Frugal living "revisited"

Frugal....  When I was young we just called it cheap.  Yes, I'm cheap... sometimes... but frugal is more than that.  Frugal is doing the best you can for the least amount of impact upon your families wallet and, I will also include, the environment. 

Canning... 

Yes I can a lot of things.  I grow a lot of things and save seeds as well.  This all leads to a more frugal lifestyle.  Not only does it mean I save money (caution....don't go into canning the first year or two thinking you will save money) but I also lessen our "carbon footprint" as a family.  I will tell you which things I believe are essential, some that are still on my wish list, and great add-ons for when you come into some money, or Great-Aunt Betsy gives you a big check and tells you to buy something for yourself! 

MUST HAVE!

Water bath Canner.  You can use a big pot, the oven, or something similar but the best and safest method in our home is the good old canner.  Doing the other methods have often resulted in broken jars and wasted time....  ALL OF WHICH causes more frustration than you can shake a stick at. 

If you are canning in the dead of summer when the veggies are coming on fast and furious, this can lead to nothing but heartache. I would make sure to invest in a fan to cool your kitchen....

For Mother's Day,  your birthday, or just because, ask for a canner.  If all else fails, buy one yourself.  Its a MUST have.  I even water bath can my jam and jelly, though technically you wouldn't have to.  My grandmother rarely did, she used paraffin to seal the jars, glasses, etc, but I prefer a longer term storage solution for those gorgeous jars I just loving cared for. 

 

Pressure Canner....  Some things MUST be pressured canned.  Unless you are trying to plan the demise of the neighbor that stays up until 4 am next door, blasting loud music every night while reeving his straight piped Harley.....  But even then...  yeah, safer to pressure can if you are doing something that MUST be prepared this way.  Like green beans, meats, soups, sauces....  Now, you could just buy the pressure canner if you have the funds and know you will use it...I have used my old pressure canner for a water bath canner as well.  You can do this successfully--though I prefer to have separate myself-- if you could only buy one.


Home Canning Kit....  This will save you more time and heartache.  Otherwise you may find you need "mommy juice" by the bucket while canning.  I have burned myself more than once not having a jar lifter and this kit has one of those, the needed funnel --yes a funnel for the jar is a MUST because few of us are careful-- and something I still want to get, a magnetic jar lid lifter.  The jar lid lifter is not a MUST, but I think it could quickly become a real strong want.  It will be on my list this year.  It has been a wish for the past couple years and I just haven't broke down and bought one yet.  Buy the kit,  it's cheaper and frankly, a well spent $12.

Jars....  You can't can without them.  I have begged, borrowed, and bought brand spanking new jars, as well as jars at used stores.....  Unless you can get your jars for free or really cheap, buy new.  As much as I abhor nearly all things Wal-Mart, you can get a decent box of jars there generally under $10 a dozen (pints).  Lets say someone at a garage sale has some and they are charging 25 cents a jar, unless your lucky and it includes the rings, you are only getting part of what's needed.  You need rings and lids.  These can run you around $4 a dozen.  When you buy rings/lids make sure it includes both rings and lids. 

For used jars you might end up paying about $7-8 dollars a dozen.  This price break down is based on pint sized jars.  Used jars might have nicks in the top of the jar so check that out before buying.  The true cost savings is in inheriting Aunt B's canning jars, or in saving your jars for the next year.   Its really just preference, used verses new I guess.  Some of my jars are a decade or more old and wonderful!  If you happened upon an estate sale and could score several dozen canning jars for a few dollars, go for it.  If you are just canning a handful of things, maybe buy new jars.  My used jar search continues every year....   I almost always buy new because you can only search so long, and I seem to always need pints or jam jars. 

(A note to local friends and family:  If you return jars and rings to me, I am more than happy to refill them for you when I can again!  Sometimes I might even have that yummy jam already waiting for you.   Please be kind and return canning jars!)

Blue Book...   If there is such a thing as a canning bible, this is it.  Its my go to canning book.  I have other favorites but if I need to make sure something is the right time or pressure, this book will tell me.  I have one from a few years ago and should probably update it soon but I would be slacking if I didn't recommend every home canner having one.

WANTS!  And boy howdy, does my wish list get big.....  even a few things I would like to add this year....

• Canning Bubble Popper and Measurer--I have been using a butter knife  *grin*
• Canning Lid Rack (I had so I know how missed this can be! Though it isn't essential)
• Food Press
•  Magnetic Lid Wand
• Dissolvable Labels for the jars.
• A portable propane stove for canning.  Of course a summer kitchen would be AWESOME!  A dream of any home food preparer.   

Canning can be a frugal way to go for your family but its by no means free or nearly so as it was for our great-grandmothers.  Good healthy food can be pricey, and growing it yourself can be costly in many areas.  Sit down and figure out how much time you devote, the cost of seed, water, etc.,  and the cost of the raw product if you do buy it and the other needed ingredients... go into it knowing what the monetary cost might be.

