Just curious who else is living super frugal

[ChikeeMomma]

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You are lucky!

 

[Totalcolour]

Sometimes I give FOOD! After we cull, I make up vacuseal bags and then put them in a basket with homemade sauces (canned) and print out some recipe cards with a photo of a finished meal. They look very nice (have to do at the last minute since the birds/rabbits are frozen!). Some people (my sisters) really enjoy being able to pull out a bird/rabbit, pour the sauce over and simply bake - for a night "off". I even add desserts sometimes.

I like to make picnic baskets, with homemade stuff, and picnic tablecloths and napkins (even for a novice sewer, easy). Buy the baskets on sale. My friends LOVE homemade! (and some of them have real money)

Did you know, you can actually cook food in a vacu-sealed bag, and it will stay fresh in the fridge for several days? They do this in large restaurants using a "water-bath" technique. (Hubby bought me one last year) Check out "Sous Vide"

Sometimes give family pre-cooked meals. I am second eldest so some of them have busier schedules than me.

It's nice to have a night off now and then

Oh, and babysitting tokens. . .(so the parents can have a weekend off)

 

[annaraven]

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What's a fat quarter?

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Annaraven - You can ask for fabric by the 1/4 yard, 1/2 yard, yard, etc. when looking at fabric that needs to be cut -- sorry you may already know that. 1/4 yard is a rectangler piece of fabric.

A fat quarter is a square piece of fabric. Fat quarters come prepackaged. It is, basically, fatter than a normal quarter that you'd have cut at the fabric store.

 

[Marcymom3]

This is an awesome thread! I wish we had a "like" button because all these tips are so useful.

When we were first married in 1974, my husband was in college on the GI Bill and I worked full-time as a secretary. Needless to say, we were on a very tight budget and wanted to try to save money for a house. When we had enough for a down payment and applied for our mortgage, the bank would not even consider my salary. They figured I'd want to have children and stay at home to raise them. The bank was right! And having a mortgage that we could afford has been a lifesaver. For all you young couples just starting out, try living on one of your salaries and banking the other. Having a nestegg is the first thing I learned.

Like others have mentioned, I learned so many "old=timey" things from my parents and grandparents that I still use today. They were the original reuse, recycle, repurpose generation. My grandma NEVER had paper towels or paper napkins in her house. She used only rags for cleaning and she kept them in a box under her sink. There was also a bucket next to it to put the dirty ones in and I think she put a little washing soda in that water. We used cloth napkins at her house...even for lunch! We kids thought it was so elegant! She was an Italian immigrant who could not read, but she had it all figured out. They had a big garden and she canned everything she needed for the winter. The only things she bought were toilet paper and ivory soap at the supermarket. Everything else she bought at an open air market in the city, where all the vendors had known her for years. Her one luxury was fresh fruit that she kept on the table all the time, and I remember my grandpa peeling oranges for us after dinner. That was dessert.

My dad grew up in Appalachia during the depression. Talk about learning to be frugal!

Anyway, all of them told me the same thing. Being a good steward is what matters. And when you have to buy something, save up for it and buy the best quality you can afford so that it will last.

 

[cuntryuppiechick]

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The wide waist band is good, I would double the fabric for the main panel and gather it for ladies with a figure. Skip the bottom fabric trim and use a length of ribbon instead to cut down time sewing but it would cost a little more. If you haven't used a machine to gather, set it to the longest stitch, sew the length where it is not going to be seen, gently pull one of the threads to gather. Or just fold into simple lazy pleats as you go.

 

[Raiquee]

Well I know this year I am going to make vanilla extract for everyone. I may put in a jam, maybe a hot cocoa mix...Dehydrate some christmas marshmallows to put into the cocoa mix. So fun! I may knit some things, but it does take me forever to knit, so maybe it's best I don't give myself that goal (haha!) I want to try some candy...never made it (besides truffles) like fudge or brittle.

Hey talking about frugal and easy meals...I found this link for a make-your-own hamburger helper!

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/

I love that blog btw!

 

[In His Service]

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That's is a great idea..think I will make up some packets this weekend for when DD wants to cook supper "all by herself". Also will buy ground beef in large package and divide and freeze.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Marcy -- that's awesome that you were able to learn from family! My little family has come about it all our own. I am really hoping that when my kids are grown, they apply living frugal to their lives -- especially, the saving before buying.

cuntryyuppie - Yeah, I haven't gathered an apron yet. My aunt told me the same thing. I need to try it out!

Raiquee -- I love Chickens In The Road blog! The caramel apple jam is awesome for a gift! It is like molten lava (well, maybe not

) when cooking. If you make it -- be careful because when that hot jam mixture boils it flies higher than any other jam that I've ever made! It is soooo good, though. I also made some of her whole cranberry sauce. I ended up giving the 4 pints to my Grandma, though, since she loved it sooooo much!

P.S. I also love www.tammysrecipes.com. She has a recipes tab and there's a lot of great recipes for homemade beef stick, bologna, pepperoni, and salsa. Her canned salsa recipe is my absolute favorite!! I haven't made the bologna yet, but I guess it's totally different than the stuff you buy at the grocery store.

 

[Rathbone]

Way too many amazing things you all said for me to respond to each. But I LOVE hearing all of your ideas.
I did aprons for everyone last year also. Mine is a basic lined apron. I made them for teachers, neices etc. (my sons love theirs - sharks and cowboy prints)

My sons (DS#1 with the braids is modeling the apron we made for his best friend)

This was a fun project. And...aprons are easy enough sewing that my sons got to sit in my lap to help sew the apron and thus considered themselves to have made the gift.