I'm thrifty - but not stupid.After years of reading threads where someone's good intentions of pinching a penny turns into a night mare involving taking out a second mortgage,I'd love to be able to laugh/shake my head/vomit - at others misdirected efforts.In other words,I need to compare myself to others, so just maybe I'll look better by comparison.

"Farmer mentality", frugality, being"Scotch" as my dear old German mother used to say - All are polite euphemisms for the simple fact that I shoulda paid the money up front.So, this gloomy morning,entertain me.It's your misfortune,and none of my own.

 

Today's weather here is gloomy too. I should be out in the woods, but this is the last weekend before snow becomes a factor....it's a balmy 45F w/20-mph winds.

Most "pay up front" scenarios with me are when it comes to buying tools.

 

I'm proceeding outside to possibly create a story to add here.Something about an old truck and one non-functioning wiper.Perhaps I'll be able to entertain others in a few hours...or days,or weeks.The rains are coming.

 

I sure that I have many of those stories, but as this subject is somewhat of a Egress, lets get a bit more Egress-ed, under the heading of money lessons learnt, when I used to go to buy parts I would get what I needed and of course either break it, or misplace it, or needed another one, so now I usually get extra for that "I need it at 11:30 pm" situation. Much better, price is long forgotten when the part is needed

 

My biggest waste of money when it comes to my old automobile hobby is buying rusty, beat up pieces of junk some one else didn't want and thinking I can make them new again. I know I could buy a complete running vehicle for a few more bucks than what I'm going to stick into one needing a lot of work but for some reason I drag home wrecks, maybe I think some one has to love them, I don't know. My lastest is a '37 Buick:

1937 Buick Special Page

I'm looking at the Buick project like I did it in reverse, I bought the parts car first, then another to trade for more parts and then I bought the main car.

Talking about German frugality, my in-laws are stereotypical German farmers, they'll spend a buck to save a penny. Prime example; they buy a set of four new tires for they skid steer loader but won't pay the $2 per tire disposal fee and bring the old bald tires home. The old man spends two days cutting the tires up with a chain saw, going through a chain or two and at least 2 gallons of gas. After the tires are cut up my in-laws toss them on the stone pile in the back of the farm. A few months later they toss some ashes from their fireplace on the rock pile, an hour later they see a plume of smoke coming from the back of the farm. The rock pile is on fire and we spend the next hour throwing snow on the burning tires hoping to extinguish the fire before the local authorities come to investigate the smoke. Lucky we had snow, if it happened during the summer we'd have a major wild fire on our hands. I'd say that was worth $8, don't you? I could write a book about their efforts to save a buck.

 

Here's but one of my hair-brained schemes:

A friend convinced me to stop paying to have my small parts stripped or sandblasted.His solution:Keep a plastic Tupperware box full of hydrochloric acid(muriatic acid) for a "cheap" paint remover.

$15.00-plastic tub from K-Mart

$50.00-chemicals from hardware store

$75.00 misc small engine parts

Some of you might remember my cockamamie idea, since I proudly announced my intentions in the "Cool Tips and Tricks" sticky in our section.I was promptly scolded - rightfully so - it's dangerous.It's still there(pge 4), if you want to read about the spanking I received.

Anyway,I sort of wasn't clear about the time needed for soaking.About half were eaten away beyond usability after the 2 weeks I allowed them to soak.Had to re-purchase the parts.Not saying what I did with that acid.

PLEASE,don't repeat my stupidity.It will burn you and possibly damage your lungs/eyes/etc.

 

There's a Time Limit on acid baths? - I thought someone was sneaking out back and stealing my parts.

 

Used to use that stuff to clean cooling coils on irrigations wells. A couple of minutes was all it took to take off the surface rust. We would tie a rag to a broom handle and soak it in the acid. The rag was only good for about a minute before it was pretty well gone. It came in a GLASS jug for a reason. LOL

 

Yeah, just till the bodies dissolve!LOL

C'mon, Dick, surely you can tell one on yourself?