The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller : food budget

Overwhelmed by learning about long term food storage? Relax, here's a plan.

Millers Grain House — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:02:00 GMT

I know how you feel. Just take a deep breathe and compartmentalize.....it can be very overwhelming at first. That's one reason I found the easy open buckets for my home were because people were telling me that for a year's supply I had to vacuum...(read more)

Homesteading on a porch

Millers Grain House — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:18:00 GMT

I always love to hear the trials and triumps of others who have that same pioneering spirit of a homesteader. Many people are overcoming the limits in which they live (financial, spacial, educational,etc) to find ways to improve their lives on a deeper...(read more)

More about my single New Year's Resolution - Organize: it will keep us healthy

Millers Grain House — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:39:00 GMT

As I mentioned last entry, I wanted to take note at how my one and only New Year's Resolution effected us in the area of health. Well, organizing things around this homestead has definitely paid off on the health side already. I'm down 4 pounds...(read more)

My Only New Year's Resolution - Organize: it saves money

Millers Grain House — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:12:00 GMT

Whether you live in a small apartment or in a mansion on a one hundred acre spread of land, organizing is one of the top resolutions for the New Year for many people. It usually comes in about third place in the list behind health related and financial...(read more)

Making gifts and decorations for the Holidays

Millers Grain House — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:50:00 GMT

This year, we are doing as we have often done as we have trimmed our budget to the bone; we are making most of the gifts and decorations. This is not a new thing for our family. It actually began years before the kids were born, but has become a tradition...(read more)

Left Over Turkey Ideas!

Millers Grain House — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:23:00 GMT

We had two turkeys for Thanksgiving. Somehow we anticipated a hoard of guest that just never seemed to show up so now we are over loaded with turkey. We have a left over smoked turkey and a regular one. There should be an award for how many dishes you can make from a picked over turkey after Thanksgiving.Here are a few things we are doing with the remainders of ours:1. Duh - Sandwiches, that's a given.2. Turkey Pot Pie (plain)3. Turkey Noodle Casserole (smoked)4. Turkey Soup (made stock out of the 'carcass' and remaining meat that fell off the bone before throwing it away)5. Turkey Salad - like chicken salad (plain)6. Turkey Sheppard’s Pie (using also those left over mashed potatoes)So with that little list I think my family may be over loaded on turkey for a while but at least there's a variety! I'd love to hear what you all did with your turkey extras!

Keys to bulk buying, storage and learning to stretch grocery dollars.

Millers Grain House — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:24:00 GMT

If, like us, you are preparing your long term pantry for whatever reason (weather, gas savings, economic future) you may be a tried and true veteran of this longstanding homestead traditon or you may be new at it and ready to take the plunge. Either way, it doesn't matter if you live in the country or the city, buying in bulk can be a money (and time) saver if you do it right. There truly are some key points to keep in mind when learning to buy in bulk.

First, just exactly what IS bulk buying? Well, it's not just buying a lot (as in multiple items all at once). It IS buying larger than typical amounts of the same item. One can of organic green beans is always going to cost more per can than if we can find them in the case. Then, each can is substantially lower in price, because we have 12 or 24 of them.

Secondly, buying in bulk often, but not always, is less expensive in the long run. Time saved, gas saved and quantity discounts (as above mentioned) add up to being dollar stretches.

Third, bulk buying doesn't have to be done in the big warehouse stores. When a local market had tomato sauce on sale of $.30 a large can, I got about 8 of them. There are still 7 of them in my pantry and that sale was 3 months ago. The price has risen again, but there I have 28oz of tomato sauce for thirty cents sitting ready for us to use. Most of the time I can tomatoes, but the sauce takes too long for me and heats up our kitchen in the summer. This bulk buy was/is a big time/money saver for us.

Fourth, remember not to buy it - even if it seems like a great deal - if no one in the family will use it, or eat it before it goes bad! Fresh veggies are aften a good buy in wholesale clubs, but if you have 4 heads of romaine lettuce to throw out, then you have still wasted your hard earned money.

Fifth, learn how to store bulk items. Dry items need to be kept in a moisture proof container. Even large bags of rice and oats are easily stored for months on end in the right container...see here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEblkB1mvFk

.... For meats, repackage into meal sized amounts and freeze. For cheeses, if you don't mind crumbled cheese, just freeze. If you do mind it, slice and freeze or shred and freeze.

Lastly, bulk buying can also work for items that are more household related than just food. Find out how long that $9 giant pail of laundry soap lasts by writing the date you started using it on the top in a magic marker. At the end when it's empty, you can see if it was a savings or not. I'll bet it was.

Buying bulk can be a bit of a learning curve, but by keeping a few things in mind we can see how bulk buying stretches our dollars each month!

Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!

Donna Miller

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

Preparing the 6-8 month pantry.

Millers Grain House — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:13:00 GMT

My last post was hoping to see how very far I could stretch my $115 in groceries for our family of five (all adult eaters). This fun frugal challenge, however, came to an abrupt end when my husband took us on a switch in direction. We are now re-stocking our 6-8 month pantry. Why? and How? You may ask. Well, here are the reasons:

1. All but ONE of the gas stations within 45 minutes drive of our home are out of gas. So trips to the store will likely be limited soon.

2. Stocking up NOW while prices are lower (yeah, don't laugh - they will be higher as gas shortages affect shipping) is a wiser move than waiting.

3. A 6-8 month pantry is a safety blanket. We lived in suburbia through three hurricanes which knocked out power and cut shipping supplies. I've seem the National Guard have to pull guns on people for fights over ice and bread...don't like the thought of that if food supply gets more expensive or shipping gets cut off due to shortages.

4. Bulk is often much cheaper and sales hit 'whenever' so stocking up makes sense.

Those are the 'why' - on to the 'how':

1. Take stock of what your family WILL eat and multiply by the # of people, times the # of times a week it's worth eating it and then by 4. You then have a month's worth of some dry pantry good. If you want 6 months worth, multiply THAT number by six and start stocking up!

2. Although we are not Morman - this site is helpful if you wonder how much of what to stock up: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm There are some basic ideas that may spark some ideas of your own.

3. Start looking for ways to have long term storage. Freezers need electricity so they are great if you have no power outages or plan to cook a LOT if there were an outage. Also pails such as this one:

http://millersgrainhouse.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38&products_id=119

They stack high and are air-tight.

4. Dehydrated foods store well for things you might usually keep fresh such as fruits.

I'm no 'gloom and doomer' - I promise - this is actually a fun thought for me to be prepared to care for my family with a 6-8 month pantry!

Best Blessings!

Donna