Frugal Friday
Sep. 26th, 2025 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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.
Rule #5: don't post LLM ("AI") generated content, and don't bring up the subject unless you're running a homemade LLM program on your own homebuilt, steam-powered server farm.
With that said, have at it!
Read the labels carefully!
Date: 2025-09-27 11:38 am (UTC)Stores here used to sell winter squash per unit; pumpkins they still do. So I will be watching very carefully for that trick and other label games going forth. Are they doing this sort of thing everywhere?else?
AC
Date: 2025-09-27 01:22 pm (UTC)Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-27 02:24 pm (UTC)In that spirit, I wanted to bring up the wonderful invention of the kotatsu: a heated table concept from Japan, though there are variations all over the place. At its core, its a low table with an electric heater underneath with a blanket thrown over the table to keep in the heat. The heater heats the ~12sqft of air under the low table rather than the whole room and the blanket makes sure all the heat stays by the people who sit at the table resulting in a very cozy gathering where the family all lounges under the table to enjoy the heat. Frugality and fellowship!
Genuine kotatsu are difficult to come by outside of Japan because they use special heating units that are 100v for Japan's power grid. However, there is a Middle Eastern variation where an ~100w incandescent light bulb is used instead of the heating unit. Precise heat control may require some DIY, but a basic setup can be made by just throwing a quilt over a card table and placing a lamp under the quilt. The high heat output of the incandescent bulb will gently warm the space under the table and if it gets too hot it can be turned off. The bulb is much lower wattage than a space heater and has no exposed heat element, so while you may need to ensure no one knocks against the bulb, the lamp is much safer than a space heater.
I would suggest if one is using a standard American height table that you ensure the space under the chairs is insulated as well - perhaps by throwing a spare blanket over each of the chairs to prevent heat from rushing out between the legs.
Additional modifications are possible such as adding a wooden sheet over the quilt to ensure the table can be still used as a table, swapping the incandescent bulb for a dedicated low wattage heat lamp, adding a DIY thermostat or just having the lamp plugged into a conveniently placed power strip with a switch for easily flipping it on or off.
No-Tech Magazine has a variation on this setup for a single person at a computer desk using an off the shelf low wattage heating element and custom insulated desk that may be worth looking at as well.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-27 08:13 pm (UTC)The others are two pair of corduroy pants I bought from a site whose quality varies wildly; they are not only thin and flimsy, which would be wearable in the climate I live in, but they also shed. I have to brush their leavings off my socks when I take them off at night.
Suggestions involving fancy sewing and cute patches won't help; I've been down that road already. And the only people I'd give them to would be those who had no other clothing at all.
Thanks for tips,
The Grey Badger.
Rags 2 Riches
Date: 2025-09-28 05:17 am (UTC)1) Remove zippers and buttons and give them to the local animal shelter to serve as comforters/bedding or cleanup rags. Call the shelter first to see if they accept such donations.
2) Cut non stretchy fabrics into wide, medium, and narrow pieces to serve as
– Quilt squares
– Reusable Xmas present wrapping, decorative wreaths
– Ribbons to weave into rag rugs
– Bias tape to repair worn edges of old towels
– Color coordinated pairs of fabric for homemade drawstring bags / reticules
– Artificial roses: wind ribbons around a stick, giving the ribbon 3 to 4 quarter turns with each winding. Use green fabrics to make leaves—cut them like paper dolls.
– Doll clothing (3-D) or paper doll (2-D) shapes.
– Several layers tacked together to make hot pads
– Emergency repair sewing kits, including cloth patches of various colors, thread cards, needles, safety pins, buttons
3) For stretchy fabrics and knits such as old T-shirts
– T-shirt yarn. Cut in a spiral fashion from shirttail to shirt neck making long thin pieces. When pulled tight, these narrow strips roll up into sturdy cotton yarn that can be knitted or crocheted, or woven to make hot pads, placemats, table runners.
– Old socks cut into rings make pretty decent substitutes for hairbands and hair scrunchies
– Narrow lengths of stretchy fabric can be tied into rings to act like big rubber bands to hold closed the inner lining bags for crackers, cereal, chips, cookies
– Polishing cloths for beeswax candle tapers
– Likewise for silver and brass polishing
For people learning how to do without toilet paper, old cut-up clothing can serve as family cloths or used instead of tissues when someone has a cold.
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-28 05:37 am (UTC)I was watching a news program on poverty in England. They were all walking around in the winter, even outdoors, with no tuques on! This one woman was complaining about how cold her house was and she was sitting there in a cotton sweat shirt and no hat! No wonder she was cold. How about we try and nice wool sweater and a wool tuque?
This is very puzzling for us Canadians. I have watched news programs on poverty in American and there were people huddled under blankets and their heads were bare! I believe they call tuques watch caps in the States and bobble caps in England. I have rough ones for farming, good ones for going out and light ones for wearing in bed. All wool of course although some are very fancy alpaca wool. Don't be without a selection of good wool caps!
Maxine
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-28 05:48 am (UTC)If you can use rags to stuff something, that might be an option, or to make door snakes . . . I'm sure there's some other more proper name for the fabric tubes that go at the bottom of exterior or unheated rooms' doors.
