Frugal Friday Week #33
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I always feel like I post many how-to’s and not many “real lifes”. Although I do try and incorporate that into my newer posts, I’ve often thought that it might be even more helpful for my readership to get a better glimpse inside of what our simple/homestead/from scratch/frugal life really looks like.
Frugal Friday Week #33
So I’ve started a series called Frugal Friday and need your help. My idea for this series is to share some of the projects/recipes/things we worked on this week and, in general, just what life looks like.
I need your help because I’ve tried something similar before, and I gave up after a while. I got bored, felt like no one was reading it or cared, and I moved on to other projects. So what I need you to do each week is to share what your week looked like in the comments section. I think it could keep us ALL accountable and may serve as an encouragement to others!
Side Note: If you missed the last weeks, I reshared that we are currently in the process of selling the homestead to move into a tiny home (camper) to travel and do ministry work in rural places.
Meal Highlights
Right now is all about eating up the random stuff, so it was an interesting week. I think we made it work well though! Here are some of the things we’ve had:
- Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
- Ham and Pineapple Sweet and Sour Stir Fry
- A stir fry with peas and cauliflower that my husband made
- Spaghetti
Shopping We Did
I finished up some shopping online this week since my time is limited before we leave. I bought a few things for the kids from Ebay (a little odd but I was specifically looking for some vintage play food and dishes that would last longer).
I also put in some random orders from Amazon for things like a Collapsible Rain Barrel, more first aid supplies and a bag to put them in, some sheets for the new beds, and a foldable outside Lifetime table and benches.
I had credit from both Thrive Market and Azure so I used all of that up on things I might have a hard time finding elsewhere.
I also did one rare (for me!) shopping trip to Walmart with my mom. I got a few more first aid supplies, socks for the whole family, hats and gloves for the whole family, and some random things we needed for the coming weeks.
It wasn’t a cheap week, but I only bought things we needed, and I used some credits I had for half of it which helped us save. We might need a few more random things once I set up our new space but I think we are mostly good to go.
How We Lived Frugal This Week
Besides the Walmart run, I mostly stayed home this week. I baked some things to go with our “interesting meals” like muffins and cookies. Today we will make some cookies and I’d like to make some granola as well.
I used credit for a lot of the things I bought this week from sharing Azure and Thrive Market. It wasn’t a lot, but it definitely helped us stock up on some things I’d have a hard time finding elsewhere that we use regularly like coconut cream, cassava flour, etc.
We’ve been using the fireplace again because it’s so cold out already, but I’ve been thankful for the free dryer for my clothes! I just hang everything on drying racks in front of the fire until it’s dry.
We made a trip to the library this week again. It’s been so nice to have that library card so the kids have something more to do right now, especially on cold days. I know we can visit libraries while on the road but I wonder if we do something like temporary library cards?
I have been adding books to read to my Scribd app to read later once I’m not busy packing. I LOVE the app and it’s saved me so much money in audiobooks for the kids over the last few years! You can get 60 days free here if you want to check it out.
Not a frugal thing but we’ve finally worked out (most of) the logistics on where we are called to service first. We are excited to share our new adventure soon!
Blog Posts I Wrote This Week
- Homemade Cappuccino Mix – This makes a great gift!
- 5 Old Fashioned Ways to Save on Electricity – These tips are different from the norm but could result in big savings.
- Rice Crispy Oatmeal Cookies – My kids love this recipe! It’s a fun one for them to make.
- Tomato Soup with Canned Tomatoes – This recipe was invented by necessity this week. It’s going to be a favorite from here on out because it’s so crazy easy.
- Growing Microgreens Indoors – I updated this post in case you are looking to extend your gardening season.
- Recipe for Taco Seasoning – This recipe is a classic staple.
- Free Canning Inventory Printable – I updated this post with tips on how to organize your canning pantry and a free printable to help you do it!
- Homemade Dishwasher Detergent – My mom’s recipe for what she uses in her dishwasher.
- Pizza Roll Ups – This is a great freezer meal to make if you want to put away some easy lunches.
- Bread Machine Rolls – These are the softest rolls I’ve ever made. You don’t have to make the dough in a bread machine if you don’t have one.
- Mulled Apple Cider – I could use a mug of this today…it’s so cold!
- Pear Tart Recipe – Something to make with those in-season pears!
Looking Ahead to Next Week
Next week we FINALLY get to pick up our camper. We are very excited to get it and put it together after months of waiting. We truly wanted to pay cash, though so it was worth the wait. Other than that we’ve got a family get-together to say our goodbyes and will probably finish packing.
Favor to ask….As I posted on Facebook and Instagram, I’m looking for article submissions for the coming weeks when we get even busier for a bit. You can learn more here.
