Toward Ecosophy

Thanks for the link! At a nearby estate sale I scored a nice electric table-top sewing machine, pristine, from the 1950s or 60s (so, metal parts, rather than plastic) - for $10. It was the last day, the price had been 100 then 60. I left, but went back after thinking about it, figuring I'd see if they'd take 50. Another lady was considering it as I came panting up... and the seller said, "How about $10?" and the lady said "nah." Home it came with me :)

From: (Anonymous)

Great find! I've done the same. I was gifted a nice singer in the '80s and when getting it serviced years later the guy told me to never give it up because "they just don't make them like this anymore". You can even turn them into manual once the power grid becomes less reliable. I've seen old paddle sewing machines turned into spinning wheels as well. There's so much cool retro tech out there if you look for it! Enjoy!

From:

slclaire

My husband found a wooden clarinet, a decent high school or early college level instrument, at a yard sale in the neighborhood. He told me about it because I was looking for one, having sold my plastic clarinet from junior high years before then. The sale was two days long. I went on the second day. The clarinet, priced $50, hadn't been sold. I offered $25 for it and got it.

From:

artsmith

The wonderbag is a fabric version of a haybox cooker. If you are watching your gas or electric consumption or don't have access to either you can use this insulated bag as a low tech slow cooker.
The Instructables website has a step by step guide to make this simple sewing project.

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Wonder-Box-CookerCooler/

As with a slow cooker, browning your meat and frying off your veggies first will make for a more flavoursome, less watery meal. Get your dish up to a boil and put your casserole pot on a trivet to keep the bottom from scorching the fabric. Close up the wonder bag tightly and leave to cook for 4 to 5 hours.

From:

claire_58

I have one of these and I second the recommendation.
They are great for cooking ahead if you have a large meal planned and great for bringing hot food to potlucks. I don't have a rice cooker so I just bring the rice to a boil and put it in the bag. Stays hot for a very long time. Great for making yogurt too.

From: (Anonymous)

Can you sew one of these by hand? I’ve never been able to master the sewing machine. [blush]

—Princess Cutekitten

From:

claire_58

You don't even need to sew anything. Look for a sleeping bag at the thrift store and use it to wrap up your pot. Just make sure to put a towel around your the pot so the heat doesn't melt the bag.

From: (Anonymous)

I have one for making yogurt, very useful stuff. Over here (Portugal) we make them out of shredded cork, which is excellent, but probably much harder to find!

From: (Anonymous)

It’s a great idea but no need to be that complicated. I use a cube box (12x12x12) from uhaul and a couple of old blankets.

From:

kylec

Save money on gym memberships and hip replacements by working out smarter at home.

I worked for years as a CSCS at a big university, and I can assure you that you don’t need all that junk in the gym. Much of it is poorly-designed and encourages or forces you to move in sloppy patterns, anyway.

The main barrier is knowledge. In fitness, everyone’s an expert, or so they think. There are tons of free resources, but many of them are harmful and you have to be an expert to spot who the experts are among the well-meaning novices.

One of the most valuable resources I’ve come across is the Postural Restoration Institute, which has opened a lot of eyes in the physical therapy and strength community to some problematic and ubiquitous human patterns that lead to joint replacements, poor breathing, and a host of other issues. These are biomechanical patterns that can be fixed with practice. The PRI folks identified them and came up with the exercise protools for alleviating and preventing them.

I won’t go into too much detail because it really dives deep into anatomy, but suffice to say that if you catch them early enough, most hip and knee replacements DO NOT need to happen. Most back/neck issues are completely fixable. Your sleep apnea can be addressed by changing your pelvis/spine/rib relationship. The list goes on. Doctors prefer to medicate and sell you surgeries and equipment, but it’s cheaper just to move your body in the ways it’s meant to move.

On youtube, I recommend Conor Harris https://www.youtube.com/@conorharris and Neal Hallinan https://www.youtube.com/@NealHallinan. The former has more exercises and sells a cheap program I can endorse for complete beginners, but both have great info.

While he isn’t PRI, I also like Ben Patrick https://www.youtube.com/@TheKneesovertoesguy. His program costs money, but it’s easy to search around and find the movements he uses and the progressions/regressions. I do modify his stuff to use PRI principles, since out of the box he is a little heavy into anterior pelvic tilt for my tastes. But his big thing is gently, patiently training connective tissues through full range of motion, what some would consider “dangerous” positions, to build resilience and injury-proof the body. He’s rehabbed a lot of people, including himself, to pretty impressive levels.

Mark Wildman is fantastic at club/mace and kettlebell, functional strength. https://www.youtube.com/@MarkWildman . For light clubs, https://www.youtube.com/@HeroicSport

The gamechanger in the strength world to me has been a shift away from isolated muscles toward integrated patterns and connective tissues.

Next week I will go over equipment I recommend having at home, depending on your goals, space, and budget.

From:

weilong

All of that sounds great. I can attest that exercising at home is a great way to do it. I got a book about body-weight exercises called You Are Your Own Gym. Between a chinup bar and an interval timer, I think I have invested about $50 in exercise equipment, and I exercise at home. No travel, any time I feel like it, and completely free. I can even do it in hotel rooms if I am traveling. As you mention, there are also advantages over using the machines, like having a more natural range of motion.

From: (Anonymous)

I understand that this may have too much ick factor for some people but I have been doing this for years now with zero blowback from other people.

It's been over 5 years now that I haven't shampooed my long blonde hair. Since we've been abusing our locks since birth (stripping off our natural protective oils) it takes a long time (about a year) for nature to reclaim the territory but when it does, wow. Just use plain water and from time to time a soak with apple cider vinegar to exfoliate the scalp. A nice brush with stiff bristles is also de rigeur.

When we left the city, our new house in the country had a bidet in the bathroom. What a revelation. Being able to wash what is most necessary, daily showering isn't a pressing issue. One saves water, heating that water, and laundering towels etc. Also the chemicals in the soap or shampoo aren't introduced into ones body.

Another point I'd like to make is about cultivating a microbiome, not just in the gut, but on the surface of ones largest organ; the skin. Like any fully occupied area it cannot be invaded easily by the bad guys who don't want to live harmoniously with your body.

From:

I can vouch for the no-shampoo method.
I have long, thick brown hair and have not used shampoo for over two years (with the same protocol of water rinses, brushing, and occasional apple cider vinegar.) I get comments multiple times weekly on how nice or healthy my hair looks, and I always have to dither if someone asks how I do it... ;)

From: (Anonymous)

Can you detail how you do the "soak with apple cider vinegar to exfoliate the scalp"? I use a very gentle shampoo bar once a week, and have to condition after, and I still get itchy, scaly scalp from time to time. I'd be very interested in how to go further to restore my hair to not needing shampoo at all, but it is *so oily* that if I don't wash it at least once a week I can give myself a near permanent mohawk from natural oils alone.

