Being Frugal Sally: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Fruit Leather Recipe

Click on the line below to go to the instructions and recipe:
Fruit Leather Recipe

http://www.instructables.com

"This is my lower fat version of a pumpkin bread recipe using extra pumpkin and no oil. You can also substitute artificial sweetener for half of the sugar, and some whole wheat flour for nutrition, and they still taste great. They freeze very well; just microwave a frozen muffin for 20 to 30 seconds and it's ready."

Addictive Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raisins
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
6 eggs
1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Grease three 12 cup muffin pans, or line with paper muffin liners. Soak raisins in hot water for ten minutes to plump, then drain.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground cloves. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, pumpkin, and applesauce, until smooth. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly to make a smooth batter. Stir the raisins and walnuts into the batter. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

http://allrecipes.com

By: Rosemary

"Here is an easy recipe for roasting fresh pumpkin seeds."

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1 pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Fresh Tomato Salsa

4-5 large chopped tomatoes (or 6-8 smaller ones)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (or if you don't have fresh you can use about 2 Tbsp dried)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

4 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (include seeds if you want it hotter- add less if you don't like heat)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

Mix all ingredients together and serve. Keep leftovers in fridge. This tastes amazing after about 24 hours in the fridge . . . the flavors all mix together and it is delicious!
If you like your's chunky then leave it the way it like the recipe calls for. I like mine "not so chunky" so I give it a quick spin in the food processor or blender.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Pops

Photo: Ben Fink; Styling: Andrea Steinberg

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Pops

Ingredients

1 12-oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt (not nonfat)

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine juice concentrate with 2 1/2 cups water. Whisk in sugar until dissolved. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Whisk in yogurt, mixing until well combined.
2. Place 8 7-oz. paper cups on a baking sheet. Pour mixture into cups, filling halfway. Freeze until slightly firm, about 1 hour. Place craft sticks in center of each cup, then return to freezer until completely firm, 6 hours or overnight. To unmold, peel off paper cups. Serve immediately.

All You

Gluten-Free Flour

I only bought the pre-mixed, all-purpose gluten-free flour once. It was pricey. Then I wised up and made my own mix. I found a fantastic all purpose flour mix that you can substitute, cup for cup, with regular recipes (as long as you remember to add xanthan gum) at Gluten Free Cooking School. Here's her well-researched mix:
Delicious Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Three parts brown rice flour
Three parts cornstarch
Two parts soy flour
One part masa flour (In the Mexican food section)

If you can't have soy, you can substitute sorghum flour. Also, if you want to add fiber and protein, add a bean flour, like garbanzo or fava. It adds iron as well.

Xanthan Gum

This necessary little ingredient is the only thing that will keep your fresh baked, gluten-free goodies from falling apart at the seams. Each recipe only calls for 1-2 teaspoons, so don't gag when you see the price tag (my Bob's Red Mill brand was around twelve dollars) — it goes a long, long way.

For breads and pizza doughs, add 1 teaspoon for every cup of flour.
For cookies and cakes, and every other delectable gluten-free treat you can concoct, 1/2 teaspoon for every cup of flour.

http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/

Fruit Burritos

Fruit Burritos

4 fresh strawberries
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 fresh peach
4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
4 6-inch flour tortillas
1 banana
4 tablespoons vanilla yogurt

Wash fresh strawberries, blueberries and the peach; peel peach, halve and remove pit. For each burrito, spread 1 tablespoon peanut butter evenly on a flour tortilla. Onto each tortilla place in a line along the center of 1/4 sliced banana, 1 sliced fresh strawberry, 1/4 thinly sliced peach and about 1 tablespoon blueberries. Drizzle 1 tablespoon vanilla yogurt over the fruit. Carefully fold one side of tortilla over the fruit, tucking the edge under the fruit. Roll the folded and tucked portion of the burrito toward the other side; the peanut butter will help hold it together. — Joy B., Tennessee

No Flour (Black Bean) Brownies - gluten-free

No Flour (Black Bean) Brownies
http://practical-stewardship.com

Ingredients

1-15.5 oz. can black beans, WELL-RINSED and drained
3 eggs (update 4/23/12-I now use 2 eggs and it still comes out great!)
2 T butter (I used the coconut oil, too)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 dash of salt
2 T vanilla extract
3/4 cup honey (I've also used organic sugar)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional (I like it with nuts better, myself:)
1/4-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Blend all ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts in a high powered blender (I don't know, but I am guessing a food processor would work, too).
Grease an 8x8 baking pan.
Pour batter in the pan.
Top with walnuts and chocolate chips if you wish.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick can come out of the middle clean (if you use chocolate chips, this may not happen since they melt in the oven).

