Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Spock2013]

@Chick_in_The_Burbs. I've never heard of those. I'll let her know. Thanks.

 

[Spock2013]

Double post.

 

[mythreesons]

Dennis...I live in NY state. I unfortunately at this time don't make real maple syrup....I'm waiting on my father to find the buckets so we can tap my maple trees..I don't think Ive ever had real maple before..if my dad doesn't find the buckets I will buy my own..The recipe for the Dawn is a empty Dawn dish soap foam bottle 6- Tablespoons of Dawn dish soap fill the bottle gently with water then stir...thats all there is to it! Its a real money saver.

 

[nok13]

not sure if sold in the states, but we have some wierd dish washing paste that comes in a gallon bucket. u put some - like a spoonful -in a dish. on the dish on top of the dollop of soap paste, u place a piece of plastic with small holes cut in it. u place your sink sponge on the plastic and press down, the sponge gets the soap without getting too much, like the soap sort of comes thru the holes without lots of the actual soap itself, its like a pudding consistency, yellow, and its super cheap soap. its what everyone used here 30 years ago before we had all the american type dish detergents (we still mostly hand wash everything).

http://meitavit.com/products/47/463/ a pic of the bucket. the buckets are great afterwards for planting in them or using them for a million other things.

one bucket lasts like forever, we only hand wash the dishes, and we ahve hard water... ive used all the dawn, palmolive etc types and even when i mix water in with them, they dont last as long. this stuff is a bit rough on the hands, but it works on everything including floors if need be.
tried to find a picture of that plastic thingy, its really old fashioned but most older homes still use them, they are found in the cheap plastic area of the markets. ..
its less 'sexy' then liquid soaps with all their fancy colours and smells and promises to 'soften hands while doing dishes' (the polmolive ad, right?) but no dishsoap softens hands. either u wear gloves or use lots of hand cream before and after washing the dishes.

i will try to find a pic of that plastic soap dish thingy. i think they are/were used in europe also, maybe eastern europe?

 

[DennisK]

Dennis...I live in NY state. I unfortunately at this time don't make real maple syrup....I'm waiting on my father to find the buckets so we can tap my maple trees..I don't think Ive ever had real maple before..if my dad doesn't find the buckets I will buy my own..The recipe for the Dawn is a empty Dawn dish soap foam bottle 6- Tablespoons of Dawn dish soap fill the bottle gently with water then stir...thats all there is to it! Its a real money saver.

Sorry for the NJ ... type-o. Being from NY, I'm surprised you haven't ever tried REAL maple syrup - you are in for a pleasant experience .... best on pancakes! I wished we had maple trees in California!

 

[DennisK]

many of us make our own challa (sweet white bread for friday) as it si more expensive then our regular daily bread (which is bought fresh daily or every few days)>
old bread/challa become croutons and bread crumbs if not turned in to french toast.

I never heard of challa bread ... I looked it up on the web and it looks tasty. I'll give it a try.

 

[MeatKing]

Dennis...I live in NY state. I unfortunately at this time don't make real maple syrup....I'm waiting on my father to find the buckets so we can tap my maple trees..I don't think Ive ever had real maple before..if my dad doesn't find the buckets I will buy my own..The recipe for the Dawn is a empty Dawn dish soap foam bottle 6- Tablespoons of Dawn dish soap fill the bottle gently with water then stir...thats all there is to it! Its a real money saver.

Our sap was running a few weeks ago here, we are hoping for a second run. We about 10 min. from Ogdensburg.

We don't use buckets, we use those big water bottle, you know the ones you pay a $10.00 deposit for.

Our trees are huge, so each has 3 holes tapped in in. so we have a plastic tube, connecting to each hole, then one hose running into big water bottle.

We really like the water bottle, because A: it's a smaller hole for any bugs or dirt to get into
B: Easy to find
C: We only have time to boil sap on weekends, so if one fills, it's easy to replace with another one, and cover top.

This year, we had to buy new spouts and hoses and connectors. We only have two huge maples, cost us $10.00 for everything new.
We will get enough for our family hopefully and a few bottle to give away.

My family east alot, two young kids who eat in any times a week.

 

[nok13]

dennis im sure there are a few women here on the forum that can give u recipes they've done at home becasue i saw someone had even posted here once, not sure where, that fit american measurements and flour etc...; challot (the plural form) are fun to make as u can braid them, curl them, and theyar e really special friday breads.

 

[galanie]

I've seen recipes online for "Jewish Egg Bread (challa)" so maybe look it up that way? And yes in American measurements.

 

[mo puff]

My husband used to drink those bottled Frappaccinos [?].. cost about 2.50 a piece , every day! I said I think we can make something just as good for less. I bought the International Delight cinnabon flavor. The entire bottle costs the same 2.50, and using just 1 oz per 16 oz cup coffee [home brewed cheap brand], we are saving big bucks!! We brew up two pots of coffee and put in the fridge in a larger pour container, then every eve when making his lunch, I put the mix into his daily cup... [of course, you HAVE to take your lunch everyday and never buy Fast food lunches]. In the morning he shakes it up and VIOLA, foamy yummy for him. Now he cant stand the other Staryucks brand.