhat reliable.
The “ermäßigter Mehrwertsteuersatz” (reduced VAT rate) you pay for staple food in Germany is 7%. That might be less than what you pay in surrounding countries, but 7% is remarkably bigger than 0%.
Shampoos and shower gels are scams imo. I order a 10 litre container of the cheap pink soap you get when using public restrooms. It cleans just as well and is significantly cheaper. I use an empty bottle with a pump on top and refill it with the container every other month or so.
Edit: If you got sensitive skin that needs special care then this isn’t for you, though.
Just buy blocks of basic hard soap. Better for your skin and your plumbing. I don’t know if it’s cheaper compared to your 10L bottle, but it’s definitely cheaper compared to normal liquid soap bottles.
If you don’t have hard water, maybe. Not here. Soap scum on the tub, soap doesn’t remove dirt, just sort of locks it on. Which does not matter as much on skin but is disastrous for hair. I have known a couple people who had to cut their hair off after trying to wash it with soap.
If I was to the point where I could only afford one, I’d get shampoo. If that was impossible for awhile, water only is the way I would go. It works ok, most stuff rinses off.
Even then, a basic soap like Dr Bronners or your favorite “hand soap” does well for most of your body. People ask my wife how her hair is so amazing, she just washes it every couple days instead of every day and sometimes has some light argan oil or something to reduce frizz. Washing hair (especially long hair) every day damages it no matter what you’re doing. The most important thing is to scrub your scalp really good.
Electric heaters may actually cost more in electric bills than you would spend on heating. It depends on the type of heating and the size of your space, but something like natural gas might cost less to keep the whole house at 65 degrees, rather than trying to warm a single room from 45 degrees with a space heater.
This gets complicated. The small heater is almost certain to be resistive electric heat. Your central heat could be anything. In my area, the gas furnace is usually cheaper to run for the entire house than it is for a space heater in a single room.
OTOH, if you have a resistive electric furnace, your advice is spot on
I still can’t justify people stealing stuff they don’t need so they can resell it for a quick buck. Especially people stealing from independent businesses.
I mean, yeah, sure. …but I’m still conflicted about the local heroin addicts standing in the frozen aisle scarfing a bucket of ice cream.
I mean, I don’t really give a shit about the theft, but they tend to stand there with the door open and thaw the rest of the ice cream while they’re at it. It’s enough of an issue locally that a couple of local chains have literally started chaining up their ice cream like it’s the goddamn crown jewels. I just want non-crystallized ice cream!
Also… In my experience, people mostly don’t steal food outside of cases like having the heroin hungries. Food banks do an okay job at keeping people fed at least. (Aside: When you donate to your local food bank, donate money, not food! They can buy much more food in bulk - your dollars will go farther that way!) Mostly, I see people stealing things like resaleable electronics or OTC drugs that have useful precursor chems.
Don’t get me wrong - I know fuckin’ Krogers can take it. I just see this meme about seeing people stealing food and like… That’s mostly not a thing. Food banks and food stamps work okay. They aren’t great, the food often sucks - but generally speaking, you don’t have to steal food to survive when you’re poor in America. You might need to steal drugs and airpods though.
Cook all your meals in advance. Pasta, potato gem casserole, and a Thai red curry can give you roughly two weeks of lunches and dinners if you alternate well. You can add breakfast bowls of eggs, cubed ham, and potatoes and they’ll keep for a week, minimum (I don’t know how long exactly because a dozen eggs gets me six meals).
I usually pay around $50 every two weeks for food, plus a bit more if I’m running low on coffee or milk.
I gained weight when I could make money. Now I keep intermittent fasting for 10-12 hours just to prolonge my food. It not just keeps me lose weight but I .sure of I start making money again , I won’t be able to get fat because this discipline. Also it reduces your hunger significantly, I now can stay fasting even in winters.
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