Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 August Edition

1) Entertainment costs.

We already covered streaming services.  Stop it.

Most public libraries have free e-books for check out, print and audio.   Many also have canva or another movie streaming option.  But of course, you dropped your data plan and wifi right? 

Try busting out the dusty deck of cards, books you already own, games you already own.  Maybe ...just maybe...shooot the breeze with other humans without going out to eat/drink/jump-around-on-trampolines-for-a-price and on and on and on.  I think my favorite stupid entertainment cost right now is PAYING o throw axes in a cage or indoors.  Why? WE ARE IN IDAHO, PEOPLE!!!   Just get outside with some space and throw whatever you already own.  Then clean up after yourself.

There is probably something productive that you enjoy doing.  Cooking, sewing, sharpening knives, cleaning the keys on your piano, playing the piano.  Figure something out.  Try a new skill.   There are books in the library on how to do stuff. 

Sort some crap.  Maybe you'll find things to sell, recycle for cash (that beer can collection from the 1980s your drunkbutt uncle left you is work a buck or two as aluminum).   If nothing else, you will clear some space for the fall food stock up.

Don't go to movies you have to pay for.  Many towns have free ones in the summer.  BYO snacks and beverages (like water in those big dumb insulated cups you bought because they were trendy).

Once I year I treat myself to a 10 film pass at a local arthouse type cinema.  $6 per film.  I bring my water bottle.  The current pass only has 3 punches off it.  7 more to go.  Might take me through 2027.   Not $0,  but dang cheap.  And it's in the  budget.   As is the silent film festival pass each year.  That's another 40$.   In the budget and cutable if need be.

Things to Cut When Money is Tight...July Edition

 1) Stupid Fees

This might be the entire list today because there are lots of fees I realized I had cut through the years and have forgotten that people pay.

-ATM fees.   Use an ATM linked to your credit union or bank.   My credit union has agreements with other credit unions so I can use one pretty much anywhere in the country without a fee.  There is not only an app for that, there is a phone number I can dial it, put in a zip code (preferably the one where I am or will be shortly) and find an ATM.  ALSO...take out cash regularly and have it in hand.  Doesn't ALWAYS work.  I have yet to pay an ATM fee in 2026. I do carry more cash around than othes in my finanical class and have a stack of 20s in my home which I dip into as needed   The local branch of my credit union is closing in August so I will have to plan ahead a wee bit more.  There will still be an ATM, but I usually stop in there to take out $$ rather than using the ATM much. 

-Late bill fees.  I did bugger this one up this year one time.  While traveling, I ignored the notice in my phone calendar to pay the phone bill.  OOPS!  So, that was a few bucks down the drain and lesson relearned.

-Credit card fee at the gas pump.  I do my best to go to gas stations that do not charge more for credit card use.   Othewise, I actually walk inside with some of those 20s mentioned above, and pay cash, then go back in for the change.  It takes a moment, but it takes less time to go in to the station twice than it does to earn the takehome pay to cover the increased cost of using a credit card. 

-Credit card fee for paying taxes and government permits.  There is a significant "convenience" fee for using a credit card to pay my land taxes, building permit, etc.  I make time to stop by the actual offices when I will be in that town for other reasons, walk in, write a check (yes, a check) and get a receipt.  This requires a wee bit of planning but you CAN do this.,

-Credit card fees elsewhere.  My fave food truck (yes, I do buy food out now and then, it is in the budget and I can still afford it and find it worth it for a few specific places) has added a 4% credit card fee.  Credit cards charge the business a fee so they nee to either pass it on or raise prices across the board  I pay cash, and add that fee to the tip to maximize my support of a local business and support a healthful local food economy.  Same at the farmers markets and anywhere else I pay in person.   I do use credit cards when ordering online, paying for plane tickets/rental cars/hotels for the record and the ability to dispute charges through multiple channels should anything go wrong.

Apply this principle to whatever fees you may be paying.  You'll find other ones in your own spending patterns.  

No 'Poo 18 Year Update

 Apparently my hairgrease is now 18 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day old.  Because I happened to wonder "when did I give up shampoo?" and I had blogged it.

Here's a link to the post about going no 'poo:

https://simplicityandfrugality.blogspot.com/2008/05/no-poo.html

Cool.  I barely even bother to baking soda wash anymore.  Heavy rinsing is my go to.  It's like heavy petting only not at all.  If I'm in a shower with good water pressure just keep rinsing until the whole thing feels better.  Scrub scalp while rinsing.  Hard to get the hair wet through all the natural oils and undisturbed cuticle.

When I'm home with the hairwash bucket (which is watever bowl basin or bucket is clean and appropriately sized) and it's warm out or in a place with time on my hands and a good sink set up for hair washery, then I go for the baking soda (or salt) scalp scrub and vinegar (or lemon juice or skip it) rinse.  Then, a cold water blast to seal up the cuticle again.  That takes off more grease.  Sometimes so much that the baking soda, a base, will saponify the hair grease a little and I make a mild soapy water sort of thing.  Then I think..."Damn, my hair is gross" and keep washing.  This is generally in the summer especially after putting oil on the house project so it's not all hair grease, it's also house oil, making the soap foam.  And please don't picture like bubble bath levels of foam.  More like gramma's lye soap barely run through the water level.  A couple of bubbles is what I'm saying.

So, how's the hair?  FINE.  Just fine.  Curlier.  Meaning slightly wavy.  I keep it braided up or in a pony tail most days because despite being in better condition, it's still very super fine hair prone to breaking off every time it touches a shirt collar or I brush it.  Easier to comb.  When I do a big scrub after a hot day of oily dusty construction work it is the least greasy and quite fluffy.  Hard to get into a pony tail.

It's also harder to get henna to take.  I have to do a big scrub to get lots of oils out.  Then leave the henna in for HOURS which usually means I fall asleep and leave it in too many hours.  This results in a tone best described as "full bozo red".  I do not mind and must say that the funniest moment at work in years was coming in with full bozo red hair (which settles into just shocking copper by the end of a week) and NO ONE said a thing.  Just stared wide eyed and wandered off to whisper to other people for a minute.  Did they think I didn't know?   Or had some specific shade of red in mind?   In reality, I had found the henna at a thrift store, unopened.  And it was the fox and I usually used the parrot (the company I like puts a critter on each package so you can remember which one you usually buy).  The fox is much darker red.  MUCH.  And I fell asleep.  Rinsed for AGES with the garden hose pressure nozzle.   It didn't last much over 6 months and by then was faded pretty well.   I must not have stripped the grease off the hair well enough.  Last time before that I used the parrot but that is STILL in the ends of my hair like 5 years later.  My hair is the worst.