The biggest benefit and why I consider canning frugal living are the intangible things.  Things that can't be quantified with dollars and cents.  Healthier food for my family; the satisfaction felt when looking at my shelves full of homemade food; better for the earth that God gave us; independence and self sufficiency felt; and a sense of accomplishment, a job well done.  I wont even go into all the rich learning experiences that are provided when you produce your own food.  Let's just say that its ripe with experiences that money can't buy.  This is frugal living. 

Of course later I will discuss making other products for your family that don't involve canning.  Even what I learned while trying to learn extreme couponing.....  and I will discuss the need for a well stocked pantry of foods your family will eat, this is different than a well stocked pantry of MRE's and dehydrated foods prepared for the Zombie invasion. 

Laundry Day

Since early fall I have been out of homemade soap.  I have been putting off making it.  Why?  Oh I have literally no idea.  It only takes about a half hour of my time and its literally pennies a load.

The recipe can vary from source to source.  One person told me she uses 1 bar of Felsnaptha and 6-8 cups of borax and washing soda.   My recipe is a little different and this time when I made it I varied it a bit more, I am bad when it comes to following a recipe.  Additionally, I use a regular food shredder rather than a fine grater because of a hand injury which would prevent fine grating.  After grating I chop as well.

Kim's Laundry Suds Soap Recipe

Ingredients:
1 bar of Fels-Naptha or Zote soap
1 cup of Boarx
1 cup of Washing Soda
1 cup of Baking Soda
1 cup Laundry Crystals --Optional

Directions:
Place borax, washing soda, and baking soda in a large bucket or bowl.  Grate the bar of soap (with a food grater--fine if you can) and add it to the powder mix in the bucket.  Add the optional laundry crystals if you like.  Mix well with a large wooden spoon.

For use in laundry, add 1 Tbsp for a regular load of laundry (2-3 Tbsp if dirty or large) --if desired and using cool water dissolve the laundry soap first in a pint of warm water.  

Hubs only complaint with this laundry soap has been lack of scent.  The crystals take care of that problem!

You will buy a box of each of the powders and it will make several batches.  The Fels-Naptha runs around a dollar a bar.  I figure each batch cost about $3 and will wash about 70-75 loads. 
I say thats pretty good.

Ready for the Zombies......

**Post may contain affiliate links.  If you click and buy I do make a very small profit.


Can I throw TP and Ketchup at them?  Maybe a box of Mac and Cheese?

My cluttered pantry

Having a well stocked pantry can mean the difference between making it through a rough patch or not making it through.  Your pantry doesn't need to take up an entire room.  Even apartment dwellers can have a pantry full of extra "stores" for the rough patches.  Yes, you can!   I am gonna tell you how!

I wish I could include better pictures here, but with getting ready to move our pantry is neglected and much of it in storage.  I looked for old pictures... they show very little.  In our home we have been blessed with being able to have a large pantry area.  That being said, you don't need a large area to stock up.  In fact you can do it, with some creativity, in a small one bedroom apartment or studio; and I have done it in a small space.  I speak from experience!

If you are tight on space, think creatively.  What's under your bed, besides dust bunnies?  They have something you can buy at the hardware store, discount center, even Ikea, that lifts the legs of beds.  They are commonly called "Bed Risers" and using them can give you enough space to scoot clear plastic containers underneath a bed full of caned goods, toilet paper, noodles, tomato sauce, juice, and more.   A full or queen size bed can easily provide food and other necessities for several weeks for the occupants of the bed.  The same with a twin bed.  Your bed skirt will hide much of it and no one will be the wiser, unless you proudly show off your savings account.  The savings account that will still work even if the ATM's are down.  The savings account that will enable you to still have food if you get stuck in your home for a week from a freak snow storm or mud slid that closes off your road to town. 

Look into the closets.  What's above the rods?  Is there a shelf?  Make sure its sturdy and add some lightweight items above your hang up clothes.  How about below?  Can a couple clear plastic containers fit there and then either use a shoe rack or put your shoes on top of them?  Look in your kitchen....  do you have very deep lower cabinets?  Consider using some pantry solution storage system there if you are so blessed.  The key is to use your space creatively.  Look at it with new eyes and try to gain storage space.  A empty closet that isn't need for clothes could easily be converted and have shelves installed (make sure you don't violate a lease!).  There is always a way to have a few weeks food storage for just in case.  If you can have more, bonus!

If you buy shelves, I am giving you some advice that I learned the hard way....  make sure you buy shelves that will hold the weight of what you will put on them.  I bought "cheap" shelves only to have them fail.  I ended up buying better shelves that have a weight rating of somewhere around 250-300 pounds per shelf.  I figured over kill would be better than the under powered fiasco I had before.  I bought plastic ones from Home Depot but you can also buy really nice metal ones that adjust or even make your own and make them perfectly for quart or pint sized jars.  One thing I want to do when we move is to add a chalk board shelf label (similar to what they have on this web site...http://www.shenandoahvalleyflowers.com/wp-content/uploads/DSC00168.jpg).  They have chalk board decals that stick but I bet I could also use chalk board paint on the front of my shelves in a new pantry area.  I am looking forward to what we will be able to do if we are so blessed. 

