Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!  

Comments

Hand fans for a hot summer

[michele7]

When I lived in Japan, summer meant stores put out their supply of uchiwa and sensu. Sensu are the folded accordion type fans that you can fit in a purse or pocket for on the go cooling. Uchiwa are the round fans that sushi masters use when fanning sushi rice. I have both types but my uchiwa gets the most use at home. Last week our electricity went out for 3 hours. My uchiwa created enough of a breeze that I was not too uncomfortable. I also use an uchiwa to cool down hot food for my grandchildren and when I make sushi rice. You can find both types online or in Asian markets.

Always scrape the container clean

[teresa_from_hershey]

I was reminded this morning again to always scrape the container clean.
You paid for that stuff after all.

Did you know that a lip balm has more usable product in it than can be easily used? When you can no longer twist up the lip balm, take a nail file (you need the narrow, pointy tip) and scrape all the remaining lip balm into another container. You apply it with your finger to your lips. There's days of usage left.

This is true of virtually every product.
Rinse those ketchup and barbecue sauce bottles.
Get that rubber scraper and scrape those bottles clean.
Add water to shampoo or conditioner and use every drop.
Press the toothpaste tube ($16 a tube for my prescription toothpaste) flat with the back of a comb, pressing up the toothpaste. When you can't get any more out, cut the tube open and get the last smidgeon.

I will never forget watching a dear friend throw away a mostly empty jar of applesauce because she didn't want to bother scraping out the last 1/4 cup of applesauce she paid for.

Thoroughly emptying containers is so minor but it reminds you to be mindful about bigger ways to save.

BOOKS

[(Anonymous)]

Found this site years ago contains around 400GB of info. If I had to look for all of the books would not know were to begin. You can download them or buy a hard drive with all the books. Will try my luck at posting a link Blueberry https://www.survivorlibrary.com/

Scrap timber

[(Anonymous)]

A good source of small thin pieces of timber, about 60cm/2ft long by about 25-30mm/2inches wide and about 5-10mm/inch or so thick (pardon if I've got the conversion wrong, but you get the idea) is from a timber supplies retailer or hardware store.
At least here in OZ, they are used as spacers between large piles of pre cut timber.

I just recently got an armful for free and have done so in the past as well.

They are handy to use for small lightweight garden projects.

Regards,
Helen in Oz

The Magic of Soaking Clothes

[mistyfriday]

I'm once again in a living situation where my options are the laundromat or a 5 gallon bucket in the bathtub. The 5 gallon bucket option has won this time because the bucket can get my work clothes cleaner and the low relative humidity is able to dry my double front jeans in less than three days without wringing.

How does the bucket outperform a commercial speed queen washing machine? Through the magic of soaking! I just put two tablespoons of liquid detergent in the bucket, add water, then the clothes and use my arm to plunge the clothes until everything is soapy. Then I come back every hour or so and repeat the plunging for about 10 seconds, and after a couple hours I dump out the water and rinse the clothes in the bucket until nothing is soapy.

Then I hand wring out everything but the jeans simply because I'm not strong enough to do much to a pair of double front work pants and then hang everything up to dry. I estimate that the time savings is negligible, but I'm saving about $12 a week and since my active laundry time is spread throughout the week I don't have to spend two hours of my weekend at the laundromat. The significantly reduced wear and tear on the clothes is nice bonus too.

[linden_matryoshka]

Hello JMG and Everybody,
I have a question. I'm not sure where it belongs, here or on MM.
So... I typed "Besos' wedding", clicked on images, picked a picture with the headline "$55 million wedding", printed it, and taped it to my desktop. The reminder that I'm chipping in for his wedding is supposed to stop me dead in my tracks when the easiest thing to do is to fish something out of his Filthy River. Is it the right thing to do? Or is it "what you contemplate, you imitate"? Any other strategies to abstain? The ease is addictive.
Inna

Dandelion Recipes

[annette2]

Dandelions, a member of the endive family, are a nutritional powerhouse. They contain over 70 different nutrients including vitamins A, most of the Bs, and C, as well as calcium and iron.
Important: before picking ensure the plant is clean, i.e. not sprayed or used as a dog's potty.
All parts of a dandelion are edible: flowers, leaves, and root.

Flowers:
1. Dandelion flower syrup--pick 2 big handsfull of flowers, rinse and place in jar with about 1 litre of water (about 4 cups). Let soak for about 24 hours, then drain, squeezing the water out of the flowers. Discard flowers. Put water into a pan with about 1/4 cup of sugar and simmer until thick. Cool and store in glass jar.
Full disclosure. I made this once, about 25 yrs ago, and didn't like it, so tossed the recipe. It may have been a 1/2 cup of sugar, which seems like a lot.
My favourite way to eat the flowers was to sprinkle them on a salad or put into a sauce or soup. The flower syrup, without the sugar, could be used as a soup stock or other cooking liquid.
My youngest granddaughter, when she was quite young, loved eating the flowers--whenever she saw one, she picked it and popped it in her mouth. My daughter did not have a dandelion in her yard because her daughter ate them all.
Leaves
Young leaves are tender and can be put into a salad like lettuce. Older, bigger leaves are tougher and need to be cooked like spinach. I used to saute chopped onions in olive oil and then add chopped dandelion leaves. They're also good in soups, sauces, and I even put them, finely chopped, into a meatloaf. I have a mild wheat allergy, so I use spaghetti squash instead. The sauce would be chopped onions, chopped dandelion leaves, chopped fresh garden tomatoes and basil, sage and thyme, cooked and then topped with cheese.
Note: dandelion leaves are bitter, so if you are new to eating them, take a bite and decide if you like them.

Roots:
Dandelion coffee: Dig up as many plants as you like, cut off the roots and wash them very thoroughly. Make certain all of the dirt is off, but DO NOT peel. Most of the flavour is in the peel. Chop the roots into pea-sized pieces, place on a cookie sheet and roast in a slow oven, 250F. Shake the pan several times during the roasting. The time will depend on how dark a roast you like your coffee--probably 30 min. to 1 hr. (Sorry, again no longer have the recipe). When the roots are roasted to your liking, let cool and store in a glass jar. To prepare, put in coffee grinder, and prepare however you usually fix coffee (French press, coffee machine, percolator)
I made this once. My soil was clay and it took a long time to dig up the roots and get them clean. I made 2 or 3 cups. It was good but a lot of work. Besides, I'm a tea drinker.