Homesteading/Ranch Savings Challenge

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Weekly savings challenge

We went camping for the week of the 4th for the music festival on the river. It was so good to get away and our camping spot was amazing. We were under trees so we stayed shaded up all day and had a couple of friends camped right next to us. Andy was able to get a lot of playing in and I was able to get a lot of visiting and resting in. We did have to come home a few times to do chores since we were gone for a week. I did have a nice surprise when we came home to do chores one of those days. I had a new baby goat and he is just the cutest.

Here are some of the things I have done this past couple of weeks to save money. Even going camping I was able to save on some things. 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. Trimmed my peppermint plants will use what I trimmed for tea
  4. Put used coffee grounds in the garden.
  5. 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.
  6. Washed out some used baggies to reuse.
  7. Averaging about 8 to 9 eggs a day.
  8. Added more aluminum cans to the aluminum can. bucket
  9. Ate leftovers from the night before for lunches.
  10. Been leaving the windows are open at night so the house will be cool in the morning hours.
  11. Took all the food that we needed for camping from the pantry
  12. Water glassed several dozen eggs ( more on this in a couple of days)/
  13. Found a chandelier for my bedroom for 5 dollars ( I will paint it before I hang it)
  14. Canned 6 quarts of coleslaw
  15. Bought 1000 pounds of pig feed for the better price since it was in bulk
  16. 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. Lost 10 pounds of onions because I didn’t get to them in time.
  2. Lost my sourdough starter I didn’t get it tended to like I should have (this one makes me very mad at myself)
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

What were some of your money-saving things this week and what were your fails?

8 Replies to “Homesteading/Ranch Savings Challenge”

  1. Toni (in Niagara)

    Hi Connie,
    Good that you got some well-deserved rest while camping! And congrats on the new arrival!
    This week I:
    1. Picked (shook) 10 qts of berries from the mulberry tree out front
    2. Sold eggs for $5/dz to a standing customer
    3. Gathered the seed heads popping up from straw in the garden and fed them to the chickens – not a lot, but….
    4. Bought dog food on the once-per-month senior’s day for 10% off
    5. Installed two 8′ x 4′ raised beds: laid heavy cardboard over the “floor” (grass and weeds) inside then filled them with compost/last year’s chicken coop clean-out and soil.
    6. Reviewed the big pantry and pulled some items that were close to their BB date for use this week
    7. Planted the “loose” seeds from the bottom of my seed container. No tomatoes or peppers, but likely lots of brassicas (or poppies!) and some assorted flowers. It will be a garden bed of surprises 🙂
    8. Asked a friend of a friend if I can pick apples from his trees in the fall – he said yes!
    Fails :
    1. When taking a selection of meat from the outside (garage) freezer, a package of bacon and a pound of ground pork got left behind in the garage………found them 2 days later, and it’s been in the 90s this week. PEE-YOO.
    2. Probably lots of other things, but I’m old and tend to forget 🙂

    1. watkinsranches@yahoo.com Post author

      Toni,
      Don’t you just love free fruit? Non of our trees have anything on them this year between the drought and late freeze nothing 🙁 . I was able to buy some peaches on sale the other day guess I will have to be happy with that.

      Flowers are always nice to have especially free ones lol

      haha I am right there with ya on the “old and tend to forget”

      Have a great day and thanks for sharing.
      Connie

  2. NRP & Blue

    Hi all;
    Well the past few weeks have gone by at the speed of light it seems.
    Decided to stay home over the 4th, probably was a good idea, wayyyyy to many people out there being foolish and not minding themselves. Did go to a neighbor’s for a nice dinner on the 4th, was just 5 of us, all family and me.
    He had BBQed some Pork Ribs, they were Good but a little under done, but it ws nice to just spend a quiet night.
    Got home and wandered out onto the porch…. WAS WAY COOL, someone about a mile north of me started to set off a few fireworks, I know he had a permit to do so and had the FD there to supervise, BUT OMG!!!!! Hundreds and hundreds of fireworks, literally MAYBE more like in the thousands, WHAT A SHOW, lasted almost 45 minutes and was totally nonstop.

