Speaking of frugal versus uncluttered

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Speaking of frugal versus uncluttered

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Started 1 year ago by Irulan
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Irulan
Member

I came across this guest post on the Get Rich Slowly blog by Donna Freedman about stockpiling food as a hedge against price inflation, and it reminded me of the discussion we had a few weeks ago about the occasional conflict between frugal and uncluttered behaviors:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/02/02/fight-rising-prices-by-building-your-own-food-bank/

The article itself isn't bad, although I don't think it would really be that much of a help regarding rising food prices. It's the practical implications of the stockpiling that bother me - in the comments, Donna mentions that she keeps a chest freezer in her bedroom, because that's the only place it will fit in her small apartment. For me, having to look at something like that invading my private space every day when I wake up would be incredibly stressful, and not worth the money saved.

What do you all think of the article?

Posted 1 year ago #
cjhaab
Member

In most aspects this strategy is a good one. But I would emphasize the word "strategy." Seems that if a person kept on top of this system and was very diligent about buying what the family really uses, rotate the stock and not get to a point of taking up so much storage room that it impedes the rest of daily life, it could be a good thing.

Keeping a stock of pantry and fridge items that go in various menus that I make helps me use sale items and make healthy meals that don't get boring. Even though these items (chopped green chilies, favorite sauces, good black olives, feta cheese, oils, nuts, etc.) aren't econo-food like beans and pasta, they come in handy to spice up the basics and make it fun to cook.

My opinion is the success of this idea would depend also on good meal planning so that you are using and enjoying the food you get at a good price, and have a good storage system.

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

(havent read the article yet, will later.) not to mention the sound clutter... there is a reason why i am investigating even decibel amounts when checking tech specs on kitchen gear for a studio apartment! a monstrosity like that would never ever be frugal enough for me to let it into my current home. i would rather shop every day then.

Posted 1 year ago #
cjhaab
Member

I do have a smallish upright freezer so I always can buy meat on sale and freeze leftovers. BUT I have labeled tubs for various categories in the freezer (beef, pork/ham/sausage, chicken) and am religious about labeling leftovers including ingredients and date.

Leftovers are generally packed in ziplocks, plastic containers, or aluminum disposable bakeware covered with foil. My method of labeling is to cut a piece of paper off a notepad (about 1x2 or 3 inches, depending on how long the name is), plainly print the food item (such as "sausage/cheese pasta" or "chicken veggies - serve with noodles") and date with pen, and tape it to the item with scotch tape, completely covering the paper with tape. This way the label won't fall off or get smeared.

I also use scotch tape to reclose plastic bags of frozen veggies. Keep your tape, pen, notepad and scissors near the freezer and it will be easy to do this. It even makes them more attractive to pull out and use later if your notepad is colorful or has flowers!

Posted 1 year ago #
Irulan
Member

Wow, cjhaab, you have this down to a science! You definitely have a good point about being careful to actually use what you buy.

@ninakk, I hadn't even though of the sound problem, but it's so true! My fridge sounds like a dying animal when the motor starts, I'd hate to have to deal with that right next to my head when I'm trying to sleep.

Posted 1 year ago #
jbeany
Member

I don't know about stock-piling frozen items as a money saver, though. Too easy to lose power and several hundred dollars worth of meat, etc. With a huge freezer full, there's no way you can cook or eat enough of it in time to keep it all from spoiling. Canned goods, if you have the room for them, are a good idea, but I'm not so sure about things that spoil when accidentally thawed or suffer from freezer burn if you aren't completely on top of the rotation system. Plus, in order to really make this frugal, you have to be doing the coupon game as well. I don't always have the time or energy for that.

Posted 1 year ago #
susanintexas
Member

I think it's a mistake to invest, as suggested, based on vague predictions that may not come to pass. For most people, the best food investment they could make is to learn how to cook real food. Most Americans eat the MAJORITY of their food prepared by someone else (restaurant, take out, frozen meals) which is less nutritious and more expensive. Most people would also be far better off putting the money in the bank and establishing an emergency fund to meet ANY crisis, not just a modest rise in food prices.

Posted 1 year ago #
cjhaab
Member

@susan, that is a really good way to look at it. Invest in the skills to cook and eat real food, learn to shop wisely and keep track of your kitchen routines and supplies. Keeping an available, but not overly cumbersome, stock of ingredients by thrifty shopping helps people eat well at home, don't you think?

I've worked the freezer food routines into my life partly because I don't like to grocery shop much, so I can shop every month or so, get a good supply of meats and veggies so I can cook good meals with not so much effort. When I have leftovers I can economize by freezing them and using them when I run out of time or ideas to cook. It does take work to develop these organized habits - maybe years!

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

Heh, I was just over there talking about how I try to empty our chest freezer by February 28 every year, so it's not just a repository for mystery food we won't really eat.

I can & dry a lot of food in the fall, though, so some parts of the year we look like we're ready for the zombie apocalypse. Have to balance that out in February-March-April.

Posted 1 year ago #
SunshineR
Member

Rosa: just asking, out of curiosity, what kinds of food(s) do you dry? I wouldn't mind dried fruits...just considering whether I'd like to try drying foods, but I'm not much of a gardener.

