Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Peep_Show]

Our trees are starting to shed fruit long before cider season.

When life gives you apples....


...make applesauce!



I thought it might be a little tart, but it is wonderfully apple-y. A good use for apples not pretty enough for market and which wouldn't store well.

 

[perchie.girl]

Our trees are starting to shed fruit long before cider season.

When life gives you apples....


...make applesauce!



I thought it might be a little tart, but it is wonderfully apple-y. A good use for apples not pretty enough for market and which wouldn't store well.

Oooh and apple butter too..... Yummmmmm. I made some int the crock pot a few years back... I have to give it a try again,... that whole learning curve deal.

deb

 

[wyoDreamer]

I make apple sauce to DH's specifications. He loves that I asks him for his input on the quantity of cinnamon vs. sugar. A lot of tasting. Definitely heavy on the cinnamon, but it is tasty.

DH is very handy and likes to do a lot of the work around the house himself, but he is not afraid to hire a pro when he needs to. However, he is usually around helping as they work and asking questions. His philosophy is he is paying the pro for their knowledge, so he is going to learn as much from them as he can and most love to talk about their work when someone is truly interested. Plus they get a helper for free and the work usually goes faster.

 

[perchie.girl]

I make apple sauce to DH's specifications. He loves that I asks him for his input on the quantity of cinnamon vs. sugar. A lot of tasting. Definitely heavy on the cinnamon, but it is tasty.

DH is very handy and likes to do a lot of the work around the house himself, but he is not afraid to hire a pro when he needs to. However, he is usually around helping as they work and asking questions. His philosophy is he is paying the pro for their knowledge, so he is going to learn as much from them as he can and most love to talk about their work when someone is truly interested. Plus they get a helper for free and the work usually goes faster.

That has been my strategy as well. My plumber did the work for me and while he wouldnt accept money I bought him a case of beer and gave him my brush whacker.... A string trimmer on wheels. He could sell that for money at his place. He came back on several occasions to tweak the job and I gave him a Cab over camper shell that came with the property.

I need to have the house rewired because It wasnt done properly in the first place. That is something I am incapable of doing for a complete job... stuff like determining the load that a breaker would be able to handle. AND how in the heck can the whole place works without being grounded....

. The last time I had an electrician out for some estimates he said the house was depending on the ground that was at the power pole.... almost a quarter mile away. The estimate was around five K. and he sounded like it would be less once he could do the analysis. Worth it. Though IF I have the house rewired I am going to have the phones internet and television done at the same time. If the walls are opened up especially.

When I lived in the mobile home and was much more "agile and active" I went underneath and ran coax to a new position in the living room from underneath.... Easy peasy. drill a hole in the floor and run a thin stick down through the insulation then go underneath and find it... tape a string to the stick and go back into the living room to pull it through... Then back down to tape the string to the coax.... then back up and pull it up. Attaching connectors to coax is easy tools for it and connectors are simple.

Demolition I am good at... I know how to pull a wall down without pulling the house down. When i moved in there was a non bearing wall made of two by twos and drywall that surrounded the Coleman forced air heater and the refrigerator... Yet you could walk around the whole thing... The heater didnt work So I hired another plumber friend to disconnect the propane and cap it, so the place wouldnt blow up. I got that wall out ANd the heater. All by myself along with a drill with a drywall screw head, a Box knife to to cut around joints and a crow bar. Heater came out in pieces. I was left with a hole in the floor and a hole in the ceiling and it gave me a ten by ten kitchen instead of a six by three with two aisles.

Unfortunately the kitchen is still "Post demo" While i did that work I realized the kitchen really needs to be gutted. So If the wiring has to be done... Most of the dry wall will come down in the kitchen. Needless to say I wont be living there while all that is done. Hopefully I can build a temporary kitchen and bath off my bedroom before that.

Simple arrangement.... Toaster oven Coffee maker microwave.... I am good for cooking. Then a barbeque in the greenhouse room for bigger meals. A Porta potty and a stock tank for bath and shower. and I am good. Might even be enough to not mess with the house at all.

right now without living there my power bill is 20 bucks a month.

deb

 

[lazy gardener]

Hubby and I built our home. Had family help for erecting the shell, doing electric, and when we got to it, plumbing, and sheetrocking. Thankfully we had an electrician and a building contractor in the family. But, our home is pretty much all sweat equity. We carried a 15K mortgage for 15 years. Our payment was $88.66/mo. We made a lot of mistakes along the way, but, that was the price of the "learn as you go" plan. Still cheaper than hiring it done. Of course we're a lot older now. don't have the strength or stamina that we had then!

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

I can relate-- my gray horse (now white) rolls in the mud and leaves an angel too!! lol

 

[lazy gardener]

It's been wonderful here the past few days. It's been 65* all afternoon. Just had an other thunderstorm. Rained almost all day yesterday. I swear I can hear the stuff growing. The corn is taller than me. Starting to silk. Raspberries almost done producing. Don't want to rush the season, but can't wait to turn this flock loose in the garden. This year, I'll leave all of the plant debris in place instead of pulling it and piling it up.

 

[perchie.girl]

It's been wonderful here the past few days. It's been 65* all afternoon. Just had an other thunderstorm. Rained almost all day yesterday. I swear I can hear the stuff growing. The corn is taller than me. Starting to silk. Raspberries almost done producing. Don't want to rush the season, but can't wait to turn this flock loose in the garden. This year, I'll leave all of the plant debris in place instead of pulling it and piling it up.

Sounds awesome... Its cooler here today only in the eighties... WE had rain this week... enough to actually get the ground wet... Woo Hoo. Its long gone and dried now. Hope we get more....

Our hills didnt green up this year. Still Dry Wheat colored where the wild oats grew... The Chaparal is either black or very dark brown... It usually greens up some when it gets water..

