This weeks preps check-in

[tmttactical]

This, and the time needed to learn the skills is why I haven’t tried this yet. At this point I feel for me that buying a stockpile is better. Wish I had someone close that I could learn from though.

Brent is is not rocket science. You just need to pay attention to what you are doing. You don't even need most of the stuff I am buying. I am just a fanatic about getting the absolute best out of my firearms and ammo. If I can get a 1/2" MOA, then I will want a 1/4" MOA. Once I get that, I will want an 1/8" MOA. Many reloader's are content with the 1/2" MOA. As for learning, there are a multitude of good reloading videos. They will teach you about every single component in reloading and how to best use them. Now if you are a compulsive fanatic personality like me, yes it will get expensive but for the person that just wants to get a little better cartridge accuracy and cut ammo costs, it is not that bad. Check it out. There could be a lot of fun ahead. DrHenley is a pro, so you should direct any question in that direction. Best to talk to somebody that walks the talk. I am still in the crawling phase.

 

[DrPrepper]

I am still focusing on saving money. I have been trying not to spend any money until payday comes. When I get to payday, I put all the money I didn’t spend from the week before in savings. I noticed I am low on the medication I take. I have a stash ( prepping) so I am going to take that until payday, so that I don’t spend any money. Prepping does pay off

 

[Brent S]

I am still focusing on saving money. I have been trying not to spend any money until payday comes. When I get to payday, I put all the money I didn’t spend from the week before in savings. I noticed I am low on the medication I take. I have a stash ( prepping) so I am going to take that until payday, so that I don’t spend any money. Prepping does pay off

I honestly think financial prepping is right up there with good water filters! I am smart enough to know that money dosent make you happy, but am also smart enough to know it can make you a lot more comfortable in life. Staying out of debt and learning to save is looked at as odd by most but is the best way to live your life.

 

[DrHenley]

Your using 80yr old brass?

Well, that was around 1970, so it was only ~25 year old brass at the time. But yep, I pulled the bullets, deprimed them, and used that brass for years. I still have some. Made plinking loads with the pulled bullets.

 

[KateMTx]

I am still focusing on saving money. I have been trying not to spend any money until payday comes. When I get to payday, I put all the money I didn’t spend from the week before in savings. I noticed I am low on the medication I take. I have a stash ( prepping) so I am going to take that until payday, so that I don’t spend any money. Prepping does pay off

I'm still working on this too. It's hard though. I can always think of something to buy and some of it is actually stuff that I can and will use.

 

[Brent S]

The easiest way to save is have a percentage taken out of your income, say 10% or whatever you can live with, and have it go straight to a savings account. If your employer can’t do it you can yourself. I think watching what you spend is equally important. Things like interest on debt can and should be avoided. Every thing you don’t give away is just like extra income.

 

[Arcticdude]

The drywall guys should be finished in a couple more weeks then they can start painting the inside of the house. So now it's time to start picking out the plumbing and light fixtures. Yesterday we drove the 3 hours to a plumbing and lighting store. I was shocked at the prices. Faucets for $700! The kitchen sink the wife picked out was $1500. And then there's the light fixtures! We could buy a new car for the cost of out fitting our house. I had mentally budgeted about 2 thousand dollars for all the fixtures. I was way off the mark.

 

[jimLE]

Better stick with the lower/middle class places. .instead of the rich n famous places..lol

 

[Maverick]

Faucets are ridiculously priced!

 

[Brent S]

It is really easy to go overboard when building your dream house. Just remember everything dosent have to be designer or spectacular. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and remember it’s just a house. My sister just had a 100k kitchen remodel. Hell, I can build a whole house for 100k.....

 

[KateMTx]

I finally got around to organizing my car stash so it's not all just thrown in the trunk. While I was at it I found out I need to add a few things; they are now on my list for next payday.

 

[DrPrepper]

I finished putting LED bulbs in my house. I did a few several months ago, but I just finished the whole house this weekend.

