Category Archives: Saving Money & Personal Finance

Tips on saving money, spending money wisely, personal finance and more. #TexasHomesteader

5 Frugal Things This Week to Save Money – Junk Food, Multi-Tasking, Homemade Gift

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

In order to both live as well as work here on our beloved homestead, RancherMan & I have to be very careful with our money.  Oh sure we could just give up on our dream & go back to the corporate world.  Then we’d have as much money rolling in as we used to!  But that’s not our life and it’s not our dream.  And the beautiful thing is that it’s not even a sacrifice to us to be mindful of where our money goes if it means we get to live a life that’s true to our hearts!

I know many of you are also mindful of your finances and my hope is this post about 5 frugal things this week gives you some encouragement.  Let’s dive in!

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Homestead Hack: Use All Of Your Spray Cleaner

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by Texas Homesteader ~

Cleaning – we’ve all gotta do it #amiright??!! My favorite cleaner is much simplified from my younger days. 

Back  then I’d prance down the highly-scented cleaning aisle picking up whichever cleaner spray had the most eye-catching label.

But I recently wrote about how cleaning has become complicated.  So my cleaner of choice these days is a repurposed spray bottle with soap & water. 

Yep, soap & water! Cheap and effective.

But sometimes when I’m using that cleaning spray and I’m closer to the bottom of the mixture I have a hard time getting it to spray. 

I mean, when you tilt that bottle and the spray nozzle attachment doesn’t reach all the way into the cleaner, whaddya do?

Oh I’m so glad you asked. Check out this homestead hack, y’all.

When I get to the bottom of the cleaning spray bottle I have a hard time getting it to spray. Check out this easy HOMESTEAD HACK! #TexasHomesteader Continue reading →

5 Frugal Things This Week – Food Preservation, Special Bread, Gift Idea

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by Texas Homesteader ~

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RancherMan & I love this life we live in our little piece of NE Texas paradise. Oh it’s true we work many more hours than we ever did when we were corporately employed, but our hours are  our own.  It’s our decision what to plant in the garden or when we will wean the calves.  It’s our decision whether to take up beekeeping or to plant winter pastures.  The success and failure of this life we love is determined by our hard work, the weather and sometimes sheer luck.  Being self employed is like that.   But being self employed also means we no longer have that cushy salary and basketful of benefits.  It’s a sacrifice we’re both more than happy to make.

One of the things that makes this life possible even with much less income is being very mindful of our expenses.  Oh I’m not saying we don’t spend money and that when we do we don’t strive to buy the best quality we can afford.  But small leaks sink great ships.  So I’m mindful of those small leaks.  Here are 5 frugal things we did this week.

Small leaks sink great ships. Come see the 5 Frugal Things we incorporated this week to make this life we love possible. #TexasHomesteader

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How We Save Seeds To Save Money On The Homestead

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by Texas Homesteader ~

I have to have a garden every year. It’s just in my blood. My hands must be in the dirt, coaxing that young tender plant. The payoff is of course that home-grown produce to nourish our bodies. Healthy produce picked right before supper. Produce that I’m able to preserve for colder months, and share with others around me with my weekly #BlessingBasket.

I try to only grow heirloom plants in my garden. One of the main reasons behind this is so that I can save the seed to plant each and every year. You see, saving hybrid seed might not be productive. That’s because hybrid seed may not come back true to the mother plant the next year. But heirloom seed will!  You know exactly what you’re gonna get with heirloom seeds. Come see how I carefully put back that precious seed in anticipation of next year’s bounty.

I save garden veggie seed to plant each year. Come see how I put back that precious seed in anticipation of next year's bounty. #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: How To Keep Track Of Gift Card Balances

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Maybe you’ve received a gift card recently and are anxious to put it to good use. But how often do you use the entire value of a gift card the very first time you use it? Not often, right?

RancherMan’s discovered an easy way to keep track of the balances for gift cards.  Check out today’s Homestead Hack.

Easily keeping track of gift card value balances. #TexasHomesteader

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Credit Card Match, Free Garden Mulch, Travel Discounts, etc.

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RancherMan & I are self employed. As any self-employed person knows, the toils are more meaningful but c’mon it’s true – the time requirement is much higher & the income is much less. We’re both very frugal minded though, and that helps bunches. We’re mindful of ways to save money (and even more importantly ways not to waste money).

Having this mindset allows us to live & work right here living a life that speaks to our hearts because our income requirement stays low. It’s just a state of mind, y’all! Come see 5 Frugal Things we did this week to save money.

Come see 5 Frugal Things (and even MORE) that we did at the Taylor Household this week to save money. #TexasHomesteader

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4 Easy Ways We Reuse Bacon Grease To Save Money & Add Flavor

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by Texas Homesteader ~ 

We don’t use bacon grease every day but it’s still a budget saver in my kitchen. Much flavor is added to typical staples too.

Here are 4 very important ways I’m able to use bacon grease in various ways to save money in my Homestead kitchen. 

We don't use bacon grease every day but it's still a budget saver in my kitchen. Much flavor is added to typical staples too #TexasHomesteader

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5 Frugal Things To Save Money This Week: Crappy Fridge Edition!

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by Texas Homesteader ~

RancherMan & I purchased all Frigidaire appliances when we outfitted our ranch kitchen.  The constant repairs on our Frigidaire microwave have been frustrating.  But more frustrating still is our crappy Frigidaire side-by-side refrigerator.  It’s by far the loudest appliance in our home with visitors stopping to listen and asking “Is that your fridge??!” It required repair while it was still under its limited warranty, then after the warranty we’ve had to repair it several times.  The condenser fan went out, the water line developed a pinhole leak and needed repair,  the ice maker died, the water line to the dispenser came loose and made a flooding mess.  But this time it’s a more expensive fix, apparently the main circuit control board is shot.  This fridge lasted only 7 years y’all, and that was with many, MANY repairs.  Frigidaire? Never again for us!

It was an expensive week for sure but we were able to find many ways to save a little cash. So c’mon down, let’s play the Crappy Fridge Edition of “5 Frugal Things to Save Money This Week”!

Her crappy Frigidaire refrigerator dies after only 7 yrs. An expensive replacement for sure but come see ways they were able to save! #TexasHomesteader

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