Flash – Page 9 – Flash Know

Credit Cards: They Keep The Interest

Credit cards can be very convenient when paid promptly.
Living on credit cards not only is living on false riches but it contributes to impoverishing to deeper and deeper levels because purchases through credit cards if not paid promptly will cost ten fold.

Lured by incentives such as low rates one can easily be swayed into following the wrong direction. And once balances reach a certain amount the rates will change, administering a vicious long term blood siphoning grip.
In simple words, credit cards offer the ecstasy of a convenience to get us hooked and create the agony that later keep us financially strapped to their higher insatiable demand.

“You did it to yourself” one might say. The answer is true yet very questionable.
A proverb from the old country says:
Opportunity makes the thief.

The most depressing day of my neighbor’s life was when he finally realized that in his life time he would not have been able to repay his debt. Transferring continually to lower balances, calling the banks, consistently paying much more than the minimum payment and even not spending made no significant changes.
What quelled the problem was selling his house and he was lucky to have one to sell.

He has been credit cards free for fifteen years. Does not carry cash, keeps some change in the car for the parking meter and lives instead off the Debit Card.

Having cash on hand makes it easy to spend and makes us momentarily forget how hard it is to make.
The debit card gives the flexibility of the credit card and it can be frugally used only for needed expenses.
Keep the amount in the debit card low and if it cannot cover the purchase today, oh well, maybe another day.
Once used to it, it is really no pain at all.

It might be fair to say that credit card rates should match the feeble rates that banks offer for savings or CD accounts but this would not be sufficient to cover their waste nor their greed.

A Process Of Creation

This is a process in the stretching of the imagination
…and stretch …and stretch.

We need to evaluate what we need and what we have around us.
Does this work? Does that fit?
Can they interlock? Are they modular?
Where can we get that? How could it be done?
…and stretch …and stretch.

Sometimes we embark on a composition
with a vague idea of what we are after
just following our gut feeling.
Oh my goodness it is beginning to look like…
…and stretch … and stretch

Yes!
We think of a good name
and finally have a path to follow
to realize our composition.
At times the synergy of a multitude of compositions with their titles
will suggest a theme and therefore a directional goal.
Sort of like taking a shadow and then
composing what could cast it.

Like most things,
artistic compositions should always have a name
even if the painting is white on white.
Titles in fact can at times sprout luster and meaning from the banal
and it is just plain wonderful fun.…and stretch …and stretch
that
concept, solution and presentation.

The Extreme Frugalista

Below is a list of non offensive ways in which some people go about stretching their dollar. These ways may be considered extreme and not acceptable by others while interestingly enough, they help protect the planet. Then again, what is pride for some people is an embarrassment for others.

• Air freshener. See soap.
• Bows. Some people save bows from presents they receive and very carefully unwrap the presents to also save the paper. Recirculate any bows that make sense and the ones that can be enhanced in a personal and unusual way; sometimes by adding long spiral pig tails or altering the bows themselves. The bow is what celebrates and announces the present, it can become an individual’s personal signature.
• Dental floss and dental floss picks are washed and sterilized with rubbing alcohol by many people. Is that any different than reusing the same toothbrushes daily?
• Dumps. Take a few things to the dump and see what your creative mind can bring home.
• Hair conditioner in the lack of shaving cream will shave very nicely.
• Insects are widely used as a delicacy and as a staple for survival in some cultures.
• Lint. Some people collect it from their clothes dryer to easily start fires in their fireplaces. Some other people collect lint from friends and use it for stuffing things. The same is true with animal hair.
• Lotion bottles are often cut open by many women who may discover the bottles still contain enough to go on for weeks. Often the pump is not long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.
• Mayonnaise when nothing else is available is a wonderful sun screen and sun tanning solution. This might not sound nor smell so good being in the comfort of our homes but if stranded in the woods for days it is a welcome solution.
Mayonnaise is also known to be good for the skin.
• Mouthwash can be diluted a bit with water. Dentists do it.
• Panty Hoses are wonderful to strain oil and other kinds of paints.
• Paper towels. Most of the time we do not need a whole paper towel no matter what size the manufacturer makes it. A good practice is to cut it in half and often in quarters. Most of the time a fraction of the overall towel will do the job perfectly.
Paper towels can be cut even more to make napkins. A regular napkin can offer an attractive presentation yet be an excessive amount of wasted paper.
Some people use paper towels to wipe clean spills such as water or to dry their hands. They will then let the paper towel dry and later reuse it for a dirtier spill. A reused paper towel seems to have more absorption.
• Pencil extenders make it possible to use as much of a pencil as possible. It is fun to see how much of a pencil one can use and when dealing with expensive color pencils, the extenders make much $en$e.
• Plastic bags from the produce section at the supermarket are good enough to freeze food. They are convenient, on hand, get a second chance in life and save us from using brand new bags. The image shows some hamburgers with a space between them. This is so the package can be folded for storage and the meat will not stick together. Eventually the hamburgers can be removed as needed.

