Pulling out my Black Belt frugality.

This is a throwback to my old Frugalmaven days.  Long ago I did a series on Black Belt frugality.  The frugal tips you use when ends aren't meeting and you've run out of things to try.

http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/10/black-belt-grocery-savings-part-1.html

http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/10/black-belt-grocery-savings-part-2.html

http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackbelt-grocery-savings-part-3.html

http://frugalmavensdailyrave.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackbelt-grocery-savings-part-4.html

So now it's time for me to pull out my black belt again.  About 6 weeks ago we had a mouse(still did up until 2 days ago).  To date said mosey has cost us $455 dollars in plumbing repair, and a lot of time spent on floor repair.  Yes, he is the reason for my foray into home repair of floors.  Today's latest $185 came from the Heating and air guy informing me of yet another leak, this time under the kitchen.  That little bit of info came while he was repairing our Heating/cooling unit.  I should say he was doing the best he could, because he told me we are going to need to be saving for a new system.  Don't know how much that's gonna be and even don't know how much today's visit will be because he isn't done.  He has to come back and finish repairing the unit and so I'll know our bill then.  Yay!  I get to contemplate it over the weekend!  I called them after noticing air moving under the floor while I was repairing the floor, and after I saw our power bill for this month.  Want to hazard a guess?       ....$445.86.  Add to all of this the fact that our back deck is now unsafe to be on and needs to be replaced and I need some major frugal moves.  WHEW!

So because our power bill is soooo high, I have $200 to spend for groceries for the month of Feb.  That will need to include Chicken Feed, Dog Food, Cat Food, Toiletries, etc.

So what am I gonna do?  Fortunately we are in the beginning of the growing season, albeit early.  I do, however have lettuce, spinach, and radishes growing as well as Beets, carrots, and celery.  I'll add to it as I go.  That will help some.
Baking is going to be a big part of that.  Quick breads, all yeast breads (Bagel, buns, sandwich bread), cookies, cakes, etc will be made by me.  Dog treats as well. Part of this is money savings, but also the chickens aren't laying a lot right now so we have to use our farm fresh eggs wisely. My baking will use whole wheat fresh ground flour.  In some cases I'll  be able to substitute some fruit or veggie puree in cakes and quick breads.  We have a chocolate cake we eat regularly that's made with a can of pumpkin.  It's good I swear!  You don't taste the pumpkin.  I top it with homemade chocolate syrup.  Fortunately my pantry will come in handy right now.  I already make our granola.  I don't buy cold cereal as a general rule.  We've stopped buying chips so that's great.  Fresh or frozen fruits or veggies will be my primary concern.  Plus organic brown rice, potatoes, onions.  I pulled up some over wintering onions from last years garden.  They didn't grow past leak stage, but have been very handy in recipes this week.  I'll still need more onions from the store.  I'll be going back to making our yogurt and cottage cheese.  I'd gotten lazy about it in recent months, but it's back!  Back before Thanksgiving I bought a 25 lb turkey.  Time to take that bad boy out of the freezer, cook it, and divide it up in bags and re-freeze.  It can take the place of chicken in most recipes, and I got it for .57 lb!  I have canned and frozen yellow squash, frozen zucchini, canned and frozen corn, canned carrots, beans, lima beans, all from last years garden.  This is definitely a way to get that stock used up!  Oh!  Speaking of stock, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the turkey bones will be put into a pot with onions, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, and a little vinegar and slow cooked overnight to make broth.  YUM!  Getting the most from everything I use! This will be great for soups and casseroles; which are great for stretching out what I have.  Long story short I will be choosing my battles very wisely.

 As for the lightly laying chickens, we will be ordering 10 more birds.  That's a necessity that can't be avoided, but it's only $25.  In the meantime, something that will cut down on the amount of feed we need to give them is kitchen scraps.  I've done this a little here and there, but lately have been dedicating all scraps to the chickens.  They love it!  They also love all the weeds I've been pulling up and throwing to them.  We're changing some ways we raise them and this should help with feed costs.  If you want to see which way we're heading, check out Justin Rhodes Vlogs on Youtube.  I've been binge watching!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOSGEokQQcdAVFuL_Aq8dlg

Hey at least not binging on food!