Just curious who else is living super frugal

[HeatherLynn]

I'm not as frugal as I would like ..but I'm almost debt free ...I'm free of everything except for the mortgage. I do need to learn to spend less. Spend more wisely. Not be such a consumer. But on the plus side, I'm growing more of my own food and that will expand as the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, currant and apple trees grow. The vegetable garden is doing well - it's hard to keep up. I've got my electric bills down ...have a way to go but it's better. Self-sufficiency or as close to it is my goal. Even if my wife keeps fighting it!

Its hard to change the mindset but once you do.......the quality of life really skyrockets I think. We have been at this for 2 years now. The kids appreciate things more. Things are so much more relaxed. We are 4 months off only have my school loans left. Those will be paid of 8.5 years early too. So 10 months from now we will owe nothing. Its great to feel free. Its fun to enjoy the small things. Just remember that its not one big change but all those little changes that really make the difference. You start thinking differently and soon you will not even notice some of those little changes but they will have a huge impact on your quality of life. Congrats on the almost debt free. Let us know when you hit that milestone so we can celebrate with you.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Found a site today that deals with food budgets. I am going to download the e book and see if it has any tips I have not implemented yet. might be something for those just starting out.

http://www.budget101.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=11

 

[rrrmamma]

We recently got a new dog (our old girl died) but the new one had a skin problem. They told us it was an allergy. I was concerned about having a dog with a problem that required special food. so I went to an almost raw diet (kibbles in the morning, alternate days, the rest is raw.. She gets the scraps I used to throw away from cull day. She gets the heads, feet, gizzards, necks, hearts, lungs etc of all out chickens and ducks, goats and pigs. She also gets the rabbit skeletons after I debone them.

Her skin is completely clear, her coat is really glossy and she is lean and fit. Plus, we don't waste all that nasty stuff WE don't eat. I know some people might be put off by it, but it's really done wonders for her. Vet says he hasn't seen a healthier girl (and it's cheap!). I do sometimes buy chicken thighs at Costco, bone IN (they are cheaper than dog food) and give her one of those for her evening meal. She also has duck eggs (we have too many and we always have some left over after sales).

DON'T BUY EXPENSIVE DOG/CAT FOOD AGAIN!​

We also give our dogs and cats any scraps from culling. We have 30 acres of good hunting property so during season we use any parts of the deer that we don't eat to feed the dogs as well. We let our hunting friends know that we will pick up any front quarters or anything they are going to discard to add to our supply.
We cut it up and freeze it in bags that will feed for a week. It saves us tons on dog and cat food and they are healthy. Saves on vet bills too. We ha ve local farmers with permits to shoot deer that are destroying their crops They call us with whole deer. What we can eat we freeze and the rest goes into the pet food freezer.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I would love love love to get deer in the freezer. My biggest problem is my parents. They refuse to eat it. I cook for the eight of us. A quarter of us refusing to eat a certain thing at all sorta kills it. Not sure what the plan is if the crap hits the fan and it becomes necessary.

 

[albert w]

I would love love love to get deer in the freezer. My biggest problem is my parents. They refuse to eat it. I cook for the eight of us. A quarter of us refusing to eat a certain thing at all sorta kills it. Not sure what the plan is if the crap hits the fan and it becomes necessary.

My wife and four kids used to swear they hated venison, so I ground most of the meat into burger (saved the tenderloins for myself). My wife started by mixing one pound of deer burger into three pounds of beef burger. Over time we added more and more. And now... I have to SHARE my steaks! They all love venison!

 

[HeatherLynn]

Thats actually a very good idea. I already use a TON of hamburger meat. Little kids and elderly without teeth means most meat in this house has to be easy to chew anyway. hmmmm think I might be sneaking some deer meat in very soon.

 

[rrrmamma]

The flavor of the venison depends on the type of deer and what they eat. I always thought I didn't like it until I tried Ohio venison. Whitetail that feeds on acorns, hickory nuts and my garden

California mule deer eat sagebrush and have a different flavor. I have served alot of venison to guests and they compliment me on the great beef. We live on a really tight budget so I had to learn to cook game. Since we hunt our own property and do not have to have a license the only cost is the ammo and since we both bow hunt that isn't always a factor. I have learned alot from this thread. I need to cut back even more. Sometimes I don't think that is possible, but we had an opportunity to buy the land that borders ours on 3 sides. (3 five acre plots) Now we are land poor and I am having to find ways to cut back. One lot will be paid off next year. I need to find a way to supplement our income. We both get pensions. My husband is a disable vet and I am on SS. We are trying to be as self sufficent as possible. My husband designed a wind generator system and we are going to be installing it next month. Had to budget for $400 for the tower to mount it on. That was the biggest expense. Our electric bills foir an all electric home kill us. It would free up enough money to make double payments on the land and pay it off in 6 months. Sorry I am rambling. Just reading your successes makes me think there may be a way out. We have no credit card debt Just land and car. Thanks everyone.

 

[albert w]

I agree with you about the flavor of venison varying. We live in Iowa now, where the deer are basically corn-fed like a cow on a feed lot. The mule deer out west were more gamey. I also found that a fast, clean kill and getting the carcass dressed and hung as soon as possible helped.

 

[Totalcolour]

I would love love love to get deer in the freezer. My biggest problem is my parents. They refuse to eat it. I cook for the eight of us. A quarter of us refusing to eat a certain thing at all sorta kills it. Not sure what the plan is if the crap hits the fan and it becomes necessary.

I don't have any venison, but I have a lot of elk. When used in highly seasoned food like chili, you can barely notice the difference in flavour (we prefer it). So, season it up spicy, and don't tell them what it is. Somteimes, when people are hungry enough, they will eat what they would normally turn down. Besides, if you are the one cooking, what are they going to do? Dinner is served and it's venison, and they don't want it. Will they go and make a sandwich instead.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Actually my dad would just skip eating. He is down below 150 though so I stay pretty desperate to get him to eat. I am still going to do ground deer meat though. I think he will eat it if I am creative. I have a mixed bag to deal with I have some overweights and some underweights and a bunch of picky lol. I am working on saint hood right now. lol My goal is to still be frugal but to stretch things in a way that we are eating as healthy and well as possible. I think being healthy will end up saving us more than coupon cutting at this point. So now I am fine tuning that balance. Deer is so much better for us than the beef I just think it will be a good addition.