Posted on 02/02/2009 4:02:31 AM PST by jenk
While chatting with fellow freepers, I realized I have some expertise (I'm no expert) in the ways of making a household more economical. I preserve foods by canning and freezing, I hunt, plant a garden, dry clothes outside, and so on. I do not pretend to be an expert in any of these endeavors, but I do my best.
I have been told in the past that I mustn't be so thrifty, because it is that unwillingness to spend that hurts our economy. Got it. However, I live this way because I am building and planning for a grand future. The past eight years have been extremely good for me financially, and I'm being forced right now to go back to what I've had to do ten years ago to get by. No problem, been there, done that.
That said, I hope to start this thread to help others and answer questions to the best of my ability and find others with expertise that I do not have.
Wow, I sure bet you do. LOL
A Blue Ball book? I could have written one of those when I was 16...
Did the blue skin color go away?
Another lucky devil I can hate. LOL
I’m a green skinned Smurf with brown feet. Must be the Irish and Italian mix? :O)
The red went away, though, from always being out of breath.
Great idea with the pics. Especially with all the threads I seem to be getting pinged to these days.
Wow - I thought we got a lot of snow in the Sierras! It reaches up to our windows so we need to board them up - but yours wins! where are you?
LOL! Ok, you got me with that.
But the scenery in spring is just gorgeous (or summer, whenever that is). Wow!
Now that is what we did. Used the land for insulation. We built our home to the back of a 40 acre sunflower field. Mostly because of the lay of the land and our aversion to water coming into the basement. Quasi-semi kinda sorta anyways. Our basement is dug in to a limestone ridge. Solid. (Note to self: find an insulation pic.)
Please add me to your ping list.
“We have had to ration milk. With 4 kids we could go through a gallon a day if I would let them. I think I need a cow.
The kids get 5 gallons a pay day. When it is gone it is gone.”
When we were really scraping, we bought a huge box of instant milk for when we ran out of the good stuff. My son, then 5 or 6 didn’t mind it in his cereal. When milk went on sale for half price, I bought twice as much and froze it.
Hey guys, I’d start working on that milk rationing. Just saw at the grocery store yesterday ears of corn was 4 for $3.00. This is not at a high end grocery store either. Corn has apparently gone way up (cucumbers were $1.50 a piece!) so that means in a few weeks to months, milk and dairy will be back to the prices they were this past summer.
excellent resource for learning how to can/preserve
If you'd like to be added to the Low Budget Ping list, lemme know.
Rationing
ummmm. Wash cloths? I have a bazillion and about 10 flour sack towels. Flour sack towels are excellent for drying dishes, wiping counters, and covering dough to rise.
Wash and reuse! I do love using paper towels a lot too. The only really really needed purpose for paper towels is to drain bacon and fried food. However, I have used coffee filters in a pinch, and those wonderful flour sack towels.
Please add me to the Low Budget Ping list. I think that we are all going to need it. Good idea.
Paper goods
Some do argue that the use of paper towels is more sanitary that wash cloths and towels. I call BS. If you have enough of them to last a week, and some bleach, you are fine. By the way, don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets when washing them because you may want to use one or two to wash windows and then you'll have smears.
(See previous post)
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