Homesteadmom
Frugal Homesteader
Starting July 1st dh will be taking a once a pay period furlough, which equals out to a little over our grocery budget each month. And comes just as the elec bills get to their high point. Great timing for the state! Although the alternative is to lay off people & I see this as a better way of doing it. So we are downsizing the satelite & cell phone plans & eliminating netflix. We can rent movies for $1/day from redbox & dh drives by 2-3 of them on his way to & from work. Not to mention my db has a multitude of dvd's we can borrow too. We are making sunscreens for all the windows to help cut the amt of heat that comes in thru the windows so the ac should not run as much then. I already drive as little as possible so my gas usage is not too bad. Not to mention there will be no more homeschool activites to go to during the summer either. We plan on getting our above ground pool up soon & that will require elec to run the filter, but it will be cheaper than driving to a pool & paying to get in to swim. We keep our chemicals to a bare minimum so lower expense there too. We will be butchering our momma cow so the freezer's will be full of beef. We have the garden going already & I am hoping to get a few more layers for more eggs than the 4 hens & 1 banty. Thinking i can sell a few more to help make up the cost of feed, nopt to mention the grass & weeds they get(& thinings) from the garden. DD has all the clothes she needs for summer, might need to replace sandals for her as her feet grow. Ds has clothing needed but will need shoes. DD also has the majority of clothing needed for next fall & winter too(thank goodness) but ds will need clothing. Our church is having a sale on the 25th of this mo & I plan on looking for him stuff then for next fall/winter. I use the clothesline & only use the dryer to touch up things & remove wrinkles(mainly dh's uniforms). When I wash denim I hang the bigger heavier items on the back of my dining rm chairs(not wood) as the wet with the ceiling fan above them help cool down my great rm a little more. I bake & cook from scratch, grinding my own wheat for it. I make a lot of my own mixes for cooking too.
Any other suggestions? WE switched from grain to just hay for the cattle & ram to help save on feed costs already too & they are eatting less already. I plan on canning, freezing & dehydrating all the extras we can from the garden. Plus we are in the process of cleaning out all the extras we have to have our own sale, not just for the extra money but to get rid of the extra's & have less clutter .
Any other suggestions? WE switched from grain to just hay for the cattle & ram to help save on feed costs already too & they are eatting less already. I plan on canning, freezing & dehydrating all the extras we can from the garden. Plus we are in the process of cleaning out all the extras we have to have our own sale, not just for the extra money but to get rid of the extra's & have less clutter .
The difference between your family and probably the other employees is that you will be prepared to do what you have to do to get by, most won't even know where to start.
