cutting back

well i thought i would post this little tidbit on here and see who else is trying to cut back. swmbo, and i have decided to try and cut back on the gas bill for the cook stove, seeing how it is the only thing in the house that actually uses propane, we are gonna use it for just baking, and for the next month or so, cook most of our meals on the wood stove. we have been haveing fun doing it for now, figureing out the little tricks here and there. so is there anyone else looking at ways of cutting back. next thing you know i will be growing my own tobacco for my pipes.

Being on a fixed income we have tried different ways to cut back on everything we can from taking short showers to turning down the thermostate. About the time we figure a way to lower a utility bill they find some reason to raise the rates.

well its not the utilities for us, its kinda thinking about a simpler method, and the fun of figureing it out. propane isnt all that expensive, especially when you only fill up the 25lbs tanks, and the cookstove is the only thing using propane.

Kudos for trying to cut back. I try as much as I can where I can but with 6 people in my home and only two of us paying the bills it is a losing battle. Just keeping the lights off when not needed is a challenge.

i can relate link, there are 5 people here and only my income to pay things off, luckily, this years tax return paid off the car and a few other things so that will help alot. also, something to consider, while we are trying to cut back, you have to figure out how to do certain things, and do them efficiently, cooking on the woodstove takes some challenges, like not burning up while your frying your eggs., but the fun thing about a puzzle is figuring out how it goes together.

It is kind of nice to get back to the basics once in awhile. You get a real sense of pride embracing that pioneering spirit. Not that I want to give up all my current gadgets but in my opinion we had a better quality of life in the past. A little off topic but hopefully you catch my drift.

One good trick I've tried for frugal cooking is to use a 'Sabbath hay-box'. It's simply a cardboard box, lined on all sides with good insulating material - I used 1/2" polystyrene sheets. You heat up a stew or casserole to a rolling boil on the stove, then put it in the box. Fill up any air-space with an old fleece, put another sheet of polystyrene on top, and close the box. The stew will continue to cook for hours if the insulation is done properly, it won't boil dry or burn, and you use no more fuel.

Interesting! I had a friend who drove commercial trucks over the road and would put cans of stew/soup on top of the engine while he was driving. He would stop 20, 30 mins later and have a hot lunch.

Matt, i will definately have to show that to my wife, let her see that so she can figure out what she would need, thanks for the tip

for cutting back on meat costs... find a butcher where you can buy whole or half animal and have them cut up for you to order.. you just need freezer space... cows, pigs and sheep are much cheaper this way. as for chicken buy whole ones and cut them up at home then freeze the parts.

books i have found with other 'getting back to self-suffiency' ideas are "possum living" by dolly freed and carla evans "the encyclopedia of country living"

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Originally Posted by Matt69

One good trick I've tried for frugal cooking is to use a 'Sabbath hay-box'. It's simply a cardboard box, lined on all sides with good insulating material - I used 1/2" polystyrene sheets. You heat up a stew or casserole to a rolling boil on the stove, then put it in the box. Fill up any air-space with an old fleece, put another sheet of polystyrene on top, and close the box. The stew will continue to cook for hours if the insulation is done properly, it won't boil dry or burn, and you use no more fuel.

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sounds more like a recipe for food poisoning. once that stew gets down below 140 degrees, and stays there for 4 hours, it's garbage, not linguini. i'd be real careful with this method. the money you save on cooking fuel will be more than offset by the trip to the er to have an iv started to rehydrate the temple that is your body from all the puking and diarrhea.

Here's a link to the above mentioned cooking box;

cooking on the cheap - Bushcraftliving.com Discussion Forum

No idea how safe it is, back in the day people were probably made of sterner stuff. Plus one on the manifold cooking, there's a whole cook book dedicated to it. I had a friend that ran heavy machinery and did this year round on 12 hour shifts eating like a king once he got the hang of it.

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Originally Posted by Noisykids

sounds more like a recipe for food poisoning. once that stew gets down below 140 degrees, and stays there for 4 hours, it's garbage, not linguini. i'd be real careful with this method. the money you save on cooking fuel will be more than offset by the trip to the er to have an iv started to rehydrate the temple that is your body from all the puking and diarrhea.

