What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[fuzzi]

I have several coffee cans around the yard that hold plastic grocery store bags. We leash walk our dog, and those cans in strategically placed locations make cleaning up after her simple and immediate. And most of the time the cans are watertight.

I topped off my canisters today.

 

[gtaus]

I am basically done with the cancer, just trying to build my strength back up now.

I am glad to hear you are doing better and hope you regain your strength soon. One day at a time, little improvements...

Great tip on the power cutter. I do have one- the one in your first photo, which I paid $30-something for a couple of years ago. It has been very useful. Wish I had seen the ad for the one at Menards when I still needed one!

Yep, I bought my first power cutter a few years ago and paid around $25.00 (regular price about $50.00) for it, with sales and discounts. At the time, it was a great price.

I just noticed those power cutters at Menards only about a month ago. When they went on sale for less than $10.00 each, I bought my second power cutter. If nothing else, the blades are interchangeable and probably worth $10.00 by itself.

Plus, the new Menards power cutter has the newer USB-C power plug for recharging. Our new smartphones also use the USB-C plug, so I'm already using the power cutter charger to charge up our smart phones as well.

As far as I can tell, there is no real difference between my 2-year-old $50.00 4v power cutter and this new Menards $15.00 4v power cutter. They look and feel the same and cut as well.

I have used shredded paper in my coop before and did not love it- maybe time to try it again- if I mix it in with the sawdust and shredded cardboard and leaves and a bit of old hay maybe I would like it more. But the leaves and sawdust are my favorite so far.

Interesting. Shredded paper is my favorite coop litter. What did you not like about using shredded paper? Or was it just you liked other options better?

FWIW, I really will use any free material for coop litter that I have. A couple of years I used wood chips, dried grass clippings, and leaves. It all works great. I have no problem mixing everything together, either.

This year I had so many leaves that I started off with about 4 inches of leaves in the coop and have been adding additional paper shreds every few weeks to freshen up the litter. I will do that throughout the winter months. The paper shreds seem to mix in well with the leaves.

In any case, glad to hear you found some more free leaves. Those leaves are such a valuable resource for those of us with chickens and/or making compost for the gardens.

 

[gtaus]

Follow Up on Zip Tie Hinges for Tool Case

This summer I repaired one of my 30+ year old tool cases with broken hinges. I used some 1 cent zip ties and made new hinges...

Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but it's the one I took with my old camera...

Anyways, here is the backside of the tool case. It used to have a plastic hinge running the length of the case. Over the years, that hinge cracked. My repair was to simply drill some holes in the plastic case and use zip ties as hinges.

I cut off the ends of the zip ties and everything looked great. Worked great, too.

Thought those zip tie hinges might last for years and years.

Well, today it was -8F outside and I had my tool case in the car parked outside of the garage. I noticed that one of the zip ties had frozen and cracked. The other was still holding.

I might just replace the broken zip tie with another 1 cent zip tie, and keep the tool case inside the garage. Or, I might use a heavier duty zip tie next time. Another option is to make more holes in the case and use more zip tie hinges.

Anyways, the zip tie hinges concept was good, but it did not hold up to -8F temps. Probably what broke the original case hinge as well.

 

[gtaus]

Waste and Efficiency of Layer Pellets versus Crumbles?

I recently purchased a 50# bag of Layer Crumbles at a heavy 50% discount "Oops" broken bag. It was a good deal that I could not pass up. I normally use Layer Pellets.

I noticed that I was going through 4 cans of crumble feed per day, and the chickens emptied out the feeder every day. That crumble bag ran out, and I bought Layer Pellets again. I now only use 3 cans of feed per day and I always have a bit left over in the feeder at the end of the day.

Just wondering if other people have noticed any differences between waste and efficiency of Layer Pellets versus Crumbles? From my observations, I am using more than 25% less feed in the form of Pellets compared to Crumbles.

That's a big difference. On top of that, Layer Pellets are less expensive than Layer Crumbles. I guess, for my current flock, I will not be buying any Crumbles unless I find another "Oops" bag at a heavy discount.

Bonus thought: I picked up an "Oops" bag of chicken scratch today at a 50% discount. I could tell some of the contents were gone, but it still measured 46# when I weighed it at home. That comes out to about a 45% discount on the price of a full bag. I don't need the chicken scratch right now, but I will just store it in some 5-gallon buckets with an airtight lid and it will still be fresh in a couple of months when I will actually need it. I have saved a lot of money buying feed on sale, or heavy discounts, and storing them in those 5-gallon buckets with airtight lids.

 

[gtaus]

Buying Store Gift Cards for Myself

Our local Fleet store usually has a Christmas Holiday season sale on store gift cards at 10% off. I asked a manager today at the Fleet store if she knew when the sale this year would be, and she expects it to happen in another week or two.

I pretty much know that I will go through about $500 of purchases at our Fleet store every year, mainly on chicken feed, but also miscellaneous repair items, tools, nuts and bolts, screws, etc... So I will purchase about $500 of Gift Cards for myself, and use them all year long on purchases. Bonus deal, I use my Cash Rewards credit card for the Gift Card purchase and get another 1.5% cash back.

I'm not the only one taking advantage of those store Gift Cards at 10% off. The manager told me that lots of people, like me, buy the Gift Cards for themselves. If you can afford to buy those Gift Cards up front, knowing that you will buying stuff like chicken feed, etc... throughout the year, you can save some money at every purchase.

I typically buy items when on weekly sales, or heavy discounts like the "Oops" feed bags that come up occasionally, and using the Gift Card that I purchased just adds another 10% off the total price.

