DG's frugal journal

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Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Tuesday thought for the day

Habits are hard to change. Today, I am making an effort to change one. I wash the extra plastic ware outside in my outside sink. The sink water source is a hose. And it sits in the sun until mid afternoon. The water from the hose is hot. Washing the plastic would be more efficient if I did it in hot water in the early afternoon. I wouldn't have to get hot water and the cleaning would be improved. The reason I have to wash the excess plastic dishes is that the smaller dishwasher that I had to put in my ADA compliant kitchen simple doesn't have enough space on the top rack for all our plastic ware according to hubs. It was the right decision, but every decision has its drawbacks. Of course, I have to use plastic ware because it is lightweight and hubs has very limited strength in his arms and hands. I like washing dishes outside. In fact, I like anything outside. I hope I can make this habit stick.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Wednesday am

I am glad I pulled the trash cans filled with leaves up against the truck yesterday. A windy, blustery day. I got the crockpot washed outside in my old kitchen sink using the solar heated water and will cook a turkey in it today. I will put some fava beans in with the turkey to cook. The instructions say 2 hours of boiling. No presoaking. I got them on clearance, 75c/pound. See how they taste. Hubs loves black beans, but I don't like the way they stains the turkey meat. I found a stash of black beans, so I will make him some another day. We ate an entire pint of beans yesterday with ground beef. A good meal. I only have 2 pints in the freezer. If the house cools down a lot, I may make crockpot beans tomorrow inside. A good time to make hubs his black beans. Two cups of beans=4-5 pints of cooked beans. I hope some make it to the freezer. We like beans.

Today, I will transfer a 5 lbs roll of ground beef from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw.

I anticipate the house will drop to about 77F today. Outside, they say the high will be 75F. Tonight will be a chilly 49F they say. That should drop the house temperature to 71 or so. We will see if I have estimated the mass of the house correctly. Fun with math and science.

Garden work on tap for today if the winds die down. Tomorrow, they pick up the leaves and I can refill the cans for next week. We didn't get any rain. So I will rake in the ditches some more. I may unfortunately be able to fill all the cans up with ditch leaves. More watering. No rain expected near term.

The turkey 1/2 breast that I cook today will last for 2-3 meals. The ground beef will be thawed within 2 days and I can make patties and freeze. A roll makes about 5 meals for us. I will refreeze the other side of the breast and the two thigh/legs for later meals. I will cook down the carcass with the black beans tomorrow. Making a pot of soup just hasn't worked out for us. I have tried several times. But I love to pick meat off the cooked carcass. Yum.

The freezer still has 2 or 3 rolls of ground beef, bought on sale and probably 15 packages of skinless, boneless chicken breasts bought on sale. Good for awhile.

The increased national debt plus layoffs will spring the inflation monster if historic economics still works. Not looking forward to that. Cheap labor in South America is expected to disappear because of border closings. That will result in higher prices on coffee and tea. Coffee futures are already rising last I checked. I am going to stock up since I do like my morning cup of caffeine. Watch the ads over the next month.

My walking neighbor has steadfastly refused the "stay at home" rule. She trusts God will protect her. I am so glad I decided not to walk with her. I am so glad the government rule gave me an out. I will online order from Walmart tomorrow or Friday. It will be time for our regular restock of cheese and lettuce. Add in boxes of tea. Buy some tonic water as well for the quinine. Mild leg cramps again last night. If the grocery store sales ads are good, I may venture out for onions and other things to stores I must go into. Our county has a lot of Covid-19. I am not excited about it, but all I can do is reduce exposures opportunities and hope the odds are in my favor. Thinking on it.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Wednesday-thought for the day

At last, some new, future gardeners with the right attitude are joining my several Florida gardening FB groups(combined total of over 50k). These new ones are people you just want to help. The first wave of panic driven newbies have faded. Those people came in wanting to be saved, clueless and not willing to learn really. The "I want it to happen now!" attitude, common with a two year old, is simply not compatible with gardening especially in Florida. This newest crop of future gardeners are aware and prepared to put in the work. It is great. I love helping them. I hope they will spearhead changes in HOA rules and also rules regarding backyard chickens. Hard times can create strong people. Glad I am living to see it.

This pandemic is actually worse in Europe than reported. According to a BBC article, several countries do not report those who die in nursing homes. According to the article, a lot are dying in those elder living homes. A lot. If Doctor F is correct and the spread dies down with the summer heat, that will be good. However, it has been hot here in Florida and we have not seen less cases as a result. So he may be a bit optimistic.

