The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller

There really is not a topic other than 'odd ways' for this entry. Really, I tried to put them in a category but they just aren't fitting so, this hodgepodge of odd savings is brought to you by my eclectic frugal, brain. I hope you enjoy!

Odd ways in the kitchen (with objects not food):

Make a paper towel holder out of a wire coat-hanger. Just cut the center of the place where the pants would hang and put the paper towel roll in there. This hangs on the wall or a knob of a cabinet and is portable when you don't want it there, unlike the ones you have to attach to the wall.

 Move your crock-pot outside. Actually, my crock-pot has a crack in it that we fixed with gorilla glue so it's more of a 'cracked-pot', like me, but it works well none the less. But by moving the crock-pot outside, you can avoid heating the kitchen up (thus saving air condition costs) and still have the slow cooked taste so many meals benefit from.

Odd ways in the bath room:

Have bath towels a different color for each person. Think about it. After a shower or bath, you should be, what? CLEAN. So you don't need to use a new towel every time you clean up! Just use it up to 3 times and let it air dry. With each person having their own color, no one risks using anther family member's towel.

Step on the toilet paper! Yes, you read that right. If you have cats or toddlers, you may already use this trick, but it also helps slow yourself down when the toilet paper roll has been stepped on to resemble more of a football shape than a perfect cylinder that rolls too quickly.

Odd ways for beauty:

Opt for coconut or olive oil as a moisturizer. It is better for your skin and cheaper than most over the counter chemical laden goop.

Cut your own hair...or have a family member cut it. Hey, it grows back!

To add volume to your hair, add this to your shampoo: Dissolve about 1 tsp of Epsom Salt in 1/4 Cup of hot water. Add this to about a half bottle of cheap (or better home made) shampoo and VA VA VOOM volume! Really. It works great!

Okay, enough oddness from my odd brain and odd ways to save money.  Hope you learned something new, and better yet, GIVE IT A TRY! Saving money can be just as creative (and odd) and fun as you want it to be! You'll find more ways as you get more practice.

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Always read the instructions! Yes, I do adhere to that motto. It helps. Often tidbits of wisdom  that even the most brilliant of minds did not think of are found in the instructions. Does that mean I also agree to always FOLLOW said instructions? Hardly.

Thomas Edison was amazing. He had invented the phonograph, typewriter and electric light-bulb and was home-schooled from the second grade on since his teacher thought he was not bright enough to learn anything! I think he struggled with much of the same problems with instructions as I do.  He has a quote that is on my refrigerator: "There's always a way to do it better....find it."

It seems that often the 'instructions' or 'directions' work more in the favor of the manufacturer than in favor of the user or consumer. Often they lead to over use or miss use or lack of use of an item . We are being sold a bill of goods and believing that this is 'normal' or the instructions are 'how it's done.'  To that, I have to say that the instructions can be nothing more than propaganda and a ploy to make us use up items faster in order to buy more.

Let's look at some typical instructions and the optional counter part when trying to stretch our dollars:

Shampoo Instructions: "Lather, rinse and repeat"

Okay, unless you've got a good three days of grease and grime going on, this is hardly necessary. I think I can count on both hands  the number of times I have actually had to use the REPEAT method.  Most of the time one time through the - lather and rinse of the process is enough. Also, most of the time hair does not need to be washed daily. The natural oils from  our scalps were created to help hair stay healthy and treat it for strength, so skipping a day in between washing not only is also good for your hair it saves even more money. This is especially true if you only lather and rinse once instead of also repeating.

Dishwasher Powder/gel soap Instructions: "Fill dispensers....."

Filling a dispenser, or both the washing one and pre-wash one will make you go through a box of detergent pretty quickly. Often the wash cycle can get away with just 2-3 TBS of detergent and the pre-wash with only 1 TBS. Give it a try and see the amount of adjusting you may need to get clean dishes. You'll likely see that you don't need to fill the dispensers completely but just using a few tablespoons will do the job, save you money, get dishes clean and stretch your dollars.

Make-up Remover Sheets Instructions: "Use one towelette....."

This is one of those convenience items that I admit to spending my extra $3.98. Those little pre-soaked facial cleansing sheets to remove makeup. I wear so little make up that often I don't go through even five sheets a month, so one box lasts me for about a year. Even though I don't use them often, I still buck the instructions, again feeling like I'm being sold a bill of goods and being wasteful by following them. I cut these sheets in half. Most of the make-up needing serious removal is mascara and half a sheet does the job quite well.

Dryer Sheets Instructions: "Insert one per load...."

