New frugal mamas thread? - Page 5

[Indigo73]

Our house is over 120 years old and has never been insulated properly. We do a combo of shrink wrapping the windows and hanging quilts over doors and outside walls where needed. It works pretty good for us. You can definitely tell the difference.

Course our dream is to insulate the walls when we replace the crumbling plaster with sheet rock. Unless we win the lottery and can afford to do plaster, LOL.

[Throkmorton]

Oh, I had one more thought for you. Do you have a salvage yard nearby? Habitat for Humanity runs a used building materials shop here, and they sell used single-pane windows for $5 and up. Even if you can't find one in the appropritate size, maybe you could replace the glass in the broken windows with glass from a larger window?

[CindyC]

Originally Posted by CurlyTop

Like what? Please, tell me

I'm thinking of doing candy, cookies, things like that. I might put together those cookies-in-a-jar mixes. Our family always makes tamales every year to give away at Christmas time. I never thought of them as gifts before, but now I will.

[umefey]

09-07-2004, 05:22 AM #53
weebitty2
Member


Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Lakes Region New Hampshire
Posts: 988
The BEST dumpsters I've EVER found were college ones at the end of the school year. Textbooks, clothes, random odd things (we got a couple gorgeous vases, and a box of about 30 pewter statuettes - wizards and dragons) .. and our entire living room set. Also got DD's dresser, a large area rug, and end tables .. because most college kids get 'em cheap during the year, then don't want to lug them home for the summer.
__________________________




Hehe D&D miniatures!!!! woooooooow! those are so expensive. hehe
My husband and i agree .. that is the BEST dumpster find EVER!

[girlndocs]

Our house is rundown & uninsulated, and the property owner refuses to do anything about it even though actual *breezes* coming out from under the kitchen sink is obviously NOT "reasonably weatherproof"

One of the first things we did was hang blankets. Find the most reasonably attractive twin blankets you can at the thrift, or rummage sales or whatever. Then you can either nail them directly in place, or sew loops along one edge and hang them on a curtain rod. Put one over every door & doorway in the house. If you can, put *two* over each external door. You'll be shocked at how much this cuts down on drafts & chills.

Also hardware stores sell "draft stoppers" that screw onto the bottoms of doors; they have a rubber flap that "sweeps" the floor & seals any gap down there. People used to use long narrow sandbags laid up against the bottoms of doors. that gets inconvenient fast, though, as every time you go through a door it gets displaced.

This winter I might hang blankets over the windows too, or heavy fabric, if I can find decent looking stuff for cheap. I'm thinking I'd fasten them at each upper corner with a loop over a hook and during the day unhook one corner so it just swings down & hangs along one side of the window. Wait, DD will be pulling up by then. Hmmmmm ...

I second the suggestion about salvage yards. If you can't do that, then layers of cardboard & duct tape might work? Ugly tho.

We cruise our port district in autumn for free broken pallets and chunks of wood. They're fuel for our fireplace, which cuts down on the amount of electricity we use. We never get anywhere near enough for *all* winter, of course, but enough for quite a few cozy evenings with the heaters turned off.

Oh, and buy everyone several pairs of thick, sturdy socks and a cozy bathrobe! And plan on cooking a lot of meals in the oven!

[mmgarda]

New to this thread + gift idea

Hi all!

Per my sig, I'm a newly minted WAHM consultant. I'm on comissions, so it looks like I'm going to be income-less for about a month or two, right as the holidays hit. For our families, holidays also include several immediate family member b'days, so it's particularly hard.

Fortunately, we've been impoverished for several years now, as DH was a SAHD, then I was in grad school. Our friends and families are accustomed to home-made, cheap gifts. I wanted to share a great holiday gift we made one year, though - fruit cordials. All the ingredients cost us about $15 and we made enough to give a TON.

1 qt. vodka
4 c. sugar
1 lb. dried peaches chopped OR 1 lb. dried cranberries OR 1 lb. dried sweet cherries
1/2 c. chopped crystallized ginger (ONLY FOR PEACHES)

In a 3-4 qt. saucpan,combine vodka and sugar. Stir over med. heat until 125-130 degrees (5 min.). Watch it carefully so fumes don't ignite.

Place dried fruit (and ginger if using) in a widemouth glass jar (at least 2 qt.). Pour in hot vodka mixture. Seal airtight. (If seal is rubber or synthetic rubber, cover glass top w/ platic wrap to protect seal.) Let stand at least 1 week, up to 2 months.

Line a strainer w/ 4 layers of damp cheesecloth and set over an 8 c. glass bowl or measuring cup w/ spout. Pour liqueur and fruit into strainer a bit at a time. When fruit is no longer dripping, save for other uses; wrap airtight and refrigerate up to 3 months (divine over vanilla ice cream or angel food cake!).

Pour liqueur into small bottles, seal airtight and give away! The cranberry cordial is a beautiful red color and wonderful for Xmas!

Enjoy!

