What Can be More Frugal than being Prepared?

What can be more frugal than being prepared? What if you need to go to a new dentist and you can’t find your membership number, and authorization telephone number, for your dental insurance or discount plan? What if you need to pick up a part time job and you can’t find the documents you need to get authorized to work the job?

Or worse, what if the grid goes down and you can’t just look things up on the internet? Some years back, one of my sons used to tease me about my preps, saying that I was preparing for the grid to go down. I used to smile, and tell him that wasn’t what I was preparing for, that it had never even occurred to me that the “grid” would go down. That was true, but more recently it has definitely occurred to me. But I don’t see it as all or nothing!

Remember that day last July when Microsoft went down for a day for many businesses? I had a doctor’s appointment already scheduled for that day. The doctor’s office called me and told me to go to urgent care instead. Patient First had a different system, and was still up and running. But what if some systems went down and lasted longer than a day?

We can’t control if or when a system might go down, but we can make sure we have access to as much information as possible that we might need. So, while I do have digital “everything”, I think we also need to consider what my son used to tease me about: “What if the grid goes down?” But let’s not panic. “Grid down” doesn’t have to mean universal or even widespread. But what if – like July 19, 2024 - some part of the grid goes down for some limited period of time?

As individuals, we wouldn’t be able to solve all the problems. But what if, instead of relying on everything digital, we have paper copies of some of the information and documents we might need? That’s all I’m saying. As we prepare for winter, let’s take a bit of time to get our paper houses in order. And I’m talking to myself as well as everyone else, as I need to “up my game” in this area.

So, here are some questions:

Do you know where your ID documents are? Sure, your driver’s license or state ID is in your wallet. But if you have a passport, do you know where it is? Is it up to date? How about your birth certificate?

What about educational documents? Recently, I heard of someone scrambling to get a high school diploma for a job (even though they had been to college and had the college documents). If you still have a copy of your high school diploma, you might want to keep it. If you have been to college, do you have a copy of the transcript?

Here’s one I’ve fallen behind on myself: For financial institutions and bills, do we have the phone numbers and addresses? These are things we used to have before everything became so easy on the internet. If we have access to a computer and printer, we might make keeping this information as fancy as spreadsheets put into a binder. But we could also use a spiral notebook or loose sheets of paper in a folder.

And recently, probably since July’s outage made me more aware, I’ve been trying to keep my latest monthly statement for loans, such as the mortgage, the loan for the roof, and such as that in a safe place. That way, if I ever needed to, I could prove that this amount has already been paid.

If you don’t have a will, I highly recommend it. A will made with an attorney is probably safest, but if you can’t afford it, there are ways to make your own.

Also, on the subject of wills, if you have step-children, please make sure you have wills set up so that your money goes to whom you want it to, regardless of who dies first. My mother died before my step-father, and he died a few years later without a will. So, the house they had bought with my mom’s inheritance from her parents, and with her hard work, went to his nieces and nephews who, to my knowledge, he had had no contact with for years, possibly decades. It’s just the way it works if there is no will!

You might be able to think of other documents you might want to have in print. These are just ideas.

God bless, and be safe.

Crock Pot Lentil Stew with Cabbage and Green Beans

For years, I have been trying to make a vegetarian lentil stew which I will actually like. This is finally it! Yum!

Crock Pot Lentil Stew with Cabbage and Green Beans

Servings: 4 or 5

I used a 4 quart crock pot. A 6 quart would probably work fine too.

Ingredients:
1 cup of lentils
½ white onion or 1 cup, diced
1 or 2 teaspoons oil (to use to sauté the onion)

1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
4-6 ounces or 2 to 2 ½ cups green cabbage, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) of green beans, drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Soak lentils for about an hour.
Rinse lentils to remove any debris.
Put lentils in a pot (not the crock pot) on the stove, and cover with water (to about double or so).
Bring the water to a boil, then simmer about 10-20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Drain. Add the lentils to the crock pot.

In the meantime, put a teaspoon or two of oil in a small heavy pan.
Sauté the chopped onions until translucent.
When done, add the onions to the crockpot.

Add the other ingredients to the crock pot and stir.
Cook on Low for 6 hours.
Stir, taste, and serve.

 

 

Repairing Clothing without Sewing

Would you like to save money on clothes without actually sewing? Although I sew a lot, here are three of the things I do without sewing. 