 

[Maverick]

I finished putting LED bulbs in my house. I did a few several months ago, but I just finished the whole house this weekend.

I replaced every incandescent bulb with LEDs on the property last year except for what I use for heating such as chicken pens etc...

 

[Brent S]

Switching to LED isn’t so expensive now. Just three years ago I saw single lamps going for 30.00. Now you can get some for 2 or 3 dollars. We do a lot of commercial plaza lighting and some of the larger lights can be 600.00 for a whole new fixture head on a pole light. The retrofit kits we install are about 300. Still expensive, but they pay for themselves quickly with both energy and maintenance savings. I just like the fact that I don’t have to change a light bulb at home very often anymore, espechially the hard to reach ones. If considering going solar then switching to LED is a must. There is a decent selection of 12 volt LED out there now too, so you wouldn’t even need to use an inverter for lighting.

 

[DrPrepper]

Switching to LED isn’t so expensive now. Just three years ago I saw single lamps going for 30.00. Now you can get some for 2 or 3 dollars. We do a lot of commercial plaza lighting and some of the larger lights can be 600.00 for a whole new fixture head on a pole light. The retrofit kits we install are about 300. Still expensive, but they pay for themselves quickly with both energy and maintenance savings. I just like the fact that I don’t have to change a light bulb at home very often anymore, espechially the hard to reach ones. If considering going solar then switching to LED is a must. There is a decent selection of 12 volt LED out there now too, so you wouldn’t even need to use an inverter for lighting.

I am not sure how much savings I will get, but I am looking forward to not changing bulbs. It’s not hard to do, but just annoying when they go out.
I have a couple of three way lamps. I put a regular LED bulb in them. I hope they work out okay.

 

[DrHenley]

I've been using compact florescents since the 1990s. Back when I started using them they had a replaceable U tube that plugged into a base and were much larger than now. I had problems with the A/C at one time and I started using them mainly as a way as to not generate so much heat from lighting to help the A/C keep the house cool. I never really liked them that much, and in some fixtures they were a pain in the butt because they got hot and burned out. And in places where I had a globe, they often didn't fit so I had to run them without the globe.

But I like these new LEDs, and now that the prices are down that's all I buy. Same form factor as the incandescents so they fit all the fixtures and don't get as hot as the compact florescents. Plus you don't have to call a Hazmat team when you want to throw them away.

 

[Maverick]

In my shop and garages I have 4 feet florescent tubes, I replaced the old tubes with 4 feet LED tubes. So far they haven't been affected by the cold, on the box it states 40 year life, 6 year warranty, the LED tube replaces the T8 and T12 tubes.

 

[Arcticdude]

It is really easy to go overboard when building your dream house. Just remember everything dosent have to be designer or spectacular. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and remember it’s just a house. My sister just had a 100k kitchen remodel. Hell, I can build a whole house for 100k.....

My wife is a little (lot) spoiled and is used to nice things. But she is starting to consider a less costly style of fixtures for most of the house. She won't give in when it comes to the kitchen or her bathroom though.

 

[DrHenley]

In my shop and garages I have 4 feet florescent tubes, I replaced the old tubes with 4 feet LED tubes. So far they haven't been affected by the cold, on the box it states 40 year life, 6 year warranty, the LED tube replaces the T8 and T12 tubes.

Are you using ballast bypass tubes? If so, how hard was it to rewire? I've got a bad ballast in one of my shop fixtures and rather than replace the ballast, I'd rather go to LED replacement tubes.

 

[Maverick]

Are you using ballast bypass tubes? If so, how hard was it to rewire? I've got a bad ballast in one of my shop fixtures and rather than replace the ballast, I'd rather go to LED replacement tubes.

You can go either way, I purchased tubes that can be used with the existing ballast and tubes where I disconnected the ballast, right now I'm using tubes that have the ballast disconnected, they have two different tubes that should state 'with existing ballast' or 'without ballast'