Q&A | Bad Ads, bread freezing, and do I still bake bread/use my SLR?
Ok, first up, based on some emails: if you run across an ad on my blog that is auto-playing with sound, or is covering up the post, something is wrong!
My ad settings are supposed to prevent any ad from automatically running with sound, and they definitely are not supposed to cover up the words I type.
I reached out to Mediavine (my ad company) and they confirmed this to be true. However, sometimes a rogue ad pops through their controls, and if that happens, there should be a button in the lower left corner of the ad where you can report a Bad Ad.
Also, it would be great if you could send me a screenshot of it, and then I can forward it onto Mediavine.
We all get served different ads, so I may never see the rogue ad you see. Which is why it's so helpful to use the Bad Ad reporting button, or to send me a screenshot.
Thank you in advance! 🙂
On to questions:
How should I store extra bread? It’s just me and 3 loaves are much more than I would eat in 2 days and I don’t have neighbors to give it to. Thank you.
-Athena
My best answer: use your freezer! You can freeze whole loaves, of course. But since it's just you, I'd slice each loaf and then freeze it. That way you can grab out just a few slices at a time.
Just make sure to let the bread cool fully before you slice and freeze it, and make sure to use a nice air-tight bag.
Incidentally, the fridge is not a good solution; that actually causes bread to get dry and stale faster because it speeds up starch retrogradation. Bread will stay much fresher in the freezer than the fridge.
Also, I'm guessing you wrote this in response to my egg bread recipe, which makes three loaves. You can definitely cut that recipe down and just make two loaves, which would be more manageable, especially if you have limited freezer space.
I know it doesn't divide super neatly given that it calls for four eggs, but I'd probably just throw three eggs in and call it good. Yeast baking is pretty forgiving when it come to things like that.
And for the yeast, you can just use 3 teaspoons if you want to size down to two loaves.
Do you have much time for SLR photography now that you’re working as a nurse and doing a BSN program? If so, what equipment and photo editing software are you using these days? I used to really enjoy your photography how-to posts.
Also, do you still make much bread? Also loved those posts. But I’m happy to read about your new, independent life.
Thanks,
Reader Kate in Canada
Honestly, I rely on my iPhone for almost all of the pictures you see here these days. That's because it's just faster to use, and fast is the name of the game for me these days.
I do still vastly prefer the quality of SLR photos, but there are more steps involved in getting photos from my SLR to my computer. Maybe once I settle into the groove of working, I will use it more? I don't know.
Also holding me back a little: my SLR camera body is pretty old by now, as I got in in 2010!
I have thought about buying a newer camera body because SLRs have made a lot of improvements in the last 15 years, particularly when it comes to how good they are in lower light situations.
If I had a new camera body, I'd honestly probably use it more, so it might be worth the investment. But I'd have to do some research first about what to buy, and that has been low on my priority list.
Maybe I'll buy my dream car first (Civic with a sunroof!) and then I'll set my sights on a camera body.
For editing: when I do have SLR photos to import, I use my desktop version of Lightroom to sort them and do edits like cropping, adjusting light, and sharpening.
Lightroom is really all you need for general photo editing; Photoshop is overkill for the average photographer, in my opinion. It's more helpful if you are doing things that tend toward design, not just basic editing.
As far as bread-making goes: that too has fallen to the wayside quite a bit in the last few years.
Part of it is the smaller household issue, and part of it is just that my life has been busy in ways that have taken me outside of the house more than before.
Obviously, I used to be very busy with homeschooling four children, managing a household, running a blog, etc. But I was at my house more with that kind of busyness, and that makes it easier to do things like making bread.
I do still make special occasion things like overnight cinnamon rolls at holidays (Zoe and I can plow through a pan of those pretty fast!), but I bake far, far less often than I used to.
My yogurt-making is still pretty consistent, though.
And I make my no-stir granola fairly often as well.
Click here for an archive of my yeast bread recipes, with clickable pictures.
