UPS delivered 6 Tightwads to my front porch today. He called out "Live Plants!...Like you need some more!" :) They had a wonderful bonus. Their fall color is stunning: purple to bronze to bright red. I ordered them from Sooner Plant Farm. This was my first order from them. They give a twenty percent discount if you order more than 3 of the same kind of something. Their service was excellent. I actually got an E-mail THIS MORNING to expect delivery TODAY. And, it was some of the best packaging I have seen for mail order plants. I will order from them again for sure. Thanks to you all for your help in making the selection. I am looking forward to next summer already. And yes, Ken, I did squeak a bit....:)

That's the way I look at it. Advanced Nutrients doesn't want me to kill my garden. They want me to be wildly successful and believe that their products are a significant part of the reason I'm so successful. If all they wanted was a one-time sell they'd get Ron Popeil or whatever that guy's name is to hawk their stuff on an infomercial. "But wait! If you act now..." Nah, these guys want me coming back over and over so it's in their best interest to give the best advice they can. Capitalism at its finest. The more successful I am, the more I can afford to buy and the more successful they become. Right? And no, I'm not an employee of AN, just a fan. I kind of know a couple of the guys that work there via the Internet and phone (I email questions to one of their guru types and I've gotten on a first-name basis with some of their tech support phone guys), but I don't think they even have branch offices anywhere near where I live. Now if there's an employee discount or something... that'd be awesome. But it's just a personal thing with me, like how I'll recommend Simple Green to anyone who needs a good cleaner that isn't toxic. It's just something I've been so impressed by that I want to share my good experience with other people. As far as Simple Green goes, I don't use it in hydroponics - I prefer good old-fashioned bleach. But for pet cages or something like that, it's great. Oh, and it will clean a car engine like nothing I've ever seen.

To aswer lynxe's question, for example, making a greeting card is, for me,a creative outlet and fun. It also saves $$, I think $3+ for cards is high and I won't pay it. It also means that I don't have to use gas and time to make the 16 mile round trip to a drugstore to purchase a card. WRT shopping at thrift stores, we happen to have two in the same town that's 8 miles away, and I usually go once a month on a Saturday morning. The closest mall is 40 miles away, but I'm not even sure what stores are there, I've only been there once or twice in the years we have lived here, I'm just not a recreational shopper and I hate paying full price, so if I do go to a retailer, it's TJ Maxx or Marshall's, they have a great selection and good prices. I do think there is a distinction between being frugal and cheap, for instance, I'm not one to skimp on a tip, never ever, and I buy the best, say, turkey breast at the deli counter or 95% lean ground beef because Iike the more expensive cuts of meat. But when it comes to cars, I drive a low end Civic and mr. sandyponder drives a 10 yera old Jeep. I will pay for vacations, dinners out, good quality furniture (retail or, my obvious preference, CL) and recreation, but bring all my potted annuals in every fall and overwinter them in the house, I just can't see paying $200 each year for flowers when I can invest in them once and reuse them. I think some folks here and IRL confuse frugal with cheap, IMO cheap is undertipping the server, or as a former neighbor of my parents did, buying LL Bean clothing at garage sales and returning to LL Bean and asking for a refund because the item was defective. They called that frugal, I call that theft (and *of course* they were fundies who were holier than thou, loudly). I call my quirks frugal, and by not using the dryer, we save about $50 a month. In the summer that's gas for the boat and in the winter for the snowmobile. I said I am a proud tightwad and I am, not ashamed at all, but the conspicious consumption glorified in the MSM makes me sick, so we don't have cable, but we do have Netflix, cuz I do enjoy watching HBO shows, just not paying for them. I would much rather be called cheap than extravagent, to me one is a compliment, the other a slur. sandyponder

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