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Perhaps I should have spelled it out in greater detail. The insulation greatly slows down the cooling process, and if done well, the food stays too hot for bacteria to grow for 6-8 hours at least. I cook in the morning and eat it for supper. Any left-overs go in the fridge. You don't want to leave food in there until it has cooled right down, because then it will have spent a long time at the optimum temperature for bacteria to grow (body temperature). It's not meant for long-term storage, and once you've cooked the food (as I say, 6-8 hrs is good) you don't then put it back in the insulated box.

Hey West Virginia,

On the growing your own tobacco thought.... as you know, I live in tobacco country and have access to, pretty much, all the raw leaf I could want (mostly VA bright). I don't know how to cure or, sweat it, though. If you have the knowledge or, know someone who does, we might be able to tackle this. It might be a fun, and money saving, pursuit. Blending has been a casual pursuit for a loong time. This might be a logical extension of that. PM me with your thoughts.

Back in the dog days of summer we used to fry eggs on the sidewalk.

I've always thought there should be a law, every house should have a big meter mounted in the main room showing the consumption of electricity and gas in real time and the cost just like when you fill the car with gas at the station. Maybe then people like my wife who walk around the house turning lights on and forgetting to turn them off might act differently.

No kidding, I work nights and when I get home every light in the house is on and everyone is asleep. Everything here is electric, no gas and I have a load controller keeping my on peak demand down and we have an electric plan with the utility company that limits our usage during peak demand hours and timers on the water heater.

I bet when my college age kids are paying their own bills the lights will be off.

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Originally Posted by Link8382

Interesting! I had a friend who drove commercial trucks over the road and would put cans of stew/soup on top of the engine while he was driving. He would stop 20, 30 mins later and have a hot lunch.

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seems like a good way to get chemical poisoning from the layers inside the can. Isn't that how the hobos used to get killed?

I am now cutting back on the electric bill. I turn the AC off during the day, now that it is cooler, open the windows. This saves me about $60.00 to $80.00 a month. This savings allows me to buy "1" more hone a month, usually a barber's hone. The savings on my electric bill last month allowed me to buy my PHIG from Woodcraft.

ALso, what is your point with going from gas to wood? Economy, or carbon footprint? If it is economy, then you have to lay out the time spent getting wood versus making money doing something else, or the cost of getting the wood... Gas, time, price to cut.. Howmany cords it takes to get you though the months. Or if it is carbon footprint then wood is not necessarily the way to go either. If it is fo rhte "simplier" way of life, then.... That is why they made propane... To make life simplier..

not a matter of carbon footprint, and we use wood to heat our house so why not get to uses from it at once especially thos time of year

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and oldschool, I will do some digging into how to cure it, I think it would be fun. there is a guy over in bergton va, just up the road who grows his own tobacco, but he is a chewer, if you know what I mean

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home grown chewing tobacco now that would be a interestign thing to try. and wv i cook on our wood stove alll the time when its on. Every yr when i butcher deer up fro people I aleways have the cast iron pan on the woodstove with some heart and liver in it.

I am not sure about that, possibly. I have never tried the manifold style of cooking, but I have cooked stew, beans, and soup in the can when camping. Can is open and applied directly to the stove, labels removed. I am not sure if that is bad for you either but I never got sick from it.

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Originally Posted by Link8382

I am not sure about that, possibly. I have never tried the manifold style of cooking, but I have cooked stew, beans, and soup in the can when camping. Can is open and applied directly to the stove, labels removed. I am not sure if that is bad for you either but I never got sick from it.

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As long as the can isn't galvanised you should be fine.

This sounds a bit crazy but I've also heard of cooking an egg in the shell by placing it in a pile of freshly cut grass for 20 or so minutes. You can supposedly get a hard boiled egg without the boiling while you do your yardwork. I'm not sure why anyone would want to but it apparently works. Perhaps thats one for the myth busters?