The Homestead Mindset Anywhere: by Donna Miller : stretch

Time spent repairing vs. buying new and a third option.

Millers Grain House — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Of all things! My bread machine (of 15 years) finally completely gave out! Pretty sure it's past its warranty. Oh wait! I think got it at a garage sale so there likely IS no warranty. . I've done my due diligence with it over the years; soldering...(read more)

Stretching Costs Associated with Laundry & Clothing

Millers Grain House — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:13:00 GMT

Here are some tips that you may or may not know that are likely to save some of the time and expense on the laundry and clothing budget. Use less detergent than required. Often you won't need as much as the box recommends so play with the amounts...(read more)

A tip to 'thinking like a homesteader.'

Millers Grain House — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:55:00 GMT

Well, weather you care to learn these tips because you dream of 'Little House on the Prairie Days' or you just want to stretch the dollars you have, a homesteader's mind works a little differently than most. One main thing is to look at any...(read more)

Weekly Preparation Practice Checklist

Millers Grain House — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I have come up with a list of items that warrant practicing each week to prepare for an uncertain economical or governmental future. It isn’t being pessimistic to actually WANT to and look forward to being able to be more self-sustaining and out of debt...(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

How to stretch a left over baked potato.

Millers Grain House — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:21:00 GMT

Now, I know there are more ideas than this one....but this is our FAVORITE way to use them rather than toss them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MumZcIjTJQ

It's short so it should load pretty fast!

Best Blessings and enJOY!

Donna

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

An Audio-Visual Tip for Saving Money on Groceries!

Millers Grain House — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:03:00 GMT

An Audio-Visual Tip for Saving Money on Groceries!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cycj1dEAK0Q

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

More visual tips uploaded every week (usually Fridays) so you can not only READ what I'm talking about with a Homesteading Mindset, but also SEE and HEAR some practical steps to saving $$.

Best Blessings!

Donna