What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[saysfaa]

Does anyone know how to patch rusting out of a truck? The worst spots are around the wheel wells and under the doors.

The reputable repair places won't try replacing the affected areas because too often they can't find anything solid to weld the panels to.

 

[Sally PB]

Does anyone know how to patch rusting out of a truck?

DH has done some with sheet metal and rivets. He then covered it with Bondo and sanded it smooth. He didn't paint it, so it's a grey blotch on dark green, but oh well.

He wants to learn welding and get some welding equipment for repairs like this, and other projects.

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

My borough makes us recycle certain products such as plastics and this year, they made a $25 fee if you throw your trash in a public wastebasket (or something like that).
But first, I would like to speak about the makeup. You don't need it. Though I've never seen your face, I'm sure you look great without it.
Similar to what BarnyardChaos said, burning plastic and other items. Where my parents used to live in Bosnia, it seem as though recycling doesn't exist there. No one has ever heard of recycling, so they burn anything recyclable. In some neighborhoods, they even burn trash because the garbage truck doesn't go to that area and they probably don't know what to do with it so that's their only option.
I've heard using lint from your laundry as kindling is useful instead of chopping down trees, but my family won't consider doing that but I'll try it and see if it does wonders.
Have you used recyclable bags when you shop? When my family shops at Aldi, we use reusable bags because they also sell recyclable bags. There's a Green Team at a school that is making tote bags that can be used while shopping instead of using the plastic bags we normally use.
During the later morning until we go to sleep, we light a fire, which saves energy. Then at night, we turn on the heater because you can't leave a fire unattended.
It really helps if you live in a neighborhood that uses wind or solar energy. My favorite type of energy is hydroelectric. Do you live in a neighborhood that uses one of these energy sources or any others I didn't mention?
There is one thing I can say: don't be a cheapskate. Trust me, if you have ever watched the show Extreme Cheapskates (which I have), you'll know the extreme measures people take to save money and be somewhat more sustainable.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

My family doesn’t buy eggs, and save egg cartons. We also cook on our wood stove in the winter to save fuel and money.

 

[Sally PB]

In our recent cold snap, I purposely let the fire in the woodstove die down over night. About 2 am, the furnace would come on, and cycle on and off until we got up and I built a new fire.

The woodstove heat doesn't reach the mudroom or the basement. The furnace coming on for a few hours kept pipes from possibly freezing.

Our washer and dryer are in the mudroom. In the winter, I'll wash a load with warm or even hot water to have that water going through the pipes in that wall. I like to bake something on really cold days too; make something good, warm up the kitchen at the same time.

Any time I have to spend money on propane or electricity, I try to make it serve more than one purpose, if possible.

Also, I agree... no makeup. Well, I do use Chapstick... does that count?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Does anyone know how to patch rusting out of a truck? The worst spots are around the wheel wells and under the doors.

The reputable repair places won't try replacing the affected areas because too often they can't find anything solid to weld the panels to.

What about body filler? Cut away the rust and sand it down, then use body filler, sand that down and paint.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I have to admit to dying my hair. It's a recent thing and I'm not sure how long I'll keep it up. It's hard on the hair! I'm also wash and go for style though and I've cut my own hair almost my entire life. Flip it upside down and cut straight across works for me. I'm a curly top and curly hair hides a world of imperfection when it comes to hair cuts...lol.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do not understand the need for makeup; have never worn it.
We damp the woodstove down at night; the propane furnace kicks on through the night as a poster above said, to keep the rest of the house (and pipes) warm. ..
We try to keep trips to town, 30 miles each way, to a minimum... try not to run out of anything between trips.

 

[raingarden]

Does anyone know how to patch rusting out of a truck? The worst spots are around the wheel wells and under the doors.

The reputable repair places won't try replacing the affected areas because too often they can't find anything solid to weld the panels to.

I usually just make a mess using the Bondo approach. You have to improvise a backing to stick it in place while it hardens..

My old truck has black Gorilla Tape over the areas that are rusted out. If you squint your eyes it looks like racing stripes.

 

[gtaus]

Does anyone know how to patch rusting out of a truck? The worst spots are around the wheel wells and under the doors.

The reputable repair places won't try replacing the affected areas because too often they can't find anything solid to weld the panels to.

I wish I knew more about auto body. Where I live in northern Minnesota, our roads are salted all winter long. That leads to rust issues on metal that you never see down south. I have some perfectly good running vehicles, but they look like, well, not so good anymore.

I have seen that there is some kind of rust stopping paint. That might be a first start for some parts of the car. I think you put the rust stopping paint on the rust spots and then you can paint over it with whatever color you want.

I had a relative who had some bad rust around the wheel wells, so he hit it with some rust stopping paint and then bought some fender wells to cover it. Looked really nice when he was done. Of course, the metal was still rusted under the new plastic fenders, but his pickup looked nice.

I know our local body shops won't do a job unless they are allowed to "do it right." That usually means replacing entire side panels, etc... You can quickly get a cost estimate for more than the value of your older, rusty, vehicle. No such thing as a cheap makeover in the body shops where I live. Their shops are mostly filled with insurance repairs, so they don't really care about the rest of us that just want to make our old cars look as good as they run.

Many years ago, I "fixed" up some rust on one of my cars by sanding the rust spot down to bare metal, then used fiberglass and bondo to patch the holes. More sanding, sanding some more, and then a number of light coats of primer and paint. In the end, it looked good, but it was a lot of work.

There are a variety of YouTube videos on fixing up rusty cars. I would suggest checking them out and maybe find one method that might work for you. Some of those guys do great work without breaking the bank. Good luck.