Welcome to today's Friday Frugal post where I am going to share with you what frugal tips I have implemented this week or different things I have done to save money or waste less.
I hope you have all had a great week. It is definitely challenging times for many people around the world right now and I think it is important that we learn to tighten the purse strings and learn to make do with less, do things a bit more frugally, buy less and teach ourselves how to be contented with what we have.
Preparedness
I think it is very important as food prices are rising around the world and shortages are happening in many places, that you start to take stock of what you have so you can be self-sufficient in some way.
1. Do you have space to grow vegetables? Even if you live in a town house or apartment you can still grow something. If you have a balcony, you can grow vegetables in containers. A sunny windowsill can grow micro greens and sprouts, peppers and cherry tomatoes.
2. Are you able to plant a fruit tree or grow berry bushes?
3. Can you have backyard chickens to have your own fresh eggs, a great source of protein?
4. Do you know how to preserve and can food?
If you are not able to do some of these things for what ever reason, hopefully you are able to still put back some food in an emergency pantry. I have always kept extra food because that is how I was raised and here in New Zealand there is always the thought of a large earthquake so I have always been diligent in having extra supplies but I have certainly increased that over the last couple of years.
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| Pumpkins and Squash that I recently harvested from our garden. They grew completely from our home compost as we spread it around the garden. Definitely a blessing! |
So what is the best food to store up on if you are new to this?
Dried beans, chickpeas and lentils, canned is good too, rice, oats, canned vegetables and fruits, canned meat/fish/chicken, spices & salt, milk powder, shelf stable milk/plant based milk options, canned soups, oil, flour, baking powder & yeast.
They are good ingredients/foods to start with and then you can fill the gaps. Peanut butter is great too if you like it and /or able to eat it.
Even though you have to pay extra to stock up on food, I think it is very important to get what you can now before prices increase even further and the possibility of what you need or want is not even available. To be more frugal about it, buy cheaper brands if possible. You don't need to stock your emergency supplies with expensive brands. Anything is better than nothing.
Are you questioning, is this hoarding? No it is not. For centuries people have always put away for the coming seasons, especially over winter. For many years people have canned and preserved their food to live on over the coming months before the next growing season and so this in my opinion is just a modern version of the same thing. Modern society has become accustomed to daily trips to the supermarket or markets and the mindset of our supply of food will always be there. But history has shown that it will not always be like that and if we look at what is going on around the world, I think it is time to be diligent and prepared to take care of ourselves and our families. We cannot rely on other people to feed us.
If you go out slowly, once or twice a week while getting your groceries and other supplies, pick up extra and put it away. I'm not talking about 20 packets of toilet paper or 50 cans of soup in one go. More like, 1 packet of extra toilet paper, 5-10 cans of a variety of foods so you are selecting from across the store, an extra bag of rice or oats. Maybe the next trip buy beans and lentils, different canned food and peanut butter. These are just ideas to get you going.
I hope you will be encouraged by this. Don't forget vegetable seeds and a trip to the garden store.
Better to be prepared and not need it than have nothing and wish you had put away. In the end, it will get eaten anyway as you rotate food around.
Frugal Friday
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