It will be interesting to see how my paranoid neighbor, Eggman has dealt with the shortages. I know that despite being prepared in their minds, they ran out of tp a week ago. My childhood isolated on an island most of the year is really paying off. You learn fast what is important. Had plenty of tp and use washable girlie wipes here. Water is still a hole in our plan. Based on my analysis of last wet season rain collection, we are short of rain barrels. Hubs says the price has jumped quite a bit. I really wasn't that thrilled with them, so now I may make my own. Thinking on it.

A lot of rough weather everywhere. Tornadoes and earthquakes in Idaho even. Hurricane season on the doorstep. According to Mike, the weather guy with 800,000 followers, an early hurricane season maybe. He has incredible instincts and if he says early, probably will be. Last prediction for 2020, 2 major in the Gulf. New predictions from Weather predictors come out today. Technically, falling from neutral to La Nina by mid summer means more storms in the Atlantic. Preparations in mind. Thinking on them.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Thursday am

Newest raised garden is moving along. It is tough since it is around a big tree with roots pushing up above the surface here and there. This garden will finish the flood barrier on the west side facing the lake and make a designed back area. Used up all the concrete blocks I bought from Home Depot 3 weeks ago. So the truck is clear now and ready for the next haul whenever that is. I will dismantle the front patio bed. It just didn't work out. I will use those concrete blocks to finish the west facing garden. Sort of like moving furniture.

I underestimated the impact of the house mass on temperature loss. Of course, the outside temperatures were also a bit warmer than predicted. So given those variables, I did a pretty good job.

The turkey was delicious. Best tasting one of the entire batch. There is enough breast for several more meals. I also steamed broccoli in my rice cooker. It is so fast and easy. And in the summer, I can plug it outside and steam vegetables without heating up the house. I am feeling pretty good about my frugal self. I love saving money and living the frugal life.

I didn't water yesterday as planned. It took awhile to cut up the whole turkey. It was 19 lbs and bit of work. I put it in a large wok that is no longer useable when cutting it up. The wok catches the blood and its rounded sides let me turn the bird to get the best angle when cutting. I use a fish fillet knife by Rappela. A serious knife. It slices through the meat like through soft butter. I love sharp knives.

I will water and plant today. Always things to do in the garden. I am never bored, except in the winter when I can't get out in the garden. Luckily, it is a short winter in Florida.

I estimate that I will not need to go out for at least 3 days. I will order from Walmart and pick up. So no contact. Deal with that then. I talked on the phone to the stock broker and said we had no interest in investing yet. He said he understood. He is going to send me a couple of company opinions. He is working from home.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Thursday-thought for the day

Being a frugal person is now the best hedge against hard times. And we may be headed into hard times.
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: DG's frugal journal

Post by Dgflorida »

Friday am

As far as I can tell, I don't need to go to the store or even go out anywhere. I could buy more salmon at Winn Dixie. It is on sale, but I don't need to. I have several salmon meals in the freezer. So I guess I will skip the opportunity. Home Depot has decided to discontinue any spring sales to discourage people from coming to their store. Well, ok. But it is harder to be frugal without sales. This is when I draw down my freezer stockpile in preparation for hurricane season only 2 months away. I use the freezer for frozen water storage. So I will do the draw down. Will we peak infections soon or continue for awhile? Sometime soon, I will need to consider toilet paper. We only use about 20 sheets total a day. I use washable girlie wipes, so very low tp needs. This frugal habit of girlie wipes has proven to be very valuable.

Apparently, people are staying home and more cooking at home has contributed to the shortage of eggs. Now that is a surprise. More people are putting in gardens. Newbies continue to join and I can tell, fatigue has set in with our master gardeners. Instead of multiple answers and advice, one or two maybe.

I have washed dishes outside now 2 days in a row using the hot water from the hose. It is really hot at mid day. But 2 days does not make a habit. Habits are hard to build.

Lots of plants to transplant. I do have 5 bags of transplant worthy soil Normally, I would rush out and get more, but I will not. I will consider it when I am down to one bag. I am going to run out of pavers in the next few weeks depending on whether my wrist heals. I think the management of online orders will get better. There have been a lot of complaints about them. Interesting times.

Life is simple now. Water and transplant. Sweep up leaves. Study things.
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