Hey, I just wanted to let you know that if you signed up for the RSS feeder on www.copperwyre.wordpress.com you’ll need to go to the new site, www.copperwyre.com and sign up for the new RSS feeder.  Please do so, because my new post asks for some advice. 

See you soon!

Penny

Well, I’ve moved!

www.copperwyre.com

I’m trying to get a different website set up.  It’s taking longer than I thought, so just hang on for a bit.

Sorry, guys, I’ve been trying to post everyday, so that folks will come to visit the site, but I’m feeling really crummy today. The weather has been going up and down, which wreaks havoc with my sinuses.  It feels like I have a barometer in my face, as it was 65 degrees yesterday but 40 degrees today. I’ve been taking my oil of oregano regularly, up until yesterday, when I forgot it.  That’s why I think it finally caught up with me.  Natural remedies are effective, but you have to keep up the routine for a longer period of time. 

Anyway, please come back tomorrow, and I’m sure I’ll have something posted.

Penny

I’ve been using my dryer this week. In the winter, I usually hang my clothes up on the lines that my husband put up in the basement. Of course, in warm weather, I hang them out on the outside clothesline. I actually enjoy seeing my clothes hanging on lines, particularly in the warm sunlight.  So, why am I using the dryer?

My sanity.

Over Thanksgiving break, we stayed with friends in Maryland, butchering pigs on Wednesday and Thursday of that week.  We drove back on Thanksgiving evening, then arose very early Friday morning to catch a plane from Philadelphia to Vermont.  At which point, we rode with friends about three hours into Canada. Then, Sunday, we did it all again, only backwards. We ended up with a considerable amount of dirty laundry.

I attempted to do laundry on Monday, only to discover that the washer wouldn’t spin.  My stepfather couldn’t make it out until this Sunday to fix it.  As you can imagine, I ended up with a nearly insurmountable pile of laundry.

To expedite the process, I have been using the dryer, despite the fact that it costs more to use.  Up until recently, I would have tried to catch up only hanging clothes, because I would feel this insane guilt for doing something that I knew was not frugal.  I would inevitably fall further and further behind on my housework, because I would feel distraught over the piles of laundry.  The feeling of upset would drive me to spend money to console myself with takeout pizza or a new DVD.  One day, I came to the conclusion that a few loads of clothes in the dryer are far more inexpensive than the inevitable consolation splurge.

You have to know your audience, yourself, and make decisions based on you, not generic advice and adages.  Most of that type of advice is logical, but, as you know, people do not always base their spending decisions on logic. Emotions are often what get us in trouble, especially with spending. Be self-aware, and you’ll find your emotional spending decrease.

Sometimes, you’ve got to spend money to save money.

Is there anything that you do that defies typical frugal advice or, even, logic? And, am I the only one who feels guilty about decisions and frugality?

We got our first duck egg today!  I think they laid out of sheer terror, because my husband was threatening to butcher some for a New Years dinner if they didn’t lay by then.  The plan is to record the number of eggs I get every day, so that I can determine how much the eggs are costing/saving.  We have some parties interested in purchasing eggs, while others are willing to barter honey for them.  Sweet!    Look for a later post on the nitty-gritty of duck raising in the suburbs.  Anyway, here’s a picture:

When I cook, I usually depart from the recipe or eschew one all together.  I know my husband’s preferences on food, so I tailor our food based on his insane love of garlic.  There are many ways to change a recipe or to cook without one.

Soups are great for winging it.  Just decide if you will have a broth base, tomato base, cream base or some combination thereof.  I always start with sautéing the almighty trifecta: garlic, onion and celery. For the broth or tomato base, it’s just a matter of adding the liquid of choice.  Cream is a bit more complicated, because you would need to make a roux and add the cream for a cream sauce.  However, I’ve cheated on the cream sauce, more than once, by adding straight milk to the soup and thickening with cornstarch-water mixture.  After that, you just add whatever vegetables, meat bits, or grain you have on hand.

Slow cookers and meat can make for great experiments.  Remember that the key component to a tenderizer is an acid.  Therefore, when working without a recipe on a hunk of meat, make sure you add something acidic as the liquid base.  Beer, apple juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice can make for delicious meat.  By the time the meat is cooked, the sweetness is largely gone.  Plus, the leftover juice makes for a great gravy or soup base!