http://practical-stewardship.com

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Granola Bars

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Granola Bars
http://practical-stewardship.com

Ingredients

-4 cups old fashioned oats (Gluten-Free if needed)
-1 cup honey (use agave for vegan)
-3/4 cup natural peanut butter
-1/2 cup peanuts
-optional, 3 T TriMix (1 T Wheat Germ, 1 T Wheat Bran, 1 T Oat Bran) omit for G-F
-optional, 1 T ground flax seed
-optional, 1/4 cup peanut butter or chocolate chips

Instructions

Grease the bottom and sides 9x13 pan well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients VERY well in a bowl. Use an electric mixer if possible like a Kitchen Aid Mixer.
Mash the granola bars into the pan well. This is the most important step!! If you don't mash it, they won't hold together well. We use a potato masher to solidify this peanut butter goodness.
Bake for 18 minutes or until the edges barely start browning.
Cool for 10 minutes, and cut into bars.
Store in a cool dry place for up to a month.

http://practical-stewardship.com

Saturday, September 29, 2012

New Uses for Old Sheets - Halloween

Here are a few ideas for Halloween that you could do with old sheets.

http://www.shelterness.com

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http://spoonful.com/crafts/ghost-costume

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http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf94136174.tip.html

By Stacy Johnson

I’ve been doing TV news stories about saving more, spending less, and avoiding debt for more than 20 years. And I’m now financially independent. But unlike most wealthy people you’ve read about online or seen on Oprah, I didn’t get this way overnight, nor did I do it by selling books or advice. I did it the same way you can: one paycheck at a time over many years.

One of my young staffers recently asked if I could condense everything I’ve learned into 10 simple ideas that would serve as a guide to those starting out, starting over, or maybe beginning to realize they’re not where they’d like to be. While certainly a challenge, it’s a worthy one. So here goes: the 10 commandments of achieving financial independence and being happier while you do it …

1. Thou shalt live like you’re going to die tomorrow, but invest like you’re going to live forever.

The ease of making money in stocks, real estate, or other risk-based assets is inversely proportional to your time horizon. In other words, making money over long periods of time is easy – making money overnight is the flip of a coin.

Money is like a tree: Plant it properly, care for it every so often, then wait patiently. Stare at a newly planted tree for 24 hours, and you’ll be convinced it’s not growing. Fixate on your investments the same way, and you could miss out on a game-changer.

The biggest winner in my IRA is Apple stock. I don’t remember exactly when I bought it, but I’m guessing it was in 2002 or 2003. My split adjusted price is around $8/share: As I write this, Apple’s trading at around $300/share, for a gain of 3,800 percent. Had I been listening to CNBC or some other “news” outlet that promotes constant trading, I almost certainly wouldn’t still own it.

Patience is certainly a virtue when it comes to investing. I invested a bunch of money and built my online portfolio when the Dow was hitting generational lows back in spring 2009. I had no idea where the market was going next. I was every bit as scared as the next guy.

But having lived through similar times before – I was a stockbroker during the market crash of 1987 – and since I’m only in my mid-50s, I was confident the economy would rebound sometime before I died. While the stock market has come back quite nicely since then, in many parts of the country, housing prices haven’t. That’s why I’m now looking for real estate investments. Are you?

In short, enjoy your life to the fullest every day – live like you’re going to die tomorrow. But since you’re probably not going to die tomorrow, plant part of your money in quality stocks, real estate or other investments; then hold onto them. Don’t ignore your investments entirely – sometimes fundamental things change that indicate it’s time to move on – but don’t act rashly. Patience pays.

2. Thou shalt listen to thine own voice above all others.

My job as a consumer reporter has included listening to countless sad stories about nice people being separated from their money by people who weren’t so nice. While these stories run the gamut from real estate deals to working at home, they all start the same way: with a promise of something that seems too good to be true.

And they all end the same way: It is. Just last week, I helped someone who was about to lose money by applying for a government grant.

If someone promises they can make you 3,000 percent in the stock market, they’re either a fool for sharing that information or a liar. Why would you send money to either one? When you hear someone promising a simple solution to a complex problem, stop listening to them and start listening to your own inner voice. You know there’s no pill that’s going to make you skinny. You know the government’s not handing out free money for your small business. You know you can’t buy a house for $300. Stop listening to commercials and start listening to yourself.