BoysMom
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-28 02:15 pm (UTC)Re: AC
Date: 2025-09-28 03:32 pm (UTC)Re: Read the labels carefully!
Date: 2025-09-28 06:58 pm (UTC)Maxine
Door snakes
Date: 2025-09-28 07:01 pm (UTC)Maxine
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-28 07:24 pm (UTC)Proper Clothing!
Date: 2025-09-28 07:30 pm (UTC)But I see a lot of people making similar mistakes, even if less extreme, here all the time. For example, I keep seeing people wearing shoes and then getting feet infections. It's warm and humid here, and so feet that can't breathe will suffer. Sandals are the way to go here, for that among other reasons.
I think a lot of people will feel far more comfortable if they adjust how they dress to match the climate: and because it will allow you to cut back on costs associated with climate control, this will also save a lot of people a lot of money. AC is among most people's highest electricity expense around here, and yet it is entirely possible to be perfectly comfortable without it, by dressing appropriately for the weather. I'm not sure how much it costs to heat a house, having never lived anywhere I'd want to add heat to my home, but it's probably also helpful to cut down on how much heat is needed as well, by wearing things like a tuque.
(It might not be possible to be comfortable without AC in somewhere like an apartment in Honolulu: a lot of those buildings just soak up the heat, and don't have windows that can open properly. But even then, dressing appropriately for Hawaii weather will still help a lot with comfort, especially outside!)
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-28 07:34 pm (UTC)I hope you will make an exception for those of us living in Hawaii! ;)
Re: Proper Clothing!
Date: 2025-09-28 11:53 pm (UTC)Lathechuck
It's apple-sauce canning time
Date: 2025-09-29 12:41 am (UTC)My process is to cut each apple vertically (stem to blossom end), then cut cross-wise into 1/4-1/2" slabs. A 6" length of thin-walled brass tubing with one end slightly sharpened makes a "punch" to nibble out the core and blemishes, without waving a paring knife around.
One tall stock-pot loosely filled with cut apples cooks down to 6 pints of applesauce, over the course of an hour or so. (Add one cup of water to the pot to make steam, and prevent scorching.) Stir with a steel spatula so you can feel if a scorched layer is building up on the bottom. (Don't panic if it is. If it's just stuck on, and not actually burned, scrape it off the pot and eat it like candy!)
When the apples are mostly soft, they go through a hand-cranked food mill (such as sold by OXO for $65). Most of the peels either disintegrate, or stay in the mill until scraped out for the compost pile.
Hot applesauce (near boiling) goes into pint jars, and when filled and capped go into the stockpot, now full of boiling water.
I have a coiled length of 1/2" aluminum rod that the jars rest on, so water can circulate under them, and the jar's base is separated from the bottom of the pot. A wire rack is more commonly used.
It can be tricky to estimate how much water to have boiling before the jars go in, because you need enough to cover the jars by an inch or so, and the water level rises as each jar goes in.
I should Do The Math next time, because I know that I'll be adding five pints of "jar", so the "pot capacity - 5 pints - 1 for head space" should give me the right amount to measure into the pot.
Applesauce is sufficiently acidic that it can be safely processed in boiling water. Vegetables usually need a pressure-canner to get hot enough to kill botulism spores, but they're killed by the acid.
A friend of ours tried to can green beans with a "word-of-mouth" folk recipe, and was dismayed that the jars exploded before she could use them. She was lucky. Improperly-processed food can be very toxic. Pay attention to the process.
Lathechuck
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-29 01:14 am (UTC)Yes, you people in Hawaii probably need a few sarongs to wear wet when it gets really hot. We had summer temperatures of nearly 40 degrees Celsius here on my Canadian island. I taught my husband about the wet sarong trick and it kept us both comfortable in the hot stuffy bedroom that summer. Much better than air conditioning. We used some fans to keep us comfortable.
Maxine
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-29 01:15 am (UTC)I wonder if they started out as Toboggan caps?
Maxine
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-09-29 01:06 pm (UTC)Mulberry trees
Date: 2025-09-30 01:36 am (UTC)Mulberry trees grow extremely well from cuttings, and thrive in subtropical climates. Six years ago, I took cuttings from my tree, sprouted one and gave the new tree to a neighbour. I've moved away, but they've called to say that the tree is absolutely loaded with berries, and I can pick some. Their neighbour has already taken some to bake into a tart. I'm disrupting the economy for people I don't even know! Evil laughter!
Another great way to enjoy life on the cheap is to invite people over for dinner. Risotto, pasta or vegetarian meals can be done for under $20 in ingredients. My friends and I are in a routine where I make dinner and they bake or bring dessert. This way, my workload is manageable but we all have a great meal. More fun than eating out, and a lot more affordable.
Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-10-01 04:59 pm (UTC)Caldathras
Re: Read the labels carefully!
Date: 2025-10-01 05:10 pm (UTC)Caldathras
Re: AC
Date: 2025-10-02 12:50 am (UTC)Re: Heat Tables Not Places
Date: 2025-10-02 01:21 pm (UTC)