Monday Q&A | Spray Build-up, Favorite Blogs, and Cell Phones vs. Landlines
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
Like you, I am a big fan of Pyrex and I also use cooking spray, though not always a name brand. Do you ever get buildup on the outer edges of your baking dishes? I have some stubborn spots on the handles that just don't come clean. Any frugal cleaning tips?
Thanks!
Christina
Sometimes that happens to me, despite my efforts to keep the spray contained to the actual cooking surface. I find that something like an SOS pad is pretty helpful for those baked-on grease spots, and since you're talking about Pyrex dishes, the SOS pad won't hurt the dish (I wouldn't use that if you've got a greasy buildup on a nonstick pan!)
I am inspired by your blog and the post this week about the tightwad gazette. What blogs do you read that inspire you?
Jill
I wrote a post about that a little while back, but I kind of need to update that list, I think. I no longer read a few blogs on that list and there are some I didn't include.
Here are three blogs that I always look forward to reading:
-Small Notebook-I just love Rachel and I think she must be a kindred spirit because she's always posting things that I would think of posting myself!
-SouleMama-Following along with her farm-life journey is really interesting, probably because it's so different from my life.
-Enjoying the Small Things-I've written about her blog before, but I'll say again that Kelle's optimistic attitude in the face of difficulties is lovely. And since she persists in being cheerful despite criticism for that (Dear Internet Public: Why must you hate people who choose to see the glass as half full?), I love her even more.
Just wondering what your thoughts are regarding cell phones and landline phones. It just kills me that we are paying so much money for both! I'm just wondering if I should cancel my landline and save $35 per month, but cell phones seem like such a rip-off too.
-Frustrated
I think choosing one over the other can definitely make sense. Thus far, we've chosen to keep our cell phones bill minimal by using pre-paid cell phones and then we have our regular phone service through Vonage.
There's no one right answer for this question, unfortunately! I'd take a hard look at which service you use more and then cut back on or eliminate the one you don't use as much. If that's your landline, perhaps there's a very minimal package that you can sign up for, or if it's your cell phone, you could consider a pre-paid simple phone like mine.
You'll want to take things like long-distance calling into consideration (Does your landline offer free long-distance? If it doesn't, a cell phone plan might save you money.), access to 911 services (Is that still an issue with cell phones?), and how hitched you want to be to your phone (I personally choose not to have a smartphone because I fear I would use it too much!)
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Readers, how have you handled the landline/cell phone issue at your house?
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Today's 365 post: I know it's a little weird...
Joshua's 365 post: Zoo pictures and a lolhamster!
We have to have a landline for SKY ( satelite tv) and I know most cable companies have to have landines (I am in England)
I use my Landline for 0800 numbers (premium rate) but other than that, we all have mobiles and good contracts and never use up our minutes anyway.
I love my smartphone and sadly couldn't be without now....
(Oops, may not be 0800 calls, but for all premium rate calls any way)
We need a landline for our computer, but we use a prepaid cell phone when traveling or if expecting important news while on an errand. Sometimes I take the cell along if I go out alone, as our cars are old and unreliable.
Regarding baked on grease on pyrex: soak the dish in a pan of boiling hot water with a squirt of Dawn dish soap. Works like magic!!!
REALLY. I must try this. My hands get quite tired scrubbing with steel wool. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks, Kelli. And thanks, Kristen for using my question!
Baking soda in boiling hot water works wonders as well!
I tried a paste with baking soda and salt on one half of the pan, and that worked really well. Then I tried the hot water and Dawn on the other half. That worked well with just a bit of scrubbing from a toothbrush. I think I might stick to the baking soda option just because I'll be less likely to burn myself (I'm accident prone). Thanks everyone!
I was just about to post about baking soda! Does wonders on stuck on food, spray residue or grease splatters. I didn't need the boiling water either. Just baking soda on a sponge, not much water - don't dissolve it, use the grains to help with scrubbing. Be sure to rinse well.
We ditched our landline several years ago and for the most part I haven't missed it at all. Of course you have to be organized about plugging your phone in (I've had that oops a couple of times) and I did miss it when I had a younger babysitter one time ...I had to leave my cell phone behind. However, the only time I was "out of contact" was 20 minutes drive to work and 20 minutes drive back home and nothing happened and my husband was available by cell phone during those times if something happened. I was worried about my tiny daughter's phone manners, but she seems to have picked up on that all on her own. Most of the people I call are my family and they are all on the same carrier or on a list I can call for free. I share my plan with 4 other people (I get the bill and we divide it up) so its really only $50 per month phone bill for my family.
