Just curious who else is living super frugal

[perchie.girl]

I started out using Saccharine back when the only diet soda out there was Tab. For drinks I cant taste sugar and I dont care for the after taste of hone. So I am pretty one track for drink sweeteners.... SweetNLow... pink package.

All the commercial sweeteners that are no calorie are like ten thousand times more sweet than sugar... so they take the "chemical" wether natural or man made and mix it with an extender to give you an equivalent of a teaspoon volumn wise. That extender is usually dextrose and cream of tarter. Dextrose is sweet as well but not as sweet as sugar.

I remember back when Cyclamates were the fair haired child... a god send to diabetics.... they were pulled off the marked because of a cancer scare...

So I stick with Saccharine in the Sweet N Low afraid to try something "new" till it proves itself...

To be honest its better to have plain old sugar... than pumping chemicals in.

I dont cook with artifical sweeteners... But then again I dont bake or make cookies. Those are extremely redlight foods for me... so I buy what I want and consume it rather than keep it in the cupbord.

deb

 

[mythreesons]

Not sure if you own any land or not? but I planted a fruit orchard, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, gooseberry plants, rhubarb, grape vines, herb & mint garden, several raised beds to grow our veggies, bought Walmart .99 bags to grow more plants in as I don't have a lot of space in my raised beds...

I decided to invest in perennial & medicinal plants that I don't have to by every year like Asparagus beds, Jerusalem artichokes, Strawberry beds & Walking Onions.

I planted several Elderberry Bushes to use the berries to my homemade cold & flu medicine...

Picked several dandelion flowers and made wine AND made dandelion salve that is used for aches, pains , bruises and dry skin.

Picked stinging nettles and made nettle pesto...it's delicious!

I'm self taught by watching youtube to pressure can, water bath can, dehydrate my foods..I use my pressure canner to can mostly meat that I bought on sale and I bulk...for example I got chicken breast with skin and bone for .99lb so I bought 50lbs and deboned, de-skinned myself and canned it...I did the same with hamburger that was on sale for $2.50lb I made & canned chili, tomato sauce with hamburger, taco meat and plain hamburger.. now I have a variety of convenience meals that I bought at the best price..

We have a lot of wild black raspberries that grow everywhere so my sons and I picked enough for me to make our years supply of jam.

Make foods from scratch from breads, cakes, frosting, cookies, bagels, hamburger rolls, homemade yogurt, granola, taco, ranch seasoning, onion soup mix, creaser salad dressings, Italian salad dressing, fake syrup, vanilla extract and so on..

My family hunts deer, turkey,ducks every year along with squirrels so we don't even need to buy meat.

Always wash clothes in cold water, homemade detergent with vinegar for the rinse.

Have power strips in every room except kitchen and bathroom.

Use wood to heat our home.

Crochet my blankets and dishcloths.

Make homemade rice packs that I heat up in the microwave to help me keep warm during the winter months.

Do all of our own lawn care, vehicle maintenance.

We all cut our own hair,.

I don't go to the beautician, no manicures, pedicures or dye my hair.


I have chickens for their eggs..the chickens are my babies so we don't eat them but could if we had to...we let them free range so saving money on feed.

I make my dh's lunch everyday plus have the coffee pot ready every morning for him...no stopping at a fast food place or convenience store for coffee.

I combine errands to save gas..

I always bring a drink with me whenever I leave the house I just refill a empty 20oz container..I also eat before I leave the house so not tempted to buy fast food.

Pay bills through my online bank to save on envelopes and stamps.


This is just some things I do to save money maybe you would benefit from my post to help save you money.

 

[gevshiba]

Ive never used stevia-seen it in the sweetner aisle but had no idea what it was. I love honey, and buy it, but cant keep bees myself. Im allergic. Grrr.

Gevsheba- thank you for your ideas! I do have a clothesline up, but its rained here nearly every day this summer. So my dryer has ran nearly nonstop and probably is a big part of my electric bill. We moved in March, but have the same electric company and that was a big jump from last summer. But last summer I didnt have a dryer at all

. Thanks for the breakfast ideas! Someone else posted on one of the first several pages of this thread about making pancakes and freezing for later use, my kids would love those. I make my own pancake syrup too

My clothes hang all over my house. I have over the door hangers that hold 7 items. Door knobs, over the top of doors, dog crates (there's a lot of dog crates, way more than dogs)...

