living cheap

[mom-from-missouri]

Monday was my last day at work. Saturday is my wedding. Then I will be a stay at home farm wife, moving to my new home 97 miles from here. So far, my house has not sold, but I do have a person who is interested in renting it. So I may do that route.
Here is my game plan....

Garden (already planted and growing)

Can foods from the garden and farmers market

Clothes line (have the post-he just needs to put them in for me)

Do all cooking from scratch (I basically do that now)

only go to town 1 time a week (20 miles 1 way)

I finally found a wonder bread outlet and an aldi's near his place. (backup plan was when we came back here to visit grandma, to stock up at this one) I will continue to buy in bulk as i do now.

freeze-he has a deep freeze, and I am also taking mine.

we already have beef in the field

i am adding chickens and turkeys after we return from the honeymoon

no trash service (he burns)

has basic dish ($20 or so a month) and he has an antenna so he does not have to pay the dish extra to get the local channels

he had an orchard, and we have now added 4 more fruit trees to it, as well as some grapevines. Several of the vines and trees already have fruit coming on. so far, we have apple, peach, pear, cherry and concord grapes.

he has a well dug, and we will be using it for laundry, stock, and the garden. But we will drink the rural water.

we have stocked both ponds with fish, to supplement our table

we may possibly board horses--we are checking into insurance and such on that.

this years garden is "an experiment" to see what does well. next year, when i will be living there throughout the entire garden season, we will double it, so i can sell some produce.

he has a wooded area he is clearing for another pond, so we have firewood to cut to burn, and possibly some to sell this winter.

my daughters will be transferring to a christian school in the country 8 miles from his home, which uses the same uniforms as their current school--so, we will not have their clothing expenses.

I sew what few clothes my daughters do need, but only after I can't find the item for a quarter at a garage sale.--same with my clothes. may sound gross, but when i am at his place working in the garden or mowing or whatever, i usually wear the same pair of work coveralls and tee shirt everyday. i strip at the back door and hit the shower. why get a different outfit dirty to work outside every day?

He just got the internet--we plan to sell a bunch of stuff on ebay-things we have duplicates of since combining households. we both collect antiques, and several items we need to clear out now.

we are going to put in a "fire pit" in the back yard. thats a round area of stones, where we can build a campfire. we love to cook out, and that will acutally save ac from heating up the kitchen, and electric from the stove if we use it even 1 night a week to cook over. we have an over abundance of wood, so we can cook hotdogs over a wood fire as opposed to the using the grill.

does anyone else have any other ideas to help me maintain a 'frugal' lifestyle? our goal here is to not have his bills go up any at all, even with adding 4 more people to the household. the only bill we are wanting to see change, is the addition of the girls school tutuion. (yes, for us that is a MUST. his local elememnty school has almost 700 children in it, as they bus them in from nearby towns who have lost their schools due to school bonds that did not pass. it is a loud school, over crowded, and the kids have to walk to the highschool everyday for lunch, walk to the junior high for library and art....32 kids to a classroom...was not a pretty sight)

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

does anyone else have any other ideas to help me maintain a 'frugal' lifestyle?

Um... not me. In fact, I'm taking notes from you.

[Ima saver]

Me too!!

[cbmeeks]

I think I speak for most of us when I say I envy you.

cbmeeks

[boefixepa]

Amen to that, can I buy the lot next door....we can buddy up and share that trip to town, swap recipes....my dogs can haul wood in the winter...I can take the girls dog sledding....okay now I'm day dreaming....

The only thing I can remotely think of is home schooling, but then you'd be driving to town more often to have them in 'social' things, like sports, music etc. However I am more than with for the private school from the looks of things in your area. Well worth the investment.

[boomeyers]

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials! I know you have been planning and working on this for a long time!
Sounds like you have it in the bag. The only expenses I could think of that you did'nt mention was Christmas and car insurance. Does he have an attic fan to save on AC? I guess his electric bill will go up regardless, just because more people use more lights, etc.
I'm from Missouri too! And my sister lives rurally without kids. Its a nice set up!
Don't forget canning and things you can barter with your neighbors! Hair cutting, babysitting, produce, etc.
Good luck!

[PrincessPerky]

Sounds wonderful, I wish I could talk DH into burning garbage..but then not sure about local ordaninces.

