Frugal living: What do you do to save a buck?

mirycreek wrote:

silkiebantam wrote:

I use my kids old gumboots to make hinges, and handles on things in the chicken house. Does that count? You get to be inventive to figure out how do make things if you don't want to buy them.

you were the lady that built those cages into your chicken house and used the gumboots for hinges...i remember being very impressed by them, do you have any pics you still have you could post here?
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I thought this was cool, my hubby told me using leather for hinges was a common practise years ago...

Yes, that was me! They worked really well! I've also used leather, too. Belts work well, you just cut them into lengths. I'll repost my brooder box here with the rubber hinges. Right now I am storing stuff in the brooder box since I don't have chicks.

I like that Cupboard a lot!

great, i look forward to the pics.
yes i thought it was so thrifty...

That cupboard is just brilliant!

Thanks for sharing everyone.

I think everybody else covered it, grin. Still, I like Value Village as much as the next bargan hunter, and Repeats...and any other used stuff. Barter is great. If it grows on a tree in zone 5/6, we eat it, and probably grow it. Value Village had satin sheets on for 5 bucks, now I have a new satin night shirt. When the ice goes out, there will be clams, and if Hubby and I both go, we are allowed 200 clams each time.......drool. Clams fritters, clam cakes, clam chowder, clam pastries. Can you tell I can hardly wait for the ice to go out, grin?
We don't have a lot of kitchen gadgets either, a filleting knife and a boning knife just about does it, that and a cutting board and a bread pan or two.
I agree that men's jeans are usually much better made than womens, and at 4 to 9 dollars at Value Village, I don't bother with new. Air miles points are great as long as you cash them for useful stuff, and acquired them by buying stuff you actually needed. Wool is much cheaper at the woolen mill wholesale up west. We have two real heavy , 3 ply, blankets that will last longer than we will. Their predecessor lasted 35 years and is still going, al be it getting a bit thin.

I ask that great question first..is it a want or a need? Hubby hates that but...

When we grocery shop we don't buy much unless it's on sale, so we go through the flyers religiously, make our list and try to price match at one store so we don't have to make multiple stops. If the world ends we will certainly live off pasta and cereal!! It gets easier as you get used to what goes on sale how often and how much. Some things I will never pay full price for.

We're learning to can as well. We just finished our first litre of maple syrup from our big ol tree in the backyard. We buy beef from the neighbour, will try a pig share with friends and our hand at actual meat birds rather than dual purpose this spring.

Still not managing to save but at least being shop-wise.

Giddyup wrote:I ask that great question first..is it a want or a need?

An excellent question, especially for sale items.

If you need it, or were going to need it in the near future, 50% off is a great buy.

If not, then you are spending 100% more than you would have otherwise.

Or, as my Grandmother used to say, "If I don't need it, it's not a sale for me."

You got it, Fowler. It's not a bargain unless you need it and are going to use it soonish. 2 years from now, grin, is not soonish...and at oportunity cost of whatever else you had to give up spending it on the bargain, 2 years from now it may be more costly than regular price. Hamburger is on sale at the local beef plant, but 20 pounds is the minimum order, OK, we can eat that fairly fast. Still a bargain. A side of beef is not a bargain if you have 30 roosters to go in the freezer and the beef means they keep eating you out of house and home or that you need to rent cold store. At another time of year, or with fewer roosters, the beef can still be a bargain. Potatoes left behind by the harvester and permission given by the grower to gather as many as you like are a bargain, and a few extra gathered to give to the food bank is good too. This assumes you are not leaving a greater volume of something else that really needs to be picked right now and that you have already sunk a summer's work into.
Wood heat, you bet. The government was giving out eco-energy grants for new furnaces, but it was only a bargain if you were going to burn oil, not worth buying an oil fired boiler for the grant if you can burn local wood. Wood runs about a thousand bucks a year to heat this place, oil is estimated at 3600. It is surprising how setting yourself up to do something because your labour plus set up is cheaper, can often become a little sideline business too. I hatch eggs for people, and it's not expensive, just ties up my time as the machines are all paid for. Still, others often aren't home in the daytime, so I hatch for them..and get paid.