The Best Way to Save Money on Anything

by Guest Writer, Ruth Morse

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YOU CAN'T BEAT IT!!
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Here's the bottom line. The best way to save money on anything is this: don't buy it in the first place.
How do you get away with that? I've already admitted that I am not trendy. I've come to realize that my NOT TRENDY ATTITUDE covers more than clothes, shoes and purses. Let's face it, cooking/kitchenware gadgets and dishes, pots, pans and electronics can be real budget busters! I'm not consumed by buying the newest, the faddiest, the shiniest new kitchen thing. I guess you could say I'm not a good consumer, but I'm OK with that. A few examples of how to apply an NTA in the kitchen.
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Our Blender:
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I have no idea how old this appliance is. I bought it at a garage sale about 20 years ago. Check out the push buttons: that helps narrow down the decade it was made. And then there is the fact that it is HARVEST GOLD. Does anybody even remember harvest gold appliances? They came into vogue a bit after women were getting tired of the AVOCADO and COPPERTONE ones. We had a harvest gold side-by-side refrigerator and I loved it. We used it for a quarter of a century! (That sounds a lot more impressive than just saying "25 years" - right?) When it was about 12 years old, it survived a ghastly (and stinky!!) encounter with a mouse who got stuck in the circulating fan blades. We were on vacation, so the poor fridge motor ran for about 5-6 days straight until we got home, opened the back door and the aroma hit us. We unplugged the poor old thing, shoveled out all the spoiled food in the fridge and freezer, and called a repairman. Turned out the only thing the guy had to do was remove a petrified mouse from the fan! Old faithful started right up again and kept us happy for another decade plus. You know the old saying: they don't make 'em like that anymore!
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Back to the blender. It works fine, it lives inside a base cupboard so we don't have to look at the outdated color, it's heavier and sturdier than anything I might purchase to replace it. So we'll use it until it dies and goes to appliance heaven.
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Wedding Presents:
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I'm still using quite a few wedding presents! We got married in 1966, (editor's note: !!!!!) so do the math on the shelf life of things, like our electric frying pan. Sure, the numbers on the temperature dial have worn off, but no big deal. I just turn the dial up or down until things are cooking the way I want them to. My good dishes are dated and not in "style" with their pretty rose pattern, but my mom and dad bought us these dishes at Britt's (ever heard of that store?) and I am quite sentimental about them. And guess what -- they hold food!
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Disclaimer:
I bought a new slow cooker this year.
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My old one was undependable and too small. See our shiny new stainless model? The glitz was not what lured me. It was the versatility. It came with three different sized crocks: 2 quart, 4 quart, 6 quart. They all nest inside each other when not in use -- a space saving feature. Just pick the appropriate size for the volume of food you are going to cook. The whole kit and caboodle fits nicely in the same base cupboard as the blender. Love that! I've discovered that there are oodles of websites and blogs dedicated to slow cooker recipes. My favorite is crockpot365.blogspot.com. This lady actually publishes a slow cooker recipe for evcery single day of the year! Quirky, fun writing style and she gives a totally, brutally, humorous honest verdict on how the recipe went over with her family.

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...and one more thing......
uh, I'll get back to you when I remember it.
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The Cheap Senior Citizen is a Guest Writer who occasionally shares helpful hints she has learned through her experience.
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