Things I don't pay for

Originally Posted by funnyvalentine

yikes, when did we start paying kids to go to school and get good grades?

It's a reward that they give at the end of the school year.

[The Budget Man]

Went to a trade show this week and ended up with so many pens that I don't know what to do with them.

Every stand seemed to want to give pens away with their name on them. Some are really nice and I'll use them for the next few months.

Enjoy Your Money
The Budget Man

www.PersonalityBudgeting.com
A budget that works

[greedy4chips]

$25 for 80% grade level...yikes my college is 95% and above for an A. I am not even sure what 80% is other than a reward for being average. Congrats though on having $10 left!

Free stuff...anything free after rebate that I need I buy and send in the rebate. Unlike others I do not sell them in a rummage sale. To me this is low, since you have to be at one of the local stores within a blink of the eye of the door opening to get the FAR stuff.

[lisajane]

Calendars - pick them up starting sep/to/oct at grocery stores
Address Labels - get them free through war amps
Condoms - Sexual health clinics don't mind if you take a few (when needed :P)
Prescription(s) - Cause of high cost, doctor gives me samples until I run out, then get more
Pens - At trade shows
Cosmetics - At trade shows (Life Fest, Women's Show, etc) they always give out so much
Shampoo - Always seem to find a coupon that allows me to get them free
Food - Through letting companies know of defects or talking to them to find products, always usually offer coupons, even website inconstancies
Calculators - Same as pens, they give out lots of small ones
Books - I mostly just use the library, I do buy some
Deoderant - Almost always find a sale to get these free aswell
Dental Goods - Toothbrushes, and special things like those tiny bristle brushes and dental picks.

When I go to eat out, I save my unused napkins and condiments for use in car or travel.
Like we save the excess butter from Swiss Chalet (they just throw them out) - they come in packets. Also at breakfast places where they have jam and pb in little packets, we save those too.


If I think of more I'll add it.

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by greedy4chips

$25 for 80% grade level...yikes my college is 95% and above for an A. I am not even sure what 80% is other than a reward for being average. Congrats though on having $10 left!

Grade inflation is weird. C used to be average. Now C is bad. Above 80% is above average using the standard system. Now Everyone is B. Everyone is not above average. Soon everybody will think A is needed.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by lrjohnson

Grade inflation is weird. C used to be average. Now C is bad. Above 80% is above average using the standard system. Now Everyone is B. Everyone is not above average. Soon everybody will think A is needed.

I wonder if it's really grade inflation. When I was in school, 70 - 79% counted as a C. If you expect someone to have learned something thoroughly and mastered it, would you be satisfied if they got 30% of their questions wrong?

I don't think that's an acceptable level of achievement. What if McDonalds only got your order right 70% of the time. What if the cashier shorted you on your change 30% of the time.

Needless to say, Cs were not allowed in my house when I was a kid!

[funnyvalentine]

I'm sorry, I think that if I was going to have surgery, plumbing, a new muffler, or my dog groomer, I'd want an A student. There is nothing shameful about expecting excellence. If we have to pay kids to go to school, then we better get used to *not*
"getting our fries with that", cause they'll all be too dumb to even work in fast food.

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

I wonder if it's really grade inflation. When I was in school, 70 - 79% counted as a C. If you expect someone to have learned something thoroughly and mastered it, would you be satisfied if they got 30% of their questions wrong?

I don't think that's an acceptable level of achievement. What if McDonalds only got your order right 70% of the time. What if the cashier shorted you on your change 30% of the time.

Needless to say, Cs were not allowed in my house when I was a kid!

When teachers use a curve, an 80% on a test can be failing or A. If 80% of the people in the class get an A and the other 15% get a B and 5% gets C through F, that really devalues an A to me. If you use the curve you know your A really means something. And if a test is a bonecruncher, crushingly hard, then yeah 70% for an average person might be great, and a 90% should really only be achievable by someone absolutely primed. An A shouldn't be easy to get, and I think they are. But I'm not in school and I don't have kids so i'll let it go.

[funnyvalentine]

why should there be a curve at all?

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by funnyvalentine

why should there be a curve at all?