3. Thou shalt covet bad economic times.

Wealth is realized when the economy is booming, but that’s not when it’s created. Wealth is created when times are bad, unemployment is high, problems are massive, everybody’s freaking out, and there’s nothing but economic misery on the horizon.

Would you rather buy a house for $400,000, or $200,000? Would you rather invest in stocks when the Dow is at 12,000 or 7,000?

Obviously, nobody wants one in 10 Americans to be out of work. But the cyclical nature of our economy all but assures that this will happen periodically. If you’re one of the 90 percent who still has a job, this is the time you’ve been saving for. Stop listening to all the Chicken Littles in the media: The sky isn’t falling. Get busy – put your cash to work and create some wealth.

4. Thou shalt not work.

MSN Money’s Liz Pulliam Weston recently wrote a great story called Pretend You Won the Lottery. She asked her Facebook fans to describe what they would do if they won the lottery. From that article:

Most of the responses had a lot in common. People overwhelmingly wanted to:

Pay off all their debts.

Help their families.

Donate more to charity.

Pursue their passions, including travel.

Note that these goals are largely achievable without winning the lottery. And that was her point: Listing what you’d like to do if money were no object puts you in touch with the way you’d really like to spend your life.

My philosophy takes this concept a step further: When it comes to work, you should try to do something that you regard as so fulfilling that you’d do it even if it didn’t pay anything. In other words, the word “work” implies doing something you have to do, not something you want to do. You should never “work.”

I’ve chosen to spend nearly all of my adult life in warm climates – I lived in Arizona for 10 years and have now lived in Fort Lauderdale for nearly that long. Why? Here’s what I’ve always said: “You already spend a third of your life sleeping. Why spend another third of it freezing your tail off?”

No offense to you Northerners. I realize some people enjoy the cold. The point is that if you’re going to spend a huge part of your life working, don’t fill that time with what makes you the most money. Fill it with what makes you the most fulfilled. I made more money in 1990 managing a branch office for a Wall Street investment firm than I will this year. But I feel a lot less slimy (no offense to stockbrokers) and lot more fulfilled. You can’t put a price tag on that.

5. Thou shalt not create debt.

I’m always getting questions about debt. “Should I borrow for this, that, or the other?” “What’s an acceptable debt level?” “Is there such a thing as good debt?”

There’s way too much analysis and mystery around something that isn’t at all mysterious. Paying interest is nothing more or less than giving someone else your money in exchange for using theirs. Rule of thumb: To have as much money as possible, avoid giving yours to other people.

Don’t ever borrow money because you want something you can’t afford. Borrow money in only two circumstances: when your back is against the wall, or when what you’re buying will increase in value by more than what you’re paying in interest.

Debt also affects you on a level that can’t be defined in dollars. When you owe money, in a very real way you’re a slave to that lender until you pay it back. When you don’t, you’re much more the master of your own destiny.

There are two ways to achieve financial freedom: Have so much money that you can’t possibly spend it all (something exceedingly difficult to do) or don’t owe anybody anything. Granted, since you still have to eat and put a roof over your head, living debt-free doesn’t offer the same level of freedom as having more money than you can possibly spend. But living debt-free isn’t a matter of luck or even hard work. It’s a simple choice, available to everyone.

6. Thou shalt be frugal – but not miserly.

The key to accumulating more savings isn’t to spend less – it’s to spend less without sacrificing your quality of life. If going out to dinner with your significant other is something that you enjoy, not doing it may create a happier bank balance, but an unhappier you – a trade-off that is neither worthwhile nor sustainable. Eating an appetizer at home, then splitting an entree at the restaurant, however, maintains your quality of life and fattens your bank account.

Finding ways to save is important, but avoiding deprivation is just as important. In short, diets suck.

Whether they’re food-related or money-related, if they leave you feeling deprived and unhappy, they’re not going to work. But there’s a difference between food diets and dollar diets: It’s hard to lose weight without depriving yourself of the foods you love, but it’s easy to reduce spending without depriving yourself of the things you love.

Cottage cheese isn’t a suitable substitute for steak, but a used car is a perfectly acceptable substitute for a new one. And the list goes on: watching TV online rather than paying for cable, buying generics when they’re just as good as name brands, using house-swapping to get free lodging, downloading books from the libraryinstead of Amazon… No matter what you love, from physical possessions to travel, there are ways to save without reducing your quality of life.

