Frugal Friday

Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one’s self?

I was doing laundry the other day and as I added laundry detergent to the machine I was reflecting on how many of the things I use around here were made my me. 

For example, I made the laundry detergent I was using. The apron I wrap around myself was put together with my sewing machine. I churn out delicious meals each night using just a few simple ingredients. I wash dishes with dishcloths that I have crocheted. We take showers with bars of soap I made. Various table runners decorate table tops and again, I sewed them. My hands mixed and kneaded the bread we had for lunch. The jam I spread on it was made with berries I picked and then cooked down into yummy sweetness.

I'm so thankful that I took the time throughout the years to learn new skills. Those skills have served me well as I have worked to make our dollars stretch. Those wants we do have, I'm generally able to do myself. And that is a satisfactory feeling!

I want to encourage you to not let fear get in the way of trying new things. It's such a good sense of accomplishment when you work to learn a new skill and then get to reap the benefits of that skill. Will it always turn out perfectly the first time you try it? No! But don't give up. Try again and again until you master it and finally, have a success. It's a great feeling!

Some specific ways I've saved or earned this week:

$ Dan flipped the switch on our dining room light the other day and it wouldn't turn on. It's a chandelier that plugs into the wall. After some investigation we discovered a cut in the wire. We aren't sure how it happened but there are no other lights in that area of the room and it is so dark in that corner without the light. So we went out and picked up the necessary materials and I was able to look at some YouTube videos and did the repair myself. According to the video I didn't need the electrical tape, but used a bit anyway on the ends of the wire. Better safe than sorry! 

$ I made chicken soup the other night with a leftover chicken carcass from the meal we had the day before. I decided to make dumplings and they turned out great. They just took some flour, salt, baking powder, milk and oil and in less than 5 minutes were whipped up and simmering in the broth.

$ I've been working in the church all week but don't want the church to incur a large heating bill. So I use the room in the front of the church that has a small gas-powered heater on the wall. I close the door and turn that on with the blower and it's enough to heat the space without me having to turn up the main heat. Well, that....and some warm clothes and a hot cup of tea. ;-)

$ Okay, the following is a way I have NOT made money this week. A woman who saw my items at a craft fair back in November called me and asked if I could make her a KitchenAid mixer cover. She told me she had the fabric so I told her I'd just charge her for my time. Well when I received the package in the mail it turns out the fabric was a small round table cloth, along with the batting. There wasn't enough to use one large piece for the panel that would cover the front and back of the mixer. 

I measured and started out just trying to make it the way I do the teapot cozies. But then realized it wasn't going to fit properly. Because I didn't have enough fabric I had to improvise and I ended up spending about 4 1/2 hours cutting, piecing, ripping out, resewing, ripping out again and pasting together this cover. It has side panels that had to jut out to fit and they don't sit right. I used my own fabric to line the inside and the pocket that she has already sewn together and left with unfinished edges. 

I am NOT happy with how it looks and to be honest, she probably won't be either when she gets it. I charged her $15 for my time which didn't cover my time. So I made about $ 3 per hour and that didn't include the fabric I used for the lining. I couldn't bring myself to charge the time I really spent, especially given the fact that I don't like how it looks. 

Which is another reason I don't like doing custom orders that involve other's fabric!! Okay, rant over. lol

So I learned how not to make a mixer cover, but in the process have discovered what should be done in the future. So I may actually try again because practice makes perfect.

Those are my frugal (and not so frugal) offerings for the week.