What's the transition process from this to shiny no-poo joy?

From:

Time. For me, I did no-poo for a while and then (couple years ago) used shampoo after a particularly dirty job; took weeks to get back to balanced state of oils. My technique was to start with a daily rinse with vigorous towel drying (nearly wiping off the hair,) and then every three days or so, I'd "wash"with diluted apple cider vinegar (quarter mason jar with water added then pour over hair and vigorously scrub scalp with fingers.) Then I crank that back to a rinse and towel every 2-3 days, and acv wash. When it stabilizes after a month or two, I can rinse and towel every 4-6 days and acv rinse every 7-10. This is when I'm working indoors, obviously those increase when I'm sweating or doing dirty work.

From:

methylethyl

I second that question. I have the opposite problem-- where oil is concerned, I only need to wash my hair about once a week, but to avoid scalp issues, it ends up being twice. Doesn't actually matter what it looks like-- nobody sees it outside my house-- but itchy scalp is not OK. So if there's a solution-- do tell!

From: (Anonymous)

OP here. The ACV actually controls the itching, as well as a good rough brushing. When I said that it takes a while to revert to normal I was referring to that "oily" condition. Soaps are alkaline and strip the natural protective oils from the hair and scalp, thus the body goes into overdrive.

Conditioners are basically silicon ('cause it's cheap) which messes up a lot of stuff. I would recommend a couple of drops of a vegetable oil on wet towel dried hair. Caster bean oil is amazing stuff, thick, and slippery it absorbs totally. I've read that in parts of Africa it is used to promote hair growth. I have straight(ish) hair so by now I don't need the oil.

From: (Anonymous)

So... we are talking about scrubbing vinegar, or dilute vinegar, into the scalp? How often? Do you rinse it out after or let it sit? What concentration? And then afterward a vigorous brushing? Is that while the hair is wet or after it dries?

From:

jbucks

Thanks for this tip! I will try it.

I mentioned the idea to my wife, she's already using much less shampoo but she finds she needs to use conditioner, otherwise her hair is too tangled to brush. Does this eventually become easier as your hair gets more healthy?

Also, hairdressers will want to wash your hair and use shampoo. If you use a hairdresser, do you just avoid the wash?

From:

methylethyl

A lot depends on the texture of your hair-- I don't have curly hair, so anything I say here may not apply to people who do.

I haven't used conditioner in years. There are two reasons people need conditioner, and both are avoidable. So.

1) Damage: Lots of things cause it: chemical treatments, blowdrying with hot air, ripping brushes through your hair, using pinchy hair ornaments that catch, wearing your long hair down and then rubbing it against office chairs and car seat-backs, walking around in wind and letting it get tangled... so if you've already got a lot of damage, you're either stuck with conditioner for now, until the damaged part grows out, or you can cut it all off and try to take better care of it while it grows out. That means no dyeing, no curling or straightening irons, no perms, throw out your hair dryer, get a seamless comb and be more gentle while detangling, don't comb it while it's wet and weak, brushes are only for smoothing and styling, not for detangling! wear your hair up if it's long, stop using the dang alligator clips, and in general, just try to protect it from mechanical damage-- keep it out of car doors and stuff. Avoiding damage is the #1 thing you can do to make your hair look nicer and detangle more easily. Conditioner is a stopgap measure for damaged hair.

2) pH: all soaps and shampoos are alkaline. If you look at hair through a microscope, it's got a bunch of scale-like things going down each strand. Alkalinity makes them floof out. If they stay floofed, hairs catch on each other, like velcro. So after you do anything alkaline to your hair-- soap, shampoo, pool water, or even your city's overchlorinated tapwater-- it's good to use a diluted acid rinse on it. This makes the scaly bits lie flat again, so the strands are smooth. I use a 1 to 4ish solution of vinegar to water, in a squeezy ketchup bottle in the shower. If the smell of vinegar turns you off, you can also get vitamin C powder to add to the water in the squeezy bottle-- it'll do the same thing without the salad dressing smell.

From:

kayr

I might add another couple of tips to the prevent mechanical damage area. One I have experienced is to keep your hair completely covered under a dew rag or kerchief. I use to do this when I was camping and didn't have access to a shower to wash my hair and I was impressed by just how clean it kept your hair and free from damage.

The second one I have seen done, but I have never tried. I spoke to a woman who had her very long (all the way to the floor) hair bound up in a cloth wrapper why she did that. She explained that it protected her fine hair from damage. She put her hair in a pony tail at the nape of her neck then wrapped the pony tail in a piece of cloth and string. She would drape the whole thing around her neck and shoulders to keep it out of the way. I have never seen any one with hair that long. She was easily 5'7" or 5'8" and her hair touched the floor.

From:

methylethyl

Yes-- I tie up my hair in a Navajo-style bun (I'm psyched that I've learned to put my hair up securely with just a string-- I may be able to stop buying elastics!) and cover with a bandana whenever I leave the house, and have done so for years now. In middle age, with a touch of gray, it looks nicer than it ever did when I was young and treated it badly. I know for some people it's like "what's the point if nobody even sees it?" but then... I don't do it for *other people* and I'm pleased enough ;)

From:

walt_f

Besides soaps and shampoo, another factor to consider for skin and hair is hot water. I've had great results from using cold water for all bathing, year round, for close to four years now. I'll post a more thorough assessment on a future Frugal Friday (because after all it does save some money too), but in the present context the benefits for "sensitive" skin (as if reacting badly to experiencing a higher temperature than is usually encountered in nature amounts to undue sensitivity) and better hair texture are worth noting.

From: (Anonymous)

The key word here is "Thick hair." When your hair is thin and fine like mine, your scalp gets itchy, and only washing your hair will help that.

Patricia Mathews

From: (Anonymous)

Hi. I recently colored my hair. Would I be able to do the water rinse too?

From: (Anonymous)

I posted this late in last week's thread without realizing that today is Frugal Friday and time for a new show.

Readers may find the following video interesting, where Chinese people are sharing how they save money after their youth unemployment has gone sky-high. It appears like "collapse now and avoid the crash" mentality has gone viral in China with their own slang term - "lying flat" (tang ping)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGpucmzKITY

From:

dr_coyote

Two ingredients:
(1) 90 weight grease — really more of a thick oil. Outboard motor “foot grease” is best because it has anti-corrosion additives, but any 90 wt. gear grease will do.
(2) Any one of those “miraculously restore your engine” motor oils. It’ll fill micro-cracks in your chain’s bearing surfaces. Shake before pouring to get any settled goodies off the bottom.