Any bread tips for Athena? And I'm curious: what frugal habits have you given up as time has gone by/life has changed?
(such as the bread-making habit for me!)
I don't make homemade broth very often, despite my recent habit of buying a cold rotisserie chicken more often I just hate messing around with the bones and straining; I'll stick with bullion cubes.
I don't do coupons hardly ever- though I missed a deal at a store yesterday because I didn't check out the digital coupons before I went. That's why I like Target circle app- most deals are automatically applied.
@mbmom11, Yes to the coupons! I like using "shop and scan" at Meijer for the same reason - I can easily see any applicable coupons.
@mbmom11, I failed technology for dummies. I have tried countless times to scan stuff and qr codes, to no avail. Fellow customers have tried to help, but they couldn't get it eiher. Although they can on their own phone. Frustrating!!!!!
Since going back to work full time a few years ago, I too make much less bread. I also rarely make granola anymore (but partly because I just don't want to use the oven when it's already 1 million degrees out) and I buy more pre-made snacks. My one new frugal habit is hanging out most of our laundry to dry on a line- so satisfying!
Re: frugal practices left behind, we were a one car household until we moved to the country. I'd drop him off and pick him up for work, so the car was available for me the rest of the day. I still work from home, but two cars are a necessity when my husband commutes and I have the occasional weekend long work conference, to say nothing of vet visits, errands, etc. He also had a major medical scare several years back; I get antsy on days we are temporarily down to one car (scheduled maintenance or repair) and I have no way to get to him in an emergency.
@N, we were a no-car family for a couple years, then jumped to a 2-car family to similar reasons you cited! I do try to bike whenever I can, but I don't think we could ever fully go back to one car, unless one or both of us got jobs much closer to home.
I work full time as a teacher and make bread daily as I use a bread maker! It’s so simple that I can throw the ingredients in and press ‘go’ in about two minutes. I usually do it around six o’clock so I can take it out and wrap it in cloth to cool over night.
I’m still making sandwiches for my kids’ lunch every day so it works for us.
Oh yes, a bread machine would solve this issue nicely.
@Vicki, a fellow bread machine fan! We run ours 2-3 times a week, and I find it amazing every time. Two minutes to set up, and a loaf pops out 3 hours later!
@Vicki, can I ask what kind of recipe you follow for the machine bread?
I've heard it said that "the best camera is the one that you have with you". In a perfect world I would have my SLR with me 24/7, but that's just not the way that life works. It's a pain to carry an SLR around, and generally not worth it when phone cameras have gotten so much better.
It was a BIG deal when I got my SLR back in 2011, because I was still super frugal at the time. It was something that I really wanted, and my cost per use over the years definitely justified the purchase;-) I love all of the great photos that I've taken with it (no comment on all of the non great photos). I'm with you in that I'm a little curious about what a new SLR could do that mine can't, but probably not curious enough to ever upgrade.
Yep, and that's the benefit of a phone camera; so easy to always have with you!
@Birchie,
Apparently, the New Big Thing in cameras is mirrorless cameras. I don't really know much (okay, anything) about them, but photographer friends of mine who have deep pockets (because not cheap) and are more equipment-oriented love them.
My DH bought me a used SLR camera from - I think - B & H Camera maybe 2 years ago. While it's not the latest-and-greatest, it still takes fabulous photos. It replaced an even older, bought-used SLR camera he bought for me on eBay in 2020 (it was an absolute steal....camera body, multiple lenses, flash attachment, SD card - which I think the seller forgot was in the camera, lol - shoulder strap, and huge camera bag for less than $600 at the time. It also took fabulous photos, but not nearly as fab as my current camera).
So, just saying - lightly used cameras can be the way to go!
I've got some junky ads recommending quack cures - I'll send some screenshots!
I used to always line dry my clothes and I still do sometimes, but I use the dryer more often now because sometimes I need clean clothes for work the next day and/or they take a long time to dry in colder weather.
