I sup
pose I should try to view it more as an investment, but when the goal is to save money, all those dollar signs seem to add up even more quickly.
Take, for example, the weekly shopping. The weekly shopping takes us an hour away to Lincoln, to two stores and one library. To save a bit on the gas (not to mention the time) we are thinking about changing this to a monthly trip. Which means a LOT more groceries at once.
And the need for a place to store it all.
Now, I don’t need fancy cabinetry, but I would like to avoid just stacking it all on the floor. And the mouse that chewed through my five pound bag of flour emphasized the need for containers for dry goods.
And really, another deep freeze would be very helpful in this endeavor.
But that all costs money. And while it may pay for itself in time, hopefully in a season even, it isn’t always easy to lay down all that money up front.
Another challenge for us is that we eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Now, our local market is relatively competitive for fresh goods and our monthly shopping trip to Lincoln isn’t going to keep me from trips to our local market. Nor will it keep my husband from picking up milk on his way home from work. But fresh fruits and vegetables are pricey.
We have space for an orchard. In the spring, we may even have the money to plant it. And after several years of care, it will hopefully begin to pay for itself. But until then, we’ll be pruning and fertilizing and fencing and hoping to see a return on the investment.
There’s also the garden. And while I have great plans for it, the three pounds of green beans, two pumpkins and four cucumbers it has produced this year hardly justifies the money that was put into it last spring. We are preparing it for some winter gardening at the moment. And while it would be lovely to have garden fresh salads all winter without having to pay for them, we still need to build the cold frames and purchase the plastic to protect the little plants as they grow.
And did I mention my carrots? Carrots don’t grow particularly well in our soil. They like sandy loam and we have clay. Rocky clay at that. Carrots don’t cost all that much so I’ve never really worried about it, but so long as I’ve been reading about everything else under the sun regarding gardening, I’ve come across a bit about carrots. And my children really do prefer the carrots fresh out of the garden. And I know there’s a lot more nutrition in something they pulled from the garden ten minutes ago as opposed to something that was grown who knows where, packaged, shipped, brought home and stored in the refrigerator for another week before being eaten.
So we’re getting ready to experiment with some indoor container gardening focusing on carrots. A few plastic tubs won’t set us back too much. Nor will the soil. And the lighting isn’t that expensive. But a one pound bag of carrots is less than a dollar. This little project will pay for itself if it is successful, but it may take a year. And maybe some lettuce and green onions tucked into the corners.
But still, we’re spending money now in the hopes to save enough in the future to make it all worthwhile. But when a tightening budget is the motivation, it isn’t always easy.
What have you been working on to make a little extra room in your budget?
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This is always a difficult decision. We like to determine “pay-off times”. How long will it take to actually save the initial investment. We’ve been toying with the idea of solar panels for a while… but no matter what, the pay-off time is about 2 decades… no thanks. Meanwhile, buying the excalibur dehydrator was paid off in a matter of months. The greenhouse we’re planning to purchase soon, again about 2-3 months. The windows our house desperately needs… probably 3-5 years. Looking at what we purchase can’t just be dollars and cents though- we also have to look at quality. Raising our own chickens costs about the same as cheep chicken from the grocery store. Add the blood sweat and tears and we’re way behind. But the quality is bar none. We spend extra money on flour to get several whole grains and mill it and immediately freeze it to save the nutrients. Again, a quality unmatched in stores. We also started buying cases of organic fruit and veggies and canning, freezing or drying them ourselves. Its not as cheep, but its a way of getting organic for about the same price and conventionally raised. Another thought is picking up a non-working chest freezer to store things in. We found one on the side of the road and snagged it for animal feed to keep critters from eating through the bags. It works great and was free. If you stashed your large bags of grains and such in there and had smaller bins you filled from them, you’d have critter-safe storage for nothing. Craig’s list is a great place to find deals. We snagged a huge working chest freezer for $100. Patience (and prayer) is key. Just wait and something good is bound to pop up.
.-= Alison´s last blog ..Worms! =-.
Ooh, hadn’t thought about non-working freezers to store dry goods. Not a bad idea.
Thanks!
There’s a lot we aren’t willing to sacrifice (unless it becomes necessary, of course!), and most of the things will pay for themselves in a season or two. There are just so many things we’d like to do, however. We have to space them out, even though in the end they will mean some savings and a healthier lifestyle!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
I collect empty pails to store dry goods in. I call places like ice cream stores, old folks homes, and other places that use large 5 gallon buckets and pick them up there. I get them for free because they consider it garbage.
I also shop once a month. I have a year supply of food (for 8 adults) of all the basic foods, about a 6 month supply of “fun” food and more food just for the inbetween times. This saves me TONNES of money, take money to build, but is in the long run a money saving thing. The once a month shop gets all my extras and replaces what I used the previous month from my storage.
Having a garden is worth it, but it is time consuming and lots of effort to build your soil to be good for veggies. Trees take time to grow and gardens take time to establish, but I figure so worth it.
That is my two cents.
Thanks for making me think of this all over again. 
.-= Jaime´s last blog ..Our Family Proclamation =-.
I would love to get to the point where all our fresh food is coming directly off our property (or at least most of it) and all we’re buying is your traditional dry goods. My husband’s even been craving the lamb he was brought up on so our freezer may fill with fresh lamb from our little flock we’re hoping to start in the spring.