Other effects...easy to comb. easy to braid unless just stripped, and no one seems to notice if I go a couple of weeks without even a rinse as long as there is no actual dirt clods in my hair.

A handful of times over the past 18 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day I have done the all conditioner option.  Mostly when at a hotel and I don't have baking soda or salt in a quantity that would be worth the effort but the hair is grimier/sweatier than I think a rinse will cure.  It works but doesn't last and I'm not used to my hair smelling of cheap products anymore and that will bug me for a day or two until it fades away.  I avoid it and go for the heavy rinse if at all possible.

So...that's it.  And still no hair photo.  It's just greying old people hair that doesn't stand out in a crowd.

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 June Edition

 So, not really specific things but more of a method.  Should have though through the series title but I didn't.

Anyhoo...

Slow down.  55mph doesn't just save lives, it saves $$.

Most rigs get better mileage if you slow down.   There is a limit to that.  I once had to follow a truck convoy for work duties.  The colleague riding along to make sure I didn't fall asleep on the all night drive, thought I'd get GREAT mileage at 3mph.  No.  There is just a base amount of fuel to keep a car running, and the middle of a gear's speed range seems to be more efficiently sustained than the bottom.  Got crap mileage.

Slowing down in town helps too.  Accelerating takes more fuel than keeping a steady speed.  One must accelerate from a stop, but accelerating gently will be more efficient.  If yo aren't going so fast, you may be able to just take your foot of the gas to gradually slow fore most of the stopping distance at intersections.  This is more efficient than going fast and slamming on the brakes.

On the highway, most of my driving, for my vehicle 55 to 60 does seem to seriously increase mpg.  I wonder if that is how the endgine is set up or how it was broken in or both   This past weekend I drove a few hundred miles on highways but through mountains.  I was pretty careful about not trying to accelerate going uphill, coasting as much as possible downhill, and just maintaining a speed on flat areas.   Gained over 10% efficiency.   Noted.

The other thing...walk for any errand etc under a mile (about a 15 min walk for me).  It costs money to start the car so every time you don't, that helps save $$ directly by not using fuel, indirectly by not causing wear and tear on the engine and by making me exercise which probably will make me live 3 minutes longer (and that's just enough time to binge it a bag of mini-candy-bars...damn...there goes the savings!).

Rules: 
Slow down

Start slow

Accelerate less

Maintain a speed

Don't drive if you can walk.

It will all save a bit.  Gas is back just under 4$ a gallon here for the moment, but it won't last.  So Im keeping the habits going,

MAGIC GROCERY SAVINGS HACKS!!!

 Ok, not really but good lord the headlines.  Like there is a "hack" that will fix crap.

This is in response to multiple news outlets having well paid consultants talk with well paid reporters about how to "hack" a grocery bill if you are an actual poor person.  Those well paid people don't have any special knowledge and are working from some sort of fantasy of how the people I know actually shop.

Here's a hack, if it's too expensive, don't buy it! 

Try prioritizing and keep reviewing want vs need per like all the previous blogs.

Priorities: 

Air (still free but I'm sure someone is trying to find a way to privatize and monetize it).  

Water.  drink tap water.  UNLESS you know that your tap water is specifically toxic in the short term (is there a city boil order?) just drink it.  It's cheaper than every other option.  You do not "need" any other beverage and certainly do not pay for bottled water if you are at all trying to cut costs.  You also do not need a fancy vessel to get the water to your lips.  Whatever you already own is the very best choice.  

Food.  Yes, most of us need to eat.  And we need to cook some of it because raw diets don't go well in the long run.  Look at your cooking and storage options and work with them.  Buy what is cheap, use the food banks, little free pantries and other free resources if you are in a giant bind.   It's OK.  Buy the most nutrition for the dollar, given your storage and cooking options.  I get lots of eggs and canned fish because they work for me.  I can cook, but it's hard to store left overs.  These things come in roughly single serving options.  Popcorn is great and lasts.  UNPOPPED (remember when that was assumed?) and just from the bulk bin or the big bag of cheap kernels.  Then, I pop it myself in whatever oil/grease I have.  Or in the office airpopper.  For fruit and veg, start with the discount bin/area if the store has one.  After that, look for the lowest cost per pound.  Grapes...I can't even! You can almost always get onions, cabbage, potatoes and big-bag-o-apples for under 1$/pound.  Those last at room temp for ages.  Same with carrots which are also generally cheap.  For oil/fat to cook with or get enough calories, Go with the size you can store before it goes off.  I don't buy it by the gallon because ick.  And right now it's cheaper for me (given my storage and cooking options) to buy pig fat from a butcher shop I know at 2$/lb, cook it down to lard and store that at room temp.  I also usually get a bottle of olive oil because I have enough money and it keeps well and I can use it to fry, put it on salad, or bake with it.  I don't care for corn oil or other cheaper oils on salad and I don't have room for a wide selection of oils sitting around.  It's good to eat greens.  Get cheap ones or fry up dandelion greens or buy some sprouting seeds.  Cabbage counts too.  DO NOT buy prepared meals unless you truly have no way to cook.  Dry beans store for ever, and you can sprout them.  But, they take cooking.  So, if you can't cook, try a can of black beans, package of tortillas, and dice up an onion with cabbage and throw on vinegar or lemon juice and some hot pepper (sriracha, cayenne powder, dried peppers, a fresh one, whatever) and voila...tacos.  If you eat cheese and can afford it, you can add some.  Cheap, easy, fresh.    

Shelter.  We need that.  Cut the cost.  I friend of mine just moved from a shared house costing over 1000$/month per resident to a room in a more shared house for 500$/month.  This also cut the utilities.  Be creative if you can, but we can't all move that quickly with those big expenses.  So, when you are going to change housing, go for half or less of what the bank/online-calculator says you can afford.  That way if you lose some income, you have a bit of time because you were saving that other 50%...right?  Hope so.