I actually do more baking and cooking from scratch these days because I didn't do a lot of cooking growing up, and when I left home I didn't have a lot of money for basic ingredients or enough to replace the food if I had a cooking disaster!
I used to only ever exercise outside but now I can afford a gym membership. I still run and swim outside, but I use the weight machines in the gym and attend classes. At one point I hired a personal trainer because I had no idea how to get started and I didn't want to hurt myself!
@Sophie in Denmark,
I'm sure winters in Central Texas are nowhere near as cold as where you are, but I have a couple of tricks I employ to dry my stuff faster. Once my washing machine quits, I set it on the spin cycle once more (the final spin, where it doesn't use water). This helps get some more moisture out of the clothes.
Then, if necessary, I toss the wearing clothes in the dryer for about 15-20 minutes to de-wrinkle them. This also damp dries them.
I have an older house that has floor vents for the furnace. In cold weather, I put up a drying rack right over the laundry room vent. The warm air speeds up the process.
My friend Monica gets out the electric floor fan and sets it up near the drying racks. The fan's blowing the air helps, but doesn't use as much electricity as the (electric) clothes dryer.
@Fru-gal Lisa,
I used to do the second spin trick, but moved to a house with a washer included. There is no option for that. 🙁 But I do put the drying racks near the heaters to speed up drying. In the winter, I use the dryer for our towels as they were getting smelly from drying too slowly. We keep our heat low. I also run all clothes in the dryer for about 3-5 mins to get the wrinkles out. Line drying in summer is sooo nice I love the smell.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I'm not sure if it would work on the machines I use, plus I like the convenience of the dryer, but sometimes I help things dry better by putting them on the radiator.
@Sophie in Denmark, a small dehumidifier is fantastic in a damp climate for getting things dry faster - we got one with a laundry setting and it does a brilliant job of cutting my drying time in half. (But also you probably have a condenser dryer so it’s completely different from what most commenters are familiar with and ten minutes of drying time will do absolutely nothing!)
@Sophie in Denmark, sometimes I'll add a clean dry towel to the dryer to cut drying time/ get more moisture out quicker to hang on my drying racks. Don't leave it in for too long or then it has absorbed a fair bit and slows down the process. But we notice a speedup with this.
Re: bread making--- I think you can also freeze the dough. I don't know if this is true of dough made with eggs, but I would guess it is fine.
Yep! I have done that before. But then the dough takes SO LONG to thaw and rise before baking, it does still require a number of hours at home. So that's held me back from adopting it as a habit.
Now that I am down to one human living in this house, I don't live the level of frugality I used to. For years I hung clothes on the clothesline. Now I would just rather shorten that process and have my clothes be soft and wrinkle-free. Especially for the towels which were like cardboard when air dried. I tried making my own laundry soap - another nope as digital coupons and using less soap works just as well and smells nice. I rarely, if ever now, make my own jam. And I don't make yogurt or bread, as I just don't eat enough of those things to justify it. I think a lot of frugality is situational. And once we get older, we tend to want to have things a little easier with less struggle. More time for reading!
@Gina from The Cannary Family,
Have you tried putting the towels in the dryer for 20 minutes and then hanging them up? This works for me! It keeps them from feeling like cardboard. And when completely dry, they are still soft enough to enjoy. (I also use fabric softener). I tend to do this mostly in the summertime when electric bills rival the national debt. It keeps my house cooler, doesn't use a lot of power, and keeps the AC from having to work as hard.
I spend less time trying to pay rock bottom prices for groceries. It does not effect our budget much.
I use to veer towards one of the least expensive entrees when eating out. Now I go for something that sounds the best. If you're already spending a bunch of money to eat out you might as well spend a little more and get what you really want. I still seldom eat out and almost always pay just for an entree.
