Frugal First Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome to Frugal First Friday! This is a monthly 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 on the first Friday of each month, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course. 

There has been talk about releasing these posts in print format.  In case that turns out to be worth pursuing, please note: if you comment on this or any future Frugal First Friday post, you are giving permission for that comment to be included in print or other editions. This means, for those of you into the legalese, that by posting something in the comment thread you are granting me non-exclusive reprint rights to your comment, and permitting me to transfer those to a publisher or other venue. Your contribution will have your name or internet handle attached, your choice. 

I also have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed. One change from the earlier frame is that if you produce goods or services yourself, and would like to let readers know about them, you may post one (1) (yes, just one) comment per month letting people know, with a link to your website or other contact info. The other rules ought to be familiar by now. 

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

Rule #4: 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

Starting plants

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Everyone,
I make my own potting soil from finished compost made with a lot of maple leaves and sand. I used to have a recipe but now just mix it up until it feels like good potting soil. This keeps the whole seed-starting gig very inexpensive.

My husband built a wooden shelf for me. It has shop lights on the bottom of the shelves and we put trays of seedlings on the shelves and light them up. The shelf is in the laundry room and requires no extra heat beyond our normal house heating to get the seeds started.

I save a lot of my own seeds but bought seeds for a flower-garden full of plants yesterday for less than $10 Canadian. I will start those and if I have extras, I always plant more seeds than I need in case some fail, I have plenty of friends who will be happy to have flower seedlings.

I start my own vegetables too and we always pot up rooted cuttings of Marion berries to replenish our hedges and to give to friends. I pruned my elders and am giving away cuttings for planting. They make an excellent wildlife tree and produce a great cold and flu remedy.

Finally, gardening is cheaper than therapy.
Maxine

Re: Starting plants

[(Anonymous)]

Days of old Elder was called Elder Mother. IMHO a must have plant. Blueberry

cheap, long lasting candles

[mskrieger]

Yahrzeit candles are small candles housed in glass jars and designed to safely burn continuously for 25 hours, even if unattended. Jews use them to memorialize loved ones on the anniversary of their death. They’re also used to keep a flame going continuously without having to strike a match.

They’re cheap (last I checked about $1 each) and you can find them in the grocery store with the matches and other candles in any area in the US with a sizable Jewish community.

We lost power briefly during the storm and had a lovely dinner by Yahrzeit candle light. I thought of all the folks down South suffering in the dark and cold in the wake of the massive ice storm and thought I’d pass this tip along, in case it helps anyone.

—Ms. Krieger

White Pizzas

[prayergardens]

Hi all

Getting homemade pizza to be really good has been a project of ours for a while. It seems like the good pizzas have gotten too expensive: all the wood fired ovens happen in sit down restaurants which we limit and delivery is now over $35 for a large pie (!) with tax and tip from a locally owned place.

Here is our recipe. We like a thinner crust that browns nicely. Makes 2 12" pies.
2.5 cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp sugar
1.5 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup + 2tsp water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Cornmeal for dusting

-Mix Dry Ingredients
-Slowly Add Water and oil, mix until sticky
-Knead 1 min.
-Shape into ball, put in greased bowl, cover, let sit 2-2.5 hours

-Oven to 500F
-roll to 12"
-Use cornmeal to slide onto peel (we use old cookie sheet without edges) and onto pizza stone***
-Top and Bake 10-14min (slide back out onto cornmeal covered peel/sheet)


Once we got the crust recipe we liked we did red sauce/cheese/pepperoni until we got a little tired. So we started working on White Pizzas and looking at restaurant menus for ideas.

Overall, for any white pizza, with any toppings, we like it better if we
1-Brush garlic oil on the uncooked crust before cheese and toppings. Just float a few smooshed garlic cloves in olive oil on a low heat setting and don't let simmer too much. You'll smell it. Now you have garlic oil.
2- Use a cheese blend that about 60% shredded mozzarella, 30% cheddar, 10% parmesan. You could get super into it, buy in bulk and pre bag, we should do this but we haven't yet.

Our favorite pizzas so far:
--Garlic Oil, Cheese, Cooked Bacon Bits, Apple Slices baked then topped with a little arugula and a thin drizzle of maple syrup when it's out of the oven. Pro level!
--Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly (finally a use for this!). Skip the other cheese and garlic oil.

Next on the to try list:
Thai Peanut Chicken
On the cheese layer a little leftover cooked chicken, sliced red onions and when it comes out a drizzle of peanut sauce and a few thin sliced green veg (broccoli, snow peas, herbs etc)

I'm a big fan of freestyling with leftovers and the white pizza does a better job with that than the red pizza imo so getting it good has made some cheap, creative and tasty dinners. Every 6-8 weeks we 2-3x the recipe and freeze some for fast dinners.

Bon appetit!


***Footnote on Pizza Stones. I really do think it makes a better pie. They are a pain to remove and store so we just leave ours on the bottom shelf of the oven all the time except when cleaning off burnt cheese. It's probably been in our oven for 8 years. You can likely find one at a thrift store.

Toilet bowl cleanser

[annette2]

Ingredients:
1 bar of laundry soap or laundry soap flakes (Not detergent)
Tea tree oil
1 litre or larger jar or plastic container

Grate laundry bar. Put this or about 1 cup of soap flakes into jar or container, add water to just under the top. Attach lid securely and shake vigorously. Take lid off and add about 10-15 drops of tea tree oil. Put lid back on and allow to sit for about a day or so. The soap will settle to the bottom, but the water will become soapy. Pour the water into the toilet bowl. Take a rag and rub the soap still in the jar and use it to clean the seat, tank, and outside of the toilet. Using a spray bottle filled with white vinegar, spray the seat and outside of the toilet. Wipe the soap off with another rag. Using a toilet brush, clean the bowl and flush. Refill the jar with water for next cleaning.
Note: vinegar is a mild disinfectant so with the tea tree oil this will be enough to kill most household germs.