Learn some basic cooking techniques.  If you don’t know what I meant by roux, it’s time you got yourself a basic cookbook and learned.  A roux is a thickening agent for everything from a cream soup to gravies, so is very useful to know for building recipes.  Once you know how to do basic things, you’ll be able to create your own casseroles or soups.

Keep in mind that spices are your friends.  Spices take a dish from good to sublime.  Make sure you don’t add conflicting spices to the dish.  For Italian dishes, I add garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and parsley.  For Mexican dishes, I add garlic powder, onion powder, cilantro, and chile powder.  For Indian, I add cumin, curry powder and cayenne powder.  Generally speaking, so long as you stick to one “category” of spice, it will taste good.

Be Brave.  It can’t possibly be all that bad.  Really.  I’ve had very few experiments that didn’t turn out well, but they were still edible.  Providing that you don’t burn it or add far too much cayenne, your free wheeling meal should be fairly tasty.

The ability to work without a net in the kitchen is a valuable one.  It makes it possible for you to use up leftovers that might otherwise go to waste.  By building your kitchen muscles, you’ll find the idea of dinner far less daunting, which is a blessing, indeed.

Generally, when I tell my students that my clothes come from the Goodwill, a second hand store, I get treated to a chorus of “ew”s and giggles.  Adults aren’t usually so forthright about it, but some with get a vague look of discomfort at the revelation.  I find that secondhand stores are one of the best places to buy things you need.

Quality clothing. I can afford a much better brand of clothing from a second hand store.  On one particular day, I purchased a $250 wool suit from Lord &Taylor for $4.00 on half-off day.  It stands to reason that if an article of clothing still looks good, it will survive at least a few more wearings.  I have many times, in my more spendthrift days, bought clothes from chain stores in the mall, only to have them fall apart after one washing.

Appliances.  The secondhand store tests appliances before they put them out.  I have seen bread machines, vegetable steamers, and ice cream makers, all with their instructions.  With our store, you can return them, so long as you have a receipt.

Books.  Children grow out of books quickly, so an easy way to have variety is to purchase stacks of them from the secondhand shop.  My mother fostered my love of reading by buying me books for $.25 a piece.  That’s a lot of entertainment for a quarter. It’s how I keep my classroom library stocked.

Furniture.  Granted, some of the furniture looks like it could have been on the set of Happy Days, but there are often good wooden pieces to be had.  They may feature scratches, but that’s easily fixed with some sand paper or paint.

Kitchen tools. This is one of the best places to find old kitchen utensils, such as wooden spoons or egg beaters. My pressure canner was purchased at the Goodwill; it was in perfect condition and included the book.  I also buy canning jars whenever I can find them there.

Recycling.  I like to think of buying things secondhand, whether from a yard sale or store, as a form of recycling.  Not only do you get the bonus of saving money, but you get the moral high ground of recycling.  Generally, I hear less protest about my choice of store when I make it about preserving resources.

But, ew… For one thing, do you buy new clothes everyday? That would be the only way you could avoid wearing clothes that have already been worn.  Most bacteria/germs require a warm, wet environment to grow.  I sincerely doubt you’d be inclined to buy moist clothing. Furthermore, a hot water wash with soap will clean them as good as new.

The way to use the secondhand store is to visit without expectations. If you go in with a specific idea of what you want, odds are that you won’t find it. However, if you just browse the selection, you may find something else that you needed.  My mother and I jokingly refer to it as being “blessed by the shopping gods.”  Just remember to keep an open mind to possibilities.

For those of you curious why I even talk about where I get my clothes with my students:  I teach teenagers, who, as you know, can be extremely cruel to one another with regards to social strata.  When they ask about name brands, I tell them that I know nothing about brands because my clothes all come from the Goodwill.  After the chorus of ews, I mention the points about clothes and recycling. Really, it’s my way of reassuring the students who do use the secondhand shop by being very open about it. Hopefully, it will open the minds of the others and give them an example for when they are older and managing their own money.

