Homesteading/Ranch Savings Challenge

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Weekly savings challenge

 

We had a good freeze a few nights ago glad we didn’t have much of our garden put out yet. We did cover what we did have set out and didn’t lose anything. Thank goodness.

Here are some of the things I have done this past week to save money. Some things only save a few pennies but every little bit adds up. I am going to add something new to the bottom of the list. My fails for the week, there are always a few of them.

So this is what I have done the past couple of weeks to save.

  1. Made bread
  2. Hung clothes on the line.
  3. Processed our pig our selves
  4. Canned several jars of pork.
  5. Got most all of the garden planted.
  6. Found 4 blueberry bushes on sale for half price ( 4.95) .
  7. Planted 6 Rasberry bushes.
  8. Was gifted two cases of jars which was great since I am having a hard time finding jars right now.
  9. Was gifted a pack n play, a water table, and a bumbe seat for the daycare.
  10. Put used coffee grounds in the garden.
  11. Added more tin cans to the can ( we will take these to the scrap yard with the rest of the metal when we get enough. It doesn’t pay a lot but every penny counts.
  12. Washed out some used baggies to reuse.
  13. Averaging about 8 to 9 eggs a day.
  14. Added more aluminum and cans to the aluminum can.
  15. Ate leftovers from the night before for lunches.
  16. Been leaving the windows are open at night so the house will be cool in the morning hours.
  17. Got the last of the strawberries canned.
  18. I started several aloe vera plants from a large on that I have.
  19. Planted several herb plants in the yard.
  20. Got water pumping up from the creek.
  21. Found some baskets at the thrift store. I will paint them to use for gift baskets.
  22. Water glassed several dozen eggs ( more on this in a couple of days)/
  23. Instead of buying new throw pillows for my sofa, I bought covers for them ( I was going to just make my own but find any fabric in the color and patterns I wanted.
  24. Made coleslaw from scratch for a family dinner.
  25. Found 6 shelf brackets for 50 cents each.
  26. Used envelopes from the mail for scratch pads.
  27. Waterglassed several dozen eggs. ( more on that later this week).
  28. Rendered down the fat from the pig.
  29. Boiled some of the bones from the pig for bone broth.
  30. Saving water from when we are letting it get warm to use for watering plants.

 

Fails for the week

While I try very hard to be frugal and do a lot of DIY’s I do have a few failures.

  1. Ordered pizza one night, I had to run in and feed Joleen’s dogs and had been working all day outside and was beat, Didn’t have anything thawed or in mind for supper so I ordered Pizza hut nad stoped and picked it up.
  2. Lost two herb plants I had bought to plant, didn’t get them watered in time.
  3. Almost ruined a batch of strawberry syrup, I have a big 5-gallon bucket of baking soda well I had gotten some in a bowl to clean my strawberries with so when I was adding the sugar for some reason I thought that the bowl had sugar in it and poured it in as soon I did I realized what I had done. I got most of it out but the syrup still has a little bitter taste. I made them and will use them in my Kombucha.
  4. Bought a fountain soda at the convenience store. I have been pretty good about not buying a soda in town but it just sounded so good haha. I did refill my own cup for a lower price so that has to count for something.
  5. Used the dryer to dry the white clothes, it was hot and I just couldn’t bring myself to go out and hang all those socks.

Hope to do better next week.