What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[gtaus]

But I don't want to get into an argument with you, I choose to line my boxes with food grade plastic (feed bags), you go ahead and use them bare, no problem.

No quarrels here. To each their own. Just like our treated wood had arsenic in it many, many years ago, today's treated wood is supposed to be safe for use as garden beds. Similarly, MB stamped pallets were banned in 2005 so you should not see one still around. I just started using pallet wood for projects last summer, got about 50 pallets in the backyard, and they are all marked HT - heat treated and safe for anything. As with any wood, if it is dirty with packing oils or paint, just use common sense and don't use it for a food garden.

What I will agree with is that using a feed bag to line any wooden planter or raised bed is a nice idea because I think it will add a few more years of life to the build as opposed to having dirt directly against the wood. So, that's a good idea in my opinion.

Taking that concept just a step further, I was thinking about how I have made a few sub-irrigated planters with a water reservoir in the bottom. One of the major costs to that design is that you need to use a heavy rubber pond liner or plastic liner to make the waterproof reservoir. I was thinking a feed bag, or two, could be used to line the bottom and sides of the wood planter to smooth out any rough edges or splinters in the wood, then put the plastic liner in on top of the feed bag(s). That should allow you to use a less expensive plastic liner, which should last longer on the smooth feed bag surface, and save you more money.

Knowlege is power. If anyone is interested in maybe using free pallet wood for their projects, here is a nice 101 on the subject Is My Wood Pallet Safe for Reuse – Learn How to Know?

 

[gtaus]

Here's another frugal and sustainable tip I just remembered. Do you keep those warranties on products you buy? Well, I do. Last year I had a shovel I bought from Menards that had a 15 year warranty. I saved the warrenty sticker along with the original receipt in a folder labeled "Warranties." Anyway, the shovel broke, I took it back to Menards with my receipt and warranty card, and they exchanged it with a brand new shovel. That's being frugal.

Of course, if they don't still sell that same shovel, you might have to settle for a refund or, God forbid, deal directly with the company that made the item.

I had a hand pruner with a lifetime warranty that broke last summer. It was no longer sold in the store. Because I had my original receipt with the warranty card, I was offered a refund, but I chose first to contact the company to see if they could send me a replacement. After all, a new pruner was about double the cost now compared to what I paid for it years ago. Happy ending, the company sent me out a brand new pruner to replace the broken one.

Sometimes it is more frugal spend more money to buy a high-quality item that will last for years and years as opposed to saving money today on an inferior product that you might have to replace many times over. If I know I need a tool that I will be using everyday and I want to last a long time, I pay extra for high quality and those lifetime warranties. It has saved me money over the long run and cost me much less than having to replace inferior tools every few years.

So, do I settle for a less quality tool sometimes? Absolutely. I only buy Ryobi cordless tools for my DIY'er projects around the house. The same tool by a professional contractor brand might cost 2X-3X times more without providing me, for my use, much more of a benefit. But since I don't use those tools everyday, maybe only a few times a month, some tools maybe only once or twice a year for a speciality tool, I chose to not buy the higher grade, higher cost, contractor priced tools.

FWIW, the Ryobi products come with either a 3-year warranty for the brushed tools and a 5-year warranty for their brushless tools. In the ~18 years I have been buying Ryobi tools, I have had only one tool fail within the warranty period and they fixed it for free. Not a bad track record.

I guess being frugal means that you learn when to spend extra money on higher quality products and when you can get by just fine with a less expensive option. But always save those original receipts and warranty cards.

 

[Sally PB]

I need suggestions of ways to reuse my feed bags.

I need to get pictures to show what I'm going to try to describe. But here goes. We put in a new, straight fence around our garden last spring. The fencing is 2x3 welded wire, 4 feet high. Our biggest threat is deer. 4 feet is a mere hop for them.

We had 8 feet of post, so I took high quality nylon twine and tied that from post to post, 1, 2, and 3 feet above the top of the fence. I cut flags out of feed bags to tie to the string. They flap in the wind, and I have seen VERY few deer prints in the garden. Yes, they can clear7 feet, but they have been staying out! I have another 6-7" of post, and I'll be doing another level of twine. I'll need another 10...? bags to get enough flags to go around my (very large) garden.

Oh, and I've made a few reusable grocery bags too.

Old clothes are rags (of course) super useful for washing out chicken coops and you can let them dry and put them in the fireplace when they are no longer washable.

Look up fabric recycling. I found GOBS of links... in the UK. There is ONE place I know of that will take old clothes and recycle the fabric. I've taken them several bags.

Botulism will certainly make you seriously ill, and can be fatal. If you have any doubt, throw it out!

A friend told me this story:
A friend of his liked to visit old cemeteries to find the oldest grave. He found several graves of people of the same family who had died within days of each other in the 1920s. He got curious and researched in the local library to see if he could find out what happened.

They had had a big family reunion, and several people had died of food poisoning. I told him, "I bet it was canned beans." I was right.

My "lint" is dog hair so I just compost it

I used to spin dog hair into yarn...

 

[Sally PB]

I was gone all day, and came home to find this really useful, interesting thread!

