Friday’s Frugal Five

If you haven’t visited the Non-Consumer Advocate site, you should. Katy is the creator of Five Frugal Things and is my inspiration for Friday’s Frugal Five.

I have a confession to make. While the MMGC is going well and I’m staying within my budget, albeit by the skin of my teeth, I have to tell you that I have been spending in others areas as if I had won the lottery or something. In the past few weeks I have carried new item after new item into the house. To the point where I have a guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Let me explain… for a while now I’ve been trying to switch out my (old) teflon cookware for stainless steel and cast iron, so about a week ago I purchased a new set of stainless steel cookware. But, I did get it at 60% off, so that’s good. Also, I have limited cabinet space in my kitchen and had been wanting to get a hanging pot rack to help with storage. I found one that was 40% off, so I bought that. Last fall when we processed our hog, I cured and smoked about 60lbs of pork belly into bacon, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not slice the meat thin enough to get a bacon texture. So, I bought a meat slicer and I also got 25% off of that. Hoping for a solution to my cabinet storage situation I purchased 8 large jars with $1 off of each to store things like grains and beans instead of just having bags laying in the cabinets. I bought some half gallon mason jars and large mouth plastic lids for better storage also. I bought seeds for our garden starters, instead of waiting and starting the gardens with established plants from the nursery. Admittedly in the past we have not done well starting our own seedlings, and also admittedly these seeds were not cheap as I chose organic heirloom seeds. I could go on I’m sure, but you get the idea. The point I suppose is that I have been talking out of both sides of my mouth about being frugal. Being frugal includes more than just what you spend on groceries. Well, it absolutely should anyway, and in that regard I have failed.

I could give a suitable explanation for all of my purchases about having the right tools for the jobs (the slicer) or about trying to get away from toxic teflon (the cookware) or perhaps because I spend 75% of my home life in the kitchen and would like it to be better organized (the hanging pot rack and storage jars) and even the seeds in hopes that they will be successful (meaning not die) this year and will provide us with seeds for several years and in turn save money.

So, no more! No more of the spending with out at least trying to find a suitable solution first. Make do or do without. Luckily I have not gone into debt for these purchases (thanks to the pickle jar). I believe to some degree perhaps I’ve been treating myself with these purchases for quitting smoking. Anyway…. full disclosure, clearly I’ve still got a long way to go in the frugal department. Thanks for letting me share. Now on to Friday’s Frugal Five…

With my new eating plan to kick the omeprazole (generic for prilosec) that I posted about earlier this week. I can’t have caffeine. This doesn’t really rattle me too much because I’m not one of those die hard coffee drinkers some people are (not judging at all, the Z Man loves his coffee too) I do enjoy 1 or 2 cups of hot tea in the morning and some iced tea from time to time. Why is this frugal? I returned an unopened huge box of tea bags to the grocery store. I also returned a bag of organic onions that were half rotten, limes that were hard as rocks and a couple other things which netted me $23 in returns.
I returned an unopened bottle of agave sweetener because a friend told me that it could flare up my indigestion and heartburn more than just a small amount of unpasteurized honey, which I already have. I’m not counting this in the MMGC because it was purchased for medicinal purposes along with the supplements.
Bartered again this week with my friend which will get me some lovely dairy and grass fed beef.
Made some yogurt this past weekend which not only is quite cheaper than buying yogurt, it taste so much better. I also cooked and canned 15 quarts of homemade chicken stock. Returned my book on cd to the library and picked up a couple more. Checked out several books on kicking the omeprazole and healing the gut. Interesting but not shocking how it basically boils down to no one diet fits all and so far, being early on in my research, I am finding a strong consensus of managing portion control, which makes perfect sense when trying to prevent GERD. (more on all this later)
The Z Man stopped and asked about a few trees that he has seen down in someone’s yard for quite a while. He offered to clear it away for them, they are happy to have it gone and we are happy to have the wood. He also used a $20 coupon at Advance Auto to get the break parts to make repairs to our truck. Yea, he’s handy like that. I’m such a lucky girl 🙂

We’ve been eating leftovers for lunches, making meals from freezer and pantry items, hanging clothes on the clothes line to dry, driving the speed limit to save on gas, combining errands with work schedule to avoid unnecessary driving.

As for the MMGC I bought some fresh veggies this week spending $28, but I did get the grocery store to price match the Aldi price for avocados for 59¢ instead of 98¢ each. So, with my returns and the $10.50 I had left over from last week that leaves me with $5.50 left for the month.

Most frugal of all, we are still breathing fresh air from quitting smoking, and adding that money to my pickle jar each week.

How about you, what frugal fun have you had this week?

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter. Thank you GOD for loving us!

Till Next Time,

Lori

Friday’s Frugal Five

Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day to Ya! I haven’t had a proper corned beef dinner in years. Perhaps after the MMGC is done I’ll plan one for April.

Here is Friday’s Frugal Five: Again, I straight up stole the frugal five from Katy at Non Consumer Advocate…

Did some bartering with a friend, I love bartering, especially when both parties are excited and pleased with the outcome. I bartered a few items around the house that were collecting dust for me, but things my friend could get great use out of…. she bartered about 30lbs of grass fed beef. SO EXCITED!!! As far as red meat we are predominately a venison household, but I can’t wait for some awesome burgers on the grill this summer! Now, I need to figure out what to do with the beef heart she threw in, but don’t worry, I’ll figure out something that is magically delicious.
Balanced my cash envelopes and returned one of my milk jugs which netted me $2, but I purchased $7.50 in fresh dairy, so now my balance is $4.50 which I’m not gonna lie is causing me a bit of anxiety. Next week I will have 3 milk jugs to return and that will net me $6 and will bump me back up to $10.50 Woo Hoo living high on that hog!
Took and inventory of the pantry to determine what we need to focus on in the gardens this year. Green beans for sure. Always need tomatoes, and I think I’m gonna try putting up peas and carrots this year. And yes, that did remind me of Forest, Forest Gump. Like peas and carrots….. All my seeds should arrive in the next few days and I’ve already got my soil and recycled toilet paper and paper towel rolls ready.
Used up the last of the squeezed, flattened, rolled and clipped toothpaste tube last night. I think I actually heard it moaning from all the squeezing and twisting. I always get a warm frugal feeling when I do that, I mean why waste it?
Also snagged an antique shelf unit in the barter process, which is so pretty that I hope to get it set up in the kitchen / dinning / pantry area this weekend…. I have no idea where it’s going to go yet, but I’ll love it I know that.

It occurred to me that I haven’t been including my most proud frugal activity in my weekly Friday Frugal Five. Quitting smoking! April 23rd is the Z Man’s 1 year smoke free anniversary and I have been smoke free since January 4th. This is not only saving us money, but saving our life…. you know provided we don’t get hit by a bus or something. 🙂

How was your frugal week?

Till Next Time,

Lori

Butter

Butter – the everlasting delight of the gourmand, the faithful ally of the culinary arts, the constant symbol of good living.

Through time and across the globe, butter has had a sacred quality. From the ancient Fertile Crescent to the present day, butter has symbolized the powerful, life giving and sacred, the good, the happy, the healthy and pure. It has sustained lives, cultures and civilizations for millennia.

Butter is a culinary treasure as old as King Tut’s tomb. “She brought forth butter in a lordly dish” (Judges 5:25). A jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and butter!

From – Butter Through The Ages.

About a month ago my Mother called and was so excited that she had just made homemade butter and how easy and good it was. I’m sure the ease of it was most of the amazement and surely reminded her of being the very young child witnessing the butter being made. Making butter back then was not an easy process, not unlike so many of the other great things that take time and effort to accomplish. Butter is one of the GREATS!

