Ask the Frugal Counselor a question and win her recipe book!

[Mary Webber]

Originally Posted by Myscha Theriault

Hi Mary!

So thrilled to see you as a forum guest. You go, girl! I can't join the contest, but I would love it if you could sound off on the canning process a bit. I've yet to delve into it as much as I should . . .

Short answer... I don't can much.

Longer answer... Canning foods has always been the standard way to keep the harvest, but for me, it's time consuming, needs too much equipment, and demands a careful approach in terms of food safety. For example, low acid foods need to be canned using a pressure cooker, and to be honest, I'm afraid of them, don't have one, and won't use one. So there! It used to be that tomatoes were highly acidic and could easily be water-bath canned, but many of the newer varieties of tomatoes have been developed to have lower acidity, and you may not even be aware of that. When we can tomatoes, although we tend to grow the older varieities, we add a TBSP of vinegar.

The order of keeping the harvest for best quality and savings is to winter-keep what you can, dry a few things, can whatever you're comfortable with, and mostly freeze your produce. While freezing does requiere containers and the cost of running the freezer can be significant, there are ways to reduce that cost. Keep the freezer in a garage or other cold place for a start. Or build a little insulated room in the corner of your too-warm cellar. Under the mudroom of our house, we have a root cellar with an insulated door, vents to the outside, two freezers, and lots of shelves. It stays at a very steady 38-41 degrees from November until May. Perfect!

[Mary Webber]

Originally Posted by DistilledRose

Hi Mary!
Do you have any advice on finding good quality kitchen tools frugally? I really want a decent knife set and some good pans, but don't have the budget to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of items.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

DON'T, absolutely DO NOT, go anywhere near a kitchen store!! There are so, so many tempting tools, fancy applainces, and gaudy gimmicks, you - and your budget -will be overwhelmed!

A good set of knives, kept sharp and treated kindly (more on this in a minute) are the first must for any kitchen. You can go cheaper with almost anything else, but spend the money here for quality, even if you need to buy just one at a time. For bare-minimum starters, you'll need two paring knives, one with a serrated edge is helpful. A medium knife next, and then as you can add them, a big chef's knive, a serrated bread knife, and then more knives, more specialized ones such as a boning knife. I find I use the smaller knives most.

Now earlier I said be kind to your good knives. Do NOT throw them in a drawer with other utensils and stuff, do NOT toss them down with other silverware, dishes and pans to be washed, DO use them on proper, quality, cutting boards only (we keep several just for fruits and vegeies, a few just for meats),. and do NOT use them for anything other than food... I've annoyed my husband more times than I can tell you by trimming flowers stems with the good knives! A knife block is worth every cent!

Your other kitchen basics... 2-3 good quality wooden spoons, 2-3 good quality scrapers, only one of which needs to be the high-temp-resistant kind, 2-3 wire whisks (small, medium and as large as you can comfortably handle). I'm going to assume you have one or two good peelers, one or two spatulas or pancaker turners, a ladle, a strainer ladle, chopper, a grater and maybe even an ice cream scoop. I have both small and standard size ice cream scoops, indespensible when making cookies, filling whoppee pies, etc. You'll add a few utensils as you realize you actually need them.

Okay, pots and pans..basic set of two small and one medium saucepan with covers, one large pot with cover, two frypans, one medium one large. You won't generally get much use out of the really small fry pans. Basic kitchen appliances you'll need of course depends on things such as whether you bake a or not. I'm, not strong enough to beat a lot of things with my big wire whisk so I do need my mixer but it's a sturdy hand-held not a stand mixer. A blender or food processor would be useful, but most other things would be more you-specific. I wouldn't give house-room to a bread machine or juicer because I just wouldn't use them, but you might never use the little electric ice cream maker that I love.

I didn't even look at baking pans etc, but it's time for me to take an iced tea break, so if you need more info, just let me know, okay.

[Myscha Theriault]

Wow, Mary!

Thanks for all the detailed responses. I really appreciate the thorough information, and I'm sure the rest of the readers do too.

[jdp]

Originally Posted by Mary Webber

Oh, boy, that keep-thirfty-from being-dull-dreary-and-drab question!

The first thing is to personalize any frugality. What on earth do I mean by that? Good example is the gift of jam you were given. ALWAYS include a personal tag or note with any gift. (I take the front off any cards I get and save them just for this.) If the gift is food, consider giving the recipe too (especially in this day of food allergies), including a little story about where the recipe came from or even a suggestion for a different use for the gift. In the case of the jam, maybe you'd suggest making jam-stuffed French toast with it. It's those little touches that turn frugal into fancy.

But beware! You've got to be just as careful about spending on the extras...what sense is there in putting together a nifty, thrifty basket of homemade bread and a couple of kinds of jellies if you had to buy a basket to put it in, and that basket cost!

I've just addressed the one area here, gift-giving. So let's quickly take a look at one other area of this idea. Say you're serving a pretty straightforward supper - meatloaf, potatoes, green beans and carrots - but you want to dress things up a bit. Dress the table with an old doily, or even some of the very inexpensive small paper ones set under each glass. Or add a strewing of seashells, a few candles, something whimsical or anything that fits the seaon. Four Fourth of July, I had a whole bunch of sparklers set in a bud vase, and of course we lit those sparklers after suppers.

