Homesteading Ranch Savings Challenge #2

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Once again I am wanting this to be a once a week post but it has been three weeks since the last one, will try to get better lol.

So some of the things I have done the past three weeks to save money.

  1. Made bread.
  2. Used hot water off the woodstove to wash dishes.
  3. Dried clothes on a drying rack in front of the woodstove.
  4. Got a load of free firewood from Andy’s work.
  5. Hung a large quilt in front of the back door to top the draft from coming in.
  6. Made tea on the woodstove.
  7. Saved the coffee grounds to use in the garden.
  8. Feed all the scraps to the dogs, goats, and chickens.
  9. Canned 10 pints whole oranges ( for whole orange cake)
  10. Canned 8 1/2 pints whole oranges.
  11. Canned 13 pints onion jam.
  12. Canned 2 1/2 pints blueberries.
  13. Canned 9 pints grapefruits in orange juice.
  14. Canned 10 pints of mushrooms.
  15. Made a batch of dishwasher soap
  16. Found several pounds of Mushrooms on clearance sale.
  17. Won a pair of work gloves.
  18. Won a bottle of Vetrimician. ( cow meds)
  19. Ordered dried elderberries to make my own syrup with.
  20. Cooked all meals from scratch.
  21. Put leftovers in the freezer to use for lunches.
  22. Bought a few seeds to start my plants for the garden this year.
  23. Saved empty baby food containers to reuse.

I think this may abut it. Not as much as I would like but working on it and by doing this it makes me think about everything I am doing to make sure I am doing all I can to save.

What were some of the things you did this week to save? Remember even if small things, it all adds up.

 

7 Replies to “Homesteading Ranch Savings Challenge #2”

  1. NRP

    Hi-Ya’ll…. Hehehe
    Well I must say I have done a horrible job of saving $$$$

    Quite the opposite to be exact, I’m retiring in 2.5 months and figured I had best restock “OVER STOCK” the Deep Pantry while I still have the cash flow.

    For those that do not know… Sam’s Club is a very evil store HAHAHA

    BUT I have been trying to do more and more Lunches from home, one can NOT go out to lunch, even to McDonalds for under $10 per person anymore.

    I have been cutting down on a lot of the fluff in life, it sure it nice to just relax on the Back Porch and watch and laugh as the Crazies go by.

    I have indeed been making a lot more meals from the Kitchen Pantry (separate from the Deep Pantry), seems home cooking will spoil you really quick. BTW, get yar-self a Smoker, take a whole chicken frozen, remove the wrapping slap that sucker into the Smoker, set for 225degrees and 9 hours and walk away for 2 hours, at 2 hours add some good wood chips, I like the Cherry ones the best, repeat in 1 hour and let er be.

    So…. I’m going to ask Connie about her Onion Jam, never heard of that……How about your recipe for the troops????

    I am on the firewood kick again, Free Wood is a GREAT thing, add a little work and you can easily heat your home all winter.

    Thanks again Connie for the BLOG, good information for sure.

  2. Chaniqua

    I definitely did not save money this week lol. Hopefully I have set myself up to spend less in the future.
    I went to Home Depot and bought untreated lumber, more seeds, some more soil and other stuff for raised garden beds.

    The dirt in my backyard is some weird mix of clay, rock and something else. So we dug down a little and set the 8ftx4ft beds in. Got 2 done in about 4 hours. Slow work since we have to pick axe the dirt…there is no other way to get through it.

    This yard work is definitely a workout. We feel good when we are done and I’m hoping months from now to be in better shape from it.

    I bought one lonely apricot tree. I plan to go to the nursery tomorrow and look at pear and peach trees. They grow extremely well in my zone.

    I’m keeping a gardening journal so I can figure out what I’m doing right and eventually what I need to do differently.

    There’s my rambles for the week lol. Still reading every post even if I don’t comment. I enjoy reading the other comments.

  3. Kellie

    I have made bread this week and limited store shopping to just eggs, bananas, cheese and butter. Also turning off heat to most rooms in the house in the daytime and heating with the woodstove. Staying at home… not going to town helps with lowering fuel cost. Cooking from scratch as usual. Thanks for all the ideas on saving money, Connie!

  4. Toni (in Niagara)

    Happy Valentine’s day!
    Wonderful thoughts from you and your readers!
    For saving $, I review the contents of our freezers every 4 months and make sure that anything that needs to get used soon is put in a handier spot. Last time, I “found” a buried pumpkin pie that I forgot all about, and had not put on an inventory – yum! I am still looking for a better system of storage inside the deep freezers: Boxes are ok, but the ones on the bottom get covered up and hard to access; bags get lost; plastic breaks….. having smaller items in the large freezer bags works well but sometimes they are just not big enough. Anyone have any ideas on how to organize please? So….it is a bit of a chore to rotate and update the larger freezers but it is also a huge blessing to be able to have that much food. I know some folks who put good food in their freezer but fail to draw from it. There is stuff in there from several years ago – I’m not sure why they have a freezer – maybe it fills some kind of emotional need (and maybe they look at something I have or do and can’t figure out why 🙂 Anyway, I am determined that I will try to use everything I put in ours. That’s my plan and I hope to stick with it 🙂
    Wish me luck!
    Best wishes!

  5. Neal Prell

    Ok ya’ll I’m gonna start harassing Connie to answer your questions here…
    Kellie, I also would like the recipe for the Dish Soap

    Thanks for helping to support Connie’s BOLG
    We just need to let her know more how much we appreciate her work here.

    1. watkinsranches@yahoo.com Post author

      NRP,
      Haha, I am working on it lol. I have had a touch of something then was gone this week but I will get the dishwashing soap and the onion jam put up ASAP.
      Thanks for keeping me on my toes haha 🙂