Just curious who else is living super frugal

[donrae]

Didn't do anything especially frugal today except stay home and not spend money.

I did use up bananas in bread and muffins, I guess that's frugal. Well, and finally finishing a crochet project that had been put aside for a while, instead of buying yarn for a new project.

 

[caesargirl]

Since Christmas has become so commercialized, this year my whole family has agreed that for both thanksgiving and Christmas we're just doing dinners!!!i have Thanksgiving and my in laws will do Christmas. Since we're all pretty creative, we must MAKE our gifts!!! This is right up my alley! I grew up in a house with my aunt who thrived on hand made gifts. The total amount allows to spend is $20 and we may only shop at goodwill/salvation army!! I love this!
I'm doing duck egg ornaments!!! My in laws and siblings are quite creative too, this should be exciting!!!

 

[funnyfarmmom]

I havent been here for quite awhile-I started home schooling two of my daughters and acquired a few more critters and theres just not enough time in the day .

The main thing Ive been doing is hatching chicks! Of course thats fun lol. Im still using the incubator that I made out of a styrofoam cooler and even made a second one. I had a group start hatching yesterday and so far, 14 out of 18 eggs have hatched. I have another set of 18 in the second incubator due to hatch next week. I already had around 30 chickens lol. Unless I sell some chicks-no more hatching until Spring.

Ive sold a few chicks, but people around here just dont seem to be interested. They dont trust any food that doesnt come from the grocery store. This is a rural area even.

Ive also tried bartering with the few farmers around for things I need and no luck. They only want cash. Anything I grow or raise can be bought at the grocery store.

I did get a pair of piglets recently. Hubby has also approved turkeys in the spring. Ive been pushing for dairy goats but no luck yet .

Money is still very tight. Im sure it will be until we get these kids raised lol. Since we just moved here in March we didnt get the homestead credit on our property taxes and had to pay a huge property tax bill. So, there wont be hardly any storebought gifts this year. Im planning on buying each of the kids one $30 toy (for 8 kids thats a lot!) and Ive been making teddy bears, pajamas, raggedy ann type dolls, quilts, etc. out of fabric and stuffing I got off of freecycle. I even made some bears for a needy family that my friend is trying to help for Christmas. We will have an awesome dinner with all of the things I have canned and frozen.

Oh and one last frugal thing- my friend I mentioned above lives in town with no yard at all. I donated a small garden spot for her and am housing a few chickens for her as well. As thank you she ordered me a huge set of heirloom seeds for next years garden! So I'll be trying my hand at seed saving as well lol. I cant wait!

I hope everyone here has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[pfields]

That's awesome, your children have a great example for being future parents.

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas!

 

[donrae]

Our Christmas is going to be very low key here, also. We gave up buying for anyone but the kiddos years and years ago. If I get together with my family we'll maybe do a food gift like cookies or fudge, or enlarge and frame a family photo, things like that. But usually, it's "Your presence is gift enough" as we don't get to get together a whole lot. With Honey starting a new job, it's going to take a bit to catch up money wise. We've told the boys we'll be looking maybe at New Year's Day sales. It helps my boys are all older and understand the money thing. Plus, there's really nothing they need, it's all things they want. Wants can wait.

FFM, too bad the bartering isn't working for you. Hatching chicks now can give you point of lay pullets in the spring, maybe those will sell better. The lure of fresh eggs immediately is pretty strong for some folks who don't want to mess with chicks.

Sounds like you're starting some barter with your friend, though. That's wonderful about the seeds! Having a garden is the only way to go with a large family. I'm one of 6 kids, and my folks wouldn't have done well at all without the chickens and the garden. Oh, and congrats on the pigs! They've got to be my favorite livestock after chickens. Just cause, here's a pic of the last girls we raised.....



Yep, those hams are now in the freezer and taste wonderful!

 

[LittleLakePhil]

Yeah gonna be a real low key Christmas here also.
But thats okay...my kids income dwarfs mine so grandkids will get shopped for after xmas when the sales are. We won't be seeing them very soon so that way we will already know what they got from everyone else.

 

[lazy gardener]

Wish I could convince my family to cut out the expense. I'd love to cut it back to just simple home made for adults, and scale it back for the kids. But, I'm outnumbered on that count.

 

[LittleLakePhil]

My kid makes an ungodly amount of money and then I always feel like I got to compete with his in-laws that are fairly well off too. We just don't have it. So holidays are a somewhat uncomfortable time for me.

 

[LittleLakePhil]

Hey I actually sewed a button on today...that's a first for me...pretty frugal too....

 

[funnyfarmmom]

Thank you all! We are a blended family even though we each have custody of our kids. Hubbies two daughters have a stepdad that is constantly trying to outdo us. The girls are 9 & 11 so they dont understand, believe everything he tells them. Last Christmas we spent a couple thousand total on the kids. The stepdad told the girls he spent $14 thousand on them. Lol. They live in a mobile home without running water or working bathrooms. Anyway, this kind of nonsensse has made the girls somewhat greedy and hubby refuses to buy into it any longer. Its not a competition. The kids have everything they need. They dont need everything they want. When I was growing up, one of my grandma's was very crafty (thats where I learned to sew) and always made a lot of our gifts. There were 12 of us grandkids. Those handmade gifts were my favorite and I still have many of them.

Donrae- love the pigs! Mine are my breeding pair (from separate breeders) so it will be awhile before I have any in the freezer . But they are so funny! Wilbur, the boy, comes running to the nearest corner of his pen everytime the back door opens wanting scratches. Ok I know he really wants treats, but he tolerates the scratches '. And yes, I am soooo excited about the seeds! My grandparents and parents had always bought seeds and plants at the farm store every year, so thats what I have always done. They also used sevin dust and fertilizer. I didnt know any other way until this year really . Im proud to say that my garden here has never been touched by chemicals and come spring will never have another hybrid plant in it .

One last thing- the four eggs that didnt hatch this week? I had taken the chicks out of the incubator but left those eggs in because hubby hadnt brought his flashlight home from work. I kept the humidity up just in case. Two more hatched! I got 16/18. From an incubator that cost me $6 to make lol.

Everyone have a good day! Supposed to snow here-can't wait to see what the critters think of that! Thank goodness hubby has gotten plenty of wood cut this year