Money Saving Tips (add yours)

[Guest]

I hope this thread helps people share various tips and ideas on how to save money in the coming hard times .

[Guest]

I'll kick it off with this one.

I stopped buying and using shaving cream.
I started shaving with Coconut oil instead. I am sure any cooking oil will work, but the amazing thing, is that now my razor's have many more uses.
I have a very heavy tuff beard and now my razors last over a month.

My theory is that since shaving cream is a soap product, it is basic and chemically dulls razors.

My wife absolutely loves shaving her legs this way. even though she is Chinese and her hair is imperceivable to the human eye.

[Devany]

That is a great idea! Do you buy your coconut oil at the Pahoa Farmer's Market from the Kava Guy? That is the only place I have seen it produced from local coconuts.

I will add... shop at farmer's markets and if you grow your own find ways to barter. I also don't buy many things that are processed. If I can get it fresh, I do. If I can make it myself, I do.

I think that this is a great thread and I am looking forward to what others have to say. One thing I would like to do as soon as we are on the island is get some chickens. I do not want to eat them, but would like some fresh eggs. BUT I know nothing about how to go about this. We have one acre of land directly on the ocean. We also have several decks/lanais that my husband is concerned about the chickens "pooping on". We have a large area under the house that we could provide nesting boxes, but I would like them to be "free range" if we can keep them off of the lanai's. I loved the fluffy chickens that we saw at the sustainable fair in Hilo in November. They are sold by a guy in Puna. They are really friendly and are nesters, even on other fowl's eggs. Anyone have more input on chickens???

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com

[Guest]

No, I buy mine in 5 gallon buckets from Shay and Co out of Portland Oregon.
I smear it on everything,
http://www.shayandcompany.com/coconut-oil/
the price has double since last year, I used to get it for 40 +shipping

We cook with it also.

[Guest]

I plan on having ducks instead of chickens. If you have domesticated chickens, they will expect you feed them where ducks tend to be better foragers.
They say the trick is, to have Khki Cambells for eggs (ave 300 per year_ and raise Muskovy ducks for meat and they will set the K. Cambell eggs.

The whole thing for me is not having a feed bill, for my family or my livestock.
But if I do have Chickens the will be a low maintenance breed.
I raised chickens and turkeys when I was a kid. if it wasn't fowl pox, it was coccidiosis.

Rabbits are another great way to raise protean cheaply.

[dcl]

Local chicken group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hawaiichickens/

I do well with mine free ranging during the day, we don't need alot of feed as they scratch through everything eating the bugs and centipedes, I have RIR,barred rocks, Aracaunas (easter eggers) that are doing very well on this diet. They do have a bed to go to at night. The eggs are wonderful.

[Guest]

DCL,
I have an idea to run a bug zapper in the coop for a few hours in the evening.
I wish you try that and prove a theory of mine.
I figure it would add quit a few high-pro calories for cheap.

Cause some severe orange yolks.

[JWFITZ]

I fed my chickens enough growth hormone that now they feed primarily on feral cats and stray dogs.

Kidding, of course. But not a bad idea perhaps. . .

[pslamont]

When shopping for meats at Safeway, note that they do a weird thing... sorta. Two factors involved.

#1, they know that 80% of east Hawaii is on food stamps. Those come out between the 3rd and 7th of the month, so prices are highest until around the 10th or so. Most food stamp users "spend" their foodstamps pretty quickly.

#2, they have to order their meat orders from the mainland 6 weeks in advance, so they "guess" at what they will need. There are huge freezers in the back, so when a whole shipment of chicken is coming in, chicken goes on sale at 1/2 price to clear out the freezers for the new order. Same with all other meat cuts.

Generally, sometime after the 10th or 12th you will find 1/2 price stickers on one type of meat or another, especially in the end caps of the meat freezer. The whole chickens go on sale, for example, for around $4 - 4.50 each. I stock up with ten or so to last me the month. Same with roasts, steaks, etc...just keep an eye and have a little freezer space.

[Hotzcatz]

My friend hatched out a lot of mixed breed chicks several weeks ago and still has a few left if anyone wants some nice Christmas chickens. They are a mix of egg laying breeds. They are about six weeks old now and she's asking $6 or so for them unless you get them in groups.

The Silky hens that look like moving feather boas are good for setting on eggs, I'm not sure if they lay that well, though. They are a banty chicken so they aren't that large.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/c...hooks.html that's a link to a comparison of many breeds of chicken.

For saving money? Yard sales! Never pay retail if you can help it! Otherwise, make your own - whatever it is, see if you can make it yourself. We are eating as low on the food chain as possible, next step is grinding grain for bread instead of buying that indulgent pre-ground grain called flour. Dunno if we are going to be able to grow grains, though.

Hydroponic vegetables and gardens help lower the vegetable bills. Learn to butcher. We have more meat than we know what to do with most times between too many roosters and wild pigs digging up the neighbor's lawns. This week there is a plethora of bananas. Avocados fall from the trees, guavas, lillikoi, etc., fall from the trees.

Buy in bulk and buy with a food co-op if you can. Trade for things instead of pay cash.

If it costs money immediately gasp and say "NO! That costs money!" then talk yourself into it if you really need it. If you can, buy it next week. Many times you will find that you didn't need it after all. Also, to save money, stay out of town.

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"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson