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

Be Prepperish (?)

[degringolade]

This morning I pulled out a 1 kg block of garbanzo tempeh (with garlic, onion, red pepper flakes and black sesame seeds out of the jerry-rigged "incubator" that I use (an old crock pot with an external thermal controller).

Cost for the kg was the cost of one pound of beans and spices. Since I buy in bulk at the local restaurant supply store, the cost of the beans was a buck. You can do a lot with tempeh and most of its preparation is waiting around for mold to grow (usually takes about two days in the "incubator".

Buying tempeh in the store is prohibitively expensive, cheapest I can find for chickpea tempeh is just shy of $11.00/lb. My one-kilo batch, even with overcharging for spices is around $0.75/lb

I think that part of frugality will be the degradation of the "cold-chain" which allows us very high quality and yummy protein (thank you cows) so my guess is that the cost will continue to go up and there will need to be a protein replacement. Tempeh is in no way as good as what it is replacing, but it is still good. I would heartily recommend that you spend some time learning the super easy tech involved.

If there is a modicum of interest here, I would be willing to put together a detailed post over at my place.

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[slclaire]

Please do put together a detailed post! I'd like to know how to make tempeh.

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[kotodamaca]

I'm definitely interested in hearing more.

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[ecosophia]

Mark me down as also interested. I've had excellent results making my own natto at home, and so the thought of adding another fermented bean dish to my repertoire seems prudent -- not to mention tasty.

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[(Anonymous)]

Looking forward to your post. Blueberry

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[emily07]

Interested, please do!

Re: Be Prepperish (?)

[(Anonymous)]

I am surely interested! This sounds like a nice step beyond yogurt, sourdough, and cider.

Skills Reminder

[michele7]

Not long ago on a Magic Monday post, someone asked our host for advice. This person had a good chunk of money and wanted to know what to do with it. My guess is he wanted the "my crystal ball says invest in Acme Magic Additives" kind of answer, but JMG replied with "pay any debts and invest in skills". Lately, my YouTube feed has been popping up videos of folks talking about building up skills as a game plan to fight a worsening economy. The interesting theme is "your skills cannot be taken away from you". My hubby and I have been improving our food growing skills. We are working on increasing our germination rate and adding flowers into our veg beds to battle pests. I would encourage everyone to work on a new skill or improve something you are already good at. Our host has often mentioned divination as a good future skill.

Re: Skills Reminder

[ecosophia]

The future belongs to those who have side gigs. In my repeated experience, learning new skills isn't just fun and practical -- though of course it's both of these -- but also highly lucrative. I've talked about divination because so many occultists used that to get through the Great Depression, but there are many other options!

cat flea prevention

[randomactsofkarmasc]

On the Unbekoming substack, the author mentioned giving cats brewer's yeast as a dietary supplement that helps them ward off fleas. This would be more frugal than pet-pharma flea drops and probably more healthy for my cats, if it worked. Does anyone have experience using brewer's yeast with cats? Did it work? Is there a brand you recommend? Thank you!

curcubit leaves

[kallianeira]

My rockmelon (cantaloupe) vines are growing crazily and I am having to cut them back to prevent a sinkhole from forming. The small flowers make sweet and pleasant little snacks.
This plant is related to other melons and gourds, luffah, pumpkin, squash, courgette/zucchini and cucumber. All of them have some degree of hair or prickle on their leaves and stems.
On the rockmelons it is more fuzz, not too spiny.

It occurred to me that the leaves might be edible. And indeed they are! I put a few in the oven with some lamb steak and they cooked up nicely: the ones on top went crisp, those underneath were soft and moist. The fuzziness wasn't too offputting.
I read that pumpkin leaves are a staple green in some places. The thing that keeps being mentioned is the necessity of removing stringy veins in stalks and on the backs of the leaves. However, the methods I read all seem to have come from the same source and I couldn't follow how to do it with the vines I have. Either they are too soft for it to work or there is a trick the explanations fail to mention. That wasn't a problem in the end with the quite soft rockmelon greens but I can see it being troublesome with tougher plants.

Cheap Stereo that Sounds Good

[moser99]

They make these tiny amplifiers, based on microprocessors, that are powerful and put out clean sound. They are about the size of four decks of playing cards.