 

[donrae]

Breakfast is the easiest meal to make ahead! Pancakes or waffles can be made ahead of time and frozen, then put in the toaster or microwave. French toast freezes well, I cut it into sticks and use a small container of syrup for dipping. Fruit makes great toppings for all these, too, as does plain ol peanut butter. Muffins are great also. I make plain muffins and add some garlic/onion, a little diced ham/sausage/bacon and some shredded cheese. In season we eat a lot of zucchini muffins. I'm sure muffins freeze well, but I never get the chance to try around here

Put those kiddos to work and have a freezer breakfast day! Cook and assemble breakfast burritos or breakfast sammies, wrap and bag and freeze. They microwave beautifully and make a great on the go breakfast. Plus, eggs/protein are so much better for kids for breakfast than cereal. Mine can eat a huge bowl of cereal and be starving an hour later. A sausage and egg breakfast muffin and they're good for a few hours.

With that many CX, I'm wondering if you can find someone local to trade for a half a pork or something similar. You might try asking your local butcher/mobile processor, ours are always finding folks who have extra meat and want to trade for something else. Can't hurt to ask. I hear you on the carnivorous husband! Mine eats low-carb to keep diabetes in check, but still thinks he needs to eat a LOT. So, we go through a lot of meat and I can't stretch his with pasta, etc. We raise what we can (any chance of getting a lamb or weaner pig?) and I'm scouring the grocery stores constantly for sales and mark down meat. He did find a good deal at our local Food 4 Less, their deli sells a pack of the ends/trim of the roast beef for $2.50/lb. You might try asking at your deli for something like that---otherwise I just walk right past the deli, way too $$$ for my budget!

I've just started using the fermented feed, I think it's been about a week. They definitely eat less, and I think some of my lazy layers are picking up a little--it's early to tell for sure but that would be great!

 

[Tikkijane]

Ive read about 20 pages of this thread . I will eventually get it all read! I wondered if anybody would mind taking a look at what Im doing and plan to do and offer any advice on areas we could do better. This may get long, sorry!

First of all, hubby and I have 7 children between us. All 7 live with us, neither of us receive any child support from the other parents. We raise our kids as if we had them together, theres not a lot of involvement from the other parents either, so it works for us. The kids range from 6 to 17 years old. About a month ago oldest DD's boyfriend called hubby. In the middle of the night. He and his stepdad had gotten into a fight that turned physical, boy got beaten up pretty badly, mom and stepdad kicked him out. He has been living here since. He is 17 nearly 18 and still in high school. That makes 10 people living in our house.

We just bought our house in March, so there's no possibility of refinancing to lower our payments right now.

Hubby is the only one working. Three of the kids have problems (one Down's Syndrome, two on the autism spectrum) so I have to be available at any given time to run to the schools for them.

So, our house was 3 bedroom, but it had a pantry off the dining room that was as large as the bedrooms. We turned this into my and hubbys room as it has an entry door leading to the garage and thats where hubby spends most of his time anyway. But that severely cut down on my storage space.

I already cook most things from scratch. I dont make my own bread because Hubby has a love affair with a certain brand of bread, but everything else I do. I currently spend about $150 a week at a discount grocery store. My garden is starting to produce now so Im hoping that goes down some.

I have 8 pullets, only 2 laying so far. I also have 12 chicks, straight run so no telling how many girls I will end up with. We go through eggs like crazy here.

I have 14 cornish x left in the freezer. My local farm store had 27 of them last night marked down crazy low that I may go back today and grab, but my problem with them is im always struggling to pay for feed because they eat so much. I only have 1/2 acre in a rural subdivision so they cant free range.

Hubby gripes about all the money going out, but he doesnt try to find ways to save. For instance, I got our electric bill yesterday. $327. He complained that the light company's rates were too high but then said "just pay it and go on." Our house doesn't have central air, we have two window units that I have set on energy saver mode. We do have a huge woodstove for this winter thannkfully.

Not a lot of consumer debt. Cars are paid for. We have one personal loan that we took out 2 years ago. We borrowed 6,000 have paid on it for 2 years, and we still owe 8,800. Not happy with that at all. No credit cards.