Focus on total spend, not imaginary "savings".  If you buy steak at 50% off to "save" 15$, you still spent 15$ for a couple of meals of protein.  You could have bought 15 cans of beans, 3 lbs of ground beef, 15lbs of dry beans, etc.  So you "saved" nothing.  You spend 15$ poorly.

Good luck and stop with the hacks.  Spend less. 

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 April Edition

 If you  need to cut big ticket items....

1) Cut the streaming NOW.

   Drop the internet services unless you work from home in a way that brings in actual cash, not just selling odds and ends on ebay and facebook market place.   No netflix, no hulu.  Just stop.  This also cuts advertising making you feel poor, and frees up time to do things like cook from scratch and find things to sell or swap with neighbors, mend clothes, actually talk to your kids about how they won't be in sports this summer because you are broke but they will get plenty of exercise walking to school!

2) Cut car payments.  

Have N+1 cars ( or more) where N=number of licensed drivers in the house?  Do you owe a car payment on any of those cars?   Then cut back to 1 car for whomever MUST commute to work (assuming they will start carpooling and charging the rider for the gas and a wee bit over for insurance...I rode with a colleague for a while and loved splitting the gas and insurance cost with him for the privilege of not driving daily), and 1 car to be at home IF there is a family member at home all day during the day.  If there are 2 job commuters (or more) who absolutely must drive and there is NO WAY to share rides, carpool, walk, take public transport, ride a bike/scooter, or share a ride with the other family driver(s) even if it means someone goes a bit out of their way, then, you can have 1 more car.

The other car(s)?  Sell, unload, get rid of.    Cut the insurance to the minimum and compare premiums.  

If you still must carry a car loan because you were upside down on it or whatever, find a way to pay principle ahead to keep costs dropping in the future.  

3) Cut housing costs.   

If you own your home but make a mortgage payment, that means the bank owns your home.  Pay ahead if you can, but do not miss a payment.  That will cost more.  Do look at ways to cut the mortgage payment without paying less against principle. For example, if you put less than 20% down and had to add that extra insurance, check again.  Likely the value of the house has gone up even if you haven't paid a full 20% against principle.  If the mortgage is 80% or less than the current assessment, then you can probably drop that insurance even without refinancing.  Don't ask the loan holding entity first, ask someone else.   Find the assessed value on zillow or similar and argue that as the value.  Check the mortgage for any other payments, fees, insurances that can be dropped.  Keep an eye on the housing market including rentals in case you have to sell or just want to.  An idea of cost/benefits is good to have.   Maybe look into renting out a room or the garage or a spot for people to store crap in the back lot. Check with your homeowners insurance before you do that.

If you rent, can you lower the rent?  You can ask.  If you can help manage the property, do repairs, take on grouds maintenance or something sometimes a landlord will cut a rate for that.   Look at rental listings so when the lease term is up, you can move if you need or choose to.   Think about going smaller. Children can share rooms without dying.  It has been done.  

4) Cut food costs. 

Transportation and housing are usually the big costs in the US.  We don't spend a large percentage of our income on food...or we didn't pre-constant-delivery.   When you check your food costs count EVERYTHING YOU SHOVE IN YOUR MOUTH (well, not everything, don't be gross).  Coffee/lattes, restaurant foods, cookies and chips at the gas station, groceries, meals out, vending machine soda and candy,  pastries, groceries.   And yes, if you bought food, junk food, beverages to consume but end up throwing it out...that cost counts too.  

Start cutting with dining out, vending machine and convenience store stuff, and the like.   Cook food to take with you.  This can be done!  Actually, just cook a bit extra for main meals and package it up in those baggies you already own so it's ready to go. Do not buy a bunch of crap pre-packaged snacks or those godforesaken lunchables.   Certainly not "uncrustables".  All are vile and expensive compared to just making a sandwich or grabbing a hand full of crackers and a chunk of lunch meat.  

1 loaf of bread, peanut butter or cheese and meat for sandwiches and you are ready for the week.  If you want to pre-make, bag and freeze they will but nearly as disgusting as uncrustables!  Youll love it!

Cook from scratch.  Save money on food and medical care.  I'll redo the easy basic recipes in a later post.

5) Cut interest costs.   

I have been debtfree for ages now.  It was a heavy lift.  If you owe on multiple credit cards then that is the place to start.   First...STOP USING CREDIT.  Seriously.  NO credit card purchases.  If you don't have the money, you don't get the thing.  Done.  

Pay 1 card off first.  Either the lowest balance (that gives a faster reward of "HEY!  I paid a thing off!!!), or the one with the highest interest (takes longer, but saves more).  I started with the lowest one.  OK, there was only one.  But I would have chosen the lowest one because that reward will keep me going.   Make the minimum payment on all cards, pay over that, as much as you can each month or even every 2 weeks, on the chosen card.   When that card is paid off, throw the money at the next one you want to pay off.  It doesn't really matter which one, just pay them.  Say you have 3 store cards (those count) and a visa and an american express.  Pay minimum on all.  If you find 53$/month to pay extra on one, then do that.  When that 1st card is paid off you now have that minimum payment PLUS 53$ a month to put against the next card.  So, if the minimum was 20$, that's 73$.  Your next highest balance card you may have been paying 32$/month minimum so now you're paying 32+73 (that's 105$ for those who like totals) going there, and that 105$ will be added to the next card's monthly pay off.  The amount of interest savings will amaze you.

Once the cards are paid off, get rid of that ill-advised 72+ month car loan you took out.  Those can have odd rules about paying interest before principle so make SURE it goes to principle.  Same with any student loans or other loans.

When the rest is paid...throw the cumulative debt payment amount (you may be pushing 1000$/month now) toward the mortgage but make sure it is goin against PRINCIPLE not prepaying interest.  If you must refinance to make that happen, this is when I would think about it.

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 March Edition

So...Everyone is out of money again. Well, the 99%. And my youtube algorithm is chock full of budget cuttery. To them I say...BEGINNER! Novice!!! 

 But still, you do have to begin at some point and that will indeed make you a novice. So, things to cut...just some thoughts probably not in a resonable order because my brain does not work in a normal order. 

