Official SS Poll: What do you do to eliminate bills / cut down expenses?

[frustratedearthmother]

Woo hoo - what a great find!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

We really enjoy raising a garden each year, then canning and freezing the extras! It's also great to have your chickens and ducks for eggs- we love them so much.

 

[lcertuche]

On way home, I stopped at our "Habitat" resale store. Occasionally some good stuff happens, not always BUT with wind I knew I was slowed for farm work. Take a look.

Glory be!! I find a dehydrator for $8. Not fancy, not all the bells and whistles but, looks to never have been used. It's box shows signs of sitting near a window for a long time judging from the sun fade on one side. Been wanting one but, $300 for an Excaliber was just not for me. I mean, I don't know if I will even WANT to use it often. This is a Ronco and a 3 tray model (no longer made, just 5 tray ones) and inside there were 4 trays. Heck the extra tray was $9.95 on the website. So, I download the book for the 5 tray -- same unit -- and I'm ready to roll, er to dry. If I like the effort, I can move on up to the bigger & better ones. Until then, el cheapo runs.

Also got 15 wide mouth pint canning jars, with rings for 25cent each. I buy when I find them.

OK, now I need to find something to dehydrate. There are some potatoes in the kitchen (they were free!) I'll whip out that mandolin slicer and make chips.

Wow, great score. I have a 4 rack Ronco dehydrator and it does a super job. I have been dehydrating all those bell peppers the church gave me. I love dehydrated foods. It takes up so little room and rehydrates wonderfully for most things. Some things like peppers and tomatoes I will grind into powder. Such concentrated flavor to add to recipes.

 

[Mini Horses]

Good to know they work well. That's what this one is.

So far, I haven't had time to even try this one. Hope to do so tomorrow as I will be home most of the day, at least enough to check on it occasionally. I have potatoes, a pineapple, apples and couple other things to try. Next Friday I'll be bringing home strawberries from a food demo and want to try those. This may work nicely.

A friend has 2 huge (!) fig trees and I love, love, love dried figs. Sure plan to have a lot of tem. She doesn't even like them, all mine.

How do you check temperature on yours? Or do you? It is adjusted by the vents on top/bottom but, any tips. I'm thinking a thermometer and just work with various vent sets. It can be used for making yogurt but, no directions, so I know temp needs to be roughly 110. I bet you could raise bred -- with some practice. This is where the expensive ones are nice.

 

[lcertuche]

I have a dial with approximate temps. I usually set it for around 140. I just check it after a few hours and when it is crunchy I let it cool down and put it in jars. I used to do it at a lower temp and may go back to that but right now I'm trying to dehydrate almost a crate of bell peppers. I did chop them and put in the freezer so I can do it before they all spoil. The only difference between the frozen and fresh is that the frozen leaves a sticky residue on the bottom of the dehydrator.

 

[valmom]

I am putting in a large garden this year and need to get more serious about dehydrating things! I tend to do fruit in season mostly.

 

[lcertuche]

Fruits and vegetables in season is usually a good deal anytime of year.

 

[Wannabefree]

I rented my house out and became somewhat of a drifter the last couple years because one person doesn't need 3br 2 baths.....although now I'm regretting it a bit because I'm staying with family till it sells...but I'm saving a bundle!!!

 

[valmom]

I would love to find someone to house share. Except that I asked the tax preparer at H+R Block about it and the tax requirements are arcane. Totally put me off legally renting out my upstairs.

 

[sumi]

Taxes are a brat. In England you have to pay tax on unused bedrooms. Seriously? And they are talking about bringing the window tax back: http://www.independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/why-not-bring-back-window-tax-too-26518630.html

Desperate times?