The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller : how to

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)

Nation wide peanut butter recall - homesteading mindset solution

Millers Grain House — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:41:00 GMT

In case you haven't read/heard there is a huge peanut butter recall (yes, again) across the nation. It is affecting everything from the stuff itself to ice cream and candy bars that peanut butter is in - I mean EVERYTHING is getting the FDA warning...(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)

Saving pennies does add up

Millers Grain House — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:08:00 GMT

Plastic baggies.

Aluminum foil.

25# -50# Grain bags

Mulit purpose uses for things like a dehydrator.

Cheap storage for pots/pans/lids.

One grain used many ways.

All these (and more as my mind works) are multi-use topics that help me save pennies around our home. This has helped us in the lean times more than me going to 'work' for someone else.

Very shortly, I will have new series on my youtube channel that branches into use, re-use, recycle and re-think uses of many items we typically toss.

It's amazing how the pennies add up when we just take the time to think outside the box.

If you want to be updated with visual tips and instructions to saving pennies in many areas, please visit my youtube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/thewheatguy

I hope you will check it out - it's like sharing face to face the tricks I've learned as my homesteading mindset has developed during our families journey!

Please stop by.

Best Blessings!

Donna

A 'word play' trick to learning to be content.

Millers Grain House — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:24:00 GMT

It is one of my life's goals to balance contentment with a good healthy drive to succeed. That is kind of a tricky teeter-totter to be on, isn't it? Well, it seems that to do either one well (be content and strive to succeed) it would help to study a bit about just what the words mean.

I thought I'd study the word 'content' and hope to find some deeper meanings and see just what all the hub-bub is about, this "being content" thing and why it was on my mind so much lately. Funny thing happened when I did this...I found another word that is spelled exactly the same, but is pronounced differently. Thus began my weird thought process in how to use this as a word play and root this meaning of contentment deeper into my heart.

The word I was looking for was 'content' (kənˈtɛnt) but the other word I found was 'content' (kŏn'těnt'). Here is what an online dictionary says about each of these two words:

The fist word content (kənˈtɛnt) has a few definitions but this nicely sums up what I was looking for: "satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else "and "Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied."

The other word (kŏn'těnt') has many more varying definitions, but these hit a chord with me on the topic I was really searching: "significance or profundity; meaning" and "The substantive or meaningful part."

It struck me that the homestead mindset can be boiled down to a little play on these two words. This can be applied ANYWHERE to anyone's life, no matter where they may live.

To be content, I need to focus on the meaningful content of my life not the ever changing circumstances and society around me.

Best Blessings!

Donna

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

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

Fun New Game: "Let's see how long before I have to get groceries again!"

Millers Grain House — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:23:00 GMT

Part of the homesteading mentality is making deprivation creatively FUN ~

So after I got groceries this past week - I thought it would be fun to see how long before I have to get ANY again...so the game is ON!

Drinks always consist of mostly water between meals, and milk, OJ, coffee or tea with a meal.

So for the meals yesterday (the day after grocery shopping) here is how I fed my family of 5 adults - all three meals:

Breakfast - Multigrain Waffles (made with a little fresh milled flour and left over grits and oatmeal) w/ Agave Nectar and banana
Lunch - Left-over Homemade Friday Night Pizza and apple
Dinner - Pinto Beans and pan fried cubed potato browns, green beans.
Dessert - Lemon Amish Friendship Bread (pound cake) with berries.

Today's three meals for 5 adults consisted of:

Breakfast - Cheese omelette with Turkey Bacon and apple
Lunch - Homemade Hummus and pita chips, homemade cherry yogurt, carrots and snap peas.
Dinner - Butternut squash Mac and Cheese (ssshhhh...they don't know squash is in there), tomato soup and salad.
Dessert - Lemon Amish Friendship Bread (pound cake) with berries (yep again, I baked 3 loaves!).

Thursday night our family goes out to dinner so...we'll just see tomorrow or Friday what the next two days' meals look like...

The point I guess I am getting at is not that I think I'm so 'good' at stretching my grocery dollars - it's more that making it a game or FUN helps me be more creative.

My goal is to buy nothing aside from MAYBE milk. eggs or fresh produce for the next 2 weeks - (and I'd like to avoid those too if possible) that is until October 3rd (our son turns 22 so we'll HAVE to buy some special foods then!) Stay tuned to see if I can pull it off! It's my own personal challenge to see if I can do it! To see if $105 will last two weeks for a family of five grownups!

Have fun playing YOUR game that helps you stretch those dollars!

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

New Videos each week on stretching grocery dollars: Tried and True Tips and tricks http://www.youtube.com/user/thewheatguy