7. Thou shalt not regard possessions in terms of money, but time.

You go to the mall and spend $150 on clothes. But what you spent isn’t just $150. If you earn $150 a day, you just spent a day of your life.

Almost every resource you have, from physical possessions to money, is renewable. The amount of time you have on this planet, however, is finite. Once used, it can never be replaced. So when you spend money – especially if you earned that money by doing something you had to do instead of what you wanted to do – you’re spending your life.

This doesn’t mean that you should never spend money. If those clothes are all that important to you, by all means, buy them. But if it’s really not going to make you that much happier, don’t. Think of it this way: If you can live on $150 a day, every time you forgo spending $150, you just get one day closer to financial independence.

8. Thou shalt consider opportunity cost.

This is related to the commandment above. Opportunity cost is an accounting term that describes the cost of missing out on alternative uses for that money. For example, when I said above that not spending $150 on clothes puts you $150 closer to independence, that was a gross understatement. Because when you save $150, investing those savings gives you the opportunity to have more savings. If you’re earning 10 percent, $150 invested for 20 years will ultimately make you $1,000 richer. If you can live on $150 a day, ignoring inflation, you can now retire nearly a week sooner, not just a day.

One of the exercises in my most recent book, Life or Debt, is to go around your house and identify things you bought but probably didn’t want or need. A quick way to do this is to find things you haven’t touched in months. These were probably impulse buys. Add up the cost of these things, multiply them by 7, and you’ll arrive at the amount of money you could have had if you’d invested that money at 10 percent for 20 years rather than wasting it.

And when you do this, consider the stuff in your closet, the stuff in your garage, the rooms of your house that you heat and cool but don’t use, the new cars you’ve bought when used would have worked. The truth is that most of us have already blown the opportunity to achieve financial independence much sooner. Maybe now’s the time to stop.

9. Thou shalt not put off till tomorrow what thou can save today.

Shortly after I began my television career in 1988, I went on set with a pack of smokes, a can of soda, and a candy bar. I explained that these things represented the kind of money most of us throw away every day without thinking about it – at the time, about $5. But compound $5 at 10 percent for 30 years, and you’ll end up with about $340,000. That’s why learning to save a few bucks here and there and investing it is so important.

Fortunes are rarely made by investing big bucks, nor are they often made late in life. Wealth most often comes from starting small and early.

In short, there are limited ways to get rich. You can inherit, marry well, build a valuable business, successfully capitalize on exceptional talent, get exceedingly lucky – or spend less than you make and consistently invest your savings over time. Even if you’re on the road to any of the former, why not do the latter?

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s stuff.

If this commandment sounds familiar, that’s because it resembles the Biblical 10th commandment:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17)

Envy may not be the root of all evil, but it is the root of much wasted money. As I’m fond of saying, you can either look rich or be rich, but you probably won’t live long enough to accomplish both. I’ve lived both ways, and trust me: Being rich is way better than using debt to look rich.

We’ll all admit that when on the verge of making a purchase decision, we’re often thinking of what our friends will say when they see it. Normal human behavior? Sure, but it’s not in your best interest, or theirs. Making your friends feel jealous isn’t nice, and feeling envy for other people’s possessions is silly. Possessions have never made anyone happy, nor will they.

Decide what really makes you happy, then spend – or not – accordingly. When your friends make an impressive addition to their collection of material possessions, be happy for them. One of the stupidest expressions ever coined was: “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” When you’re on your death bed, you won’t be thinking about the things you had – you’ll be thinking about the times you had.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com

Friday, September 28, 2012

Clean & Simple: Homemade Baby Care

Clean & Simple: Homemade Baby Care
http://www.maggiesnest.org/2011/02/23/clean-simple-homemade-baby-care/

a gentle, natural baby wash: dilute 1/2 cup baking soda in the bath, and use your hand to run water all over baby’s skin and hair. If your hand feels too dry afterward, try decreasing the amount of baking soda in the water next time, or replace with apple cider vinegar. Let’s face it – babies just don’t get that dirty! As they approach toddler age, you’ll probably be surprised to discover that the baking soda continues to work just fine

RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE BABY LOTION

Combine 1/2 cup each coconut oil, honey, and coconut milk or raw cream. (Raw unpasteurized cream will have intact enzymes that will keep it from going rancid.) Keep in a jar in the fridge. Warm in your hands before putting it on baby.