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Oh and by the way I finally unplugged the freezer and my power bill went down ten bucks to twelve dollars this month.

I am Only running the well to supply water for the horse.... and a Flourescent light in the kitchen... Jut to let people know the place isnt abandoned.

deb

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

Well... I am 59...

We each approach frugality in different ways... Sorry to say not a single item in any thrift store will fit me. Not even shoes. Though I will buy sheets there and turn them into curtains. Or table cloth.

I also believe in buying something that is going to last and paying a little bit more because I wont have to replace it when it breaks down. For instance I buy brand new Roper Riding shoes on sale they are about 70 dollars.... I just retired a pair that I have worn for almost six years. They are not worn out Just realllllly ikky looking and smelling so I will save them for rainy days or working in the chicken coop. I have to wear Riding shoes for two reasons. they fit and support my weight comfortably, and I have a horse that weighs 2000 lbs and they are robust to take that punishment long enough to get her to step off of my foot....

Last time I bought shoes I bought three pair.... At this rate I will have shoes for eighteen years total.

I dont buy music at all. of any kind. I listen to the radio on occasion and I love all of it. From Old time Country and western to Heavy metal. Classical and Bluegrass Zidego and Celtic... Drum music from all native peoples too. Ooh Didgeridoo music too I had a roommate who played one.... Talk about goosebumps.

I make my own leather parts for repairing harness. I once turned a plowing harness into a cart harness buy making the missing parts out of an old western back cinch a couple of reins and some lazy straps out of an old belt. I never throw out leather.... It has soo many uses beyond horse equipment.

Again I feel feed is very important for your animals weather its livestock or pets... Good calorie conversion=less waste.... means decent food. Believe it or not I fed straight Iams Or Nutra Max to my dog.... Free choice. Meaning I filled up the bowl with about three pounds of feed and didnt fill it back up till it was gone. She would not eat till I sat down... I never taught her this. She was in excellent condition and I never saw her eat more than a quarter cup in one sitting. It would take her a week to consume her whole bowl. She never had an itchy day nor any digestive issues.... she lived till she was seventeen. By the way not all dogs adapt to a free feeding program... certain ones like Labs... are going to gorge themselves.



I am a tinkerer and a Mechnical designer.... and shh dont tell anyone an occasional artist. I rarely buy my building materials... I used to be a pretty good dumpster diver till my knees went bad. I built my own cat trees out of found wood and dumpster dived carpet... That would be new carpet leftovers from a home install.

Being frugal is also something you can do... By being friendly to people and open to talk about your needs often times stuff just appears out of the blue.... for instance I had made friends with a fellow who was running a local thrift shop. Mom was in buying books and i was chatting with him about "stuff" I mentioned that I needed to replace the booster pump on my water tank... Yep well water. It had stopped completly. Come to find out this fellow David was his name was a certified journeyman plumber and understood my problem just from me talking about it. He was retired from it due to back issues. All of the sudden he asked if he could do the work if I bought the materials. Deal.

I bought the right sized booster pump from grainger. When it comes to water for your house or livestock... best to go new with something like that. I had to wire the pump up according to my Electical supply I have 110 not 220 at the water tank. Believe me I was scared to do that... If I did it wrong I would destroy 600 dollars worth of pump. Whew. I got it right the first time. We used pex to hook it all up he used his muscle to detach the Galvanized pipe and re fit it to the pump. After all that work.... I could do it myself again in a heart beat.

I do it myself for the simple stuff like wiring in an electrical outlet replacement... Changing out a leaking pipe... which reminds me I need to replace a pipe on the big tank...

So my basic philosopy... Dont buy it if you can build it or sew it.... If its something that will take you a long learning curve to do get help or hire a professional. Your time is worth money as well there is a trade off between that and hiring a pro. Quality isnt necessarily expensive but not cheap.


deb "who wrote a book again"

Your posts remind me of a woman who wrote a book that my father gave me upon my high school graduation---Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille. I think it is the self sufficient independence and resourcefulness of your posts. If you do indeed ever write a book about your experiences, I would read it. Not sure if I ever stated it before, but I enjoy reading your commentary.

Hubby and I built our home. Had family help for erecting the shell, doing electric, and when we got to it, plumbing, and sheetrocking. Thankfully we had an electrician and a building contractor in the family. But, our home is pretty much all sweat equity. We carried a 15K mortgage for 15 years. Our payment was $88.66/mo. We made a lot of mistakes along the way, but, that was the price of the "learn as you go" plan. Still cheaper than hiring it done. Of course we're a lot older now. don't have the strength or stamina that we had then!

Good for you! I have a book on how to build cordwood structures, and I've got a dream about building an addition to our house in that style. Our house is from 1892 and has 3 1/2 foot thick brick and concrete walls. It's like a fortress, but I've got visions in my head about adding on to it and doing all the work ourselves (especially the older my kids get...we're going to need more room).

It's been wonderful here the past few days. It's been 65* all afternoon. Just had an other thunderstorm. Rained almost all day yesterday. I swear I can hear the stuff growing. The corn is taller than me. Starting to silk. Raspberries almost done producing. Don't want to rush the season, but can't wait to turn this flock loose in the garden. This year, I'll leave all of the plant debris in place instead of pulling it and piling it up.

My corn is about 8 feet tall and silking. I've never tried to grow corn before, but I'm excited about having something to show for it.

Our trees are starting to shed fruit long before cider season.

When life gives you apples....


...make applesauce!



I thought it might be a little tart, but it is wonderfully apple-y. A good use for apples not pretty enough for market and which wouldn't store well.

Beautiful apples! I need to do applesauce. My dilemma is finding local sources that don't drench everything in sprays.