We are in similar marketing situations, Canuck... Nowdays I try to get a higher price by marketing individual tomatoes or smaller quantities for the farmers' market consumer. I don't have yield figures but my field grown marketable yields were definately more than ten lbs/plant. The problem was that those tomatoes had many blemishes and I sold many more bushel quanities for canning at discount prices. Toward the end of August my field crop was succcombing to disease and weather stresses so my harvest season was limited to a few months when everyone else had a glut of tomatoes. And I'll admit that I planted the shorter season determinate varieties almost exclusively and simply set a 30" cage over each plant and let them sprawl over the cages. With the greenhouse grown tomatoes I can extend harvest by 2-3 months on each end of the season and well over 90% of the crop is of high quality. That is in spite of over 90 heirloom varieties I grow that are more prone to blemishes under normal conditions. Because of the earlier harvest of greenhouse tomatoes I start my prices higher but lower my prices as the season progresses so we can't compare sales figures but on average you should be ok with your price if your crop is good. One thing I found is that the customers can tell the difference between a fresh picked, vine ripened tomato and they will let you know by return purchases so if you want to be known of as the "tomato guy" for your markets you need to earn that reputation.

Our story goes back to 2002, when my husband was laid off in the last downturn. We were living in a house that was at the top of what we were comfortable paying (though the banks thought we could afford oh so much more!). Fortunately, my husband was able to replace his income within a year by starting his own business, but it was a wake up call and we changed some things. The big things: -we live in a house that is about half of what we can afford and now have no mortage (we sold our more expensive house when we were at the top of our earnings) -we buy gently used cars with cash and drive them forever -we have catastrophic heath insurance and try to keep ourselves as healthy as possible through diet and exercise -we never spent money on preschool or private schools - we homeschool (though not for financial reasons, that's just a bonus) -we enjoy eating out, but we have potlucks with close friends more often. You can have an awesome potluck for what six families would spend eating at a restaurant! -no cable tv, just Netflix. You can watch television shows over the internet or get the DVDs from Netflix. -I purposefully cook to create leftovers. For example, my pot roast on Friday night became pot roast pasta on Saturday, so that stretched our meal over two days and saved us money. -No Starbucks or anything like that. Though like many here, we do spend some of our budget on wine ;). -I make a menu plan and a grocery list and I stick to the list when I shop. No impulse shopping! That'll get you every time. Things we haven't cut back on: -the housekeeper. They come once a week, and that will be one of the last budget items to go. It is a huge help to me as a homeschooler with a toddler, and I also don't want to hurt their business if I don't have to. -quality groceries/ organic. There are somethings I buy that are important to me and I don't mind spending extra on it. For example I prefer to buy Organic Valley dairy products because I prefer their business model to other organic producers that are available to me. -home maintenance. It's more expensive to replace an AC prematurely than to maintain it regularly. -giving. The people who need charity need it even moreso now. We also keep money in the budget for my husband to go on international mission trips, and I'll be doing that again after the baby is a bit older. Good thread!

Here are a few ideas........ You don't mention anything about having a cell phone, just two land lines. Usually a cell phone has free long distance. It may be cheaper to use this instead of a land line with unlimited long distance. I have a cell phone plan with T-Mobile that lets me call for free in seven Great Lakes area states but charges up the ying-yang for long distance to other states. Since I don't know anybody on the East or West Coast or in the Mountain states I never pay the higher rates. You will have to check and compare cell phone companies in your area to see if something like this works for you. They have other tailored plans too. Not all cell phone companies serve all areas either. When checking around tell tham what YOUR needs are and see if they offer a package that suits those needs. If you do it the other way around and just call and ask them "What they have?", they are likely to only mention their expensive top of the line packages that are high profit for them. Do not let them upsell you. Note: be sure to check out 'free roaming' or at least find out the roaming area around you. Sometimes the lines are drawn right through neighborhoods and you pay roaming charges to call your neighbors from the mall! You may have to change the way you are used to doing things, to save money. Instead of all that long distance phoning, could sending a few emails suffice? Most people have computers these days and can receive emails. Snail mail is still around too BTW. Instead of a dedicated line for your computer maybe just go with one line and get something like 'Catch-A-Call'. This will put your omputer 'on hold' and let all calls come through. I understand that your needs may be different and this may seem disruptive if you need your computer for work but if your computer is used mostly for entertainment you can get used to it. I have MSN. A while back they were offering a $15.95 price for new subscribers. There was an outcry from longtime loyal subscribers paying a MUCH higher rate. I saw on another board I am on that if you call them up and *just ask* for the $15.95 rate, they will give it to you. Everyone said it worked and I tried it and lo and behold I got the $15.95 rate *just for asking*. You say you have MSN. It doesn't hurt to call tham and say "Hey, everyone I know is paying $15.95/mo. Why am I paying $21.95 for the same service??" Another thing I have read, and also found out for my self is that if you threaten to CANCEL your service at a company and go to another company they will offer a new and better rate. I have heard of this being used as a tactic to get a better rate but I have never done so. I think that type of thing is a bit devious and I wouldn't feel right pulling a stunt like that. I did find out by accident, when I actually really WANTED to cancel my DSL because I was trying to save money, that they just OFFERED me a rate at *HALF* the price I was paying. I was amazed. If you call your cable company to cancel your premium service and just stick with basic, they may suddenly "remember" they have a special. :) A question to you would be, are you just trying to 'save a couple o'bucks' or are you in dire financial straits?? If it is the later cancel everything that is not necessary. This means your Showtime and HBO and even your cable altogether. I've seen friends 'go under' who kept their luxury items like cable right up to the end when the bank forclosed on them. This means only one land line and let your friends and family call YOU long distance to chat. Hope this helps. I would try calling MSN right away to get the $15.95 rate.

Dawn wrote-: he came to me first and asked permission. It's the right thing to do; his work but my home.. That's where it gets lost here. The "professional" in this case is anything but and is not doing anything really to correct what has been "effed" up. No courtesy no doing the right thing. Desperate times and desperate measures. ( I am referring to the "professional"- not Kristi).