Often, they sell them without the power supply (wall wart). Forget the bluetooth and the other junk they are putting on them as the Chinese are trying to figure out how to sell them.

You can pick up speakers at Goodwill or garage sales that sound really good, particularly the big ones. I sold a $300 pair for $14 a few years ago.

Get a double-plug-ended mini-headphone cord and plug whatever you want into the amp.

Type in "mini stereo amp" in any search engine and you will see plenty of choices. As cheap as $16.

Music everywhere.

Weekly menus

[michele7]

Whether it be Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday or Pizza Friday (it's Pizza Wednesday at our house), having a menu idea for the days of the week can be helpful. Since I know that every Wednesday lunch is pizza, I can stock up on cheese when it's on sale. I get blocks of cheese, shred them, bag them and throw them in the freezer. Wednesday morning, I take out a bag and it's thawed by lunch time. When my children were in school, we did Pizza and Movie Fridays. It was an easy meal for me after a long week of work. Pizza doesn't have to be red sauce and mozzarella. My sons are fond of a BBQ sauce pizza with cooked chicken and cheese on top. Don't forget that "pizzas" can be made with pizza dough, English muffins, tortillas, naan or any type of flatbread.

Re: Weekly menus

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Michele,
When my step-daughter moved in with us many years ago, I invited her and my husband to a family meeting. They slunk in like dogs expecting a whipping. I was there with my clipboard and pen.

I asked, "What do you want to eat for supper this month?" The relief poured off them and they began shouting, "Pizza, at least once a week! Your beef stew with broad beans," and similar. I soon had a month's worth of ideas that I knew would please the troops.

That is so much better than having to go through the whole, "What do you want for supper? Oh, anything," sort of bother. It also let me buy all the groceries I would need and to mix expensive meals such as steak fajitas with less expensive meals such as home-made macaroni and cheese. It helps to know when to put beans on to soak and when to start a stew that will take all day to cook.
Maxine

kitchen appliances

[(Anonymous)]

There has been some mention on this forum of various electrical kitchen appliances. I presently own a vintage mixer and blender, one of the early ones which has a glass container, and large and small slow cookers, AKA crock pots.

I don't like stovetop cooking with gas. I do however insist on using boiling water for coffee and tea, so thanks but no to Mr. Coffee. I have in the past used electric frying pans and I like those. What other appliances might anyone here suggest I be looking for?

Re: kitchen appliances

[slclaire]

A toaster for toasting bread. We have a very old electric toaster that keeps on going. We don't eat enough bread to keep it at room temperature without it molding, so we keep it in the refrigerator. Toasting refrigerated bread eliminates the stale taste that refrigerated bread picks up.

A small toaster-oven can both toast bread and also bake or roast smaller amounts of food that you might prefer not heating up a large oven to cook. I don't know offhand of any studies to demonstrate this, but I think that heating a smaller oven would use less energy for the same amount of cooking time.

An electric kettle will heat water to boiling for coffee and tea. I used one for years until it stopped working.

An electric rice cooker can be used to cook soups as well as to cook rice. iirc there was a thread on an earlier Frugal Friday on other uses for electric rice cookers.

Re: kitchen appliances

[ecosophia]

My must-have kitchen appliances are a rice cooker, a crock pot, a toaster oven, and a Japanese electric lunchbox -- basically a little steamer that'll do one-person batches. That's what I have here in my new place, and they take care of most of my cooking needs. You can use all of them for much more than the obvious!

An Occasional Almanac by Bob Waldrop

[figmenter]

An Occasional Almanac of Useful Information about Simple, Sustainable, and Frugal Living by Bob Waldrop A.K.A. Champagne Living on a Beer Budget.

I think the almanac very much fits into the goals of Frugal Friday. It contains a wealth of information with suggestions for better living, better cooking, better recipes and better wisdom.

This online almanac was written by Bob Waldrop and the 5th edition got published online in 2004. Bob passed away in 2019. Bob's online writings subsequently vanished.

I have never met the man but people (JMG?) may know Waldrop from way back when he ran the mailinglist runningonempty2 on Yahoo groups.

I have been working to get some of the writings of Bob Waldrop back into circulation. I have been able to recreate much of the almanac thanks to archive.org. Enjoy the result here: https://ipermie.net/pages/champagne-living-on-a-beer-budget.html

Re: An Occasional Almanac by Bob Waldrop

[atmosphericriver]

thanks for doing this, I remember his stuff from years ago.

