Just curious who else is living super frugal

[hispoptart]

Love living frugally!! I have planted my first try at potatoes, I've planted them in old feed sacs theya re really growing and I am excited!! It didn't cost a lot, used the potatoes that were old and had grown out. as the plants grow up i unroll the bags and add hay and soil!!! should get several pounds!!

I've heard of this before and I'd like to try it. I don't have good soil here and don't exactly have a green thumb; I'm quite the novice in gardening. Will you illustrate (step-by-step) how to grow them in feed bags? How much soil? Open bag? Potatoes in the soil? How far down? (see, novice) Thanks in advance!

I sure hope you all have better results then we did. We plant hundreds of potatoes in our garden, but bought to of those bags for the fun of it. We used the same soil as in our garden and between both bags we didn't even get enough potatoes for the week. The ones in the garden are much bigger and we start digging up the new potatoes just as soon as we can, we still end up with a few hundred pounds at the end of the season.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Considering starting another thread to deal with this but I am going to start here and see what develops. Ok here is the thing. I have one overweight child and one underweight chart. The other 2 just float in the perfection range. So I need to serve highfat/high calorie and lowfat/lowcalories for the other. All the while I am wanting to improve the quality of what we eat while maintaining my frugal ways. I think eating more whole foods will help our health also, which will cut down on our medical bills. I really need super kid friendly food though. My tiny one is very picky and very hyper so I cannot afford to miss any meals fighting her over food. She is also 2 which is just not lovely for cooporation either. So what recipes do you guys have that you use regularly that are also healthy and cost efficient?

 

[FireTigeris]

Considering starting another thread to deal with this but I am going to start here and see what develops. Ok here is the thing. I have one overweight child and one underweight chart. The other 2 just float in the perfection range. So I need to serve highfat/high calorie and lowfat/lowcalories for the other. All the while I am wanting to improve the quality of what we eat while maintaining my frugal ways. I think eating more whole foods will help our health also, which will cut down on our medical bills. I really need super kid friendly food though. My tiny one is very picky and very hyper so I cannot afford to miss any meals fighting her over food. She is also 2 which is just not lovely for cooporation either. So what recipes do you guys have that you use regularly that are also healthy and cost efficient?

Honestly I'd just do another tread for this- I was told not to worry about my son's weight till 5 years old, he was in the 50% percentile, then fell off the bottom of the chart all together (less then 10% percentile) at age two. If your underweight child is not anemic and otherwise healthy don't worry.

The overweight child's portions may need watching but I was advised to feed everyone the same foods to not increase the chance of eating disorders later, and increase actvity. Depending on the amount overweight and age if this is a problem.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Not worried about it. More trying to find cost effective recipies for a mixed need family and up the healthy. We just lost our great insurance and got horrid so we gotta never get sick lol. Wondering if other frugal addicts have recipes that are super healthy and cost concious. I was more explainign I can't go low cal or low fat. Just looking for reasonable healthy meals. Maybe ways to add healthy in. My MIL loves oat bran in pancakes and such. Thats as far as healthy as she went. She was no help on the recipes front at all. My moms healthy is oil and vinegar salad with fried veggies, fried meat, fried cornbread. Super healthy and frugal is a balancing act I think. So just looking for direction.

 

[FireTigeris]

In that case-

Deep Dish BBQ

Meat- one pond or less any type but fish per person

Apple Cider Vinegar
Mustard
Tomato sauce
Tomato fresh or diced or whole
Onions
Garlic
Worcestershire sauce
sugar (brown is best but refined, raw, or splenda works too)
salt

mix to taste,
I cook in a crock pot all day or in cast iron in the oven 200*f all day.

 

[Cockhound]

guess Im lucky that my wife LOVES to shop at the thrift store !!! one tip is : if u can , go to the rich part of town and find closest thrift store to there, . they have better stuff, sometimes new at a fraction of retail, ..if u have to drive a lot, carpooling is great if u can arrange it, ..or perhaps doing some of ur work from home if possible and ur em[ployer will agree , ..chech arouind town for restaurants where kids eat free on certain nights, .. or where kids who make A honor roll get free certificates for meals and encourage kids to make the A honor roll, Ours arre regulars...lol.. I have 3, .. small ones, ... a 9 y o and twin 8 y o s and i tell em if they dont make A honor roll Im going out to eat withoiut them ...lol, ...and of course planning all ur meals in advance and saving all leftovers for freezing is great as well, ..Good Luck !!!

 

[HeatherLynn]

We homeschool so no honor roll discounts but we do reserve going out to eat treats for doing well also. We found an awesome place close by. Chinese buffet that is actually good. If we go for lunch it costs $30 to feed all 6 of us. You really can't beat that for taking the 6 of us out to eat. We don't do it often but I swear the kids will do all sorts of stuff to earn that treat.

 

[Wifezilla]

Fat doesn't make kids fat. Carbohydrates make kids fat. If you feed your son low fat he will just end up fatter and miserable. Read "Why we get fat and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes before you do permanent damage.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Then I need to get the 2 year old eating carbs sigh. My oldest is my over weight one. He is off the charts in weight and in height. Its equally off the charts but the doctors are not pleased and despite his height I have to admit he is over weight. Right now i limit fats and carbs sorta.I don't cut them but i watch them carefully. I don't count veggie carbs though. I push filling up on veggies. Right now he is consuming large amounts of green beans, brussel sprouts, asparagus and broccolli. We all are really buts its a bigger push on him. Which is expensive and would be impossible for us without all our garden goodies. Thank goodness I canned and froze this year.

Honestly my goal is really to find that balance of healthy and frugal. I know there is a way to do both. I just need to find all the ways to make it happen.

 

[Mattemma]

Instead of just looking at weight why not check out his health stats.Get some blood and urine and make sure all levels are good.Vitamins and minerals. Lol,I was suprised dh and I were low on vitD considering our diet and sun exposure.My friend was low on B vitamins. If all is good then I would be ok with the low weight,because the body is getting what it needs. I would give them LIFEWAY kefir. Various flavors for the picky ones.Very good for the gut...and they say the gut and immune system is linked.

As for the mixed needs of the family I am at a loss,because I do meals for everyone differently.All 4 of us have different preferences. I look forward to the day when everyone can pitch in more will meal prep! I only buy sales items and produce in season. I use meat more as a side/seasoning than a main portion of the meal. I am growing a lot this year.

On a side note I got lots of toilet paper last week. They were only $5 a 12 pack and normal cost $9.19. I got 12.Would have gotten more,but dh was thinking that was to much.Shoot,we will always need the stuff,and I was saving over $4 per pack. Next time I am getting more! With gas close to $4 now I saved enough to almost fill my tank 2 times!