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has anyone tried gwaltney roll sausage? Sav A Lot has it for $1 (ten for ten sale), for a 12 oz package. wondering about the quality. We like the Jimmy Dean, hardly any fat and tasty
 
I saw a cute item on Facebook today. It was a half pint fruit jar with fudge in it. The recipie for a peanut butter fudge was included, but I think any old fudge could be used. This would be a good use for the odds and end jars we accumulate that are too nice to toss, like the ones candles sometimes come in. This would be a great Valentine gift. Decorate maybe with a red ribbon, hearts and maybe a cut up white paper lace doily or placemat. Tie on an orphan spoon for instant gratification.
 
Patience brings results! Last year I found a new pair of pinky/lavendar Alfred Dunner corduroys at a thrift shop. Right size so I bought them although I had nothing to match. Yesterday I bought a new L.L. Bean wool cardigan in a pink/lavendar/gray tweed for $3 at the same thrift shop. So for $6 I have a brand new cords and sweater. I already have a gray turtleneck that will work to complete the outfit.
 
I love thrift shops. Adore them. Want to live in the backroom of one. Once I went "all out" and spent forty whole dollars. I love thrift shops. Everybody compliments my everything and it's always thrift shops. Where'd you get those cute jars? Oh I love your shoes! Oh, look at that pan! Oooh where did you get that dresser? THRIFT SHOPS. And the most I ever spent on any one thing was fifty bucks. For furniture.

Everyone asks HOW. How how how. I go to thrift shops I can't find anything waaaah.... because they go like once! You need to go to four every week for eight weeks or so, or every other week or just whenever you have ten minutes and some cash and happen to be near one. I have my phone set to tell me of nearby thrift shops so I can thrift at a moments notice. Husband needs to be dropped off? Thrift shop nearby? Don't have to buy anything - especially once you get used to prices/deals you know you can wait for another one. Patience. Patience and sorting. Someday that super nice top will come in. Some day ALL the super nice tops will come in. All your colour. All on sale. Or. once that happened and it was A BAG FOR FIVE DLLARS DAY. Do you know what that means for someone who is an [American] size 0? I got like 25 things in that bag! Ask questions. "Have you seen any _____ come in? Yellow shirts? Size 6 [Australian] shorts? Jars? Couches? Interesting DVDs?" ENTIRE SERIES OF HOGANS HEROES - $8.

Just don't stop shopping there. That's the key. Clothes shopping? Don't do it like regular shopping where you go all at once and buy a bunch of brand new things you're not even sure you like buy had to buy because you needed 10 new shirts for work... do it whenever you have a spare 20 minutes. Buy one perfect piece at a time, or ten when they have them. My closet looks like a Mecca. People Love my closet. Love my kitchen. Love my house. I have cheap frames I painted up and DIYd (also a helpful handy skill once we get into furniture) and painted to fit blown up photographs I did myself at a print shop from our wedding. Anniversary present for year 1, cost me like $80 for all of it, but it was like 10 photos, one of them [our first kiss as man and wife] huge in a huge frame. Made a perfect paper gift. Always on the lookout for canning jars. A box tends to go for $4.50 and three black garbage bags $10. Don't EVER barter because this is charity for goodness sakes.
 
Notbutanapron- Also, many of our local thrift stores have FB pages where they post notices of sales. Sales like the $1 an item one at our local Goodwill a few weeks ago. I have chore shirts for the rest of my life for less than $30, plus finace got all of his sweatshirts back, so everybody's happy! Also, let people know that you like to shop at thrift stores. I tend to hear about these things via texts from other frugal friends, and I make a point of passing them on.
 
Discussion starter · #68 ·
Went to the community center today to put up a new bulletin board. There was a bunch of leftover produce, the seniors had already taken what they wanted, so I came home with a few pounds of yellow potatoes, 6 nice-sized sweet potatoes, two bags of Meyer lemons, and 10 big bulbs of elephant garlic, and a package of rolls. That will stretch the budget this month.

I am going to make some garlic oil. I was watching a cooking show and for pizza crust the chef used garlic oil and let the crust proof in the fridge for three full days. I am going to try that.
 
My family really does like cheese as a snack. A piece with an apple or pear or stalk of celery or couple of crackers is a common snack in our house.