Mix 50/50 in small batches. I mix and use mine in an old chain lube bottle (original lube long gone). Anything similar that allows a small dribble of lube will work.

To apply, if your bike has a freewheel system, lean it against something so that you can spin the pedals backwards with one hand while working with the other. Lay old newspaper up against the back wheel and on the floor to protect from chain spray. Spin the chain backwards and dust it off with an old toothbrush. Dig the grime out from between the cogs with a scrap of plastic. Pedaling backwards some more, dribble lube on the entire chain. Let it sit a few minutes to soak in, then wipe everything you can off. Old terry towel scraps work well.

If your bike doesn’t have a freewheel system, you may have to flip it over and improvise, or put it on a bike stand, or figure something else, then pedal it forward.

After the first ride with a new coat of lube, wipe it down again to get whatever has squeezed out off the outside of the chain. A clean, wiped-off chain now lasts maybe 400 miles on-road and about 50 miles off-road in dry weather, somewhat less in wet, before it needs lubing again. Listen to your chain, it’ll tell you when it needs lube.

Looking up the cost of ingredients, this comes out to $2 per 4 oz. bottle, vs. $10 - $12 for similar pre-packaged lube. Admittedly, this comes to $32 for a half-gallon in one whack, but the ingredients last and you’ll have plenty to share over the next few years.

From: (Anonymous)

By using a series of valves air can be removed from glass jars, specifically mason jars in most cases. This extends the life and quality of many food items reducing waste. I use this daily to maintain the freshness of home roasted coffee. By removing oxygen (and moisture) it slows the breakdown of the oils in the coffee. Similarly when I open a larger bag of dried fruit, herbs, seeds, or nuts they can be placed in a glass jar(s) to be used over the next couple of weeks or months.

This emphatically does not replace canning or refrigeration BUT in a humid environment like Virginia it is extremely helpful and I believe worth the extra tools in the house.

I have a manual setup that uses this attachment from FoodSaver (https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-FCARWJAH-000-Wide-Mouth-Regular-Accessory/dp/B016OL1AB6?th=1) along with a manual 'break bleeder'. I tried a more expensive version hoping that I will be able to repair as needed along with being more ergonomic and built to last. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004IQM460/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1). It has worked well but not sure it is worth the extra price yet. There are many more reasonably priced versions or can be picked up locally from auto/tool shop.

I don't remember where I ran across this originally but the internet also has several detailed blog posts about this kind of setup. An example below.
https://foodprepguide.com/how-to-vacuum-seal-a-mason-jar/

Bill in VA

From: (Anonymous)

We do this as well. It is great for dry food like dried kale chips, sun-dried tomatoes, beans, etc.

Here is a post we did on it with pictures.

https://www.brunettegardens.com/p/kale-chips-and-the-brake-bleeder

From:

When budgeting early in my marriage, we trimmed and reduced and still overspent. Something was amiss... I finally realized that because we valued food so much, treating it as medicine as well as nourishment, it had become sacrosanct - other than eating out or "treats" I didn't even track it in the budget and everywhere we saved ended up being redistributed into food.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but a large organic honeycrisp apple a day for two people also ended up amounting to $120 or more a month. So, when we purposefully looked for what we weren't looking at, we found clear (if not easy) solutions.

This has held at later points in life. We cloth diapered but spent tons on toilet paper which seems like a "necessity." Then we found the concept of family cloth and other ways of cleaning that can be just as sanitary with much less expense and much less waste.

These solutions might not work everyone, but I believe everyone can benefit from a purposeful review of the constants in their life, and what they consider necessary.

From:

jprussell

I'd add that sometimes "what you won't look at" might come from childhood patterns. When I was a kid, my parents were careful not to spoil me with toys and games and such, but since they were readers and wanted me to be a reader, anytime I wanted a book, I got one. I was well into adulthood, paying my own way, before I realized that I didn't "count" book spending - I had to worry about eating out and buying games or other leisure-related gear, but not books. It's been hard to accept that the money spent on books is the same as all the other money, but likely helpful :)

Cheers,
Jeff

From:

That's a great point! and a humorous (and too-close-to-home) anecdote. :)

From: (Anonymous)

Hah! Yes, that is absolutely our household. Books? What? You mean you have to budget those?

It helps to keep a list, and delay purchases-- a book waiting period. "I really want this book!" becomes "I'll put this book on the list!" and then, I take my list, compare it to the library catalog, and figure out what I can read for free. Then whatever's left on the list can sit and marinate for a while. Often, after a couple months, I'll read reviews that change my mind, or it just doesn't seem that urgent anymore, or I found it on archive.org, read part of it, and decided it wasn't what I wanted anyway. This cuts down on regrettable acquisitions.

From: (Anonymous)

If you own a car and you like to work on it yourself, find a local repair shop that will cooperate. Case in point: my car went in for state inspection and the shop told me I needed brake pads and control arms. I said, "Sure! I'll take the car home and get it back to you ASAP." Since we know each other, I could sign a piece of paper that basically says they think it's not fit to drive but I'm taking it anyway, take the car home, do the repairs, take it back and save $800. They also know that anything REALLY big is going to be done by them - I know my limits! (They put a new clutch and transmission in that car last year.)

From: (Anonymous)

The hard work is diagnosis anyway. Replacing parts, not so much. Sometimes special tools become required. That's also true with bicycles.

From: (Anonymous)

Stop using mobile data and move to a talk/text only plan. These can be had for $10-$20/line - compared to $50-$60 dollars per line for a plan with data.

For those of you who aren't ready to do that, read on...

The big three carriers (TMO, VZW, ATT) charge a lot of money for their products. Many of the smaller companies that resell coverage on the big three networks (MVNOs) like Tello or Mint offer much cheaper plans but they suffer from de-prioritization: their users' data traffic is set to a lower priority than the postpaid subscribers on the parent network so it ends up being slow.
There are currently only two MVNOs that offer full priority data relative to their parent networks: US Mobile Warp 5G, and Google Fi.
Google Fi runs on the T-Mobile network, now that Sprint is a part of T-Mobile and US Cellular has backed out of their agreement with Google Fi.
US Mobile Warp 5G runs on the Verizon network. They also offer another option called 5G GSM that runs on T-Mobile but that one is de-prioritized. They have a tool on their website to see if your phone is compatible with their Warp 5G (Verizon) network.
Both services offer cheaper alternatives to the big three with no tradeoff in data priority. Of course that could always change. Here is a link to a Reddit post that keeps track of what is de-prioritized and what is not: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/oaophe/data_prioritization_policies_of_the_carriers_and/

From:

jprussell

This one may be a bit niche, but I've been almost entirely successful in moving my online book ordering away from the big, slimy river and to bookshop.org and alibris.com. One of the bad habits the 300-pound gorilla of online retail taught me was to not think about shipping costs or pay much attention to what seller a book was coming from, so long as it was Prime. Another habit was to not really look for sales or coupons.

