frugile idea to save money

I've taken to doing my laundry by hand in the sink. Today, while agitating a cold rinse, I was wishing that I were knee deep in a stream, full of dappled light, birdsong, and stones for stubborn spots.
I do have a secret habit of (aloud but low when alone, mouthing in company) apologizing to items I am throwing out that I know could be re-used.

hub used tire idea to plant both yukon gold and sweet potatoes, or as some would say in US south, taters. He painted tires white to try to make them look ornamental.Thanks for all your good hints!

agreed you do have to watch out for this!

quite involved with gardening, freezing, now learning to can. Saving a bunch and eating healthier and tastier this way. Is helping with number on lab work as well, for us. Garden not really huge, pretty big, some stuff in containers, as well as in garden proper

I'll cut open things like toothpaste tubes or other soft plastic containers to ensure that I get the last little bit out.

Some great ideas on this thread.

Anybody else do the "Sybil" (you know, in the book, she bought and ate rotten fruit?)---thing at the stupidmarket? (My daughter calls it the "Sybil"...--but she always wants to come over when I make sauce like this......

I mean, reduced Produce...mostly tomatoes which are over ripe for a salad; but are fantastic in that they are the same as canned peeled tomatoes without the salt!

I buy them all up...and do as I did when I used to can (((anneo! canning is so great!)))
veggies and fruits from my gardens.

I get them home, and blanche them, skin them, and make sauce--NO SALT!--fresh tomatoes!--or just put them in with whatever else ......some fruits can be "Sybiled" too... made into smoothies with yoghurt! YUM,..and much cheaper than smoothies!

Hi Virago, hope you are good. Yeah i buy all the reduced stuff at the suoermarket. Fruit and veg you can see, feel , smell if its bad and even if it is you just cut the bad bits off or , as you say make sauce, or soup or put it in a pie or whatever. I got some good 10p (15 cents?) bargains the other day. cabbages , lettuce, broad beans. I picked up 5 packs of bananas cos they were 10p. ( I was gonna put a pic on my page HELP, I'VE GONE BANANAS!!!! ). It makes me laugh when i hear people checking the best by dates on things . Oh no, we can't eat that it says you have to eat it by today. YOU HAVE EYES, EARS, SMELL, FEEL, TASTE use em. HAHA. I think this should have a thread of it's own. How do you start one.

My supermarket does not have reduced price veg for sale. Don't know if it has to do with state laws or what but I've seen produce workers take packages of stuff with even the slightest sign of over ripeness and throw them into the dumpster in the back of the store.

tomatoes freeze well too----buy on sale or at farmer's markets and freeze for great winter soups and stews.....and no need to can (tho that is fine too!)

If I were placing in an order at a restaurant, I would scan the menus and then choose the good deal that's not expensive. Or I would just go with fries and a small-sized soda.

I just have found the stores the cheapest for the things I buy. It makes a huge difference. Also I don't buy a lot of useless crap. Helps too.

When eating out.....I always get water with lemon (FREE) when they charge an arm & a leg for drinks that I don't even like......I started doing that & now all my friends do it when we go out.

Oh my, it's nice to know that others water their shampoo & conditioner & soap when it gets down to the bottom. I was surprised that my parents (who were depression children) didn't do things like that......I thought I was strange in doing it but it always made sense....."good to the last drop".

When baking or cooking, I always use the spatula to get every last drop out of the measuring cup.

With a broken refrig, I ended up throwing a lot of food away that went bad that had way outdated use by dates on it......don't feel too bad because my extended warranty covers the cost of that food loss....good time to clean my refrig when I end up getting money for the food that went bad (or maybe was already bad????).

I have to say however, I have splurged on the wonderful apricots & white nectorines that have been in the store lately. I buy the managers specials on some things so I can spend my money on the things I really enjoy.

Also, living alone, I can't use a whole carton of milk quick enough....so I started buying the organic milk which stays good for months.

I do recycle everything they possibly take for recycling in this backward's little place....but at least it's better than nothing.

Oh yes, I also haul my own trash to the dump in my truck. I don't get many trash bags in a month....Usually accumulate for about 6 months then haul it all for less than $15.....where they charge $45/2 months.

I kept buying food & then sticking it in my freezer.....at the beginning of the year, I promised myself that I would not buy any main meal foods until I used up what was in my freezer.....I am still working on that premise......Of course, a single person with not much of an appetite, doesn't eat much in the first place......but I do feed my dogs well & with expensive brand of dog food lamb & rice for their coats. However when they have the horse shows at the horse park, there is always a representative that has that brand of dog food, so I get many of their sample's with $2 coupons on them for future use.

Crackers means bonkers/crazy in UK but use it however, make a new meaning up.

helpful plus u made me laff

yes that canning is some good stuff, slow right now, got pickles up recently, blanching good too, also freezing, sybiling unique and idea of merit. but different expirations for diff items. never made it but buy old stuff sharply reduced all the time, then cook the heck out of it. ty for neat idea

I'll make 5 pounds of spaghetti or chili and freeze half. I've also bought a roast, cut it into two or three pieces and frozen the other two. I put in a bunch of potatoes and carrots in the crockpot with the roast.

Blimey , this is an old thread. I hate throwing food away. When i sweep the kitchen floor, i sift the sweepings before i throw them away. Any old bit of food that has fallen on the floor; crumbs, bits of veg,meat, cheese or anything else the rats haven't got i put in the slow cooker ( with a can of soup) for a wonderfully economical evening meal. In fact i occasionally find the odd dead rat and that goes into the pot too. Adds a lovely piquancy to the flavour and , of course, is free meat. Ps i might add a handful of frugile if i want to make it into a pasta dish.

Only thing i find about putting all the veg in with the meat (unless it's a stew) is that all the veg taste 'MEATY'. I like my rat to taste of rat and my veg to taste of veg. I'm a fussy eater haha.

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