TIP Frugal Tips - 2015

[moldy]

Tools are something I will spend on. For instance, I have several All American canners - absolutely the best! If I can borrow it, I will - but tools are something I'm kinda picky about.

My hint for the day is to menu plan. I work the next 3 days = one night till 10 pm. I need to have meals that the kids can stick in the oven, and that DH can have for leftovers to take in his lunch (well, me too.). Tonight will be lemon chicken (there's a half a quart of chicken in the fridge that needs to be used up), rice, and peach sorbet. (new recipe - and for some reason I have a bunch of Jello, and none of us really like Jello!) Tomorrow is pork chops and stuffing (I will prep it today and put it in the fridge with instructions for kidlets when they get home from school), peas, and black berry cobbler. Thursday is pesto and pasta, French bread and bruschetta (brushetta is canned, bread and pesto are in the freezer). Friday will be fajitas, and maybe some ice cream.

I am cleaning up some frames from beehives today, so that I can reuse them. The wax is dark and old, but so far, I've gotten about 3/4 of a pound. It's not pretty, but I can use it for candles or salves. I use the woodstove to melt it, so no additional cost there.

I am starting some onion seeds today too. The last time I did this was a fail - but I"m trying again. I just got a lecture from DH on how I shouldn't give up on AI just yet (our cows were due to start calving Monday and nothing yet - I know, I know - I'm just a little anxious). I worry that the amount of money we spent for meds and semen were too much for what our outcome will be. DH pointed out that to get a decent bull would cost us about $5000. It's a little early to call the AI'ing a failure, and if it is - we'll try again. You can't expect perfection on the first (or the first hundred) try..

 

[Deena in GA]

Good tips and info! And talking about tools, my hubby has found several good tools lying on or along the road. Guess they fall off of someone's truck or something, but he has found some really good quality tools. In fact, he got upset with me a while back because I wouldn't let him stop on an entrance to the interstate to pick up a Dewalt tape measure.

Planning meals in something I'm not good at. Every time I've tried in the past, things pop up that keep us from following through on the meals I've planned. Think I'll try it again now since we're home a lot more now.

There used to be a recipe website where you could enter the ingredients you have on hand and it would give you dishes to make with those ingredients. Does anyone remember that website?

 

[moldy]

Allrecipes.com. Use the ingredient search. I just make a list, then use meals from the list (not necessarily in order)

 

[Terriannie]

Good tips and info! And talking about tools, my hubby has found several good tools lying on or along the road. Guess they fall off of someone's truck or something, but he has found some really good quality tools. In fact, he got upset with me a while back because I wouldn't let him stop on an entrance to the interstate to pick up a Dewalt tape measure.

Planning meals in something I'm not good at. Every time I've tried in the past, things pop up that keep us from following through on the meals I've planned. Think I'll try it again now since we're home a lot more now.

There used to be a recipe website where you could enter the ingredients you have on hand and it would give you dishes to make with those ingredients. Does anyone remember that website?

Here's a few I found.
http://www.instantfundas.com/2010/08/15-websites-to-find-recipes-by.html

 

[Deena in GA]

Thanks for the links!

The following is a part of something I posted last week over in the prep section about taking our daughter-in-law shopping to show her how we do it. She is suddenly a stay-at-home mom and wants to learn how to save money:

Anyway, she had never been to an Aldi's before and had been going to the grocery store and just buying what they felt like buying without paying any attention to what was on sale. Ack!! Now they have to really watch their finances, so we gave her a crash course in buying sale items and stocking up. They actually had begun stocking, so at least they have some food on hand. She was thrilled at how much she saved at Aldi's! We also went to Publix and bought bogo's there. We had recently found a bread store just past the Aldi's and took her there too. She'd been paying $2.79 for the same bread we got there for $.88.

Then on to CVS where they had Scott tp on sale for $6.99 for the 12 roll pack. If you spend $20, you get a $5 coupon on your next purchase. We paid for three ($21), got the coupon and then purchased one more package and only had to pay $1.99 plus tax for it. D-i-l went in intending to only get one of them, but ended up copying what we did. Yeah!

Our last stop was to show her The Sock Shop, which has "seconds" on socks, shirts, and other things. She was able to buy two 6-packs of dress socks for her husband (that he needed badly for work) for $3.99 each. I picked up one to have as extra. We try to always keep a stock of socks and underwear.

 

[Flippper]

More great ideas! I'd like to see a forum room or a merge on these threads to keep them all together.

In high school our Home Ec teacher gave each of us a quarter to spend on a 4 course meal from 4 food groups, and there were 4 or 5 girls per group-she said she'd been doing this since the 1960's when she first began teaching. So we were given 1960's era budget for 1980's meal plans! None too happy or optimistic, we set out to make a dinner. We actually did quite well, buying what we could on sale, having potatoes, (seems we mashed them), hamburger, green beans and bananas or something. It was a great lesson.