After a couple of orders from alibris, I realized it was worthwhile to ditch those bad habits. So two parts to this tip:

1) If you subscribe to their email list, alibris sends out links to coupons every other day. They advertise the maximum amount you can save, which requires a minimum purchase, and the maximum amount varies between $10 and $25 that I've seen. If I have a book I want to order, but no particular rush, I generally wait until one of the bigger coupons comes out and then add in a few others from my wishlist to hit the minimum. I also sometimes check out what the actual percent savings is, and generally speaking, the higher value ones are a larger percentage of the minimum required purchase, so they are actually better deals, unless you go way over the largest minimum purchase.

2) Since alibris is primarily a used bookstore aggregator, most books come from different sellers. If you're ordering multiple books, it's often useful to look for finding as many as you can from the same seller, as they'll charge you far less for shipping a slightly larger package than two or three different sellers will charge you for two or three packages. Some books come directly from alibris (mostly new or books that were remaindered, meaning there's a larger inventory of them), and these are eligible for free shipping if you buy above $39.00 total (after coupon). It can be a bit finnicky to work out whether it's better to get a cheaper book from another seller, or pay a bit more to get it from a seller who has another book you're ordering, but it can save a fair amount of money if you play around with it (money better spent on books than on shipping!). Half-Price Books (HPB) has a big presence and several locations with large, varied inventories, so they're often good to check as potentially carrying two or more of the books you're looking for.

Happy reading, and my blessings to any who welcome them,
Jeff

From: (Anonymous)

AbeBooks is another good one for used books.

- Cicada Grove

From: (Anonymous)

I believe they are owned by the big slimy river.

From:

arth_cerdded

I would also add betterworldbooks.com to this list. Shipping takes a bit of time, but I found a number of hard to find used books here for such a good deal that with shipping it was far cheaper than anywhere else. YMMV. They also donate a book for every purchase, if that's something that appeals to you.

Bibliophilia is a blessing and a curse...

Regards,
Bert

From:

bookfinder.com will pull up multiple platforms' (used or new) books so you can find the cheapest.

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG and Fellow Readers,

I am a career asthmatic, having had severe infantile asthma that didn't go away. I have been working with a Naturopathic physician to get off my pharmaceutical drugs. Mostly, he treats me with diet, as in , "Stop eating food you know you are allergic to!" By following his advice, I have been able to reduce my consumption of pharmaceuticals by over 75%.

I have also spent the last five years or so experimenting with making my own health products such as sting stop, antihistamine cream (plantain and chickweed!), antispasmodic preparations from Pacific gum weed, antiseptic and astringent ointment, eye washes (chickweed again), anti-viral potions for cold sores (yarrow and other things) elderberry syrups for colds, and nerve pain creams from Saint John's wort. All of my products work better than their industrial counterparts and are very inexpensive to produce. My friends and family love them.

I started with Rosemary Gladstar's book, Medicinal Herbs, a Beginners Guide. That is still the text I use the most. I have a garden of medicinal herbs and it is widely used by my herbalist friends, for free of course. Making potions is fun and simple and I get great results. We also save a great deal of money.

I love this new Frugal Friday club.
Maxine

From:

methylethyl

I've written up a post on my page, summarizing our experience and reading on the subject of reducing maintenance needs, and prolonging the life of your septic system, here:

https://methylethyl.dreamwidth.org/31430.html

It's important to maintain your septic system in good working order, and some maintenance is essential! But if you are careful, and treat it gently, there's a lot you can do to keep it working well, and extend the time between necessary (and expensive) maintenance calls.

From:

jbucks

Thank you for this, I have bookmarked it. We're already doing some of what you suggested but there's always room to improve.

From: (Anonymous)

The brand name dry cereal was over $5.50; the store brand was ~$3.00. I got more cereal in the store brand box, enough more that I had to empty my nut jar into a zipper baggie and fill it with dry cereal overflow. The taste was pretty much the same.

Patricia Mathews

From: (Anonymous)

I think the cheapest breakfast cereal is oatmeal in bulk packaging. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know.

From: (Anonymous)

Bulk oatmeal is great - I prefer the steel cut stuff, soaked overnight before cooking - but it doesn’t “stick” without some fat, and the latter costs considerably more. Then again no meal really sticks without some fat and protein in my experience, so maybe it is a moot point.

From:

methylethyl

Yeah, we are a big fan of oats for our cereal breakfasts around here.

But just FYI in case it's important to you: in the US, oats (whether they're in breakfast cereal or just the rolled oatmeal kind) are the single crop most heavily contaminated with glyphosate. I *wish* we could afford to buy more of our food local, organic, etc. but oats are the one thing I make the space for the organic version. They're still extremely cheap compared to most prepackaged breakfast foods, after all. So I figure, if I can only afford organic for *one* thing-- that's where I get the most bang for my organic buck ;)

From: (Anonymous)

soaking food in a 1% baking soda solution for 15 minutes removes most of the glyphosate. this works even with things like oats.

From: (Anonymous)

In Australia you can buy a 900g bag of "quick Oats" for only AU$ 1.98 at Coles, its the cheapest cereal I know of.

J.L.Mc12

From:

jprussell

Maybe relevant for anyone considering store brands vs big name brands: the majority of store-brand goods are made in the exact same factories as the big name brands, sometimes to exactly the same specifications. Here's how it works: say you're Heinz, and you have a nice, big ketchup manufacturing plant. You could make 100 units of ketchup, but the market will only pay for 80 units of Heinz at the price you want to charge. What do you do with that extra 20 units of capacity? Well, Kroger comes along and says "for a small fee, we'll pay you for the 20 units of production, and since it will say 'Kroger' instead of 'Heinz,' us charging less for it won't affect what folks are willing to pay for the bottles with your name on it," so you sell them that extra capacity and crank out 20 extra units of the same ketchup into bottles with different labels that get sold for a lower price point.

A few caveats here: one of the tradeoffs that tends to happen is that this extra capacity gets less quality control than the name brand stuff, so even though your CVS batteries were manufactured to the same specifications as Energizer, they didn't check as hard for duds, so you may have more of those. With medication, this is less of a problem, because the quality control is required by the FDA. Also, some stores actually do make their own stuff (if you're a Texan, HEB does most of its own store brand stuff) - on the plus side, this means they can control the quality of what they're making and keep prices down, but on the downside, if you're looking for the big name, but cheaper, it's likely not actually that.