Yes, if you have a dryer and use these, I do realize that one does the job. The question is, what do you do with that one after it has DONE the job? This is where the following of instructions propaganda falls short on the use of an item.. You can save three of these used ones and put them together for one load's drying. You've just stretched the use of your box of dryer-sheets by one fourth! Now, after that has been done, you can line drawers with the double used three, stuff pillows with them since they are soft or put them over heat/air vents (the small wall ones) to freshen the air and filter a bit more dust.

There are so many things that the instructions either fall short of the use of an item, thus thwarting our extended use of it or they over use the items causing us to expend more time, money or effort to acquirer more of it in the future. Just a little 'out of the box' thinking will free you of that. So put your thinking cap on and read those instructions! Just remember, you don't always have to follow them..

There is only one case that I know for a fact following the instructions is vital and valid at all costs. Your life and eternal soul.

I leave you on a lighter note with my personal favorite instructions that should be followed: Scented Candle Instructions: "Do not eat!"

Until next time!  EnJOY the journey!

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

We've decided to video blog our newest adventure in downsizing.  Hopefully it will be some encouragement to you! http://www.youtube.com/grainstorehouse

We are on what we have called a 'preparation journey' - and downsizing is just one part of it.

 We have moved to my husband's family's ancestral land (since the mid 1700's) and are now living without some 'typical' 21st century amenities like:

• Currently indoor bathroom facilities (fun! - )
• Dishwasher
• Heat or Air Conditioning

....and we are going back to a simpler style of life by ....

• Using a spring house/root cellar to keep foods
• Restoring a smokehouse
• Gardening and storing that harvest
• Raising small livestock
• Cooking on a wood-burning stove
• Watching fireflies and kitties instead of TV

Come watch as we (a couple who were NOT raised on farms) learn, live and love our new adventure!

Best Blessings!

Donna

Donna Miller is an author, teacher and entrepreneur. Her favorite roles are that of wife and mother to three home-school graduates. The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Last night I had the honor, once again, to be interviewed on The Doctor Prepper Radio Show. Feel free to go take a listen at the following link:   http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/06/24/doctor-prepper-talk-show

I've had this honor before and hope to have it again soon since the subject of self-sufficiency, back-to-basics and preparing for the future are very passionate topics and a way of life for myself and our family. But for now, I want to share a topic that kind of brewed in my mind over night. 

Every day, I have more and more people call my business line who are looking for products to make their lives more self-reliant and healthy.  (http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store  in case you want to call too! Just go to the 'contact us link') Inevitably, the topic is nervously brought up about preparation. The callers often feel like they are completely alone in thinking there is a need to prepare and are trying to find a means to do so on a budget. Often I'm asked if it is wise....

Let me emphatically say - YES it is!

Let's say you invest in a grain mill and grain to store. Grain stores longer than flour, the freshly milled flour is WAY more nutritious than dead-processed-bagged flour, so it is an investment in your current and future health. Tell me what stock market will give you that kind of return? Present and future good health. None.  In fact, you KNOW you can eat the food you bought.... you don't know if you'll make any money in the stock market.  Seems to me a more frugal investment to build your long-term workable pantry and be prepared with food and skills than invest elsewhere.

Let's say you invest time and supplies into growing a garden. In tending and harvesting that garden you have gained skills that not only are becoming more rare in our disposable society, but you have exercised (as humans were created to, not in a gym but by good  and productive work). Again two instant benefits of investing time and money (which is less than the items in the grocery store).

Let's say that you in supplies to 'put up' (or store) your garden harvest. Again, whether you are canning, preserving, freezing, pickling or dehydrating, you have learned skills (and better yet if you can pass those skills to your kids or grandkids) that NO ONE can take from you. You won't loose them in a lay-off or company downsizing. You may be surprised that those skills may completely SAVE your budget in the event of a company downsizing or job loss. I know our family has seen that exact reality play out.

Does it cost money to switch from a twenty-first century lifestyle of convenience foods and to-go boxes? Does it cost time to invest in making sure your purchases are USED and in using them you gain intangible skill that will serve you and other generations to come?

It may cost a little up front, but the investment in being prepared pays off FAR more than the little green pieces of paper. It pays off in a feeling of assurance, caring for your family, confidence, health, and skills.  These are things that the money can't buy anyway. That is the greater pay-off in this frugal investment of being prepared.

Until next time....

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

In most vocabularies the word 'down' does not evoke a really sunny outlook. Downcast, downpour, down.... I mean just the adverb part of the word 'down' has so many negative connotations:

–adverb

4. to the point of defeat, submission, inactivity, etc.: They shouted down the opposition.

5. in or into a fixed or supine position: They tied down the struggling animal.

6. into a condition of ill health: He's come down with a cold.

7. in or into a lower status or condition: kept down by lack of education.

 

It's no wonder when the term down-sizing is thought of it carries a bit of gloom and doom.