Ok, here are some things I do to be frugal.

I figured out how much I spent in the grocery store I usually shop at. I knocked of 20%, and challenged myself to keep to that. It worked out to $100/week, so that is my budget for that store. That's everything I buy there, which is not just groceries, but socks, car wiper blades, cleaning products, whatever. (It does not include pet food, chicken food, or prescriptions.)

$100/week = $5200/year. We have been under that for the last 3 years. 2022 was $4800.

We have a great recycle place about 10 miles away. Once a month, paper, glass, metal, old electronics, plastic, Styrofoam. The store where I buy groceries takes plastic bags. And not just bags; all types of plastic film. Chip bags, the wrapper around a head of lettuce, the wrapper around a bundle of TP, etc.

We throw out very little trash. 1 large garbage bag every 2-4 weeks is par for the course. If it's plant based, it goes to the chickens or to the compost bin. If it's recyclable, it goes to the basement to await its trip to the recycle center.

We have a woodstove, and it's supplying about 80% of our heat. We have about 10 acres of woods, so we have a lifetime supply. We invested in a couple of chainsaws and a 40 ton splitter. That beast can handle whatever DH can give it. It'll outlast us and be passed on to someone after we're gone.

Every year I try to grow more of our food. I'll be putting in some grape vines next spring. The chickens are part of our food chain, but just their eggs. Someday, we may harvest for the table, but so far not yet. The second use for the chickens is their manure. It makes THE BEST compost!

Our well water isn't that tasty, but we put in an RO filter. I'm a water snob now. I drink a lot more water, which is a good thing. Pennies a bottle? How about tenths of pennies? Essentially free.

One way to save a lot of money? Be healthy! DH and I have been blessed with good health all of our lives. We have friends that spend nearly a thousand dollars every month on prescriptions. (Insurance covers some of that, thank goodness.) So if you have good health, TAKE CARE OF IT! If you can improve your health, do it!

For electricity, I try to make things that make heat do more than one thing. Like baking stuff in the oven on chilly days. The dryer is out in the mudroom, so it warms that room up a lot. Speaking of the dryer, I don't use it during the summer. A clothes line will pay for itself very quickly!

I'm sure I'll think of other things. Loving this thread!

 

[gtaus]

The chickens are part of our food chain, but just their eggs. Someday, we may harvest for the table, but so far not yet. The second use for the chickens is their manure. It makes THE BEST compost!

Lots of similarity, here. Except I have composting chickens that give me eggs as a bonus.

I don't get many eggs from my 3+ year old hens anymore, so they might be headed to Freezer Camp. Hate to say goodbye that way, but if not, they are essentially pets. Well, composting making pets.

My plan is to maintain a flock of 10 hens, with getting 5 new chicks every spring and retiring the oldest 5 hens that fall. That's the plan. We will have to see if I can stick to it.

Speaking of the dryer, I don't use it during the summer. A clothes line will pay for itself very quickly!

I love the fresh smell of clothes dried on the clothes line. Dear Wife does all our laundry (it's her thing) and I have not yet been able to talk her into using a clothesline. I might have to set one up and pin the clothes out there myself before she will reconsider. It's just so much easier to dump the wet clothes into the dryer next to the washing machine. But it would be nice to hang out the clothes to dry in the summer.

I'm sure I'll think of other things. Loving this thread!

Like any thread, it's only good if people continue to contribute. I'm sure there are lots of people in the BYC community that have great ideas on saving money, etc... Hope they find this thread and upload their thoughts.

Thanks to OP for starting this thread. It's one of my favorite topics.

 

[saysfaa]

Drying clothes on a rack in the winter adds much needed moisture to the air without power for the drying or the humidifier. Clothes last longer - that lint from the dryer is your clothes getting thinner.

You don't get the nice fresh smell of line dried clothes, though. They are also stiff until you have worn them for a few minutes which I don't mind but dh doesn't like. A tumble in the dryer when they are almost dry or with a damp towel from the next load helps with that but adds a step and still isn't the same. I usually put his clothes in the dryer.

I hung a clothes line across the basement in one house but like the racks better.

An advantage of heating with some types of wood stove is you can put a pot of water on top of it. That also humidifies without running power. Add a few orange peels, cloves, or a cinnamon stick and you get a nice potpourri and flavors for tea.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I was gone all day, and came home to find this really useful, interesting thread!

Ok, here are some things I do to be frugal.

I figured out how much I spent in the grocery store I usually shop at. I knocked of 20%, and challenged myself to keep to that. It worked out to $100/week, so that is my budget for that store. That's everything I buy there, which is not just groceries, but socks, car wiper blades, cleaning products, whatever. (It does not include pet food, chicken food, or prescriptions.)

$100/week = $5200/year. We have been under that for the last 3 years. 2022 was $4800.

We have a great recycle place about 10 miles away. Once a month, paper, glass, metal, old electronics, plastic, Styrofoam. The store where I buy groceries takes plastic bags. And not just bags; all types of plastic film. Chip bags, the wrapper around a head of lettuce, the wrapper around a bundle of TP, etc.

