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.

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!  

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Comments

Stand in a wash tub in a cold shower room

[(Anonymous)]

I've lived with unheated shower rooms the last two winters. I came on a breakthrough about how to make it tolerable, as I was finding it really uncomfortable and feeling chilled after showering. I had an old metal wash tub for laundry, no washing machine at the time, and I realised if I stand in the tub whilst in the shower it keeps warm water around my feet and legs which makes the cold air in the shower room much more bearable. I cut a piece of a plastic foam yoga mat to fit under the tub to avoid the tub scraping the shower tray.

Re: Stand in a wash tub in a cold shower room

[mistyfriday]

I don't know if this would be an option for your situation and buying something new isn't the most frugal option, but there is a nifty high pressure low flow shower head made by high sierra:

https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/product-category/low-flow-shower-heads/

I first encountered these while I was traveling the mountain west and staying at the parks. I was impressed enough that I got one for my current apartment.

The fine mist heats the air quickly, but that is really just another way of saying the water loses heat rapidly. I find that I run the water about 12 degrees hotter. If you're already running the water as hot as it'll go then this won't help at all.

Re: Stand in a wash tub in a cold shower room

[(Anonymous)]

This is counter intuitive, and possibly only works for me, but taking a cold shower, or at least ending a very hot shower with a very cold rinse, actually makes me feel warmer on getting out of the shower than a hot shower does. I think it is because the body is reacting to the cold shower by sending blood to the surface of the skin and closing up the old pores. Cold water is colder than cold air, inasmuch as the rate of convective heat loss is greater, and so I feel warm on getting out of the shower, even on a cold winters day.
It works on the same principle that if you are feeling cold in the house, go outside for a few minutes and then come back inside.

Re: Stand in a wash tub in a cold shower room

[(Anonymous)]

Great solution, thank you :D

Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

A local grocer had a really good deal on onions: 50# for $18.99 So I got three bags.

I've got a load in the dehydrator outside, thinking of chopping and freezing, I'm looking at recipes for fermenting onions . . . everything smells vaguely like onions!

What would you all do to preserve lots of onions?

My unheated cool storage is too damp for onions to keep well and it's going to get filled with apples in about a week anyway.

Thanks,
BoysMom

Re: Onions!

[methylethyl]

it is sometimes handy to have some pre-chopped ones in the freezer.

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

It's not really preserving, but what I like to do with a bunch of onions is make french onion soup. Here is my quick and dirty recipe:

FRENCH ONION SOUP

6 onions
1+ stick real butter
3 tablespoons better than bouillon roasted beef base
3qt water
salt and pepper to taste
--Optional--
dry sherry start with 2 tablespoons to taste
thyme start with a teaspoon to taste

Quarter and fine slice the onions. Then Sautee the onions with the butter (use as much as needed start with one stick) in the bottom of a stock pot. When the the onions are caramelized add water and beef base. Bring to a boil for as long as you want and then reduce to a simmer.

The traditional way to serve them is to fill a cup or bowl, place a slice of bread over the top, add shredded cheese to the bread, and then broil to melt and lightly brown the cheese. You can skip that part or just broil the bread with the cheese separately and then place on top of the soup so you don't end up with insanely hot bowls.

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

I would make soubise, which is onion sauce. Essentially onions slow cooked in butter (or any fat) At this point I would think the cooked down onions, with whatever flavor you might like, could be frozen. I think the classic sauce has a roux added, with wine and stock. Mary Bennet

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

Pickled onions, or caramelised onions in jars? Depending on where you live, both of these can be kept on the shelf.

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

One time I made bacon onion jam and it was fantastic on sandwiches. I forget which recipe I used but the internet has versions that can either stay short term in the fridge or can be canned.

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

Throw a few chopped onions in a quart jar with hot peppers and apple cider vinegar and you're halfway to fire cider. In 4-6 weeks you can pull out the ingredients and transform them into a sauce or chutney at that point - buying you a few weeks of onion processing time!

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

A local farmer just told me she dehydrates extra tomatoes and then grinds them fine in her blender to make tomato powder whuch she uses as a substitute for tomato. I bet you could do the same thing to make onion powder.

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

Proper conditions in a root cellar should keep them, if they're a good storage onion.

I found this blog post for 4 types of pickled onions while looking for a recipe for lime-pickled onions. Ever recipe except the lime-pickled onions can be canned.

https://practicalselfreliance.com/pickled-onions/

Caldathras

Re: Onions!

[(Anonymous)]

there is a safe canning recipe for onion soup in the new ball canning book

Moderation?

[degringolade]

I went a little bananas a couple of years ago and tried to completely stop my use of sugar (brown or white) and went with whatever they tried to sell me as a "replacement" for years. It never really worked for me.