So Im looking for ideas to lower what bills I do have. Utilities and groceries. (Water bill is over $100 a month). We dont have cable, house phone or internet. We have 3 prepaid cell phones in the house that we pay a flat $45 a month for unlimited talk, text and data. Also, ideas for lowering feed bills if any. I currently buy my feed at a farm store in 40 pound bags. We have a farm bureau co-op near us, but I dont know if they sell feed or just seed for the farmers around us. Ive never been in there.

Im planning to hit Goodwill for back to school stuff. Im a member of freecycle but most of the stuff posted is 30 miles away so not really cost-effective.

So any ideas? We are living paycheck to paycheck and worrying every week if we can pay the bills. I hate it.

At least for the chickens- fermenting your feed will save you a considerable amount of $$$${and it's a super food!}. There are good threads here for both meaties and ff and regular chooks. Fwiw.

 

[funnyfarmmom]

Thanks ladies! I just started a bucket of feed last night. Ive been feeding the bew chicks the wet feed even though its not really ready yet just so they are used to it.

Breakfast assembly line...I like that lol. We have a baking day, could do a breakfast day too lol. All my kids love my biscuits...filled with anything .

I will ask around about bartering meat. There are large farms around me, but Ive not met any of the farmers. Thanks again all!

 

[Talithahorse]

If you are open to wild game, I would talk to the hunters. Oftentimes near the beginning of hunting season, they are looking to clean out last years freezer and can often be very generous. I once collected enough deer meet to feed over 200 people just by talking to the hunters.

 

[funnyfarmmom]

We love deer meat! Hubby used to hunt himself but hasnt for a few years now. I even have all of the equipment to process our own. I love squirrel as well, but he has never tried it. Says it looks too much like a skinned cat and he loves his cat. Grrr. We both grew up in the same rural area and went to the same teeny tiny school, he was my brothers best friend back then, yet I could swear he was raised in town lol. He wont even try snapping turtle lol.

 

[perchie.girl]

We love deer meat! Hubby used to hunt himself but hasnt for a few years now. I even have all of the equipment to process our own. I love squirrel as well, but he has never tried it. Says it looks too much like a skinned cat and he loves his cat. Grrr. We both grew up in the same rural area and went to the same teeny tiny school, he was my brothers best friend back then, yet I could swear he was raised in town lol. He wont even try snapping turtle lol.

best not to tell him.... let him taste... unless hes the suspicious kind....

I couldnt hunt... for various reasons not associated with opinion. Hard to use a walker and carry a gun at the same time.... LOL. We have mule deer here and yes you can hunt them if you get a permit... Last time I saw some was about ten years ago... driving up the easement toward my house five had been in the chaparal foraging saw the car and just wandered ahead of me along the road. I was driving a Geo Metro at the time and I swear those does were taller than the car....

Bucks run about 100-120 lbs.... I havent a clue as to how much meat is on one.

We got Black tailed Jack rabbits too they can be as big as 6 lbs.... Cotton Tails run about 1-2 lbs.... then there are Brush Rabbits as well but they are endangered... cute little subspecies of Cotton tail. they are about two thirds the size of a regular cotton tail


Black tailed Jack Rabbit


cotton tail



Brush Rabbit

Jack rabbits have no hunting season so you can snag em any time

§309. Jack Rabbits, Black-Tailed and White-Tailed.

• (a) General Season and Area: The general season shall be open statewide all year.
• (b) Bag and Possession Limit: No limit.

I hear the meat is tough and takes careful cooking... They are a big rabbit almost the size of a young coyote So their weight in meat is probably the same as a cotton tail. My neighbor lived off them for a year when he went off grid... So If I wanted cooking instructions I am sure he has a bunch of recipes.

Oh and my rattle snakes are good sized too. I would only take a nuisance one though. At four feet long and the diameter of my fore arm they have enough meat for two...

deb

 

[oldrooster]

We love deer meat! Hubby used to hunt himself but hasnt for a few years now. I even have all of the equipment to process our own. I love squirrel as well, but he has never tried it. Says it looks too much like a skinned cat and he loves his cat. Grrr. We both grew up in the same rural area and went to the same teeny tiny school, he was my brothers best friend back then, yet I could swear he was raised in town lol. He wont even try snapping turtle lol.

just make sure you know the local and state laws if buying it and not getting it for free, many states prohibit selling of meat from wild animals.