That and I wish my garden grew .

Congrats on the wedding!

[Ima saver]

Yes, congratulations!!

[Thrifty Ray]

It sounds like you have a great plan going into this. Best wishes on the marriage and new life!!

I did pretty much the same thing a little over a year ago (left my job to be at home FT) and the one thing I hadn't planned on was that it did get lonely at first. But I have adjusted and life is very, very good for the whole family now!

Ever consider writing a book about going from the working world to the farm life??? I bet you could sell it!

Have fun!

[mschluckbier]

I have to say congratulations as well! I think your plan sounds WONDERFUL! With the orchard, etc, etc, I am so jealous! We are looking at purchasing a "country" home in 5 or 6 years where we have space to have a garden, etc. so I will remember you for inspiration.

[meenah]

i like the idea of you sharing trips to town with neighbors, this will help with the lonely aspect also ... sell or barter the produce...my grandma has so many trees like you have and rarely do we not have waste. have an estate sale vs. ebay. see about a spot at the farmers market.

[lillyb]

I'm truly impressed! And taking notes, as well. Congrats on your upcoming wedding.

[puppypal]

I also commend you. I live in a tiny town population 3200 if you include pets!LOL
I moved here when my son was a bit over 3 years old. Got back down to basics also so to speak. Being a Country girl mom has it's ups and downs that is for sure. It takes a bit to get into the click but when your kids start going to school an abundance of friends and common ground appears. We at one point had a babysitter exchange. A group of women with kids would take turns watching kids. In turn one or two women would go to the big city once or twice and offer to get the womens that was at home list! It saved babysitting, kid taking, and gas because it would always be two or three moms going in a mini van with a monthly list. Not to mention it was sooo much fun! I called it a Country mom's day out on the town! LOL

[jamreed02]

honestly, I can't think of much to add... and I think I'm turning a little green with envy, too.

Is the house completely heated with wood? my mother's house is, and her husband just tells everyone he knows that if they need a tree taken down, he'll come get it. and they've got some trees on their property that he cuts, and some more on his boss' property. He starts cutting in the summer, and cuts most of the wood before the first snow. during the winter he slows down a bit. (it gets pretty cold here, may be different in MO) After you get the area cleared for the pond, I wouldn't clear cut any more areas, just take a few here and there, leaving room for new growth. If you have enough property, maybe you'd never run out of wood? (just brainstorming, no experience on that one)

You may be able to partner with your neighbors to save costs, too. If something does well in their garden that doesn't in yours, you could barter with them for something that grows well in your garden, or for milk or eggs. Also, you could probably get by on going to town less if you and your neighbor get along well, she could pick up a few things for you one week, and the next week you could pick up things that she needs.

how will/do you feed your animals? you can save a lot of money on feed by pasturing all the animals. you can do the same with chickens, especially if the road that goes past your house isn't too busy. and on the plus side, the meat will be healthier, and so will the animals, and you'll have less of a mess to clean up, since they won't 'go' in stalls, coops, or pens. It takes some getting used to if you need to catch the chickens, but you'll get good at it, and it's a fun challenge for kids. (If you ever have a rooster that pecks at your legs when you collect eggs, just punt it a ways... certainly worked when I was a little girl. )

try to anticipate needs way ahead of time, especially birthday and christmas presents. Try to have a stockpile of homemade cards for every upcoming occasion. you can organize them in a shoebox with cardboard separators cut from cereal boxes. scour garage sales for unique and nice gifts that people will appreciate, and stay away from stores at christmas-time.

you may be able to introduce some rabbits to your property and let them run wild, they really breed like...well...rabbits, of course! if you want to worry about keeping them out of the garden area. if you want to do it and fence the garden, make sure the fence is buried.

you should read a few books, too. the complete tightwad gazette for one, and there are a few books on pasturing or grassfeeding animals, organic pest control, and homesteading (which may include alternative energy).

[more freedom]

Man, that was so tough.

Trying to save, save, save would not solve the problems.

What does the rich people do? They build business or invest their money.

Why not start your own buisness? May be an internet based business. That has low start up costs and high potential return. If you own your own biz you can have some tax advantages too!

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by more freedom

Man, that was so tough.

Trying to save, save, save would not solve the problems.

Her life sounds great. Your answer sounds as if you really don't understand the original post.