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!  

Comments

apologies for the delay

[ecosophia]

Yeah, I'm running a little late again. No crisis, just a lot of stuff to get done -- I'm preparing for a sequence of workings drawn from the fine old tradition of angel magic, and some of the hardware (which has to be made by hand) was fussier than I expected. Fortunately everything came together at length.

Re: apologies for the delay

[kylec]

May your works work at least as well as you intend.

You mentioned in another thread how old mages who can remove curses from cattle, etc, have a decent future in hard times. Are there branches of magic you would recommend paying close attention to for downwardly mobile and frugal mages who might need to earn a small living? Are there others you would avoid? Or can just about any branch get the job done if it's diligently learned?

[(Anonymous)]

you are never to old to rock and roll!
And far cheaper than 3 figure tickets to Taylor Swift listening parties!

What is hidden in your Medicare plan (or similar programs)?

[teresa_from_hershey]

So we ended up with a Medicare Plan B.

Lurking in our plan is a Silver Sneakers membership which we didn't expect to ever use because the local community center stopped participating with them and I wasn't that interested in working out with a group on their schedule.

Lo and behold -- I was looking for brain/body/health clinical trials at Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center when I discovered a four week brain/body/health class. And, since the Med Center's fitness gym is part of the Silver Sneaker network, we can join at no cost to us.

The facility is great and free. We didn't know this but now, we do.

What benefits that might help you or save you $$ are lurking in the various programs you participate in? It's worth checking!

Similarly, our plan includes a $250 prepaid MC card that we can use for OTC medications, braces and compression gloves, suction-cup grab bars, and some dental care. It expires at the end of the year. Next year's card will have a substantially lower value. Will we spend those $$ on products we'll use? You bet. I know it's a scam of some kind because that money comes from somewhere, but I gain nothing if I don't use it.

Check those plans. There maybe something valuable that works for you buried in the fine print.

Re: What is hidden in your Medicare plan (or similar programs)?

[(Anonymous)]

If you are a senior,have Medicare or Medicaid, check everything you use or do for perks or savings.

One of my local grocers offers discounts to seniors, but they don't publicize it. You gotta ask.

Both bus lines in my area have half price fares for seniors. I can go anywhere in my county the bus goes for 1 dollar!

Many restaurants and movie houses offer savings to us old folk.

One of my best perks is going to the big box store at 7 AM or taking advantage of the parks when everyone else is working.
It's like having your own private store or park!

Entertainment

[(Anonymous)]

After house and car, one of the easiest ways to waste cash is on entertainment. It's easy to spend when you're bored, so cheap entertainment is a critical part of a frugal lifestyle.

Productive hobbies are more rewarding and cheaper than consumptive hobbies. Learning an instrument, DIY or crafting are all productive hobbies. Collecting, shopping, thrill-seeking and most travelling are consumptive hobbies, which require a certain level of spending to support.

Get yourself a fun, productive hobby and if the product is useful, even better. Learn a skill: cooking, car repair, playing an instrument, quilting from scraps, fortune telling. It's fun, good for your self-esteem, cheap and helpful to the people around you. Helping the people around you is also a critical part of a frugal lifestyle.

Re: Entertainment

[(Anonymous)]

I concur with your argument. For the past few years, I have been an adult student of the cello and find it amazing fun. My teacher heaps me up with homework because she knows I will do it. I practice for at least an hour a day and often more. I had to miss two days of practice due to a mild case of the flu and it is very rare that I ever miss a practice. I also have a very good cellist friend come over once a week to play duets with me.

The cello lessons, books and gear eat up my small allowance but what joy to b able to play music! You are never too old to begin to play. I started at 57. As a Druid, I am doing this to prepare for my next life by giving myself some familiarity with the instrument as I hope to pursue the study of the cello or a similar instrument, in my next life.

My cello and bow are very expensive and good ones borrowed for a neighbour for the last few years. I went over with some presents and asked if I could think of buying the cello and how much would I need to save up? I was blown away when my neighbour said I could have the cello as a gift for the rest of my life as long as I was playing it.

Musical people are like that. They will bend over backwards to help anyone who is studying seriously.
Maxine

Re: Entertainment

[(Anonymous)]

State and national parks in the US are oftentimes really fabulous. And very inexpensive to visit, especially when car-camping or regular camping.

Re: Entertainment

[(Anonymous)]

Also try to get a hobby that doesn't involve the internet. I don't know how long the internet will continue to last before it collapses or becomes too expensive. Hobbies in the physical world can sustain you beyond the end of the internet.

Re: Entertainment

[(Anonymous)]

I love your terms "productive hobbies" and "consumptive hobbies"! Makes so much sense - thank you!

Fall gleanings

[(Anonymous)]

Last weekend, a friend casually mentioned that a nearby farm had just harvested several fields full of organic winter squash. And, he said, there were still plenty of squash left in the fields, free for anyone to come by and glean. That's exactly what I did, and for about half an hour's work I lugged home 30 or 40 lbs of them. This will likely last me all winter.

I've already roasted the riper half of my harvest and scooped out the insides to freeze in meal-sized portions.

Free organic food is a no-brainer, but I've also learned that roasted, caramelized squash skins are in fact completely edible and quite delicious. That discovery alone has added 20 or 30 percent to my usable haul. I serve them just like regular mashed squash.

Make connections with people who know local farmers-- everybody benefits.