I already said why I thought so. I don't believe an A should be easy to get. Most times when most of the class gets an A, it's because it was too easy, not because most of the students were both bright and well versed in the material. That's been my experience. I'm done with the digression though.

I don't pay for creamer. I prefer non-fat dry powdered milk as a dry transportable creamer (desk drawer), resconstituted milk when I'm at home.

[med12]

In one way, I pay for this but in another, I don't. I make my own breadcrumbs using the ends of bread or the not quite fresh rolls. I put them in a paper bag for a few days then through the food processor with some spices. I then put them in a plastic container but also have a ziploc bag in the freezer.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by lrjohnson

I already said why I thought so. I don't believe an A should be easy to get. Most times when most of the class gets an A, it's because it was too easy, not because most of the students were both bright and well versed in the material. That's been my experience. I'm done with the digression though.

I agree to a point, an easy A is pointless, however a curved A may be just as pointless (or worse, dangerous). I don't want my DR to just be 'the head of the class' I want her to actually know all of the information needed to take care of my kids..meaning 100% on the test..not 80 even if it is the highest score..

If I was going ot test my kid I don't feel a need for a grade..a grade is merely a ego boost (or cut) What I am checking is to see what they know and what we can still learn..not how happy they are with what they know - regardless of wether it is reading at 3 ('A' work) or knowing the alphabet (B work) or being able to repeat a letter (IE "this is a C, can you find the C? what letter was that?") (C work) or not having a clue (D or F), I want to take teh knowledge and build on it for the important subjects, and others as fun occurs.

Now by saying that all the parents of three year olds are going to go grab thier kid say 'this is a C, can you show me a C? what letter was that?" and come complaining that I said they had an average kid (or worse if their kid thinks they are crazy for asking - or happy if their kid says duh I knew that) Having a kid with average abilities merely means you have a kid with average abilities..do you expect them to do rocket science if you have never shown them a rocket? no so don't expect them to read if you have never shown them the alphabet (or never shown them a book) Giving your kid a grade does nothing for their education, on the other hand finding out what they know and what interests them (JC likes books about people, GMC likes books about animals, UE likes books he can chew on ) is a great way to help them learn more.

And yes if you increase this to the level of getting a graduate degree I feel the same way..asking my DR what her theory on the '10th planet' is might yeild an interesting conversation, but giving her a grade on it is pointless, what I want to know is if she knows the signs and sympotoms of diseases, and I could care less the grade, I want 100% or as close to it as possible! (diagnose 70% of your patients correctly and you run the risk of killing 3 out of 10! not good enough in my book!)

Anyway, my digression on what a waste grades are is over, appologies to all offended.

[LuxLiving]

Lots of times I don't pay for meat as my Dad butchers a cow every year and loverly man that he is gives me some of it. Thanks Daddy!

-LuxLivingFrugalis
http://luxliving.savingadvice.com

[Amorphous02]

I live with a carnivorous family.
Mum persuades me to turn back to vegetarianism.
dont mind it. Couple of months ago, I would be very happy for you. Now I am torn. My resolve is to hang in there once i get to the new place.

[Amorphous02]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST LISAJANE.
PrincessPerky,
I used to worry about grades until I read the biographies of Drs.Watson and Crick.
Life happens. Should you have fever on the day of the test, it does not make you a B student.

[Amorphous02]

There are some articles by Flash at the website:
www.grocerycouponguide.com.
(Its a sister site of savingadvice.com)
In addition, there is a thread at the following link:
Tracking savings before and after learning from Flash
These two sites prove that you can , to a great extent take advantage of the retailing system to pay much less FOR GROCERIES. It definitely made a difference in mine. Please visit these links and post your tips.

[creditcardfree]

Perms for my hair. I was blessed with naturally curly hair!

[Amorphous02]

Dear credit, thats cheating, !!

[creditcardfree]

It may be cheating but by divine intervention!!

My husband occassionally moonlights as movie projectionist, so we see movies for free. We still have to buy our own popcorn.

[BCHGRL]

Gym memberships. I work on a military base, and I can use the gym for free. My husband is provided with a gym membership by his employer (a fire department.) Usually he works out at a firestation where he works parttime.