HOMEMADE BABY WIPES

1/4 cup aloe vera gel or 1/2 cup aloe vera juice

10 drops of grapefruit seed extract or tea tree oil (disinfectant)

5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil

2 cups hot water

20 square pieces of old flannel or t-shirt material

Cut your pieces of material to use as re-usable wipes.

Combine all other ingredients in a glass mixing bowl and stir to dissolve aloe vera in water (especially important if using gel). Let cool. Storage option #1: store liquid in spray bottle next to squares; spray square immediately before use. Storage option #2: Lay fabric squares in a rectangular lidded container and pour cooled liquid over squares, taking time to make sure all the squares absorb liquid. Take out and use when needed.

www.maggiesnest.org

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Whiten clothes naturally with homemade bleach

Click on the line below to go to instructions:
Whiten clothes naturally with homemade bleach

Letters to Comcast and T-Mobile from and Angry Customer

Here are some letters that a very angry customer wrote to Comcast and T-Mobile after being incorrectly turned over to collections. This can give you an idea of how to handle a situation like this.

I have something to share with you and your readers.

I recently had a spat with both Comcast and T-Mobile, and I know i'm not the only person who is wrongly charged by big companies, and it feels like there is no way to fight back.

I crafted two different letters to each of those companies that I think could help people take control back in their hands:

The first is to Comcast. The letter is addressed to as many executives that made sense as I could find their contact information:

Peter, et al...,

I am writing you today, because I have become so mad at Comcast over the last 2 months, that I can barely see straight right now. I have not been able to get action from your Customer NO Service, so now I'm coming to you. Please, read this entire account, and help them ensure my balance and credit issue are taken care of immediately.

On March 23rd or so, I called and canceled my service with Comcast, and whichever day it was, it was the last day of my billing cycle. I asked the rep directly, "I've paid my last bill, you have me at a zero balance (they confirmed it was a $0.00 balance), then that means I don't owe you guys anything further, and won't have a balance, correct?" The answer was, "Yes".

There was some issue with the equipment getting back to Comcast. I asked that they send me a box to send my equipment back, received it, and about a week after receiving the box, someone from Comcast showed up at my door, saying they were there to pick up any equipment and turn the service off, so I gave them all the equipment I had. However, he said I had 2 Comcast cable boxes, when actually I only had 1, so he said they would figure it out.

Turns out, for some reason, Comcast sent me an entire new setup, cable box, remote, wires, everything, in the cardboard box that was sent for me to return my equipment. However, I didn't discover this until about 3 weeks later when another person from Comcast stops by my house. I gave him the equipment, and thought the whole matter was taken care of that day. In other words, Comcast had all of their equipment back.

But no, I receive a collection notice in the mail from Credit Protection Association L.P., where my Comcast account had been sent for over $700 dollars in delinquent charges placed on my Comcast account. I have been talking to your Customer NO Service department for the last 2 months trying to get this matter resolved. Every supervisor I have managed to speak to, after significant wait times, having to re-tell my story, and no ability to speak with the same person any time I called back, have come to the conclusion I owe Comcast $0 dollars. I've spoke with:
1. Finance or Billing Supervisor: Anita, OP ID: 2NO
2. Supervisor: Joy, OP ID: QQK;
3. August 6th and August 10th - Supervisor Tim, OP ID: E+> (more on him later)
4. August 21 - Agent Kristine, OP ID: 4RM
5. August 21 - Supervisor Will, OP ID: KO}.

List of Grievances:
1. Comcast has admitted this charge was false, and put on my account by mistake, but can't seem to make it go to $0.00 dollars owed, and stop collections.
2. I can't get written confirmation from ANYONE that my account has been serviced, and made good, because you have dishonest people working for you, or your processes are such that they can't adequately do their jobs.
3. Because of the inaction from Comcast, Credit Protection Association, L.P. has placed this debt on my national credit report, which is adversely effecting my ability to do anything with financing.
4. The policies in place at the Contact Centers:
A. Not being able to look up the rep who was helping me a time before.
B. No written communication with customers.
C. No ability to speak with someone who can actually take care of legitimate customer issues like this one.
D. No ability to speak with Finance contacts who are actually doing the pertinent work to my case.

- Make it so that I have wasted close to 10 hours trying to fix something that is Comcast's fault. It shouldn't be this difficult, and I think you need to do a full review to make some changes.

