Extreme Frugality

I have a thought- maybe find something he likes to do or buy, but won't spend the money on, and make a game of racking credits on the calendar for a month for frugal ways to save or not spend money! It doesn't even have to be an exact amount, just the principle.

He gets to celebrate after you meet the goal.

Today, I was browsing at the local mom and pop hardware (DH needed to buy some plumbing stuff)...I was amazed at some of the stuff they sell....different pot handles (most people buy a new pot, not replace the handle) the glass thing from the top of a percolator, gaskets and valves for pressure cookers....some of the stuff reminded me of times gone by.
I hate to buy anything new...I love knocking around thrift and junk shops. I garbage picked a nice bird cage the other day. Thought I could put an ivy plant in it.
I brought home a huge (to me and my honda civic) oak log (about 3 ft long and pretty thick), dh dried it out nice and carved huge wooden spoons for winemaking and stirring giant pots of stuff I am canning. Our wood is mostly split, and when I saw this good looking log on the side of the road (probably fell off smeone's truck) I couldnt resist

Forgot to mention, based on a tip I got on this forum, I sewed a grill cover from my empty rice bags. They are a tarp like material, and have elephants on them. Lucky for me, I love elephants, so these are right at home on my grill. I save all of the bags made out of this stuff, thinking I could stitch together a whole tarp from them someday (chickfeed, dog food , rice, grain, that would be a fum looking tarp)

after garden season is over, I move my chickens into the garden(fenced in to keep deer out), where there is a coop for them. they eat all of everything, and turn it into fertilizer. Also, they scratch around, getting any kind of insect grubs. I throw any food scraps in there for them. All paper garbage, I bag up, and burn in the greenhouse stove to start a fire, or just on a chilly morning.
I rerouted the drain from the washer, kitchen sink, and bathtub into a system to water some of my vegetables. It worked out fine, and I expect to keep doing that

I hate waste too and that applies to wasting my time. I try to keep my hands busy. I don't watch much TV but love NBA basketball games. So before I sit down to watch a game I make sure I have some mending, needlework or other project in a basket by my TV-watching chair.
I learned that soaking certain meats in milk will remove a strong or "gamey" taste. This applies to venison and liver (soaking results in a "beefy" flavor), along with fish, canned tuna and salmon (the fishy flavor in the canned stuff seems to increase the longer it's on the shelf). Even chicken has a better flavor after an overnight soak in milk. Afterwards, my kitties get the milk as a treat.
I bought a washable marker and write dates on containers (recycled of course) of leftovers. I keep them on a separate refrigerator shelf and watch the dates. I often build meals around these leftovers so as not to waste them. The labels wash right off so the containers can be used over and over.

I started this blog a couple weeks ago so my siblings could show their curious friends pictures of our rope bed (and other unusual things we have been up to). That might be the best way to explain it. http://urbanpioneerwoman.blogspot.co...-rope-bed.html It has been a fun project....some people think we are really really weird but there have been some that thought it was pretty cool!

How cool is that! Thanks for showing us.

Great pics of the rope bed! Did you know that is where the phrase "Sleep tight" came from?

I've been toying with the idea of going with wash rags instead of T-paper, but the one who posted about splitting the twin ply T-paper into single ply to make it go further....nuh, uh....what's the first thing you do with the paper? Fold it up, thereby undoing the hard work of splitting the plies. Just use less paper!

I love the idea of using a screen to drain the bacon, etc, rather than the newspaper and single sheet of paper towel I use now.

I reuse the Glide dental floss samples from the dentist by rinsing it and storing it in mouthwash.

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MUTTI SAID "We appreciate all the newspaper flyers we get for draining fried stuff..."

What a fantastic idea! We have ditiched paper towels (PT) for almost everything except this. When we do pull the occasional paper towel, it gets used several times if possible, which is more often than not. With Mutti's idea this will probably make PT obsolete. We cover things in the microwave with kitchen towels and cloth napkins. Which reminds me....

One of the frugal things we've been doing is thinking about the use of the microwave. There are many things we used to put in the oven to heat up (like taco shells) that we have been using the microwave for. We've been trying to find frugal ways for all kinds of things for about 4 years.

Great tread. All kinds of new ideas not seen on the Tightwad thread. I need to read more later!

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Just remembered another frugal tip. I reuse old shower curtain liners. For grill covers I take hole puncher and punch hole around the edges about 5" apart and run bailing twine through the holes to tighten it around the grill. Another use is to cover the wood pile.

I'm laughing now because I started a similiar thread on the singletree forum recently. Being weirdly frugal has made it hard to date any one who isn't as thrifty as I am. I am the child of immigrants and my parents could squeeze a penny until it squeaked. As a teenager, it bothered me but I am all grown up and I turned out just like Mom and Dad, even tho I have had many advantages that they didn't.

