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Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:23 pm
by mbrudnic
Interesting, gives me a new view of this thread.
I try to avoid disposable cups. I kicked my Starbucks addiction by purchasing a Keriug for the office and keep a ceramic mug. I also have a glass water bottle at the office as there is an ice and water machine on the first floor. I am putting a Yeti bottle on my wish list to keep the ice better and can refill it on my own floor. I drink tap water filtered by a Brita and try to remember to take a reusable water bottle with me.

Otherwise, I try to spend mindfully, avoiding impulse purchases, try to cook at home, etc. As of this week, the team is only going to the office on Thursdays. On the good side, it save a 56 mile round trip to the office. On the bad side, the kitchen is right here and I am prone to snacking.

Maggie

Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 3:31 am
by mainer
clemencia2us wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:40 am We frequent our small local restaurants often. They all serve coffee in ceramic cups.

There is one that everyone raves about. It closes for a while and when it opened back up, the place was packed. But i refuse to go there. They serve their coffee in Styrofoam cups!!!! The HORROR!!!!! I don't mind ice tea in a big to-go cup, but hot coffee -NO!!
Yikes! Styrofoam for hot coffee is madness, or for any hot beverage for that matter!

Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:42 am
by frugalaaron
clemencia2us wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:40 am We frequent our small local restaurants often. They all serve coffee in ceramic cups.

There is one that everyone raves about. It closes for a while and when it opened back up, the place was packed. But i refuse to go there. They serve their coffee in Styrofoam cups!!!! The HORROR!!!!! I don't mind ice tea in a big to-go cup, but hot coffee -NO!!
Drinking from styrofoam is a no no for me too, especially hot coffee.

Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:33 pm
by SandiSAHM
rinty wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:45 pm Just checked with DH, the allotment has about 75sq metres " under cultivation " according to him. We pay £19 to rent it annually. Its not pretty............no delightful larch lap sheds trimmed with floral bunting..........it has a rusty metal shed we took over from someone who gave up, and a small greenhouse DH uses to bring on plug plants hes grown from seed here in our bigger greenhouse. England has a mild climate, you can just throw stuff into the ground and it will grow.......DH has found the other allotmenteers are nice folk, they all help each other out with advice/plants/watering when people are away. We grow a years worth of onions, and we cook a lot, and there is often a British allotment challenge of " Grow your own Christmas dinner "........potatoes, carrot, swede, parsnip, brusselsprouts, herbs for the stuffing etc.
That's a whole lot of space for a great $. When (if) DH retires we'll probably expand the garden but I doubt we'll ever get up to the size of your allotment. It'd be nice to have it all 'off-site' because then he could 1) keep all the tools elsewhere and 2) feel like he was 'going to work,' but out here the suburban middle-US allotments aren't a thing. They should be, given that the average suburban back yard is pretty small, but we don't know that many gardeners. Even of the families we know who have acreage, only one does any planting in order to harvest and all they do is corn. To each his own, I guess.

Oklahoma soil isn't exactly "rich," maybe it's all the necessary augmentation that keeps them from trying. Unless you're near the river, the soil is great in the flatter (flood-prone) parts of Bixby.

Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 8:24 pm
by gaylejackson2
rinty wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:45 pm Just checked with DH, the allotment has about 75sq metres " under cultivation " according to him. We pay £19 to rent it annually. Its not pretty............no delightful larch lap sheds trimmed with floral bunting..........it has a rusty metal shed we took over from someone who gave up, and a small greenhouse DH uses to bring on plug plants hes grown from seed here in our bigger greenhouse. England has a mild climate, you can just throw stuff into the ground and it will grow.......DH has found the other allotmenteers are nice folk, they all help each other out with advice/plants/watering when people are away. We grow a years worth of onions, and we cook a lot, and there is often a British allotment challenge of " Grow your own Christmas dinner "........potatoes, carrot, swede, parsnip, brusselsprouts, herbs for the stuffing etc.
According to google, your allotment of 75 square meters is about 807 square feet... my veggie garden is 16 feet by 48 feet equalling 768 square feet. I have to fight grasshoppers (or locusts), tomato & corn worms, squash bugs, cats & dogs for my garden area plus the soil is part sandy, part clay, but nothing for great veg growing until after much work is done. We have onions, several varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, 3 varieties of beans (2 green, one dry-able limas), sweet yellow corn, cucumbers, watermelons, green & yellow summer squash, pumpkins, and 3 varieties of winter squashes. Plus my permanent rhubarb plant which is been well-loved by the grasshoppers this year. We are also getting fruit from the 2 apple & 1 peach tree. I talk&sing to my plants too. 😉

Re: Okay, So What Are Your Current top Frugal Practices

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 8:39 pm
by gaylejackson2
•I shop loss leader sales, mostly, and use store coupons as much as can.
•I cook from scratch, or as close as I can, for most meals because of our food allergies/intolerances.
•I’m determinedly working my way (knitting & crocheting) through A Lot of gifted yarn, making hats & scarves for charity, and some for my family.
•Haven't decided if its frugal or not, but have learned out to spin wool, and have bought roving (ready to spin fiber) fairly inexpensively to practice with.
•I sew, am working on quilts for big boys, and make dresses for my girls 2-3x a year.
•I turn off AC at night & open windows, dh runs a box fan in the window for extra cooling.
•I don't give my kids whatever they want, asking them to earn $ instead (like ds14 mowing neighbor’s lawns and ds11 pulling weeds, mowing, & other yard-work for an elderly friend).
•I garden, can sometimes, and acquire food as cheaply as possible; I get a lot of free fruit, and sometimes corn, from friends & neighbors. .
•We use our woodstove for winter heat, cutting wood every other year in mtns Much Cheaper than buying a few cords (firewood sells for $150/cord to $250/pine); we probably cut 4-6 cords of firewood for $180-200 including gas/oil for chainsaws, and gas in 2-3 pickup trucks for 3-4 weekends of work. We are still good on wood, no going out this year, nor last year—3 years ago we cut 6 cords and used 1/2 cord. Still had 4-5 left from previous years of cutting.
•Dh takes leftovers for lunch, as do I when I’m Subbing.
•My frugal entertainment are library books, looking on pinterest, reading patterns, and occasionally watching TV shows via our Roku box & netflix or free movie apps. Or Prime when I’ve signed up for a free trial 1-2x a year.
•My children wear hand-me-down clothing, thoughI do buy new stuff on clearance or good sales, well the younger ones do. Ds14 and ds16 are in high school & want nicer stuff, plus I rarely get jeans to fit them. I’ll give them each a set amount, and tell them they need to cover whatever else they want—I do buy their socks & underwear.
•And?? ☹️Can't remember it.