Grab those coupons! Most grocers have weekly specials, and you can get coupons to print from their web site. See which stores double coupons (only one here does and they are the most expensive place to shop, naturally). Coupons are free money if you spend them on things you would usually buy anyway. Every penny helps. Sunday papers carry the best coupons, though I notice they are getting fewer in number.

When I make pies, I make a whole bunch at one time. You can pick up a 50# bag of unbleached white flour for around $18, save your pie tins, large and small, pick them up at yard sales. Buy bulk apples or whatever fruit you choose, same with cane sugar, 25# bag, and get working. It takes an entire day but you can be eating freshly baked pie for a few years if you do it this way, and you only have one mess to clean up instead of many. I don't make a massive amount of pies as I don't have freezer space, and I store the flour/sugar in plastic food grade buckets or metal garbage cans I purchased just for that use. Bulk is nearly always cheaper.

 

[Deena in GA]

I never thought about making pies in bulk. What a great idea! Flippper said " Bulk is nearly always cheaper" and this is true, but not all the time. It really, really pays to know your prices. We often find things on sale and it makes it cheaper than we can buy it at Sam's or in the bulk section.

We travel 45 minutes to do the bulk of our grocery shopping because the stores there are so much cheaper, it more than pays for the trip. Even the Publix there is overall cheaper than the one in the nearby big city. Some items are the same price, but some are cheaper. However, we recently found that an item that we waited to buy at the cheaper Publix actually cost $.20 more there. If we hadn't been paying attention, we would have paid more. Instead, we just waited until we were going into Columbus and got it for the cheaper price.

 

[ReneeT]

My Granny's recipe:
20 Pie Crusts (10 double crust pies)
5 # flour
3 # lard
3 cups ice water
2 Tablespoons salt

Sift salt into flour, cut in lard. Add ice water slowly, stirring with a fork until the mixture forms a ball in the bowl. It will take more water in a dry climate or during the winter than it will when it's humid out.

I grew up in commercial orchard; my maternal grandmother would spend the months of September and October at our house to answer the phone (days before cordless phones, let alone cell phones!) while we were working the harvest. We'd bring her baskets of cull apples from the packing shed and she would sit on the porch with a phone close at hand and peel, slice, and bag apples. We'd freeze them; then when she had what she figured one of the family members needed, she'd call and have them come pick them up; then start on the next family's supply. Our supply went in the freezer shortly before Grandmother left to spend the winter with one of her sons, along with 12 apple pies, using the above recipe.

I have a master list of 'Stuff we eat'. Main dishes, cassaroles, soups, stews, veggie dishes, fruits, desserts, breads, etc... If I have a leftover I'm not enthused about eating, I can usually look at the list and figure out something to do with it. This week the leftover was 2 stuffed pepper 'boats' (stuffed lobes rather than stuffed whole peppers) that were stuffed in a freezer bag and tucked in the freezer. I wasn't in the mood for stuffed peppers, but wanted them out of my way. I had about a quarter of a jar of spaghetti sauce left in the fridge, so dumped it and the stuffed peppers (they were stuffed with meatloaf mix, btw) in the food chopper and gave 'em a whirl, then heated it up and poured it over some linguini noodles for supper; served it with salad greens and garlic toast - it didn't seem like eating leftovers at all

Youngest grandson and I had some time to kill while waiting for daughter and older grandson, and he was needing to move after being cooped up in the truck for a couple of hours this afternoon - we saw a thrift store sign down the street a ways, so walked over to see if they had anything interesting. $2 for one pair of jeans in good condition for older grandson and 1 pair of nearly brand new shoes for younger one - plus a mini Easter egg the lady at the counter gave grandson to put his teeny dinosaur in. "Cer-top" he'd told her (triceratops) They were all laughing and waving goodbye to him as we left - he told them 'See ya later crocodile' - he'll get it right one of these days

 

[Deena in GA]

Renee, love the story about your grandmother! We have sliced apples in our freezer that my dad did for us last year. That was a great way to use your leftovers!

I was looking last night to see what was going bad here and needed to be used and found the remaining seven potatoes of a 10 lb. bag of potatoes that we snagged at Aldi's for $.99. I decided to dice them up and make a hash, using a pound of ground chuck we got at Fresh Market for $2.99. Threw those things together with diced onions and green peppers from our freezer (last year's garden) and some bouillon and water. Made some squash puppies (squash I canned from our garden a few years ago). Served with canned pears. The entire meal cost under $5 and fed 3 adults, a teenager (who ate quite a few helpings) and a child and still have another helping or two left over. That's what I call a win!

 

[Deena in GA]

I appreciate all the recipes you share on these threads!

Here's the recipe for squash puppies. They are delicious!


Squash Puppies

1 cup mashed squash (I use my quart canned squash and just drain the water out using however much is left and adjusting flour and cornmeal to fit)

1 egg

1/2 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup self-rising cornmeal

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

add onion or onion powder to taste

Mix together and drop by teaspoonful into hot oil. Fry. Serve warm. Enjoy!