We throw out very little trash. 1 large garbage bag every 2-4 weeks is par for the course. If it's plant based, it goes to the chickens or to the compost bin. If it's recyclable, it goes to the basement to await its trip to the recycle center.

We have a woodstove, and it's supplying about 80% of our heat. We have about 10 acres of woods, so we have a lifetime supply. We invested in a couple of chainsaws and a 40 ton splitter. That beast can handle whatever DH can give it. It'll outlast us and be passed on to someone after we're gone.

Every year I try to grow more of our food. I'll be putting in some grape vines next spring. The chickens are part of our food chain, but just their eggs. Someday, we may harvest for the table, but so far not yet. The second use for the chickens is their manure. It makes THE BEST compost!

Our well water isn't that tasty, but we put in an RO filter. I'm a water snob now. I drink a lot more water, which is a good thing. Pennies a bottle? How about tenths of pennies? Essentially free.

One way to save a lot of money? Be healthy! DH and I have been blessed with good health all of our lives. We have friends that spend nearly a thousand dollars every month on prescriptions. (Insurance covers some of that, thank goodness.) So if you have good health, TAKE CARE OF IT! If you can improve your health, do it!

For electricity, I try to make things that make heat do more than one thing. Like baking stuff in the oven on chilly days. The dryer is out in the mudroom, so it warms that room up a lot. Speaking of the dryer, I don't use it during the summer. A clothes line will pay for itself very quickly!

I'm sure I'll think of other things. Loving this thread!

Loving these tips! I want a wood stove. I also want an outdoor drying line, but I have to be really careful due to our insane wind -I’ve run around the property catching clothes more than once with the rack I have now

 

[LizzzyJo]

Lots of similarity, here. Except I have composting chickens that give me eggs as a bonus.

I don't get many eggs from my 3+ year old hens anymore, so they might be headed to Freezer Camp. Hate to say goodbye that way, but if not, they are essentially pets. Well, composting making pets.

My plan is to maintain a flock of 10 hens, with getting 5 new chicks every spring and retiring the oldest 5 hens that fall. That's the plan. We will have to see if I can stick to it.



I love the fresh smell of clothes dried on the clothes line. Dear Wife does all our laundry (it's her thing) and I have not yet been able to talk her into using a clothesline. I might have to set one up and pin the clothes out there myself before she will reconsider. It's just so much easier to dump the wet clothes into the dryer next to the washing machine. But it would be nice to hang out the clothes to dry in the summer.



Like any thread, it's only good if people continue to contribute. I'm sure there are lots of people in the BYC community that have great ideas on saving money, etc... Hope they find this thread and upload their thoughts.

Thanks to OP for starting this thread. It's one of my favorite topics.

It’s one of my favorite topics too! I am getting so many useful tips!

 

[igorsMistress]

I like that idea for using up those old feed bags. Although I don't consider modern day treated wood as toxic to plants we eat, I think using a feed bas as a liner in the garden bed or planter will probably add a few years of life for the wood.



I turned my entire run into a chicken run composting system. My coop deep bedding gets dumped into the chicken run when I clean out the coop twice a year. All the bedding and everything else I put into the run turns into compost which I harvest for use in my garden beds. I think the best time to harvest chicken run compost is late in the fall and let the compost age directly in the garden beds over the winter. I will harvest chicken run compost in the spring and use that mixed with top soil 1:1 to build new raised bed gardens. But I never use fresh chicken poo that has not been aged. I don't have any concerns about pathogens with my aged chicken run compost. It's the best.



Yeah, fresh well water can be as good or better than bottled water from "a spring." More than likely someone's tap water just bottled up and sold.

Fyi, Evian (leading bottled water brand) is just "naive" spelled backwards. From what I read; it was an intentional joke because the guy thought anyone buying "free" bottled water had to be pretty naive.



I recently watched a YouTube video posted by a guy who invested over $90,000.00 in a total house solar system. He lived off grid, obviously, but his video posting was on trying to convince most people would be much better off with a "grid-down" battery backup system with an emergency generator for long term use. He recommended a battery backup system that was constantly rechargeable on grid power, and if the grid went down, you would have stored energy for a day or two. If you need to prepare for longer periods of down time, then he suggested getting a generator to recharge the batteries. He calculated he could run his generator to recharge his batteries at a cost of about $15.00 per week. The battery backup system and emergency generator would be much less an investment than his total house solar system. Payback period would be next to nothing. And you would still be protected for most emergencies without grid power.

His concern is that most people living on grid power don't need to buy into a total house solar system with a 25 year payback period. I think that sounds about right.

Would you mind posting a link to the video for us?

 

[LizzzyJo]

Some questions that I've had recently that I could use some help on.

I don't have a dishwasher (farmhouse). I've heard that dishwashers nowadays use less water than hand washing, but I would have to remodel my kitchen. The waste from a remodel seems to outweigh the water use. I live in a swamp - water scarcity is absolutely not a thing here. We spend our lives placing drain tile.

I also have a clothes drier from the 70s and a washer from the 90s. They both work decently, but we have to tinker with them.

Is it more economical / better for the environment to get new, eco friendly appliances even when it means more waste with trashing/recycling the old ones?

What are your thoughts?