We have landling and cell phones. We have a teen, so unlimited texting is a MUST, but we don't do data plans. Since we don't get good cell reception at our house, we have a landline with unlimited long distance. All our family lives far away, so the long distance calling is a must too. I should look into Vonage though as it may be a better option.
I choose to only have a cell phone. However, this is because there are no small children in my home. As a Paramedic, my advise is that if there are small children in your home, it is wise to keep a landline. Calling 911 from a cell phone does not give the dispatchers immediate access to your address. In fact, in some areas (like mine) calling 911 from a cell phone may lead to being bounced through several different agencies until you get to your local police, fire, and rescue department. Calling 911 from a landline saves precious seconds as you immediately go to your local dispatch center and the dispatchers immediately see your address. I believe that Vonage - though a "landline" - also has similar issues with 911 service.
We have given up or landline about a year ago, now. I was a bit nervous about it, but it has worked out fine. My husband and I share a cell plan. We pay extra for texting for me and he has a minimum plan for that. All of our family members are with the same carrier so we all talk "free" without using up any minutes. We don't use any data plan either; too costly. I don't know if any of you have heard of magicjack.com . You may want to check that out. I'm going to look at it. It's a jack you plug into your electrical outlet and then plug your phone in for land lines for free. You purchase the jack. I still hate paying so much for cell phones, so may be checking into making a change that way. Love your blog! Thanks for all your helpful posts!
Regarding cell phones/landlines: We added a line to our cell phone family plan (at the time it was $9.95/month) and called that our "home" number. That saved me from being bothered on my cell while out and about with calls that were best received at home and gave us a phone to leave at home when we had a babysitter.
I really like this idea, Gretchen. We recently got rid of our landline, but it would be nice to have that extra phone at home.
We only have cell phones, but then I get a pretty good deal. None of us really talk on the phone a lot, we tend to be texters. I pay 145 a month for four lines all with data and texting, we have 1000 mins a month, but then we do not even come close to using that many because of the free nights weekends and mobile to mobile type deal. My daughter could not live without either of these, and my husband uses his cell phone connection to get on his laptop during lunch at work. In the end this saves us more as we don't have to worry about overage charges or long distance.
If you live in an area with frequent electricity outages, or in one prone to natural disasters, I strongly recommend considering keeping a landline ... and an old-fashioned corded (not cordless) phone. The reason is that if the power goes out, cordless phones won't work, because they need electricity to transmit through the phone base. If the power goes out for anything more than a few hours, cell phones won't have a power source. Landlines contain their own power source and so don't go out just because the electricity does.
If you do do this, I also recommend keeping your power company's number near your corded phone. If the power goes out you won't be able to look it up online - because your wireless internet connection won't work either.
Our power goes out rather frequently, which is one of the reasons we still have a landline and corded telephone. I'm also a bit of a Luddite, so I suppose that contributes as well. Your suggestion about keeping the power company number handy is a great one. Our power company is not listed in our phone book, so I find myself in the dark rummaging through the basement file cabinet in a room with no windows. Thanks, WilliamB!
Try scrubbing the glass with baking soda, or a combination of baking soda and salt. I don't use cooking spray but I usually find that baking soda will scrub almost all stains off of glass and stainless steel.
A mild abrasive like Bon-Ami or Barkeeper's Friend is also very good for all sorts of cooked-on messes, and it's cheap!
We have pre-paid cell phones and a MagicJack. We got a really good rate where the device and a year of service was only $40. After that, the rates I believe are around $30-$40 a year. It connects to your computer and you make calls through it. I'm not sure how that compares to a monthly rate through a phone company though.
Why do I now have to do captcha to view your site?
Goodness, I have NO idea! Where do you see a captcha issue? Is it when you comment? Or when you try to open my blog?
Is anyone else having this problem?
When I try to open your blog.
Re web sites: Don't forget thenonconsumeradvocate.com and wastedfood.com.