From:

quietmagpie

Owning and operating a motor vehicle is quite expensive. If you live in a city or suburb, it is often possible to structure where you live and what you do to avoid the necessity of a car. We live in a small city and we can get anywhere in the city by bike, and walking. One of the benefits of being a renter is that you can change house locations to be located somewhere that you can use other forms of transportation. If you live somewhere with good public transport options, those are good as well.

Not having a car insulates you significantly from the volatility of gas prices, and is cheaper even when the price of fuel is low. The other benefit is that you will get regular exercise. If you get a good-sized backpack and panniers, it is amazing how much you can get onto a bike. It isn't that much less than you can fit into a car trunk. We both regularly transport 20kg bags of dried goods.

After walking and biking regularly for years, it now feels uncomfortable if we have to drive places (we both drive for work), and not having to wait in traffic or look for parking feels so much better, even if getting to your destination is somewhat slower. No parking in the city center? Just tie your bike to a no parking sign!

On the odd occasion that we have to go longer distances we carpool, take the bus, or, rarely, rent a vehicle.

From:

ganeshling

I don't think it was mentioned last time so here we go:

Consider discarding shampoo altogether. Just Duckduckgo "no poo" and it will give plenty of instructions and troubleshooting guides.

I haven't used anything but water on my head in the last nearly 20 years. I had problems with my hair and scalp before that and I still remember my shock seeing how the problems went away a few weeks after stopping any shampoo use.

Switch to cold showers at the same time and save on water and water heating bills to boot! :}

From:

methylethyl

With the budget tighter than ever, and the profligate gifting season fast approaching, this seems like a great place to ask:

What have y'all done for low-cost/homemade gifts?

I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine and I can cook, and back when we had fruit-bearing shrubs, we did very well with making up batches of jam to cover small gifting obligations (housewarmings and hostess gifts). But I'm low on both fruit and ideas right now, and Christmas looms! I'm contemplating lavender sachets... I'd love to know what folks here have tried in this line-- and which ones were flops, and which ones were well-received?

From:

jprussell

A few options that have worked well for us:

1) Canned goods (habenero jelly to be put on cream cheese was a big hit)
2) Homemade Chex Mix (my sister is a realtor and makes a big batch to put in either baggies or mason jars and gives it to her clients). Recipe is basically the cereal (3 or 4 varieties), mixed nuts, pretzel sticks, butter, Worcestershire Sauce, and maybe some sugar
3) For a little more, cookbooks, especially if they're from a local organization and not super expensive (my wife was in Junior League for a while, and we gave away copies of the local cookbook, which she got a discount to buy in bulk)
4) Used Books - if you know the person well and can accurately gauge their taste, this can be a good way to get something he actually wants that can still be pretty cheap
5) Actually useful handmade stuff - if you can sew, maybe tote bags? Close family may appreciate arts and crafts projects that are purely decorative, but for friends or acquaintances, I think that something more like a bag or a set of coasters or the like is more likely to go over well

Hope these help, and look forward to seeing what other folks say,
Jeff

From: (Anonymous)

I have two thoughts:
1. I get a signature homemade gift each year from a work friend. He and his wife make homemade caramels each year. They experiment with different flavors and the caramels are so much better than what you can buy. I get just a handful of the candies that are packaged beautifully and look forward to them each year. So find something you can make or cook that you become so good at and just repeat.
2. For people who are close to you, have an inexpensive gift that is special that you only do every so often. For 20 years, I've made a special family recipe cookie for my Dad on his birthday and on Father's day. The cookies are finicky, and you can't buy them so it makes it special. He gets 18 cookies in a reusable tin that gets passed back and forth. He really looks forward to his special cookies.

From: (Anonymous)

I find a gift of Mexican wedding cakes (really a type of shortbread cookie) gingerbread men or similar, gifted in a nice cookie tin from the thrift store is always well received.

This year, I am going to make a heap of quince jam for Christmas presents as part of the family is Mexican and they love membrillo.

Once, I made some family friends a tin of the Mexican wedding cakes and gave it to the father to take home. His daughter later told me that the tin had arrived home empty from its short drive. He simply could not be trusted with them. I

I have also had great success baking braided loaves of Scandinavian fruit bread as Christmas gifts. The hand-knitted socks I gave an old GF caused her to start crying.
Maxine

From: (Anonymous)

I'd welcome a recipe for that braided Scandinavian fruit bread if you have it handy.

From:

methylethyl

ah! I remember membrillos! Took me the longest time to figure out what they were-- in the market they looked like heaps of weird pears with dandruff. I have never been able to get them back stateside, but always wondered what people did with them.

From: (Anonymous)

–- Garlic infused olive oil and herb-infused vinegar in matching bottles as a set with ribbon and a card

— A set of drawstring bags made from scraps of fabric lying around unused but too nice to throw away.

Drawstring bags are useful for organizing travel toiletries, craft supplies, hair notions, sewing notions, etc. Big ones can be reusable Yuletide present wrappers. Long tall ones for wine bottles. Short wide ones for pens, pencils, art brushes. Medium deep ones to hold green tomatoes (or not quite ripe fruit) as they ripen while baffling encroaching fruit flies. As good as paper bags and washable if a fruit goes moldy inside.

— Knitted tube hats and wrist tubes to cover the gap where the coat sleeve ends and the glove begins

---- Multi-Pocket apron. Different sizes and shapes of pockets to hold garden or craftwork tools, small items like thimbles and buttons, or nails and tacks.

— Flannel mitts to wear at night with lotion or petroleum jelly or bag balm to soften dry hands overnight without getting the sheets and blankets stained and oily.

From:

A big hit for us was sewn "paper-towels." These were soft cloth sewn to rough cloth with a couple snaps on each end allowing them to be connected together into a roll.

Another is bees-wrap, wax covered cloth that is used for food wrapping (a more sustainable cling-wrap.)

You can make each of these with cute or personalized cloth for the recipient.

From: (Anonymous)

I used to make loaves of a Norwegian Christmas bread called"julekake" for gifts. From memory, ingredients are flour, butter, milk, sugar, yeast, plumped dried fruit, and the key flavoring is cardamom. Glaze braided loaves with a bit of almond or vanilla icing.

It was always a big hit.

From: (Anonymous)

Above, someone asked for a recipe, so here is the one I use, with source link. I have always substituted plumped cranberries, cherries, and yellow raisins for the citron in my version.

