How did I save money today?

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Amish Heart said:
Picked up a good load of stuff at Aldis to add to the farm stockpile. Also ingredients for Uncle Melvin's meal request tomorrow night. He wants chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and white gravy. We'll bring the meal to him at Mennonite Manor tomorrow night.
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I'm on my way! What time is dinner?
 
Went to the op shop and purchased a complete easiyo yoghurt maker, 2 cd's one Christmassy and another DH wanted and 2 gardening books for a grand total of $3, bargain :) . This saved about in my estimation around $100.

This morning before we went to town we cleaned out the grey water tank and yes it was me inside it as DH probably wouldn't have 1/ fitted or 2/ got out of it with his back injuries from bending over scooping out the gunk. We forced the pump to pump out most of the water by lifting up the float and there was about 20 - 30 lts of sludge in there or about 30 or more cm of the stuff. By doing this ourselves we saved around $800 - $1000 over getting a professional company in to do it for us.

@LadyLocust I busted today having bought a few things at the op shop really cheaply and a new watering can at the hardware store. Back to day 1 tomorrow.
 
I just checked on some of my gardening supplies I'll need for this year. And I have plenty of peat moss to add to the containers. I also have 2 bottles of fish emulsion left so I don't need to buy those.
I also still have 2 huge bags of garden soil leftover which I'll be using up this year more than likely.
I DO need some gypsum or lime for the raised beds to add some calcium this year.
I also want to get some perlite to add to the containers just to help with drainage.
And I have to have some compost this year. I used all I had last year but I do have one bag of Black Cow manure leftover
 
I still have some opened bags of potting soil, Black Cow, perlite, and a couple other things that didn't get used last year too, @WVDragonlady .

I should see about getting fish emulsion. Not certain I'm going to be able to keep up with plantings this season but I think I'll give it an effort.
Need to see about some fencing to keep the critters out, not much, maybe a roll or two.
 
@Sewingcreations15. Sounds like you got a good deal though. Also, quite the savings on cleaning the grey tank. Can't imagine that's a pleasant job but worth the savings for sure.
Today is no-spend day number 12 for me. I will break in the next couple days as I will need a few grocery items before we head into next weekend.
We are out of sour cream but I have some cream in the fridge that needs to be used so I looked up a recipe and made homemade sour cream for the first time ever: cream, lemon juice, and milk. Easy-peasy... Have to leave it sit for 24 hrs. so will have to let you know how it turns out. One thing is I didn't add any stabilizers or emulsifiers or other mystery ingredients so it will be healthier.
 
@LadyLocust doing really well and yes I would be interested if your cream to sour cream hack works too :).

You are right not a pleasant job cleaning out the grey water tank but well worth the savings and we work on the if we can do something ourselves why pay and exhorbitant fee for a tradesperson ?. We will check it again in 6 months and keep it maintained. The previous owners were an aged care facility so they didn't keep the maintenance up to the property and being city dwellers probably had not a clue what to do anyway.

We should be right for no spending for a while now having all the things we currently "need" failing anything breaking or needing maintaining. The yoghurt maker we couldn't pass up for $1 and we made our yoghurt and it turned out perfectly, now just to add flavours to it. No more buying shop purchased yoghurt now :) .
 
Amish Heart said:
Yep! We're 10 hrs from Albuquerque, so you can do this!
I'm also adding in fresh green beans, fresh bread my cousin just made, and 7up cake to make the meal more healthy.
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I was so busy thinking about food that I forgot the kid had a Drs appointment. No chicken fried steak for me, had to settle for Chick-fil-A.
 
@Patchouli the tank on me is about shoulder height in depth so not too bad and I am pretty fit so can get out of it doing a push up with my arms at the side, just the crouching in a confined space for a long time gets to the legs. I just stood up with my head out of the opening and rested in between. Next time I will get DH to help pull me out though as the muscles are a little sore this morning. I love that you can use household items such as dustpans to do other jobs with. The dustpan was a shed one so it got disinfected and put back in there.

Important to keep home maintenance up so things like grey water pumps don't burn out sucking up sludge. The pumps are quite expensive to buy so we want to keep it running well rather than buying another.
 
We went to a friends place to help to set up an irrigation system for him and did drop into one of the local supermarkets and managed to pick up chicken legs on clearance for $1.99 per kg instead of the normal $3.99 kg in other shops. Ended up purchasing 4kg to top up the freezer with saving $8 on usual prices. We are still under on our grocery budget for this month by$42.36.

Back to day 1 tomorrow @LadyLocust.
 
Well, I broke my no-spending streak this morning and got some groceries. I still need a couple more things but get them at another store that I won’t be able to make it to until Friday. Bulk yeast and spelt aren’t readily available in most places around here. Maybe I will start counting again this weekend. Part of the reason to shop today was so we can have tacos for dinner and try out our homemade sour cream . Will let you know.
 
@jimLE you probably did know this but did you know you can freeze milk ?, we used to do that here and buy it with our groceries once a month. We just mostly thaw it on the side of the sink and pop it into the fridge to use and it tastes just the same. Thought it might save you a bit of fuel money and time rather than buying it often.
 
@LadyLocust you did really well for 11 days of no spending :), look forward to your results on the sour cream too. We are on day 1 of no spending today as we won't be going anywhere.

Because we have built up a huge stock of most things in the home we are only stocking those things such as meat, personal care and food stuffs that are really expensive here when we see them on a good special. The chicken was an unheard of price around here with the cheapest whole chicken you can buy even on a super special being $3 kg. Next month will be just restocking staples, tinned goods, bacon and dairy products we have used. Really wish you could freeze sour cream but sadly not but I might use your hack so I can just use fresh cream we stock a lot of in the freezer and make my own.
 
