Assorted Trifles
A favorite birthday present for two of my girls when they entered their teens is their own email account. I set it up with restrictions and guidelines to match our family's rules, and then surprise them with the new email account. They were thrilled, and this is free. Other frugal birthday ideas here.
For those of you who like a bidet or diaper sprayer for use with your cloth diapers, a commenter to a cloth diaper discussion on my regular blog shared a link for this excellent DIY tutorial for putting together your own for about half the cost. Honestly, it looks so simple I think even I could do it, and I don't even flip my own circuits.
Cookery- here's a good recipe for feeding a crowd (or not, you can reduce it) frugally and easily- a delicious chicken and potato crockpot recipe, if I do say so myself. It's one of our fallback favorites- at the end of the day if you have extra guests, just fry up or microwave extra potatoes and cut the chicken smaller.
Speaking of Frugal cookery, TVP is a meat substitute that we use sometimes- it doesn't require refrigeration until after you cook it, you can cook it alone or combine with meat to 'stretch' the meat. It costs less than ground beef (but more than beans), it's lightweight, so makes a nice addition to backpacking or camping. We add it to hot breakfast cereal for a proteinboost that keeps us from getting hungry sooner, and it's particularly tasty in burritoes- I fry the tvp in bacon grease or other meat fat to boost the flavor, then cook as directed, combine with refried beans, chiles, tomato sauce, and red onion and herbs and spices to taste, then wrap in tortillas with cheese. Also makes good sloppy joes.
When the children were small and I had to clean up messes like bedwetting or accidents on the carpet, I liked a mixture of ammonia and baking soda (I sprayed the spot with ammonia, sprinkled with baking soda, rubbed that in lightly, and set a towel over it with something heavy on top of that to 'wick' the dampness out, then vacuumed it up later. So it makes sense that a mixture of ammonia, baking soda, and dishsoap could be used to replace 'Shout' or other fabric stain removers.
Times are tough for some people, and they are getting tougher for more. Food storage might be something you want to think about- stock up now, little by little buying extras of whatever is on sale as you can squeeze it in the budget. Here are some posts to help you think through the process.
Lots of great information here from a guest poster who has been living on her storage for a couple of years of rough times. Many of the same ideas for disaster preparation can be used for basic economic preparation as well. See here, here, and here.
Just for fun... yet another frugal idea I've always done and never thought to share- a frugal way to laminate smaller items.
More fun- the simplest toys are often disproportionately delightful - an old spatula, wooden spoon, paint stick, or a stick from the yard, some tape and some ribbons, crepe paper, cut up plastic bags- and hours of joy for a happy little girl.
5 Responses to “Assorted Trifles”
February 27th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for the tips. A lot of them are very helpful. FYI- according to what I have found on the web, TVP is made with soy. If you haven’t researched what soy can do to your body, you might want to look it up. It’s phyto-estrogen effects are especially dominant in children.
February 28th, 2009 at 9:53 am
If anyone is looking for recipes to feed REALLY big crowds, check out this website – http://members.tripod.com/~lotsofinfo/index.html
Some of the listings include amount of money spent {although I think it’s a bit outdated} but it is a great resource for planning parties and for holiday dinners!
March 1st, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Thanks for the heads up.
I did know TVP is made with soy, but since the Japanese and Chinese have been eating soy foods for millenia, I have not found the worries about phyto-estrogen in soy very compelling.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:17 pm
It is true that the Japanese have eaten soy for a very long time. The soy in this country is processed in a textile way, not as in the Japanese way. Also, soy has been linked with a variety of problems including thyroid cancer, which the Japanese suffer at a disporportionate (sp?) rate. I am not suggesting you are right or wrong. I know God has instructed different families different things and would never presume that what He has instructed our family is for everyone. The only hard and fast rules are in the Bible. I was just hoping people would seek God and the information He provides before determining what to feed their family. He does own the cattle on a thousand hills and provides for us in ways that exceed the lilies of the field, so while frugality (which is a club I belong to) is to be sought, it is not at the expense of good, real food, which He provides in abundance.
Blessings,
Kelly
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Thanks for the link! @Kelly L, if you are not comfortable with soy, TVP is not for you! And that is definitely ok, of course!! To each his/her own.
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