Apparently however our idea of a "piece "of cheese was very different. I was always amazed at how quickly a block disappeared.

A one inch cube of cheese has 70 calories and 50 of those are from fat. This is good energy food but not if you are weight (and price) conscious.

Now whenever I open a new block of cheese I "score" it (mark it on the top) in one inch squares with my vegetable peeler. Now everyone can figure out just what is a snack size piece of cheese. The cat loves the little cheese curls that come off with the vegetable peeler.
 
Good deal, Melissa! That will help you stay within that budget this month for sure. We're looking at replacing our old furnace and putting in one in the basement, so have to be really, really thrifty. Hubs and I both need some dental work, too. More dollars flying out the door. I'm going through the canned foods and making meals from them. Mom never complains and hubby doesn't either, so it's nice to be able to have something I made fill us up. Had ham and bean soup, canned pears and cornbread for dinner tonight. Fresh apple cake awaits for anyone needing something more later.

Did the taxes for Mom and gd today, so now just have to do ours and our dd's. Pays to get the program and do it yourself, as gd's boyfriend paid almost 400.00. He has no deductions and they used the simple form! Took half his refund. Of course, if you have a complicated return and are not comfortable doing it, always go to a professional.
 
Ann-NWIowa - nope, never had/made a denim quilt but I figured it'd be heavy. It's not going to have batting & I thought i'd just put flannel on the back of each square & that'd be the backing. Still should be pretty heavy though, which is fine by me (and my son who's going to get it). I think queen-size is pretty ambitious, but I'll do most anything once. I don't think I'd go bigger than queen though.
A few years ago I made a denim quilt from worn out jeans, with flannel backing I got as a freebie from my mom. Mine is not quite a twin size, a little smaller, but the intention I had was to use it for picnics and other times we needed to sit on the ground - fireworks shows, etc. and also as a protector for my back car seat. I even considered putting slots in it to feed the seat belts through, but I didn't.

I love this quilt -- simply adore it. I need to make another one soon. If I don't have enough denim I'll grab some old jeans from the Goodwill pound store. I like to get a variety of colors. My first one even has camo and striped corduroy in it from my kids' clothes. So it's sort of a memory quilt too.

I didn't quilt or tie it. What I did was to tack it every 3 inches or so with my sewing machine. My machine might not have held up to stitching through miles of flannel-backed denim, but tacking was fine.
 
Went to the community center today to put up a new bulletin board. There was a bunch of leftover produce, the seniors had already taken what they wanted, so I came home with a few pounds of yellow potatoes, 6 nice-sized sweet potatoes, two bags of Meyer lemons, and 10 big bulbs of elephant garlic, and a package of rolls. That will stretch the budget this month.
Years ago, the local senior center got more free bread delivered to them than you could ever imagine.

Delivery was on Monday mornings, and I often got to pick from the leftovers, just before they were thrown away on Monday afternoons.

I think the most that I ever took was four items, but I sure enjoyed getting free bread or expensive bagels.

I miss those days...
 
Beaglebiz, I bought that Gwaltney sausage at SAL once and threw it away. It was almost white in color and felt very sticky. I thought with a brand name it would be fine. Maybe this was an unusual batch but wouldn't buy it again.
 
Beaglebiz, I bought that Gwaltney sausage at SAL once and threw it away. It was almost white in color and felt very sticky. I thought with a brand name it would be fine. Maybe this was an unusual batch but wouldn't buy it again.
I don't think it was unusual. I bought a bunch of them at SAL on sale and all were almost white and sticky. I didn't throw them out, but used it in meatloaf along with ground beef. I never bought it again though. I too was surprized that a brand like Gwaltney would sell a product of that quality.

However, yesterday at SAL I found bags of red apples on the clearance shelving with other marked down fruit and veggies. There were 8 apples in each bag and a bag was marked 99 cents. So I bought 3 (didn't want to take them all.) I have not tried them as we have several pounds of apples already. But they are a firm good looking apple, look fresh. If they aren't a good eating variety (variety not specified) I will just make fried apples. I do that with any firm apple, doesn't matter what type. Sure will be glad when my trees really start producing!
 
