A Few ‘What’s In My Hand’ Hacks
We had all the fixings for sandwiches, but no mayonnaise, and no time to make it from scratch. What we did have is a variety of flavored salad dressings in the fridge, Green Goddess, Ranch, Italian, and others (a friend comes to eat once a week, bringing a salad and she sometimes leaves a bottle of dressing behind). We used that instead of Mayo, and it's so tasty, I think I prefer Green Goddess dressing on my sandwiches now.
I needed some extra bookshelving and created built in book-cases in a closet under the stairs using leftover cork flooring for the shelves and some screws- all of which I had on hand.
I needed a new apron, once upon a time, and I like a full size one. I had an old, very worn jumper (an American jumper, not the British jumper- an American jumper is usually denim, it's a dress that goes on by slipping it over your head, you wear a shirt under it, and it was once the official home-schooling mom uniform). It was faded, very soft, and so old and worn that I only used it anymore for picking wild blackberries. I made an apron by cutting up the side seams and attaching a sash to tie it on. I slip it over my head, tie the sash, and am protected from spills and splashes (I am a very messy cook) on all sides.=)
This is not exactly an ordinary hack, but something to consider for those of you with a family member with Dementia, as my father does. He's far gone enough that he doesn't always know for sure who I am (he knows I am his daughter, he just doesn't remember my name), but he does like to look at old family photographs, and he does get his feelings hurt if he doesn't get a present. He's been writing on the front of my mom's photographs, so we were thinking a nice Christmas gift for him will a photo album with copies of photographs that are his, so he can write on them as much as he likes.
Bedspreads for picnic tableclothes, sheets for tablecloths, mismatched socks over the hand for quick dust rags (nice for small children who want to 'help,' baby food of avocado or a bit of diced apple briefly microwaved, and using a pencil to hold my hair in place in a loose bun (wrap hair in a bun, jab a pencil or paintbrush through the bun and it will stay in place)- those are some of my frugal hacks.
What have been some of yours this last month?
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7 Responses to “A Few ‘What’s In My Hand’ Hacks”
August 6th, 2010 at 8:15 am
Frugal hacks?
-Thrift store shopping for most of our household needs.
-Cooking almost everything from scratch.
-I joined a buying club for bulk food purchasing.
-Gardening. (And canning/freezing)
-Making rather than buying household cleaning products.
-This summer I have been learning to make and use medicines from local “weeds”. Yes, I find they really do work! (I admit I was a bit skeptical at first.)
-We are installing two wood-burning stoves this month for supplemental heat to reduce our heating costs as well as grid dependence.
-We are preparing to implement a small, super-simple geothermal method for keeping the stock tank thawed without electricity this winter.
-If we don’t have the cash in hand, we don’t buy it. In other words, no paying interest on anything.
August 6th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Frugal Hacks aka Mom’s Guide to Living
August 6th, 2010 at 8:33 am
I’d love to hear your super simple geothermal method for keeping the stock tank thawed.
August 6th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
My most frugal act has been to sell the books I had on my bookshelves to halfpricebooks. It netted me money for new reads and I’m ensuing that my books are ‘recycled’ to other readers.
Darlene Reilley
http://darwrites.wordpress.com/
http://www.darlenereilley.com
August 6th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
being out of a job for two years has been difficult to get used to…and jobs are really hard to find-even part time and min.wage..so i have put my hobby to work for me. i love to collect old linens, fabric etc.. and i quilt and sew….i have made beautiful bib aprons out of vintage tablecloths that were too damaged to use as tablecloths, and quilts that are very pretty. also pencil cases, cell phone cases, fabric covered composition books…wrist cuffs; well you name it..i don’t charge outrageous prices and i share the rent on a booth in a craft mall..guess what…i am making some money being thrifty and wise.
August 6th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Re: Geothermal stock tank modification:
This is not my idea, I learned it from a central-Minnesota horse rancher several years ago. I saved it in my mental archives and presented the plan to my DH last month and he is excited to implement it before fall.
Here’s the basics:
Using 1 or 2 sections of culvert, 10-12 inches across, (big enough to cover much of the bottom of the stock tank, but not so big the tank will tip into it) The culvert section should be long enough to reach down past the frost line in your region (my area of Minnesota is about 5 feet)
Sink the culvert vertically into a hole, leaving the top flush with the ground. Do not fill the hole inside, but fill back in around the outside of the culvert. The culvert is there to keep the large, deep hole open.
Place the tank over the open culvert ends/holes and build an insulated box around the sides of the tank all the way to the ground.
Place mosquito-eating goldfish in there too, if desired. Mine are several years old, live very well in there through the winters and we feed them fish food too.
The warmer air from underground combined with the insulation should be enough to keep a stock tank almost ice-free in a central Minnesota winter.
The Minnesotan I learned this from said he had several of these in use in open pastures and on the coldest days had only a very thin layer of ice which could be easily broken open by his horses.
He used one large culvert for each tank, but I am planning on two, side-by-side for the maximum benefit for my 70 gallon oval-bottomed tank.
This would be a good thing to blog about when we do it later this summer.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I had big plans for my little side porch this month, especially since we had guests who might be sitting on it. This is a good time of year to purchase some inexpensive potted plants so that was my hope. However, due to some circumstances unexpected, I needed to “use what was in my hand.” I did buy a bag of cheap potting soil, but then found 2 plastic pots from last year’s deal, added the soil and used clippings from a wandering jew plant my neighbor had given me.
Adding a few “retired” pillows from my family room to my white plastic chairs, my porch definitely improved in appearance and comfort.
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