 

Here are a few things that I have used to encourage myself and others in the boat of down-sizing and dollar-stretching...to help keep us from being down-hearted:

 

• So, you lost the farm, there's a park near by!
• Smaller homes mean less to clean.
• Less trappings means more freedom.
• Now you're more easily mobile!
• Rebuilding a life from nothing is easier than digging out of debt.
• Necessity is the mother of invention - so I'm about to get really creative!

If that's not enough - the word 'down' itself also can be turned around:

 

–adverb

 

1. in an attitude of earnest application: Let's get down to work.

2. on paper or in a book: Write down the plan and make it clear.

3. in cash : We paid $50 of our debt down each month.  

 

 

Last but not least - wouldn't it be nice if this stuff just fell down off trees?

 

 

....It's all how we look at it....much like life.

 

The most encouraging thing about down-sizing and dollar-stretching is that the attitude to face it is all in your hands and no one else can take that away from you. Cultivate the right attitude and mindset and you'll no longer be down-hearted but encouraging yourself and others around you!

 

No matter what, enJOY the journey....because the destination may not be where you planned!

Best Blessings,

Donna Miller

 

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Each of us either had, want or work for 'the finer things in life' don't we? Some of us had/have material possessions that cost a great deal of money (or credit) at some time. Are those the 'finer things'?

One could argue that paying top dollar for an item gives it the likelihood of a better quality than the other option. One could argue that all the 'extras' are what make life bearable. I tend to believe that the finer things in life are achieved only through the back to basics lifestyle.

Do I say this because I've always been poor and have a disdain for the rich? No. I've lived on both sides of the tax bracket, even in the top percentile with limos and such...and found those 'finer things' to be suffocating and eventually part of the demise of society's reality.

This is a VERY small list of the finer things that come from living a back to basics life:

• Give me clean water, fresh air and some soil to dig in and my life is finer than it was in the limo!
• Grant me peace in my home and a healthy recipe that doesn't break the food budget and I could be a queen!
• Let me learn a skill that no bank, no boss, no down-sizing, no stock-market can take from me and I can make a living or at least help others!
• Time at the board game vs. time in a movie theater is a relationship building experience.
• Canning, baking, gardening and chopping wood together bonds a family more than a shopping trip to the mall.
• Fresh wild-flowers in a vase and later drying hung upside down on a rafter.
• Spring. New birds, kittens and lambs - basic life expecting the joy of each new day.

Those are the finer things in the back to basics life. Drink it in DEEP and savour it!

Remember, the best things in life - are not - things.

Best Blessings!

Donna

Making the Best of Basics

Recently, I opted to try the free four week trial of The Grocery Game. It has been an experience to say the least! Some of it has been good, some, not so good. This entry is my assessment of the Game as a whole, the pros and the cons and some examples.

As a whole, the set up has saved me some money (see some cons though) and has many conveniences to bringing some savings to mind that I may have missed. About a year ago (way before our downsize adventure) I looked into the Grocery Game and found they did not have info for the store that was closest to us, when we were in the boonies. Since moving to our tiny spot in the suburbs, there are more store options.

 Much of the 'work' of lining up sales with coupons is done for you - so that is a big draw to save even more if you are already a coupon clipper (which I've not been for years, but have started since moving and downsizing, more on the topic of coupon clipping in the cons list).

Another good thing about this is the chance to refer others for potential free weeks. At the cost (one store $10 for 8 weeks of coupons, cost of newspaper for coupons, etc.)

Pros:

• Coupons paired with items that are on sale in the automatic system = greater savings
• Printable coupons at your fingertips
• Price breakdowns (usually accurate but may vary from store to store location)
• I've saved between $4-$12 a week the past four weeks. Yet, I'm not sure it's on items I'd normally use..... 

Cons:

• Filing/dating coupon flyers for what looks like up to at least 6 months or more!
• Having to leaf through the designated weeks to FIND items every time.
• Not all coupons are available in the store or newspaper every time
• Instructions. Acronyms. Steps.... Too confusing in the beginning. Still not sure I'm getting all I can get.
• The 'List' is long and often not items we actually need or regularly use.
• It is not organized like my store isles (the way my own shopping list is). So I waste time retracing my steps in the store.
• The 'List' from the Grocery Game is out (in our area) 4 days AFTER the weekly sales have begun which makes some items out of stock and less shopping days of the sale.
• I would not call this a time-saver. If time is money, then it is a bit of a waster.
• I've not been so 'tense' about shopping....ever before.
• The temptation to buy a name brand because the savings seems so good, when a store brand is already cheaper.*
• The temptation to buy/eat things that we normally would not eat, just because the date of sale + coupon is running out.*

*Frankly, these two 'cons' are my biggest beef with the Grocery Game. We don't eat processed foods, boxed meals, TV dinners or convenience foods. The temptation is though, to buy them: if you see a box of granola bars on sale for almost 90% off. It SOUNDS good right? But if I made them myself (which I do) the price doesn't just SOUND good, the FOOD IS GOOD FOR US comparatively! Brand named peanuts may be noted at 50 cents off on sale, plus a 50 cent coupon, but the store brand is already $1.25 cheaper...so why did I just waste time finding that coupon, clipping it out and then thinking about/debating which brand to buy in the store?