From: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wgnorway/recipe.html#Julekake%20(Norwegian%20Christmas%20Bread)
__________________
Julekake (Norwegian Christmas Bread)

2 pkgs dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cardamom
approx. 5 cups flour
1/2 cup citron
1/2 cup candied cherries
1/2 cup white raisins

Dissolve yeast and a little sugar in warm water. Scald milk then add butter. Cool to lukewarm. Add egg and yeast to the milk, butter mixture. Add sugar, salt, and cardamom. Beat in 2 cups flour and mix well. Mix fruit with a little of the remaining flour so it doesn't stick together and add. Stir in rest of flour.

Knead on floured cloth until smooth. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Divide into two parts and form round loaves. Put on greased cookie sheets. Let rise until nearly double.

Bake at 350° F for 30 to 40 minutes. While still warm, brush with soft butter or decorate with powdered sugar icing mixed with almond flavoring. Decorate with candied cherries and almonds,if desired.

From:

I dry herbs from our garden and give out little bags of loose leaf tea. Mint and lemon balm are always in excess at our house. To be really cost efficient on packaging, paper lunch bags that are hand decorated can be tied in a pretty way with twine.

My favorite homemade gift that we used to get from a coworker was homemade eggnog, the boozy kind. I don't love eggnog but it's so festive once a year and the stuff from the store is terrible. They had a recipe they liked and made a few dozen bottles a year.

From:

methylethyl

Nice! I grew lemon balm this year, but it does not much like our climate, I had to baby it through the summer, and it is just barely hanging on-- I wish I had enough to gift. But I'm just hoping it survives until spring. The rosemary though... (rosemary bush: who me? what?).

But also made our own vanilla extract back in the spring, and have hardly used any (out of a liter rum bottle), so I could probably round up some small bottles and gift that (scheming).

From:

Ah - sorry to hear the lemon balm doesn't work for you. It feels like a friend to me. And it loves sandy soil but also the cooler temps. Lemon Verbena might work for you? Same flavor profile, prolific, easy to dry. For me, it's not perennial but I have great success with it as an annual but you might be able to squeak it through your cold season.

So many uses for the rosemary though - root it and give away starts, get fancy and do the herb infused salts, put it in sachets with the lavender... I put in a bottle of white vinegar with sage and oregano to make our cleaning vinegar so if you could bottle that up nicely with some of the previously mentioned reusable towels, a nice natural home style gift.

The vanilla is a great idea. For your climate, you could candy citrus peels as well. It's fairly easy to do but maybe everyone there is tired of oranges - for us, it's a treat!

From:

methylethyl

I so wish it did! I love the lemon balm for tea. The rosemary turns into shrubbery around here-- it's starting to crowd even the century plant, which is famously standoffish. I will experiment with the vinegar thing-- that sounds nice.

Oranges... it is hard to find ones that haven't been sprayed with dye, alas. But I'll keep an eye out.

From:

oh no - sprayed with dye? The organic ones too? ugh. I just thought oranges were....orange.

From:

methylethyl

Alas, yes. In my hometown, I knew where to buy in-state oranges that were not sprayed-- and it was obvious from the lackluster color! That bright, bright orange, though... sometimes that's natural and sometimes it isn't, and suppliers are not required to tell you. I don't know about organic-- it'd be worth checking. I have no reliable source in my new town though :(

From:

baconrolypoly

The best recieved gift we've given was when we gave my partner's mum half a lamb for Christmas. She lives alone and doesn't have a lot of money, so us filling her small freezer with cuts of her favourite meat was a real winner. When she thought no one was looking, I saw her open the drawers and smile to herself.

From:

dr_coyote

>>When she thought no one was looking, I saw her open the drawers and smile to herself.

That is far and away the best thank-you note, and a true gift for the givers.

From:

kayr

I can also recommend chocolate truffles since just about everyone on the planet likes chocolate. They are dead easy to make and decorate and if you want to do pretty packaging, they look very good as a gift.

From:

methylethyl

Oh, I hadn't thought of that! But my husband has actually made raspberry truffles for Christmas presents before-- I will consult him on it.

From:

michele7

I think food is the way to go! Not everyone needs stuff, but everyone needs food. I'm the baker in the family, so I do lots of cookies, breads and sweets for my family and friends. Homemade always tastes better and your love shines through in the taste!

From: (Anonymous)

Homemade liqures have always gone over well for us. Get cheap grain alcohol, steep with (something) for flavour, (timing to taste) then dilute with simple syrup 1:1.

The something can be fruit, herbs, nuts, whatever. Even candy, though skip the simple syrup then. You get the equivalent of fancy expensive booze for the cost of rotgut.

You can also make aftershave the same way, minus the simple syrup of course. Toss some bay leaves and aromatic wood in a bit of rotgut and Bob is your uncle.

From:

methylethyl

Oh, thanks for this! It does have the advantage of being somewhat exotic, too :)

From:

Aha! This is a great idea.

Based on a comment I believe I saw on this blog, I started making rumtopf this summer as a way to preserve fruit. I currently have a jar of plums and berries steeping in the highest proof alcohol I could legally buy in a cabinet. To be honest, the idea of doing the rumtopf tradition of drinking this at Christmas seemed a little too boozy, even for me. And the quantity I made in one summer would last me for a decade. But making liqueurs and gifting those is an easy next step I had not thought of. Thank you!

It also prompted the idea that I like drinking bitters liqueurs (amaro) and it would probably be easy to make those given enough steeping time (and comparatively be pennies on the dollar to make). Anything that requires a small amount of work and then no activity at all for months on end is my kind of project.

From:

Rumtopf recipe available here: https://temporaryreality.dreamwidth.org/25592.html

From:

artisanity

If you grow succulents, you can make a sweet gift by taking a few tiny plants (different varieties if possible) plus a bit of soil and putting them in a seashell, cutesy teacup or ornament from the thrift shop. Get it started ahead of time so it is well rooted.

From: (Anonymous)

For years I have done food baskets/homemade cookies or candies, crocheted scarf/hat/mittens, homemade hot cocoa mix or spice mix, homemade ornaments, etc.

One big problem I noticed was the cost of cookie tins/snack packaging for Christmas was going way up, taking away the financial gain of making snacks as gifts. I recently learned you can just decorate coffee tins. I am an avid crafter, so I now have enough supplies to give cookies to my entire town (don’t worry, it’s a small town… and I probably won’t give EVERYONE cookies this year).

When making cookies I make a big batch of plain (like chocolate chip without the chocolate) then cut that into smaller batches to add the fixins: white chocolate cranberry, mint chocolate, double dark chocolate, white chocolate lemon, m&m, candy cane… etc. so I end up with a half batch of each flavor. I also figured out if you want showstoppingly beautiful cookies, don’t mix them in. Put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet in whatever size and spacing your recipe calls for AND THEN stick the chocolate chips to the cookie dough. You get a more even amount and they just look better, especially the m&m cookies. But it’s a lot of extra work that only makes sense if you’re selling cookies for money or trying to show up some in laws ;)

From:

methylethyl

I have done cookies (and merenguitos) before, and had a pretty easy time picking up tins on the cheap from thrift stores-- just wash and line with waxed paper or baking parchment.