 

[moldy]

Transplanted some of my plants today. I use foam cups (like used coffee cups) with a hole punched in the bottom for drainage. I save the cups from year to year, stacking them and putting them in the plastic totes (about 8 inch deep ones) that I use to keep them watered when they're under the grow lights. Starting your own seeds can really save a lot of $$. DD has asked for anything to help her with gardening, so I'm thinking of taking her a bag of chicken poop when I go visit! No kidding - she said she needed fertilizer, and she thinks it's a great idea.

Bartering with another member later this week. I have WAYY too many chickens, so I"m trading laying hens for raw milk. I think it's a good trade for both of us.

 

[2Trish]

Our Sunday meal is a roast, beef or pork, big enough for leftovers on Monday. I usually throw a dozen potatoes, sometimes sweet potatoes, in the oven so we have baked & potato skins throughout the week. Since Monday is garbage day so I clean out the frig and make a big pot of soup depending on what's left in the frig. Tuesday I'll pick a chicken casserole, pot of spaghetti, or stuffed cabbage that will last a couple of days. So we only use the oven or stove 2 or 3 days a weeks. The rest of the week the microwave carries the burden. We do try to have one or two meatless meals a week. I also boil up a dozen eggs for egg salad or to add to salads. Whatever vegetable that's in season is what's on our table.

 

[Be Well]

This is not a useful thing to make or buy or invent; but a mindset.

When I considered, for instance, that a lot of my nightgowns (I don't do pajamas) are getting a bit raggedy (one had sleeves that were really worn out), I figure "How many years do I have left on this planet? I then considered that I can probably make do for at least 15 years with what I have. So I won't buy any new ones and will re-assess in 15 years!

I cut off the raggedy sleeves and now I have a short sleeved flannel nightgown. Still works....

 

[Laurie the Mom]

Squash puppies!! That's a new one to me...summer squash or winter squash? Does it matter? I have a ton of canned summer squash...

Laurie

 

[Be Well]

Another tip to lengthen sleeves on tee shirt material top. DH picks up tee shirts, long sleeve and short, at garage sales or thrift stores. Some work for me. One was a strange xxxlarge with a very wide body (too wide) and long sleeves were too short. So Dh had chopped up an old tee shirt of his to use for hand towels and the bottom several inches was fine, so I cut segments and sewed them to the inside sleeves of my long sleeve one. Now the sleeves are nice and long, and it doesn't even look that weird; could almost have been made that way.

 

[Deena in GA]

Squash puppies!! That's a new one to me...summer squash or winter squash? Does it matter? I have a ton of canned summer squash...

Laurie

Sorry! I didn't see your question until just now. What I use is yellow summer squash.

Be Well, that's a good idea! I save old t-shirts to crochet rugs from. Waste not, want not.

 

[CapeCMom]

My tip is for people who have wood stoves.
Team up with local landscapers or tree specialists. Many of them either chip up or dump trees when they have to be removed from a property. We have offered our property for them to drop burnable sized logs. In return for the free wood we are letting them come back and use our log splitter and take what they want for their own home use. By doing this we got 7 cords of wood for our stove last year and there is always a big pile left. This saves the heavy dumping fees that the tree guys have to pay t the dump also. Its a win win for everyone. We have also asked them to dump leftover building or landscaping materials (they do call us first on this one). We have gotten free pallets of patio blocks, bricks, wall stone and shrubs. THis also saves them the fees for dumping th leftovers. They have gotten put to some good use!

 

[Laurie the Mom]

Thanks, Deena!

Laurie

 

[ReneeT]

Plant a garden! Even if you have to do it in pots on a balcony (or better, in a bag of potting soil on a balcony). I was picking and choosing some herb plants and assorted seeds today and a man told me that it was cheaper to buy food than grow it I said "Well Sir, if it's cheaper for you to buy it than grow it, then I'd have to say you're doing it wrong!"

Daughter picked up a box of strawberries that were on sale starting last Wednesday - I thought they were on sale 3#/$5, but they were actually 4#/$3.98 - a very attractive price. She'd planned to make strawberry shortcake with them, but after slicing them was disappointed that they had very little juice. I thought about it for a bit, then called her back to ask her if she had any strawberry Jello on hand. She did, so I suggested she take a tablespoon or so of the powder and mix it in some hot water, let it sit until dissolved, the pour it over the berries. She did, and it worked fairly well. True, it wasn't real strawberry juice, but it was edible and served the part - and she didn't waste the strawberries. I'd gotten a container myself, so was prepared and fixed my shortcake the same way. Some of the rest of the berries went into smoothies (with a tsp of strawberry jello powder), some were whizzed in the blender with applesauce to make strawberry applesauce (another tsp of Jello for flavor), and some were used to make a strawberry pie - my strawberry pie recipe calls for Jello; I think that's what made me think of using it to add flavor/liquid to the berries for the shortcake.

Oh, old t-shirts!! How I love old t-shirts!!

