Living on the cheap...

[Pleater]

A long time ago I went to buy a freezer - (there was a sale on, but I was rather late getting there) all they had left were ones two sizes smaller than I thought I wanted, or two sizes larger.

As I had a large space to put it in, I got a big one, and it is still working, so I am able to buy up offers on food, freeze them and still have enough room for the everyday things, so I don't have to use up the bargains quickly.

I can layer the lower part with reduced price meat, fish, bread, butter and cheese, put leftovers in there so they don't spoil before anyone feels like eating them, take advantage of large size joints or packs of chops etc. sold at a lower price per Kg than the smaller ones, then cut them into smaller joints or separate them into packs of 3 or 4 portions and keep them for later in the month.

The kids made ice lollies each Summer, and I froze fruit from the garden.

I even kept the coffee beans in there so I could buy larger packs and keep them fresh until needed.

It might not seem to be much of a saving per meal, but over something like 20 years it all adds up.

Plus if you suddenly find there is no job and no salary in the bank either, you do at least have something to eat for quite some time.

There is the cost of the power to keep it cold, but the running costs don't seem to be any more than a smaller freezer as long as it is kept filled or the empty space enclosed, so the cold can't escape.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Old Hippie]

We've got land, so we're putting more of it in cultivation. Last summer we dug a 20-foot shipping container into the hillside behind the house, so now we have a nice little root cellar. We are still eating potatoes that we grew last summer, and should run out just before this year's harvest.

Learn to can and preserve food. It's not hard. You just have to have a bit of knowledge. Harvest wild foods in moderation (animals depend on them, too). We get wild chokecherries and Saskatoon berries on our land, as well as commercial Saskatoon bushes in the orchard. We didn't can enough tomatoes last year. We've got two big gardens going, and will have surplus to trade with the neighbours for things we don't have.

The best advice I ever got was to bite the bullet and buy the best quality kitchen and gardening gear I could find. When you're doing a lot of canning you need big pots and a big pressure cooker. It's not cheap, but it'll pay for itself within two years AND you'll know what you're eating.

If you don't have space or inclination to grow some of your own food, go to farmer's markets and make some new friends. Even just buying a flat of fresh strawberries and making a batch of freezer jam can save you money all winter.

Grow it, brew it, make it yourself. I find that I can bake three batches of bread on a Sunday and still get other things done. (and I'm no paragon of domesticity, I assure you.)