So, I went into the VA hospital here and wangled an appointment with a dietician and we got to talking. Sucrose is sucrose, dextrose is dextrose, fructose is fructose. Things don't taste right without them and usually for stuff that you make in your own kitchen, their levels just aren't all that high.

I don't know about you guys, but I kinda get grumpy if I don't have the occasional sweet. Sometimes it just makes me happy.

So I began to do my baking and I immediately cut any sugars in my sweets recipes in half and went back to molasses and white sugar. You know, an argument can be made that they are every bit as good as the original recipe or the "alternative sweetner" recipes. And they are very much cheaper than honey as a sweetener (a pound of sugar runs around a buck a pound, finding a pound of real honey is around $14.00).

I know this violates the proscription assessed on honey by the folks in our circles, but I think that if you revert to sugar in sensible percentages (I think that the sugar weight being 50% of the flour weight) still makes a tasty treat and is no worse for you that honey (if in fact that is what your are buying). Remember, most recipes use almost a 1:1 ratio for sweet treats.

Re: Moderation?

[(Anonymous)]

degringolade— My personal experience (yours and others may vary) has been that, though i am sensitive to sugar, I have no trouble at all with raw honey. Raw is usually local. So I'll say, "raw local honey" is what works for me.

(What honey you get cheap in Walmart et al, I couldn't say; I suspect some of that "honey" may possibly have corn syrup in it I recall reading something about that some years ago. Also, pasteurization destroys many of the health-giving enzymes in honey.)

Anyway, if I have a spoonful of honey, no problem. If I have sugar, I feel like I have nano-razors in my blood.

Raw local honey can be expensive. However, it is also packed with nutrients. I am of the school that it's better to pay the grocer than pay the doctor.

I can skip the caviar, OK, but I will always pay for good raw local honey. It keeps indefinitely, too, so it makes a great addition to my emergency pantry.

Persimmon Maniacal Frog

Re: Moderation?

[methylethyl]

We do not ban sugar in our house, but with two diabetics, it's not a regular thing. So when we do bake the (very) occasional sweets, we also just use sugar-- but much less than the recipe calls for. Not because we're trying to avoid, but since sugar is not a routine thing at our house, even the non-diabetic family who don't have to worry about it, find most recipes, as written, stomach-churningly oversweetened. So we've had to adjust to suit everyone's low-sugar-adapted palates.

TL:DR: if you don't eat sugar for a long while, everything "normally sweetened" tastes way too sweet.

Re: Moderation?

[open_space]

Brown sugar is good, and also cheap. It's better than white as it is not bleached, I gather.

I reduced my use of sugar and salt 15 years ago and I've been quite fine, while a lot of people my age bulged up. My food generally gets tasteful from spices and chilis so that helps, but some people find it bland. I did too for the first few weeks. While I was living in the US I found it imposible to drink anything that wasn't water or kombucha, way too much syrup in most things, even bread tastes sweet!

Re: Moderation?

[weilong]

I like to bake, and I like sweets, but I have been living in Japan long enough that I like just a little sweetness (not too much), and preferrably balanced with something bitter.

I make a lot of desserts from thw Fannie Farmer cookbook, and I find that half as much sugar as the recipe calls for is usually more than enough.

[(Anonymous)]

An excellent tonic:
tablespoon of raw honey
tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
tablespoon of lemon juice

[open_space]

I drink that everyday and it's amazing. I swallow one neem ball and one turmeric ball with it and gives me enough punch for two hours of yoga in the morning.

[jdecandia]

No advice, but I did want to say that I got my hands on my own solar oven!

[(Anonymous)]

well i just wanted to share this bizarre news..

Maxwell House coffee is changing its name for the first time in 133 years — and there’s a bizarre reason why

https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/lifestyle/maxwell-house-coffee-is-changing-its-name-for-the-first-time-in-133-years/

there's nothing subtle there!

i thought it was a joke at first..
seems they are signalling collapsing now
lol

[(Anonymous)]

Maxwell Apartment is the punch line.

For me the using the word apartment has strong associations with bachelor life. This falls flat and feels bad, man.

Washing out Bread Dough

[(Anonymous)]

Does anyone have tips for getting bread dough out of washcloths? Whenever I bake bread at home, I always get a washcloth all crusty cleaning out the bowls. I try to wash the dough out of the cloth before I put it in the washing machine, but if the dough is sticky I always miss a bit and end up with hard pills baked into the fabric.

Re: Washing out Bread Dough

[(Anonymous)]

Do you soak the doughy cloth in water with a generous dollop of baking soda? Baking soda paste left overnight on burnt sauce pans or encrusted oven softens even burnt-on oils and organic bits.