NCA was on Kristen's original list. Alas, Katie is in Japan at the moment and not gone forever as the "Sayonara" caption on her blog could imply. She'll be back May 8th *sigh*. NCA and TFG are my favorite blogs since TSD and GRS have sold out and Jacob at ERE has un-retired and is no longer posting much. Thanks for the new suggestions, Kristen, I'll check them out soon.
A baking soda and water paste will take off the sticky residue from your baking dishes. An even better option is to get a refillable spritzer to spray your pans.
Vonage and Magic Jack are both VoIP (voice-over-Internet-Protocol), so not actual land lines. Since we have wireless Internet, it sometimes gets fuzzy on the Magic Jack; often I can hear the other person just fine (they're on a landline!), but they hear me all choppy. And sometimes the call drops. Still, it is a pretty cost-effective way to talk all over North America and can be used when travelling, too! Works great if you have a strong Internet connection. VoIP cannot be used for faxing, however.
My understanding about cell phone use is that it is not secure unless you're using a BlackBerry, and all calls and texts can be traced even with that. And for 911 use, you have to tell the operator where you are, unlike a land line, where it automatically comes up.
Points to ponder...
Be careful with Pyrex. It seems like the more recent stuff isn't made like it used to be and has been exploding in hot ovens. Another blogger I read had it happen to her, and even Consumer Reports has reported on it:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/january/home-garden/glass-cookware/glass-cookware/index.htm
For things like roasting chickens, I have moved away from Pyrex.
We haven't had a landline for years. Both my husbands family and my family live far away from us, and it made more sense to us to pay for cell phone than to pay for long distance minutes. For a long time we were paying ridiculously high cell phone bills, but a year ago we switched to an inexpensive local cellphone company. For $35 a month per line we get unlimited talk and text, which after taxes is still less than $100 a month for our two lines. We can talk to our families all we want, and I can leave the house without fear that I will be unreachable.
We keep a landline with a corded phone because sometimes cell phones don't work in all parts of our house and my kids are still little. We want them to always be able to just dial 911 if needed and not have to say much and still get help. Once they get older and either have their own phones or know enough about how the phone works and can move to another part of the house to get service then we will drop the landline but for now, it works for our needs.
And no captcha for me.
We went without a land line for over a year but when we moved into the house we are currently in, we had to get one. Two words, metal roof. Our cell phones will not stay connected inside. If they ring at all.
I've called 911 from a cell phone once (my husband was assaulted by a woman with a taser) and it made the process a lot longer. Your call goes to a separate call center and they dispatch the information to the proper law enforcement agency. It took them ten minutes to get to us.
Something to think about there, they have made improvements in the system but there are still time delays.
We have tweens who don't have cell phones, but whom we do feel comfortable leaving at home alone. Because of that, there is absolutely no way that I'm going to get rid of my land line. I want them to be able to reach us when we're out! (Even though they usually call to tattle or to ask what's for snack.)
As far as spray build-up, I use a gadget (mine's called Mr. Mister) that I put my own oil into, then pump the lid to get pressure, and then it sprays. It's a cheap way to go, plus I don't have to worry about what's in there...it's just oil. And I don't have build-up either.
We were paying $48 a month for a land line with out long distance. We were also paying $75/year for AAA Auto club (which has been invaluable too) So when my husband got a job that required him to have a cellphone we did some research and decided it would be a good time to get a family plan and do away with our land line. We had a repaid for long distance & emergencies up until then. We are now paying $130/month. We got a cellphone plan with 4 phones on it with free long distance, roadside assistance on both cars, a phone for me, my husband, my teenage daughter and my elderly in-laws. My in-laws were paying for long distance on their land line and since they both have family members out of state they were paying close to $70/month for long distance charges and we still not calling as much as they would like.
Since my daughter is now a teenager we like knowing she has a phone with her for emergencies and did I mention she is a teen? So without a land line she wouldn't be able to talk with her friends much without one. We have texting blocked on all of our phones. We have free nights and weekends to anywhere starting at 7:00 pm every night until 6:00 am the next morning.
