Just curious who else is living super frugal

[jdopler]

Quote:
What a great find! Congrats, I know you will love it forever.
Hmm, reminds me of the old saying that no one appreciates something they don't dearly pay for.. remember that one? Well, I must disagree entirely. I would bet most if not all of us here on this thread appreciate things we get easily, cheaply, or are given to us out of the kindness of someone's heart. However, it may not be true of everyone, everywhere. Thoughts??
P.S. Have to share that my neighbors are the best! They have helped with lawn work and we share fruits of the garden regularly. Also, just this week they came over and offered to help me get my wood stove hooked up before winter!!
We have also talked of community-sharing of large items, roto-tillers, etc. What a great old habit to renew! Not everyone needs a lawnmower, roto-tiller, shovels, grain mills every day. Perhaps we can work on becoming a community with our neighbors and sharing those large price tag items.
ETA love the librophile page! thanks!!

 

[Totalcolour]

In England, we have a saying, "Tea and Sympathy". We always offer tea to guests, and if they need it, sympathy too. I think of this particular thread in much the same way. We can't always offer answers, since all our needs are so diverse.

We share ideas and tips, some may work for some, but not others. But one thing we can ALL do, is be there for each other.

Rathbone misunderstood me, but perhaps it was my fault for not expressing myself too well. Some of us are facing job losses, or medical insurance losses. Some have been in this boat for a while, and some are just recovering. Whichever stage anyone is in, at any particular time, we can all be supportive, even if we don't have any answers.

I sincerely hope that my posts haven't offended anyone - I was simply trying to get the idea across that we all face adversity in our lives, and we are all at different stages and have differing needs.

Chins up everyone, remember, you could be eating frogs!

Oh, and my "downside" this week - I am having a necropsy done on a young Speckled Sussex (one of four that came down with a cough). I've already spent $193.00 in vet bills (including injectable antibiotics for 1 chicken), and the necropsy will cost about $185, and I will potentially lose my whole flock of 32 chickens. If it is as the vet suspects (ILT) it's reportable disease to the state. Oh well. . .

Still, the ducks are okay, the goats are fine, and the new Rabbit Bobette, just had her first litter for us. All is not lost!

Keep well everyone

 

[helenmar]

Please can I just ask -what is cacciatori sauce???
thank you all for this thread -its great! hx

 

[Rathbone]

What I loved about the posts I just read:
the book link
tea and sympathy
community sharing of work and tools

May I just say how much I rely on all of you for friendship and encouragement and ideas? This is a great group!

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote:
Oh my, if you've never had it you are missing out! It means "hunter" in Italian. They use it on chicken, but I make it for chicken OR Rabbit (rabbit is nice and lean and we grow our own).

This is the link I first used, but since then I've made a few changes. I make the sauce in big pots, then I "can" it so I have a quick meal when we are in a ruch (aren't most of us these days?)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-cacciatore-recipe/index.html

I use green AND red peppers, a bit more than Jada uses. Serve with noodles and greens, or over polenta (my fave). If you can your own tomatoes, so much the beter (and cheaper). Once the sauce is made, I tip it over browned rabbit pieces in a covered casserole, and cook at 325 for 1hr 20 mins, and it's falling off the bone tender. With just me and hubby we eat it for 2 nights. If you don't want to use wine, just use grape juice or plain water.

Enjoy

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

I don't use wine in cooking, but for Cacciatore sauce, I use chicken stock or whatever stock I have on hand and give it a glug or two of apple cider vinegar. My MIL, who's sauce I make, used wine always because it's what her mom did and so on, now doesn't use wine either.

I think the recipe once was something like 1 cup broth plus 1/2 cup wine. I use 2 glugs vinegar then fill the measuring cup with chicken stock until it's at 1 1/2 cups. Or if I'm REALLY planning ahead (sorry for the laugh there), I use my pre-measured chicken stock cubes and then get everything to add up. But yeah, I'm a slacker and I don't bother. Plus, please, I use stock almost every night, so I just freeze it, then take it out to thaw as I need and just leave the thawed stock in the fridge until the next night.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Well I went online last night to do a bit of searching for an idea I had. I am going to buy my shampoo's and deoderants online in bulk. After a bit of searching I found some really great prices out there. Because of the huge amount we use for all of us my order definitely gets free shipping at the sites i checked and I can save about 100 a year. I know thats not a huge amount but every penny counts. I am going to buy these types of things all at once and get a years worth. Thank goodness we have storage space.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Just had to share that I'd scored at a rummage sale for my oldest DD. Bought her alot of nice dresses, jeans, tights (still in packaging), skirt, and a few pairs of shoes. I spent $40.00, but bought alot of stuff! Some items still had tags and most looked like they'd only been washed and never worn. One of my favorite finds was a pair of cute cupcake rain boots. They look like they've been worn only once. I went online to see what they retail for and they go for $50.00. I paid $3.00! Most brands were Children's Place or Gymboree, so decent brands.

I do have to laugh. I have found that if I go to garage sales in the area of newer $400,000.00 an up homes the prices are more than reasonable, but if I go to the older area (homes built in the 1940s-1960s) where they homes are worth the same as the new, they think there items are worth gold! Hmmm.....it must be the mentality of the the neighborhood or something because I've been to a few like that. I am talking about same brands and everything. The last one I went to in the older very nice neighborhood was selling the same brand of items and wanted $20.00 or more for girls dresses. Ridiculous! I think I'll stop wasting my time heading into that neighborhood. It is always the same story.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Don't just look at yard sales either. When we are driving through areas is the larger city close to us we tend to stop by the goodwills in the nicer areas. Same prices but we do get some great finds.

Also see if there is a local hospice store near you. I just got a new pair of eastlands and born loafers for $3 each from our hospice store. I also take advantage of their bag sales. I am frugal but I still really like nice things. Part of me growing up was discovering that if I was just a bit patient I could usually find the nice things I want and a price that our family can afford. Patience is free.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Good idea, but our Salvation Army is pretty lacking. Last year I found a pair of Born sandals for my DD for $1.00. They were not hardly worn! Hmm....never heard of a hospice shop -- I'll have to check that out!