Freezer shelf full of frozen containers to use for the chickens, put into the outside cat waterer and I put the frozen milk jug containers into the horses/donkeys water troughs. After awhile I do have to throw away the containers because after several uses they start to crack open.
One of my 'garbage' bags.
Mayo containers being used for storage.The past day or two have been hectic busy. Lots of things have come up that require attention now.
Amongst taking care of what needs to being taken care of, I started thinking of ways to pinch those ever so precious pennies in today's economic hardships. I am a frugal person.Even more so now. Favorite word is free, followed by buy one get one free, 50% off, clearance, etc...
We have dogs, cats, horses,donkeys, goats and one Amazon parrot that all have to have food. When I go to the feed store to buy grain, I always ask about broken bags. Even if it is just a savings of a dollar, hey, a dollar is a dollar. I do the same thing when I buy the dog's and cat's their food.
I've learned to make my own Rice-A-Roni, spaghetti sauce, cream sauce for noodles. Making it at home is a whole heck of a lot cheaper than buyer one jar of spaghetti sauce for two bucks. I can make it at home for under one dollar. Yes, I save the Taco Bell sauce packets, ketchup packets, napkins, etc... when we do treat ourselves to fast food ( which truly is a treat!).
I clip coupons. Check the store ads on the Internet. Only drive into town if I have to and make sure I can get everything done in that one trip rather than make several trips throughout the week. I don't buy garbage bags anymore. I use the empty dog and cat food bags as garbage bags, then staple the tops shut. The library is one of my favorite stops when in town. Free books to read.
One day I started paying attention to what was going in the garbage. My goodness it was a lot. The empty plastic containers like mayo, butter, peanut butter, took up a lot of space. So guess what? I put those containers to use. The mayo ones get uncooked pasta, crackers, chocolate chips, brown sugar, etc stored in them. Empty coffee containers are used for scoops for grain, dog food, cat food, flour, sugar, rice, etc... You are right, when you open the pantry and see all those containers it isn't a pretty sight. No fancy containers bought at the store.
There are more things I have learned to stretch a buck. Right now my mind is starting to slow down otherwise I would remember them all and share.
Oops, sorry, got off track there. Back to pinching pennies. I asked several friends what they do to pinch. Turning off lights when you leave a room. Using mother nature to dry the laundry rather than use the dryer. Going straight to the day old bread rack. Asking the meat guy what is getting ready to out date and ask for a discount.
Oh, and I have been recycling what I can. For free I can take the bins that have glass and cans and plastics to the recycling center and drop the items off.
I would love to hear how you pinch pennies.
Until next time...............
Question: Do you do much baking? And if you do, what type of flour do you use? The reason I ask, is because not only does it save money to do these things but also.... now that we actually have a wonderful wheat harvest.... NONE of the millers are buying the wheat! How does that fit! Now it is up to each of us within our own tiny little group of Certified Organic growers to figure out how and where to sell our wheat. It's not that the quality isn't there, it is. It's just that nobody is buying. So the "middle man" won't purchase to make more.
ReplyDeleteSo my question then becomes; who is interested in purchasing 2# of whole wheat, to grind yourself when you want it for baking, at a reasonable price of $2?? Cheap! Because the middle man is cut out!
Sorry for the rant. But it would help you as well as us. The heck with the economy, it's going to be up to each individual to figure out ways of not just getting by and making due, but how to grow.
Have I mentioned that I love "bartering"? :-)
Take care Cindy.
Blessings.
Bonnie - the starving farmers wife.