Hmm. I feel like I'm still heavily in my DIY everything phase of life for the most part, but I do buy more clothing new online, rather than thrifting everything. Several reasons for this: I can only shop online now, and I feel like the options on Thredup have gotten much more limited and much more expensive relative to what they are. Options for older kids/adults aren't as plentiful, especially for the sizes I need for my very tall, slender boys. I have teenagers who don't want to look weird, which here means they're pretty much wearing Wrangler jeans and plain t-shirts, neither of which are readily available used because they tend to get destroyed rather than donated. And also, I hate to shop, especially online, so it's just way easier to find the order I made for jeans six months ago and just get the next size up rather than spend an hour scrolling through options.
@kristin @ going country, I am with you on thrift shopping at certain stages. We have young men who need slim clothes and pickings for those are slim at thrift stores. Penney’s has been a friend because they have lots of slim cut sizes online and I can stack coupons with sale prices and rewards and get pretty good deals for new things.
Honestly, I think thrifting for girls in general is easier. There's almost always a larger selection, even in baby/toddler clothes.
@kristin @ going country, I forgot about secondhand shopping for kids’ clothes. When we moved to our current location, the thrift stores were such a bad experience, I stopped going. My son also needed a slim which I don’t think I ever found in his size at secondhand stores. I just ended up buying good quality clothing when they had good sales, and sizing up so they could wear them a for a couple years.
@kristin @ going country, my wardrobe was primarily made up of thrifted items for years. I found wonderful quality item for very little money. Although I still pop into our local thrifts, I rarely find anything worth buying.
There is plenty of clothing still available in the stores, as but the quality of the items are not what they used to be. Prices are also much, much higher.
So now if I truly need something, I purchase from a retail store, but I miss the days of $2 blouses, $4 dresses, and $3 jeans.
@Kristen, I had a lot of hand-me-downs from my sister and cousins - male and female! I was not a fan of the T-shirt which had once belonged to a cousin which my mother insisted I put on to protect against sunburn! That was less because it belonged to a boy and more because I just thought it looked dorky!
@Sophie in Denmark, I forgot to add that this was at the beach - I could wear more variety at home, of course!
@kristin @ going country,
I think a big problem is shoddy clothing. Fast fashion is not created to last, so ends up in landfills. Your boys probably wear through their clothes, so you need durable quality clothes
@Bee,
I find the same here, not a lot of quality clothing. I do see quite a bit of clothing on sale on FB marketplace, so I think more people are buying at the thrift store and reselling these days. Its not uncommon to see people loading their shopping carts at Goodwill.
I stopped air-drying my clothes. The main goal had been not stressing out my AC on super hot days, so now I just time my laundry so the dryer isn’t going at the hottest part of the day.
I also stopped grocery shopping at multiple stores to get the best price on different items. With the exception of an expensive specialty store (we have a couple items we can’t find anywhere else), I now just get my whole grocery list wherever I happen to be.
@JenRR,
I only shop at two different grocery stores - Aldi first, and then Kroger for whatever Aldi doesn't carry. I'm fortunate that in my town, they are across the street from each other. 🙂
I feel very validated, acknowledging that it's hard to make your own bread when you work outside the home! It's one thing to make a loaf here or there on a weekend, but making a family's bread from scratch when you aren't home is nigh impossible without a bread machine. We run ours 2-3 times a week, and we still buy the weekly challah.
This is not at all a criticism, but an observation--a lot of frugal living blogs are written by people who are at home, whether they're WFH or SAHM, and a lot of the advice just isn't realistic for people who are away from 8-6. I used to take it personally, because some bloggers (not here!) frame making everything from scratch as "The be-all and end-all of frugality." But once I realized that they weren't really talking to me, I could take what twas good and ignored the rest 🙂
Oh, yes, this is 100% true. When you are home, you tend to have less money and more time, and the opposite is true when you are working. So necessarily, your priorities have to shift.
