What did you do to save $ today?

[Cinebar]

I sent my ex a bill for my daughter's braces. He is ordered to pay half. sooo. maybe i will get a bonus, or hell will freeze over. either is possible.

hillfarm - On getting the ex to pay his fair share, I don't know what state you are in or how the child support is collected, but here in my state (Washington), support is collected by pay withholding and then dispersed to the receiving parent. In the event of things like braces, child care, other miscellaneous expenses that are written into the parenting plan with a certain percentage ordered to be paid by the paying parent, you can turn in proof of the expenses and Support Enforcement will make sure it gets to you.

Of course, it has to be court-ordered. And, unfortunately, in this state, the paying parent does have the right to challenge it. My ex used to do that - demand a hearing and then not show up for it and then I'd get my money anyway by default; it was just a stall tactic on his part.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that. It might be worth looking into as far as what your state will do for you.

I hope you get your money.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

DS truck is out for a while with transmission problems, so I've been sharing my vehicle with him, as well as the expenses. He works about 7 miles from home and I work 1/2 mile from home, so I have been either walking to and from work or have been dropped off/picked up, depending on my wishes or need. I would be fine going on like this for a while, but I think he really wants his truck back.

 

[freemotion]

Put 41 of our eggs into the new incubator today. My order of 25 chicks last fall cost what the incubator and egg turner cost, so if we do two batches we will be way ahead of the game, even with a modest hatch rate.

And the 'bator is at my folks' apartment, where electricity is included in the rent. Wish they could set up the brooder and lamp there, too!

Mom has a cold and she is taking some elderflower tincture I made from wild flowers last summer, and some of the wine I made from the berries in the fall, both very immune system boosting. She can't have much because of her other meds, but a little goes a long way with all the super antioxidants in those precious little berries.

Made a lovely pizza for supper with flour I ground for 44 cents a pound and used some of our pastured bacon fat and our eggs in it....the dough smelled heavenly! I topped the dough with sprinkles of garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper, and then lots of herbs from our gardens last summer that I'd dried: oregano, basil, parsley, a touch of sage. Topped that with the last of our tomatoes and three small cans of drained diced tomatoes and a generous amount of a sharp caerphilly goat's milk cheese from last fall that aged perfectly, then some storebought mozzarella for the texture and to bind the dryer goat cheese somewhat. Then some storebought pepperoni (gotta learn to make that this year!) and oooo-la-la! Gourmet pizza!

Plenty left over for tomorrow night, and I made another dough for another pizza. But it looks so perfect and is a little thick, so I'm thinking of cutting it into squares, slicing it through the center, and using it as a sort of sandwich bun squares.

The dough soaked overnight (love those frozen whey cubes, thanks for the idea, Wifezilla!) so was super digestible.

 

[freemotion]

Just got an email from a friend who works at a library....she is doing some weeding of books and set this on aside for me: http://www.amazon.com/Pig-Perfect-E...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Pig Perfect.....what could be more perfect as I get ready for this year's pigs?

 

[miss_thenorth]

The dough soaked overnight (love those frozen whey cubes, thanks for the idea, Wifezilla!) so was super digestible.

I missed this, --can you elaborate please?

 

[freemotion]

I drained some yogurt to get some whey and froze it in an ice cube tray that makes small cubes. Then I had fresh, live whey for soaking grains. I made the dough in the recipe in this link: http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6963 and let it sit on the counter overnight. Then it was thoroughly soaked and the phytates were neutralized.

By the way, we had sandwiches made from squares cut from that second dough, and they were perfect!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

While walking home from work last week, I noticed one of the neighbors was throwing away 2 square bales of hay.....plus I went to my godfather's crawfish boil and he was throwing away a bag of potatoes because they were growing in the bag. Well I forgot the potatoes, but I went for the hay and then bought seed potatoes and started them in drums according to John Seymour's directions in 'The Self-Sufficient Life".
Can't wait to see how that will work out.
Too bad I was too late for my godfather's throw away potatoes because all that would have cost me nothing but time.

 

[framing fowl]

I remembered to google a coupon for some mascara that I needed before I went to the store today. Saved $2 minus 5 minutes of time and .02 for the paper/ink. I don't usually use coupons because I so rarely use name brand stuff that the coupons are for.

 

[freemotion]

Got 32 pints of spaghetti sauce in the canners. I'd gotten some big Costco cans of tomatoes and paste when Mya ate my tomato garden and had them in the cellar. Dad is making a fancy egg candler with a 100 w bulb and an on/off switch so it doesn't cook the eggs, and he wanted a can to see if that would make a decent container for it. Hence the spaghetti sauce project with a goat about to pop. Sheesh! Looks like I'm gonna beat her and get the sauce done, though. And get an egg candler, too.

I used herbs from the garden and sea salt that I made. This fall.....my own tomatoes, too, or a goat will get sold! Or added to the sauce!

 

[Laureli]

used rainwater to clean out the wet /dry vac that had sucked up the grossest, most disgusting fridge drip pan water ya ever did smell.

used some rags to clean the floor or to at least sop up the most disgusting fridge drip pan water ya ever did smell. which had spilled while moving the fridge.

Unfortunately, I did have to use some paper towels, but the other alternative was to use more of my "good" rags for something that I would not ever put in my washer or even outside on the fence to let the rain wash it away. It would probably make us very sick.