From:

fringewood

I would like to recommend Sodium Percarbonate as a cheaper and better alternative to laundry soap. We have been using it for 5 months to wash our clothes and to clean up greasy messes in the kitchen and elsewhere. It is basically solid hydrogen peroxide. I am amazed how much brighter and cleaner my clothes are and how quickly it cleans the stove and other greasy messes. Sounds like a '50s commercial, I know, but it's true :^)

We live off grid, farm and get our clothes very dirty.We wash our clothes with a small plunger type washer and spin them out with a fantastic stand alone electric spinner. That's another story for later. We have tried washing soda, baking soda and vinegar. This beats them all. There is no smell, it removes bad odors from the wash, and the clothes dry on the line soft and pliable, including my husband's overalls and our sheets and towels. We do not rinse, but I know most people do, yet our clothes are clean and fresh and soft. Here is a pdf with lots of info https://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_percarbonate2.pdf It costs us about $5 per month for washing and cleaning. Can't beat that.

More info below:

This is the primary ingredient in OxyClean. Sodium Percarbonate (PC) is a white granule produced from Soda Ash and Hydrogen Peroxide. It serves as an alkaline oxygen-based bleaching agent stable at normal temperature. It provides powerful cleaning, bleaching, stain removal capabilities- yet it's environmentally compatible. It will break down into water, oxygen, and soda ash.

Can be use in Laundry formulations for these benefits:

*No environmental hazards - breaks down to oxygen, water and sodium carbonate (soda ash) in your wash water.
* Color safe and fabric safe. It brightens colors.
* Continual use will not cause yellowing or graying of cotton fabric.
* Effective stain removal in a broad range of water temperatures.
* Lengthens time between linen replacement.
* Prevents fabric from becoming yellowed or darkened.
* Does not weaken the strength of fabrics like chlorine bleach.
* In the laundry Sodium Percarbonate is used to destain, deodorize, and whiten. It is very effective as a laundry pre-soak for heavily stained articles.

Usage Guide

Sodium Percarbonate is a powerful oxygen based alkaline cleaner that attacks the toughest organic dirt including mildew, blood, pet messes, mold, wine, juice, baby formula and much more. After removing your stains, it will break down into harmless oxygen and sodium carbonate. It works over time, and some stains will require several treatments for best results. It has no odor so you clean without the harmful fumes. For the most effective stain removal, follow the mixing instructions on this instruction sheet using the lightest solution suggestion first and increase the cleaning solution as needed.

Hints and Suggestions: Always follow manufacturer's specifications and test for colorfastness first by applying product in an inconspicuous area and allowing it to dry. Do not leave solution in a sealed container as it will continue to give off oxygen and the container may leak. This product will remain active for up to six hours. If you have completed your cleaning for the day and have left-over, empty unused cleaner into the garbage disposal or toilet to clean and deodorize these areas. This product will be most effective when mixed with warm to hot water. Stir or shake the solution until all crystals are dissolved. Do not use boiling water. Do not use on wool or silk.

MIXING

1 scoop =1/4 cup

GENERAL CLEANING SOLUTION
Use any clean spray or squirt bottle. Mix 1/8 of a scoop with 1 pint (2 cups) of warm to hot water. Mix or shake thoroughly. Product will remain active for six hours.

EXTRA STRONG SOLUTION
Use any clean spray or squirt bottle. Mix 1 scoop with 1 pint of warm to hot water. Mix or shake thoroughly. Product will remain active for six hours.

SOAKING SOLUTION
Mix 1-4 scoops of Sodium Percarbonate per gallon of hot water.

MAKING A PASTE
Use one scoop of Sodium Percarbonate and add just enough drops of water to form a paste.

Use the guidelines below when cleaning:

Carpet, Carpet Padding, Couches, and Upholstery
To de-stain and deodorize your carpet, start by mixing a general cleaning solution. Remove as much of the dirt or liquid as possible. Squirt product on spot and let stand 5-10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly by pouring fresh water over spot, soak up with a clean cloth or towel and vacuum thoroughly when completely dry. Always test for colorfastness before applying product.

Curtains, Sheers, Wedding Dresses, and Tennis Shoes
To de-stain and deodorize curtains/sheers that are yellow, dingy or smoke-stained, mix a soaking solution and allow items to soak 30-60 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water and let dry. For wedding dresses and tennis shoes, use warm water and begin with a light solution of product (1-2 scoops per gallon). Soak 10-20 minutes, rinse thoroughly with fresh water, and let dry.

Carpet Cleaning Machines
Add 1 scoop of product per gallon of warm water. Use product with a carpet cleaning solution to increase the cleaning power.

Ice Chests & Garbage Cans
Mix a soaking solution directly in the ice chest or garbage can, allow to stand for 1 hour up to overnight. Rinse thoroughly.

Mops and Sponges
Mix a general cleaning solution in a bucket or sink, place mop or sponge into bucket and let stand for 30-60 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.

Tile & Grout Cleaning
For light maintenance on porcelain tubs, tiles, sinks and toilets, mix a general cleaning solution. Spray on, scrub lightly and rinse thoroughly. For extra tough mold and mildew, make product into a paste and apply. Let stand for 1 hour up to overnight, scrub and rinse thoroughly.

Jewelry & Dentures
For jewelry, use 1/8 of a scoop of product in 4 cups of water and soak for 5-10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and dry with a soft cloth. To de-stain and deodorize dentures, soak in a general cleaning solution for 1 hour up to overnight, rinse thoroughly.

Cutting Boards, Tupperware, and Kitchen Counter Tops
To clean and deodorize your whole kitchen, use a general cleaning solution and apply with a soft cloth, squirt bottle or sprayer, let stand 5-10 minutes and rinse. For extra strong stains, soak item with an extra strong solution for 15-20 minutes, rinse thoroughly.

Coffee Pots
To de-stain your coffee pot add one scoop of product directly into a coffee pot of hot water, soak 10-15 minutes and rinse thoroughly. To remove build up inside the coffee maker, mix a general cleaning solution into squirt bottle, allow solution to cool completely, then pour into coffee maker. Turn on coffee maker and allow solution to run through machine. Rinse by running cold, fresh water through the cycle.

Refrigerators
To eliminate mold, mildew and other organic stains, mix a general cleaning solution in a squirt bottle and apply with a soft cloth, let stand 10-20 minutes, wipe and rinse thoroughly.