Like Deena, I crochet rugs from t-shirts that have been cut into strips; also coasters (cut the strips thin, then give them a pull to make the fabric 'roll') and other items.

I used to make my daughter pull over summer dresses out of t-shirts up until she was about 9 or 10 years old. I used a simple pattern with a round neckline and cut it out; then used the scraps of the shirt for the arm and neck facings. Once she got a bit taller, I'd cut a couple of lengths off the bottom portion of a different but coordinating color shirt, stitch them together and gather them into a ruffle to add to the bottom/increase the length. I recall a few times that I used a bit of the leftover coordinating fabric to make an applique for the dress as well.

One of my friends gave me several grocery bags of t-shirts that she didn't wear (her mother is a yard sale fanatic and buys them for her.) Some didn't fit me, and some had v-necklines that were a bit lower than I am comfortable with nowadays. I seached my 'notions' drawer and found some pieces of lace and some embellished tulle that I stitched to the lower part of the V so that they weren't quite as revealing.

I took some of the long sleeve shirts and turned them into short sleeved shirts buy cutting off a portion of the sleeve and hemming what was left. Some of the sleeves were kind of large after this, so I used the hem as a casing and ran a bit of elastic through it for a sort of puff sleeve.

I took a few more of the long sleeve v-neck shirts and turned them into sleeveless shirts to wear in the garden this summer by cutting all but the last half inch of the sleeves off, then turning it under and tacking it down as a facing. If I had a little - little baby little - girl, I'd be looking to see if I could turn the cut off sleeves into slacks for her. May have to go lop off a couple more sleeves, clear up to the shoulders, to see if it's a usable idea...

Another new use for old t-shirts I discovered this past week - doll clothes! Granddaughter picked out a baby doll at the flea market; I bought a pattern and used one of the flower printed t-shirts my friend gave me to make the dolly a saque (remember when babies still wore those?) and bonnet, plus a short dress and diaper cover. I'm eyeing the rest of the stack of t-shirts that were destined for the thrift store - might be a few more doll clothes in there!!

What do you all do with old t-shirts??

 

[Be Well]

DH's tee shirts have three lives here. One, an 'Indoors" or "town" tee shirt. Then it becomes a "work" tee shirt. Then it becomes "hand driers". Actually four lives - then it becomes industrial rags, like wiping oil dip sticks.

 

[moldy]

Please keep the hints coming! Went shopping today, and boy, EVERYTHING is going sky-high! When your doctor's appointment is the cheapest part of the day, it's pretty bad!

DH has gotten some great give-aways at work. He works at a food factory, and has brought home shuttles (think aluminum tubing cages for large plastic containers of liquids). We take out the plastic and use the cages for firewood (we can put it where we are cutting then move it with the skidsteer when full), burned lime rock (we use like gravel, it just breaks down a lot faster), cattle feed (we did have to pay for getting this hauled to us, but it was still cheap feed), and pallets (seems all food products must have NEW food-grade pallets - who knew there was such a thing?).

I've found if someone offers you something, take it. They will keep giving, and you can always pass it along to others if it's something you can't use. If you say 'no', it tends to make people uncomfortable, and they won't offer again. I also try to give them back something - some jelly, a pie - something. And always always always say thank you!

 

[hardrock]

My wife uses vinegar in place of fabric softener. She pours it into a downey ball and puts it into the washer. (The downey ball dispenses it during the rinse cycle.) You will be surprised how soft and fresh the clothes are.

I came down with a rash from the fabric softener and the vinegar cured it and it is much cheaper. I guess you could add a fragrance but they come out
just fine for us.

 

[Deena in GA]

Great tips everyone! Please keep them coming!

I ran across the following list the other day that our family put together a good while ago. Its ideas that we came up with to save money. It was a great reminder to me on some things and I thought maybe someone else would get something out of it too.

1) Take showers instead of baths and keep them short

2) Keep lights off as much as possible

3) Keep electrical items unplugged unless being used

4) Charge phones in computer when its being used

5) Cook more from storage/freezer

6) Wash clothes in cold water, except for whites

7) If using oven, make more than one dish at a time

8) No unnecessary car trips. Combine errands and shopping

9) Use as little as possible (of whatever) to do the job

10) Coffee and tea pots can be kept on the wood heater to keep warm when its in use

11) Rinse dishes immediately after use (so you don't use more water because its dried on)

12) Pay bills timely to avoid any late charges

 

[summerthyme]

Great ideas on the t-shirts, Renee...

For those who would like to make things from good, but "unsuitable" (for whatever reason) t-shirts, if you're not inherently crafty or don't have a lot of sewing experience, go to www.nancysnotions.com.

She has LOTS of books, patterns, and even DVD's on "remodeling" t-shirts, both so they are more stylish/better fitting for women and things like child's dresses, etc.

Summerthyme

 

[Melodi]

Old wool (and even part wool sweaters) make perfect barn cat beds for Winter use - the kitties love them and they don't care that your significant other has stashed them in back of the closet for a year and they are now so full of holes they are not worth trying to repair (you would not believe the condition some of these get into lol).

Felted Old Wool Sweaters (100 percent wool, often found here in Ireland; probably not as much in the US these days) that fit on the body are not only extremely warm they provide limited fire protection for people doing work like black smithing, home welding or even dealing with a hot wood stove. They often cost practically nothing because people see a once lovely sweater all felted up but it doesn't matter for warmth or protective clothing - when too burned or messed with to wear anymore in our house they become cat and dog beds.

For those (like me) to whom a week's set menu will drive insane (I'm a rebel at heart) and who have picky families (like my DH) who may not know what they want until the day - both freezer cooking and that list of easy meals is a real help. Usually I can establish at least the night before what sounds good to people in time to thaw something out (or thaw the meat/veg etc); also families will differ but depending on cultural background there are a lot of "typical" combinations you can slot in, many of which are inexpensive especially if you buy in bulk over time. Examples of this are Irish/English traditional cooking: Meat and Two Veg (one of which is almost always a potato). My small holder friend (from California) who lives here with the Italian husband: almost every meal has pasta or home-made bread, some fresh vegetables and either a meat or egg dish (they raise livestock and chickens).

Find out what your family likes and you can slot in "meat balls" or "ham" or Lamb chops etc; either fresh, frozen raw or pre-cooked with whatever veggies and carbs you have again either fresh or frozen veg with rice/pasta/bread/etc. I do a lot of peasant style ethnic cooking some of which DH likes and some he won't touch with a barge pole but my vegetarian house mate will. Most peasant cooking from Italy to Peru takes very cheap (or at least home grown) type basic food and turns it into something special and interesting by a combination of long cooking times and certain herbs and spices. I do a lot of Mexican, Italian and some South American recipes this way; and most of them freeze moderately well. So I only have to make a crock pot full of beans usually once a week and then I freeze it - the crock pot is really your friend here.

In fact I tell my younger friends, many whom never cooked in their lives and are on tiny budgets: the things that will really serve you well after the 1 frying pan, 1 sauce pan and baking trays are: a crock pot, a bread baker and a blender (hand blender will do). Other things are nice like a steamer or food processor but those can be collected later - the bread baker may seem excessive but I find that healthy breads are a huge problem for young mothers working outside the home or not - not to mention the huge portion of Irish folks who have wheat issues (its genetic). A bread baker can solve this problem either by using it with a timer to do everything for you (and have hot bread in the morning) or used like I do to make the dough and then use it for breads, pizzas and even pasta!

The crock pot, especially when combined with browning the meat first (can be done fast in a hot oven on those baking trays); will make very cheap cuts of meat wonderful while your at work or minding the kids; the bread baker is obvious for both wheat using and wheat intolerant families (most now have a wheat free setting); and the blender will allow a huge number of soups, smoothies, "refried" beans (without oil), etc.

The one other tool that is optional but a very good thing for a beginner to have (and people often have extras) is a hand mixer or even older stand mixer (sometimes found at garage sales). This makes cake baking, cookies, whipped potatoes etc very easy (also things like whipped cream, egg whites etc). But a wood spoon and a bowl will do for most things at the start; if money is very limited start with the basic frying pan/sauce pan/baking trays (buying one each pay check or welfare check) then move to crock pot, blender and bread baker later; with electric mixer when you can and/or non-electric old style egg beater.

I also teach them to buy spices and herbs (dried) the same way, get one or two a pay check and after salt and pepper; get dried garlic and onion; followed by oregano, rosemary and chile powder (depending on family tastes). Those alone can make Mexican and Italian style variations of rather boring pot roasts, scrambled eggs or even rice!

If my husband were not the sort for whom a meal is not a meal without a rather large hunk of meat in the middle I could feed us really cheaply but as it is by buying meat in bulk from local farmers we don't do too badly. That's another tip - when it can be afforded if you have the space, get a chest freezer and buy meat in bulk direction from folks that raise it or even from butchers (many will give discounts on buying whole or half animals).

 

[summerthyme]

Agreed on the "cook ahead and freeze" for "convenience" meals. It saves a LOT of money over purchased convenience food- plus, you know what's in it!

It's probably a little late for some, but our potatoes are JUST starting to sprout in the root cellar. One of my projects for this week is to make a bunch of mashed potatoes (using sour cream, cream cheese or chip dip in them as a stabilizer... it keeps them from getting grainy or separating in the freezer) and freeze them. I freeze a lot of them as "patties", which I then thaw and reheat by frying in butter until they're browned on both sides. Some are frozen in foil lined casserole dishes- when frozen hard, I remove the foil packet so I can keep using the dishes in the kitchen.

I also make a bunch of french fries from the "soon to go bad" potatoes.. I deep fry them to JUST a nice, pale gold. I drain them, but DON'T pat or otherwise blot any oil off. Spread them on cookie sheets in a single layer, and freeze. Once frozen, remove from the sheets and put in ziplock bags and keep frozen until you want french fries (or steak fries, or whatever shape you wish). To serve, bake at 400° until golden, heated through and crisp.

Summerthyme

 

[anna43]

For those new to or struggling with menu planning the simplest way to go about it is to write down what you fix for dinner each night for a couple of weeks or even a month. Then go thru that list and pick meals for your menu plan. Most families eat the same basic meals repeated a couple times a month. This is especially true if you're cooking for a picky family. The next step is to write each menu on a recipe card along with special hints for that meal such as the cookbook name and page number for a recipe. Once you have your "deck" of menu cards, you can sit down and shuffle thru them to pick what you want to fix for the next week matching ingredients to what's on sale. I am striving to shop only twice a month for groceries so I'll be planning 15 days at a time.

For clothing we shop almost 100% at thrift stores. I have two favorite thrift stores one of which has top name brands. The other has more stuff but you really have to search for the top quality. The second store has a monthly bag sale where everything you can stuff into a large canvas bag (they provide) is $8. Last time I went I got a 2-piece dress, denim jumper, cotton sun dress, blouse, 8 knit tops, 3 pair of pants, half slip, new nightgown,3 shirts for dh (2 brand new, Lands End) and light weight jackets for both of us. There might have been more but that's all I can recall. I have to admit we did not need the clothes (although we'll use them) I just wanted to see what I could get for $8. Children's clothing always is scarce, but if I needed clothing for kids, I'd buy the largest sizes in adult clothing and then use the fabric to sew for children. I've actually done this in the past. I once bought a HUGE floor length double knit dress (think 1970's) and used it to make one dd a pair of slacks and both dd's shorts. A cotton nightgown in the same size became a crib sheet and a couple bibs. I have also on occasion purchased a thrift garment just for the buttons.

Try not to buy throw away items. We have not purchased paper napkins for nearly 15 years. I now have a drawer full of top quality napkins mostly from thrift stores. I've not paid more than 25¢ for a napkin. Napkins are easy to make especially if you have a serger, but cheaper to buy at 25¢ a piece if you have to buy fabric. If you need to buy napkin fabric the key is to purchase a large linen table cloth (thrift, of course) and cut and hem into napkins.

Paper towels have been replaced by rags. Old cotton clothing and linens are cut up for rags. Buttons are saved in my button box. I have a large supply of rags in my laundry room, a small basket of rags under the kitchen sink and another in each bathroom. Dirty rags have their own basket in the laundry room and when its full I wash them with bleach to sanitize. I keep a grocery bag of rags in the garage which can be thrown away rather than washed.

We buy bags of new undies and socks during the annual back to school sales which seems to have the best prices. Dh is diabetic and gets a pair of shoes paid for my Medicare every other year. I have a hard to fit foot so have to buy $100+ shoes and I try to buy one pair per year -- I don't want to ever be in the position of HAVING to buy two pairs in one year. I budget $30 per month for clothing which actually comes down to $19 once the cost of my shoes is subtracted. Last year we only spent $24 a month (averaged) including my shoes and a new winter coat for dh. The coat was $25 at end of season sales marked down from $95.

One irony of my shopping thrift shops for our clothing is that we can buy better quality clothing than we could afford new even at a major sale. An $80 garment at 80% off would be $16 while at the thrift shop its $2.50 to $4.50. Another irony is the better quality clothing is often new or like new.

 

[moldy]

Kinda an off-shoot of my last post on this thread: ASK!! The worst thing that can happen is that they will say no to whatever you are asking. Today, I set up two hives on neighbors/friends property. All I had to do was ask (and promise some of the honey if I get any).

DH and I went to an estate auction last Saturday. I spent wayy too much, but the deals were great. I got a barely used 6 qt Kitchenaid mixer with the regular attachments for $150. Cast iron skillets and large pots for less than $30 (for 3 skillets, pot, and 2 lids). Flour sack towels (I think maybe around 40 for $5), and some embroidered quilt blocks (already done) for $10. In all there are enough blocks for 18 completed quilts, 4 baby quilts, and a couple misc. squares. I also got 3 unopened counted cross stitch kits and about a dozen puzzles. Farm auctions (or any out in the country or small towns) are great!

These tips are so important right now. DH just found out he is getting laid off as of the 30th. One of the friends I talked to today had a rented pasture sold out from under him (he leases the pasture to run cows on/ feed from). He is looking at selling most of his stock. Where I work is cutting supplies as close to the line as they can (I am to stock the minimum needed with the assumption that I will get restocked every other day). Farmers aren't making anything on commodities, and equipment costs are thru the roof. Any pennies you've got, you'd better be pinching till Old Abe screams!

 

[Be Well]

I use Melodi's sweater idea - all sweaters that shrunk (only one or two, I NEVER shrink them myself), or too holey to fix any more, become cat beds. I put them around the wood stove in the winter, in boxes on the porch or in boxes in the cat barn. They love wool. :-)

I've turned one of DH's wool sweaters into a vest when the sleeves got too ravelly at the wrists. He wears sweaters all the time in the winter or when it's cool, we prefer 100% wool absolutely.

