Make your own hot-flash spray, and other frugal hacks
Posted
Aug 22 2008, 03:21 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
An important part of frugal living is to do things yourself: cleaning your own house (and with vinegar instead of pricey products), cooking instead of buying takeout, cutting your kids' hair (or your own). But Smart Spending message board readers go way beyond replacing their own windshield wipers or crocheting baby blankets. After reading the "I make my own" thread on the message board, I felt pretty inadequate.
Readers craft their own cat litter. They grow sunflowers and toast the seeds. They cook dried beans and turn them into refried beans. They make their own vanilla extract, dog biscuits, bath salts, jams, hummus, laundry detergent, dishcloths, toothpaste, greeting cards, croutons, modeling clay, shower curtains, carrot sticks and granola. They brew their own biodiesel.
Really. A reader posting as "Engineer07" claims that it costs less than $1.20 per gallon to make this alternative fuel. "Just need some methanol, a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide and some cooking oil from your local restaurant."
(Well, of course. Everyone knows that.)
Engineer07 also makes beer. Here's hoping there's never any mixups between the two processes.
And you thought YOU were thrifty!
The message board thread went on for 13 pages, so there's no way I can do justice to all the tips. For much more than I can include here, plus specific "recipes," follow the thread link above.
A fairly obvious tip is sewing your own clothes. "Salamander" uses clearance fabrics and patterns from eBay. "For just a few dollars and a couple of hours, I can make most of what I need or want."
There's frugal, and then there's really frugal: A reader posting as "trekkate" used to buy oversized jeans for a quarter at yard sales, then cut them up and sew them into overalls for her kids. The thrifty mom still turns yard-sale terrycloth robes into washcloths and kitchen towels, and watches for hand-knit cotton sweaters that she unravels and re-knits into dishcloths. "Haven't bought a dishcloth, facecloth or kitchen towel 'new' in 25 years."
But wait, there's more: "When the ones I make get beat-up and ratty, (my husband) gets them for shop rags."
Another knit-wit is "darling fluff," who unravels thrift-store sweaters and uses the yarn to make new items. "I tend to get a better quality of yarn than I could afford," such as cashmere or 100% wool.
"Knitting can be an expensive hobby but this makes it cheap," fluff reports, "plus you rescue an ugly sweater!"
Cheaper than therapy
A number of readers "make" their own eggs, meat and dairy by raising animals and/or hunting, and grow and preserve vegetables and fruits. Not everyone has the land -- or the zoning -- to nurture cows, pigs or even just a chicken or two.
But just about anybody can toss bulk-buy oatmeal into a food processor or blender for a cheaper version of the "colloidal oatmeal" that soothes eczema and other skin conditions.
Or split vanilla bean pods to make extract or flavored sugar. Vanilla beans can be pricey, but just a few will make a lot of extract; think a "tall bottle" of vodka plus a vanilla bean that's slit down the center.
That's how reader "Talk2Me2" does it, anyway. Another reader, "Maliades," likes to put a split bean in a jar of sugar, then use the flavored sugar in coffee.
Both the extract and the sugar would make good gifts, although some recipients might decide to sip the flavored vodka rather than cook with it.
Another fun gift, for the sheer novelty, would be the peppermint cooling spray made by reader "route66gal." Her mix of rubbing alcohol, witch hazel and a few drops of peppermint essential oil can be used to battle hot flashes or "just to cool off."
Homemade gifts were mentioned frequently on the thread, from quilts to jewelry to woodworking. Reader "SC CDF" noted that she and her husband don't necessarily save money this way, "but I think we get a better result."
Handmade items can be gifts to the giver as well as to the recipient. "Skittl1321" makes greeting cards and says the hobby is good for "my sanity." Another reader, "Darklady763," agrees that a creative hobby is a balm to the spirit: "Cheaper than therapy and less dangerous than drugs."
'The joy of the process'
Besides, saving money isn't the only reason that readers do these things. "Iamfool" was bothered by the dust from commercial cat litter. Her five cats don't kick up any dust from the homemade litter, which is -- bonus! -- incredibly cheap.
Several readers noted a desire to get away from chemicals in everything from household cleaners to toothpaste. That's why "LoriAnderson000" makes a dentifrice with baking soda and peroxide. "It works great, is cheap and I am not getting a mouthful of unknown ingredients."
Reader "old Karen" offered a recipe for veggie wash, to use on store-bought produce. A commercial variety is available but this stuff is loads cheaper, as well as all-natural; its active ingredients are vinegar and lemon juice.
Although the cost of flour has risen rapidly, readers say it's still much cheaper and healthier to make their own bread, rolls and pizza crusts. (One reader even grinds her own flour.) Delicious, too. Reader "ss18612" notes that while some things are easier to buy, "they don't have that homemade taste." That's why she and her husband make their own bread plus noodles, beer, wine, cheese, sauerkraut and soup stocks.
They also derive great satisfaction from doing things for themselves. "My Old Order Amish friend once said to me 'Your people miss the joy of the process' and she is so right," the reader notes.
I'm inclined to agree with her. If you have time to work with your hands, whether it's plunging them into bread dough or sanding a homemade toy, try it. You can forget your cares and focus only on the task in front of you. That is, as long as you don't keep sipping at that vanilla extract.