Feeling under the weather, I slept most of the day.  When I awoke before supper time, I was disheartened by my kitchen which is in a state of disarray due to a half-installed dishwasher.  My kneejerk response to being ill is to crave orange juice, ginger ale, and pizza.  I had the dilemma of forcing myself to cook or ordering pizza.  The key to avoiding take out is to take immediate action.

            Keep frozen, prepared food on hand.  When you cook, make double batches to put in your freezer.  It will be there when you need it; all you have to do is microwave it or put it in the oven.  There are many wonderful once-a-month cooking websites with information about which recipes freeze best. I have had great success with rice and beans, soups, and lasagna.  Even if you have to buy already prepared frozen dinners, family or individual, you would still save money from take out.

            Maintain a supply of canned meals or soups. Canned soups, stews, and other foods requiring only heating will be a saving grace for you. I am a canned food snob, so I pressure can my own soups, stews, and other favorite recipes.  A can of tomato soup with cheese sandwiches is a quick, nutritious meal. 

            Create a repertoire of quick recipes.  A collection of fast and easy to prepare recipes will allow you to make a decision on dinner in a matter of seconds.  It only takes fifteen minutes, at most to create some of my quick recipes.  My mother used to cook a box of macaroni and cheese, adding a can of tuna fish and a can of peas. 

            Remember that your goal is to get food on the table.  Not all of your meals are going to be a gourmet’s delight or completely nutritionally sound. The gourmands and nutritionalists are collectively gasping, but, sometimes, it’s about getting food in your stomach.  One of the fastest meals is to make pasta and open a can of spaghetti sauce.  You can jazz it up with cheese if you have any, but it’s about getting food quickly.  While some may argue there is no meat in it, keep in mind that Americans generally get more protein than the human body requires for a day.  Besides, I’d be surprised if fast food burgers had more protein.

            Act quickly!  This advice is going to sound like psychobabble, but you need to be able to circumvent the part of you that wants to buy dinner.  As soon as you get hungry and start to consider ordering out, start your dinner.  The thought of takeout should set off the warning bells in your head, because it’s a slippery slope that will end in money spent unnecessarily.  Immediately throw something in the microwave, oven, or stove top.  Generally, you won’t still order out if you have food started.

Last minute meals are often the danger zone of the frugal home, as it is easy to justify buying food. Just keep in mind your larger goals for your money, conscious spending not spending out of desperation.    As for tonight, I boiled some macaroni, opened a jar of home canned gumbo, and sprinkled the meal liberally with parmesan cheese.  Honestly, as soon as the macaroni was boiling, I had committed myself to the decision, so I no longer thought about eating out.  Crisis averted. . .this time.

When we moved in, our house had an open fireplace, notoriously inefficient for heating.  After having the chimney cleaned, we had a woodstove insert installed. Superficially, it doesn’t seem frugal, but, by being unconventional, we manage to heat our house almost for free.

My mother wanted a pellet stove to replace her woodstove.  She agreed to give me her old stove, providing that I could locate a cheap pellet stove for her.  Over the next couple of weeks, I spent time scouring Freecyle and Craigslist for pellet stoves.  I would email her pictures and listings, contacting the seller when she was interested.  Finally, I managed to find one that was in her price range, so we moved the insert to our house.

During the spring and summer, I would search the local newspaper, Craigslist , and Freecycle for advertisements for wood.  Mindful of gas prices, I only inquired about the advertisements within ten miles of our home.   This part of the process required spending money for a few wedges, an ax, and a chainsaw.  My husband prefers to use hand tools, but a chainsaw is necessary to speed up the process when you’re in someone’s backyard.  He would cut the wood, loading the back of the pickup, drop it off home and begin the process over again.  Splitting of the wood took place in our driveway, setting the pieces on a round of wood.  By the time September was over, we had stacked six cords of wood, hiding it in random places on our small lot.

The cost for heating our home this winter is around $600, which is a decent savings by itself.  In our area, a cord of wood costs about $175 delivered.  Based on that figure, we had $1050 worth of wood, a $450 savings.  However, next year, we will not have to buy any tools for the job, so the cost of heating with free wood will be even less. 

Why am I even writing about such a specific circumstance?  Not all people have homes with chimneys, I know.  This article is to remind you that hard work on your part can lead to some creative and frugal solutions to problems.  Be unconventional and the rewards will be more savings in your home.