Creativity is rarely tidy... I thought i'd share a couple of pics in my journey into making belts from upcycled items and my own knitting. Turns out i can knit with almost anything. I am almost done another belt....this time i am repurposing an old plastic buckle from a weathered life jacket. The life jacket is old and the kids have outgrown it. But the buckle still works great. So i cut off two buckles. I knit the rest of the belt from fake leather string. Then i sewed the knitted belt onto the plastic buckles. I am using Testors enamel paint to bring a matching color to the buckle. Now I'm ..read more

  Hi Frugalistas! Even if you don't celebrate Halloween...you can still celebrate God's abundance through the splendor of the pumpkins that are everywhere. What are some of the things u can do with those pumpkins?  You can remove those raw seeds and fry them up in oil with a sprinkle of salt...simply delish! I recently started my own indoor worm farm and i hear that worms like pumpkin...so i hope that some can be saved for those critters to nibble. If i had an outdoor composter that was rodent proof i would probably try to compost as many pumpkins as i could....once the parties are d ..read more

  It's wild apple season now in Ontario...just north of Toronto. Apples alongside the country roads are ripe for the picking. I have a bit of an obsession with local foods. There's a theory that the local natural foods are engineered by God to best feed the local humans. Do you agree?  Anyway, there are  a cute little addition to my juice machine. Do you collect any natural foods from your surroundings? I suppose the technical term is called "foraging".  In case you are interested in connecting with some local foragers you may want to check out the website recommended by R ..read more

  Hi Frugalistas! You  really don't have to spend a wack load of cash to help get your digestive tract moving better. Let's face it....there is a HUGE market for packaged products that promise to help keep the digestive flowing as it should. But oy vey....the price tags can be quite annoying! And so, I thought I would snap a photo of my latest best concoction that has a quick digestion moving response ( at least in my experience).  It's about firing up the ole juicer and adding four simple and pretty low cost ingredients...By the way, none of the items are organic, so no added ..read more

This young man has his frugal bugle sounding loud. I must admit that I am quite impressed. His frugality has not impeded his ability to be upwardly mobile in his career. Well done Graham! Well, I'm Canadian, born and bred, so I wanted to compare his Cheapo Breakfast suggestions according to how I would shop for similar items here in Ontario. So here goes: (prices below are posted in Canadian funds) 6 bagels: $2.98 1 brick of cream cheese: $2.27 Turkey slices in sealed deli pouch 5.00 12 large eggs: $2.74 per carton 400 gram Cheese Bar $5.77 So, if I take Graham's suggestions a ..read more

So ...I chose the cheapskate cleanse route. i  didn't want to go buy some fancy packaged cleanse health program from my local expensive health food shop. So i did what an ardent frugalista would do...and created my own juice cleanse from stuff i already have or can buy easily. I have an old Jack Lalanne juicer that still works like a dream. i also have or can easily buy basic fresh fruits and veggies  such as beets, carrots, apples, celery or cucumbers.  Sooooo....roll tape ahead. After a few weeks of regular raw juicing....Voila....in addition to the amazing health benefits ..read more

Sometimes I think folks whine too much....that the higher quality things are not available to them, when actually they are right there ...within arms reach....and at incredibly cheap or entirely free prices. For example, this legendary book.... "Security Analysis"  (yes, pls note that it has had many new editions produced over the years) is touted by many, even Warren Buffett, as a valuable learning tool for retail or professional investors. As of my last check...it was selling in book format for almost $70 cdn online. For some, spending more than $20 on a book is a big "no no ..read more

You already know I knit like a caveman. But persistence is my trademark. Hence I have expanded to upcycling a belt buckle...by ripping off the old belt and knitting a new cream colored belt from one color of Bernat Softee Chunkee in "linen" color. Voila....rustic ....simple and does the trick. One think you want to be mindful of if you are going to knit a belt is that the belt will be quite stretchy and may stretch out longer than what you wanted. Knitted belts are the opposite of a leather belt. They are more feminine and move and stretch with your figure and movements ..read more

The cool thing about freezing chives is that you can pluck them straight from the plant...wash them in cold water and throw them into the freezer in a zip lock bag. The next time you fetch them from the freezer...u can crunch the bag between your hands and the long pieces of chives will shatter in their frozen state into perfect bite size pieces. No need to chop them or cut them up before freezing because they break up so nicely in their frozen state. Chives grow back virtually maintenance free in our Ontario climate. A small patch is more than sufficient for a small household ..read more

Well yes, I do wholeheartedly admit that I knit like a caveman. Think of a lug of a brute with a club...who grunts instead of using proper etiquette....THAT is indeed how I have always felt in the world of knitting. However, I have a fondness for one characteristic of said "caveman"....in that a caveman can be VERY focused when she wants to hunt down her dinner. She may be a brute...but she always has fabulous eye makeup ") And it is with this same earnest determined attitude that I have taught myself how to knit a pair of mittens all while avoiding the parts of knitting that I despise. Yo ..read more