• Plastic bags, baggies and Ziploc bags are washed over and over and reused by many people. Small plastic bags from the produce and meat departments at groceries stores
work very well for smaller garbage cans provided your household is not a large one and you recycle. The bags are easy to tie and being small, they need to be tossed more often than the larger ones thus keeping the infectious garbage out of the house.
• Plastic ware such as forks, knives and spoons can be washed after a party, especially if they were the real nice kind say, would that be frugal? Cheap? Convenient? Eco friendly? Intelligent?
• Rags. Old socks and T shirts can be reused for dirty jobs in the garage.
• Saliva. Cleaning with saliva might sound disgusting yet those famous ‘spit shine’ words are true. Saliva contains natural mild proteins that make cleaning safe and easy. It is so mild and efficient that it is used in museums throughout the world to clean famous paintings with no damage.
Saliva is also very efficient in healing wounds through its content of protein.
• Shampooing hair daily is not healthy because it removes natural protective oils from the hair. Some people dilute their shampoo a little bit.
• Soap. Used bars of soap at garage sales, even the tiny ones, will sell because some people melt them and make new bars of soap. Smaller used bars of soap can also stick to one another if wet and pressed together.
Strong aroma bars of soap such as Irish Spring can make a great and long lasting air freshener for chest drawers and the automobile. Place in low cut socks and disperse them throughout.
• Toilet. Some people flush once a day. Some people flush overnight deposits in the morning. Some people flush by pouring recycled gray water rather than using the toilet tank lever.
• Toilet tank. A brick or jug filled with water stored in the tank can save considerable amounts of water reducing waste of resources.
• Vacuum cleaners. Attachments are usually of standard sizes and therefore they can sometimes be used with a ‘new’ vacuum. It is good to have a variety.
The cord is usually strong and can provide an extra extension cord just by adding a plug at the end of it.
• Windex can be diluted a bit with water. It is strong enough for most tasks.
• Zipper sticking. Rub some candle wax or a bar of soap over the zipper.

*Images: see image details for credits

The Gancio

Not necessarily a new idea, this is a silly little tool born out of necessity. It consists of a serious handle from an old tool such as a shovel and a sturdy hook at the end of it. Its purpose is to be maneuvered through the tight turns of twigs and branches to knock down fruits such as lemons from a tree.
It is also very effective in knocking down dead branches from high places in trees that produce zillions of dead little twigs such as the Camellia.
It works well for raking the fallen branches because hooking one branch will pull the others. It actually removes and pulls to your side dead branches that might hang over the neighbor’s yard. It eliminates using a ladder in most cases.

Tips:
With a hook at 90 degrees, it can be used in garages to hang items up high and out of the way.
See http://www.flashknow.com/hanging-clothes/
The sturdier it is the better.
Pre drill the hole.

Dish Soap Dispenser

Is the built in dish soap dispenser at your sink broken? Are you still reaching under the sink for the bottle?
The little contraption shown below has been pumping for 15 years. It has been performing flawlessly, precisely and consistently delivering from a tiny drop to a mother load.

The contraption is an old Colgate bottle crossed with a pump from some of the Costco brand toiletries.
The hero here is the pump.
It has a large, long and strong straw which makes it nice when cut to size.
This pump will fit many types of plastic bottles.
Shown are a few bottle alternatives that will work. The labels peel off and clean easily with paint thinner, therefore making the clear bottles the preferred ones. Pour different color dish soaps slowly to acquire the shown mix.