Just curious who else is living super frugal

[kuntrygirl]

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Yes, I love freecycle. I have receievd a lot of things and have given a lot away on freecycle. I love to recycle.

 

[Totalcolour]

I posted some information on the Winemaking Thread, with some links to yeast, and a really good free downloadable book to get anyone started. Some of it is a bit technical (ignore those bits!) but it's my first go-to book for easy to find information.

Happy winemaking everyone

On another note, got some tasty little cockerels going to the freon room this comeing weekend - and hubby has someone coming to buy ducks, and he's going to teach them how to kill and butcher (we have a Featherman plucker and scalder, so it makes it kinda easy, and the clients like it because they don't have to take home live birds and do it at their place)

 

[Kassaundra]

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[BusyBlonde]

I read every post in this thread today, in between working around the house, and while my hubby is watching the game tonight. Lots of great ideas, great philosophies!

A bit of background on us - we've both come from families that had nothing, so being frugal (to a point) comes easy to both of us. Neither of us likes to shop and we don't 'need' the latest and greatest things. We started our own contracting business on $5000 we had saved on side jobs, and grew it into a very successful company. When the economy crashed, we had over a quarter million in receivables become uncollectable due to bankruptcies and foreclosures of people who owed us the money. When we were doing well, we reinvested everything back into the company - still lived in our double-wide, didn't have new vehicles, did accumulate a couple toys (Harley's), but one was traded for a job, the other was bought after we paid off one car, and the payment for the bike & insurance was less than the previous car payment. And both bikes were used.

Now - we are still in business, albeit rebuilding. The law sucks when you're a contractor - we got stuck with all the labor/material bills, but the banks could extinguish our lien rights by simply auctioning off the property they foreclosed on to themselves at a loss, then they could sell it for a profit. We still owe the suppliers for some of those jobs, we had already paid our subcontractors. We did not declare bankruptcy, we do good enough work that we are slowly coming out of the hole we were left in, when many of our competitors have closed their doors and left massive amounts of debt unpaid.

Some of the things we did - we never acted like we had money. Even when our company was doing very well, we took a paycheck and lived within our means. We had already started our garden, and had planned to get chickens. We both have a lot of skills, and do most of the work ourselves - building sheds, our garage, coop, etc., mostly with reclaimed/waste materials. We've also done all the improvements ourselves inside our home. I have built and done a lot of work on homes, and have administrative skills, so I do our bookkeeping. My husband can do almost everything construction-related, except for the licensed trades (HVAC, electical - and he really sucks at plumbing!). I learned how to can and pickle. Our first flock of hens (Golden Comets) were spent after 2 years, so we bought 20 Barred Rock chicks. When the Barred Rocks were old enough, 5 of the 8 roos went to freezer camp, as did the Comets. We just hatched 16 BR chicks from our own flock. I have seedlings going for our winter garden. My bike - which had a payment - is gone. I took a job working for pool management companies the last 3 years for a 'guaranteed' paycheck. I just got let go for budgetary reasons (sucks with a seasonal business), but our business is picking up so we are probably okay with my unemployment and what we can bring in. I don't coupon except for toiletries, paper goods, and cleaning supplies - and reading all the tips here, even that will be reduced! I don't buy any meat that isn't on sale, and when it's a really good sale, buy in bulk and freeze. In the next year, we hope to have goats, rabbits, and a beef cow in addition to the chickens.

The one "unnecessary" luxury we keep is Direct TV. It's football season, and my hubby works long hours, 5 or 6 days a week. It's the one indulgence that he wants this time of year. The rest of the year, we can put the account in suspension - but I can't do that to him now. We don't have the NFL package, he's content to see what he can on the regular channels or ESPN.

Thank you all for such wonderful information, sorry for the long post, but you all are inspiring me to do even more with less. Thanks again!

 

[helenmar]

way to go!
Very inspirational.I wholly agree with living frugally.My hubby is on a good wage at the moment but we act like he is not.That way you have security for lean times.Plus if you do need to spend on something you actually NEED you really appreciate being able to buy it.People seem to think the world owes them a living here in the uk and feel hard done by if they are on benefits and cannot afford to buy a flat screen tv!!!!!I think really we are all too rich.Having travelled in Asia and other continents,people were possession poor but happier in general.When you have less in some respects its lovely as you have less to worry about.Admittedly though we were looking at this from an outsiders angle so I wont speak for the people living that life.I know we were happier with our 2 rucksack between us for that year than we ever have been.It stood me in good stead to realise that its the people and experiences not the stuff in your life that matter.I would do well to remember this in the coming months as we are about to re model our house and I am terrified of spending the money.However its something we must do as the roof has failed and it is a once only job i hope!

 

[turney31]

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Amen.

I agree!

 

[sulco]

We just refinanced our house at 3%, so we're going to save a ton of money with that and a 30 year. We also buy used as much as possible, but sometimes it's more effort to track something down used to save a couple bucks. I'm always scrounging what people will toss away if I think it can be of use at the farm and like what others have said, it's amazing what people will throw away. The local Goodwill/St Vinnies are good sources for odd and ends.. a good plan of things to do around the property gives me an insight of the things we look for when at the 2nd hand stores. I look for a lot of things off Craigslist as well. And pallets.., do you realize how many uses pallets have?

Pallets/scrap plywood/recycled feed bags for my dog house. =>

 

[krcote]

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Freecycle is one of the best inventions! I have given away sooooo many things that can be useful to someone instead of sitting in the dump! I also used it to ask for a small thing once, turned out lovely. The people you meet are so kind, nothing like many of the craigslist folks I run into when I am selling something of value we can't afford to give away. I tell people about freecycle like I am their personal spokesperson!

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Cute dog house. Good job.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Freecycle is one of the best inventions! I have given away sooooo many things that can be useful to someone instead of sitting in the dump! I also used it to ask for a small thing once, turned out lovely. The people you meet are so kind, nothing like many of the craigslist folks I run into when I am selling something of value we can't afford to give away. I tell people about freecycle like I am their personal spokesperson!

I thought it was only me as far as meeting great people from Freecycle. A lot of kind people on Freecycle. Always great to meet new friends.