I know for a fact, I have been lied to by several of your Call Center Supervisors. For some unknown reason, Tim, OP ID: E+>, can't be found by anyone there. Not only that, Tim promised to get a resolution for this egregious error, scheduled a call back to ensure it got done, and then didn't call all day. Finally, I call back, and sit on hold FOR ANOTHER HOUR trying to find him, and they put someone on the line that says they are Tim. I know for a fact it wasn't the same person that I spoke to before, and the Call Center was trying to game me into believing it was him.

Today, I spoke with Will, OP ID: KO}, and he ensures me this problem with the last charge of $150.08, which was left after the equipment charges have been taken off, will be permanently zeroed out on my account by Saturday morning. However, you'll excuse my incredulity, as Tim, the supervisor-that-doesn't-exist, said the same thing.

Comcast has stooped to a level of business, that I didn't think was possible. If I treated my customers anything like Comcast does, there is no way I'm in business. If, for some reason, my account isn't completely whipped clean of any balance by Saturday morning, this will be the least of your worries. My lawyer will be contacting the Better Business Bureau, and filing a law suit against Comcast for the time, mental anguish, and damage Comcast has caused by falsely reporting my account to the Credit Bureau. Not to mention, my friends who work at the major news outlets in Atlanta (AJC, Channel 2 News, Creative Loafing, etc...) will be writing nasty articles about Comcast with all the details I can muster about their bad customer dealings.

I strongly suggest that one of you point me to the correct person who can ensure that Will, OP ID: K0}, has all of the authority he needs to make this request happen by Friday. In addition, I need written communication that states this has be taken care of, and that Credit Protection Association L.P. have been notified and executed the deletion of this false collection notice.

Deeply Disappointed Ex-Customer,
about an hour ago
The second letter is very similar, so you may or may not want to post it, but the cool part is, I got the action I asked for in both cases within about an hour or so of sending both letters.

Here's the second to T-Mobile. Same thing, I found as many executive email addresses as possible, that made sense, and sent it to them. They have an Executive Response Coordinator who is responsible for handling claims like this, and that is who came back to me in both cases.

Jim, et al...,

I am writing you today because of an apparent bullying by T-Mobile with my wife's cell phone account: **********. I have been authorized by Abby ****** to speak on her behalf with T-Mobile. Abby was a customer with T-Mobile from 2004 until April 30th, 2012 when she provided the attached written notice to your Customer Service Team. However, she was billed for service until the month end date in June, 2012, and then charged a early-termination contract fee.

Put simply, Abby does not owe you any more money. She has paid over $10,000 to T-Mobile over the past 7.5 years, and in return, she lost clients, had no data connectivity for months at a time, spent countless hours speaking with Customer Service, Technical Service, and no one could fix the bad network coverage by T-Mobile in the Atlanta area, or god forbid we go outside of Atlanta where the phone would completely stop working (the phone was an expensive paper weight!).

The disconnect happened during the summer of 2011, when Abby was working with Customer Service, and in one of many attempts to boost service in our house - right in the middle of Atlanta, and still no service), they suggested she get a wireless router to boost the signal. However, they failed to mention this would extend her contract for another 2 year period, regardless of whether it worked or not, so along came the router, but it did nothing to help the signal at our house.

The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back came in late January 2012, when we took a trip to Thomaston, GA (Middle GA). Once we left the confines of the Perimeter (i.e. I-285 around Atlanta) headed South, the phone completely stopped working. In fact, we were using the navigation, which often got us completely lost, because it would hardly ever work properly, and the phone just lost signal. OK, we went out of the coverage area, no big deal, but no, it didn't stop there. The whole phone quit working. No access to contacts, no access to the key pad, no access to emergency service, we thought the phone was completely broke. This was a huge inconvenience, as we were in the middle of a work trip for her, and no way to communicate except by my Verizon phone. The phone did re-boot once we made it back to Atlanta, but from that day until she switched service, there was no data connectivity, and Technical Services were no help.

All of this together lead to Abby having no other choice, but to disconnect (FIRE) T-Mobile, as they clearly could not live up to their end of the contract, that she dutifully paid until the point of cancellation. However, T-Mobile now has the GALL to say she owes them more money for early termination, and service that was canceled? I think not.