A pound of butter up here has reached the $7 mark (and our exchange rate is pretty much par so that would be about the same in US dollars.) I dug out my Laurels Kitchen cookbook and have started making BETTER BUTTER. I used to make this all the time. I often wonder why I stop doing stuff? Anyways it extends the butter and tastes very good - better than margerine. I can buy this at the store but it costs $5 for a little tub.

1 cup safflower, soy or corn oil
1 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons dried milk powder
1/4 teaspoon lecithin
1/2 teaspoon salt.

Dissolve salt in water in blender. Add all other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into containers and store in refrigerator.

This can also be made by simply blending the oil and butter but it does not stay solid at room temperature for very long. I use this in baking.
 
Another good reason to check thrift shops frequently. Often someone loses/gains weight or passes away and their closet is cleaned out and it all goes to the thrift shop. So there will be a good selection of clothes of similar size and taste.

My s/o liked western shirts and dickies type slacks. We hit a bonanza once at the shop a local hospice runs. I think the previous owner had been in a nursing home as the clothes had a name inside, but they were perfect.

Another tip, my s/o was older than me, and had some health problems toward the end of his life. I worried about him falling, which happened often. At Goodwill I found a like new pair of shoes, the kind many of the fast food places require their employees to wear, the kind that are slip proof in water and grease. They were black and like a walking shoe. He liked them they were comfortable, and hopefully they protected him for a fall or two. Even new, at retail they are not terrible expensive, and probably a real good idea for the seniors we love and care for.

He loved cowboy boots, but they drove me nuts when he wore them, it was like me trying to wear high heels. Once I got him talked into flat bottom walking shoes, he did like them.
 
Some random things I do to save money:

I keep a large jar of oil filled with 'things'. Garlic about to grow? In the oil. Capsicum [bell pepper] a bit wrinkly? Roast it and put it in the oil. Tomatoes going soft? Sliced, dried gently and in the oil. I fish them out for pastas, salads, soups and the like. Even if I only have one thing, anything, just as it's going off, I'll roast it with dinner or pop it in a pan and brown it or slice it up to bake in the oven with something else. That way I don't waste a single vegetable. I also keep simple syrup and pickle juice on hand on my fridge for exactly the same reason haha. I get -everything- before it goes off, even if it's a tiny amount. A small jar of random fruit in syrup is still a nice treat in a lunchbox! I make the syrups/pickles on Sunday and because they're on hand I use them a lot more than if I had to make them individually so I'm usually out within the week. The oil is forever. If I feel it's getting 'stale' I'll start cooking with it and replenishing it. Even fruit can just be chopped and frozen and added to as the week/month goes on. When you have a bag full make a smoothie. It's the 'random things that almost went off but I caught just in time and froze' smoothie. Alternatively, this is good in a pie or crumble. This stuff adds up, too. A fruit or two a week is a lot in a month, actually, and can be a full dessert or meal even every week!

If I have leftover gravy on the bottom of the pan I mix some rice into it and mix it with the dogs food for a couple days or when they've been good as a treat and it pads out their meals with meat juice and rice and nommy fresh stuff and I didn't waste just a random half-pan of gravy or meat juices or bones or leftovers. I sometimes freeze them in blocks and give them to the dogs frozen in ultra high heats. They love me for this.

Get cookbooks from the library, get your favourite recipes and copy them at home in a notebook or on the scanner. Hehehe.

I think to myself "What was the origin of this?" and "Can I make that?" Can tomato sauce [ketchup] be made at home for cheaper? Mayonnaise? With chickens, mostly. It tastes nicer anyway. But, as for bargains... What is in my shampoo? Can I make that or something cheaper? [Does vinegar and bicarb work with my type of hair? Answer is no, but it might work for you!] Hm, my face masque has all these weird things in it...what do I really need? What is my ultimate goal with this masque? Can I make something similar with things I have?

