What did you do to save $ today?

[sumi]

I wish I could convert our truck to run on wood. That thing is killing us!

We saved MIL a a lot of money on cat food today. She'd been buying an expensive brand at an expensive shop in town. When DH and I went to do our shopping today we found ourselves in the pet food aisle and decided to have a look at cat kibble prices. We noticed the cheaper cat kibble's price compared VERY favourably to the brand she bought and bought her a bag. Back home I calculated that the same amount of cat food in the more expensive brand would've cost her 120% more than we paid. The brand we bought is good quality (we used to feed our cats on it), so no compromises were made with this saving. Shopping around and comparing prices certainly pays off sometimes!

 

[BillSchi]

You can run your truck on wood. That is my next project. I will convert my 1995 Dodge Dakota. Many have done it successfully. The best resource on the web is at driveonwood.com It is worth checking out. After spend the time and initial investment, now I know I won't need to spend money on fuel. This will equal huge savings!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm going to have to check that out. If I could run on either wood or horse poop, I'd be thrilled!

 

[sumi]

Thank you for that! I will definitely check it out. We have a 40yo Ford truck, steel body which weighs 1.5 tonnes, automatic transmission... She's a heavy drinker.

 

[BillSchi]

I'm going to have to check that out. If I could run on either wood or horse poop, I'd be thrilled!

Here you go Deb

 

[Denim Deb]

Cool! Of course, I only have 3 horses, and have no shavings. But, I get my own farm, I might have to look into something like this.

 

[goatgurl]

denim deb i had a friend who raised goats and put all of the 'stuff', bedding, poo etc in a methane digester and used the gas they produced to heat and light their home. don't know how much horse and goat poo you have but i found it fascinating. not sure I'd want to shovel all that but...

 

[BillSchi]

A methane digester is reasonably easy to make. It can be used from any animal waste and compost materials. Do a little research to understand how to handle the gas, also to understand what gases are involved and the dangers with them. H2S is very lethal and should be used in a well ventilated area. It is also hard on engines if you use the gas for that purpose. The good news is it's easy to scrub out from the gas.
It does take 20-30 days to start producing gas from the biomass you are using and best made in warmer temperatures. It can be made in batches such as the video provided here or a continuous feed that is easily adapted.

 

[goatgurl]

i like this thread, it makes me stop and think. just what did i do to save $ today. i went down the road to the saw mill and got a big bag of cedar shavings for a couple of bucks and brought them home to put in the hen nests in the chicken house. stopped at the creek on the way home and picked up some egg shaped rocks because the snakes have eaten all my ceramic eggs. got the nests cleaned out and restuffed with the cedar shavings, put a handful of diatomaceous earth in each nest for a little pest control. spray painted the rocks tan and filled the fake Easter eggs that i got for 24 cents a dozen with small rocks and super glued them shut to put in the nests. now, note to self, if the super glue tube is a little sluggish and you squeeze it with a pair of channel locks to open it up you can expect to get your other hand full of glue and you only have a few seconds to decide what position you want your hand to freeze dry in. thank God for acetone!

 

[Denim Deb]

Remind me never to try using channel locks on super glue!

For me, the biggest thing that I do is ride my motorcycle out to the farm as much as I can. I get 60 miles to the gallon on that as compared to 15 in my truck. And, I try to make sure I get feed when I'm going to have the truck anyway. I have to take the truck on Tuesday, so that's when I'll be getting feed.