Last Christmas season, Wells Fargo bank offered Gift Cards at 10% off at many retail stores. You have to do it online and get an email Gift Card, but I got about $100 in Home Depot Gift Cards for $90. Then I bought some tools on end of year clearance sale at Home Depot and saved even more money. That worked out well for me and I think I might do it again this year.

I don't buy Gift Cards for other people. Those stores make a lot of money on Gift Cards that are lost or never used. So I only buy Gift Cards for myself at the stores where I buy my staples and know that they will get used.

 

[TooCheep]

Buying Store Gift Cards for Myself

I've done that for years. No reason not to get the 10-20% bonus for places where you know you are going to spend the money. My best deal was from a parlay: purchased a multi-restaurant gift card (20% discount) that I then used to buy a Panera Bread gift card ($10 bonus).

 

[Sally PB]

I should ask if TSC has gift cards for their store on sale. I don't buy my chicken feed there, but I buy dog food and treats. And other stuff that I can't think of right now because I haven't had a full cup of coffee yet...

 

[TooCheep]

I should ask if TSC has gift cards for their store on sale. I don't buy my chicken feed there, but I buy dog food and treats. And other stuff that I can't think of right now because I haven't had a full cup of coffee yet...

Lowes periodically has discount gift cards. Unfortunately, I've never seen discounts for Menards which is my main hardware store.

You may already know about this, but I watch Slick Deals "Hot Deals" page as another source for deals as well.

 

[Sally PB]

I have been to a Lowes once? I think in the last 20 years. I wasn't impressed, and the store is in a really BAD position on a corner for parking and getting out onto either of the two very busy roads.

Menards is our go to, unless the item we need is something we can find at the local ACE or self-serve hardware store. The selection at those two stores is much less than at Menards, but they are closer.

 

[gtaus]

I should ask if TSC has gift cards for their store on sale.

It does not cost you anything to ask. I don't have TSC where I live, but my local Fleet store is now only offering the 10% discount on Gift Cards once a year, around Christmas time, or so I was told by a manager. Years ago, the Fleet store used to have that 10% Gift Card discount at least a couple times a year.

Lowes periodically has discount gift cards.

I don't have a Lowes where I live. Our town is too small, I guess.

Unfortunately, I've never seen discounts for Menards which is my main hardware store.

Yeah, we do have a Menards and I buy lots of stuff from them every year. When items go on sale there, they are usually the least expensive. I played the Menards rebate game and saved 11% on most of my purchases these past few years. It looks like they might be going back to individual rebates on items instead of the blanket 11% off your entire purchase.

If you are willing to work the rebates, you can get some really good deals. But it is some work and your rebate money can only be spent at Menards. I still take advantage of the Menards rebate program but I would, of course, just rather have a lower price to start with.

I also have a Menards store credit card. I think I get 2% back on my purchases using the Menards credit card, which is a little better than my 1.5% on my Wells Fargo Cash Rewards credit card. But again, your Menards cash rewards are in the form of a check that can only be used at Menards.

I have seen a number of news reports about store credit cards, which they make easy to get and may offer additional discounts, also may have the worst terms and hidden fees that can trip you up really fast. I have all my store credit cards on autopayment for the full amount every month to avoid any late fees and charges.

Having said that, I had a Home Depot credit card, bought some items, and was charged a late fee for not paying my bill on time. I was upset. I took my paperwork to my local Home Depot and asked them how could I get a late fee when my account was set up for automatic payments in full? It took a number of calls but eventually we discovered that Home Depot had themselves cancelled my autopayments "for my convenience" on that account - without ever telling me. How does that happen? I got them to reverse the late fees, paid off the account, and have never used that card since then.

Oh, by the way, I tried to get my autopayments reinstated on that Home Depot credit card account, but for over a week I kept getting told that there was some reason they could not process my requests to go back on autopayment. They just wore me down and my best course of action was to stop using that credit card. As much as I have supported Home Depot in the past, they are not the same store now. Personally, I think they deliberately have been cancelling autopayment agreements, hoping to charge customers late fees, and I expect many people just pay the fines. Extra income for Home Depot I guess.

In my case, the late fee on my Home Depot credit card cost more than my original purchase. It took me hours and hours to find out that my autopayment agreement had been cancelled by them, without consent from me, but they did finally reverse the charges. Still, it really left a bad taste in my mouth and I just don't trust them anymore. I still shop there at Home Depot, I just won't use their store credit card anymore.

Also, my local Home Depot is going through employees like a rotating door. Customer Service reps last about a month, it seems, before they leave the company. I talked to a few guys who work there, and morale is at an all time low. They are not paid very much, new employees walk out the door in only weeks, and the employees remaining are expected to cover multiple departments. It's not good for anybody.

By the way, I'm so old that I remember being able to go into the Home Depot store, pick up a tool in my hand and try it out for comfort and fit, and decide if I wanted to make a purchase. I really miss that. Now, everything is locked behind cages, you have to walk half the store to find anyone to open a cage because where are the employees?, and in general you feel like you are walking through a prison. Very unfriendly atmosphere for shopping. None of the other local stores cage up all their items. I hope caging up merchandise does not catch on at other stores.

I still support Home Depot, they do have some good sales from time to time, and I have been in the Ryobi tool line for over 20 years. I just don't buy nearly as much from them as I did in the past because of all the negative changes they have implemented. But you can still save money shopping there if you find things on sale and/or in the clearance racks.