How to live frugal and sharing tips what you do to save money...

[angels4u]

42 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Ah, canned meats. A few years ago, I also thought about canning some meat, and I did. Besides safety, vitamins, protein, shelf life, and nutrition, canned food has three aspects, smell, taste, and appearance. I cannot explain how nasty that canned meat looks in a Mason jar; it is worse than Alpo. I have some Spam and potted meat stored up; Spam & eggs are pretty good together.

Since I retired and moved to my retirement home, I have had chickens. I have 6.5 acres of lawn to mow and a field to bush hog, and many other upkeep projects. It was no big deal 10-12 years ago, but age has caught up with me. I looked at my workload to see where I could cut back on some labor and time, and chickens were one of them.

I have always raised 12-16 chicks, way more eggs than we can use. There is not much more time and effort in tending two or sixteen chickens, and I enjoy sharing the eggs with my church family and neighbors. The only thing I don’t care for is, “here comes egg man.”

But anyway, a few years ago, when they had to kill millions of chickens up North because of some Avian flu, we had shortages and price hikes on eggs. Metaphorically speaking, I had eggs coming out of my ears and giving them away. Now it will be September before I get my first egg.

You are correct. With what I spent on my garden this year, I am not saving a lot of money and expending an old man’s limited labor, and I do not have a place or the ambition to start my plants indoors to transplant.

If the weather cooperates, the deer, critters, and the insects take their 2/3^rd of the garden, and I will still be more than recouping my investment. The tomatoes will be succulent, tender, juicy, and favorable, and I will know where they came from and what chemicals were applied.

As shortages and inflation wax worse and worse, I foresee an increase in bartering between neighbors and the community. As these things progress, I imagine civil unrest and rioting will escalate. Living or working in a major city may become tricky?

This year I will be canning much more. In the years past, I have taken bushels of fresh produce to share with my church family. I get the impression they feel they are doing me a favor by taking it.

Quote

“here comes egg man.”

LOL, we used to buy eggs on the road where we live and I remember asking our children ,who wants to go with me to the egg man to get eggs?

[angels4u]

33 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Thank you for the information, I was not aware of that. Would that also apply to vacuum sealing? Seems it would be the same concept? 

I don't do any vacuum sealing ,just the Mylar bags ,I'm just leaving the sugar as it is..

[angels4u]

A good tip for people who want to live frugal is,buy more what you need when it's on sale and put it in Mylar bags,will be good practically forever and you can reuse the bag

[Dennis1209]

34 minutes ago, Starise said:

You seem to have a good plan Dennis. Unfortunately I don't have that much land. There are many farmers with stands close by selling produce in the summer though. We did the small, yard thing for awhile and had a mini garden that produced tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. Not really enough room for beans or corn.

Probably for me buying a few vegetables in bulk as backup is best. Then buying local produce in the spring and summer.

I had two dozen eggs in my fridge and since it's been cooler I knew I didn't need to collect eggs from my two chickens every day. Yesterday I decided to look in the coop egg bin and there was another 13 eggs in it! Those two girls must be laying like crazy.

A couple of hunters around here are canning deer meat and when it's done right it tastes better than any other meat for soups or eating plain. I was thinking more of just buying already canned meat. Not sure how long it will keep. I imagine for a very long time no refrigeration necessary. 

If a person has access to beans, eggs and meat, they have all the protein they probably need. I am all for ways to preserve those things without mechanical cooling. You being in Tennessee are probably well aware of salt cured hams. I think they can still be bought around here. I used to give my father in law one for Christmas every year. Better yet I could use a small smoker to preserve meat I buy locally. Jerky can be made in any oven.

 

I have not tried it yet, but I intend to give it a go. Watching some videos, people coat eggs in mineral oil, place them in a carton, and store them in a cool, dry basement. They claim they will keep unrefrigerated like that for 9-12 months. I cannot verify that is true, though?

We could cite many biblical examples of being prudent seeing hard times approaching, Joseph and the seven-year famine being the most famous. Today, a blind man can see what is looming on the horizon; then, maybe not. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

We have an excellent population of deer, turkey, squirrel, and critters. Those resources will probably be the first to go with hard times and desperation. There is no such thing as the best-laid plans. We trust the Lord to provide for our needs and give us the wisdom to see all these things coming to fruition and prepare for them.

Oh yes, we have salt-cured hams hanging all over here. The problem is the difficulty hobbling out of the store carrying that ham. Having to give an arm and a leg for a ham. 😊

[Cntrysner]

1 hour ago, angels4u said:

Can you share more about the back to Eden method? I have a book called "Back to Eden" it's an old book with health remedies, it sounds you have a wonderful place to live,I bake my own bread ,we don't really buy processed foods..

Sour dough bread is delicious!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSUxcsJDgJM

 

[AnOrangeCat]

I'm housebound and personally enjoy the lifestyle a lot. It's a big money saver. I only rarely really try this sort of thing but there are videos on Youtube of extreme budget diet ideas that are difficult to fathom until you try them, like stretching $10 out to cover a week's worth of food if you watch your portions.

[OneLight]

I scanned the thread and didn't see this mentioned, but if it was, I apologize for the repetition.

When I worked with the homeless community for a few years, we developed a class called Rental 101 we would teach in the shelters, and to the public when there was enough interest.  Part of this was to help people understand the difference between "a need" and "a want".  When discussing the "wants", we would suggest that instead of buying something on impulse, that they give it a week to see if they really should spend the money, since most had very little money to work with.  People were surprised at what a couple of day meant with their desire of their "want".  They often would see that it was not such a good idea after all.

Lots of great ideas with food and using your own abilities in this thread!

[Starise]

56 minutes ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I'm housebound and personally enjoy the lifestyle a lot. It's a big money saver. I only rarely really try this sort of thing but there are videos on Youtube of extreme budget diet ideas that are difficult to fathom until you try them, like stretching $10 out to cover a week's worth of food if you watch your portions.

I could probably live on a bag of rice for a week. Beans and rice which I actually like.

If going extreme cheap, I would buy dried beans instead of canned ones since they cost less.

And for the under 30 crowd.Go eat with mom and dad

[AnOrangeCat]

23 minutes ago, Starise said:

I could probably live on a bag of rice for a week. Beans and rice which I actually like.

If going extreme cheap, I would buy dried beans instead of canned ones since they cost less.

I hear you there. A bag of frozen vegetables can also add some extra body to it. I picked up an instant pot a few years ago and the speed it can cook beans makes the canned ones pretty obsolete IMO.

[angels4u]

25 minutes ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I hear you there. A bag of frozen vegetables can also add some extra body to it. I picked up an instant pot a few years ago and the speed it can cook beans makes the canned ones pretty obsolete IMO.

Do you know you can buy a bag of frozen vegetables and dry them in the oven? It's good for soups,I didn't try it yet, but I did try drying carrots .