Add a few garnishes such as lemon pepper to the top of the potatoes or the raisins with the carrots, anthing that catches the eye and says a little extra thought/effort went in this. My favoirte thing is to always have one extra on the table, be it popovers with honey or apple-apricot sauce.

PHEW! Didn't mean to take up your whole day reading this, but we've barely scratched the surface here. Have a great day, and don't forget that fancy CAN be frugal!

Excellent! Thank you so much.

[Myscha Theriault]

Hey Mary?

I know this isn't really a kitchen or grocery question, but do you have any thoughts on beefing up the energy efficiency of one's home? This winter is going to be financially brutal for the folks up north. I know we did quite a few things last winter, but I'm sure there was more we could have done. Not everyone has a newer home with all the extra energy guards in place. Older homes in rural areas need all the advice they can get.

Do you happen to have any, oh goddess of thrift? Bowing down humbly in your presence . ..

[Megan]

Hi Mary! Love the answers so far!

I was wondering if you have any suggestions for those of us who live alone. I do my best to save money and eat healthy, but sometimes it's so hard! I only have so much space in my freezer (and can't exactly put a second freezer in my apartment). I don't mind leftovers at all and love to batch cook and freeze things in single size portions, but I struggle to find recipes that are easy, cheap, healthy, and taste good reheated! Am I asking too much?

[amyschiff]

Originally Posted by Megan

Hi Mary! Love the answers so far!

I was wondering if you have any suggestions for those of us who live alone. I do my best to save money and eat healthy, but sometimes it's so hard! I only have so much space in my freezer (and can't exactly put a second freezer in my apartment). I don't mind leftovers at all and love to batch cook and freeze things in single size portions, but I struggle to find recipes that are easy, cheap, healthy, and taste good reheated! Am I asking too much?

I would also love to hear your ideas on this, as I too am "living independently"

[Looby]

Thanks Mary, these have been excellent answers! I hadn't even thought about table decoration making a meal seem fancier. I might be feeling brave enough to host a dinner party soon.

[Loriw]

How do I fix a huge financial mistake? I have 3 children. One is starting college this fall, one is getting her driver's license soon and one is 12. I have mistakenly spoiled them. Now, our financial situation will not allow for spoiling. We can barely meet the necessaties. We have credit card balances as a result in purchases that they didn't really need, but they wanted it and we got it for them. Honestly, my husband isn't any better. He wants to eat out all the time and go to movies, plays, ie not cheap entertainment and he's a electronics junkie.

So, anyway, times are tough at our house. How do I undo what I have done to my children (and hubs)? I know I have to start with frugal living. But, where do I start?

Thanks for your suggestions Mary.

[Mary Webber]

Originally Posted by 1michele

Hi Mary,
I am a single mom of three with one in college and one getting ready to go. I am always clipping coupons and shopping clearance at Target for teen clothing. I try to save some each month but don't seem to have the saavy to really invest well. I was wondering what tips you might have for a teacher income?
Michele

Hi Michele, I can so identify with you having been a single mom, and having taught middle school for ten years, I do know about that sometimes-skimpy paycheck!

Even thgough money's extra tight this year for most of us, it's also a terrific time for clothes bargains. I noticed just last week that Amazon was having a huge clearance of Children's Place clothing, and when I check the nearby Carter;s, OshGosh and Gap outlets, they're almost giving stuff away it seems.

As I always advocate when kids, spending and saving are mentioned in the same sentence, I hope those kids - no matter how young or old - are fully involved, on-board with both the budget and the shopping. IF you want kids to get the clothes they really want and be truly tight-fisted about it, give them whatever money you can afford, say "That's all there is so make it go as far as you can," and then sit back. Oh, how very careful they can become.

Let's start with what usually happens with the back-to-school shopping scene. If you actually pick out and buy something for them, be prepared for the Big Sigh. Then if they're shopping with you, there's the begging, the guilt, the overspending. When they know that there is a hard-and-fast dollar limit, you can say, "Well, it's up to you. You can afford those two pieces or that one item, but you probably don't have enough for both. And no, we can't add any more money to the pot. Period." It depersonalizes the yea-or-nay of the buying decision, takes it right out of the child-mom-arguing realm, and forces much more considered decision-making on a kid's part. It teaches the very valuable lesson of weighing options, alternatives.

I strongly recommend that each youngster buy only one new set of clothes or whatever new item they want before the first day of school. The start of school is usually warm enough to get away with last spring's or their summer clothes for a few weeks, giving them time to scope out what others are wearing this year, what persona they want to present, and time for the clothing sales to get really serious. A win-win all around instead of stocking up before school starts, finding that some items just won't do, or some other piece of clothing is now totally de rigueur.

Finally, expand your - and even more critical - your kids' - shopping to include thrift stores of every stripe from Goodwill and the Salvation Army to church and civic group thrift stores to consignment shops both for adults and children, stores where you may buy top-quality clothing at great savings, or even sell a few pieces yourself. My personal philosophy on buying kids' clothing - good quality, good condition clothing - from a thrift store is that after the kids have worn it once, it looks second-hand anyway! AND, and this is really important, every single thrift store I've checked lately has had racks and racks of brand-new, brand-name, tags-still-on clothing, reflecting the drastic slowdown regular retailers are facing.

Clothing is one area of family finances that truly can see substantial savings. You can make that happen!