 1) Cut out avoiding facing facts. 

 Figure out ACTUAL income (the paycheck, no the hourly wage. You don't take home the hourly wage, the gubment, insurance company, retirement fund, union etc etc etc take their cuts first). 

To do that take a look at your auto deposited paychecks or whatever (or, if your pay amount varies take as many as you can find and make and average and subtract 10% as a precaution). Make a note of how many hours are on that check. 

 A fulltime job is 2080 hours per year. Just keep that number in your brain pocket NOW, look at your spending records. If you use a credit and/or debit card or online, virtual venmoy type stuff...look at those records online. If like me you rock it like it's 1826 and pay cash, then gather receipts. Figure out about how much you have been spending. Use that info to estimate a budget for the next month. WRITE THIS ALL DOWN. 

 This won't happen in a day. Baby steps. START recording everything you spend in real time or like me (because I'm awesome) at the end of the day on graph paper with a pencil (for real). Be honest. EVERY spend. It's in pencil so I can got back and put in things I forgot. The top line on the sheet is "income" so if I find a dollar on the street, that goes into "income". In a month or 2 you will figure out categories (rent, electric, phone, streaming services (don't worry...you won't need that one for long)), beer, weed, coffee. WHATEVER. Just be honest and record everything. Now that you've started to face facts... 

 2) Quit buying lunch out if you can bring lunch with you. 

 Left overs ARE lunch. So is a bag of nuts and an apple. It doesn't have to be "lunch" but whatever meals you are buying out and about, STOP IT.  Again, baby steps. 

Also, do not buy equipment to bring lunch in or a fancy warmer for your lunch that plugs into the USB. NO. You have that giant bag of bags under the sink. Use one of those bags. Bring the whole loaf of bread going stale on the counter and jar of peanut butter from the cupboard to the office, or throw it in the work truck. TA DA! You packed lunch for the week. Good job. 

No...do not buy a fancy set of bamboo carbon neutral cutlery to spread the disgusting palmoil based peanut "spread" on your indestructible 99cent loaf of industrial bread shaped product. Grab a spoon or knife from the drawer at home. Find that plastic spoon from one of the last 2000 to-go meals you got at a drive-thru and throw that in the vehicle or office drawer. I dedicate one cupboard at work to the "office pantry" and keep a bowl, bit of silverware and salt and pepper in there along with the food. No one cares. If there is a shared fridge, embrace it and be polite (each monday or friday throw out the crap you forgot to eat). 

 3) STOP with the Unplanned purchases. 

 STOP and think first. Do you really need a new outfit for the concert (which will be your last because...seriously, if money is tight do not buy concert tickets, sing to yourself while you ar packing your lunch, that's your concert now).  Check the closet. Shop the hoard! Think about borrowing or swapping with a friend. 

Do you really need a countertop mixer? No, you do not. If you needed one, you would have one. Move on. 

Do not run to the store for a shallot when you have an onion sitting right there on the counter. No onion? Leave it out of the recipe. Find a recipe that uses what you have. New subscription to a streaming service...NO. NO NO NO. NO unplanned purchases and DEFINITELY no new subscriptions. 

 4) No More Buying coffee out. 

 Make it at home. You will save on the coffee, the health care needed due to constant consumption of liquid candy bars (Seriously saw a "Snickers Latte"...EW!), they cost a mint and are not that great. 

You also save on the gas burned idling in the line to the coffee hut. I set my coffee up the night before so it's ready to go. I have a couple of really nice travel coffee cups that I found at thrift and/or was given as presents. Use a cup you have. Don't have one? Use a portable water bottle, a thermos bottle, or like an old colleague of mine...just a mug from the cupboard, though his car carpet was indeed the thing of nightmares with the crust of years of dried coffee spills. But he did not care so it worked for him. 

 5) Put and End to Grocery shopping without a plan. 

NOT a meal plan necessarily. That is advanced thrifting, we're talking beginner cuts. 

Here's how to make a basic plan for grocery shopping. First 2 things...

A) look at the food you have on hand. Do you really need to shop? Fresh salad greens are not a necessity so maybe you can wait a bit. Can you make 2 or 3 days of meals from what you have? If the answer is no, get more creative and think again. Still no? OK, you're a beginner. But by now you know what you have and probably have some "I can almsost make that" things in mind. 

B) MAKE A LIST.  Really.  If you can ALMOST make soup and grilled cheese sandwiches but don't have the "right" veg.  Search for a recipe that will use up that 1 cup of chopped kale you were DEFINITELY going to eat but now it's limp, that lone can of diced tomatoes with the dusty top in the back of the tupperware cupboard, and 2 half peppers in the veggie drawer (Hint...all you need is an onion).  So, "onion" goes on the list.  Those keep pretty well so knock yourself out and get a couple.  You will use them in the next "stuff about to go off soup" aka "friday night dinner from here on out".  Figure out work lunches (bag of bread, jar of peanut butter).    

Great list!  onion, bread, peanutbutter.  Good first list.  I would add "cheapest fruit I like to eat" on there.  Remember that the "cheapest" is determined by the PER POUND price, not the per piece price.  If there is a cheap price on a 3# bag of apples ...divide it by 3, compare it to the loose apples.  If it is equal or close...here is your first advanced savings tip....weigh a few of the bags.  Some will be a half to a full pound over.  That cuts the cost even more.  

As noted...veg about to go bad is good for soup. But you noticed there is no "broth" on the shopping list.  You do not "need" broth. Do you know what is in broth? BOILED VEG (and/or meat). How do you make soup? YOU BOIL VEG (and/or meat). If you want it to be even tastier, fry some of the veg first. ...oh, sorry...I mean "saute' in oil heated to a shimmer"...Just fry it a bit. When it smells good, pour in water. Boil/simmer till the veg is the texture you like or the meat is cooked enough to be safe. TA DA!!! You made soup AND broth. If you sing to yourself while you do it you just saved the price of a concert ticket too. Way to go! 

Now.. Keep up with the income/outgo tracking. Facing facts is hard but gets easier with practice.

 Later I might to a post on what to stop immediately if you have a sudden money crisis. This is more longer range planning by shaving down the budget and knowing where you are at financially. Good luck!