So, let's review:
Abby worked with in your system of customer service and technical service for over 3 years, often enduring hours of wait time only to get someone who could barely speak English, and was reading off a script, so they would ask questions multiple times, and completely frustrate her and I.
Customer Service Agents who don't have the power to make commonsense decisions with regard to reasonable cases such as this.
Abby spent over $10,000 dollars over 7.5 years, and exhausted every means possible to gain better service from T-Mobile, but couldn't.
Abby followed T-Mobile protocol with presenting her case and cancellation in writing, but was still charged 2 extra months and an early termination fee.
Abby even showed good-will by making a payment of $250, because she was threatened by T-Mobile Employees, who stated they were going to ruin her credit if she didn't pay.
Abby and I have both gone to the highest Supervisor that T-Mobile Customer Service will let us talk to, and they say (while they understand our frustration and even agree we should owe nothing) there is nothing they can do, and she still owes the $381.98.
Now the account has gone to collections with AmSher Collection Services, Inc., who are harassing Abby with 4 and 5 calls a day, even after we sent them written notice this account is in dispute within the 30 day time period.
What We Expect:
T-Mobile will send written communication to Abby Morris that state the charges have been canceled, and her balance is $0.00.
T-Mobile will be responsible for canceling the debt with Amsher Collection Services, Inc., who will need to provide written notice the debt owed is $0.00.
Should you choose not to cancel the debt:

T-Mobile has stooped to a level of business, that I didn't think was possible. If I treated my customers anything like T-Mobile has, there is no way I'm in business today. If, for some reason, my account isn't completely whipped clean of any balance by Friday, 9/21 at 2PM, this will be the least of your worries. My lawyer will be contacting the Better Business Bureau, and filing a law suit against T-Mobile for the time, mental anguish, and damage (lost clients/business) T-Mobile has caused by charging for service that wasn't delivered and falsely reporting Abby's account to the Amsher Collection Service. Not to mention, my friends, who work at the major news outlets in Atlanta (AJC, Channel 2 News, Creative Loafing, etc...), will begin writing nasty articles and doing segments about the continuing customer service problems T-Mobile have with all the details I can muster about their bad customer dealings with us, and those I constantly see on your Social Media feed. In addition, all of your Social Media channels will be filled with this letter, and more.

I strongly suggest that one of you point me to the correct person who can ensure T-Mobile Finance has all the authority they need to make this request happen by Friday, 9/21. I need a call from the officer in charge of this account to call me at 770-540-5573 to give verbal assurance the account clearing is being handled. In addition, I need written communication by Friday 9/27 that states these actions have been completed, and Amsher Collection Services, Inc have been notified and executed the deletion of this false collection notice.

Deeply Disappointed Ex-Customer,
about an hour ago
The keys to all of this are as follows:
1. Be factual - Get as many people's names, Company ID's and dates you speak with them as possible.
2. Do your research - The internet is a wonderful tool, and if you look hard enough, you can find this company information and e-mail addresses.
3. Keep it professional and you'll get what you're after.
4. Threaten and don't be afraid to use media to your advantage - In fact, this is imperative.
5. Be Persistent

Being Frugal Sally

Labels

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Fruit Leather Recipe

Addictive Pumpkin Muffins

Directions

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Directions

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Orange-Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Pops

Ingredients

Preparation

Gluten-Free Flour

Gluten-Free Flour

Xanthan Gum

Fruit Burritos

No Flour (Black Bean) Brownies - gluten-free

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Saturday, September 29, 2012

New Uses for Old Sheets - Halloween

Sew | Braided Rag Rug | Free Pattern & Tutorial at CraftPassion.com

Sew | Braided Rag Rug | Free Pattern & Tutorial at CraftPassion.com

Reversible, Reusable, Ruffled Grocery Bags - Sawdust & Paper Scraps | Sawdust & Paper Scraps

The 10 Commandments of Wealth and Happiness

By Stacy Johnson

1. Thou shalt live like you’re going to die tomorrow, but invest like you’re going to live forever.

2. Thou shalt listen to thine own voice above all others.

3. Thou shalt covet bad economic times.

4. Thou shalt not work.

5. Thou shalt not create debt.

6. Thou shalt be frugal – but not miserly.

7. Thou shalt not regard possessions in terms of money, but time.

8. Thou shalt consider opportunity cost.

9. Thou shalt not put off till tomorrow what thou can save today.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s stuff.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Clean & Simple: Homemade Baby Care

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Whiten clothes naturally with homemade bleach

Letters to Comcast and T-Mobile from and Angry Customer