@Meira Bear,
I feel this way about blogs and writers who write about organizing/decluttering. I see things for "30 day decluttering challenges" and similar, which is great if you're home and can participate. (Obviously, if you're a SAHP or WFH, you've got plenty of other things occupying your time, too). I can't "clean out a closet" or complete a decluttering task after I get home from work.
@Liz B.,
Forgot to add - like Meira Bear, I take away what works for me. 🙂
@Meira Bear, Yes! I keep seeing advice about going from supermarket to supermarket to find the best deal. I just do not have that time - I have a generally cheap supermarket nearby and go there, instead of trying to save 40 kroner or whatever in the cheaper place further away. I try and cook meals at home but something I make pasta with a jarred sauce because I cannot be bothered to make one from scratch and hey, it's better than takeout. Frugality for me is often a balance of saving time or money.
@Kristen, guilty of far more money than time. It has been that way for years. The better half does the grocery shopping and cooking, always has. You do what works for one/both of you. And too bad what anyone else thinks (looking at those pining for the 1950s, except for the income tax rate).
@Meira Bear, I also felt comforted that Kristen, who probably can make bread in her sleep, is also baking less than she used to due to her different commitments now. She NEVER made it seem like it's something everyone should be doing, but I think some part of me always felt like it's obviously so easy/cheap/delicious so why wasn't I doing it too?
I make less bread because I have to avoid gluten, so I go looooong periods of time between homemade breads. Even when I wasn't avoiding gluten, I still bought store bread pretty often, because I worked outside the home and had church committees, children's activities, etc., taking my time. Back when the kids were tiny and I was home all day, I made every bit of our bread from scratch. I think I will make more bread products at home after I retire, using low-gluten flour or GF flour blends.
I don't understand these people who can give up bread and don't miss it. I miss homemade yeast bread like crazy, and it's been years since I stopped eating it except on very, very rare occasions.
I always froze extra loaves, and when I sliced them before freezing, I put waxed paper between every two or three slices to make it easier to pull them out.
I actually use my clothes dryer less now than I used to use it, mainly because I'm the only person here and I'm not keeping up with so much laundry.
I don't go to a lot of stores or spend a ton of time online to chase lower prices on food, etc., anymore. My work days are long and my time is limited. I do my best to get a decent price and move on.
If I can't find what I need as a second-hand item, I will go ahead and buy it new after a decent interval of time looking for it used. I used to spend more time looking for used, but again, I don't have the time to spend on that since I started with my long commute. Even when I retire, I am probably going to continue with that method.
@JD, Frugal Fit Mom has a no knead bread that I've seen Flourishing with Plants Miranda using gf flour with to make it. She's gf. You might try that. You can make a loaf at a time. My grandma has celiac and I'm always trying to look for ways to make stuff she can eat. She's in her 80s and it's harder to give up stuff you've been eating all your life.
We always freeze our bread. Before I freeze a store-bought loaf, I make sure to pull the slices apart a bit so that it's easier to grab one or two at a time. Otherwise, they can get stuck together.
I have started to receive those cover-up ads but only on Katy's NCA blog!
One long frugal habit (of 30+ years!) we gave up recently is to not hire outside help to clean our house. I always prioritized a cleaning routine for the family where we made sure to allot time for cleaning despite a very busy schedule with four kids and full-time work.
Although our lives are calmer with fewer kids living at home, with increased travel for work I noticed that we really needed more of our time off not to be filled with chores. We still have chores, of course, but now we can decide more which chore to prioritize each weekend, which feels nice.
@Kristina M.,
I retired and cut down to once a month house cleaner. it is such a luxury! I don't know what I will do when the River House is finally renovated and 5,000 square feet need to be cleaned!!!!
@Mary Ann, it does feel like such a luxury! Your River House sounds fabulous, I'm sure it will be easier to clean once surfaces are new and not cluttered. Maybe invest in a robot vacuum and prioritize and rotate through different parts of the house?