So...I'm Ticked at Blogger But I'm Posting Anyway

I tried to do cordwood building updates but inorder to upload a picture, blogger wanted ALL MY INFORMATION and to put it all in the cloud. I know it's already there, but I'm not ticking the "yep, I agree to be spied on" box. I'd rather be secretly spied on, apparently. ANYWAY, I like to do wierd stuff (not news). Since around here rainbows are now signs that say "Please verbally confront me in public about things you assumed inside your own head based on me wearing something that isn't camo or 'tactical'", I wear more rainbows. I don't even actually like to wear bright colors. But I do like a fight. For the next weed or more, I'm going to ROY G BIV my shirts. Monday this week I wore red. Today, orange. Tomorrow is yellow which is harder in my shirt repetoire, but I do have a vintage batik that is mostly yellow. Thursday will be green. Friday blue (that's an easy day). Next monday Indigo (not sure how I will make that different than "blue" and "violet". I may have to wear purple twice or make violet more of a lavendar (double coded day?).
I suspect, much like the winter when I picked 5 sweaters and wore them on a loop for months, no one will notice. But I will be amused and that is what counts. Sadly...no pictures will be posted due to draconian cloud requirements.

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #6

 Forever foods instead of Forever Chemicals done so far:

1 Vinegar

2 Honey

3 Chicos 

4 Manoomin  

5 DRY Posole.

And NOW....

6 SALT

Not a source of calories but it is extremely useful.

You don't even need to keep it dry to avoid rot, though if you set it out in the rain it will disappear so...not actively wet but don't worry about humidity or a bit of damp  No temperature issues either.  Can't over heat it or freeze it too much.  If it was ground and turns into a block, you can regrind it.

It can be used to preserve other foods like meat, fish, lemons (salt preserved lemons are amazing) by packing the salt around the food in large quantities.

Salt is also excellent for fermenting foods.  You can massage or pound it into the food as with sauerkraut or kimchi, or make a bring for cucumber pickles or gingered carrots.  The salt keeps the bacteria balanced to allow lactobacilli types to dominate which ferments and actually ends up enhancing nutrients like vitamin C in the final product.  Sauerkraut can be kept over a year if properly fermented with salt.

Salt makes a diet heavy on blander storage foods more palatable to many of us.  I can now eat unsalted beans, hummus or lentil soup but a bit of salt does improve the flavor.  I don't know if that preference is part of growing up in a salt-centric food culture or a natural preference.  It doesn't really matter.  At a minimum the option to salt or not adds the potential of varied tastes/flavors to a diet based on a few available base ingredients.

Salt also changes the texture of bread.  I like the "over proofed" unsalted yeast and sourdough breads but others don't like their bread as stretchy and poofy.  It also changes the crust.  Again, I don't mind either way.

Mix salt with vinegar and you get a serious cleaning product.  I've also used salt as a scalp scrub and found it quite nice.  Course salt...not just  big old rock.  I was not rubbing my head on the salt lamp in the hippie crystal incense shop.   But now that's I've described the scenario...it sounds  hilarious so I might do that.

Another ODD product

 

EW EW EW EW EW EW EW

How is this a thing???? GROSS.

Here's the "ingredients"

There appears to be so little actual "cheese" in there that my nondairy self could eat a full can cold with a spoon and be fine...but VOMIT!

Who asked for this?  

Why is there sugar in it?

What is "cheese paste"?  I see the ingredients but why is it a paste?

What is the potassium salt doing for me?  Not keeping the sodium down which is 480/serving (1200 for me if I just eat the whole can...I give it a 9 cankle rating out of 10...salami is worse)

Is it for people who want a grilled cheese sandwich without the hassle of chewing...at all.  A grilled cheese is gummable. 

This will haunt my nightmares.

What???? Odd Product Rant

 Ok...sometimes products make me stare that them because I. DO. NOT. GET. IT!

They solve problems that don't exist.

Yesterday at the grocery store...scanning the aisles of this particular one for super cheap deals (they do that sometimes).

Once it was mirepoix at a Trader Joe's....WHY?????   Just chop an onion, carrot and some celery. The cost per lb for the prechopped was BONKERS.  

Yesterday....BAGS (like plastic single use heavy bags) for something over 6$ each.  

Bags of....  INSTANT CHIA PUDDING!   Um...what??  A 1pound bag of chia seeds costs me under 5$ and these above bags are about 2 oz of seeds and some flavorings and some odd food processed extracts and products.   There is the incredible "convenience" of putting water in the plastic bag which is designed to stand up.   And then still need to find a spoon or maybe mostly close the bag and squeeze the chia/processedstuff-sludge into my mouth.  EW!  

So...expensive, pointless and saves like NO TIME OR EFFORT.  If you need "instant" chia pudding, put chia seeds and flavors and stuff in a series of little jars (or one big jar with a scoopy thingy).  Then, when you want it, add water or whatever.   
CHIA is already INSTANT.

So, after way too long, like maybe a minute, I managed to wander off and get a good deal on some non-UPF chocolate treat that is a pain in the butt to make.  

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #5

 Forever foods instead of Forever Chemicals done so far:

1 Vinegar

2 Honey

3 Chicos 

4 Manoomin

And now.....     

5 DRY Posole.

Related to Chicos but different.  Nixtamalized hominy (field) corn redried to very very very dry.

Like REALLY dry.

They come in multi colors because...corn.   I get them direct from the people who grow and process and dry the corn.   Just got a few more pounds to get through the year.  It comes in little tightly filled zip-top bags.  I repackage into tightly closed jars.  I have never had it go bad and have stored for a couple of years with temperatures ranging from well below freezing to about 100degsF.  I know the fluctuation in temp is not ideal but it is how I live and does not seem to affect storage at least for the first 2 years.

AND they are delicious.   Pre-soak or not and boil up.   They pressure cook nicely at 3000ft elevation.  15lbs on the cooker and for however long the other stuff in the cooker needs to cook.  If it's beans, that are less than a year from picking/drying, I presoak and precook the posole a bit.  If it's delicious smoky meat, just keep it all in there for like 30min or more.  You don't have to pressure cook.  If the woodstove is going, put a pot on in it in the morning, or the evening.  You know what, put a pot on it, some liquid to cook in.  Broth, water...maybe not vodka because it will evaporate off too fast...in the pot and then add the corn.  About half the amount you want to finish with because they will swell up. Quite a bit.  You will need maybe triple the amount of liquid compared to the starting volume of posole.  That's a MINIMUM amount of liquid.  If you are also cooking other dry food like beans, dried vegetables, whatever, ADD MORE LIQUID!!!