I did mention on another frugal thread about knitting wool wrist and neck warmers. They work. I just knit what seems like a goog length and width in using a few knitting and few purling stitches alternating, cast off, and sew it together with the yarn. I am not a sophisticated knitter, to put it mildly.

 

[Kook]

My wife uses vinegar in place of fabric softener. She pours it into a downey ball and puts it into the washer. (The downey ball dispenses it during the rinse cycle.) You will be surprised how soft and fresh the clothes are.

I came down with a rash from the fabric softener and the vinegar cured it and it is much cheaper. I guess you could add a fragrance but they come out
just fine for us.

Your vinegar tips remind me: Way back when, on the original Kookstead, we would peel black eyed peas for days at a time, leaving our thumbs so sore we could hardly move them. My granny came up with a cure, just soak your sore thumbs in vinegar for about an 1/2 hour afterwards. Not only will they not be sore, but the stains come right off! We would put the vinegar in a coffee cup, but nowadays I'd use a plastic disposable tumbler.

 

[moldy]

After looking at my CC bill - and how often I am filling up, my goal for May is to drive less. We also almost exclusively use Conoco, so I got one of their 'kickbacks' loyalty cards today. I had just blown off how much they might help (and I don't know that they will), but every little bit counts. I've also signed up for more hours - seems like we never have quite enough help.

MIL sent me some plant starts and the garden is starting up.

 

[Emilys]

Garage sale season is finally here! Enough said on that.

Also, I've really been scouring the deals at the scratch and dent store starting my weekly shopping there first. Their organic section is great, often they have grassfed meat (frozen, of course) for pennies on the dollar. Usually about half of their produce section is organic.

 

[Sleeping Cobra]

I can't find the month of May thread but.....................

What i love to do is cook 2 cups of rice. Then when the rice is done and is still hot, add a large can or even 2 large cans of chunky soup and mix together. This tastes so good and not expensive to make. I use 2 cups rice but your quantity of rice may vary according to you.

 

[Sleeping Cobra]

Sorry, forgot to add the rice and soup is very filling.

 

[Be Well]

Be Well, please share that recipe for granola! I've been wanting to make some, but want a good recipe.

I lost this thread! I'll post the recipe tomorrow, along with a few other frugal tips I wanted to add.

It's very yummy granola.... not as oily or sweet as store bought but it can be changed to suit peoples' taste.

 

[ivantherussian03]

I love reading "Frugal threads"


My first tip is more managerial. I have several banks accounts for different bills I expect in the future. I prefer to save a little each month for my larger annual bills: insurance (life, home, auto), property tax, vehicle , etc. The bill come due….I go to the account and release the money and run the bill through my visa, then pay the visa.

I love my love air miles visa. I save bundle using miles for flying, and use the buy one get one. I have a card for my wife, myself, and a business.

I prefer to shop at Walmart and avoid online sites, mostly because I have noticed online shopping can be pricey. They figure figure your buying online because you don't have a choice. Although you can shop and find deals too, but that a time issue.

I tend to buy the newest tech stuff only when it is used and depreciated already.

I tend to buy things at thrift stores: tools, useful things if they are infact cheap.

I shop on Ebay for auto parts, cloths, some art, Danner boots, Carhartt coat, but I price things at other places and don't caught up in bidding wars. I usually pay 1/3 of retail I figure.

I make my own pizza, breads, and chili in the kitchen. I freeze the pizzas, and chili. A good large pizza is 25 -30 bucks. I can make for less than 5 I think.

I hunt my own meat, and pick and store my own berries. I catch and store hundreds of lbs of salmon. I am blessed in that regard. I don't hunt far from the house, and use only a gallon of fuel round trip. I grind my own burger, and make jerky, and smoke fish.

I don't buy cheap pants. They are cheap for a reason. Walmart jeans last a year, while Carhartts last 10 years.

I found a store that sells expired foods. Salad dressing for 25 cents. Cake mix for 88 cents. You can never predict what they will have.

My hunting gear is cheap: Dollar binocs, home made meat haulers, home made knives, military surplus, diamond knife sharpener bought at thrift store for a buck. My rifles are tried and true classics, most of which military surplus themselves. I have a Mosin Nagant 7.62 X 54R, that shoots like a dream. I did go over kill and bought 4 of them, because they were 89.00 each. I figure if they are lost or stolen, I am not out much. I put some thought into each item and keeping track of them without much thought. A lot people lose their tools when cutting moose up; I never lost anything. And I reload: t is cheaper if you shoot a lot. Although the initial equipment purchase is large. Sometimes you gotta spend $ to save.

I have even tought of eating oatmeal once a week at night for dinner, not so much to save money, but for health costs down the road. I am eating low fat cheese, and thinking of ways to eat healthier in a painless ways.

I forgot…..I cut the families hair.

