What did you do to save $ today?

[big brown horse]

I am a Montessori teacher (taking this year off) and have been teaching since 1996. I teach ages 3-6 and sewing is part of their education under "practical life skills". The children learned to strait stich, sew buttons on, make a pillow, and then a doll etc. At the end of each school year we always made a classroom quilt that we auctioned (silently) off to raise money for new classroom supplies. (It also fine tuned their hand writing skills, helped with consentration and coordination.) Anyway the boys loved it!!

 

[freemotion]

Last night I made 8 quarts of yogurt, sent 5 home with my parents. Got my new batch of cheese cultures and supplies in today, so I can't wait to try some new recipes, namely, chevre and some nice mold-ripened St Mauer! Got some white mold culture, too.

I got 48 strawberry plants, since dh promises to work on the strawberry bed tomorrow so I can plant it this weekend. Strawberries next year, but I am counting the savings today!

 

[FarmerDenise]

I went to our Goodwill Outlet store twice this week. I got a lot of canning jars, 2 dogbeds, a nice covered cat litter box (which we will use as a chicken nest box), clothes for myself and for the surrogate grandkids, several books, large pots for plants, clothespins (new in unopened bag), candy molds (also new in unopened bag), a really nice basket (to be used for gift giving in the future), and lots of other goodies. I spent a total of $28.55. It is amazing how many items were either new or almost new.
I just hate that they throw the stuff away after we (us consumer) go through it. They had a complete box of similac with an expiration date of 2010, a big box of adult diapers sealed in plastic bags, the most beautiful childrens' books and oodles of holiday dodads still in the wrappers with prices attached.
Well I got my bargains at least. It is hard not to get all the other stuff and donate it. I'm just too broke these days. I have done so in the past though.
Today I went to the Goodwill store to get little pans for my most recent foster kittens. I am using them for litter pans.
I picked a box full of lavender to dry. I didn't even make a dent in our bushes. I put it in my storage tent, where it gets quite hot. I also picked some chive blossoms to make chive vinegar. I didn't have nearly as many blossoms as I had thought. Oh well. There is always next year. At least I get to try it.
FIL came by and brought us a case of white bread that is beyond the date. We refrigerate it and use it for animal feed and also for SO and Stepson to eat. FIL also brought muffins and grapes.
The other day he gave me some storebought asparagus. Yech! I guess we are spoiled on our homegrown. I'm sure glad I froze some.
Now I'm going to read one of my "new" books on Natural Fragrances

 

[GoddessDanu]

In order to save money to buy our Suburban new tires, I did my second $30 grocery last week. We've spent $60 for two weeks of groceries and we haven't gone hungry once. We're eating a lot of beans, eggs, cheese, etc. I miss chicken, though. I'll admit forced vegetarianism isn't so bad but why does meat have to be so expensive?! :/

 

[big brown horse]

Last night I made 8 quarts of yogurt, sent 5 home with my parents. Got my new batch of cheese cultures and supplies in today, so I can't wait to try some new recipes, namely, chevre and some nice mold-ripened St Mauer! Got some white mold culture, too.

I got 48 strawberry plants, since dh promises to work on the strawberry bed tomorrow so I can plant it this weekend. Strawberries next year, but I am counting the savings today!

I love goat cheese, chevre is my fav! I wish you lived closer! What is St. Mauer?

 

[FarmerDenise]

freemotion wrote:
Last night I made 8 quarts of yogurt, sent 5 home with my parents. Got my new batch of cheese cultures and supplies in today, so I can't wait to try some new recipes, namely, chevre and some nice mold-ripened St Mauer! Got some white mold culture, too.

I got 48 strawberry plants, since dh promises to work on the strawberry bed tomorrow so I can plant it this weekend. Strawberries next year, but I am counting the savings today!

big brown horse wrote:
I love goat cheese, chevre is my fav! I wish you lived closer! What is St. Mauer?

big brown horse, I agree with you. I LOVE cheese of any sort though. I wish we all lived closer too. At least you and I are on the same coast

Today I saved money by not hiring a maid to do all the cleaning I have done so far Now I'm off to hang the laundry to dry on the line.

 

[big brown horse]

 

[freemotion]

Danu, whole chickens are pretty cheap generally, and you can get several meals from one if you also make broth, and don't put a whole roasted chicken on the dinner table, portion it out. For example, for two people and one chicken: Roast the chicken whole. Remove the breast meat, one will become chicken salad for sandwiches, one will be cubed for chicken pot pie. Serve thighs for one meal, drumsticks and wings for another. After making the broth, pick remaining meat bits and make a soup, and use part of the broth as the base for the chicken pot pie. One chicken, five meals!

BBH and FD, St Mauer is what my dear departed siamese cat had been asking for all those years when he walked around the house, yowling, "Mauer! Mauer! Mauer!!!" And I never listened cuz I never knew about St. Mauer!

It is a recipe from the fiascofarm site, it starts with a basic chevre recipe to which you add some white mold powder, and let it age and get quite moldy in the fridge. It is supposed to develop a bit of a rind and get really gooey-creamy in the center.....mmmmmmm!

 

[freemotion]

Oh, and I saved money by picking up lots of leafy branches while walking the dog, and hung them from the hay rack for the baby goat. She has a voracious appetite! Mya will get some, too.

 

[hennypenny9]

I did a similar thing with a whole chicken recently! Also, at a local store, whole chickens were $.79 per pound. So it was less than $4.00. Not a bad buy, but only when it's on sale! I have two in my freezer for future cat food, but that's another story.

What I did to save money was buy locally! I got my soap making stuff from a shop in town and saved shipping!