These, like chicos, will not cook down to mush.  I've had them in soup and reheated several times.  they sort of explode but will still require chewing.  If you want mush...eat something else.

I Bet "Frugality" Gets Popular Again. Tips for Newbies to the Spend Less Be Frugal Crowd

 What with stuff costing more.    

And our 401k's crashing and burning.  Mine hasn't recovered from the nonsense in the 90s, 2000s and 2010s.  And here we are with the 2020s debacle.  You never get back the lost compound interest.   Doesn't happen.  Lose ground. that ground stays lost at the level of investment I have.  Which is the max I can afford.

Anyway, higher prices, lower benefits.   Frugality gets popular.

The thing is, frugality or thrift ....that's a long game.  Not a short term "oh crap" strategy.  Still, may as well start in the "oh crap" moment.

So ,for the newbies ,here are places to start:

1  Use it up

2  Wear it out

3  Make it do

34  Do without

Easy!

Bit more info needed

1 Use it up.   This works in every part of life.  Vehicles/transport...run whatever you are driving IN TO THE GROUND.  Repairs are almost always cheaper than a car payment.   Food...START your meal plan in the stinky crisper drawer in the fridge.  What is about to go bad?  Can you eat it as is?  DO THAT!  Can you fry it up in an egg?  DO THAT.  Can you throw it in the Freezer Soup Container (any container in the freezer for left overs and edible scraps...when it gets full, take it out to thaw, if you have an onion or some garlic, fry that in a soup pot (if not, skip it), dump in the thawing soup (or, who are we kidding...the frozen block of soup) and heat it up.  Taste it.  If it's awful add something salty/savory (salt, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, etc, or sour (lemon juice, vinegar, a can of tomatoes) or some herbs (whatever is getting old in the cupboard) and try again.  If it's bland, I go for sour or a scoop of homemade mustard.  Just use your brain and whatever you have.  Also...you won't die of bland soup.  Just eat it.   For clothes...go shopping in the closet or dresser or call a friend to borrow or swap clothes for an event.  When clothes wear out, cut them up for rags and hair bands and free gardening supplies (undies elastics make great tomato plant support ties, t-shirt sleeves are really good headbands, old undies were my gramma's go-to soft polishing clothes which was gross but effective, I make gardenting and berry picking bags out of old jeans legs with a few stitches and a grommet or sewn on tab for attachment to my belt.  Books...firestarters after you drop them in the tub and dry them out but they are wrinkly.  and on and on

2  Wear it out.   Clothes...keep wearing them.  Boring...maybe.  NO ONE CARES what you wear.  If they do, they are shallow buttheads whose opinion does not matter.  Change into chore clothes if you do office work and then come home to outside work.  Vehicles....keep driving that rattle trap. USE IT UP.  When it really really croaks or you have to trade it in on a reliable rig for some reason, strip it of usable things like extra rims and tires so you can sell them separate or trade them or give them to friends who will wear them out and maybe, or maybe not, return the favor.  I gave away a car once.  The receiver loved it but it didn't work for them, they took one set of wheels for the vehicle they do drive, sold the car to a poverty stricken mechanically talented person who meshed it with other similar vehicles and hopefully came up with 1 running car.  Glasses...my godson gets his previous pair of glasses tinted as sunglasses when he gets a new pair of regular glasses.  Wears the sunglasses until they are scratched beyond usefulness.  Kitchen gear...learn to sharpen a knife.  A good knife resharpened will last generations.

3 Make it do.   I have an event coming up where Western States Business Casual is the dress code.  So I'm darkening up my black jeans and wearing my best thrifted eddie bauer shirt with some turquoise jewelry.  Good enough.   Vehicle...I have a crap truck that will haul 1/2 ton.  I need 1 ton of pressed sawdust logs for winter heat.  I found a place that will sell me the 1 ton pallet of logs for a price and let me haul it as 2 half ton loads.  It cost me 10$ more in gas, but that's 40$ less than delivery on 1 ton, AND 50$ less than buying 2 half ton mini-pallets most years.  I make do.  And I do the math (that's a more advanced tip...DO THE MATH).  Shovels...I have 4 broken shovels (because...shovels are not prybars but I am a slow learner on that).  So now I have 4 large hand scoops and I am learning to replace handles. "make it do" also means FIX STUFF.  I bust my glasses a lot as well.  Then, I bust out the superglue.  The latest triumph...lost the lense out of a favorite pair of progressive readers mid winter.  The frame broke on a snowy dark morning as I walked to the car.  The lens could be heard skittering away on the snow.  Couldn't find it so I got out the 2nd pair (they were cheaper by the pair of I bought a pair of pairs) and got on with life.  MONTHS LATER the snow thaws.  I am off the main walkway to the car one day and spot the lens!  TADA! I pocket it.  Find it again a week or so later.  Then eventually the glasses and lens are reunited with superglue (all braced in place with rubber bands off egg cartons and broccoli bought through the winter and stashed for re-use).  I glued it before I went to work so the stank would dissipate while I was gone.  It worked.  While I was at it, I glued some other stuff.   The glue was from a 5$ craft kit so basically free as I did and enjoyed the craft (see above...use it up).  

4  Do without.  Do without until you find a good deal, can borrow/trade for an item, or ...most often...figure out you didn't need that thing anyway.   E.g.  I would LOVE a cool garden shed or storage shed.  BUT, those cost money.  Or skill.  I don't want to spend on it and I have no skill.  So, the camper I used to live in is the garden shed.   Works fine.  Cost 1100$ many years ago.  I lived in it over 2 seasons for a total of about 12 months...that's cheap rent!  Then turned it into the storage shed.   Fine.  I have a friend who drinks tea every day and does not own a teapot.  She's happy with a sauce pan and pouring the water into a cup from that.  I use a teapot (bought at thrift) but have no wish for a teaball or strainer.  I just strain the tea leaves out with my teeth when I use loose leaf.   I just don't care.  Computer...my home computer is ancient.  I "make do" with my sister's dead iphones minus the simcards.  Which is also amusing when I insist I do not have a smart phone...then clearly pull one out of my pocket to use public wifi.  As for vehicles, due to lifestyle choices I would have trouble making do without owning one, but I have friends who have gone that route.  The do fine.  And live in town.  You can rent a car if you need one or borrow them.  A friend let go of his pick up when I assured him he could borrow my old beater one anytime.  Other friends lend me their rototiller.  Another and I share rental of a log splitter rather than either of us buying one.   Main point;  do not just go buy something you think you "need".

