Just curious who else is living super frugal

[albert w]

These ideas on this post a great!! Iam growing 2 very large gardens this year that should cover my family as far as veggies go and the chickens take care of the eggs. The only thing I have a problem with is where do you find cheap bulk meat if you dont have the room to grow your own? Also is there any good way to preserve Squash?

Not sure where you are but when I was in California we bought our meat from a place called Cash-n-Carry. It's a restaurant supply. The meat was really cheap and fair quality. Here in Iowa we get some meat from a place called Hawkeye Foods. Same type of place but the quality isn't the best. Im a painting contractor. I actually drive around in the country here in Iowa and hand out cards and talk to potential customers. I've traded my work for sides of beef, whole hogs and once I painted a garage for 30 dressed chickens. Maybe you have a talent or items you could trade? Good luck!

 

[jenmiller]

if you have a sams club or costco or BJ's or something like that there the prices on bulk meat is sometimes cheaper. I support meat for 9 people with 350 bucks a month. the only thing we buy on a weekly basis is bread, and eggs. Im starting up chickens again so we can stop buying eggs and use some for meat and some for selling but still keep enough for egg laying and all that stuff. I dont know if i want to get turkeys or anything i still havnt decided. My husband hunts and gets rabbits in the spring, deer in the fallish winter kinda haha. Coupons are amazing but it would be soooooo much better if i could wrap more time in it but with 2 of my own children to take care of and my husband and uhm well not the best situation to be in...i think we are doing pretty good.

 

[mshuey1]

Am working on becoming a homesteader as close as I can get to it anyways! lol I do have patio garden and I raise and sell chickens of different breeds and we make r Roos into meat birds we sell them for $5 each. I also make our own laundry soap and much more!

There's lot of great sites online that teach u about homesteading!

 

[primalchick]

Am working on becoming a homesteader as close as I can get to it anyways! lol I do have patio garden and I raise and sell chickens of different breeds and we make r Roos into meat birds we sell them for $5 each. I also make our own laundry soap and much more!

There's lot of great sites online that teach u about homesteading!

This is what we are working towards too! Since we plan to move this summer I am just doing container gardens so we can move them. Have my hens for eggs, and on Wednesday I'm actually hauling 5 roosters in to be butchered Hubby is gone working and I don't want to do it myself so I'm having it done. Next ones we will do ourselves when he's home.

Once we are on a bigger place I plan to expand and get more chickens, sell some farm fresh eggs and maybe try my hand at breeding SQ Cochins. We are also going to raise our own hogs and beef, trying to go as self sustainable as possible. We have raised hogs and beef before and it was sooo worth it! We are lucky and get our beef from family now, much cheaper in the long run to buy a steer and haul it into the butcher yourself. You can get healthier meat that way too.

 

[BigSkyChickens]

SporTees, preserving winter or summer squash? I know about preserving winter squash - it lasts almost the whole winter if you store it in a cool, dry place. I still have a Triamble and a Kirkuzu from last fall.

You can cut the winter squash in half, remove seeds, brush w/ oil, and bake in the oven at 375 F until the flesh is soft. Let cool, scrape the flesh out with a spoon, puree in the food processor, and measure out into 2 cup portions & freeze. Then it's ready to use in pie or muffins, etc.

I don't know much about preserving summer squash, but it's one of my goals this summer to learn, since there is always such an abundance! I'm sure you've all heard the joke about people in rural areas locking their cars while attending church? So they don't come out and find their front seat filled with zucchini......I've heard it needs to be blanched before freezing. Some people dehydrate it.

DBF almost skipped garage-saling this weekend. I'm glad he didn't because he found a Vacuumn-seal machine & bags for $5. woohoo! I'm so excited about garage sale season!

This is still my favorite thread on BYC right now.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I pulled out some of my collectables as decor for a mother daughter brunch our troop was putting on and got all kinds of comments about them. Mostly people saying they wish they could afford to buy them. Nothing really overly fancy. Some old milk glass pieces and some cut glass. I think I stunned them when I said I go antiquing at goodwill a lot. If you take the time to look at places like goodwill and places like it there are some beautiful finds for the frugal at heart. They just never thought about looking there. Its where you go when your too poor to buy new clothes and such or for the frugal nutcases too cheap to buy anything new.For some odd reason they got the impression living frugally means not having anything pretty or fancy or special. I know one of the ladies husbands and I can see who she got that impression from but its so wrong.

