Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Arielle]

Quote:
You can do it yourself for sure. Takes a little coordination, or a third hand, lol. I arrange the plastic, then lay on the plank, then push on plank with the hank holding a nail or screw. THen set it. You can do it!!!

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
do you have a suggestion for how to build a wooden milking table?????

Ours is kind of like the second picture. We made it out of recycled pallets that we cut down and then covered it with a piece of stall mat we cut from a bigger sheet. Because ours is between two stalls in the barn, we use one rail of the stall as a side and I sit on the other to milk. We have a dog leash suspended above from the rafters that we clip to their collar and then have a rail on the barn wall for a feed trough. We don't use rails for their head because they stand still just fine. The leash allows them to flip around if they feel like it, which one of our girls always does, then we just move the feeder to the side of the stall for her.

I used the remainder of the stall mat on the floor of the milking area for ease of cleanup. I wash their teats before I milk and then use the remainder of the wash water to clean off the stand and rinse down the floor between milkings and at the end. They invariably poop while milking or have muck on their feet sometimes. In a perfect world I would have a trough for them to walk through before they entered the milking area but because we aren't selling the milk, I haven't worried about it.

The biggest trick with the milking stand is to not make it too big. If it's too wide, you'll have trouble reaching across it to milk them and for seemingly big animals, they can plaster themselves against a rail and become like a pancake when they want to. Lol.
rofl

My only experience milking a doe was her standing on the floor and tall me squatting to milk. SHe had none of it as she had never met me before! lol As I milk my ewes at lambing by squatting, a nd head butting her if need be, the whole milking stand thing sounds like luxury!!!! ANd yes, if there is a way to avoid milking they will try anything!!! ANd goats are more clever than sheep!

I like the free standing stand, the place it against a stall wall. THe floors are already matted and have a drain that just needs a square pulled. Like you I'm NOT planning to sell milk. Too many rules.

 

[Arielle]

My latest frugal is trying a new athlete's foot treatment. I tried the OTC antimicrobial for such thing= Controlled the itchiness, but the area actually increased. Then tried coconut oil. IT too controlled the itching but didn't knock down the area at all. SO did a little sleuthing on BYC and found a couple OTC possibilities: diluted tea tree oil or tea, So far I'm impressed by the results. Praying it will actually work-- needs more time to see if it is more than controlling the itching. The tea bags might e the cheapest fix if it works. PRaying. . . .

Frugal== buying cheap grocery eggs and selling freerange to my friends.

Frugal goal = eat out of the freezer as much as possible for the month of January.

 

[erinszoo]

Since this is a frugal post I thought I would issue a frugal challenge! I write my own blog in addition to being a urban chicken keeper... its about being frugal, being green (as in Eco friendly, I can't grow a plant for anything although I'm going to try again this year for a garden!), and DIY (house remodels mostly). 

One post I have been putting off doing for an inordinately long stretch of time is my snap challenge results, because I've been putting off doing the snap challenge. This challenge was a big thing over a year ago and one I blogged about and intended to try, and never did.

I'd love to have some of you join me for the Snap Challenge for the first week in February! I have since changed towns so the only grocery store I have here is Walmart, but Kroger is just 5 minutes past it so that is probably where I will do all my shopping ( I don't shop at Walmart ). For anyone joining me, your weekly amount should be based on the SNAP benefits for your state... mine is pretty low, but I live in a low cost of living area compared to NY or CA. 



http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2013/09/snap-challenge.html
http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2013/10/prep-snap-challenge.html

Id try it too, except we live like beekissed as well. Even though we live in town, we raise most of our own food. Getting to spend that much money a week at the grocers would be a luxury. Lol.

 

[lazy gardener]

$4.50/person/day? I very much doubt that my family ever exceeds that amount. I'd like to see the SNAP benefit program run like the WIC program, or go back to the days of government surplus. I know that I'll get knocked over the head for making such a callous statement. But, there, I've said it! And, I also think that there should be a mandatory consultation with a dietitian, and a training course to teach recipients how to put together a balanced meal, and eat frugally. The current generation DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO COOK. A young professional woman that I sometimes work with, won't even buy chicken breasts (boneless, skinless in the little sanitary styrofoam packs at the grocer). SHE SAYS SHE WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO COOK THEM, AND GETS GROSSED OUT LOOKING AT RAW MEAT. For crying out loud, this is a mother with 2 young children to raise! There was an article in our paper some time ago about SNAP recipients buying bottled water with their benefits, then going out in the parking lot and dumping that water, going back in the store and returning the bottles to get money for their cigarettes.