Just try all of those before you buy crap or panic.

So, there are your starter tips.  Welcome!

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #4

 Parched Wild Rice

Manoomin.

Also unparched (raw) wild rice.   

It is super dry, easy to store (just keep it dry).   In an accidental test I checked its tolerance for extreme temperatures in storage.  This is because I live off grid and don't heat the place when I'm not home.  So, some stored wild rice in a tightly closed mason-type jar went through a few freeze thaw cycles down to well below zero (fahrenheit) and above 100degs (also fahrenheit!) multiple times.   Then, I found the jar and cooked it up.  Still fantastic.

The parched style costs more, but is also quicker to cook, easier to bust up into a flour type product without fancy grainmill, just a little mortar and pestle or a couple of rocks or a cloth bag and a hammer (put the rice in the bag, use the hammer on it....don't try to bust rice with a cloth bag alone).  

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #3

 Chicos

These are SUPER DRY slightly smoky corn kernels from the SW of the US.  

Because they are BONE DRY and a bit shriveled and kind of pre-cooked, once I put them in a jar, they store virtually forever.

"Virtually" partly because I will never be able to test truly long term storage.  They are DELICIOUS so I end up eating them in a matter of months.   

Still, rumor and lots of actual knowledge attests that they are still good after years of dry storage.

To cook: presoak (or not if I forgot to do that and I want to eat).  Cook in water, broth, in soup you already have going.  They need MOISTURE because, as noted above, VERY DRY.   They puff up to about 3x the dry size and add a smoky flavor to whatever they are cooked with or thrown on top of.

Quite chewy and I've never had them go mushy or decompensate even after days in leftover soup or simmered for hours. 

LEONARD PELTIER IS FREE!!!!!

 https://youtu.be/4bVeoNfsYGw?si=nYaTlZ7BaDkqeVhh

I cannot believe this!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/leonard-peltier-prison-release

It's Getting Better

 OK, you get real humble real fast with a back issue.

I haven't been able to lift or workout much/at-all which annoys me (I am a late bloomer as far as gym rats but I hate losing strength it took me a decade to build up). but I have been doing really light no-impact hiit workouts for the elderly and yoga daily.  And taking some aspirin.  

The aspirin works since I rarely take ANYTHING for pain.  It's not eliminating the pain, which would probably result in me overdoing things and re-injuring my back.  Aspirin takes the edge off so I can get around without cussing every time I move.

Yesterday I put my pants on without strategizing first!  And got out of the car without pushing the seat all the way back and pivoting on my butt as a solid unit.  Just stuck my leg out of the door and got up!  A MIRACLE!  Or, patience and letting things heal.

I am planning on hitting the gym for a very short, light session today mid-day.  I usually like to be  there in the wee hours of the morning when no one can see me, but for the moment, it's too cold out to drive that early...correction, too cold out to get stuck behind a wreck that early....and I want to be able to flag down a passerby or call the gym manager if I re-hurt myself and end up stuck on the floor.  It's a gym where one is usually ALONE (awesome!)

I think the back is ready for some controlled lifting of very very light weights. I could do a back bend this morning during my yoga session and that was impossible for the first week.  

things that went well during the injury:

having the 8lb NIEL logs to burn rather than having to split wood or pick up wood chunks of unknown weight.  

having enough water on hand  (have to haul it up hill during the winter for drinking purposes as the well water gets stale and gross.  And I'd have to lift the handle on the outdoor spigot which was not going to happen) to get through the first few days without hauling.

having multiple boot/show options as not all were possible to to put on.   

having enough clean clothes to make it though just one more week before hitting the laundry (more hauling and toting.  I COULD have made it work with multiple trips up and down the hill but ugh.  Those extra sox and undies meant I did not have to worry about it

having a floor-sleeping option.  Getting in and out of the loft when I had to be on hands and knees to get out of bed...there is only 6" of space beyond the camping mattress in the loft to work with.  That's FINE when I'm FINE, but not if I needed a level hard surface big enough to let me maneuver through various contortions to get on hands and knees to get out of bed.  So, camping mattress to the floor, chair blocking the door (not ideal but it's not like I could get up and run out if the place burst into flames anyway).   

having completely indoor toileting options.   People kept telling me "just pee outside!" uh...right.... 1+ times in the middle of the night every night you want me to come down from the loft, put something on my feet, find the headlamp, mosey OUTSIDE (down the stoop), find somewhere not visible on a moonlit night (and all day every day I'm home) from the highway, squat down, not pee on my ankles and then reverse those steps back into bed?  NO.  Also staying ahead of the toilet situation so i had a day or two to sort my back out before hauling the compost (which one hauls before it gets too heavy) bucket to the processing location OUTSIDE far from the homesite.

having enough food on hand.  Duh.

having first aid supplies on hand including aspirin and pain rub (arnica hippy dippy stuff)

Things that were not crashing successes...

losing my stability poles (ski poles from thrift) so I stopped at a thrift store ASAP and got another pair.  

having a leaky hot water bottle and no instant handwarmers!   so I didn't have an easy option to put heat on my back.  Still working on fixing this one.

falling down in the first place but...I fall often so this probably isn't going to change.  

OW!!!! I FELL!

 Hard.  I was walking from the wee shed to the car this morning so I could go in and get a shower at the gym before work.

I had my lunch (in jars) in a bag with an empty gallon jug to fill with water at work (unfrozen water...) to cook with tonight.  And a backpack with clean clothes to put in my gym bag which lives in the car.

I'm following some animal's tracks, trying to figure out what it is and generally just walking to the car.

THEN at the bottom of the hill like 6 feet from the car and also right next to the car, the animal tracks are all smeary like it was slipping and sliding.