*Ochre Harebrained Curmudgeon*

Re: Fall gleanings

[jenniferkobernik]

Orchards, especially organic orchards, are often happy to have people glean the unsellable fruit, because if it drops, it's a disease vector, but paying farmhands to pick and discard it is too expensive. Even wormy or bruised fruit can make excellent jam once trimmed up, and the trimmings make great chicken or compost worm food, and if you like to grow trees from seed (we do, but it can be a frustrating hobby), you get a bunch of seeds that are likely somewhat locally adapted. However, the owners may be reluctant because they think some rando is going to damage their trees by just yanking the fruit off. If you casually let them know that you are careful and will use good harvest technique, they are more likely to let you glean. In general, you are unsurprisingly more likely to get invited back to any farm to glean if you are tidy and careful--for instance, not stepping or driving on the root zones or growing areas or irrigation equipment, being careful not to damage perennial plants, not spreading food waste (which may carry or attract pathogens or pests) to other areas of the farm, etc. Many well-meaning people who don't garden don't even think about compacting the growing beds, for instance, and will walk all over them while picking, which may not be a big deal for annual tillers, but can seriously dismay a no-till grower.

Ripening Tomatoes Inside

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Everyone,
We live in Canada and many tomatoes do not have time to ripen in the garden in the good weather. When it becomes cold, my husband clips the vines with tomatoes attached and he hangs them up in our mud room. We strung wires across the ceiling in there years ago. The tomatoes hanging on the vines go from green to red and are very tasty. I climb up a ladder and collect as many as I need in a bowl. We have fresh tomatoes until mid-December and after that, make do with dehydrated and canned tomatoes. We never have to buy store-bought tomatoes at all.

I also want to make a pitch for slow cookers. I cooked mutton ribs in a wine and tomato sauce in the slow cooker today. I started it in the morning and the meat was melting off the bones at supper time. We also got a huge boost of bone broth in the stew as I cooked the dish with the bones in. I took the bones out and cut up the larger pieces of meat before serving.

A slow cooker is a wonderful way to cook without having to stir or check on the meal. It can cook all day long while a person is out at work and supper is ready when you get home all tired and depleted.

Maxine

Re: Ripening Tomatoes Inside

[kayr]

I'm with you Maxine about slow cookers. I have been using them for years and it is such a blessing to come in for dinner after being in the garden all day to a wonderful, delicious meal from the crockpot for dinner.

Re: Ripening Tomatoes Inside

[baconrolypoly]

Hi Maxine, I ripen tomatoes in much the same way and it works very well.

Another fan of slow cookers here and ours is used a lot, especially as the weather cools and we eat stews more often.

Someone on here a while back said about collecting bones in then freezer and then cooking up a stock once there are enough bones to fill the slow cooker. We've started doing this and the results are very good indeed. We add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and black peppercorns and cook all day, then remove the vegetables and continue cooking for another day. This gives a clear, almost syrupy-smooth stock full of flavour and nutrients.

Re: Ripening Tomatoes Inside

[(Anonymous)]

Years ago I picked up a used slow cooker that is fuel by charcoal. Holds 2-3 quarts fun to cook with outside only. looks to be very old. Blueberry

Banana bread

[open_space]

My corn plants are potassium deficient so I will be making them banana peal tea for the next few weeks. I did banana bread today for the first time, and I thought of asking people here.

What are your favorite ways of baking banana bread?

Re: Banana bread

[(Anonymous)]

Yum!!
I bake banana bread with lots of good quality butter, walnuts, dates, and spices (cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, ginger, and some black pepper). For whatever sugar the recipe requires I use a bit less than indicated and I divide it between cane sugar and honey.

Re: Banana bread

[(Anonymous)]

Banana pancakes . Blueberry

Re: Banana bread

[(Anonymous)]

My kids would say, with chocolate chips! Walnuts are ok too, but definitely the chocolate. We eat it as dessert.

Got a favourite tomato ketchup recipe?

[baconrolypoly]

I've ended up with a lot of tomatoes this year and have made a fair bit of passata. There's enough to have a go at making ketchup, which I've never done before. Been looking at various recipes but haven't hit on one I'm sure about yet, though on YouTube a man called David Porta has a nice looking recipe.

Does anyone have a tried and tested favourite recipe they'd recommend?

Re: Got a favourite tomato ketchup recipe?

[(Anonymous)]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any good tomato ketchup recipes. Long ago, ketchup was a category of food preservation and used a variety of different ingredients other than tomatoes. You might want to try finding some of these old recipe books and study them. You might be able to adapt the techniques to the making of your tomato ketchup. That's my suggestion, such as it is.

Caldathras

Re: Got a favourite tomato ketchup recipe?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Bacon,
I love the Catsup recipe in the Joy of Cooking. It has won me a number of blue ribbons and the devotion of my family.
Maxine

Toothbrushes

[(Anonymous)]

On a very different issue I recently had a conversation with a relative who is handling a certain personal issue in a way that I would describe as "penny frugal and dollar foolish" (I think the British say, "penny wise and pound foolish.") And that prompted me to recall some advice from my dentist. He told me that he has saved many people's teeth with a simple instruction that must be followed scrupulously. Use a brand new toothbrush on the first of every month. Yes, it's that simple. He said: If you think you're saving money to continue using the month-old toothbrush, which seems perfectly servicable, you are very wrong.

Epipen Expiration Dates

[(Anonymous)]

The following is an experience I had today when I spoke with my allergist. This is not medical advice. If interested, please talk with the medical professional of your choice.

Per a study from The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2019, most epinephrine auto-injectors retained over 90% concentration of epinephrine years after their expiration dates.

Even with insurance these are not cheap. If this topic is of interest, please follow up with your doctor.

Radiant Pooka