How did I save money today?

[LadyLocust]

Usuallyihave a week each for cats, dogs and chickens. That’s 4sacks at 190 pounds that I unload. For cows I am going through 200 +pounds range meal and 100 pounds+ on mineral per week. When I start cubing, I load cuber with 1200 - 1300 pounds of cubes which last maybe 10 days steady feeding. Sacks are getting harder for me to unload all at one time plus my storage shed can’t hold much more. Corn I try to get 12 - 20bags at a time during deer season. Cuber is easy as I hook it up and go to feed store, drive under bin and tell them how much.I am in town every day almost so file it on farm mileage to feed store.

You have a much stronger constitution than I do. That would drive me completely batty. . . . err. . . wait a minute, could explain a lot

 

[LadyLocust]

Haven't spent any money this year - not even on groceries . . . yet. Will obviously pay required bills and groceries if needed, but am trying to see how long I can go without purchasing anything "extra."
ETA: This is just a me thing - a frugal fasting. I don't force this on Hubby so that means there's some compromise.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Local grocery had bacon on BOGO so I bought 10 packs. Only paid $3.99 a pack that way instead of $7.99. They're a full 1lb packs too.

Haven't been to a walmart since right before Christmas
Just haven't been in the mood to deal with the place
Rude personal shoppers and their carts, checkouts that only take cards and no cash, unstocked products in the rows in the way or those stupid ladders on wheels they use blocking the aisles

Gonna have to go soon since I need another pre-paid credit card for shopping online

 

[Mountain trapper]

We've cut out most grocery shopping so far this year, got over a years supply of food in the pantry and freezer. Haven't bought beef or chicken for several years, we butcher our own every fall. Keep 6 months of chicken feed and a winters hay supply for the cattle.

 

[LadyLocust]

Local grocery had bacon on BOGO so I bought 10 packs. Only paid $3.99 a pack that way instead of $7.99. They're a full 1lb packs too.

Haven't been to a walmart since right before Christmas
Just haven't been in the mood to deal with the place
Rude personal shoppers and their carts, checkouts that only take cards and no cash, unstocked products in the rows in the way or those stupid ladders on wheels they use blocking the aisles

Gonna have to go soon since I need another pre-paid credit card for shopping online

I haven't been either - I have to work myself up to go there. Will have to soon as I will need bunny food. I sing that song to myself while I'm there "If you're goin' through Hell, keep on movin'. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there."

 

[TeeJ]

We've cut out most grocery shopping so far this year, got over a years supply of food in the pantry and freezer. Haven't bought beef or chicken for several years, we butcher our own every fall. Keep 6 months of chicken feed and a winters hay supply for the cattle.

How do you store chicken feel for 6 months at a time? If I don't keep it in a metal container, the mice come knocking and chew up everything in sight! I was thinking of using 550 gal drums, but it feels like it'd be hard to make sure you don't dump fresh food onto older?

 

[Amish Heart]

I store a couple months at a time of chicken pellets, scratch, game bird starter, chick starter, game bird base mix, cracked corn, and sunflower. I have a room in our old concrete walled milkhouse that houses the feed, rabbits, and a freezer. The barncats can get in and I have a few sticky traps out. If I open a 50 lb bag of rabbit food, it goes in the big rubbermaid tote market rabbit food, and when scoop out from there, lock the lid after. I have not had any problems with mice going after the bags. Yet. It's been a year.

 

[Mountain trapper]

How do you store chicken feel for 6 months at a time? If I don't keep it in a metal container, the mice come knocking and chew up everything in sight! I was thinking of using 550 gal drums, but it feels like it'd be hard to make sure you don't dump fresh food onto older?

We have a feed room in the chicken coop where we store most of the feed in large metal garbage cans. We rotate the cans out so they always have fresh feed. We have cans for pellets, scratch and one for worms. During the spring, summer and fall we seldom feed the egg layers and ducks, except for a little scratch and meal worms, they forage for almost all of their food. They really do a good job of keeping the bug population down.
The meat chickens are only here for only a short time and are raised in another building, metal cans for their feed too.
We also have a big rodent problem here, but I've never seen any mice in the chicken coop. Maybe the chickens eat them?

 

[Amish Heart]

That's where we get mice, in the coops. Our chickens go after them, but don't catch them. Our son's dog was a great mouser. I'd borrow him, flood mice areas with the hose, and he'd grab them, bite down, and stack them in a second. He enjoyed doing this, it was great! Too bad our two old dogs won't. Locking a barn cat in one of the coops at night works ok. If I'm missing a barn cat, it's because the neighbor borrowed one of them for that reason.

 

[LadyLocust]

Oh yea, I ran our numbers for January. We had a record electric bill for Jan. because I was home and sick so cold w/ heat up. Our expenses were still down 37% from last Jan. I didn't look into exactly what expenses we had last year, but am please with the savings so far this year.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Our Jan bill was the highest we've ever had in the last year. And the power company upped their rates. oh goody

 

[LadyLocust]

Our Jan bill was the highest we've ever had in the last year. And the power company upped their rates. oh goody

Oh good point! I will have to look at that. Wonder if a rate hike was part of it. I hadn't even thought of that. I have everything unplugged as of this morning, other than the fridge/freezers & H2O tank. Have a feeling this mo. will be lower.