Our house cleaner comes twice a month so we still clean every other week, but have switched to a faster cleaning where we also prioritize dirtier or high-use spots as we know the house cleaner will take care of the others the following week.
Decluttering is also a strategy to make cleaning faster and easier, easier said than done though!
Oh gosh, since I've been promoted to an administrator, my frugal habits have changed for sure. I don't make broth anymore, its easier to buy it on sale. I don't paper coupon, but I do click on all the HT and CVS coupons I might use. I've pared down my wardrobe, so even though I buy some secondhand, I'm super picky and go by a list, just like I do when I'm grocery shopping. Now I buy quality, simple basics that last and fit, out of natural materials mostly, cotton and linen. I rarely go to yard sales, which I went to almost every Saturday when my kids were little. When I had littles in my house, it was almost like a fun hunt to find all the things we needed secondhand: clothes, household, toys, school supplies, etc.
What I still do: every weekend I grocery shop from a list, looking at the ads before I go. I meal plan based on what I have and what's on sale. I take freezer inventories and "shop my freezer". I meal plan based on what produce might be close to going bad first. I garden (my happy place) all summer and started a fall salad garden. I compost using a second hand cookie jar in the kitchen and tumblers outside. I eat air popped popcorn instead of chips. DH and I have a 48 hour rule, no impulse purchases over $50. I keep a "wish list" on my fridge for big items (over $50) and most of the time I end up not wanting them after a while and after I've done my research.
Its harder to save money now for sure, so I find myself just buying less, doing without, eating and living simply. Of course, I have no littles who are picky anymore so that helps. 😉
I do some things differently now that I'm living alone and have now reached age 70. I still hang laundry on my indoor racks (hey, drying off with those cardboard towels is as good as scrubbing with a luffa sponge!), eat almost all meals at home (unspectacular as many of these are), batch errands, look for grocery bargains at Ollie's and my local outlet, shop at thrift stores, etc. I add that I do all these things because I still enjoy them.
But I'm finally training myself to cook in smaller quantities (I don't do whole chickens, whole hams, or roasts of beef much any more, and I make smaller batches of soup and chili). More significantly, I'm hiring out a lot of the things that DH used to do--especially those involving either going up on ladders or running power equipment--primarily for safety reasons. My sense of balance and my skill with potentially dangerous tools were none too good to begin with, and they haven't improved with age.
I embarrassed myself a few time in my extreme coupon clipping days. That dropped away quickly. I was a SAHM and felt I should use all my "time wisely." I didn't realize until I became an empty nester that every moment with my boy was wise.
Thrifting is now a hobby rather than a necessity. I count it as aerobic 🙂
I have a nutrimill that I would grind Farmer Hubby's wheat to make bread. Now we really don't eat bread.
I still love making yogurt in the instapot and put it into my one gallon strainer with a cover (Hatrigo) . Instead of throwing away the whey I am storing it in cubes for extra protein.
Here is a side note: In CHATGPT, I asked for the cheapest menu that will give me all my fruits and veggies, 140 grams of protein and 1300 a day. $50 a week was a stretch it said. That means for Hubbby and me, $400 a month for food would be a huge stretch. When did things get so expensive?
@Mary Ann, using ChatGPT for meal planning? That is brilliant. I used to use AllRecipes, you could type in the ingredients you have and it gave you recipes. I'm definitely going to try this.
@MommaJo,
It is super cool. I even put the food I already had in the freezer frig so i could use everything up efficiently.
I had to laugh about the ad with sound. I mute everything on my computer. The one I work on the most doesn't have speakers. IF I need sound I use wireless headphone, so I pulled them out to see if I was also getting an ad with sound. Then I went ahead and reported it. I probably wil never do this again.
This weekend my husband said that I was much more crunchy before he met me. It's true, but some of my crunchy things were because I was a stay at home mom. I am now working full time, with a kiddo in high school, and I'm married to a man that might die if we had to give up paper towels (I would go through a roll about every three months before we met - now we go through them much faster).
