Just curious who else is living super frugal

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yup, our clothes smell funkie.

Even washing two times, OR trying 2 times the soap doesnt seem to do more than mask the odor. I try to hang up asap to dry asap. But generally speaking, heat treatment via a dryer seems to fix the problem every time. I am guessing that is why loooong ago, clothes were washed in boiling water. Makes sense to me. As for the drier, we take the mostly dried clothes to a laundromat to finish drying. ( Less than drying a load just out of the washer but more than air drying.) If already well dried off the line, we just live with it. Though I worry about being socially acceptable at times. . . . . I have enoucouraged the youngsters to use deoderant which is perfumed, and have used up bottles of perfume myself to smell " nice" even though we are actually clean and the clothes are "clean".

I'm living in the wrong century. lol

My Mom says that back when she was a kid her mother would boil all the clothes once a week- of course they used soap as well. Everything was hung out in the sun.

 

[islafarm]

and you can reuse them. Since I have a HE front loader, I boil up 5-6 husks in about a quart of water and then pour it into a quart jar. I keep it in the fridge and use it during the week. For me 1 quart does my laundry for a family of four. I then add water and boil them up a second time, pour this off and keep it in the fridge for use as my shampoo. It will only last about a week but it works for me. I will sometimes add essential oils (just a few drops). Lavender is my favorite but I have a friend who uses the citrus. Some people use it in the dishwasher and as a household cleaner. I use vinegar and water for cleaning house (with a few drops of essential oil if I am feeling adventurous), so I haven't tried it there. I only tried the dishes a few times and it did OK. If I really rinsed the dishes it did fine but the hard stuff I found it wasn't quite enough. I will have to try it again... maybe a bit more concentrated next time.

Thank you for this! I have used soap nuts before, but we have an old twin tub machine and only cold water and the soap nuts seemed to disintegrate very quickly then the pieces got stuck to the clothes. I shall try your method and see how we fair. Would much rather use them than the commercial stuff. Would love to grow them here, but wrong climate

Thanks again!!

 

[Talithahorse]

Your welcome!

 

[Arielle]

Will be needing to be very frugal for a few more months.. . .

Got a few ears of corn from a friend. Son cut off the corn, and I ran most of it thru the chopper, and added corn meal, salt eggs a bit of flour and baking soda to make pancakes. Used expired shelf stable milk also donated to me. Thank GOd I can cook.

Other donated items: cukes, tomatos, Chinese cabbages, celery, 1 leek . . . .

Made corn chowder using more of the chopped corn, sshelf stable milk, potatos., top of leek, and leftover sliced luncheon ham. Son said he would eat it for lunch at school this week as we cannot buy his usual single serving yogurt.

Made yoghurt with the shelf stable milk--- will see if that works. Should. .. . but you never know.

Pup getting lots of left overs: pork, spaghetti, eggs, yams. . . . he is looking good.

Used old bread to make French toast this morning.

Used the old pork from fridge to make cat food. For the dog tool.

Barked at DH for not being frugal enough . . . . guess it takes practice to see where to use frugal techniques. lol

Working on sales to move more of the Muscovy ducklings . . . . little room in the freezer for more duck. Will be canning them soon. Just need to check on one part for the canner. Could use the cash. Hmmmmm. . . maybe barter some . ..

 

[wyoDreamer]

I need to get more frugal also. My part-time job just ain't pulling in enough extra to take the strain off, and driving 30 miles each way is not helping. Can't get a job in the small town we live by - guess if I didn't grow up in this town they won't hire me.
Had the lady from the store lie right to my face. I was asking if I had to reapply everytime they posted an opening or if my application from 2 months ago was still valid. She interrupted me and said that they just filled that position ( the posting was only a day old) and they were only looking for a highschool kid to work on the weekend. The posting said "Opening for Adult Checker Weekday Hours Only".

 

[donrae]

Arielle, you never know when that willingness to barter can net you some good deals!

Honey did some work on a friend's place a month or so ago and she gave him a non-running Ford Ranger pickup he thought he could fix. Well, it's been a month and he hasn't touched it, of course. Today he was talking to a co-worker who happened to mention he was looking for a small beater pick-up...Honey perked up and they talked it over. Honey said he'd take $500, the co-worker then asked if he was interested in a trade. Now, Honey's going to get an M1 Garand with some ammo and other accessories, in trade for this truck. The M1 has been (one of

) his Holy Grail firearms, and we really, really didn't need another vehicle. I'm thrilled!

Corn chowder sounds lovely! I made split pea yesterday I'll eat off of for a few days. I'll probably make potato/corn chowder next.

I really need to start saving ends and pieces for stock, I'm down to just a quart or so and soup season is approaching.

 

[DennisK]

I just started reading Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, and I came across one of her observations: If you don't want much, there is always plenty. It made me laugh out loud.

 

[Beekissed]

That most accurately describes my life!

 

[DennisK]

That most accurately describes my life!

Mine too!

 

[lazy gardener]

I like that. It will be my quote for the day. TY.