What do you consider your most frugal act of 2012?
I'll get this off the ground by saying that in terms of the use I get out of it the 1800 watt Duxtop induction cooktop I got earlier this year is by far the most frugal purchase I made in 2012, I use it multiple times every day and it saves me both time and money on electricity on every single use.
This is one of the very few things I have bought new in quite some time and to date it was worth every penny I paid for it, this unit is so much superior in both convenience and efficiency to both my propane stove and the resistance heating cooktop I was using before that there's almost no comparison.
Even the safety aspect is greatly improved over what I had before, nothing gets hot but the pan you cook in, I've even put a piece of paper between the cooktop and the pan, fried bacon and eggs in the pan and then removed the paper unscorched and the top is only mildly warm in the middle to the touch and still cool on the outside portion.
http://www.amazon.com/1800-Watt-Portable-Induction-Countertop-8100MC/dp/B0045QEPYM
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Response to Fumesucker (Original post)
Urine is sterile and we are in a relatively deep harbor. Urine goes in a cup and down the sink drain. It's easy.
Visitors are sometimes a little uncomfortable, but they adapt.
I remember a phrase from my earlier life - "If it's yellow, let it mellow. It it's brown, flush it down".
What happened to that?
Welcome to DU and to the FEEL group.
but living with my parents and not paying rent.
I'll try to make a long story short - when my husband left me with 4 kids, my parents coaxed me to come live with them. Promised to pay tuition for me to go back to school. Promised no rent. Promised to co-sign a mortgage once I was ready to be on my own. Promised to furnish my new place (my parents are well-off. They CLEAR 6 figures). Once I got there, they decided to charge a large rent (as big as my mortgage) and then kicked me out after 5 months. I had to rent a place at an exhorbitant rate as they refused to help me buy a place. They also didn't pay any of my tuition, I had to pay it all. I struggled (luckily I do get spousal and child support).
My parents are dysfunctional and likely (according to my daughter's therapist - yes she required therapy after living with them) narcissistic. After all that I pulled away from them and put up boundaries. This means they had to find a way to lure me back in, so they helped me finally, after 3 years, buy a home. Well, it was a new build and of course it was delayed. My landlord wasn't very accomodating, so I moved back in with my parents (armed with techniques and other ways of dealing with narcissism and protecting my kids). I didn't want to, but it turned out to be a great decision. I was able to, thanks to that therapist, stay there mostly problem free. I didn't offer to pay rent and they didn't ask for it. I was able to save up a lot of money so I have tuition for the next year or so, and enough to paint the kids' rooms and get some furniture that was sorely lacking(I'm also getting a bunch free from my brother and from friends). Now that I'm in my new, very energy efficient home (my 2nd most frugal act) I'm glad I made that decision.
So for my 2nd most frugal act - my new duplex has spray foam insulation, a tankless hot water heater, a new type of furnace that is extremely energy efficient (better than the highest efficiency natural gas forced air furnaces) and comes with CFL bulbs everywhere and energy efficient appliances. I have my own yard (no condo fees, fully landscaped by the builder - with fence! - once spring is here) so I'll be able to have a garden now and save even more money 
Plus, my mortgage is $200/month less than my rent was.
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1979 4x4 F150
Paid $3000 for it in 1990.
Hang on to that old one of yours,
If it costs ya $1000 a year to maintain, sure beats leases and payments!
I try to tell people ( I'm a retired mechanic) it's cheaper - MUCH cheaper to keep repairing the vehicle ya got.
$40,000 for a decent vehicle nowadays - using my $1,000 dollar a year thing,
Ya know damm well they don't build any vehicles nowadays that will last 40 years!
Ten maybe???
I did a study on 3 of my own vehicles 3 decades ago.
Normal usage - put aside an equal amount of money that you spend on gas, and you will have enough money in that account to pay for maintenance, tires, exhaust, rust work, oil changes, engine, transmission, etc. if need be, - got it?
If it's a 4x4, SUV - double it.
"It takes a lickin' but it keeps on tickin'!"
give er!
CC
We just finished the installation and will be testing it today.
My biggest concern was that it would be noisy, but it's very quiet and very efficient.
Now we can make electricity day and night.
The wind has been blowing like crazy the last two days.
My one big caveat was that it had to be quiet. So many of these things are really noisy, and it's a repetitive noise that makes me nuts.
But this one is very quiet, just a low whir that you can block out really quickly.
So... 4 solar panels, wind generator and a new bank of batteries. We should be good.
had a pole made to attach the wind generator.
It's about 10 feet off the deck, well out of the way of heads and hands.
More and more boats are sporting them, particularly cruisers and other liveaboards.
It doesn't have to be on boat, but could be on a roof or hill. We have the 12 volt D400 by Eclectic Energy. Big, big plus for me - it is very quiet.
http://www.transmarinepro.com/wind-generators.html