 

[ivantherussian03]

Other things

I dilute our Dawn dish soap. We wash a lot of dishes by hand. A case 24 oz bottles lasts me two years.

Pawnshops are real good. I tend to buy my wife's jewelry presents at Pawn shops; I bought a 2000 dollar ring for less than 500 for our ten year.

The big thing is to be disciplined. Stay out of stores, malls. If you shop…there is chance you will convince yourself to buy stuff you think you need.

For the car I can't do, which is a lot. I go to the dealer. People think dealers are expensive, but I have found they can be reasonable. Each dealer can set their prices. I drive past two Honda dealers to one 50 miles away, because they are a lot cheaper, plus they do the work right because they trained. They won't strip out your oil plan plug with a air gun and create expensive repairs. Plus, if I spend 500 dallors at the dealer he gives me a rental car all day for free. I talk to guys and get information from them and better treatment I think cause I bring donuts. I don't get the salesman pitch….I get honest answers. Instead of buying 50,000 miles I get the 90,000 mile rated. My wife drives that car, plus the the vehicle has less down time, plus I save on the install. 2 sets of cheap tires would last about as long. Another thing is keep composition notebook to log miles for tax purposes and maintaince. I know what has been and when, and the costs involved. last year I was thinking about a 2nd vehicle…..but that means extra expenses, and upkeep. I added a trailer hitch for some $ and solved my problem. I can pull a trailer and haul equipment. The trailer has little in the way of expenses. I borrow my brother in laws trailer. Plus, the dealer misquoted the instal labor cost by several hours on my hitch, like 2 or 3. Shop labor is about 100 bucks per. He just wrote off. I don't if the donuts played into that, but I know it did not hurt.

On food and other kinds shopping I track prices; I learned that from my grandmother. She kept a notebook and tracked by them store. When she saw a "real" sale she bought in bulk, enough for a year or two.

For my baby my wife won't let me cut corners on diapers or formula. She did agree to let our child wear family hand me downs. My wife's cousin is raising two girls also, but they our older. We get a box of hand me downs every so often; designer cloths top end for a fraction of the cost.

I try to do my own labor a lot of the time, but that is not realistic in the day and age. I don't work on the family car, but I work on a lot of other things. I work on the snow go, lawnmowers and Honda. Like tonight after the family goes to bed I am cleaning/shampooing the carpet. This summer I am making a kitchen table out of construction grade lumber; I will make it for the shop first, and if the wife likes it…..it can go in the house. She already liked the magazine photo of the table.

Everyone situation is different and you can always find ways to save money.

 

[Deena in GA]

For easier access, I have merged the frugal threads from this year into one for the year. If y'all think it would be easier in monthly increments, let me know. It just seems that this way we can keep them all together instead of having to search through each month's thread.

 

[moldy]

Deena - could we sticky this at the top of the page?

We had graduation this weekend. The kids have gift tables with flowers, a basket for gifts and a photo. DD#1 is an awesome photographer, so she did her sister's photos and emailed them to me. I went to Walgreens and had them copied and enlarged for about $3 apiece. The frames (with mats) came from Goodwill. I spent maybe $60 total ($50 of that to DD#1 for taking them). Senior photos from a professional would have started around $200 (and reprints would have cost extra).

Her flowers.. well, bouquets around here are $40-50, so I bought paks of petunias, miniature mums, and daisies and put them in a rope basket we had at home. I spent about $20, and will replant them in my flower beds tomorrow. Her basket was one from home that we decorated with duct tape (long story). SHe had asked for a special dinner at home - pork chops cooked iwth apples and onions, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and strawberry-rhubarb pie. Done.

One of the things I love about being frugal is it allows me to be creative as well.

 

[Be Well]

I wrote this for the local FD newsletter.

Good For You Granola

Makes 1 1/2 gallons - high protein, not too sweet

Mix together in a large bowl:

1/2 to 1 cup oil (I use refined sesame), 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 T. vanilla, 1 1/2 t, salt, and 1/2 - 1 cup water.

Then add the ingredients below and stir very well until thoroughly mixed. It is easier to mix with your hands.

10 cups regular oatmeal (in other words not "one minute") - or 8 cups oatmeal and 2 cups triticale flakes
2 cups raw wheat germ
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unsweetened coconut shreds or macaroon type (larger)
1 1/2 -2 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups raw almonds, chopped
1 1/2 cups raw walnuts, chopped (optional)

Spread evenly in four 9 by 13 inch baking pans - glass works the best but other pans will work - and bake at 300 to 325 stirring often. If your oven is not even in heat (most aren't), moving the pans around as you bake may be helpful. The edges brown first, so watching and stirring often is essential for even crispiness and not burning. When the granola is a light golden brown and crispy, pour the pans into a large bowl and stir. Let sit until cool and for best keeping store in glass jars. I don't know how long it lasts because it gets eaten. Very good plain, or with milk, yogurt, added dried fruit like raisins and dates, bananas etc.