Just curious who else is living super frugal

[debilorrah]

Here goes. My first reply on this thread, though I have been reading, and the whole of you have saved me a ton of money. Which is a good thing. Ken lost his job the middle of May. 3 months later, I can see how we were making some serious mistakes financially. We have never had credit cards, so that wasn't our problem. Our problem was, if it was there, we spent it. On all kinds of stupid stuff.

Granted when the kids left in April, everything went WAY down and that is about the only way we are making it on one paycheck. My gas bill this month was $12, compared to $150 when they were here. I have been baking all our bread and rolls and desserts (ironically enough desserts spelled backwards is stressed) and just learned how to make soap. I have angora rabbits, so I learned how to spin the wool instead of going out and purchasing expensive yarns.

What I have learned is that we lost $3500 a month in income and to make it comfortably, we really only needed about $700-$900 of that money.

We are behind on payments, but not to the point of shut off notices, and our landlord is EXTREMELY understanding about the rent being late. Our freezer is full, not of stuff we really want, but hey, we have food.

Got rid of the horses along with $500 a month in feed and care. Got into showing rabbits RIGHT before he was laid off and the babies have been a source of extra income, much to my delight. Good thing all it costs is pennies and gas.... And there are alot of local shows. No traveling for us on this tight budget.

So my question first off is: is there a laundry detergent you can make that is safe for HE machines?

Secondly, Ken does web-building for a living, so he created a website for us. I want to add soaps to the site, but I would like an opinion from the Frugal Folks about what you see when you go to the page: www.northernwindsranch.com

When it was created, we were about to get into myotonic goats, but he lost his job, so that is on hold. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

We have cut back to bare bones on just about everything we can. That I KNOW of.

 

[krcote]

Quote:
I was intimidated at first too! I think it's because I did not grow up watching anyone do it? I started with water bath canning and then quickly started pressure canning when I got my pressure canner for our wedding. When you can afford to get a pressure canner DO IT! It is just as easy as water bath canning I promise! And you can process so many more things safely

Great job mastering something new!

 

[krcote]

Quote:
I use venison in exchange for beef in any recipe. On occasion, if you want a rich flavor/texture you may have to add fat in the form of oil or butter because venison is so lean. Besides that, no special recipes needed!

 

[krcote]

Quote:
We have a HE washer and use homemade laundry soap without an issue. My personal opinion is you can use any laundry soap in the HE washers as long as you use a smaller amount and it does not over suds. Homemade laundry soap doesn't really have the suds factor. My other personal opinion is that the washer companies and soap companies have worked a deal where they only recommend each others' products

This is the recipe that I use:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
Honestly, it makes enough to last MONTHS when used with an HE washer. I fill up to the "max" line on the soap dispenser tray and we have clean clothes for very cheap! Remember to store the soap in something you can shake up before each wash like milk jugs. The only challenge I have found is getting the soap from the bucket into the milk jugs. The funnel you use must have a wide enough spout to let the chunky glops pass into the milk jug. Good luck! You can do it! You will be so proud of yourself!

 

[Beekissed]

I use laundry detergent bottles with the spouts removed and an old canning funnel....it fits perfectly! I've used the same detergent jugs now for several years, so this is recycling at its best. I keep three in rotation so that when two are empty I still have one that I'm using while I'm making a fresh batch of soap.

 

[jdopler]

I found that using a 5 gallon bucket (got it from Walmart bakery for FREE!) for the liquid works great, I keep an old large kitchen spoon in it and stir before scooping out what i need with an old unused measuring cup.

 

[Whispering Winds]

I don't have room for the liquid, but I make the dry detergent and will never use anything else. It's the same concept of the "wet", just no liquid. I use a small scoop that came out of the $1 Oxy additive and it works great. I have a huge top loader, and it takes out stains the best of anything I have ever used. I do add 2 cups of BIZ (because its cheap, and I think Purex might make a safe bleach additive for even less than BIZ) and mix it up with my mixer, not because the detergent doesn't do a good job, just to give it a little extra punch for very little money. I can get 3 batches out of everything, and can buy the FELSNAPA at WM for 97-cents a bar, which is cheapest I have found it. My mom used Felsnapa as a stain remover before she washed clothes. Leave the wrapper on most of it, wet the corner of the bar and rub it on the stain. Works great. Lasts forever.

I love this frugal living, trying and trying to do better, and finally decided that I have to go back to the larger grocery store to do the couponing. They simply have better sales and double up to 40-cents and that adds up on a lot of stuff. I quit buying what we don't need or eat, and am trying to start doing more scratch cooking. I did that with our 5 kids growing up, but fell out the habit when most of them left home. DS, who will be 11 LOVES the homemade cinnamon rolls I make and I need to get back into that as a weekly treat. They heat up great and everyone loves them. . .it can actually be a fun challenge when you get into the swing of it. We do have a mortgage, but credit cards are going to be paid off within the year, and NO more of them, plus just the utilities which are horrible. I am going to get the Amish heaters or Eden Pure for winter, everyone I know in this area who has them LOVES them and wouldn't use anything else, and they do not raise your electric much at all, average is a $1 a day, but everyone here who uses them says it isn't coming close to that . . .so sure beats Propane at $2.29 a gallon. I think 2012 is going to be a really bad financial year; regardless of who is in the white house. . .this has been a long time coming and being a realtor and seeing how that market is going, with foreclosures all over the place and more coming, will be the icing on the cake when the depression/recession/plain hard times hit. We all really do need to make and have a plan in place when or if it happens. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am. . .

