Posted on 06/24/2005 6:35:23 AM PDT by Gabz
I was participating in a thread the other day started by a FReeper who has started to grow his own tobacco because of the ever escalating increases in tobacco taxes.
The fact his "crop" is tobacco is neither here nor there and I only mention it as way of introduction to the idea for the title of today's thread theme.
We all got talking about the benefits of making and or growing our own things as a means of saving money and were called on the carpet by a bean counter who claims that when one adds in the time it takes to prepare the things we grow or make we are not saving any money and in fact are losing money because the time could better be spent doing soemthing that actually pays money.
I disagree and would like all of your opinions.
thanks for the links. Everything helps.
When I lived in La-La land I saved TONS of money clipping coupons because almost all of the supermarkets there would DOUBLE whatever the coupon savings were. Often I would buy $20 worth of groceries for only about $3 or $4. One store even had TRIPLE savings on the coupons so I could buy about $300 worth of groceries there for only about $30. Unfortunately, here in Florida, there is no doubling of coupons in supermarkets.
Buying stuff at flea markets. You can save TONS of money there. For example, I bought a brand new juicer at the Flea Market for just $6. Why the great deal? Because the vendor picked up a bunch of kitchen gadgets cheap because the boxes were damaged. So I got a damaged box. Big deal. The juicer wasn't damaged and that was what counts.
Check out alternative newspapers for great restaurant deals. Yeah, most of those types of freebie newspapers are leftwing rags but, ironically, they are also filled with lots of capitalist coupons for restaurants. You will find a lot of 2 for 1 deals that way.
Hubby has a vegetable garden this year. For two solid months we had fresh lettuce. This summer we'll have more tomatos on our hands than we'll know what to do with. Hubby also brews his own beer, although he hasn't made a batch in a while. After the initial start-up cost of maybe $150, it is waaaay cheaper to homebrew. We always have fresh chives and dill on hand. We have a tiny, postage-stamp piece of inner city property. If we lived out in the country with some real land, we'd have very little use for the supermarket.
I HATE most liquor coupons. Usually you have to send them by mail along with the receipt. Too much trouble. I prefer coupons for IMMEDIATE discounts.
I don't exactly do a Once a Month cooking plan - but periodically will spend an entire weekend cooking and putting stuff in the freezer for later use. Lasagna, chili, meatballs and stew are all things that freeze well.
Show up at Seafood Festivals on the last day. Then wait until the festival is almost over. What happens is that all the food vendors often just give away their food rather than just throw it into the garbage. I've gotten TONS of primo seafood that way! YUMMM!!! I even got a whole bunch of free buckets filled with crawfish at the tail end of a Cajun Festival.
LOL!!!! I have enough trouble just doing it once a week :)
Warning hint: grasshoppers just love this stuff.
Deer also love tobacco!
Which reminds me - since we're talking about being cheap - a totally cheap (free actually) deer repellent is human hair tied in old panty hose and tied to stakes around the garden - give it a spritz of hair spray every week or so or after a rain....deer think there are humans present and will avoid the area.
Recently there was an article in a local alternative paper about public events where FREE liquor is served. And not just lousy liquor. Some of the liquor served was 23 year old Guatamalan rum. The article even mentioned a liquor PR guy nicknamed "Joe Bacardi" that you can contact if you want FREE liquor provided at your event. Sometimes they even provide FREE models. And about the latter, I'm NOT kidding. Somehow the models are supposed to help promote the liquor.
Definitely. I'm not good with anything that has to be mailed in. My husband always talks up great rebates on computer components or software, but then he'll forget to mail them in until he's lost the receipt or the rebate's expired.
If they can't help you at the city level, try the county.
Oh. We had something like that in Oklahoma, where we had to buy wine at (private) liquor stores. Here in NC, all the wine stores and most of the grocery stores offer a case discount.
We freeze soups and stews and then forget about them, unfortunately :-).
He's an accountant, what can I say??????? he also likes to jump into any thread that deals with tobacco and try to spoil the fun.
I would much prefer to "waste" my time in the garden and be home with my daughter instead of having an outside job and spending most of what I earn on day care costs. What use is that to me, her, or us as a family? We are by no stretch of the imagination well-to-do, and things can get a bit tight a day or 2 before payday - but we are not in need and generally can do as we wish. We know how to spend our money properly - we both learnd our lessons years ago about uncontrolled spending and the trouble it leads to :)
ROFLMBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm curious though. I tend to freeze vegetables instead of canning, so which method do other FReepers prefer, and why?
Like you, I tend to freeze my veggies instead of canning them - but I do can things like applesauce and apple butter, pickles and jellies. I freeze the veggies, other than tomatoes, only because I've never tried to can any others and I have a big freezer!!!
Yeah, this is an extra 10% off the case discount. Thing is, I like to try so many different wines that I would have a hard time finding 1 case to settle on.
I'm not a canner, but I freeze veggies from the garden(especially whole plum tomatoes, in zip-loc bags, then run under hot water to skin them before using), flour, and some spices I buy in bulk, (and buying spices in bulk from a health food store or coop is usually a GREAT bargain!). I also do a lot of cooking on the weekends (several meals at once) and put it in reheatable containers, for quick and easy homemade meals all week with no fuss. It saves a LOT of money to eat at home instead of eating out.
And I agree with all your other tips as well. There are a lot of good money-saving ideas in the book "The Complete Tightwad Gazette", although some of them are not for me.
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