What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[Sally PB]

ask me why I bought a new something or another, and I just tell her that I'm not in my 20's anymore

Oh, yeah. I can relate.

I read this somewhere:
"Do the best you can with what you have where you are."

Sometimes where I am is getting dressed and finding no clean socks. Sometimes it's gathering up all the plastic bags/wrappers I have and taking them to the store's recycling bin. Sometimes it's using the gas powered tiller to break up clay sod, and sometimes it's going down a garden row on my knees pulling weeds by hand.

 

[gimmie birdies]

My feed bags go to good use, I usually cut the tags/strips off and open up the bag and put it on the wall of the coop to keep it warm. Some times I re-use them for other purposes. I use second hand cabinets for nest boxes, or dresser where I take out some of the drawers. I pile veggy scraps to take out to the chickens.
As for my self, I enjoy wearing second hand. Most of my clothes are, I am wearing an LLbean sweater with fancy sliver buttons at the moment, which is nice, but not even my favorite sweater. (Our area is outdoors-y so most of the second hand clothes here are. ) We have 2 well maintained cars that are old but paid for.
We avoid Walmart and regular shopping namebrand -plastic crap that breaks-
If you came to our house, there would be no hot-pockets. cookies, or Ice cream, but ingredients to make real food that people used to eat in the 70's.
My husband makes every nationality of food in the world, which is nice since we don't have much restaurants here besides comfort food. He is our restaurant.

 

[saysfaa]

I didn't much like giving up Pepsi. I got as far as agreeing it is terrible for health and a few tries that didn't succeed get past the headache stage. Then found out about hek 293 being used for it (not in the salable product but in the research). I haven't had one since. And, do feel much better (after the headache stage).

It is kinda nice to not have to deal with the cans, too.

 

[gimmie birdies]

If my recycle center was not on the way to town, I would not bother to recycle any pop cans either. I used to crush my soda cans, save them in big boxes, and haul them to the recycle center maybe once every 3-4 months. The amount of money I got for all that work was often not enough to pay for the gas to bring them to the recycle center. But, like I said, our pop can recycle center is on the way to town for me.

About a year ago, I gave up drinking soda - for health reasons. I now use powered mixes with water, using repurposed plastic orange juice bottles. I like the Iced Tea mixes, and a number of the berry options, but I have to admit that popcorn with iced tea lacks the punch of a nice cold soda.

I gave up pop about 10 years ago, my husband and I were getting kidney stones from it. We were drinking diet.

 

[Sally PB]

DH still drinks Coke. I buy a bottle of Mt. Dew every so often. Making my own kombucha got me mostly "off" pop (soda). Making my own is a HUGE money saver over buying it. Plus, I know what's in it.

Nearly all beverage bottles here in Michigan have a deposit on them, so there's an incentive to return them. Before that went into effect, wow, so many bottles and cans on the roadside. When the law was passed, bam! almost none.

 

[gtaus]

a few tries that didn't succeed get past the headache stage.

I think soda must be like a drug. If you drink too much, you get a headache. If you don't drink enough, you get a headache. Sounds like something designed to keep you addicted.

It is kinda nice to not have to deal with the cans, too.

Especially, as we mentioned, it is not worth the gas money to turn the cans in for a small amount of pocket change.

I gave up pop about 10 years ago, my husband and I were getting kidney stones from it. We were drinking diet.

I did not know that drinking soda pop could lead to kidney stones! Did your kidney stones go away after you stopped drinking pop? I know it can take years to grow kidney stones, and years to get rid of them with medication.

 

[gimmie birdies]

As far as my dog, I buy whole chicken thighs, boil them up, remove the bone. He gets broth meat and eggs. Dog food is not cheap, cooking chickens take time, but atleast it is real and not corn.

 

[saysfaa]

I think soda must be like a drug. If you drink too much, you get a headache. If you don't drink enough, you get a headache. Sounds like something designed to keep you addicted.

The professor of my abnormal psychology class said most people who have kicked both soda and cocaine say soda is more difficult.

He also said if you want orange juice, eat an orange. If you juice the orange first, it changes the way your body handles the sugar - in a very not good way.

 

[gtaus]

Nearly all beverage bottles here in Michigan have a deposit on them, so there's an incentive to return them. Before that went into effect, wow, so many bottles and cans on the roadside. When the law was passed, bam! almost none.

That's good to hear. When I lived in California, we could bring our empty bottles and cans to the local grocery store, put them in a vending machine that would shred them, and get back a ticket for money inside the store. No need to save up boxes of cans and bottles at home. Just take them back to the grocery store when buying food.

Making my own is a HUGE money saver over buying it.

Yep, my powdered mixed drinks cost $2.16 for a container that makes six 2-liter bottles of drink. Just one 2-litre of Pepsi is selling for $2.28 today at our WalMart. Smaller cans or plastic bottles cost even more per unit volume.

I don't care much for drinking plain water, except in the summertime when it gets really hot. I get along fine with drinking the iced tea and lemonade mixes most of the time. I know it has saved me lots of money over drinking soda and probably much better for my health. As mentioned before, I no longer get those headaches from drinking pop.

Here is another frugal tip to consider. I take the small empty water bottles that Dear Wife drinks, rinse them out, fill them up halfway, and then put them in the freezer. When I go out to mow the lawn, I take out a frozen water bottle and fill the other half with water, iced tea, or lemonade and put it in my cup holder on the mower. I usually have fresh ice cool drinks for as long as I need when out mowing the lawn.

If I have to go out of town for work, and I need to pack a lunch, those frozen bottles with drink keep the food cool in the cooler and are good to drink with lunch. I prefer to make my own lunch rather than going to a fast food place. Yes, it saves me money making my own lunch, but the older I get, the less I care for fast food.

 

[saysfaa]

As far as my dog, I buy whole chicken thighs, boil them up, remove the bone. He gets broth meat and eggs. Dog food is not cheap, cooking chickens take time, but atleast it is real and not corn.

Why are you cooking the chicken?

Among other benefits of not cooking it - you can leave the bone in it. As long as it isn't cooked, it isn't brittle. I rawfed for little over a year, so this is from experience as well as research.

Lol, it does have some disadvantages... like dh seeing chicken in the frig when he was getting something he liked a lot less.