Category Archives: Frugality

Jul12

Using up the Harvest

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Using up the Harvest

In this case the “harvest” comes from the fridge. You see, our fridge stopped cooling yesterday and we are now reduced to living out of a ice chest. And since not everything will fit in the ice chest, I’m using things up as fast as I can. So today was a creative cooking day!

First was to reduce the milk stash in the fridge. I took a gallon of milk and began the cheese process yesterday. Sadly I let it sit too long and it didn’t make cheese, but some kind of rubbery concoction. But I did manage to save 1/2 gallon of whey from the mix. I froze that since I just didn’t have time to do anything with it.

Then I took everything that could go in the deep freeze and froze it. The fresh ground flours, cheeses, yeast and meats.

This morning, I took the homemade yogurts and the half can of pineapple and made some pineapple yogurt to top our granola. YUM!

The next big challenge was the vegetables. So I cooked up the beets in the fridge to use on salads. Then I took the homemade pineapple vinegar, cabbage, onion, and carrots and whipped up some sauerkraut. That right there used up a lot of stuff out of the fridge.

Next project is to use up all the pineapple juice and make an Asian sauce for chicken. This is easy to make and can be frozen for future use.

So this was an unplanned “Cooking Day” but feeling good about all that’s getting accomplished.

Mar24

Making the dollar stretch

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Making the dollar stretch

I was working on paying bills and balancing the checkbook today. And in an effort to make a little extra income to help counter the rising fuel prices, I’ve been placing items on Ebay. Be sure to check that out as I add more stuff. :)

I also discovered that my electric company will offer me a $50 credit on my account for energy star appliances. We bought a front loader washing machine last year, but didn’t realize that we could get electric credit! Hoping they will still honor the purchase.

Of course the grocery budget is the first thing that gets chopped, so we are trying to live out of the pantry this month.

I’ve also used Swagbucks and other survey programs to earn Amazon credits. I’ve put $45 on my Amazon account this month! I even got Amazon credit from my credit card program! Now granted, I don’t recommend the credit card program, but it was nice to have that little added benefit.

One of our local CSA’s (community supported agriculture) offered referral credits, so I shared with my friends how much we enjoyed Grant Family Farms and I already have $20 credit with them which I plan on using toward purchasing meat. For you locals, be sure to mention my name, Felicia Johnson, if you decide to sign up. Their produce is GMO free and organic. They carry egg, bread, mushroom, veggie and fruit shares. And you can order organic meats from them. (Had to stick in my 2 cents here!)

I’ve also looked into putting our propane on a monthly billing program to try to spread out that cost. We’ll see how that works. :) It doesn’t save me any money exactly, but spreads it out a bit so that I’m not making such big payments every time the truck comes out.

And as a last ditch effort, I added the dreaded donate button to my blog and website. If people are willing to donate a $1 towards some random guys beer fund, surely a few may find my diesel fund more worthy. I don’t make money from my website, I just enjoy sharing my ideas!

Please share with me how you are saving, stretching, and generating money during these economic changes!