 

[Arielle]

I cant speak to the SNap v. wic program but one is geared toward children and the other is inclusive of men. I do know a man on SNAP and I s someone I learn from as he used to be a homesteader in Maine and is now homeless. He is a dear man that is very clever in the use of many simple tools, buys and eats only high quality nutritious feed and can cook. I started teaching my kids how to cook as toddlers and they participate with the dressing of birds, and help with cooking in the kitchen. I joke they better learn how to cook because the chances are that if they marry, their wife wont be doing the cooking. THis has bothered me for years and I still think about connecting to a church with an inspected kitchen to teach cooking. What I also think about is that good nutirition is not dependent on cooking on a stove. My kids ate a lot of fresh raw vegies and fruit when they were hungry as youngsters a nd not allowed to use the microwave yet. THe microwave was ther first effort at cooking , and then frying eggs and toast in the toaster.

Now that my kids are almost tweens they are comfortable in the kitchen. Oh, having a garden was beneficial to get my kids to eat fresh vegies. Recently they asked DH to buy prickly pear fruit . .. . AND actually sliced it up and ate it!!!! WHOOOT.

I would love for everyone to benefit from GOOD foods as IMO it is cheaper and has great health benefits.

You have me on my soap box again!! lol

 

[lazy gardener]

RE : WIC vs SNAP: The benefit of the WIC program is that it spells out what benefits will be provided every month in terms of "basic food groups" X # of fresh or canned/frozen veggies, X gallons of milk, X # of protein... (and they do offer basic education regarding diet choices and innovative ways to meet nutritional needs) While with the SNAP program, the consumer can buy $100 of fruit roll ups if they choose to. And, yes these programs are needed to ensure basic nutrition for folks who are not earning a living wage, I believe they are subject to mis-use, and could be greatly improved upon.

Arielle, the education your children is getting from you in your home is a great example of what is missing from our society in general: Parents taking the time to teach their children life skills. Move over girl. Is there room on that soap box for two of us???

 

[Wasson6Pack]

WIC stands for Women, Infants and Children. It is usually for families that are pregnant and/or have children under the age of 4.

You do get "checks" that state 1 gallon milk, 1 8oz peanut butter, etc. This during the summer can be used at the local farmers market too.

SNAP goes by total number of people in the household. If you live with your mother and are her caretaker and provider, she counts in your family too. The amount is small per month such as a family of 6 would get about $400 here. That is $100 a week for 6 people. We have been trying to do this and may actually succeed this month. We will start making our own noodles soon as we eat a bunch of them and we have chickens now, so that helps. We are trying to go most of our own food too, but coming from being a town girl to farm girl takes time to build up.

We also homeschool to help teach them grounded things.

I will add that when my kids were in school and even though we wanted to pay for lunches, we were required to full out the low income form and we were required to get free lunches because the school got more money for lot income families. We dealt with it and could manage, but we're required to anyway.

If we help those families by bringing them extra produce or work towards donating a percentage of produce to a group it will help make this work better.

 

[Arielle]

RE : WIC vs SNAP: The benefit of the WIC program is that it spells out what benefits will be provided every month in terms of "basic food groups" X # of fresh or canned/frozen veggies, X gallons of milk, X # of protein... (and they do offer basic education regarding diet choices and innovative ways to meet nutritional needs) While with the SNAP program, the consumer can buy $100 of fruit roll ups if they choose to. And, yes these programs are needed to ensure basic nutrition for folks who are not earning a living wage, I believe they are subject to mis-use, and could be greatly improved upon.

Arielle, the education your children is getting from you in your home is a great example of what is missing from our society in general: Parents taking the time to teach their children life skills. Move over girl. Is there room on that soap box for two of us???

lol Im' happy to move over and make room on that soap box!!!



Oh I much prefer the WIC system!!!!

I play a game at check out: are my selections are healthier than yours?? Meaning I keep my self entertained while I wait my turn to check out. THe amt of white bread and cold ceral, chips and soda is staggering.

I don't have the money to buy junk food. Heeheee, that is what I tell the kids. " TOday we have $18. WHat are we buying? Creates great discussions why one food is better than another!!!

Coca Cola is laying off 2000 people because sales are DOWN. YEah sales are down, but sad too that so many people are loosing their jobs!!

Gee would there be any benefit to starting a thread to help people learn how to eat the basics and intro simple prep??????

 

[Beekissed]

Probably not. I've found that people already KNOW what they should be doing...it's not a problem of not knowing. We are bombarded with information on healthy living and food choices from every type of media. The kind of people who make poor choices turn the channel or choose not to listen to or read such things. It's a conscious choice.

The only people who would respond to the thread are those who are already doing this kind of lifestyle. I guess I'm just jaded, but after posting on this site for so many years I've learned one important thing...everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die.

In other words, everyone wants health~for their flocks or for their lives, and everyone wants to have more money~ or less debt, at least~ but no one really wants to do what it takes to get there. Oh, they will talk about it until they are blue in the face, but they won't ever make any real positive moves in that direction. They'll do little things in that direction that really don't do any long term good.....but it makes them feel better about their willful ignorance.