[mmgarda]

One more thing

Oh, I just have to share my great scavenge! I found a little red trike on Freecycle and DS has been begging for a tricycle lately! His b'day is coming up, so now we're set - for FREE!!!

Yay!

[root*children]

hey everyone! We drove through the entire town today and only found 6 yardsales. I guess it's winding down. But we found a juicer NIB for $4.
Does anyone here have a soy milk maker? I am looking to get one, but want to talk to someone who has one. I checked out yahoo groups for this sort of thing and there were only groups dedicated to specific brands that were moderated, so you couldn't say anything negative. Or if anyone knows of a good site for quality reviews, etc for this type of thing. thanks!

[xela&theboys]

I was thrilled by my find last week!! Found great table clothes (for dining room tables) at less than $5 each. Great designs...they will make wonderful X-mas presents for my in-laws and some of my cousins. I live overseas though so I found them locally

I'm half done with my X mas shopping this year thanks to the table clothes (got 8 of them!!).

Xela

[AuntRayRay]

new here

Hi everyone!
Love all the ideas
mmgarda-definetly going to try the cranberry cordial recipe-sounds wonderful!
I do the freecycling thing as well-sometimes its hard to get to a post in time. But I got a Queen size mattress and boxspring from a lady that said they only used it for their spare bedroom! Also I got some formula for the baby and a winter jacket!
Definetly don't have $ for presents and such so making things will be my route this year. Keep all those great ideas coming mama's

RayRay-

[Divina]

Thanks for all the gift ideas! I'm a "crafty" mom, but lately I don't have time to complete knit or sew projects (Mr. B is almost 8 months now, and Mr. R just turned 3), but I like to do craft-style gifts. I'll be trying the cordial and the vanilla sugar, f'sure. One year, I made a spiced cocoa mix (if I find the recipe, I'll post it), and gave that with tiny liqueur bottles to go with it. Amaretto and Frangelico are very nice, and the tiny bottles don't cost much. The cocoa mix was cocoa, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon, basically, but I can't remember the proportions off the top of my head. There may have been a pinch of red pepper powder, too.

RE dumpsters--the college ones are, indeed, terrific at the end of the school year. Also the dumpsters at the expensive apartment complexes, although it may be more difficult to get to those. A friend of mine found a working TV in one, nothing wrong with it at all.

We've used the window shrink-wrap stuff. It works pretty well, but sometimes our cats would shred the bottom part on a few windows. It's pretty much the only thing we use a blow-dryer for, anymore.

[cassiemommy]

just wanted to say that when I was still living at home, my father would tape this huge clear plastic over my bedroom window in the winter--he didn't know about the shrink wrap stuff--and it still made a big difference!

[mmgarda]

Visquene (sp?) vs. Shrink Wrap

When I lived in a really old house in Portland, OR we tried the shrink wrap and it would never stick to the frame. Too damp and the wood was too warped.

We finally went to HOme Depot and got some Visquene and just stapled it over the windows. It worked really well.

[hipumpkins]

Ah free rocks doesn't it????
Today was "junk" day in aneighborung town and hubby came home with a 3foot slide and an adjustable basketball hoop. It goes from 3 foot to about 6.

[mmgarda]

Cool!!

Ok, so this isn't exactly frugal in it's best sense, but I've done some great things and made some great deals lately, I just have to share.

We built a desk and installed it into our closet (after getting rid of a bunch of junk) so that I can have my very own private, albeit liliputian in scale, office! I designed it, bought the supplies and tools, and built the damn thing MYSELF. Grrrrrrl power!!!

THEN I found a stackable W/D in GREAT shape for about 1/2 the price of new and once it's installed it will net us SO much storage and kitchen space! I can push the portable dishwasher into the space where the drier is now and we'll have room to actually eat in the kitchen! No more spills on the carpet!

FINALLY, I got a guy to drop his price $150 for an absolutely GORGEOUS super stain treated, excellent condition, couch and oversized chair for our living room. We can finally start to move out of the whole dorm-room chic era of our lives!!!!!

SO, yes we are spending money, but I've been searching and saving for months now and if I have to spend all my time in the house, I want to be comfortable, darnit!!

Now we're going to have to sell a used, used W/D; a couch; two bed/chairs; and a desk. I may also be able to convice my DH to sell some of the things in the garage! I hear garage sale coming on. Anyone live in LA - I'll cut you a deal!!

[LinzluvsGJ]

One good way to get presents for everyone for Christmas is to host a home show of something like Tupperware, Partylite, etc. if you have friends who do have money. : Even a reasonably small party retail wise often comes with good perks like discounted products, free items, etc. I usually hold a few a year (on top of being a consultant) and get things I know my family will like after I've gotten whatever item I just "had to have" for myself. I had a hostess last year host a party and she ended up getting over $200 in products for free... between the party she had with me and two others she held w/ a different company, she had her Christmas set at no cost to her.

[root*children]

C'mon over the Oct. thread y'all!!
Here we are:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...32#post2180132