 

1. I recently discovered a new-to-me trick: Using Pellon Fusible Knit Interfacing to mend a tear or a small hole. No sewing required. You just work on the underside, bring the edges together the way you want them, put a press cloth on it, and iron according to the instructions which come with the interfacing, just a matter of seconds. In the case of my husband's flannel shirt, the tear was not small, and the repair was not completely invisible, but it also is not very noticeable. Here's how it looks on the right side. Can you find the repaired tear? 

2. Do you or your family ever get oily stains on clothing, say a Chapstick went through the dryer in a pocket, or you spilled some cooking oil?  What I've often found works for this is soaking the item in  hot water (or the warmest water that is safe for the particular fabric) with Oxi-Clean powdered stain remover. Then I wash it normally and check it before putting in the dryer. If the stain is less but still there, I might want to try soaking it again. The dryer tends to set stains, so whenever possible, it's best to catch stains before they can go in the dryer.

3. Another way to keep clothing usable without sewing is to pay someone else to sew. Even though I love to sew, there are things I would rather have someone else do. I have found it quite reasonable to pay someone to replace a zipper on a jacket or replace a button on a more formal dress coat. I just go to our mom-and-pop-type neighborhood dry cleaners, and they are happy to help. I have used these services in different neighborhoods in different eras of my life. 

You can save a lot of money on keeping clothing usable and presentable without even threading a needle. 

Patching Jeans in Style

I love making things last as long as possible. Here's a pair of jeans which were past their prime. In other words, they had holes in them. Ripped jeans are not my style, so I went to work. 

First I patched them on the inside of the legs. Then I darned, thinking that would do the trick. But even with the inside patches to add some fabric to darn to, the darning didn't last. So...I cut out these brown and black patches which I had leftover from fabric quarters from when I was making masks several years ago. 

I cut out the patches and hemmed the edges of each patch, using the sewing machine. Then I sewed the patches on by hand, using a piece of cardboard inside the pants leg so I wouldn't sew the leg shut. 

This was a lot of work for something that is wearing thin in other places. But I did most of the work while talking on the phone or watching TV with hubby. So there wasn't much opportunity cost. 

Six Frugal Mending Tips

Would you like to save a lot of money on clothes? Here are some of the ways I do this with a little frugal prepping and mending. See if any of these might be helpful for you.  

One: When a shirt or a pair of pants is no longer in wearable condition, you can remove any buttons and set them aside. If you have a matched set of buttons, put them in a small container or baggie. Then look for fabric in the shirt or pants which isn’t worn out which you might want to use for patches or other projects in the future. For example, the back of a shirt might have lots of good life, while a sleeve might be worn thin. Fabric which is worn out can often be used as rags.

Two: If you lose one button from a shirt - not just that it comes off, but you actually don't have it - the first thing you might want to do is consider whether you can move one button from somewhere else on the shirt. Is there an extra sewn on in a hidden place? Is there a bottom or top button which you never use? Moving one button is easier than replacing a whole set. But if you need to replace all the buttons, even if you have to buy them, it might sometimes be cheaper than replacing the garment. If you have sets of buttons in your stash, you can first look through those. In either case, you will want to make sure the buttons are the same size as the originals before you begin your project.

Three: When you replace a whole set of buttons on a wearable shirt, if you have an extra button, you might want to sew it to the back of the bottom of the button placket. There are two reasons for this: It will be there if you need it. And also, a shirt will usually wear out before the buttons do, and when that time comes, you will have all these matched buttons together in one place which you can set aside for yet another item or project.

Four: If you make patches for your clothing, choose a fabric that is either the same weight as the garment you are mending or a slightly lighter weight than the garment. You might use scraps leftover from sewing projects or you might use recycled fabric from your old garments. If using recycled fabric from previously worn items, check the integrity of the cloth. Cut the patches a little bigger than what you need to cover. Then hem the edges, either by hand or using a sewing machine.

Five: When you’re darning or patching a pant leg or sleeve, put a piece of cardboard inside the leg or sleeve where you are working, and check periodically that it’s still where you need it so you won’t sew the leg or sleeve shut. You can cut a piece of cardboard to the size you need from something like a cereal box or a pasta box. Or you can even use an old, small gift bag.

Six: If you must do your hand sewing with black on black, unless you have a special sewing light, you might want to schedule it for a time when you can have sun over your shoulder, or at least work in daylight.

Save money, save resources, and most of all, have fun!