Posted on 08/10/2014 3:21:11 AM PDT by EC1
Waste not, want not. We've heard it a billion times. It's one of the contributions to literature of my native county, which also coined the phrase "Where there's muck, there's brass" - brass being slang for money. A common insult in the UK is to say someone has Yorkshire pockets. Pockets too deep to easily get money out of.
Yet frugal is not miserly, a common mistake among the newer to the prepper community. It's an unwillingness to spend money on what you don't need. If you do need it, you buy the best. I have pots and pans that were my grandmother's. Screwdrivers, rasps, planes, and hammers from my great grandfather. They understood. Saved to buy the good stuff, and I'll be able to pass them on to my own grandkids. 6 generations for a single outlay is what anyone would consider frugal.
Which brings us to the vexed problem of prepping supplies. For none food, there are two considerations. Build quality and can you actually fix it when it inevitably breaks? For example, my favorite camping / work tool is a dry wall hammer. Hammer on one side, axe on the other, with a nail pulling notch that can be easily sharpened to do everything from opening cans to stripping wire. I went for a wooden handle. Not because I have a wood fetish, but because when it breaks I can quite easily replace it with half an hour's knife work on a green hardwood branch. Easy to fix, and the head will last out several life times.
That emergency flashlight you picked up from the 99 cent impulse buy bin? Dump it and go out and get a maglight. Cops carry them for a reason - they are pretty much indestructible (and apparently make pretty good clubs in a pinch, so I been told. Not that I would know :whistle: ). Lighters - one of the blessings of the Lord, as long as they have fuel. Even stale gas works in a Zippo style lighter, so all you need do is make sure you have enough flints and wicks to see you through.
Batteries can be a problem though. Rechargeable ones are good. A little on the pricey side, but you are paying 3 times the price up front for batteries that last 20 times as long. My definition of frugal. Buy a few extra - and vacuum pack them at once. Preferably on a dry day with low humidity, otherwise throw a silica gel packet in before you seal to stop them rotting.
The vacuum sealer is another frugal purchase. While there are as many ways of storing food as there are people, I prefer to bulk dry food in the drier when there are special offers (or bulk buy in the case of dried milk and potatoes) and vacuum pack them in double portions. It means I'm wasting less in the long run. Opening a 5 gallon container of wheat means you better use it fast. Opening a 5 gallon container of wheat and taking out a vacuum packed amount for one loaf of bread means the rest of your stock stays nice and fresh. Tins of food? Seal them. If the moisture's at bay, rust can't play.
Just some thoughts on how being frugal can sometimes mean shelling out a little cash.
1914.
It happened just off Whitby. A hospital ship went down with virtually all hands, I think 50 odd were rescued. Part of my family are fishermen based out of Whitby harbor - they run three of the last 6 trawlers based there now. They volunteered for the lifeboats if they were not at sea.
It’s a good book, well worth the look at. A mix of history and art.
Oh, now I see the connection - Whitby. Am I mistaken or does a part of Dracula take place in Whitby?
Thanks for the info. Always wanted to go to Whitby, too. And Scarborough...
Do go to Whitby!
Best fish and chips in the world, by the harbor. The Captain Cook museum - that you enter by walking under a whale’s jaw bone. The 99 steps up to the Abbey remains - which is supposedly where Dracula is buried.
And at low tide, you have the chance to find some Jet - the rarest gemstone on the planet.
It’s an odd place but really rather neat.
Don’t get to use to them the LED are going to replace them.
Actually - second best fish and chips.
Best is in Austin. Hate to admit it, but fair is fair.
Heritage is genetic, I live in TN, and my heritage is Scot Celt with a dose of a few others thrown in. And I’m told I’m a tight wad. No, I want value for any product I buy. And most are over priced. My boys bulked at the off brands. I fixed that. Bought a bottle of the name brand ketchup, or mustard and kept pouring the store brand into it. They never caught on.
I do opt for higher end on some products as there is better quality, longer lasting like shampoo. But I still keep bars of Fells Naphtha bar soap as it is a good all purpose soap, and works on bug bites sting/itching. I still have my grandma’s caner and her cast iron fry pans. All in good condition.
It has to be on sale, have a coupon or give gas points. Then I load up on gift cards for BD and Christmas. Did my Christmas shopping for 6 grands and 5 great grands and hubby in 10 mins at Kroger’s with gift cards, at 4 times the gas points. We had a $1 off to tanks of gas that month up to 35 gals. Hubby fills my car from a 5 gal can, then takes it and the smaller ones to the Kroger gas station, fills them and his car, last month he had two $1 off fills, that saved $22-24.
I have a well stocked freezer, and pantry that is rotated. Dry goods like paper can go in the garage along with cleaning, soap, and other items not subject to heat. I buy long term storage stuff, freeze my own garden veggies, that is what my freezer is dedicated to. It’s a pain to rotate each season. But it has to be done or you get freezer burn and a waste of your time and product.
Take time to properly prep meat and it last longer in the freezer. You can take advantage of sales that way. Again you have to rotate. I find dating helps to that easier.
Short term storage is the harder thing to do. Bleach only has a 6 month life span. And it is my favorite cleaning product.
Rotating is a real pain in the freezer. The temptation to just chuck them in and sort them later is immense.
Looked into pool shock yet for bleach? Lasts almost forever of you vac seal it. It won’t go off because there is no water.
I hope one day to see Whitby - and all of Yorkshire. I thought that part of Dracula took place there. In the meantime I’ll continue to read books on the subject.
What will you do with all your savings? I’m curious - give it to your kids or plan a wonderful retirement?
Good tip, never thought of it as we don’t have a pool or hot tub.
Yes the freezer rotation is a pain. I try to move last year’s forward as the new season begins and the freezer is low, and put this year’s in back as we use out of it.
But I still have a stock of canned goods too.
There are some amazing things there.
Hit Robin Hood’s bay - if the tide is out, you can curl up in the center of a fossil ammonite. There are a bunch of them in the rocks that are nigh on 8 foot across.
The Giant’s footstep - it’s this really odd valley. People live in it. Almost perfectly circular and about 100 feet deep.
Our family farm is on the hills above Staithes. Been there for nearly 600 years now. Actually - the whole village of Staithes (pronounced steers) is pretty odd but worth a look. Isn’t a single household I am not related to.
Like I say - odd place.
Frugal: When you open your wallet the presidents rub their eyes.
Interesting: I’m talking to you in Yorkshire and talking on FB to someone in Cornwall. And they say the internet is bad!
Unlike most Americans who would like to retire to a hot climate with clear skies, I want to retire to a foggy, cold land with a 1,000 years of history.
You might want to go for Leicestershire. It’s gentler.
Yorkshire is a bit brutal, even for the English :)
I’ll not kid you - it is probably the most beautiful of the counties. Actually - no probably about it, we have the only river in the world that flows sideways. But, it’s rough to live there. Rains about 320 days of the year.
Well, for about ten years I lived directly on the Atlantic Ocean and became addicted to the wild weather and the ocean rising high during terrible storms. If they hadn’t raised my taxes, I’d still be there.
Get yourself here. You’d fit just fine. :)
Though to be fair - the Atlantic is pretty calm. The North Sea, on the other hand, that is “Oh, brother.” My cousins pour a libation over the side every time they leave harbor, to what ever God is listening. It’s the shape of the sea. It gets nasty, very fast, and it has claws and wicked sharp teeth.
I’ll be on your doorstep tomorrow!
Reusable cloth toilet paper FAQs (+ how to make homemade wipes)
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/reusable-cloth-toilet-paper-faqs/
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