Pulling out my black belt again!
Now I try to be frugal on a daily basis, but there are times you need to be seriously frugal....black belt frugal. These are the times I pay close attention to the nickels and dimes flowing in and out of this house.
Lately we've had quite the dings to our funds. We've had medical bills for different members of the family, the need for a plumber, and some car repairs. Now because we have a savings account and budget for these types of things, we've been able to pay for all of these in full. That part is good, however, now we need to replenish those funds, only with a tighter budget that's previously due to lost wages from some of those medical bills.
Snug, snug, snug!
BUT!
1) We keep a pantry for situations such as these. That's good, but I need to take it up a notch and seek out more ways to stretch what we have, and/or find more things I can make from scratch. For example, yesterday I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot. I de-boned it and put the bones back into the crock pot with the broth created just from cooking the chicken. I added celery, onion, salt, carrots, and a little vinegar to the crock pot along with 6 cups of water to cover it all. This will slow cook for a day or so, and make an awesome bone broth for other recipes. I took some of the meat and made chicken and dumplings for dinner. However, I didn't use as much meat, but added about a lb. of sliced carrots (peeled it was more like 12 oz.). Less meat, less expense and an added veggie! No complaints. It was still comfort food. I had enough left over after feeding 3 men and myself dinner last night to provide at least 2 lunches as well.
I already knew about making yogurt, and had done it before, but had gotten into the habit of just buying it at the store. Well now I'm back to making it. The difference this time is making it with an heirloom culture. Heirloom cultures can be re-cultured over and over so I won't have to buy culture. Savings! With that yogurt I can make yogurt cheese (like cream cheese). That's cool by itself, but recently I learned how easy it is to make cultured buttermilk. Now this isn't the "Buttermilk" where you just add vinegar and cause the milk to curdle. This is sure enough cultured buttermilk which is awesome for you. With this buttermilk I can make cream cheese! So while I've made the buttermilk, I've not made the cream cheese. I'm in the process of doing that very thing. Will update on the results when I have them. Another item I want to try is cottage cheese. I love me some cottage cheese.
For those interested:
BUTTERMILK
For every 1 cup of milk at room temperature, add 1 TBS of cultured buttermilk. Let sit on the counter for 24 hours. It will culture the rest of the milk and voila! More Buttermilk!
2). Garden is already started. The only thing I have to harvest at the moment is spinach and Kale. I have a cabbage that over wintered. I'll harvest it in a few days, but that's about it. I'll take it though. One less thing to buy at the store. I've been planting all kinds of other things as seed starts; Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil, Broccoli, Red and Green Cabbage, Green and Jalapeno Peppers, Yellow, and Butternut Squash and Zucchini. Snow peas, Spinach, Turnips, and Beets were direct sowed. Only Spinach is ready for harvest. Extra seedlings are being sold. There were some things I wanted to buy for the garden this year; pine straw, cattle panels, and t posts. Due to our recent expenses and tight funds, I've had to rethink those things. In a way I'm glad because it's forcing me to think outside the box and use what is already on hand as opposed to spending more money. Eggs are plentiful as well, so that's good. I think we may have a broody mama as well. We'll see.
3) Turning up the Etsy shop again. I've been busy with things around here and so really haven't replenished my stock in a bit. With money things being like they are, it seemed prudent to restock those items again. I have three days of rainy weather coming up, and so the plan is to sew like crazy to get those items restocked . Once the sun comes out again, I want to be where I can get back outside. Etsy is important, but so is the garden. Have to prioritize the priorities!
4)We have "Plan B's" if need be. Plan "B" means cutting out expenses we wouldn't normally; i.e. cable, 401k contributions, or extra on the mortgage. It can also mean more austerity measures regarding things like the grocery budget. I don't think it will come to that. I do know we can't cut our contribution to the Health Savings account. We need that at the moment. If need be we would cut back on how much we contribute. We aren't thinking about a Plan "C" yet.
There will be other frugal things coming down the line; things that are mainly just paying extra close attention to details. As I find weakness in our financial wall, we'll plan accordingly.
I'm sure we aren't the only ones dealing with income issues. I'm always hopeful that something I write may give someone an idea. I can say this. The priorities are Food, shelter, and transportation. Food doesn't mean cokes and snacks so to speak. In the words of Dave Ramsey "rice and beans and beans and rice".
I once came up with 25 frugal tips as a challenge from another blogger I read. You might find them helpful. Here's the link:
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