Frugal First (ahem) Friday

[ecosophia]

The first Friday this month happened to be May 1, which is a very busy time for Druids! Apologies for not getting this up then. At any rate, 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

Growing Food

[(Anonymous)]

Going to list folks who help feed the world 19-20 century. Walter T Swingle, H Harold Hume, L.H. Bailey, Noel Vietmeyer. Listing one book that is great for my part of the world. Gardening in the Humid South by Edmund O'Rourke Jr an Leon C Standifer. Hope the info from these people will be of use. Blueberry

Entrepreneurial Ideas for the Decline

[prayergardens]

Hi All,

I've posted bits and pieces of this on this blog before but in short, 2 years ago I started an online store on a crafty platform to test herb-based/homestead products with the eventual goal of having a small farm store on land we haven't got yet (waiting for the bubble to pop).

To go a slightly different direction here, I wanted to give a few fields notes on ways to EARN money that I think are viable in a collapsing economy from what I've seen first hand. My sales keep going up and I see growth in a number of places that I think align with people here.

-There is a lot of room supporting small farms and the homestead economy. But instead of selling jams or what not yourself, the people who make the same products need business support and services. I am surprised to be selling low cost packaging stickers to other farm stores which was an accidental and profitable discovery.

-Business forms. Passive income is possible with useful spreadsheets, how to guides, marketing material templates, garden designs. Yes, computer based but if you have organizational systems for your homestead or collapse friendly business, you can sell that. There is a lot of AI slop here but if you are a real person with a track record, there's room.

-Supply shops for DIYers. Buy bigger lots from wholesalers and sell smaller quantities. I see online stores making bank on this. Gotta be niche specific, willingness to carry a little inventory and have some experience/authenticity in that niche. I am doing this on a product selling right up against the manufacturer I buy from but their minimums are higher than mine so I make a few bucks on each transaction that they miss. If the internet died tomorrow, it's a farm product I would just use.

-Homeschool/Religious niches growing like crazy. Printables, art, supplies, organization forms etc. All of it. Snail Mail Clubs are growing here outside of their origination in the artist community. Like the old 'zine days with a modern twist.

-Free inventory. Selling natural items for art supplies. Go foraging, take some nice pictures. There are stores with people who just sell found leaves. Look around at the waste streams available to you for free and ask if it's someone else's input. People want art and journaling supplies - deconstruct an old map or book headed for the landfill and turn it into a 10 pack of heart shaped cut outs (seriously, these sell). The straight-forward goodwill flipping business is saturated but turning free things into art supplies is an opportunity.

All of these things currently require a computer and a non-local audience but here we are all on this blog! It also requires good old-fashioned entrepreneurship (marketing, finance, creativity, logistics, customer service) but if you don't get crazy about algorithms and social media - it's transferable skills to the 'real' world. :)


If you have an idea, I hope you give it a try. Someone told me, "Whatever it is you want to do, there is someone less smart than you making money on it because they just didn't overthink it". It's turning out to be good advice. :)

Gardening tip

[michele7]

The hubby and I can grow yellow summer squash like no one's business, but zucchini is a no go. For years we have put zucchini seeds in the ground, they sprout and grow, but all baby zucchini die on the vine. This year was a weird, cold winter/spring here in central Florida. We started our yellow squash and zucchini seeds in pots under grow lights. They grew well, we transplanted outside and covered them when a late frost threatened us. This year we have had a bumper crop of yellow crookneck and zucchini squash! I've been loading up friends and family with summer squash and cucumbers. I wonder if planting one seed in each pot was the trick. Normally I put a couple of seeds in each hole in the garden bed. Perhaps having the zucchini plants sharing the same hole led to making our normally humid conditions even more humid thus causing the zucchini to rot. Not sure, but we have decided to start our summer squashes inside next year too. Don't give up if something you are growing doesn't work out. Try another way!

Re: Gardening tip

[(Anonymous)]

Living in North Florida have better luck starting squash in pots then transplanting. Do the same with cucumber seeds. Blueberry

Winter Flowers

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Everyone,
I like to have flowers in winter but I live in Canada. So, I started some straw flowers from seed and last year, I was able to harvest heaps of pretty blooms in cream, yellow, orange, red and pink. I had flowers on my tables and altars all winter. I also filled a glass jar with flowers and that makes a nice centerpiece that is easy to dust.

This spring, I planted strawflower seeds again and am about to plant out the seedlings. Once I have new flowers dried, I will compost the dusty old bunches of flowers. Surely this is better than buying winter flowers wrapped in plastic and shipped from Columbia on an aircraft.
Maxine

Free books I can send mostly about frugal building

[atmosphericriver]

I am trying this again, if I post early on someone may see it

And, I found a blast from my past at the used book store. A pristine, looks unused copy of Build it With Bales, copyright 1995 complete with stapled handouts inserted behind the front cover from a workshop I led back in 1996. ( Back when I had my Sustainable Solutions business cards and was seeing if I could do things in that interest area, this is pre 1997 baby and then Lyme disease) It was meant to be, so I bought it to pass on here, I have a copy.

I have 4 books I can send, free, to someone who wants them. I even remembered to log in so you can contact me

Build it with Bales, 1995. A step by step guide to building a DIY basic straw bale house

Comfort in Any Climate, 2000, Michael Reynolds ( the Earth ship architect) Covers passive heating cooling, mass, layout Lots of photos/diagrams, his stuff as an example

Sunset Homeowners Guide to Solar Heating, 1978. As teh back cover states, covers how solar heating works and how it can be applied to your home.

not natural building

Building A Better World in your Backyard, 2019 Paul Wheaton