ERMAGERD! These vines are out of control! Don’t worry! I am ready to hook you up with some spectacular ideas on getting those vines up off the ground. Now, of course, you can always go out and buy traditional tomato cages for a modest charge, or you can pay premium prices for the trellis hand-forged in steel by some blacksmith in a remote country. Or, maybe we could get creative and make our own from stuff we already own (or can pick from someone’s trash on the curb). If you’re…
Category: Saving Money
How to Make Plant Labels for FREE (or Really Cheap)!
How to Label the Seeds You Plant for FREE (or Really Cheap)!! Have you ever looked around and couldn’t remember what you planted where? I have. Have you ever had to wait weeks to determine if those were pepper or tomato seedlings in that flat? Yeah, I’ve done that, too. I’ve also been standing in my garden, looking at a tiny plant, and wondering if it was something I planted or if it was just a weed. If I’d had all the plants labeled with any consistency, I’d have known…
Where to Get Free or Cheap Seeds for Your Garden
Welcome back to Misfit Gardening and Owning Burton Farm’s Series on Frugal Gardening! We’re going to discuss where to get your seeds for super cheap (or even free!) in this post. FOR FREE. Ok, so you’ve got all your seed starting containers piling up and now you need seeds to go in them. But don’t just go out and order a bunch of seeds. I’m going to let you in on some great secrets for finding seeds for your garden for little to no money at all. FREE SEEDS Do you already…
How to Start Your Seeds on the Cheap
I love seeing row after row of uniform black plastic seed starting planters in garden centers and greenhouses. They’ve been dutifully watered and sunned, shaded and fertilized by the garden pros in the nursery. They even have the guts to set them out before the last frost of the year, so we can get our gardens started early! After spending so many cold days looking out the windows, dreaming over the seed catalogs, I’m itching to get started with my own seeds, but not quite ready to be outside. To…
How to Pay for Christmas with Pre-Tax Money
Say what?! Yes, you can pay for Christmas gifts with Pre-Tax Money. I know, I know. It’s in the semantics, but if other strategies haven’t worked for you, this one might. Have you filed for your Flexible/Health Spending Account reimbursement yet for the year, by the way? Have you earmarked that money yet? Let me explain. Open Season is generally around November, so be sure to sign up for this awesome tool to save money and you could have Christmas money saved up for next year with little effort. If…
Re-Purposing a Table Destined for Destruction
A new desk for $8.39? Yes, please! I picked out a table from a pile of junk that was headed for the dump. It was still pretty sturdy and I’ve been on the lookout for a simple rustic table that wouldn’t break the bank. The funny thing about this particular table is that it is exactly the same model as our dining room table, just smaller. Here’s what I did: I cleaned that dirty old thing with the strongest bathroom cleaner I had on hand. You never know what crud has been on these…
Overcoming the Excuse: I Don’t Have Time to Homestead.
This is part two of a four part series on common excuses for not homesteading. If you feel the need to read them in order, you can read PART ONE: I DON’T KNOW HOW here. Today’s excuse is I DON’T HAVE TIME to homestead. I Don’t Have Time to Homestead. Dude. I hear you. You’re busy. It’s a wonder you get all the stuff done that you do every day. And now I’m suggesting MORE?!? Yes. Yes, I am. Is homesteading important to you? If you’re homestead dreaming, stop dreaming and start doing. You’re…
How to Delight Your Chickens by Re-Purposing Junk
Entertain your chickens for free! You likely have a lot of this stuff already (or can find it on the side of the street any given weekend) to be re-purposed into your very own chicken carnival. Yeah! Take the girls to a carnival! So, naturally, when you arrive, you, as the responsible adult, will be analyzing all the activities at the carnival to make sure you and your girls hit all the important attractions with minimal inconvenience. Everyone’s so excited, aren’t they? So while you’re passing by the ticket booth,…
How to Build a Budget in 7 Easy Steps
Want to take a sweet trip to Venice to ride a gondola guided by a singing gondolier in traditional Italian garb in five years? Maybe you want to retire a millionaire long before you hit minimum retirement age? Want to adopt a child in four years, but $20,000 is a lot of money and you don’t know where you are going to come up with it? Have you visualized yourself at the exact moment you are out of debt? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? All of…
Get Paribus and Get Your Money Back!
Have you heard about Paribus, yet? Oh my gosh, I’m so excited I get to tell you about this app! If you shop online and aren’t sure you are getting the best prices, but you want to save money, this is the app you need. If you buy products online and don’t want to hunt down the best deal between several sites, you have to get in on this. Even if you’re like me and you’re SURE this app couldn’t possibly sniff out a better deal than you, you’re going to…