Just curious who else is living super frugal

[kraftyladies]

Actually my dad would just skip eating. He is down below 150 though so I stay pretty desperate to get him to eat. I am still going to do ground deer meat though. I think he will eat it if I am creative. I have a mixed bag to deal with I have some overweights and some underweights and a bunch of picky lol. I am working on saint hood right now. lol My goal is to still be frugal but to stretch things in a way that we are eating as healthy and well as possible. I think being healthy will end up saving us more than coupon cutting at this point. So now I am fine tuning that balance. Deer is so much better for us than the beef I just think it will be a good addition.

I never thought I would like deer meat, until my DH made me try it a few years ago. I love ground deer meat better than beef! We don't hunt, but we have friend's that do, and we always are able to get a deer for our freezer that way. Cube steak to me is also better than beef. Better for you to. I am trying to live a lot more frugal. I don't think hubby is too fond of it, but he is getting used to it. Being debt free (except mortgage) in a few years is my goal.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Whats everyones plans to deal with the higher food prices they say are coming soon? I am working on our game plan now but I am curious what everyone is thinking on this.

 

[Beekissed]

Raise our own foods, preserve our own foods, take each day as it comes, put faith in God. That's my whole plan..not necessarily in that order, of course. God always comes first!

 

[In His Service]

Raise our own foods, preserve our own foods, take each day as it comes, put faith in God. That's my whole plan..not necessarily in that order, of course. God always comes first!

This is my goal also, plus having enough to share/barter with neighbors.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep! Sharing is a must, as I see it. What good is it to have plenty~ while watching those who don't have plenty suffer? Not a good feeling.

Many feel that those who don't prepare deserve to suffer but that's just not the way I see it...many, such as the elderly, do not have the means to prepare. Those who live in reduced circumstances and do not have the money nor things it takes to prepare...I've been there before. Those who could do more to prepare but were just never taught to think in those ways~I've never been there but these kinds of people are legion~they just need to SEE the need...some will follow up on that need, some will not.

 

[runsw/scissors]

Trust me, No one will notice! I have a great recipe for venison that uses orange juice, that will cause cubed venison to disappear!

Brown enough venison for the number of people you plan to feed, if male plan on a pound per.
Allow the juices in the pan to caramelize with the meat still in the pan

Put the meat and juices in a large oven safe crock and let simmer most of the day in one large can of OJ (can use crock pot or oven) You don't need to add water unless you need to stretch the OJ

It's done when the smell drives you nuts and the gravy is dark in colour. I serve it over rice or noodles. Cheap and good!



Yikes! This was meant to respond to a post made by Heather a week ago! No one will notice if add ground venison to ground beef.

 

[BigSkyChickens]

To deal with higher food prices coming:

• Continue to improve overall budget skills and reduce debt

• Harvest and preserve from the garden

• Improve kitchen skills so we can eat from the freezer all winter long

• Learn to dehydrate food

• Learn to pressure-can, to expand my range of canned foods beyond jam and applesauce

"Trust in God, but tie your mule" (One of the cooks at a Yosemite camp wrote this on my lunch bag. I found out it's an adaptation of the Arab proverb: "trust in god, but tie your camel")
in other words, have faith, but don't be careless.

Thanks, frugal folks! I enjoy coming back to this thread. I may even have to start reading at the beginning again!

 

[TXchickmum]

I suppose frugal living is something that has always been appealing. We garden and freeze foods (and also belong to a local organic produce co-op, hosted by a neighbor. -and always shares extra with other neighbors around us!). We eat healthy, fresh and much cheaper than a lot of folks because we prepare everything at home - don't eat out at fast food places/restaurants. -raise our own chickens for eggs, and they are beloved pets to our kids! We shop at local places for necessities that cannot be purchased second-hand. Most of our clothing is purchased from e-bay or thrift stores. (After each child outgrows his/her clothes, we relist them for sale and purchase the new season's items with the money from the resale of the last season's items.) -drive our vehicles until they won't drive any longer. (don't like to keep a car payment, and the hubby is quite handy with automotive repairs) -and, to minimize gas expenditures, we walk to our local parks and lovely green spaces which serve as entertainment. Nature, trail walking/jogging, etc. are the most tranquil and enjoyable venues for our family - and free! Nothing is more amusing and refreshing than long walks and talks as a family, discovering the wonders of the wildlife around us, and the priceless beauty of an evening sunset. Simple, frugal living is rewarding!

 

[HeatherLynn]

I actually considered the dehydrator method. Some things we have would be so easy to use this way but its nothing I have done before. It is on the list of things to research though.

I am doing some stocking up but not tons. We do plan on sharing but only with family really. I have so much family in deep need that refuse to be responsible at all. They have kids, I can't let them go hungry. I won't pay their bills for them but I can provide food. We just about kill ourselves with the garden and such and the family just holds out their hands. Little frustrating at times. They are all curious how i am going to pasturize the milk from the cow so they can drink it. Ummm how to break this....

I am working really hard on frugal recipes, almost like depression era recipes. Almost everything is from scratch anymore. We have maybe 5% convenience foods at this point. I sorta feel like I live in the kitchen at times. Its hard to try to plan what things to stock up on.

 

[erinszoo]

Higher food prices?? Ugh. We started greenhousing last winter which supplied us with all of the lettuce, spinach and peas we needed. We will do that again this year adding tomatoes and cucumbers to the mix. We are also planting a fall garden for the first time ever. The less I have to buy at the store the better. Besides our chickens that provide eggs and some meat, we brood some just for meat purposes, we also have rabbits. They are way easier to process than the birds, by the way.

We're lucky in that we have friends who have two big apple trees and a pear tree that they don't pick or use anything from so we get to pick all we want, in exchange we take them some apple butter and pear honey. I love bartering.

I wish we knew someone who hunted for deer. We love venison. Of course our daughter wants to learn to hunt so we may be doing hunter's education courses this fall and getting our own deer.

And our next acquisition will be pygmy goats for the milk ... and a little meat. We love goat meat too but mainly for milk and cheese.