I know I won't be doing a no spend at least while I'm at the farm. Went to Glenn's Bulk Foods and bought a lot of stuff to bring back home. Did find the Rye Graham flour I was looking for to make graham crackers. Found cream flour, a lot of spices I didn't have, dried French onion soup mix in bulk. At the salvage discount store, I found those fancy dried soup mixes in plastic bags that sell for $4 in stores, for a dollar, so bought them out and will mylar them at home. Stocked up on jams for a buck, and a bunch of other stuff. Bought 48 canning lids for $8 today at the little Country Store an Amish lady runs. Also some rosebud salve and B&W salve, and a potato masher...stainless steel, made in the USA. Had to borrow the neighbors yesterday, I didn't realize I didn't have one here.
 
True about having enough freezer space for your milk @jimLE. I tend to forget that we have a restaurant like set up here with 2 x 400lt freezers and a fridge the same size and even then we run short of space sometimes and a large house. Good idea to get powdered milk too we keep a years supply here and that is what we mostly drink and make things out of here.

Being in a small (458) person village the price of everything here is extortionate from the little local store. Besides the fact the locals have warned us to stay the heck away from the store as people have had food poisoning on a number of occasions and they sell mouldy bread :eek: .
 
@Sewingcreations15 our sour cream tasted good. It was pretty thin though so I did a bit of research and next time will whisk it for 1-2 min. The recipe I used said shake in a jar until mixed. I think a whisk will help it firm up. The flavor was really good though. Like most homemade things, it tasted wholesome and not chemically or artificial.
 
How did I save money?

On payday, I went to the bank and withdrew cash, and then I put that cash in the safe at home...never to be spent unless an emergency happens. This is the best way to save money.

That night, my wife and I went out for dinner (a way to not save money), and my wife asked if I had the cash I withdrew, so I could pay for dinner. o_O I said, "I didn't bring it with me. That was savings." I wondered if she was testing me...worried I might be putting the cash I withdrew into my wallet and spending it on frivolities. I think I passed the test.

Of course, I do spend it on frivolities occasionally...frivolities in her mind, like gold. I just bought one of these a week or so ago (another type of savings):
great_britain_sovereign_1902.jpg

If we ever need the cash, though, this coin is very easily converted back into cash.
 
Trying to use up stuff in the freezer so I'm making a meal plan for the next couple of weeks so the temptation to eat out is not there. I hate throwing out food that we don't eat so if I have stuff thawed and ready to cook in the frig, I won't go out or get take out like pizza.

Tonight I'll use only half a box of stuffing to go along with baked chicken and beans. I'll then use the stove heat to bake a batch of cookies after the chicken is done. I rarely use the oven for just one thing. I try and stack my baking so the oven is only on once. Since it's just the two of us eating, I find myself using half box of sides more and more. It saves money b/c then I don't throw it out if nobody eats it as leftovers. Plus it keeps our eating in check. You can't eat a full box of mac-n-cheese, rice-a-roni, or biscuits if you don't cook the whole thing. In addition, I really don't like those sides as leftovers so when I use a half box at a time, I get fresh made pasta/rice/biscuits at the meal.
 
Electronic ear muffs are good for me to hear the Ranger Officer but get in the way of cheek weld with the long guns. Walker Razor, the guts go around the back of your neck and the ear buds retract on wires. Nothing to interfere! $120. at MidwayUSA. I put one in the cart.

Midway also offers a limited no hazmat fee! So I put a 8 pound jug of H335 powder in the cart too.

With shipping $301.98. Thought about it...thought about it some more. I've got enough 5.56 reloaded for a regular apocalypse with 1 1/2 pounds of H335 left. I've got foam earplugs that I could use with the longs guns.

I saved $301.98 by deleting both items from my MidawayUSA cart.
 
Early this morning after hearing that one of our local supermarkets were having 50 % off their branded frozen foods I decided to stock up a bit on a few things which saved me $29.50 on usual prices and under the price we could get generic products for too even with our usual discount.

We purchased -
- 2 x 4lt ice-cream in a normally super expensive brand that we like.
- 3 x 500g of frozen blueberries. We use these for making winter pies and put a few with ice cream for dessert. To buy fresh here they are $39.20 kg on special here :eek:.
- 1 x 400g packet of frozen passionfruit pulp. We use this for cheesecakes and desserts and far cheaper than buying the fresh ($1.50 ea) or tinned varieties.
- 4 x 500g frozen peas, corn and capsicum combo that doesn't come in a generic brand.
- 2 x pkts of spring rolls for when visitors arrive and for us when we feel like an easy snack.
- 1 x cream at usual prices.
 
Today we went and picked up our some better than half price supermarket order we put in online from a few days ago and I also found 3kg bags of valencia oranges on special for $4 saving $5 on usual prices. We will juice the oranges and put the juice in the freezer and make a whole orange cake with citrus juice buttercream icing.

Stopped off at another small country supermarket in town and picked up 4 boxes of sausage rolls on half price special saving $14 on usual prices. We are trying to have a couple of low cost convenience foods on hand for when we are in the yard working or have a shopping day if we are tired and don't feel like cooking.

Our 2 freezers is now stuffed full again with really low cost berries, ice cream and meat and all that will be needed to top up for the freezer will be bacon when our supermarket e-vouchers arrive on eBay and staples we have used. With these specials they were all far better price than buying generic brands even with our larger supermarket 16.66% discount.
 
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