Epoxy

[(Anonymous)]

I repair a lot of my own stuff and something that has always been useful is keeping a gallon of epoxy from West Marine on hand along with hardener and the pumps. The pumps make it super easy to measure and if you don't let it freeze or get too hot the stuff lasts for the better part of 10 years. It starts to go yellow after about a year but still has plenty of strength and you can use it with fiberglass, coat metal to keep it from rusting, or mix in a variety of additives to create everything from sticky putty that makes a superior adhesive to lightweight filler. I've patched things together that I probably shouldn't have, but it got me through in a pinch while waiting for the proper materials to become available.

Safety note: Epoxy's nowhere near as bad as polyester resin, but it's still very toxic before it hardens so don't skip the PPE and never use acetone to clean up or you could develop a nasty allergic reaction. It will also get super hot if you allow a bunch of it to sit in the mixing pot too long, so careful about melting stuff or getting burned. That said if you treat it with respect it's one of those magnificent multi-use tools that allows you to keep chugging along during a supply disruption.

KVD

Re: Epoxy

[(Anonymous)]

Something else I forgot to mention is that I make blade and tool scales by wetting strips of canvas with epoxy and then clamping them together. By using pigment and altering layers it makes really attractive patterns, especially after I use a sander to shape the handle and then polish it. It’s called Micarta and it’s surprisingly easy to get great results.

[(Anonymous)]

One thing I've been finding useful lately is a very simple quickbread that I can whip up fast and stick in the oven at the same time as things like pizza or cookies. I have made yeast bread but find I don't actually do it, whereas this is something that is convenient enough I actually do it and as a result have not bought loaf bread yet this year.

2 cups flour AP or 1 ea of AP and WW
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk

Combine ingredients with a spoon.

Bake in a 350F oven 35-40 min, or until a knife stuck in it comes out clean. It isn't too fussy. I also make little biscuits with the same mix, or with WW flour. Not sure if a full loaf would rise enough with WW - that's on my list to try.

Not the most amazing tasting bread, a bit dense, and with the milk no the cheapest, but way cheaper than store bought and easy enough I actually do it, so it's still a win.

[(Anonymous)]

Try using buttermilk and you have Irish soda bread. Blueberry

What is within 1 1/2 miles of you? What is walkable for you?

[teresa_from_hershey]

One of the great advantages of living on the edge of the village of Hershey is we're still within walking distance of many things.
But you have to walk and pay attention to know what is actually there!

The only way you can KNOW is to get out and do it. Often, because things change.

I got a map from the township and drew, using a compass and the map legend, concentric circles (1/2 mile, 1 mile, and 1 1/2 miles) with our house as the center. I enlarged the map as big as the library's Xerox would let me.

Then, I walked around.
I could, if I wanted to, drag a wagon to four different supermarkets, within 1 1/2 miles of my house.

There are many other businesses I could choose from.
So when I shop, I try to stick with what's close unless I must go further. If my options are limited, so what? I spend less.

What's within 1 and 1/2 mile of your house?
Check and you may be surprised.

Re: What is within 1 1/2 miles of you? What is walkable for you?

[atmosphericriver]

I have a county bus stop 1 mile away, and at the other end is a traders Joes supermarket, a post office, library, a weekly farmers market, county government building, a bookstore and a couple used record stores, etc.... There are other bus routes from that county hub that leave every 15 minutes to other healthcare or grocery options. It is the walk back uphill for the mile home that has to be taken into account. This is another way to have walkability.

I dont do this everytime as I often just take out the truck once a week and combine errands, I can carry more home this way. But, I do it often enough and it is good to know I can get my needs met. Because I am familiar with mass transit in my area when I was stuck last month returning from visiting an out of state offspring ( my transit was delayed and I cant drive bay area far away roads at night) my car was in a long term lot, but it was too late to drive it home. I didnt need to hesitate, I saw the southbound commuter train coming in and got on it, knew there was an express bus to my county at the other end that would still be running, got to that Trader Joes area transit hub in my area. Got up the next morning, walked dowhhill the mile, then 2.5 hours of bus to bus to train and drove home by lunch.