@Geneva, i thin my hubby and two teens eat toilet paper and paper towels. they get used up so quickly. i use generic now so it is not too bad.
@Geneva, does he clean? If so, don't kvetch about paper towels. Mine cleans and mops the floors. Give and take as well as pick your battle is my motto.
@Anita Isaac, my kids don’t like generic paper towels lol. I have a rag collection that I can toss for nasty stuff, but I still love me some paper towels (purchased usually from a warehouse type store).
Similarly, I love single ply TP but have to buy the “soft” stuff for other folks. I am amazed at how picky people can be about TP.
Athena, freezing sliced bread works really well! In our household in the summer, bread only lasts about 3 days on the counter before it will start to smell off and then mold. My husband makes the bread right now, and he is really good about getting it sliced up and into the freezer before it can go bad.
We have a toaster with a "thaw" setting, so we toast once on "thaw", then again on "toast" to get good toast in the morning, and just the once on "thaw" to thaw the bread for sandwiches. You can also just leave the bread on the counter wrapped in a cloth overnight to thaw.
Due to food allergies (now resolved), I used to have to order bread to be shipped to me. (It was a yeast-free "Millet Special" bread from DeLand Bakery in DeLand, Fla.) Due to bulk savings, I would place a large order for a couple of dozen loaves. I found that double bagging the loaves helped to keep freezer burn at bay. (I'd save the old bread bags and reuse them as the outer bags. Just plop the still-wrapped, still-sealed new loaf into the older bag and seal the outer bag, too.)
But the really important thing is to let the bread thaw while it is still sealed. Do NOT open the inner bag! That's because any moisture that forms ice crystals needs to be reabsorbed into the bread. If you open the inner bag, all that moisture escapes and it will become very dry and hard -- pretty much inedible. I'd take the bread out of the freezer at night and let it thaw, still in its wrappers, on top of my refrigerator. By morning, it was good to go.
Although mine was bought from a health food bakery, I'm guessing this would also be true of homemade bread.
I used to make ALL of our bread products, and cook very much from scratch.
I now buy nearly all of our bread (except the bread my husband makes for his & son's breakfast toast), in part because I need keto bread (and that's hard to make at home in a sustainable-for-me way), and because my now-older children decided they'd rather have store-bought hamburger buns and sandwich bread (seriously, what is the attraction of Aldi's version of wonderbread?? Teenagers are weird.)
I also used to make almost all of our sausage from whole pork loin, Italian and breakfast, and I don't do that any more (time, cleaning the grinder, etc.).
I used to repair a lot more of my clothing, but in the last 10 years, every single thing that's become unwearable due to damage was damaged in a way I couldn't repair, usually by wearing extremely thin in some area I couldn't easily replace. I've noticed a severe decline in fabric quality, especially in the last 5 years, and this is definitely contributing.
Things that have stood the test of time: using fabric napkins & washcloths in the dining room & kitchen, cooking nearly all of our meals at home, packing my lunches regularly, composting all food scraps (our community has a drop-off location, so we store scraps in the freezer in a paper bag and drop it off once a week), biking to/from as many things as I can (school, short errands, midweek grocery store small things, library, etc.), maintaining a minimalist wardrobe, etc.
I feel like so many frugal things have fallen by the wayside...we haven't been baking muffins, breads, and desserts much lately, I no longer make dishwasher detergent or bathroom cleanser...I also don't make vegetable broth - just buy the cubes. I'm using a protein powder whereas I used to make a banana smoothie every few days but that's mostly due to dietary needs (the banana would spike my blood sugar).
@CrunchyCake, Better Than Boullion will convince you to leave cubes behind. It is better than homemade.
Frugal Fit Mom has a no knead bread recipe that she uses. (I follow a couple different frugal cooking YouTubers and most of them use her basic recipe.) It's a bread recipe that I’ve seen Flourishing with Plants Miranda using gf flour with to make it. You might try that. You can make a loaf at a time.
