Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Frugal things I did this week!

I haven't had a lot of new things to post. It's not that my days lack frugal saving ways. I continue to practice, practice, practice all that I've learned. The new ways are becoming familiar and tend to flow easily in the schedule of my days. I remember how awkward it was when I first started saving the beginning cold water that runs before the hot water comes through the pipes. But, now it's so engrained in the way that I do my dishes that I don't even give it another thought. I collect the cold water in a small bucket and then set it outside my back door while the warm water is running into my dishpan. After I finish the dishes I take the rinse water (that would have been wasted down the drain) and throw it on some flowers. I get 3-4 buckets of water a day. It's amazing how many plants I can water. 

I made another batch of homemade dog food tonight. I didn't have enough table scraps of meat to make a batch last month and had to spend $10 on canned dog food.  This month I can use that $10 towards another necessity. I boiled the scraps of meat, leftover vegetables and rice in a big pot on my single burner in the garage. I put an old puzzle board across the sink to use as a work table. I liked having the mess out in the garage. It was easier to clean up and it kept my kitchen from getting hot.

The garden is doing great. I'm picking zucchini, white and green small squash, yellow squash, radishes, raspberries, some blackberries but not many, spinach and lettuce. The tomatoes are starting to turn red. I got my water bill for this past month and I stayed within budget. I was shocked. I thought for sure we would go over because of all the watering in the garden.

I think my comfrey plant is just about ready to be made into liquid fertilizer. Comfrey fertilizer is supposed to be high in nitrogen which is good for peppers or tomatoes. I'll pick the leaves and place them in a bucket covered with water. It will take about 20 days to decompose. The leaves will be thrown in my compost bins and the liquid fertilizer will be poured on my tomatoes and green peppers. This is a cheap alternative to the store bought fertilizer and organic to boot!

So what's new in your neck of the woods?  How did you save money this week?