What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[gtaus]

I'm making a quiche today...

When we have a lot of excess eggs, I will make some quiche and freeze it for later. I have made salmon, tuna and chicken quiche. I like the taste of them in that order as well. I think I need to punch up my chicken quiche. It's OK, but not nearly as tasteful as the salmon quiche.

Salmon is pretty expensive. And normally I prefer chicken over fish. For some reason, with the quiche, the plain old chicken recipe I have does not have much of a punch to it.

Anyways, the quiche freezes well, and a slice only takes about 30 seconds in the microwave and it's ready to eat. It's a fast breakfast, or whenever.

 

[Molpet]

When we have a lot of excess eggs, I will make some quiche and freeze it for later. I have made salmon, tuna and chicken quiche. I like the taste of them in that order as well. I think I need to punch up my chicken quiche. It's OK, but not nearly as tasteful as the salmon quiche.

Salmon is pretty expensive. And normally I prefer chicken over fish. For some reason, with the quiche, the plain old chicken recipe I have does not have much of a punch to it.

Anyways, the quiche freezes well, and a slice only takes about 30 seconds in the microwave and it's ready to eat. It's a fast breakfast, or whenever.

Recipe for salmon quiche please

 

[gtaus]

Water Heater Replacement Options

A couple of weeks ago, our 26+ year old water heater gave out. Something went wrong with the board and one of the electrical lines glowed red hot before I shut it down. It burned off all the coating on the electrical line. So, the repair was going to be more than a simple element or thermostat replacement, which I have done in the past.

I contacted the local plumbers, but nobody wanted to "fix" the heater given its age. They all recommended replacing the tank. I guess they figure it would take about 4 hours of labor time (at $150 per hour) to troubleshoot and rebuild the tank, and in the end, you would still have a tank that was 26+ years old and no warranty. Not an option that any of them wanted to do.

I got a number of quotes for a new heater and installation from our local plumbers. Sticker shock for me to see they wanted $1800-$1900 to replace and reinstall a new tank! Their 50-gallon tanks were the bare minimum of features with a 6-year warranty.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting the top line 50-gallon heater with a 12-year warranty from Home Depot and went through them for the installation service. They contracted out to a local plumber to do the job. The plumber came out with the new heater, drained and removed the old tank, installed my new heater, and hauled away the old tank. Everything is working well 2 weeks later...

All in all, I got a top line 12-year tank with Bluetooth app and remote-control and scheduling features, upgraded tank and flush port, and saved about $400-$500 over the quotes from the local plumbers with a basic, no features, 6-year warranty tank.

I'm not a plumber, so I had no idea how much it would cost to replace our old heater. But I am glad that I checked Home Depot and took advantage of their installation service team. The savings comes in buying that heater from Home Depot. I think the labor charge ended up being the same regardless, but from what I learned, the local plumbers were all buying a basic $500 heater and jacking the price up to around $1,200. At Home Depot, like I said, I got their top line heater and saved over $500 from the start.

I am still feeling the pain of having to buy a new heater, but at least I saved a lot of money and got a better tank directly from Home Depot.

Working with the Home Depot installation service team was easy and their quote, down to the penny, was exactly what we agreed on and what I ended up paying. No surprises. I hate surprises. Especially when it costs me more money.

If I could have serviced my heater on my own, I would have preferred to do that. But one electrical wire was burned up and almost started a fire. None of the plumbers recommended rebuilding the old heater. I found lots of YouTube videos on replacing heater elements and thermostats, but nothing for the problem I had. So, I had to punt and get a new one. But I think, for us, it was the best option.

 

[C Siena]

When we have a lot of excess eggs, I will make some quiche and freeze it for later. I have made salmon, tuna and chicken quiche. I like the taste of them in that order as well. I think I need to punch up my chicken quiche. It's OK, but not nearly as tasteful as the salmon quiche.

Salmon is pretty expensive. And normally I prefer chicken over fish. For some reason, with the quiche, the plain old chicken recipe I have does not have much of a punch to it.

Anyways, the quiche freezes well, and a slice only takes about 30 seconds in the microwave and it's ready to eat. It's a fast breakfast, or whenever.

Our freezer is Full! We feed our cat and dog a raw diet, so when there is a sale, we load up for all of us. We don't eat much organ meat, but they do. So we can't store much in the freezer. I pc can most meats and they are great.
I'll have to try your variations with quiche.

 

[Sally PB]

I got a number of quotes for a new heater and installation from our local plumbers. Sticker shock for me to see they wanted $1800-$1900 to replace and reinstall a new tank! Their 50-gallon tanks were the bare minimum of features with a 6-year warranty.

While hubby was visiting his dad in Charlotte, NC, their water heater died. It was a smaller unit, in a closet on the second floor. (That seems like a really dumb idea to me. I've not been impressed several aspects of the build on this house.)

The cost was $3000 for the replacement.

 

[Molpet]

Water Heater Replacement Options

A couple of weeks ago, our 26+ year old water heater gave out. Something went wrong with the board and one of the electrical lines glowed red hot before I shut it down. It burned off all the coating on the electrical line. So, the repair was going to be more than a simple element or thermostat replacement, which I have done in the past.

View attachment 4113987

I contacted the local plumbers, but nobody wanted to "fix" the heater given its age. They all recommended replacing the tank. I guess they figure it would take about 4 hours of labor time (at $150 per hour) to troubleshoot and rebuild the tank, and in the end, you would still have a tank that was 26+ years old and no warranty. Not an option that any of them wanted to do.

