Budget Stretching

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by Ganado, Sep 11, 2020.


  1. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

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  2. sourdough145

    sourdough145 Holder of the M1 thumb award...

    Stretching things is a habit hard to break... Worked as an apprentice at 40%wages for a year with two kids and a wife. Meat was an every third day item. Qualified for food stamps but was too stupid proud to take it. Learned a lot on stretching the budget and meals in those days. Every cent we could went into getting out from under the mortgage.

    The crock pot then and now the insta pot wife makes awesome dinners. Never thought I'd like eggplant so much but her ratatouille is amazing! All produce is from local gals that love to grow the freshest greens you ever saw. Wife doesn't know what she is making for dinner until the latest load of greens are in. Buy local fish fresh off of the boat (wife did a super seared fresh tuna medallion) and support all the local people we can. I do breakfast and clean up after myself then any sous chef work wife needs for dinner. Dinner cleanup is whoever is least busy at the moment.

    After 39 years we work well together! She does most of what I hate to do and I do most of what she hates to do and the rest we do together. Surprised we did so well as a mixed marriage.... She being Apple platform and I being Windows platform we occasionally have difficulty in getting a concept understood by the other half. Typically we just let one do it and one watch and then realize we were both saying the same thing. Having been an instructor I have learned you must teach from three directions... Right brain way, Left brain way and the Marine way for all to "get it".

    So much for my ramble, if you read this far you are a kind person... Life can be great if you treat it well and watch where you are going, and have a person who cares about you. Those of you who have that are the richest and luckiest people in the world.

    Nuf said...

    (We except the folks I see on the monkey tree are the best! You restore my belief that there are good folk out there)
     
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  3. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I think @Ganado has hit on the single biggest budget stretcher I've tried. I just took the antibacterial gel soap that I'd already reduced with 50% water and reduced that by 50% again in two pump hand soap containers, and it works great! My Dial foaming pump isn't stiff anymore and the other pump works find, as ling as you remember to put your hand in front of it before you pump.

    So I'll get about eight refills on my foaming soap dispenser from a $1 bottle of gel pump soap that smells good and removes dirt.
     
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  4. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I have to mention one for cat people. PetSmart has a product called Feline Pine. It's compressed wood pellets that works great as cat litter. Turns to sawdust when wet, helps reduce smells. It's $11 for ten pounds. Yes, it burns in pellet stoves too... before the cats use it. The same company has a product called Equine Pine (horse bedding) that sells for about half the price. Same stuff.

    Tractor supply has horse bedding for $5 per forty pound bag. Same stuff. Catch them when they left a pallet in the rain and get slightly damaged bags for $1. The cats and horses will never know the difference.
     
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  5. john316

    john316 Monkey+++

    "Works for Chilly Pads and other cooling towels too. You can wash them before use and just leave them wet. nice evaporative cooling and a fresh scent."

    MUST BE NICE TO LIVE WHERE "evaporative cooling" WORKS

    ONLY TIME MIDDLE FLORIDA HAS ""evaporative cooling" IS FEB 30-MAR 0
     
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  6. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I've been to Florida. Worse than the jungle in the Far East. It's still pretty humid here in North Carolina, and the cooling towels work if there is a little air flowing. I'm a big fan of big fans.
     
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  7. john316

    john316 Monkey+++

    A VERY GOOD BOOK
     
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  8. runswithdogs

    runswithdogs Monkey+++

    I lived in Florida... 3 years I will never get back:censored::censored::censored: (even a a teen, I hated it. )
     
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  9. john316

    john316 Monkey+++

    ANOTHER GOOD BOOK

    About 711,000 results (0.75 seconds)

    The Encyclopedia of Country Living - Housegate.net
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    The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency - Index of
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    A MacGyver Classic - Survivor Library
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    Last edited: Sep 15, 2020
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  10. john316

    john316 Monkey+++

    a nice little book

    A Common Sense Approach to Stockpiling Food

    For Those who Live in Small Spaces and Have a Small Budget 26pages
     

    Attached Files:

  11. john316

    john316 Monkey+++



    "a mixed marriage"

    COULD BE DEM vs REP...................BE HAPPY
     
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  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

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  13. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    That whole post has so much wisdom in it i dont even know where to begin. Thanks for posting @sourdough145
     
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  14. john316

    john316 Monkey+++

    NOT MUCH SNOW OR COLD
     
  15. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Older shooters who reload their own ammo are some of the thriftiest people I've ever met. Doing the math in their head they know how many loads they should be able to squeeze out of a pound of powder, how many bullets can be cast from a bucket of wheel weights and how many times they can expect to reload their cases before they start having issues. These guys aren't impressed with high velocity or massive muzzle energy. They're all about accuracy, and if 11 grains of powder will get the bullet to the other side of the target and shoot nice tight groups, that's all the powder you need. Low recoil, low report, eyeball accurate, and thrifty..

    Same goes for bullet casters. I've seen lead scrounged from wheel weights, X-ray room demolition, and sail boat keels. I've never bought lead. Dead soft (pure) lead works best for all my hollow base muzzle loader bullets and harder lead is more efficient for faster loads. Then there's gas checks. They're super cheap, and let a cast bullet perform nearly as well as a jacketed one. Lets you adjust the size of the bullet a little too. (I use a .311" bullet with a .314" gas check in some more generous .30 caliber rifles.)

    There's a definite ebb and flow of reloading component availability, so it's good to stock up when you can get stuff cheap. That 10,000 rounds of .308 Winchester that you dream of loading... it's going to require a tick over 64 pounds of powder. Better stock up while you can.
     
  16. runswithdogs

    runswithdogs Monkey+++

    Nope.. its just a hot nasty muggy spit of swamp and sand full of nasty bitty stingy things....

    im Canadian... I like my mountains & trees and 4 seasons of weather
     
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  17. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Best money saving and health advice I ever got was from my family dentist. He said "Only floss the teeth you want to keep."

    How about saving big bucks on dental visits with a thrifty little device for folks who hate to floss? Maybe it's just uncomfortable, maybe you have a 5" long mustache that gets tangled in the floss, or the reason I can't do it... I had used some that had been soaked in Williams Lectric Shave in my shaving kit! I have a little floss anxiety from that event.

    I've been using these things as an alternative to flossing for at least 20 years and have had zero cavities in all that time. (Yes, I still have all but one of my original issue teeth) These little brushes let me get up under my bridge and and between teeth at the gum line that usually cut floss before I can get it in there.
    pickers.
    Super cheap at the dollar store, and small enough to always have a couple with you.
     
  18. Cruisin Sloth

    Cruisin Sloth Special & Slow

    Whats the name of those or the package Plz @hot diggity
    Sloth
     
  19. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    These are the good ones. The cheaper, two packs for $1 tend too lose their bristles. The good ones will last as long as your tooth brush. As long as you rinse both off and don't lose them they make a great team.
    upload_2020-9-17_5-17-59.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2020
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  20. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Grow your own garden. Decentralize. Guerrilla gardening, bamboo bombing, even the Bible talks about planting vines and fruit trees.

    My grapes and fig trees require zero maintenance. Apples, pears and peaches need some pruning, but mostly just defense from squirrels. Tasty squirrels.
    upload_2020-9-17_5-47-41.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2020
    SB21 and duane like this.
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