Just curious who else is living super frugal

[DennisK]

Hmm.... let me try this again ...

Water, in California is a politically charged subject – and that is understated! We have a well, which leaves us uninvolved with the political manipulations of this subject, but that could change in a heartbeat. Our expense comes from getting the water from the well to a holding tank. We are using a gasoline generator to accomplish this, and it irks me to no end to listen to that thing once a week – and to pay for the gas to run it. Our plan is to replace the generator with a solar pump. We are trying to learn as much as we can about this subject – does anyone out there have experience in this subject?

 

[Totalcolour]

Hmm.... let me try this again ...

Water, in California is a politically charged subject – and that is understated! We have a well, which leaves us uninvolved with the political manipulations of this subject, but that could change in a heartbeat. Our expense comes from getting the water from the well to a holding tank. We are using a gasoline generator to accomplish this, and it irks me to no end to listen to that thing once a week – and to pay for the gas to run it. Our plan is to replace the generator with a solar pump. We are trying to learn as much as we can about this subject – does anyone out there have experience in this subject?

I'm very familiar with the CA issues about water - especially North versus South etc.

Up here, they tell us well people we are only allowed to pump so much water a day (because of the aquifer) but I can't see how they can enforce it, there's no meter on the well!

I can imagine that generator would drive you bonkers. We have electric so it pumps as needed. No info on solar, but I imaging it could work well. Our pump is pretty quiet, so solar should be the same. Costly to put in though I would think.

We did have solar lights in the coop for a while. They worked pretty well.

 

[DennisK]

We have been off the grid for the last 15 years. One of the advantages to living where I do is that solar is a fairly reliable source of power, but even still, there are some requirements that my system cannot handle, and a 230 volt water pump 275 feet down in the earth is one of them – thus the gas generator. The solar water pump will need its own set of panels. I have been reading about various solar pumps, but what I read is conflicting; so I suppose I will just have to take a leap and hope for the best.
Raising and lowering a water pump 275 feet down a 6 inch hole is a scary project. I don’t look forward to doing this.

 

[erinszoo]

On the positive side: We have gained a greater respect for the thrift shops in our area. We found an Atlas pasta maker with all the attachments (minus the crank handle and clamp) for $1.50! DW went out to the shop and made the clamp and the crank handle in good fashion. We also found a complete foosball table, with all the attachments, for $25.00. Now, each evening, I spend an hour getting “whooped-on” by my more experienced wife …. Hmmm…. I’m beginning to think that wasn’t such a great find after all. I like to visit our local metal yard for buys in surplus metal. This turned out to be a good thing because we needed six foot high gates which I was able to fabricate at a cost considerably less than store bought gates. Here is a picture of a 3 foot and 4 foot gate waiting to be painted and sewed with wire fabric. There is a 6 foot wide gate on the table which is in the process of being painted by DW. That will go down to our remote garden with hopes that it will deter the ground squirrels (once an electric wire is strong along the top). We made our own hinges by cutting a pipe with a 5/8” ID into three pieces, then a 5/8” round stock with a washer welded to one end was inserted through all three pieces. This assembly was then place on the crack between the gate and the gate’s casing. The middle piece was welded onto the casing, and the other two were welded onto the gate – WALA: A perfectly functioning hinge which is quite strong and quite cheep! Last year, we started off with 5 turkey chicks, and now we have 21 of them! We gave away four poults in exchange for two free meals at a local restaurant. On the negative side: Our garden, this year is turning into a bust – so far, but we will try getting in a winter crop later. We haven’t spent the time a garden requires because we have been so busy working on its infrastructure. We do have small successes – tomatoes and the grape vines that we started last year are doing well. Our greatest problem is critter control. All of our strawberry and melon plants have been wiped out by ground squirrels. Keeping the chickens out of the garden is a problem also; so we have been working on higher fencing. But I think our greatest problem is that we expanded last year’s garden too quickly – we kind ‘of lost control. Last year’s garden was such a success; we got ourselves puffed up with too great an expectation. Our greatest loss occurred in a remote garden we started this spring. I wonder how erinszoo’s straw-bale plantings are doing. Our bales don’t seem to want to decay! We are having one of our California draughts this year. The air is very dry, and even though we have an automated sprinkler system on them, they don’t look like they will be ready until next spring. All-in-all, we have been doing pretty good. Since following this thread, we have not purchased any laundry soap, and not one loaf of bread. Our trips into town have been cut down considerably. This allows us time to consider each planned purchase with more deliberation. Ah … and then there are our chickens. Here is a picture of what I consider a beautiful sight:

Our straw bales are doing so so. The tomatoes have done great it them and we're getting some butternut squash finally after killing off the squash bugs. Our green beans did well early on but we went on vacation for 12 days and they didn't get watered well while we were gone so they went belly up on us. We replaced them with watermelon which seems to be starting to vine now. Artichokes and peppers didn't survive in the bales. But they are breaking down really well, maybe too well. Some of them are almost dissolved at this point but its been hot and humid and now rainy. Strange for Oklahoma.

 

[DennisK]

Thanks for the update, erinszoo – glad to hear you are having success with them. My bales are starting to look like they will decay. Mushrooms are starting to grow from them, but nothing else. I suppose I will need to give them a little more time. It is a little late in the season for us to expect summer crops.

 

[DennisK]

OK, how about this idea for a money saver: We have several vehicles that don’t get used often – a trencher, and several other machines that have 12 volt batteries. These machines normally sit in storage for several months before they are needed, but when they are needed, we find that the batteries are dead which is very bad for a lead acid battery. To replace a battery that you can’t bring back to life, it will cost around $100; so it is a good idea to keep a charge on them. Trickle chargers cost around $50 each, but it isn’t necessary to spend that kind of money. I found the following web site: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_110354/article.html
I now know why I kept all of those plug-in chargers that came with various appliances. DW and I dug out three with the correct output voltage (12Volts, 500ma (or there about's)), and we found four 10 watt resistors at Radio Shack for about $1.00 each.

 

[newfoundland]

Not to do with vehicles at all but I have found a great blog and source of some of the cheapest recipe ideas I have ever seen! Just google 'agirlcalledjack.com' Absolutely brilliant.

 

[Totalcolour]

Not to do with vehicles at all but I have found a great blog and source of some of the cheapest recipe ideas I have ever seen! Just google 'agirlcalledjack.com' Absolutely brilliant.

we could all take some lessons . . .!

 

[Baymule]

WOW! I have spent the last couple of weeks reading ALL these posts!

I have read until late at night, falling asleep, eyeballs crossed, dogs begging to go outside, DH snoring softly in his recliner............

I love all the ideas. It is late now, will be back later to post. Goodnight ya'll!

 

[furbabymum]

Freecycle success guys. Someone was giving away chicken coops. So we got 3 free chicken coops, a ton of scrap wood and some nice nesting boxes along with some barrels. Just an awesome haul. I'm hooked on free! lol