I got a number of quotes for a new heater and installation from our local plumbers. Sticker shock for me to see they wanted $1800-$1900 to replace and reinstall a new tank! Their 50-gallon tanks were the bare minimum of features with a 6-year warranty.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting the top line 50-gallon heater with a 12-year warranty from Home Depot and went through them for the installation service. They contracted out to a local plumber to do the job. The plumber came out with the new heater, drained and removed the old tank, installed my new heater, and hauled away the old tank. Everything is working well 2 weeks later...

All in all, I got a top line 12-year tank with Bluetooth app and remote-control and scheduling features, upgraded tank and flush port, and saved about $400-$500 over the quotes from the local plumbers with a basic, no features, 6-year warranty tank.

I'm not a plumber, so I had no idea how much it would cost to replace our old heater. But I am glad that I checked Home Depot and took advantage of their installation service team. The savings comes in buying that heater from Home Depot. I think the labor charge ended up being the same regardless, but from what I learned, the local plumbers were all buying a basic $500 heater and jacking the price up to around $1,200. At Home Depot, like I said, I got their top line heater and saved over $500 from the start.

I am still feeling the pain of having to buy a new heater, but at least I saved a lot of money and got a better tank directly from Home Depot.

Working with the Home Depot installation service team was easy and their quote, down to the penny, was exactly what we agreed on and what I ended up paying. No surprises. I hate surprises. Especially when it costs me more money.

If I could have serviced my heater on my own, I would have preferred to do that. But one electrical wire was burned up and almost started a fire. None of the plumbers recommended rebuilding the old heater. I found lots of YouTube videos on replacing heater elements and thermostats, but nothing for the problem I had. So, I had to punt and get a new one. But I think, for us, it was the best option.

Around here the new tanks start to leak around 11-13 years.

 

[gtaus]

While hubby was visiting his dad in Charlotte, NC, their water heater died. It was a smaller unit, in a closet on the second floor. ...
The cost was $3000 for the replacement.

Ouch! That would really, really hurt!

Around here the new tanks start to leak around 11-13 years.

Yeah, I can't complain about 26+ years of service with that water heater. No leaks or any other issues. Had to replace the elements a few times and some thermostats, but I know how to that.

I don't how to be frugal on something like a water heater. For me, it's a high-cost item that you buy only a few times (you hope) for your house.

I can tell you that we are on hard well water with no salt water softener attached. After the old tank was drained, the plumber told me that there was a lot of sediment in the bottom of the tank, maybe about 25% of the bottom of the tank, but that was to be expected because of its age and our hard water. My new heater, their top line tank, has some kind of auto cleaning function that is supposed to reduce or eliminate that sediment. Not quite sure how that works, but it was a big deal on their features list "Auto-cleaning." Only the top line tank had that feature.

I was asked a couple of times if I wanted to install a water softener. I did not. I grew up on hard water and the taste of soft water does not suit me well. No doubt, soft water would be easier on our dishwasher and washing machine, but I turned it down. I know some people have soft water filter tanks on a monthly service for something like $40.00 per month. A guy comes out every month and swaps out the old tank and puts in a new filter tank. But like I said, I grew up on hard water and don't like the taste of soft water.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My late MIL swore up and down she couldn't stand the taste of softened water either. But we hooked up the softener after we had to replace a dishwasher, a washing machine and a water heater within weeks of each other, probably due to sediment buildup from the hard well water. One day when she was in town I went and got a pitcher of water straight from the outdoor spigot, that had not gone through the softener, and put it in the fridge for her. A treat for you, I said, presenting it in a tall glass. She spit it out and said What is this cr*p? I was amazed and dismayed. I thought she would be pleased. I guess you can get used to anything.

 

[Sally PB]

When we had to replace our water softener, the company tested our water and it wasn't particularly hard, but it had a lot of iron. So much that they had to send it to another company, because it tested off their chart.

They highly recommended an iron filter along with a softener. A neighbor had one, and I asked him what he thought of it. He didn't miss a beat. He said he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Oh, yeah, he was right! The pair was about $3000, and it made a HUGE difference in our water. I'd do it again too.

I don't know if something would have failed in that time, but I will say that our clothes are cleaner, the washer is cleaner, the dish washer is cleaner, and no orange bowl in the toilet.

One of our "expenses" is our quality of life. It's one of the things we worked and saved for.

 

[Molpet]

Ouch! That would really, really hurt!



Yeah, I can't complain about 26+ years of service with that water heater. No leaks or any other issues. Had to replace the elements a few times and some thermostats, but I know how to that.

I don't how to be frugal on something like a water heater. For me, it's a high-cost item that you buy only a few times (you hope) for your house.

I can tell you that we are on hard well water with no salt water softener attached. After the old tank was drained, the plumber told me that there was a lot of sediment in the bottom of the tank, maybe about 25% of the bottom of the tank, but that was to be expected because of its age and our hard water. My new heater, their top line tank, has some kind of auto cleaning function that is supposed to reduce or eliminate that sediment. Not quite sure how that works, but it was a big deal on their features list "Auto-cleaning." Only the top line tank had that feature.

I was asked a couple of times if I wanted to install a water softener. I did not. I grew up on hard water and the taste of soft water does not suit me well. No doubt, soft water would be easier on our dishwasher and washing machine, but I turned it down. I know some people have soft water filter tanks on a monthly service for something like $40.00 per month. A guy comes out every month and swaps out the old tank and puts in a new filter tank. But like I said, I grew up on hard water and don't like the taste of soft water.

I used to have a "water boss " water softener, From Menards.
At the highest setting, it still wasn't enough. It lasted about 10 years and I replaced with the same that lasted about 10 years. I lost interest in soft water.