I thought I would hold off in making a post, in the hopes that things would change a bit. The only change was the sun has been out for most of the day, so the solar heat is keeping the house pretty warm. Still beyond freezing outside, not fit for man or beast really.
Harvey went out and did a tiny bit of shoveling. He cleaned off the steps and the walk between the the car shelter and house. Came back in and was out of breath, he said the cold really caught a person off guard.
So that means another day of inside chores and projects. I finished decluttering all my shoes. Since I don't wear heels any longer most hit the donation bag. Now I am wondering where on earth I got all those shoes!!!! Once the weather changes I will be dropping those off and hopefully will have another bag of items to take as well.
In my quest not to waste anything I am using Christmas bags for the donations, and then the second hand store can even sell the bags (as long as they do not rip).
Managed to finish one project for the month today. I zig zagged all the edges of the squares I cut, and located those I had cut at the beginning of the pandemic. These will all be put to use next month as a frugal living project.
I have also decided to try and do something that our youngest son does when I send a loaf of homemade bread home with him. That will be my second hopefully frugal project for next month.
I have a question. Has anyone made reusable cloth towels (you know those that take the place of paper towels)? I am thinking that those could be one of my frugal projects for one of the upcoming months. I am really trying to get more reusables here to lower my carbon footprint this year.
The cold will be staying with us for a few more days, so I hope to get a few more small projects completed and share some pictures with you next week.
I might have to redo or at least rethink my menus for the rest of this month and the beginning of next month. Things are once again adding up in the fridge freezer, especially as I added bran and pumpkin muffins to the mix.
Whoever said simple, frugal living was easy was way off the mark.
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
Inside is a good place to be when it's that cold. We had another blizzard-like snow pass through this afternoon but it didn't last, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteIt warmed slightly here, with a high of about -30C and the windchill dropped too, into the -40's. But I didn't go out and test how it felt. That can wait until Tuesday at the earliest.
ReplyDeleteI've not even heard of cloth replacements for paper towels. Would terry cloth work for something like that, I wonder?
Stay warm!
I just use old dishclothes, and thank goodness I had a ton of them the other day when I knocked a full bottle of maple syrup over, that I had just taken the lid off!! It was all over the counter, down the cupboards, all over the floor, splashed on my pants and slippers and spread under the coffee maker and splashed all over the knife block and knives. The air was a little blue from me!!
ReplyDeleteOn the matter of reusable towels - I ended up buying a bundle of super cheap white washcloths. I fold them and place them in a basket on my kitchen counter - they don't work for everything, but for most messes these are really handy - I just wash a reuse.
ReplyDeleteAlot of folks buy shop towels. Others cut a bath towel into quarters and serge or zigzag the raw edges. Either way it saves trees over time. A cousin bleaches them all monthly.
ReplyDeleteThis cold seems to be about everywhere these days! We didn't get above 0 F today and just barely did yesterday. They are predicting this whole week to be like this so I'll be working indoors as well.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made the reusable towels but like many others I do keep a large "rag bag" for cleaning, etc. It is filled with worn out bath and kitchen towels that are still useful for cleaning around the house. I guess that's not the same thing but they sure do cut down on the number of paper towels I use.
That’s good you have solar. We had looked into that but they wanted to cut down our trees and my dad had planted those trees. So we did other things like replace our windows, new roof that is energy efficient and new appliances. That was a big and expensive year for us.
ReplyDeleteYou know more than I do what it takes to keep warm in those cold temperatures. I’m almost embarrassed to say, our low was 43 degrees and I just can’t get warm. Wearing leggings and have a blanket over me - it must be old age! 😊
Stay in and stay warm - you are correct, not fit for man nor beast.
ReplyDeletePaperless towels at my house are just rags. I cut up old t-shirts and use them. I would think terry cloth would be good as well. I keep a lot of cheap dark colored washcloths in my kitchen drawer and use them for messy stuff too - they wash nicely and don't show stains!
No being frugal isn't easy - but it is worth it. Kind of becomes second nature after a while.
STAY WARM!
I shoveled the front porch and path on Saturday and then we got a bit more snow on Saturday night. It's so cold that I'm rethinking going out today. None of my errands are pressing, so it might be best to just stay home today.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested to learn about your homemade bread project! Stay safe & warm!
I have made and sold the reusable "Paper towels," out of flannel and toweling, I personally don't use them myself, but other folk seem to like them. It's bitter cold here (Monday) and will be all week. Stay warm.
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