We really don't eat the Standard American Diet. Most foods with the better sales prices on the 'List' are however, typically a SAD item. Yes, I know, that is both an acronym AND a word...think about it....

My assessment as a whole is that The Grocery Game could be a useful tool. The jury is still out for me. We'll see if I can tackle and overcome some of the 'cons' mentioned above. I'm giving it a limit of 8 more weeks  to see for sure if I think it's worth it ($10.00 is the total amount I am willing to invest to find out).

If you Google it and go to The Grocery Game after reading my review (even if it's just for the free trial - mark your calendar) please put in my personal email address ( dnurkle (at) yahoo (dot) com ) as your referral person - and you can refer others (which gives you free weeks)...just let them also read this blog to know what they may be getting into. (o:

I'll update the blog later with my final findings! I'd love to hear how you like it, or see it, or don't like it after you check it out. Please leave a comment.

Best (Grocery Shopping) Blessings!

It's much more than a game to me.....

Donna Miller

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

While going through this downsizing journey, we have learned to do 'without' many things we didn't think we could do without before. 

• We are sharing vehicles (not that we didn't before, just more of us are sharing one than before).
• We have sold off many items that we felt were important that we've found we can live without.
• We do without space that we thought we needed before
• We have done without a couch for over two months.
• We have done without a second television.
• We have done without video games

There are many more of the 'frills' of life that we have learned to 'do without' and have been surprise, pleasantly, that we are fine without them.

But we did get a couch this week after not having one for almost 2 months! Actually, we got a couch, a coffee table (to prop up feet) a rug, a side chair, and four chairs for a dinette set all for less than $160.00!! 

All are used and worn, none of them match but  the money goes to a good cause (the charities of the thrift store)- so we were thrilled!!!

Also doing 'without' completely has made us appreciate things we normally take for granted.

This couch as 'ratty' as it may look to  some people, might as well have been a top of the line, brand new sectional for how happy we were to have a comfortable place to sit together.

Gratitude can flow easier when there's less in the way.

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

"Downsizing" is kind of the buzz-word of the new economy. Although it is a new popular term and to some a negative one, there is a plus side to all this downsizing that I just can't help but think needs to be brought to light. Recently, we have done our second and third phase of downsizing. So, if you don't mind, let me share with you some of the interesting 'plusses' I've found out this last month after some major downsizing.

Even though the term 'downsizing' may sound like you're losing something, it is not at all accurate. Downsizing helps you notice and appreciate the small things. (o:

Best Blessings!

From my last entry (which seems like eons ago), you may have gathered our family was facing some choices and changes. While we have lived most of our lives in the rural country side and prefer it, we are not strangers to the city or suburbia. We again face a change.

We have left our 15 acre, 3000 sq ft homestead and are now are in a 900 sq foot cottage in tight packed suburbia. It only seems fitting that God would allow this new learning experience since we have lived like homesteaders in many areas. The space of the house, the lack of the income and the new 'lifestyle' has greatly stretched my homesteader's mind.

To look on the bright side of things....

1) There is a neat little 'raised bed' that is about 8X8 feet of good soil in the back corner of the courtyard/back yard that will soon have lettuce, broccoli, peppers and peas in them. Also some small window box areas surrounding the back of the house where my potted kitchen herbs will soon go when it warms up.

2) The smaller home has allowed us to find out just what we NEED to function. It is a 'forcing of our hand' so to speak. It is quite liberating to be rid of more material trappings than I realized I had collected.

3) We have friendly neighbors who are always willing to help and share what goes on about the neighborhood.

4) We can fit one stand up freezer in the one car garage (o:

We know this is a move to make us stronger and leaner to achieve the ultimate dream of a much larger spread of land and being debt-free while self-sufficient. We've lost the farm, but not lost the dream. And, as my newly tweaked cliché' would go - "You can take the girl off the homestead, but you can't take the homestead out of her head."  (o:

Look for more interesting entries as I face this tiny space and downsizing challenge. I hope it will help others who face the same things!

Best Blessings!

Donna

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

PS: Now more than ever... would you please check out our online store as it is our only source of income now. Thanks for considering!

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