What did you do to save $ today?

[AnnaRaven]

I set up the rain barrel today. Attached it to the downspout. We'll see how much rain we get the rest of the year but at least I'll be catching some of what we get instead of losing it all. If this one works well, I'll probably get more for around the property for next winter.

When we lived in Silicon Valley we had, eventually, about 20 30 gal. garbage cans for water. One was under the downspout, with about 5 or 6 attached to it with small pipes - DH drilled an appropriate sized hole up near the top, put the pipe between the two, and did that for as many as would fit along the side of the house. As the first filled it overflowed into the next, etc. And I would periodically go out and bail into other garbage cans. This water kept all our potted plants, and quite a bit of the in ground plantings, watered over the summer.

Yeah. I found these *gorgeous* rain barrels though. I mean, they look like decor! And they're useful. (I love things that are beautiful as well as functional.)

 

[freemotion]

Made 60 pints of catfood today and got 6 quarts of nice broth for us along with gravy for tonight's supper. Mashed all the bones and scraps and got some good protein for the flock for the next week, hoping to get enough eggs to fill the incubator within the next two weeks. All that meat scrap usually stimulates a lot of egg laying, and the roosters will need extra energy for their job, too!

Saved about $65 on fencing with a coupon at TSC....it was fencing I would've paid full price for, so I was thrilled to have a coupon. We borrowed a truck and picked it up today, so we can keep everyone where they need to be by the time the first doe kids....in 2-3 weeks! Yipes! Gotta get to bed to get up early to work on that fence!

 

[calendula]

Made 60 pints of catfood today and got 6 quarts of nice broth for us along with gravy for tonight's supper. Mashed all the bones and scraps and got some good protein for the flock for the next week, hoping to get enough eggs to fill the incubator within the next two weeks. All that meat scrap usually stimulates a lot of egg laying, and the roosters will need extra energy for their job, too!

Saved about $65 on fencing with a coupon at TSC....it was fencing I would've paid full price for, so I was thrilled to have a coupon. We borrowed a truck and picked it up today, so we can keep everyone where they need to be by the time the first doe kids....in 2-3 weeks! Yipes! Gotta get to bed to get up early to work on that fence!

Do you have a recipe for your cat food on here anywhere? I've been considering making my own, but am not sure where to start.

 

[freemotion]

There is a thread somewhere....search for homemade catfood. I start with $0.59 per pound chicken leg quarters, but have also made it with the fall sale turkeys. I also add a lot of livers and some green and yellow veggies, with a ratio of no less than 80% meat, higher is better. No grains whatsoever.

eta: here it is: http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1936

 

[morgj]

put some navy beans in the crock pot this morning before leaving for work with leftover veggies, made some yogurt cheese and have the whey ready for whatever. Went to the grocery store and stuck to my list and resisted buying stuff I wanted I didn't have on there.

Scrounged some cinder block for a raised garden bed.

 

[kimnkell]

Today I saved by ordering my necessities from alice.com instead of making a trip to town to buy the stuff. Saved on gas and probably saved more money because I buy more things when I go to town.

 

[AnnaRaven]

I combined some errands to avoid wasting gas, and stopped at Walmart to pick up canning jars for cheap.

 

[Denim Deb]

I rode my motorcycle to the bank. Much less gas than driving the truck.

 

[tortoise]

Not much today - I'm grouping errands together to save gas.

 

[morgj]

I am assuming the role of grocery getter to save fuel. There are 2 grocery stores within 2 miles from work, a Walmart SuperCenter and an Aldi's. I used to drive the other car on days when I needed my DW to go to the grocery store. Thing is the closest one is about 11 miles away. So that's 22 miles round trip for something I can easily do either before work (have a fridge at work) or during the work day. Boss has no issue with errand running!!! So saving gas that way. And now that I've done it for a few weeks, it seems I'm a bit of a thriftier shopper to boot. If it ain't on the list, it doesn't get bought....

We are also in the process of emptying the freezer. We were bad at rotating food and kept placing newer purchases over top of the old. I decided it was time to use all the old stuff first and we are not buying any meat etc. until we have used most of what we got.

We had a meatless meal tonight also. For me, the carnivore, it is a interesting journey. But I'm trying to go meatless dinner at least once a week. Well, except for the pork necks in the beans, but for me that is meatless - lol.