Fast forward 100 years to imagine me standing in the dairy section at the grocery store needing butter. How things have changed…. But as I was standing there I remembered Mother’s conversation and decided to make my butter. While I wish we did, we in fact do not have a milk cow or goats on our homestead, so my choice for cream (and milk) is Homestead Creamery. I feel it’s the best choice for us and also I believe you get what you pay for.

Being on a tight grocery budget this month, some would wonder why I didn’t just buy the 99¢ fake, yellow, plastic, artificially flavored stuff, and well, that is why… As Michael Pollan says “we are what we eat, and what we eat, eats”

The question I asked myself in the grocery store was, do I spend $6 on butter and $3 on the milk that I wanted, or do I spend $6 on cream to make butter which would also net me some sweet cream milk after making the butter. I chose the cream.

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Making butter is as easy as can be, however I will advise not to over fill the food processor as it will leak out all over the counter, making a huge mess. Yes, that happened.

All you do is pour the cream into the food processor and process for about 5 minutes then separate the butter from the buttermilk.

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The buttermilk can be refrigerated for later use. Then you want to rinse your butter with ice cold water to help preserve it. Pour ice cold water over the butter and press with a rubber spatula to extract as much of the liquid as possible. I saved the water I used to rinse the butter and added a little dry milk to it and then added it to the buttermilk I extracted from the cream. What I ended up with was a full quart of sweet cream milk that I can use in other recipes or just drink.

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I was so excited about the butter that I had to make something to spread it on. I made some butternut banana muffins and some cornbread. Those muffins with fresh homemade butter are out of this world good. One of those Y-U-M moments. And a glass of sweet cream buttermilk and cornbread… the only thing missing is a front porch swing and a breezy summer evening.

This was a fun experiment and I’m glad I did it. While it didn’t take me hours to hand churn my butter, it did give me a little nostalgic feeling of living back in the day when things seemed better. I’ll keep making our butter because the best part of it was the taste, so fresh and clean, which is the ultimate reason for doing it.

As for MMGC, if you’re keeping track, I’m now down to $10 to last me the rest of the month. YIKES! But, we have some great butter and pure maple syrup.

Pancakes anyone 🙂

Till Next Time,

Lori

Friday Frugal Five

We were traveling this week to visit with new family members. I’m a Grandma Y’all!!! 🙂

It’s hard to be frugal while traveling, but I think we managed pretty good. The MMGC (March Madness Grocery Challenge) wasn’t in effect while we were traveling, but I did try to keep expenses to a minimum. Before our trip my grocery expense was $0 for the month. As of today I have spent $28 so far this month on groceries. That $28 was on the way back home after an 11 hour road trip and I’m ok with that. Since I am allowing myself $20 a week, I’m still within my allowance as I don’t anticipate any other purchases in the next 3 days. I’m also ok with it because as tired as we were we didn’t opt for dinner out or picking up something to go after an 11 hour car ride. Instead I chose to throw some salmon on the grill, fry some potatoes and onions and make a salad, and it was delicious! No picture, because I was too tired to think about it.

I will be spending $45 on Monday, as I have a friend traveling to Vermont and offered to bring me a gallon of pure maple syrup that would cost me $80 here in Virginia. Challenge or not, that’s just wise spending. That will put me at a total of $73 leaving me a balance of (4.43 x $20 = $89) $16 for the month. It’s gonna be tight, that’s for sure!

Now, on to 5 frugal things…

washed and dried all our travel clothes yesterday taking advantage of the warm weather using the clothes line.
brought leftovers to work with me for lunch.
totaled receipts from our trip and will add back to the pickle jar today as it is payday. (More on the pickle jar next week)
our dinner last night consisted of everything we had harvested on our homestead. Pork ribs, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, roasted turnips and butternut.
working today instead of taking the last day of the week off after our trip because a day of making money is more frugal than a day of not making money.

Your turn….

Till Next Time,

Lori