Just curious who else is living super frugal

[nayeli]

You guys should sign up for online coupons that are emailed to you. You have to print them off somewhere if you need them, but they don't cost anything so you aren't spending a bucketload of money for the papers. I guess if you like the papers, too, then it's a double use of them ... but I even read my news online now. Most newspapers have free online subs or if they aren't free, they are only a couple of dollars. I always make sure I have the newsfeed for Reuters and Associated Press. That's where most papers get their stories anyway. The BBC is another great source for international news. If you have smartphones or a tablet, download the Flipboard App and you can find all the news you ever wanted to know and then some!!

I guess if I printed at the library or at school this might be cheaper... but I don't mind the $7 subscription, it supports my local economy =) I don't read the papers but we usually use them. We have a worm bin so many go in it, and I had a friend who needed them to wrap her things because she was moving.

 

[lazy gardener]

I was going just once a month. But now I scour the sales adds every week. When I see stuff on sale that we use then I buy that in bulk and stock up. Especially items like laundry detergent and toilet tissue. We also started canning which helped tremendously. I make bread at home instead of buying. It does tend to go stale quicker but then I just feed what we dont eat to my chickens!

Oh goodness... timing is everything. crzycknmomma, the previous posters were talking about septic tank issues, and how everything necessary to feed the septic tank is in the human gut!

 

[LindaB220]

I was going just once a month. But now I scour the sales adds every week. When I see stuff on sale that we use then I buy that in bulk and stock up. Especially items like laundry detergent and toilet tissue. We also started canning which helped tremendously. I make bread at home instead of buying. It does tend to go stale quicker but then I just feed what we dont eat to my chickens!

Sounds like you have it going on. I need to start making my own bread.

 

[lazy gardener]

I apologize!!!

Back to regularly scheduled programming: My chicken related frugality: Fermented feed, and sprouts.

I never throw away a soap sliver. When I have a sliver left over, and start a new bar of soap, I wet them both down well, and press the two bars together. The old bar fuses onto the new bar, so there's never any left over soap.

Stove ashes: In the chicken's dust bath, or on the lawn/garden. Bones left from cooking: burn them in the stove. Those minerals will end up back in the lawn or garden. Water from cooking veggies: Save it and give it to the chickens, along with any tidbits you scrape off pans and plates. Many seeds can be saved from the garden, and even collected from other locations. Cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, dill, parsley, beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers. You just have to do a bit of homework to see which plants are self fertile, and which ones are hybrids, as well as which ones take 2 years to set seeds. I can't pass a beautiful flower planting without pinching a couple of seed pods to tuck in my pocket for next year's garden. Purposefully let some weeds go to seed for chickens to munch on. Any paper that's not shiny/or highly colored: rolled into paper logs for heat. Bring groceries home from the discount store in cardboard boxes, then burn the boxes (more heat) or use them in the garden in the paths, covered with a layer of mulch. Leaves and grass: great deep litter in the chicken run.

 

[N F C]

5

Sounds like you have it going on. I need to start making my own bread.

I'm a home baker and make all our bread. I've figured out the average price of my homemade bread is about $1.25 per loaf (some a bit more, some a bit less). I've learned how to make white bread, rye, challah, Kaiser rolls, pretzels, pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls, etc. We not only save money on store-bought bread but we get bread without any weird additives and I get the fun of baking it.

We don't have much of it go to waste but if something does go stale before we finish it, the chickens get it.

 

[LindaB220]

I'm a home baker and make all our bread. I've figured out the average price of my homemade bread is about $1.25 per loaf (some a bit more, some a bit less). I've learned how to make white bread, rye, challah, Kaiser rolls, pretzels, pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls, etc. We not only save money on store-bought bread but we get bread without any weird additives and I get the fun of baking it.

We don't have much of it go to waste but if something does go stale before we finish it, the chickens get it.

Just cheap white bread is $2.79 now in La.

 

[N F C]

Just cheap white bread is $2.79 now in La.

Hi LindaB,

If you haven't tried making bread before, it's not really hard. Just like a lot of things, it takes a bit of patience and practice. You don't have to have any exotic ingredients, a lot of things are made from just flour, yeast, salt, sugar and some form of fat like oil. One of the more helpful websites I've used for tips and recipes is King Arthur's. They have a lot of tutorials and really explain how things work as well as support for trouble-shooting. And even though some of their recipes use things they want you to buy in their online store, you can use what you have or make up something similar without buying their stuff. And of course, youtube has a lot of things about baking techniques on it.

Here's the KA link if you want to check it out:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/

 

[oldrooster]

Quote:
Perhaps I should buy a tractor trailer and haul bread there from Indiana, I can get the cheapest for $.88-$1.00.....

 

[LindaB220]

Quote:

Perhaps I should buy a tractor trailer and haul bread there from Indiana, I can get the cheapest for $.88-$1.00.....
I can't remember the last time I saw it for $1.79 much less $.88.

 

[lazy gardener]

I buy my bread products from the day old bakery. the stuff is often as fresh as it would be in the grocery store, and sold for 25 - 50% of grocery store prices.