We also get 11 numbers that are free all the time/any length of time. These apply to all phones so now my in-laws can stay connected to out of state family members whenever they want for no extra money. Also, we can call anyone in our network for free anytime so we can call each other for no additional money whenever we want to. So, I figure the $130 for our phones minus the $48 for the land line, minus the $75 a year for auto club, minus what my in-laws were paying on average for long distance, we are $63 ahead of the game and we have piece of mind knowing my inlaws have a phone for emergencies , we can call each other any time including when I leave my teen home alone to run errands, and when my husband is traveling with his gospel quartet and we can't be together. All in all, it's been one of the best things we've ever done. Another note, if you go the route of getting rid of your land line you need to have at least 2 phones that can be at your house about all of the time because you WILL misplace your phone and when you can ask your daughter to call your phone that helps! My daughter is homeschooled so she is with me almost 24/7. We do keep a land line style phone plugged in though because even if you aren't paying for service all calls to 911 will still work. So we do this for emergencies. You never know when the cell phone towers will be down (like during the tornadoes last year) and it gives me piece of mind knowing the land line phone is there if we need it.
I swear by my Magic Jack. I only pay $20 per *year* for our land line. That is less than $2 per month! Yes, that includes long distance. It even comes with call waiting, voice mail, call forwarding and more. I have a local number too. The service is great, the connection is great and the low cost is even better. You can even take it with you when you travel. I don't understand why more people aren't using it.
We'd very much like to get rid of our landline but are stimied by two things: 1) our house alarm depend on it and 2) my 90 year old father-in-law just is not a fan of cell phones. I think he is now the only one using our land line.
Off to check-out a couple of your blog suggestions.
We got rid of our land lines years ago and haven't missed it at all. We use the Walmart T-Mobile Family plan for unlimited talk and text. (We had t-mobile already but switching to walmart/tmobile was a lot cheaper)
Note to WilliamB - We lost power for 3 days last fall. Just charged-up our cell phones in the car.
What's best for any given household depends on what kind of disaster it's likely to face. If localized power loss is a big risk, then car charging is well suited. If the risk includes losing the cell tower (via fire, flood, widescale power loss), then a more dramatic backup is needed.
Funny, I rarely hear about true landlines going out. In the overwhelming proportion of circumstances when I hear about landlines going out, the phone service is actually internet based.
The downside to backups, as with all insurance, is they're expensive. The hard part is figuring out what level of insurance is right for your circumstances.
I just wanted to say that we have had our actual landline go out due to extended widescale power loss. It is true that phone companies have their own power source, but they are usually generator based and if power is out for an extended period of time, they are unable to keep up. It happened to us when we lived in West Palm Beach, FL and got hit by Hurricane Wilma. We had phone service for about 2 days after the hurricane hit, but then lost that as well until power was restored to the phone company. In our case, we also had cell phones and the towers were fine. We did charge them in our van, plus we were fortunate to live on the same grid as the fire house so we were among the first to get our power restored. Anyway, just thought I would share a time that actual landline phone lines can go down 🙂
I did the exact same thing and saved so much money! Also lost power and used the car to charge it.
Have you looked into google voice? I use that as well and really like it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Voice
I have small children and we are home most often due to homeschooling. I come from a family of first responders and would not be without a landline with small children. Many people think that cell phone technology is more advanced than it is when it comes to emergencies. When I ran the idea of getting rid of our cell phones by my family members who are professionals in emergency work they said this: If you have young children it is best and most responsible to have a landline.
That said we keep our landline needs to a minimum and use Net10 for prepaid cell service. My husband is gets the $50 unlimited talk and text card because he uses it a lot for work. I get the $30/300 minute card that is good for 60 days and the minutes accrue as long as I load more minutes before the end of the period. I am a very light cell user so this equates to $15 a month for my phone. All told we pay $65 a month for our phones. We often have service in areas where most people don't and have been pretty happy with Net10 prepaid. When the kids are older we will likely drop the landline but for now we will play it safe.
Is there a way to get text messages on anything other than a cell phone?
If you have an iPod (possibly also works with iPad), you can get a free app called Text Free. It assigns you a number that you can receive texts at and send texts from. It also works on iPhone, so when my husband got an iPhone, we chose no texting plan since we could use Text Free for free. The only downside is that if you do not use it for a period of time, you will need to get a new number assigned to you.
During the Chanukah Eve storm a few years ago much of the Puget Sound area was without power for a week or more (10 days in my neighborhood) I had no cell service because the power outage affected most of the cell towers. My landline worked just fine.
A friend who works for FEMA says paying $35 a month for a landline is a wise expenditure.
My pre-paid cell phone costs about $10/month so I can live with keeping both.
I make very few long distance calls though so maybe that would change things.
