Exploring The Frugal Lifestyle

[Mayhim]

While awaiting information from a customer I spent some time on the web checking out variations of cooking rice. I got pulled off course into the general subject of Frugality. I've decided that true frugality is not being learned by the next generation in the home as much today as it was in the past. Frugality must now be sought out and learned from a webpage.

I think THIS SEARCH will provide many hours of enjoyment and entertainment to those of you looking to explore the ideas of simplicity of life, doing more with less, and having a good life without having to have an expensive life.

One that sticks in my mind is HillbillyHousewife.Com. Good, basic house and cooking skills. Much of it I remembered from my own childhood. Definitely worth the time to peruse.

Enjoy!

[4bfox]

Yes, HillbillyHousewife.com is a great link....reminds me why I still can't eat peanut butter...when I was a kid we used to have a big tin that we'd have the grocer fill with peanut butter. Ate way too much peanut butter back then!

I'm still exploring the site....very entertaining, as you say.

[basjoos]

With the steadily rising cost of food, growing your own is becoming cost effective. For the past couple of weeks I've taken some time away from modding my car to dig and plant a vegetable garden (under cloches). Now that I am several weeks into the project, I have stopped shopping for salad greens at the grocery store. In addition, many of the types of greens I harvest are unavailable at the grocery stores.

[Matt Timion]

interesting you mention this topic. I'm in the process of amping up for a "living on less" experiment for the next year, if not more.

and Basjoos, I too am preparing for a garden. I just wish the damn snow would melt.

[Mighty Mira]

Living through a depression (aka poverty) will do that to a person.

Most of humanity's existence has involved making a little go a long way. Same too in the animal kingdom. The efficiencies involved in crafting animals like birds, bats, fish etc that make a living from traveling through air or water have very little to do with fashion other than color. Ornamentation on such animals is strictly limited to have minimal impact such as the crest of a cockatoo, folded up when not used.

I've discussed having a vegetable garden with my wife too. We just need a house. :/

[Erdrick]

I live in Japan. Rice here is expensive, but that is mainly due to government interference in the growing of it. Living in America, you can get the same quality (koshi hikari) stuff, that is grown in California. Get yourself a nice rice cooker (expect to pay about $300 for this, but remember that it is a long-term investment) and enjoy excellent rice every day thereafter. Oh, but please do wash it before you cook it!

Gardens are the single best way to improve your quality of life. First, you always have access to fresh produce. Second, that fresh produce takes minutes to harvest and make ready to cook. Third, you don't contribute to the hauling of vegetables across the whole country. Fourth, it keeps you busy and in shape -- as long as you don't rely on pesticides, fertilizer, and machinery. There is a reason why Japanese people live as long as they do. The 90 year olds grow all of the crops!

People need to start considering (when reasonable) living without whole-house temperature control systems. Sure central A/C and heating are nice, but they are extremely wasteful. Give your pet an electric blanket for when you are out of the house, and dress warmer when you are at home.

Turn off the t.v. and pick up a book. Hang-dry your clothes. Walk to work. Make your own beer. Pick up a board game. Have a conversation. Get yourself a little tail. Exchange dishes with neighbors. Go for a walk in the woods. Cut the cable line. Cut the phone line. Keep the internet -- don't want to lose that. Anything else though is fair game. The less you have, the more you appreciate what you do have.

[4bfox]

We've had a garden in our backyard for 20+ years...it's become an automatic thing. Quit using pesticides 10 yrs or so ago...we use complimentary plants to keep the bugs down.

Haven't made beer for a long time...20 yrs or so. Used to really enjoy "making my own"....so much so I took the exams and qualified as a beer judge. Just regional competitions, but it was fun. Quit that about 15 years ago, just too busy with kids, job, etc. to do it. May have to take it up again....1 more year and our youngest is out the door!

[Mayhim]

I bought my Troy-bilt tiller in Sep 1986 and the only maintenance I've had to do to it is two drive belts, one tine gasket, and fluids. I've had a garden everywhere I've been since then and have enjoyed fresh produce of my own choosing and growing. I must have at least 20% dirt in my blood by now. I told the wife to save on funeral costs by just dumping me under the compost pile and cover me up good.

We live in the city, but have enough room for three peach trees, four apple trees, and a new apricot tree this year. I built my own greenhouse out of pressure treated 2x4s & 6x's, along with corrougated fiberglass panels for less than $800. The door is an aluminum screen door from the recycle place. The greenhouse has been in good shape for the last eight years.

I compost garden waste, leaves, and grass clippings. I'm always getting volunteer tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers, and beans growing around the piles. I use rolls of wire about 12' long that are about 4' high. It makes an open top cage about 3-4' wide. I fill it up, let it do it's bidness, lift the wire off and place it next to the pile, and fork it all over into the cage again. Do that three times and you've got stuff to put in the garden. The best 50gals of potting soil I ever made was compost mixed with peat moss and run through the shredder. MAN was that stuff good for the flower pots & garden.

We have four grape vines (though the robins and I fight over the grapes every year.)

I put up 19 quarts of pickled beets year before last. I have a recipe from a book of recipies of old farm wives.

In the greenhouse and garden I do raised bed gardening. I use 2x10's & 12's in beds 4' x 12'. The tiller gets in them very well, thank you. I tie the tomatoes up to 8' 2x2's that are sharp on one end and pounded into the ground with a post driver I had made for me ($0). The pole beans are on a 4" hogwire fence about 10' wide with 10' steel posts on the ends. Mmmmmm...pole beans....

The asparagus might produce this coming year. The rhubarb is always great. The horseradish patch is beautiful. The cherry tree I cut down for bbq wood (too many worms in the cherries) works great in the smoker along with the apple and peach trimmings.

There's nothing better than getting something to grow and then eating it, except maybe sharing the bounty with others.

[Mayhim]

Originally Posted by 4bfox

We've had a garden in our backyard for 20+ years...it's become an automatic thing. Quit using pesticides 10 yrs or so ago...we use complimentary plants to keep the bugs down.

Haven't made beer for a long time...20 yrs or so. Used to really enjoy "making my own"....so much so I took the exams and qualified as a beer judge. Just regional competitions, but it was fun. Quit that about 15 years ago, just too busy with kids, job, etc. to do it. May have to take it up again....1 more year and our youngest is out the door!

I've been brewing my own for about ten years. I've got a freezer with a controller I use for the kegerator. Two taps, but I'll put another on next year. It has enough room for four corny kegs and some bottles of standby beer.

I welded up a brew tower with three levels. I've been thinking about plumbing it for gas but just use two separate burners for now.

My last freezer went tango-uniform last year and I wound up dumping about ten gallons of beer. So sad. About three gallons of a brown ale, three gallons of my first lager (a Pilsner Urquell clone), and four gallons of my bitter blonde ale. Again, such a sad day.

I really need to get another brew day going soon...

[4bfox]

Yeah, the stainless kegs are the way to go...I had 10-12 that I sold last spring. I had a refrigerator set up to brew in, another to store the finished product, with 3 taps. Boiled the wort in stainless kettle, but never actually fermented in stainless...used large plastic containers.

If I start up again, I'll have a couple of thirsty friends fabricate a fancy SS boiler/lauter tun for me, along with a SS fermentation tank. That would be cool. 10 gallon batches would be great, fill 2 kegs at once.

Ever seen a grown man cry? Close to it, when you have to pour out your beer!