I live frugally but I still pick up my pretties along the way. I have bought a beautiful solid cedar carved chest for $20. I can get pretty milk glass or cut glass items for as little as 50 cents. I know what I am looking for and I don't always find something but when I do. Nothing beats getting a piece you really love and not spending a fortune to get it. Its awfully hard to feel deprived by this frugal lifestyle when I sit with a pretty milk glass bowl filled with roses in front of me. Maybe that false idea of frugality is why so many people fight making this life style change. Its not a change for the worse at all. Its sorta like having your cake and eating it too.

 

[SportTees]

SporTees, preserving winter or summer squash? I know about preserving winter squash - it lasts almost the whole winter if you store it in a cool, dry place. I still have a Triamble and a Kirkuzu from last fall.

You can cut the winter squash in half, remove seeds, brush w/ oil, and bake in the oven at 375 F until the flesh is soft. Let cool, scrape the flesh out with a spoon, puree in the food processor, and measure out into 2 cup portions & freeze. Then it's ready to use in pie or muffins, etc.

I don't know much about preserving summer squash, but it's one of my goals this summer to learn, since there is always such an abundance! I'm sure you've all heard the joke about people in rural areas locking their cars while attending church? So they don't come out and find their front seat filled with zucchini......I've heard it needs to be blanched before freezing. Some people dehydrate it.

DBF almost skipped garage-saling this weekend. I'm glad he didn't because he found a Vacuumn-seal machine & bags for $5. woohoo! I'm so excited about garage sale season!

This is still my favorite thread on BYC right now.

I'm sorry I was asking about summer squash too. I tryed putting it in the freezer last year straight out of the garden with very little success. It did ok for a few months like that but after that when you unfroze it it was like mush?

 

[LazyQ]

These ideas on this post a great!! Iam growing 2 very large gardens this year that should cover my family as far as veggies go and the chickens take care of the eggs. The only thing I have a problem with is where do you find cheap bulk meat if you dont have the room to grow your own? Also is there any good way to preserve Squash?

I have good success just cutting them up and packing raw into pint jars (there is just me to feed) pour boiling water over them and processing in pressure canner.
I think for 35 minutes, BUTT check for proper time. They look nice and fresh and not mushy. I add ½ teaspoon kosher salt per jar.
I told my 50 year old son the other day that he wouldn't have to buy groceries for 3 years after I kick out<g>. I grow or harvest almost everthing I eat. I have chickens, jumbo pekin ducks, quail, rabbits, turkeys, guineas, geese and hogs. Just butchered a beef last october so wont need any for a couple years. I eat a lot of squirrels and fresh fish.
I have 2 freezers full.
I am selling all my chicken eggs so when when I want grits and eggs or a omlet I use duck eggs. I grind my own. grits and meal.
Having a ball in these here woods and loving it.

 

[HeatherLynn]

You might try pickling them. The kids seemed to enjoy the cauliflower, carrots and summer squash I pickled. Pretty tasty. Zucchini i go ahead and turn into bread and then freeze. Between pickling and breads I didn't have any go to waste. Granted we eat it like mad when its fresh but we had a TON.

 

[Raiquee]

Zukes is a tough one. You can pickle it, I do freeze it occasionally, but that's about it! If we have an over abundance, which we always do, I shred it and feed it to the chickens. I don't feel like I'm "wasting" it then!

Hubby went out foraging and came home with almost a pound of morels, and a good handful of wild onions. Honestly we should have sold them on CL. They are going for about 45-50 bucks a lb on Craigslist. They taste like mushrooms. I mean nothing special.

We also went fishing, and me being the amazing fisherwomsn that I am out fished hubby and we put 4 small trout in the freezer. I caught a nice big bass but there are few bass in that pond so we put em back.