For build up on pans or hard to clean spots I use a magic eraser it is a dream to clean most anything.
We are retired so no dependent kids needing phones, land-line or other. We lived 3+ years in a motorhome traveling around the country so no land line. Our cell phones use different companies so one of us likely got reception wherever we were. We now have an apartment but see no reason to get another land line here, especially since snowbird season means keeping a cell for travel anyway. Different strokes for different folks.
Husband has a cell for work as he self employed in construction. The phone company gave us a free phone to use with his contract a couple years ago, probably hoping that would make him exceed his minutes and upgrade. We let the kids take it when they go out in case of personal emergency. So far it has been charged twice. We keep our landline because we have found that as soon as an emergency situation becomes more widespread than personal, the cell lines get jammed and nobody can get through. We have had two forest fires here within the last ten years that required a few thousand people to be evacuated. Cell phones were utterly useless, especially after a transmission tower burnt down, but the landlines worked. We keep minimum service levels (no texting or internet) on both types, as we think they are pretty expensive to use as a form of entertainment.
I just found this blog today from Pintrest and was wondering if you've ever read it? The Peaceful Mom. She has some great tips about how they make their income work for their family and why they prioritize family time over a more substantial income. I really enjoyed the posts of hers that I read. Here's some from her recent series on how this family of 6 live on $28,000/year http://thepeacefulmom.com/category/28000-yr/
We are a cell phone only family. It was a cheaper solution for us because calling family long distance is cheaper than a landline. We have an unlimited family plan and keep our phones much longer than we probably should. I upgraded my phone by buying it from eBay than from my cell phone company.
I scrub off the baked-on spray on my Corelle baking dishes with Comet cleanser. Any cleanser like this would do. My baking dishes are as pristine and white as they were when I got them 40 years ago! Just be sure to scrub them every time you use them, and don't allow any buildup.
If you have a self-cleaning oven, you can clean stubbornly dirty pans when you clean your oven. Doesn't work for nonstick and I think it would unseason cast iron, but it works wonders on everything else.
Cleaning ovens is quite the conundrum. The choices seem to be one, use harsh chemicals and get the oven clean but the kitchen noxious; two, use a lot of energy; or three, use regular kitchen chemicals, a lot of time and elbow grease, and maybe not have a thoroughly clean oven.
I go with option two and mitigate the downsides by starting the cycle after cooking something (which reduces heating time and therefore energy use), cleaning pans at the same time, careful timing for the cleaning (avoid it during the summer, do it in the winter when I can use the residual heat by leaving the door open after the cycle is done). Nonetheless I don't clean my oven very often.
I hate that buildup from cooking sprays--nothing gets it off metal pans! I use a pump oil sprayer (someone else mentioned Mr. Mister, but there are others out there). Not only can I refill it with my own oil, but no more spray cans are being thrown in the landfill on my behalf. And I'm not putting propellant and who knows what into the air in my house and into our food.
For baking in particular, Witon (cake decorating supplies) makes something I think they call "Cake Release". A local cake decorating supply shop sells their own version in tubs, and if you look on the net you can find recipes to make your own.
A little of this stuff goes a LONG way, so it's very frugal, even though the ingredients to make it yourself are not inexpensive (it has lecithin in it). (I always thought this would be a great homemade gift for fellow bakers put up in squeeze bottles with a cute instruction label). It's pricey but it lasts forever. And it has NEVER once failed to release bake goods perfectly. It has stuff I don't like to eat like soy oil, but you use so very little I don't worry about it. You have to brush it onto the baking pan surfaces, I use a silicone brush. It doesn't leave that awful residue on my baking pans.
On another note, one reason to maintain a land line is for emergency calls. Landlines are tied into the local system, so that just by dialing the number the dispatcher will see where you are calling from (exact address). You don't even have to speak to the dispatcher to get emergency personnel headed your way. (I used to instruct home health patients who were unable to speak about this). While cell phones have GPS, I don't think it's instantaneous that the dispatcher gets location information and since so many people accidentally dial their phones (butt dialing), you may not have the same immediate response if you call 9-1-1 from a cell phone. Hopefully you will never need this, but to me that's worth a few hundred dollars a year to maintain the land line.
We use T-Mobile pre-paid for our two cell phones. It's pretty much just used between hubby and I. And I have a Skype account for any calls I can do on Skype, as well as video chat with my parents who live in Europe.