What things did you make, do, and eat this week?
Merissa Alink
Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.
I love reading all of your posts/emails. I am starting to clean out my freezers this week. My daughter was married in September so I just kind of pushed everything to the freezer to deal with later. I started this week with beef bones. Roasted and then simmered for 2 days and then I canned 9 qts of broth. I then made a large batch of beef and barley soup. Next out of the freezer will be the tomatoes that I pushed aside this summer. I will be pulling these out when I get out of work today. Not sure what I will be canning with these. Maybe just some spaghetti sauce. Have a great weekend everyone!!
Hi Merissa:
We went from summer to mid winter this week in Calgary. Tuesday was a snowy day with several inches of snow and some freezing rain. It was not fun trying to get the ice off the windshield. Temperatures dropped from the low 70’s F ( low 20’s in C) to about 5 F (-15C). I got the last of my gardening done before the winter wallop hit and also managed to harvest some flower seeds to hopefully start early plants under my grow lights in February or March. I’m planning on a complete revamp of my front flower garden next spring. Time for a new look. I’m hoping to plant flowers to attract more bees and butterflies. I have a rack set up in my kitchen where I’m patiently waiting for the last of my Roma tomatoes to ripen up so I can do something with them. I’m not a fan of green pickle tomatoes so will wait until they ripen and will most likely make soup or more salsa from them. I did make a batch of tomato soup this week and it was so good. It certainly helped ward off the chill of this first blast of winter.
Libby app is great for books. It connects to your library card and it is ALL free. You can use picture and Audio books. Works just like a library. There might be a limit to the number you can have put at one time, but not the number per month/year. If there is, I have never reached it with about 5 audio books a week.
Today, I am chopping my stored potatoes before they all sprout. They lasted a few months but are taking a turn since we are not currently running the AC here in TN. Making potato soup!
Yes! I also use Libby. It connects to your library card and allows you to borrow up to, I think, 10 books in digital or audio format. If you stay in one place for long enough, you can even connect multiple libraries to your account for a broader selection of books or magazines. I am currently using a card for a city I lived in over a year ago because I too have been traveling a lot lately!
Happy Friday! Your email is the 1st I read every Friday! We had a quiet week. Oh except for Tuesday. My husband called and said “hurry”! looks like one of my upright freezers was defrosting. Earlier this year I lost a chest type freezer and two of my uprights went on the blink. Boy was I scrambling. For some reason this one had a glitch, and was defrosting again. But thankfully nothing lost, and is back freezing. So now I check daily! Our weather in Louisiana is still warm. A/C running warm. Monday, we should see rain (YAY!!!!) and cold (for us) weather…..low 40’s at night. We are looking forward to GUMBO, GUMBO, GUMBO!!! Organizing and planning a sale on my overstock of fabric/sewing patterns that I have an abundance of. I will never sew/quilt enough to use it all. Time to pass on, make a little extra money for a specific purpose, and clear up my room! Trying your homemade bread this weekend! Will let you know!
Do you know your 1st stop in ministry yet? Sure wish you would come to Louisiana!
Oh no on the freezer! My freezer got unplugged this week as well but luckily things were still cold when I found it. Yes, we are planning on working in Kentucky for a while on our first ministry project. 🙂
Debbie,
There’s nothing worse then loosing your freezer stock pile when it goes out. After mine went out I bought one with a light at the bottom that alerts you to how it’s doing: green= good, orange/yellow= becoming a problem, red= dead. The freezer is located near the main car, so the light can be seen daily. Of note: We live off-grid, so our freezer is at my parents house who live in town.
We were very frugal this week; no shopping, and my grocery run from last week took us further into this week than I thought it would. Our current menu has lots of soup, so I will be making use of our Souper Cubes. They save us money in the long run, as we are eating great leftovers, and they make freezing and storage easier. This week I baked a cranberry-apple crisp, and Peanut Butter-Banana-Chocolate Chip muffins. The crisp was so good that there have been requests for a repeat performance this week. The bananas are starting to speckle, so I will probably be baking more muffins this weekend, too. The last of the garden is getting pulled up over the next few days because the really cold( not as cold as the Dakotas)is coming next week. So I will be freezing and preserving the last of the 2023 garden this weekend while watching football.
Hello all. I love seeing my fugal Friday email in my inbox. It gives me a reason to grab a cup of tea and sit back not only enjoying what Merissa has put together but to also look through everyone else’s week cap. Here in the CA mountains the temperature dipped and I brought in the mint and a few other plants to try to get a little longer out of them. We have apple trees all over the mountain that grow wild so I have been harvesting some of those to dehydrate, any other ideas for lots of apples? Thank you Merissa and all those who post here, it’s always nice to hear from you.