 

[LadyLocust]

Nope, no rate hike. It was me. Our usage was insane.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Grocery budget has been cut by half.
Just using what I have for the most part.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Might check a thrift store for a crock pot of you have time. I see them like new all the time. Also, coffee doesn't count - it's a necessity

In my house it's a definatve necessity especially with all the stress right now.
Might have to invest in "Good Bourbon" pretty soon though.
Crocks Pots cost after Christmas 2 for $15 just my size too.

 

[LadyLocust]

So I busted. I hadn't spent $ on anything "extra" since beginning of the year. Today, I purchased enough linen to make 3 bath towels. I was hoping for 4 but they didn't have enough in stock (100% linen has been difficult to find). At any other time in my life, I would have just waited until a later date but under the current supply circumstances, I got it while I could. My current 2 bath towels I use, I made years ago and they are beginning to wear. Not entirely a frivolous expenditure but not super urgent by many standards. I caved to supply fear.
All that said, I'm pretending I'm still on the frugal fast and will continue w/ my no spend diet

 

[ladycat]

At any other time in my life, I would have just waited until a later date but under the current supply circumstances, I got it while I could.

I've been doing that lately for some items. It doesn't feel right, and yet it does.

 

[Neb]

So I busted. I hadn't spent $ on anything "extra" since beginning of the year. Today, I purchased enough linen to make 3 bath towels. I was hoping for 4 but they didn't have enough in stock (100% linen has been difficult to find). At any other time in my life, I would have just waited until a later date but under the current supply circumstances, I got it while I could. My current 2 bath towels I use, I made years ago and they are beginning to wear. Not entirely a frivolous expenditure but not super urgent by many standards. I caved to supply fear.
All that said, I'm pretending I'm still on the frugal fast and will continue w/ my no spend diet

Don't think twice about it. The Princess has blown the food budget wide open grabbing what is available at a food price.

In times of high inflation and questionable wirld peace, it is wise to get it while you still can. It is hard to build up your preps with ration cards.

Ben

 

[Amish Heart]

Not possible to stick with a food budget right now!! If it's a good price still, then get lots of it.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

My no spend budget went out the window this week too.
So don't feel bad Lady Locust.
First off my Android phone died.
Boy they don't make them like they used too.
This particular model only lasted 5 years.
Then the dreaded dropped calls, can't charge the battery.
In this time of my Dad's and my life, if he needs me I need a damn good phone.
So oldest son got me IPhone 11.
I would have never bought such an expensive phone for my self.
But now I have an IPHone 11.
It's something new for me to learn.
Yay! Me!.
Next thing I got this week is Alexa Echo Dot.
Also a learning experience.
But Dad and I have both been learning slowly don't say her name if you don't want her to talk.
He told his Alexa to remind him to tell my Name that he needs flour on his local grocery list.
And she did tell me he needed flour on his local grocery list at 0300 hours.
He was worried that I would completely quit talking because I never heard anyone talk but once in a while.
So to cease his endless worry I got an Alexa Echo Dot 3 rd generation.
My son said I could make payments on the I Phone11.
But if possible payday it will be paid off.

 

[ladycat]

WOOT! WOOT!

I just ordered 6 cases of canned chicken (I'll be splitting it with my brother).

10 oz cans of white chunk chicken, 12 cans per case, $7.60 per case!

I posted the deal in my discussion group but it sold out fast! (When it's a hot deal like that, I post it in the discussion group rather than the deals page, because more people will see it before it's gone).

 

[Amish Heart]

Wow! Great deal, Ladycat!

 

[LadyLocust]

I cut the power bill by a few cents shy of $141 since last month! Feb. is our coldest month so it should just continue to drop now.

 

[Cascadian]

Does buying 600 feet of fence on sale count? We saved $80. It wasn't going to get cheaper or more readily available and we needed it. It was all US made so we at least got that going for us.

 

[Neb]

Does buying 600 feet of fence on sale count? We saved $80. It wasn't going to get cheaper or more readily available and we needed it. It was all US made so we at least got that going for us.

Yup!

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

Does buying 600 feet of fence on sale count? We saved $80. It wasn't going to get cheaper or more readily available and we needed it. It was all US made so we at least got that going for us.

I'm going with what @Neb said - if you can find it at a reasonable price right now, get it.
That said - I'm still trying to save.

 

[Cascadian]

Does buying 600 feet of fence on sale count? We saved $80. It wasn't going to get cheaper or more readily available and we needed it. It was all US made so we at least got that going for us.

I just realized the fence was made in Canada. Go Canadians.

 

[joel]

stayed home today.

 

[ladycat]

Aaaaaccckkkk!
Such great grocery sales at Amazon today, I haven't seen this many good deals in one day for a while! It has taken all my will power to resist buying anything. I don't really NEED anything!
So far, I haven't bought anything at all today.

 

[ifbbathena]

I've stopped going to the gym. It's a 40min drive there and back. I'm not working and gas is getting more expensive. I'll have to keep my fitness up at home until my circumstances change.