 

[HenCrazyMom]

I have read this entire thread and LOVE IT!!!!! I have learned so much from all of you! Thanks so very much and thanks for sharing all your ideas!!!! I am re-inspired.
DH and I when we built our house on 10 acres, the first thing we did was put in a large garden. We stuffed so much into our little garden in town and it was so awesome to be able to move the garden into the space we wanted. We put in the garden before we put in any yard or anything else. I have friends who tease me about the garden but they are sure happy when I bring a bag of beans or lettuce to them. I love to share with our neighbors as well. DH and I created our own spaghetti sauce recipe that we have been canning for many years. We make our own salsa as well. Instead of gifts for birthdays and holidays we asked family who felt like they needed to buy a gift for us to buy fruit trees and now have 8 beautiful apples trees which are producing well, 2 plum trees, a cherry tree, a hedge of raspberry bushes and a beautiful strawberry bed. DH and I enjoy gardening together and seeing how much we can put into the store room from the garden each year. I have been canning for many years as I watched my AMAZING Grandma can everything, make pickles and homemade everything, as well as my Mom can and make jams and jellies. We make our own jams and jellies from our grapes and strawberries which can be used in place of syrups. We make amazing grape juice that my children love and we control the amount of sugar that goes into the juice they drink. We make our own applesauce without any sugar. My DS loves to add a little cinnamon to his and that is great as it is just apples and cinnamon. YUM! We have two freezers in the garage and have been buying beef from a local farmer for many years. I had a manager of a grocery store try to tell me that people who buy 1/2 a beef are wasting money and can get a better deal at the grocery store. Whatever dude! Not buying that one. I know where my beef is coming from and what has gone into it and it is not injected with anything. My DH hunts for venison as well as pheasant. DD is almost old enough to go hunting with him and loves being in the woods. We all fish and try to keep fish in the freezer as well but we love fish so that is hard. Now with the chickens that is one more way to help the freezer as well as the garden. I love composting.
I have been making a monthly menu for years and many of my friends laugh at me but I managed to cut my grocery bill in 1/2 by doing this. My goal is to spend as little as possible at the grocery store and still eat healthy delicious tasting meals. I plan in leftover nights as well. THe kids know to check the menu and DH knows to check the menu to take the meat needed out of the freezer. My grocery list is based on the menu and those are the things we buy other than the milk, butter and I shop at a bread store for our bread. I buy in bulk whenever I can and plan to do more of that. There are lots of areas that I can improve upon but will tackle one at a time. When DH's employer suddenly closed the company and left town we hunkered down, circled the wagons and worked on being happy with less. We are focusing on paying off the things we need to get paid off. My van is paid for and in April DH's vehicle will be paid for and then we work on getting rid of more debt. We focus on what we have instead of what we don't have and we cannot imagine life any other way. We feel very blessed!!!

 

[kareninthesun]

It's tough,especially with one kid in college and our income slashed. We are fortunate to live in a part of the country where we don't need air/heating. Cable slashed bare bones and bundled. Hang clothes when the weather allows, make my own laundry/dish soap. Nothing gets wasted. Big garden, mulch and start plants from seed. Save rinse water for watering plants. Set timers for showers. Switch all liquid soaps to reusable pumps, easier to monitor. Plan meals and stick to them. Buy in bulk steal cut oats, rice, various dried beans. Make my own pasta, bread. Use reusable containers for lunches instead of bags, and cook meals in bulk, planning when reuse. Make soups and freeze them, always on hand. When slicing bread, save the crumbs for breadcrumbs. Make my own juices and freeze them, including v8 from garden veggies. Make own tomato sauces, salsa, jelly, jam. Buy what is on sale if it makes sense. Barter in trading. Read a book-trade books or bookstores in libraries. Buying a case of lined paper at Wal Mart during school closeouts is far cheaper, and has no expiration dates. I buy sewing materials at second hand stores, odd things way underpriced to resell. Don't use credit cards or rely on anything with interest attached.got teenaged boys asking to play board games and cards instead of electronic games. Only buy ink for the printer when on sale, or if you know others with the same type, buy in bulk, split the cost. Use rechargeable batteries for everything. Inicial cost high, but savings add up. Always check and factor in expiration dates for everything. Rent music/movies from local library. Take care of what you have to last longer. Share freely, never know when it will come back as a need. Share garden seeds. Time. Talent. Dry don't buy herbs. Make my own yogurt.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Love this style of sharing info!

Succinct and to the point! I particularly love that you included the importance of sharing and I think sometimes folks get so wrapped up in storing and prepping and planning to guard that hoarded food from all comers that they don't see that we need to be looking out for each other. Share...just like in kinder garten. Share and it comes back to you, sometimes tenfold, shaken down, pressed down and running over!