Recipe: Cheese, potato onion pie, a casserole

[atmosphericriver]

This is based on an English ration recipe. I just added this to my list of a way to eat more potato, potatoes and onions are easy to grow at home, like the butternut squash, but then has to be eaten as a staple for some meals.

Per serving, if you only had war ration amounts of butter/milk, this is 389 calories, 14g protein, 17% vit C, 19% vit A, 24% calcium, and high iron, I wrote down 75% but need to recheck that one. Combine with a side of a cup of cooked kale, brocolli or other high vitamin greens and a whole wheat dinner roll or slice of bread (now at 22g protein, more calories and tons more vitamins and minerals), maybe some fresh or canned home grown fruit or fruit crisp. If you have more milk, butter or cheese put it in the recipe, butter the roll, this can be higher calorie. The potato has the same protein as the cheese in these ratios and potatoes are high vitamin and mineral too. Calories are important if you are eating from garden staples, this is talked about by John A. Freeman, author of Survival Garden and Survival Garden Cookbook, you can meet nutrient goals and still need more on calories in a homegrown nutritious diet, so you need to balance that out through out the day.

Per serving you want 1/2 pound potato, 1/4 pound onion, 1 ounce cheese. Boil the potato, in skins if possible to conserve vitamins, remove from skins and make mashed potatoes. Meanwhile, thinly slice and carmelize the onion. Mix grated cheese into the mashed potato, put half of that in a baking dish, then all the cooked onion, then the other half of the potato/cheese. Not a deep pan. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika, bake at 375 or 400 'F for 20 min to 1/2 hour, uncovered. The original ration recipe, for 4 servings, mashed the potatoes with 3T milk, some of the reserved cooking water ( save the rest for soup stock), 2T butter, salt and pepper to taste. The onion for 4 servings was carmelized with 1T butter, a small amount of sugar and 1/2-1t dried thyme added half way thru. You can use different spicing, dried mustard instead of thyme.

seed buying this year

[(Anonymous)]

Garden seed prices have risen and so has shipping.

I know of only two companies that I can fairly describe as good seeds cheap. Artistic Seeds/Le Jardin Gourmet offers sample packets for $.55 and full sized packets for $1.75. They have a small but interesting selection. For example, I bought a full packet of hard to find flageolet beans. MIgardener, from Michigan, continues to offer all seed packets for $2. each, old time, reliable open pollinated varieties only. No hybrids and you will not find the latest foodie fad here. Free shipping for orders over $20., that is 11 pkts or more.

Pinetree Seeds and Victory Seeds have good selections and slightly higher prices. I like Pinetree for flowers and Victory for tomatoes. I highly recommend Kim's Civil War Oxheart, an early oxheart (most are quite late) from Oregon which is available nowhere else.

Baker Creek Seeds has become an institution among gardeners. Their prices have become rather high, $3. to as much as $6. per packet, but there is no shipping charge for even the smallest order. They do have good sales; this year they are doing 20% off 2-3 day sales on selected products. Peppers a few weeks ago, and lettuce and peas this weekend. Sale prices are discounted on the website, so you don't have to remember a code. I like BC for the occasional fun vegetable I might like to try. I do recommend the Uzbek Golden Carrot, a blunt tipped carrot which can be grown in heavy soil and has attractive and delicious foliage.

With what is happening with fuel prices, you might want to get your orders in soon, before shipping costs rise again. Mary Bennet

Re: seed buying this year

[(Anonymous)]

I should also mention that I have not had good success with seeds from Etsy vendors. The last time I tried, not one seed germinated. I am sure there must be good vendors with good seeds on Etsy, but I don't think I can afford to take the chance this year. Mary Bennet

Plant Food

[(Anonymous)]

Stopped by the local farm store they have had 2 price increases since the dust up in the middle east expect another on Friday this is for NPK . Asked about peat moss and products like Black Kow both in short supply. Nothing in stock to keep your goldfish healthy might get restock in May. I am going to repeat myself if you plant a garden plant a row for the hungry. Blueberry

flatbread

[(Anonymous)]

Can someone help me with recipes and instructions for making flatbread? I already know how to make tortillas. My objections there are that white flower tortillas use fat, which I prefer to save for other uses, and corn tortillas require masa which is hard to find organic. I do choose not to use GMO corn for anything.

I am particularly interested in finding ways to incorporate various greens, such the soon to be sprouting nettles, and using whole wheat flour. Mary Bennet