Posted 1 year ago #
nws2002
Member

My mom did this for years, and I guess with five children she had to.

The thought of keeping up with sales, coupons, and rotating stock is overwhelming to me though. Plus I doubt the amount I would save as a single guy would be worth the effort, now if you have a large family it might be worthwhile, or even necessary.

We are in the middle of huge amount of now right now. So maybe I should rethink that stockpiling strategy, because I spent $150 at the grocery store two days ago to make sure I had food in the house. Usually I go shopping every couple of days.

Posted 1 year ago #
Parsifal
Member

I think the main benefit to being over-prepared like this is psychological. Don't get me wrong, I think very different times are in store for us as globalization and declining natural resources change our world. I'm a big believer in stockpiling durable items of intrinsic value so I'll be set when the hard times arrive. Still, remember all those back yard bomb shelters people built in the 50s. I wonder how many hundreds of tons of food rotted underground in the midwest, unused and forgotten. It's nice to feel secure, but don't make yourself crazy preparing for a crisis that might never come. In my mind, a freezer full of beef in the bedroom is a little too much.

P.S. Maybe I resist this idea because I'm related to at least two legitimate hoarders...

Posted 1 year ago #
DonnaFreedman
Member

Hello,
Found your site thanks to Google Alerts. Just to clarify:
I have a 5.5-cubic foot freezer.
My power bill was not noticeably affected; I pay $11 to $22 a month, depending on the season (I have electric heat) -- and I pay at a higher rate on purpose, to support windmill-generated electricity and a fund for people who can't afford their electric bills. Seriously: It isn't costing me much.
I got accustomed to the sounds fairly quickly. It clicks and hums every so often.
Fortunately we have never had a power failure in the six years I've lived in this area. When I lived in Alaska there would be occasional power failures, but they generally lasted no longer than an hour or so. Your food won't thaw out in that short a time if you leave it closed.
I have never forgotten food and wound up with freezer burn.
It's a great place to store all those free blackberries that I pick. :-)
Obviously people should do what works for them. This is what works for me.

Posted 1 year ago #
Jude2004
Member

I donated my freezer to a local food bank and cut my electricity bill by $40.00 a month.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

SunshineR - I dry a lot of zucchini and summer squash, kale, any soft fruit I get from the scratch and dent (peaches especially), lots and lots and lots of apples - I think the year I actually tracked it was 5 bushels? I aim for 100 pint jars of apple rings - and random lots of things made into fruit leather, especially sour things like local plums or crabapples.

I don't dry tomatos or bananas, even though they dry well we don't like them dried. In the past I dried winter squash rings for soup thickeners, but the last few years I've just been storing winter squash in the pantry as-is.

I basically only can tomatos, jellies, apple butter, and applesauce these days, and freeze corn and shredded zucchini.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

Oh, also some things I do both - like when mulberries are ripe it's really hot, so I drop them in the freezer and pull them out to dry into fruit leather in November. Lots of small fruits I do like that. Grapes when we can get them, especially - nobody wants to make jam in August.

Posted 1 year ago #
Irulan
Member

Thanks for the clarification, Donna. Just wondering, does the small freezer heat up your bedroom? That probably wouldn't be a concern in Alaska, but I can imagine even a relatively small device making a small bedroom uncomfortable pretty quickly.

I do recognize that you were not promoting this as a one-size-fits-all suggestion, and I didn't intend for my initial post to come out that way, sorry. Your GRS post just reminded me of a discussion that we had here a couple of months ago:
http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/uncluttering-vs-frugality

@Parsifal, I think you're right that the benefit for many people is psychological. It seems like a lot of people who stockpile food do so for the same reasons that people generally keep items - a sense of scarcity. Concerns about environmental or economic collapse seem an order of magnitude different from more mundane worries about inflation or just a tight food budget, though I can see how all of those could result in food stockpiling.

Posted 1 year ago #
chacha1
Member

Frankly, I need to stockpile a little more food just so that I won't have to resort to calling for takeout quite so often. I was doing really well for a while when we were a little short of income! Then we got not broke, and I backslid.

To me this is really one of those balance things. Is it supremely uncluttered to have only what you need for a specified period of time under normal conditions? Yes. But then conditions can so easily become not-normal, or the time can unpredictably get away from you, and there's a missing ingredient, and you call for takeout.

Much more *mentally* uncluttered, I think, to build some uncertainty into the kitchen-stocking plan, make room for "extra," and buy it when the opportunity arises so that there is less likelihood of resorting to extra trips or, you know, takeout. :-)

Posted 1 year ago #
Irulan
Member

Absolutely, chacha1. It definitely makes sense to keep some extra stock on hand, especially when less-healthy and expensive temptations are around. I guess it's more of where do you draw the line between enough to keep the delivery man away and expired-five-years ago ice cream bars? Not that my husband found those in my parents' basement chest freezer or anything.

Posted 1 year ago #
SunshineR
Member

Rosa: thanks for the food-drying info. You would have loved my mom and grandma. They canned lots of food, and I don't know how, but they made jam and jelly in the summers.

Imho, I tried to freeze zucchini and it came out very watery. What kinds of things do you use it for? Soups, nut breads?

Posted 1 year ago #

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