I save the leftover carcasses of roasted chickens and hang them in the trees to attract wild birds. The birds pick it clean and I get the pleasure of watching them from my windows. I also make chicken pancakes out of all my leftover and furry food scraps. I mix flour and water, add whatever, and fry it in a bit of oil. The chickens love it and it helps fill them up to get them thru the cold long nights. On really cold days, my 3 dogs are limited in how much they go outside. They really dont need to go and have a sniff 80 times a day like they think they do. Every time I open the door for them, I let out precious house heat. Today, we are using the morning, noon and night rule. Except for their afternoon walk, they are going to have to be content inside and play with their toys.

LOL! rileyjo, you sound just like me. Limiting the dogs to 3 potties a day... LOL! I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one, and goodness I hope I'm not thought of as being guilty of animal cruelty. My dog knows that when he's let outside that he has at least a half hour to smell, mark and potty.

I'm still laughing. I just never thought I'd read this on a frugal thread....

Our one car garage is attached to the house and is heated with "wasted" heat from the water heater. The garage is super insulated and temp stays @60. We let the dogs in and out through the garage then the house does not have to be "opened up".

I use the dryer in the winter and our electric is @ 80 per month. We heat with passive solar and wood.

A BIG savings for us is barter. Ex. We have friends that have a boat and fish every week. They put in our freezer @50+pounds of salmon each year and I make goat cheese and give them cornish chickens butchered and frozen...I LOVE salmon. I have a friend who I ride with all summer and when we go away for a day she comes over and does our chores and when she goes I take care of her horse and dogs. Neither have to pay a house sitter. We are always giving and extra pair of helping hands and receive the same. Some projects just need and extra "hold".

My friend and I trade homesteading magazines when we are done reading them, so we save 1/2 in subscriptions. I nanny for a family 3 days a week. I read the paper there and they save me their Newsweek and People magazines for me. Another friend gives me her Woman's Day after she is through.

If I find a good bargin I pass the news along to about 8 close friends and they do the same. We are expecting our first grandchild and they are saving baby coupons for us.

I stop at the outlet store every week, on my way home from work, and get wheat/oat and honey bread for $1. a loaf...VERY fresh. I give a friend fruit from our orchard and she makes some jam and returns some to me. I return the jars and next year she fills them again.

I love garage sales and if I get a boxful I take what I want out and send the rest to a local weekly auction about 4 miles from our home. MANY times I make money and most of the time I break even so what I kept is free.
The aution is a "low end" auction so many weeks I bop down to check it out and if there is soemthing I am interested in I leave a bid with the gal in the office, so I do not have to stay until the item is put up for sale.
I try to have a garage sale myself every couple of years. What is left I box up for the auction.

The only meat we buy is a whole hog from the butcher. The freezer paper is really a nice heavy paper worth saving. Simply remove the cut right away when taking from the freezer...clean as needed, hang to dry, and come hunting season or what ever I have a pile of nice freezer paper.

brownegg

I do a lot of the things mentioned, although I get real chilly if the thermostat is below 64-62. Relatives think we're nuts for keeping it so low, except for my mom. She understands...as well she should since she's never lived in a house with central heat, never had air conditioning, etc. My mom taught me lots of tricks...saving the waxed liner from cereal, washing ziplock bags, etc.

However, the most frugal thing I can remember my mom doing is making us pick up all the toilet tissue when some of our friends rolled our yard. For months afterward we used that tissue in the bathroom! Mama kept a paper grocery sack full of it next to the toilet.

Oh, there's also the many times she cooked roadkill. If we saw a chicken or guinea get hit by a car she would run get it, clean and cook it for supper.

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I don't think it is extreme...did you know that Walmart sells turkey and cheese sandwiches that are actually an entire loaf?
They are less than $5 and can easily be cut into 5 or more meals...making $1 meals.
When I take all day trips, I take one with me.
I cut a slice each time I get gas, keeping expenses and time traveled to a minimum

"However, the most frugal thing I can remember my mom doing is making us pick up all the toilet tissue when some of our friends rolled our yard. For months afterward we used that tissue in the bathroom! Mama kept a paper grocery sack full of it next to the toilet."

Well, we can only hope it wasn't pre-----ed

I have a lovely pair of black cashmere gloves- my driving gloves in the pockets of my down coat for very cold days. Of course the finger tips have worn out. I don't have cashmere wool but have lambswool similar weight when doubled so I patch the gloves- and am behind a few fingers! Best friend teased me. But cashmere gloves are $30-50/pr and I'd've replaced them a dozen times so far, and the exercise of repairing the gloves was fascinating. Too bad it is no longer so high a priority for me!

I wear the two half pairs of pantyhose back when I wore pantyhose regularly. In Poland when I visited in the 70s they would REPAIR nylons with an invisible cobweb of nylon thread. Left a visible seam though.