What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[igorsMistress]

I have never appreciated ground turkey. I don't know why but every time I have eaten some it tastes "off", almost metallic. I love turkey, too.

Yeah, it’s something I usually hide in stuff with lots of flavor. I’ve bought the extra lean stuff and used bacon grease to cook it also.

 

[fuzzi]

Yeah, it’s something I usually hide in stuff with lots of flavor. I’ve bought the extra lean stuff and used bacon grease to cook it also.

I wonder why it tastes like that?

 

[TooCheep]

I wonder why it tastes like that?

Lack of fat. Turkey is very lean. Fat carries most of the flavor.

 

[igorsMistress]

I wonder why it tastes like that?

Brand? Your mind expects a different taste from ground meat? I dunno.

 

[fuzzi]

I think it was this thread in which we were discussing how we organize hardware, and I mentioned my old-timey cabinet, one that I picked up cheap at a yard sale. I finally snapped a photo of it to share:

It took more than a couple hours to sort my dh's bags and cans of miscellaneous screws, nuts, etcetera, but it was so worth it. Now I can FIND what I need, quickly!

The kitchen faucet handle has been loose, and today I finally looked up instructions on how to tighten it. I needed an Alyn wrench...guess what I had! Yes, a drawer of Alyn wrenches, all different sizes.

And the faucet handle is now much tighter.

 

[gtaus]

It took more than a couple hours to sort my dh's bags and cans of miscellaneous screws, nuts, etcetera, but it was so worth it. Now I can FIND what I need, quickly!

Yeah, the real value in saving all that stuff is being able to find it when you need it for a project!

Looks like you did a fantastic job in sorting out and putting labels on all those bins. I am getting better at organizing and labeling my stuff, and I will second the thought that it may take time and effort to initially sort out that miscellaneous stuff, but it's always worth the effort to me when I finish.

It gives me great pleasure when I can reuse some old screws or rusty nails instead of having to buy new. Lots of my projects don't need new fasteners. For those projects, I go to my storage case filled with used nails and screws to complete the job. Now that I have them sorted, labeled, and stored for use, I can actually find them when I need them.

As to your yard sale storage unit find, great job...

My father left me 2 or 3 of those type of units. He had things sorted out in separate bins, but he never put a label on anything. It would take forever to find what you needed, pulling out bin after bin until you finally found what you needed.

 

[igorsMistress]

Yeah, the real value in saving all that stuff is being able to find it when you need it for a project!

Looks like you did a fantastic job in sorting out and putting labels on all those bins. I am getting better at organizing and labeling my stuff, and I will second the thought that it may take time and effort to initially sort out that miscellaneous stuff, but it's always worth the effort to me when I finish.

It gives me great pleasure when I can reuse some old screws or rusty nails instead of having to buy new. Lots of my projects don't need new fasteners. For those projects, I go to my storage case filled with used nails and screws to complete the job. Now that I have them sorted, labeled, and stored for use, I can actually find them when I need them.

As to your yard sale storage unit find, great job...

View attachment 3924217

My father left me 2 or 3 of those type of units. He had things sorted out in separate bins, but he never put a label on anything. It would take forever to find what you needed, pulling out bin after bin until you finally found what you needed.

I bet your pops knew what was in each bin. Igor doesn’t have labels on his but never looks long for what he needs. I keep telling him I want to label those drawers though.

 

[fuzzi]

Yeah, the real value in saving all that stuff is being able to find it when you need it for a project!

Looks like you did a fantastic job in sorting out and putting labels on all those bins. I am getting better at organizing and labeling my stuff, and I will second the thought that it may take time and effort to initially sort out that miscellaneous stuff, but it's always worth the effort to me when I finish.

It gives me great pleasure when I can reuse some old screws or rusty nails instead of having to buy new. Lots of my projects don't need new fasteners. For those projects, I go to my storage case filled with used nails and screws to complete the job. Now that I have them sorted, labeled, and stored for use, I can actually find them when I need them.

As to your yard sale storage unit find, great job...

View attachment 3924217

My father left me 2 or 3 of those type of units. He had things sorted out in separate bins, but he never put a label on anything. It would take forever to find what you needed, pulling out bin after bin until you finally found what you needed.

I have my dad's stuff, stored in the shed. I need to go through all his hardware. I did a preliminary sort, putting electrical in one tote, automotive in another, plumbing in another.

 

[fuzzi]

Do any of you have a rain barrel or rainwater collection system?

I'm getting my house roof replaced and have requested they add a gutter and two downspouts to the rear. It will help divert heavy rain away from the foundation, but it will also offer me an opportunity to collect the rainwater for gardens and/or chickens. We get about 48" of rain annually, so I think it's a worthwhile project.

Here's a couple that look doable:
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Build-a-Rain-Barrel/

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-make-a-rain-barrel-1/

But I might need to overflow into another barrel or so, we get a LOT of rain.

What do you think?

 

[igorsMistress]

You will definitely need an overflow or two. Your roof collects a lot of rain, more than you might think. It’s worth it though!