All Weather Carpeting, Fencing, Concrete, Siding, Wood Decks, and Stucco
To remove weathered stains from wood decking, fencing, siding, concrete, and stucco, use a general cleaning solution and apply with a clean lawn sprayer. Let stand 10-30 minutes, scrub if necessary and rinse thoroughly. Or mix a general cleaning solution in a bucket and apply with a broom or brush, then scrub and rinse thoroughly.

Window Awnings, Patio Umbrellas, Wicker Furniture, Lawn Furniture
To remove weathered stains and dirt from your outdoor patio furniture, mix a general cleaning solution and apply with a lawn sprayer, or mix product in a bucket and apply with a scrub brush or broom. Let stand 10-30 minutes and rinse thoroughly.

Pet Stains & Urine
Sodium Percarbonate will clean and deodorize carpets, carpet padding and upholstery stained with pet messes. Always test for colorfastness first. Remove dirt or soak up liquid thoroughly before applying product. Mix a general cleaning solution of product in the squirt bottle, apply to affected area and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water and soak up with a clean cloth or towel. Vacuum area when completely dry.

Fireplaces & Bricks
Use the general cleaning solution and apply to fireplace or bricks with a scrub brush or broom, allow to stand 10-20 minutes and rinse thoroughly with fresh water. Scrub before rinsing if necessary.

Water Damage Cleanup & Mildew Removal
To remove mold and mildew prior to painting or to clean up water damage, mix a soaking solution, apply to surface, and scrub with a brush or sponge. Let stand 20-30 minutes and rinse thoroughly.

Shower Curtains
To remove mold and mildew from shower curtains, mix a soaking solution, let shower curtain soak for 30-60 minutes, scrub if necessary and rinse thoroughly.

From:

jbucks

Thanks for this tip! Have you tried using Sodium Percarbonate with material made from animal products? Doesn't it damage wool, for example?

Is it an issue for the surrounding environment if it goes out in your gray water system?

From:

jbucks

Never mind - in the doc you linked to, I see that it addresses both my questions. Namely, 1) it is safe for the environment and 2) don't use it with silk or wool.

From:

Sodium is something you don' really want to introduce into a graywater system if it discharges anywhere you'll ever want things to grow. according to Ludwig's "Create an Oasis with Greywater" (p43) environmental compatibility of cleaning products is usually assessed under the assumption of aquatic discharge possibly post-water-treatment.

I'd be circumspect about salting the earth...

From: (Anonymous)

I agree, that is why I dont wash with things like that . A biodegradable detergent like Azure Standard makes or Oasis ( from Ludwig for grey water systems, which is sold by the gallon around here)

From:

methylethyl

This is variable with where you live, and it's important to take local conditions into account. Here, we've done a lot of greywater experimentation and never had a problem with salt (I can just about mulch the garden with fresh seaweed and not have a problem)... BUT our soil is so sandy that "sandy" seems like a joke-- it's really just sand-- and we get like 80 inches of rain/yr, so any salts leach out very very quickly (along with all the soil organic matter, compost, nutrients, and every other thing the garden needs!). But I imagine if you lived anywhere arid, or with poorly-draining soil, you'd want to be very careful about it.

From:

saturns_pet

Anglo-American Onion Powder Gravy, Tested Today

Ingredients:

2 cups decent water, preferably not chlorinated or heavy aka hard;
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour;
2 tablespoons onion powder;
about 1 tablespoon butter;
pinches of salt and sage leaf powder

Lightly toast flour in a little sauce pot on low heat until it smells a little sweeter. I've used an electric stovetop. Use the same pot you intend to make the gravy in, by the way. Add butter to the flour. Keep on low heat until it bubbles. Lift from heat. Stir, with wood or bamboo. Repeat until rawish smell of flour is gone, probably not many times. Don't brown. It ought to taste a bit like unsweetened pie crust. Mine tend get a little crumbly. Add a little water to the pot, not cold water. Make a slurry. Put back on low heat. Add remainder of water to pot, again not cold. Make the mixture bubble to thicken it into a gravy, stirring as needed. Remove from heat. Stir in onion powder bit by bit to prevent dreaded clumps. Salt and season with sage.

Put on toast, then add beans? A thrill begins...

I like the purpose affirmed by Frugal Friday. Therefore I have returned to respectfully haunt your folklore-commentariat.

saturns_pet

From:

ecosophia

My contribution to this week's Frugal Friday is a forgotten resource: old home economics textbooks.

Back in the 19th century, as public schooling became standard, schools in a great many countries had to take over some of the work of teaching girls to be housewives. The result was a plethora of textbooks that cover most of what any homemaker (of either sex) needs to know in a low-tech home. Thanks to online archives, you can get quite a few of them free for the downloading these days. Here are seventy-odd examples:

Archive.org home economics textbooks

Titles include Practical Homemaking: A Textbook for Young Housekeepers, Shelter and Clothing: A Textbook of the Household Arts, Home Nursing and Child Care, and many more.

From:

methylethyl

Oh, those look marvelous! Thank you!

From: (Anonymous)

John,

Just curious if your project of getting old appropriate tech books back into print has made any headway?

I wonder if that publisher would be intetested in a new home economics book?

Might he a good project for someone who has the knowledge and experience.

Justin Patrick Moore

From:

ecosophia

I haven't heard anything about that project for a while now. I'll ask. In the meantime, a book of that sort would probably be publishable with a fairly big firm, especially if it's pitched at young people who have zero knowledge about housekeeping.

From:

michele7

I perused a 1914 New York high school home ec book in this collection. Great fun! The best tip was to not have carpeting as the writer said it held in germs. I hate carpet, so this book felt like confirmation to me. Hmm, a book on housekeeping might put my General Home Economics degree to use...

From:

ecosophia

Good heavens. You have a home ec degree? In that case, you have what publishers call a "platform" -- a reason why readers ought to pay attention to you -- and that makes a book from you very, very saleable. I'd encourage you to get to work writing it as soon as you can, and start looking around for small to midsized publishers that don't require agents and publish nonfiction for younger adults.

From:

methylethyl

Do it!

It is not that hard to self-publish ebooks and print-on-demand books these days. My husband has done it, and he is no tech wizard.

We homeschool, and I would LOVE to have a good home ec book to use with my kids in a couple years-- with the *why* behind everything, as well as the how. Most of the ones I've seen recommended in my circle have either been very narrow single-subject (like, how to clean efficiently like a maid service), way too detailed for the purpose (Home Comforts: encyclopedic, but too much for kids!), or so zeroed in on the "godly womanhood" thing (argh!) that I wouldn't dare try to use them with boys. Need something more unisex!

From:

michele7

jmg

methylethyl You two have inspired me! I've started working on an outline.

From: