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.
Hi Everyone!
Try allrecipes.com as well. People rate the recipes and you can adapt them to serve as many or as few as you want. I have found some really good recipes.
My favorite way to save money is to shop on the internet and not pay tax! I can also find bargains that way.
I also pay attention to our bills each month and have found many mistakes. That has saved us alot too.
WOW - thnks for that tip - the others I already utilize, but this is a new one on me and by next week I hope to be painting the attic - hubby has one more coat of mudding to do on the drywall.
eBay is a buyers market. Great deals for buyers there. Which is why I don't sell so much there any more.
When we bought our house, the separate garage had a greenhouse on it. It was great in theory, but the drainage came through the floor of the greenhouse and wreaked havoc on the garage. Not to mention the huge pinetrees shaded most of the greenhouse. We took it down and gave it to his uncle (I don't think they have put it back together after 2 years.) Anyway, my hubby's cousin is an industrial contractor in Canada. He came for a visit and helped us plan and order the new garage roof so we now have a huge storage space above the garage now too. He came back several months later and helped put it on. Two guys (with my FIL watching and asking dumb questions, my cousin finally told him the question and answer portion of the construction was over, LOL!) did it themselves. What ticked me off is that our "friends" that my husband has helped during car repairs, letting them use our racks, equipment and my hubby doing much of the wrenching, were nowhere to be found when we needed help. One guy did show up for a bit, but let's just say that I was furious. Good luck with your projects!!
I'm laughing and crying at the same time here.
I live in a rural county that is primarily agriculture what land is not devoted to raising chickens, the crops that feed them and the plants that process them is pretty much devoted to growing tomatoes and the processing and ships plants for them :)
I do something similar to the Once-A-Month cooking, and it not only saves money, but time as well. It really forces you to be organized, but you get excellent cheap food, ready fast. I cook every weekend or every other weekend, for the most part. It helps that my hubby likes all the food I make, LOL! Stay away from boxed foods as much as possible (think macaroni and cheese in a box versus homemade). If you make your own pasta (cheap, cheap), you can freeze that as well, and then it is so fast to cook.
As for what I use for phone service. Just continue using my cell phone. Unlimited long distance is part of the Metro PCS package for which I pay a total of #52.65 per month. NO need for a home phone.
Hey folks! How about some money saving tips OTHER than canning your own vegetables? I am interested in this topic but we need to get out of the canning/gardening groove and get really creative. I am looking for some tips.
Bread and pasta are 2 of my homemade staples :)
I draw the line at my own livestock, though.
Here, too. Every year I know that by the time I harvest my veggies, and herbs I have probably spent more than if I just bought them at the Farmer's market. But nothing gives me more pleasure than playing in the dirt, and I wait all winter until I can get outside. The value of pleasure -- who can equate that? The taste of a just picked tomato, corn, squash, cucumber, etc. - well, there is no price that could give me that wonderful flavor. Having fresh parsley, chives, rosemary, basil, celantro, mint, thyme, etc. for flavoring just cannot be beat! Cost is not the issue with most of us. It is the satisfaction we receive. Right?
You are a very astute young man, my FRiend!!!!!!!
p.s. How does one get a FREE iPod. I hear about those offers a lot.
ROFL!!!!!!!
I love to shop at the resale shops for my daughters clothes...I get brands that I would never buy otherwise and sometimes they are brand new. When I am done I sell them back and buy more.
I rarely ever find a coupon I could use. Store brands are cheaper than the name brand minus the coupon.
I would never slave over a hot stove stewing tomatoes when I can get them all prepared for $.32 a can for tomato sause and $.62 a can for diced tomatoes. Besides HOW WOULD A FREEPER EVER FIND TIME TO CAN OR CLIP COUPONS WHEN WE ARE FREEPING ALL THE TIME. :-)
For peppers I string the whole peppers and hang them to dry and of course use them all year long.....everything else I just wash real well and set them on paper towels on paper plates and leave them in an out of the way bright spot.
I also have a food dehydrator and that works really well for drying tomatoes and just about anything else :)
Psst! Not when the store DOUBLES your coupons like they did in L.A.. For example, I would take a $1 coupon for Mennen BO sticks and buy them at $2.19. So after the coupon doubling it would cost just a little over 20 cents when the tax is added in.
Some of our stores will give a case discount even if the case is mixed bottles.
My dad has black angus and I have been begging for a side of beef. He said no, they are my pets!!! I reminded him of an 11 year old girl with a favorite pig that he had no problem taking to auction despite my, I mean her, tears. He laughed pretty hard. Farming is his hobby and he loves going over to watch and pet his cows, make hay, and all that stuff. He loves the work!!!
I used to get GREAT deals on airline tickets. Unfortunately this was before all the 9-11 security went into effect. It meant traveling under someone else's name which is a big no-no nowadays. I once traveled round-trip from L.A. to Ft. Lauderdale for just $10 this way by buying electronic stuff for $10 at a garage sale then trading up to better electronic stuff then finally trading the better electronic stuff for a round trip airline ticket.
To have our house vinyl sided would cost use between $3,000 and $4,000 at a minimum. Even though he was having heart palpitations writing the check for the materials this morning, it was just over $900. Barring any unforseen problems he estimates that removing the present siding and installing the new should take us no more than 2 weekends.
Yes, I did say "us" because he intends to teach me how to do it. But now that I know it will be delivered next week - I've got to get up off my duff and finish scraping the windows.
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