If I really like something that's easy to buy but harder to make, I try to make a lot of it. Husband loves pizza every now and again so I make a lot of dough and freeze bases out so all they have to do is be tossed on a hot pan, covered in stuff from my jar and some cheese and baked. So it's so easy it's even quicker than ordering it because I prepared everything already. The dough takes two hours a million years ago and I can make 10-15 at a time. A deep freeze does help lol. I do this with mini cakes, stews, tons of things. I

f I have a lot and I need things done, I trade them for those things. I find a LOT of capable handymen really hate buying lunches and LOVE homecooked meals but don't get any. You would be SO surprised how many people will do their job for homemade food. I paid an accountant in wine, a mover in homebrew beer, a water tank load in stew, a car rental in frozen frittata...I even got car parts, more food, animals, books, cookery and various other things from people for food. People REALLY like homemade food. Seriously just go, "Oh I really like to cook. Actually...if you give me a deal I can bring you meals. How does $__ off a meal sound?" Usually they'll barter it's worth more to you than that! So I've offered like 10 meals for a job and they seriously reply "Oh nonono...I couldn't take more than 6." BRILLIANT.
 
Notbutanapron, you are the ultimate saver! I'd give you a prize for being so frugal. I feel terrible as I just cleaned out one of the vegetable crispers in the fridge today and tossed some things that were really beyond being able to eat. Felt terrible and I have GOT to get back on the program. I like your method of using things in oils and syrups! Going to try that.
 
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See the link in my signature line to signup. PM with any questions.
 
Notbutanapron, you are the ultimate saver! I'd give you a prize for being so frugal. I feel terrible as I just cleaned out one of the vegetable crispers in the fridge today and tossed some things that were really beyond being able to eat. Felt terrible and I have GOT to get back on the program. I like your method of using things in oils and syrups! Going to try that.
Haha thanks! I'm really weird about wasting food. I was really proud of myself this last year because I managed to preserve an ENTIRE tree of lemons. Not ONE went to rot. Also, I was exhausted and I couldn't give AWAY lemon marmalade by the end of it. I found though that roasted lemon chutney was the BEST recipe for it because it used a toooon to lemons and made very little which is important when you have a tree but not at all good if you buy lemons.

First you roast lemons in oil and salt in slices until golden and then you crush it all in a blender or mortar and pestle and mix it with all your favourite soft fresh herbs I like chervil, coriander [um. er. cilantro?] and parsley. Put in some garlic, roasted if you thought about it before or read this whole post before making this. Add enough oil to cover and blend until a paste. Uses the rind, the pith, everything - isn't bitter, uses a LOT of lemons so you don't waste a tree. Oh and ridiculously delicious. Good on everything. Ten lemons makes like one tiny tiny jar.

I have SO many pickled radishes just because my radish patch got excited. And my eggplant... hahaha :eek:

For eggplant I slice [if needed] roast them and put them in the oil. Good for fishing out later when you want baba ganouj. Tomatoes and garlic are roasted. I pickle cauliflower, beans, broccoli, etc. I put the fruit in the simple syrups in little jars and pack them in lunches or for trips. If I have the mood, I'll make small jars of oil and pack the capsicum/bellpepper into those so I can have tiny jars I can pack in lunches with a fruit jar, some homemade bread, a pickled 'things' jar [all just stuff I saved from demise in a small jar], a couple small wedges of cheese and some fresh fruit or a jar of stew. it's like the jarred lunch! Haha. But it's delicious. Put the pickle in the stew or eat it on the bread with the cheese and fruit... or eat the fruit as dessert or put that on the bread. Choices!

I like my large jar of 'things'. I'd say I use it so much nothing ever really lasts too long in there and after three or so months the oil is AMAZING. And it's so good drizzled on pizza with some fresh garden greens. All old stuff about to go off that's been roasted and slowly marinading with garlic/tomatoes and olive oil is quite nice, actually. Sometimes I stand in the middle of my kitchen with a huge grin and my hands on my hips and go, "Haha, I am a superhero! I have turned ordinary wilted vegetables and turned them into a delicious pizza for pennies!" And we don't even have pennies.

Oh and if I have to peel fruit for a job by boiling it, I turn the water into a syrup as well. Boiled peach water from making jarred peaches makes such beautiful syrup. Put it in tea, yummy. I just wanted to see what happened if I didn't waste that light pink water after I boiled the skins off. It's actually quite strong! And works for all sorts of fruit!

Why am I still talking? I gave good advice once, apparently, and that exceeds my usual monthly allotment! :D
 
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