Don’t know that that will save much money, but it sure will be fresh!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
Meant to add: our freezer is actually pretty full because I buy tons of whatever meat is on special. Then we plan our meals around that until something else goes on sale.
It works pretty well, but once when I stopped to pick up milk I came out with a $200 bill for all the meat I’d picked up at an unadvertised special that had most meats 50 to 70% off! It last 6 months.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
But still, we’re spending money now in the hopes to save enough in the future to make it all worthwhile. What have you been working on to make a little extra room in your budget?
College.
With grad school looming.
AAAAAHHHH! Don’t make me think about that just yet!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
You can freeze milk for up to 3 months. (Just shake before using. Some separation can occur.) Local school cafeterias are a good source for free food storage containers. We use plastic containers that previously contained cooking oil to store extra water. Elbow grease for cleaning was all it cost, thanks to our local public school. They may also have rodent proof containers for dry goods. Sometimes hardware stores (Home Depot, Lowes) have wooden pallets that they are willing to give away or sell for little cost. We have made shelves out of them.
Re-purpose stuff! It may cost less than you think!
.-= Life On The Planet´s last blog ..All About Your Heart =-.
I like pickle buckets but unfortunately all the fast food places seem to have switched to the vacuum sealed plastic bags which don’t do us much good.
I think we have enough containers to start with, but they’re sort of in use for other things. That will help give us some time until we find something else, at least.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
I completely hear where you are coming from. We recently started with chickens and all the start up costs that go with it and probably won’t see eggs until Spring because of the chickens age. We used many repurposed items to build the coop but you still have to purchase waterers, feed, litter, etc. Can’t garden due to lack of sun living in the middle of a forest but may garden through a friend’s property next Spring. Also looking in to solar panels on a small scale, aquaponics and ducks. All cost money up front. Enjoyed your post.
Blessings
Diane
.-= Diane´s last blog ..New Clothesline =-.
We have an old well on the property that could mean free water for the gardening and the animals, too, but it needs a pump and then to be inspected. More money.
But when we have sheep and goats, watering them with the hose is going to get expensive fast!
We’re trying to make a little priorities list so that we can tackle those that cost the least upfront first or maybe one thing that will save the most. I keep thinking how much better our position will be a year from now, even if we haven’t paid back the investment. It will still feel good to spend less!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
For chickens, we found the best feeders and waterers to be made from 3 or 5 gallon buckets. Cut a sizable hole about half way up. If you use a 5 gallon bucket you get about 2.5 gallons of water/feed for them. The lid on the top means they can climb on it, poop, and it doesn’t spoil the water or feed. You can also clip the handle to the side of a pen or something if they are prone to knocking it over. I get my buckets from my dad’s business, a laundromat, which is how they get their bulk detergent. For litter when they’re little, I get sawdust from a carpenter friend. If he’s low, I alert all my friends and family that I need shredded paper and they all save it for me.
Dana, look into a hand style pitcher pump for your well. We just got 1 for about $50 to use in the event of a hurricane and loss of power. Installation is really simple. It takes some priming each time its used, but it works well and wouldn’t require an inspection I wouldn’t think. It would get old watering a garden that way, but to pump a bit of water out for animals would be simple as long as you don’t have to walk far from the well to the pasture.
.-= Alison´s last blog ..Worms! =-.
Since it isn’t intended for humans, we don’t need a well inspection but since it has just been sitting there for years, I feel better getting one.
It has a nice pump on it that keeps a dish always full of water for animals….if only it actually worked. But it’s all rusted through and I doubt worth resurrecting. Especially since we want it for our garden and orchard!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
You could try growing the carrots in a big potted plant holder with the exact type of soil they need. I don’t do this, but my sis doesn’t have a lot of property so she grows her “garden” ALL in potted plant holders on her tiny back deck.
I’ve also heard that you can grow carrots in a straw bale. Again, I’ve never tried it (never grown a thing actually) but I read a lot of blogs
Just a few tips from a non-gardener…
lol.
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I’ve read about straw bale gardening. We are actually going to try the carrots in containers over winter but I’m thinking if it goes well, that just might be how we do them. They like their soil a little cooler, anyway, so they should be quite happy in the basement as long as we get the lighting figured out!
.-= Dana´s last blog ..On spending money in order to save money =-.
I very much relate to this post. We too are saving for a deep freeze and containers so that we can buy some things in bulk. With six kiddos it will cut down on our shopping trips and hopefully save us money in the long run.
I would love for you to join the Homeschool Blog Parade!
.-= Homeschool Blog Parade´s last blog ..Back to school-Not back to school blog parade! =-.
Totally understand….when we moved hubby was shocked I asked for the deep freeze as an anniversary present.
While I don’t have any immediate solutions – lots of good ones have been mentioned already, I did want to share about carrots. I also have clay soil but have had success with carrots and parsnips. I start all by seed sown directly in the ground and while some will laugh at me, I have found that following the moon planting cycle from the farmer’s almanac has yielded a larger harvest this year than in year’s past. The Danvers 126 (it is organic) does well in clay soil and I am sure that you are using the manure from your chickens to help aerate and provide nutrients to the soil. 
This is actually our first year using this land. It hasn’t had much added to it, and was tough to till. I’m guessing that as the years go by and we do add compost every year and have crops rooting in the soil, it will build up and improve bit by bit.
After three years of mulching and planting in the clay at our old house, my flowerbed became a joy to dig in because there was a good layer of nice rich soil on top of the clay.