We also had an abundance of apples this year. I’m kinda tired of looking at them as we’ve processed so many. I love Merissa’s Apple Pie Jam recipe as well as everyone I give a jar to, if they’re lucky enough. A good way to use up a lot of apples in a short time, if you have a crew, is pressing them into apple juice which you can water-bath and use as is or cider for those long cold winter nights. A box of apples yields around 1 gallon of juice, depending on the type of apple. If you don’t have a press or know of anyone who does, there are a lot of libraries, co-ops, and hardware stores where you can rent them.
How will you be able to recover the farm in the camper? Less space as in more crowded as in crowd, less space for pantry and cooking (how are you gonna do canning? Farming? Shower? To name a few..
I lived frugal by buying meals at Sam’s and they be my meals to eat during the week. Two weeks ago my mom and I made freezer meals for work lunches, I had enough for two full weeks and still have more!
I ate more at home, spent less because of bus tickets for Thanksgiving and Christmas to see my family.
Once or twice a month I’ll get a latte on cold days and shake or malt from dairy Queen as a reward. Played with neighbors kids.
Made bread I bought bread mix from pampered chef (I get gifts for hosting, stoneware is October host gift!) and did three loads of laundry today.
I’m not sure what you mean by recover the farm? Our camper has a kitchen and full bathroom and everything that one would expect in a tiny house. We are rarely inside at home and are expecting to be rarely inside during our travels and ministry work.
I think I saw a picture of your RV on this blog. Maybe it was an RV you had in the past ? I forget exactly. But it looked wonderful. More like a full size trailer, mobile home. Wishing you all the best ! I love to read about and learn about alternative living situations. We are on this planet for such a short time. Why do everything exactly the same ? Go where you feel most alive !
It was a different RV. We don’t have our new one yet so haven’t shared pictures.
I use the Libby app to read 3 books per week. Our family used garden veggies to make kohlrabi with milk sauce and cole slaw with cabbage and carrot. Tied quilts for disaster relief.
Our two jerseys escaped fence do to all the rain. Town constable and a neighbor blocked road with flashers as my husband led them home with their favorite treat. Then the jerseys napped for hours after their adventure. They were happy to be home.
Will you be continuing with frugal fridays? I really enjoy them. Good luck on your travels and new ministry work.
I enjoy reading your posts about saving on food. I will be working on that in the coming week with bulk food. Last week, our last adult child (son) moved to an apartment. He is in a great position because of my smart, frugal buying ahead for . . almost everything. We are a very happy for him! I have some new curtains around here, that I bought at a discount some time ago. I will just hem them for him. Passing on our/my frugal ways to the next generation. We taught him how to cook.
From homestead to tiny home? Big change!
I posted this week on the Oct. 6 post. Next week I plan to attempt a thermostat replacement, and generally try to be ready for some potential personal hard times coming with the first of January. Oh, and fix a couple windows.
I’m really late with this post, but wanted to send greetings and encouragement for your life changes!
I finally canned my tomatoes. I had about 2 bushels (16 gallons). I ended up with significantly fewer jars than I imagined, but they are packed much more tightly and are less watery than my past attempts, so I am thrilled. I also canned some chicken broth. Up next is making jam from the berries I froze this summer.
Blessings to all!
Merissa,
I love your posts and although I don’t respond like I want, because of my busy schedule, I learn multiple new things every week. I have extra time today, so I have responded to a few posts. My focus this week has been on determining how much energy each plugged in apparatus uses in an hour. I started this endeavor a few months ago, but d/t focusing on preserving my garden bounty I dropped it. We REALLY want a regular fridge, so I can go shopping and not have my food spoil d/t my current fridge either being too hot or freezing everything. I literally have to check/adjust several times a day. There’s nothing worse than spending money on food and having to throw it away after a several days. I hate wasting money and food. In addition, we’ve been making it work with only going grocery shopping twice a month (thanks to advice from your posts), but I would like to stretch it out more. I found that I spend the same amount of money every time I go into town whether it’s once a week or every other week. When we began our off-grid living we got rid of many of our electric appliances- microwave, toaster, coffee-maker, coffee grinder, hand mixer, can-opener, electric tea pot, hair straightener/ curling iron, etc. I do still have my hair dryer, but only use it on a special trip to town. We’re solar powered with a back-up generator; which is very expensive to run. It’s amazing how much energy appliances use when plugged in, even if you’re not using them, so unplug all those appliances on your counters, lamps, etc. until you need them
P.S. I can’t wait to hear about your ministry travels and experiences.