THEN I'm on the ground, on my back, with a jar of lunch jammed between me and the icy path, apparently, my hat and head lamp (it was still dark out) are somewhere, my glasses, which had been in my hand are somewhere else.  The jar of lunch under my back REALLY HURT.  IT was just outside a kidney location and FORTUNATELY DID NOT BREAK.  Because, that could have been really bad.  I was wearing a pretty thick coat.  I have not idea why the jar didn't break.  I hit hard.  And there isn't much meat there.

My back is wonked on the left side now.  It took a couple of minutes to find my stuff, and get up.  And old-lady flatfoot shuffle to the car.  VERY CAREFULLY and PAINFULLY.   Once my butt was in the seat, it was better . As long as I didn't move at all.  which is awkward when you need to steer and brake, etc.

I took a 30min hot shower with the massager right on my owie mid-low-back.   I didn't see a bruise.  

The shower helped.  Getting sox on with half a stuck back was an adventure.  Compression sox.  I had to sit down  Usually don't have to.

Once at the office I walked VERY CAREFULLY across some slick sh*t into the office and got my chair reset to the most supportive option.  And cranked my belt down like it is a weight belt.  If I jam my fist into the sore spot on my back, I can walk a bit more.

FORTNATELY I had forgotten some arnica salve from a previous Santa Fe trip at the office.  That is good for strained muscles and bruises so that's on there.  I may rig up a heating pad of some sort later.  Not sure how.  I have a date with a hot water bottle once I get home.  

This was my first fall of the winter and it was full on Bugs Bunny.  I wasn't even facing the way I was walking by the time I hit the pavement.  It's like I jumped up and body slammed myself.

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #2

 So....obviously....Honey.

I mean, they find it in tombs and it's still good.

I do keep this on hand.  I doesn't matter if it crystalizes.  Leave it.  It doesn't have huge amounts of vitamins and minerals, but some.  

It's also good for cuts and other owies so more than food!

Actually, that is true of vinegar as well.  Good for what ails you.

If you have bee hives, the raw honey with the leg bits in it is fine.  You won't die of dead bee bits.

The wax is nice to chew, make candles, whatever.  And nice for making salves. 

I cook quite a bit with honey which is different than with sugar, bit more fragile and baked goods are better on the 2nd or 3rd day as they sort of get moister.  But I am rarely able to leave a baked good untouched for that long.

I don't do industrial store bought honey anymore.   Much of it is adulterated.  Local honey costs more but supports local agriculture  The giant bee operations that migrate hundreds or thousands of hives tend to annihilate local native pollinators so I'm trying to get honey from folks who have 5 or fewer hives.   At that level hives can actually support native pollinators. Nothing is perfect so I don't eat as much.   The cost of local small producer honey serves as a good road to overconsumption.

Forever Food Pantry list so far:

Vinegar

Honey

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals

 I hear and report on "forever chemicals" quite a bit and am trying to find less negative things to think about or at least OTHER things to think about.

Also, this year I am tracking my UPF (ultra-processed foods) intake for the year.   Being conscious of it makes me a bit more aware of my food.  I still eat some UPF.  The point isn't to avoid it more than usual but to see what I'm actually eating.

ANYWAY, UPF has forever-chemicals (let's shorten that to fc's) in it and is one of the vectors of exposure for humans (rumor has it I am one of those).  So, lots of thinking about that.

And of course, I like to cook and am thinking about shelf stable foods, food preservation, and generally things I can in the future produce, store, find, grow, whatever that doesn't include forever chemicals.

Hence...forever foods stored in things that aren't  plastic.

Vinegar...I buy LOTS of it and often in gallon plastic jugs (heh heh....jugs).  Acid liquids in plastic take on fc's.  Especially from soft/flexible plastics according to some research I've been reading at various nerd links to scientific journals.  The vinegar in glass is freaking expensive.  And I do brew my own, or have in the past.  Especially when I'm trying to brew kombucha and then it goes to far and is vinegar.  Cool.

Vinegar, once fully brewed is shelf stable until it basically evaporates away.  It is a forever food (ff....?).

Pineapples were CHEAP at a discount grocery store.  1$ for an entire pineapple.  So, I got 2.  Which is a boatload of pineapple for one person with no space.   I cut one up and ate part last night, rest with breakfast.  I kept the scraps from cleaning it like the skin and core nubbins.  Those are in a jar now (glass...not plastic) with some non-chlorine water and vinegar mother from the jar of vinegar I brewed in the office pantry cupboard from some sparkling apple juice no one was drinking.  It ended up filling a quart jar and over the past few months it has pretty well filled the jar with layers of vinegar mother.

So, pineapple scraps, non-chlorine water, scraps from fresh ginger I was cutting up for other stuff, bit of vinegar from the jar with the mothers in it.  And a chunk of mother.  Yes, I am doing this at the office.  The temperature at home fluctuates too much to ferment very well.

Once this ferments fully, it should be shelf stable.  I like shelf stable.

It cost me 1$ for the pineapple.  The water is from the well so whatever the cost of that was (maybe 20000ish) split across every time I use water.  I know I am more than 20k gallons in to the use of the well for 10 years...per gallon....um,. 50cents?

The jar was 1$ about 100 uses ago so 1cent?

This is the "waste" from the pineapple (which I would normally have composted and will in fact compost after this and I mainly bought it as food so....15cents in lost nutrients to the compost though fermenting actually ADDS nutrients so I'm going to call it a wash and say 0cents for the pineapple scraps).

The start from the other vinegar and mother is from free juice (it was at work and was about to go off and get thrown out), another used jar and the mother grew from the dregs of kombucha I'd had for a while so...10cents?   

And of course, this new vinegar will start more vinegar if it works and recoup some of the "cost".

If it fails and I throw it, but of course not the jar out, it might be costing me 76cents. 

Given that I will get a pint of live vinegar from this if I don't add sugar and it works, and given that live apple cider vinegar (the closest parallel I think in retail because it is in glass and "live") is going at the lowest at $4.99 a quart.  That's $2.495 per pint minus .76.   I am saving $1.735 over having bought it and had a bottle I don't need and would need to recycle.    Nice.  Frugal.

More on forever foods to follow.