Now to some having a pantry is an effort to prepare for a coming apocalypse; Zombies, zealots of either political faction, or any religion, nuclear war, a comet bouncing off our atmosphere, invasion by Canada.....  well, just a lot of things really.  Some people with HUGE pantries are plain hoarders that call themselves "extreme couponers" (I envy their deals with double/triple coupons, I really do...), and then there are the folks like me that "stock up" and put up to save for a rainy day.  We know for 100% certain there will be a few paydays every year that are tighter than others.  We try to guard against shortened job hours, loss of income, raising food prices at certain times of the year.... and we just plain don't want to have to go to the store for everything we need.  I have literally been able to not go and buy groceries outside of perishable items like milk and produce for several weeks at a time.  After Bear was born I went three months with limited grocery store excursions.  It was NICE.  So your reason may be to have jars of peanut butter to throw at the zombies, or it might be to not have to leave the house and venture to a grocery store until roughly New Years, its all good. 

What to stock a pantry with?  If you asked my husband he would say I have a toilet paper fetish.   I like to keep a six month or so supply on hand.  I laughingly remind him that we grew up during the cold war and if the Soviet Union ever did invade, by jimmy, I was not using pine cones!  But on the same token, if you have to make a choice between milk and TP, what are you gonna pick?  Of course, milk for the babies.  Food pantries all over often say that things like personal care items are forgotten about but still very needed by people.  When you have to decide between food and shampoo, food will win every time, even though you still really need the shampoo so you can go to work and not be sent home because you have unkempt hair. 

Buy only what your family will honestly eat and enjoy. I can't stress this enough. It's been a  long held belief of mine that if you eat and enjoy spaghetti then when your favorite sauce goes on sale buy a few jars.  Instead of buying one or two, buy six.  If you use a lot of dry beans, rice, quinoa, corn meal, etc. when you buy a bag, buy two (or three).  Put the extra on the shelf (date the item) and place it into your rotation.  Newest at the back, oldest at the front.  You will build a pantry without going into debt for it.  Real pantries are not full or MRE's.....  Those are for survival.  You want a pantry that is used and enjoyed, not a bunker....  besides from what I've heard, MRE's are really only useful for killing zombies.

Before you know it you have stocked up.  Look for sales of items you really use, use store coupons and don't be afraid of store brands.  This is why coupons didn't help me much.  We don't buy a lot of sugar cereal, junk food, name brands, etc., although coupons do help me when I go a few times a year and buy personal care items.  I think the extreme couponers have hindered manufactures giving good deals; through their antics, and lets face it, down right hoarding in many circumstances, manufactures began to really limit amounts.  I am told that they might be starting to get better again, this would be nice because I need to stock up on more tooth brushes again.  For me, I could not justify the time, gas and headache that was needed to travel to all the big stores.  It was not conducive to simplifying my life. 

DO NOT BUY WHAT YOU WON'T USE.  I am telling you because I have been there and done it.....  I bought some foods that I knew we didn't eat but I wanted to have on hand for food donation, and they were on sale BIG TIME.  When the time came I forgot all about them.....  I recently had to throw out several cans of pork and beans and cream of mushroom soup, because they were past an expiration date for the pantry....  NEVER AGAIN.  Buy only what you will use.

If you need big plastic food storage buckets check with local bakeries.  I also know that stores locally like WINCO sells them and you can get them for under $7 for a 5 gallon bucket.  This are also kind of handy to have for your "emergency kit"; the handle makes it easy to carry and its water proof as well. 

If you need gallon jars, look at buying pickles and eating the pickles (lucky for me I have pickle loving family members).  Then you can wash the jar well, using a vinegar solution to help remove the pickle smell, or if you or so inclined a few drops of bleach will also do the trick.   Of course if you are blessed with a dishwasher, just a wash through it might do the trick. Then you can use the jars to store a myriad of items....  from beans to rice.....    I like storing flour, rice, etc. in gallon jars.  If you do have to throw something, a recycled jar thrown at zombies could really do some damage.  I've had a full  pint size jar fall on my head before, and it HURT.  Don't throw canning jars....  that's just plain rude!  *grin*

 

The key is to have it organized (as you can see here, I am still working on that.....  hey, I am being honest).  I have also found that you need to add cleaning and organizing a pantry to your monthly chore list.  Its not the dreaded task that you might think, if you keep on top of it. 

If you want to know more about root cellaring and putting up your own food that you grow and harvest, or that you buy locally I strongly urge you to buy or borrow, Root Cellaring.  I can't recommend this book enough.  It's written in an easy to understand way and practical as well.  Its not some high brow unattainable dream book, but really down to earth and has things each of us can most likely pick up, do, and implement.  I have enjoyed owning it and reading it to further my knowledge base in the home arts.

 

Links to some interesting web sites I have found with pantry helps and ideas....  or, better yet, follow me on pinterest!  I am not affiliated with these sites listed below, I just have discovered them on my searches for organization and wanderlust!

My Pantry Pinterest Board!
http://www.canorganizer.com/
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/pantryOrganizers/shelfOrganizers

 Please share your experiences, thoughts, questions, and more with me.  Send me your pictures or blog links to add to my list of links if you blog about your pantry.