    Anyways, for the “Homesteading/Ranch Savings Challenge” I failed miserably… and I do mean FAILED.

    1. I been wanting a new Dehydrator, I have a Nesco with 10 trays, but it’s almost as old as I am and welllll let’s say it works “ok”. I picked up a brand new out of the box Commercial unit for right around $239.oo This thing is fantastic…. So not really a Failure as I will be putting it to good use more and more as the Garden comes in.
    2. I want ahead and bought a few little things I been wanting, and have been putting off, but I feel like I could have probably have done without them.
    3. The biggest thing I, not really failed, but did, was to confirm a purchases of a full beef for Fall of 2021. So now I need to start using up some stuff in the Freezers to make room, Hence the Dehydrator, I normally freeze a lot of Vegetables from the Garden, but…… UGHHHH

    So yes, Money was my Failure for the week…. So far.

    A couple of positive things I have decided to implement.
    1. STOP wasting anything, from Food to water to fuel, seriously anything that can be cut back of reused IS going to happen. An example, when I wash the Vegetables to Dehydrate them, I’m using the wash water to water the House Plants.
    2. ALL scraps will be feed to Blue, or be put in the compost bin.
    3. Laundry WILL be hung outside to dry.
    4. AC will got off at 6:00 every night and windows opened to cool off the house, and NOT turned back on till late in the morning.
    5. Making my own Baked Goods, Bread, is coming a weekly thing.
    6. Less trips to town, One a week ONLY (or less, maybe two weeks), do everything I need in one trip.
    7. Starting to identify electronics, TV’s, Radios, that use power even when turned off, and unplugging them…..
    8. Recycling things, I HATE recycling but if I can make a few extra bucks….. Well ok I’ll put up with some Jerk at the Recycling Place to do it; YES I had a very bad experience there once.
    That’s about it…… Y’all have a GREAT week.

  3. watkinsranches@yahoo.com Post author

    NRP,
    What kind of dehydrator did you get was it the magic mill? I need to replace mine and really can’t afford another Cabela’s one not to mention I won’t be near one for a while.

    Also if you ever need we sell beef in the fall 1/2 or whole (grass-fed).
    I don’t count it as a fail when spending towards preparedness those are wins haha.

    Looks like you are doing a good job of pinching them pennies lol.

    Have a great week
    Connie

    1. NRP & Blue

      Connie,
      Ill get the info on the DH I got and post it here…
      Been using it since Friday when I got it…. tis a winner for sure.

      1. watkinsranches@yahoo.com Post author

        NRP,
        Awesome and thank you.
        Also if you ever want to do a guest post please feel free to do so.I would love to have a little extra content.

        Have a great day
        Connie

        1. NRP & Blue

          Connie;
          The Magic Mill Commercial model MFD-1010 is nice
          My Brother has a Magic Mill that’s slightly smaller.
          His has 11 trays, not 10 as advertised, that are 12”X13” the Commercial 11 trays are 15”X15”
          I opted for the larger because of all the “Greens” I do, and just cause it’s bigger.
          I got it Amazon, BUT it seems they are out of stock on the Commercial units for now….
          I researched it some and found the …. Samson”Silent” 10 Tray Stainless Steel Dehydrator…. to be exactly the same unit as I got….. Again on Amazon $269.oo About $20 more

          BTW the Excalibur, that everyone brags on, is about the same size, but around $50 more that the Samson.

          One of the fall backs that some might object to is OMG wait for it…. It’s made in China.
          But guess what, it’s as good or better that the Excalibur, Tis your money, but I’ll take the $50 and put into my pocket.

          1. watkinsranches@yahoo.com Post author

            NRP,
            Thanks for the info. I will look into them and hopefully get one soon. And yes I hate to say it but at this point in time with the way things are if I can save 50 dollars then I will save 50 dollars because that 50 can go towards more preps.
            Thanks and have a great day.
            Connie