You can make one loaf at a time or multiple.
The one I gave up this year after several failed attempts at home: clipping the dog's nails. I can bathe her, but I can't do the nails.
My husband gave up another one. Earlier this year he replaced the wheel bearings on my car, which took forever. It did save a few hundred dollars, but we deemed his time was worthy of that amount when his wheel bearings needed to be replaced this summer. But he did a few other repairs himself just recently, so it depends on the repair.
I've never made broth (chicken or vegetable) or yogurt-- haven't earned those frugal badges yet! 😉
@Andrea G / Midwest Andrea, My Great Dane will not allow anyone near his nails. I don't know if past abuse included something with his feet, but he goes nuts if you so much as look at his feet. The groomer, the vet and medication all failed. Now he just chews off his nails when they get too long. The vet said this is not as uncommon as one might think.
I am almost retired, I still make bread in the bread machine, I have always made portioned bags of the dry ingredients and freeze, all I had to do was add eggs, honey and a splash of milk and push a button. I make granola and yogurt, I use my instapot for making sauces, dried beans, soups and beef bones and chicken carcasses.
I always have cookie dough in the freezer, this morning I made a couple dozen cookies for our county road meeting later today to discuss with the sheriff about our prowler situation.
My favorite thrift store closed and it had beautiful clothes and high quality things.
I now find most of my clothes at garage sales, especially the exclusive high end neighborhoods that hold sales once per year.
I think the most frugal thing we do is think collectively as a community. We share our tools and expertise.
We have a family co op buying flours, rice, beans and cane sugar in bulk. We raise the organic beef here, my cousin provides ocean fish and the electrician, plumber and diesel mechanic all provide their expertise.
I have the largest garden area (1+ acres) so we have plots and raised beds for those who live in town.
I do all of my cousin's canning for my share of fish.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, the family co-op sounds like a wonderful thing.
I was just thinking about your bread making the other day too - was remembering that delicious looking cinnamon swirl loaf bread you used to make! It always looked so good. Maybe I will try baking it sometime myself . . . sure sounds delicious these days as our weather is starting to cool down a bit at last.
For what it’s worth, I bought a refurbished-by-Canon R100 (yes, mirrorless). I’m a bit laissez-faire with it, although I’m also careful by nature, and it’s a workhorse. Love having the option to do better night and distance/zoom images. Of note — if you have big/specialty lenses for your existing Canon, you’ll need an adapter to use them with the mirrorless ones.
For Athena:
You can totally control the TIMING of bread baking by using your refrigerator. For example, you can make the dough in the morning or before bed, put it in a covered container, and put the container in the fridge. It will still rise (promise!) and then when you have time later in the day or in the morning, remove the dough from the fridge, shape your loaf, and let it rise again--it will take a little longer because the dough is cold. Then bake as usual.
When you use the refrigerator, you may find the flavor of the finished bread enhanced because the slower rise lets the flavor develop more deeply.
If you have a bread machine, you can set the machine to make the dough so it's ready in the morning or evening to pop into the fridge, then shape and bake the dough as is convenient for you.
I also enjoyed using the "5-Minute Artisan Bread Technique" you can find the master recipe online. Then it's easy just to pull out and shape the dough and it's ready to bake in about 30 minutes. My kids did not like that bread because it had a more yeasty flavor, but it was incredibly convenient, and you could make a loaf of any size.
Every time an ad pops up, I say a little prayer for you. I know this blog kept you afloat as you negotiated through these big life changes, so I didn't mind them, even when they were sort of irritating. However, I did get a talking pop-up earlier today, for the first time ever. I was so surprised, I didn't grab a screenshot.
Hilariously, the current pop-up is a Nightstand Before and After. At least it's germane. And quiet.
I have given up most of my baking with a busy life. And since my kids were raised in homebaked goods, we don’t generally buy store versions because they don’t get eaten.