Da Plan

K, here's da plan. Sorry that it has taken me so long to share it. I had planned on putting da plan out there last month but I keep forgetting a few key pieces of info that make the plan Da Plan. We still have no internet access on the homestead (estimated savings of $60 per month/air card).

So here I sit in my favorite coffee shop drinking my addiction, watching the sun come up over a church steeple, an abandoned factory, and a train trestle. Besides me in the booth is a post it note with the numbers. Ready to in part my wisdom. Bring a piece of scratch paper & something to write with. Your gonna wanna take notes.

But first here's the disclaimer - I'm not Dave Ramsey nor Suz Orman. When I glanced in the shop window on my walk over to check my appearance I also wasn't Buffet, Warren Buffet that is. What I'm saying is that Da Plan works for us. You maybe not soo much.



First Stage of Da Plan - Know the Details

• Part A of the first stage of Da plan can be one of the hardest, in that you really have to know exactly what amount of mulah it takes to support your household. You have to know down to the last nickel the total amount $ is your bottom line. Everything. Like CIA & your Mama knowing how often you change your drawers everything.


• Part B of the first stage of Da Plan is to know your income, your actual income. All things considered net income. Dead Presidents line up and be counted.


• Part C is goods manufactured on the homestead, products that you either glean or barter for. Also include skills; house cleaning, doing hair, baking, computer repair. Anything & everything that can translate into maintaining your homestead. File this under Bonus/Bounty/Frosting/Gravy. Put this list aside for now.

Second Stage of Da Plan - Accumulating a Stash

• Know your tax man intimately. Embrace your tax deductions. Plan your very life around those deductions. An example is this Federal Energy Tax Credit that has been extended for 2010. This tax credit was the final push we needed to install the wood stove, a credit of $800. Another credit blessing that we take full advantage of is charitable contributions. Besides cash, there is clothing & household items be it out of your closet or your neighbors. Yes, I curb shop for charitable donations. I also barter for them. Point is know your tax deductions and use them to the max.


• Here's a biggy that goes against every you have ever heard about financial planning. In the section on your W2 were you claim the number of dependents consider only claiming one or two. Just enough to give you a paycheck you can survive on. Yes, I know I am giving the Federal Government an interest free loan. Honestly, I have never been able to put aside that money for any length of time. Let alone have it accumulate into a huge wad of cash. Once the Gods know there is money bad things happen. The transmission on the car breaks. The roof needs replacing (guess how we're gonna use this year's energy tax credit).


• Take advantage of any & all tax advantages that your employer provides - IRA's & Medical savings plans . Consider collecting co-worker's empty soda cans for the deposit money. Yeah laugh laugh long & hard but we all know peeps who drink 5 Cokes a day - 25 cents - $5 a month - $60 a year. That's sixty free dollars that you didn't have to pull an extra shift for.

Third Stage of Da Plan - Decrease your living expenses.

• Live like your broke. Broke is not poor. Although our annual income is considered poverty level we are not poor just broke. Broke is not being able to afford premium coffee. Poor is having to choose between paying for the gas to heat hot water or paying for the water. Simply put live under your means.


• No debt. Yeah easier said than done. Currently I owe a mortgage & a home equity loan. Back in the day I also owed on a van, furniture, and a credit card. Try like your life depends on it.

Fourth Stage of Da Plan - Alternative methods of Providing

• All the homesteady type skills that enable us NOT to buy things like food & clothing. Methods that give us a middle class way of life. Ties in with decreasing living expenses. Skills like scratch cooking, gardening, mending, penny pinching.

Here's how the plan worked out for us.

Last year our combined adjusted gross income was $28,863.00 for 4 people. I claimed 2 dependents for the 3 mos. I worked in 2009. Hubby claimed 1 until he became the sole wage earner then switched to 3. He also utilized a medical expense account to the tune of xxx. Plans are to increase that amount to xxx since we under estimated. Besides claiming the energy tax credit and the max charitable donation credit we also claim the mortgage credit. Our federal tax returned totaled $6,947.00. State was $1,991.00.

DH is taking the state return for the land fund.

The following is how I plan (best laid plans of mice & men ...) spend the federal return; mortgage payments, car insurance, car mainatnance/repair/tags, upgrade or replacement of one household item, one major home improvement, bulk food order, one homesteading item, my half of orthodonitics for a daughter. Her & I are splitting the cost.
Here's what the plan for the retrun looks like today. However since we have had this wad for over two weeks no doubt the Gods have had time to confirm the rumor so this could all change Update: $480 car repair as of last week.

12 mortgage payments @ $347 = $4164.00. Need to see if there is a planned tax reassessment comming up this year. That would affect my overall monthly payment especially once the new roof goes up.

Bulk food which includes a portion of a side of beef, our annual cheese run, staples such as flour. I have a new plan on that but that's for another post.

DH & I have been sleeping on 12 year old mattress & box spring that has long ago taken a header off city hall. Spent $895 yesterday for a custom made set. Our bed is a 100 year old cast iron which isn't exactly a standard 3/4. It was an extra $40 to make a custom fit of 46" by 75". Couldn't have gone with a double because it wouldn't have fit up the stairs. In 1902 beds were smaller with springs & a mattress that you could fold in half. This was the one big household buy.

One major home improvement was gonna be switching out the natural gas water heater with an electric tankless heater. Electric co. is handing out rebates & there is the energry tax credit. However the roof is singing a swan song. When I bought this house in 1999 I knew it would need a new roof soon. Been living on barrowed time. Estimated cost is in the neighboorhood of 9k for a metal roof. Two reasons why I decided on metal; lowers fire insurance preminums, and since our long range plan is to be carried out feet 1st I really don't want to be putting another roof on when I'm 78. This is gonna take some planning.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Stand by my Stove

One major cooking disadvantage to a small wood stove is that for the most part only fit one good sized pot or skillet @ a time. Which works if you cooking up a stew or soup or frying up pancakes. Not so much if you have a steamer going with Broccoli, a skillet with pork chops, and a rice pot. As I'm done cooking one item I slide the pot over to the stand to stay warm and start with the next. It's also nice to have a place to lay down a spoon, hot pad, trivets, or sit my bread bucket on while dough raises.
Have also warmed mittens, socks, and yes unders. Hey much like Marilyn Monroes brilliant idea to cool panties in the dog days of August in her freezer, toasty unders in January are the bomb baby.
This mid sixties mod designed stand bought @ a church tag sale for $2, usually sits next to my garden glider with a potted plant & a few candles or solar light during the Summer. Originally it had only the one middle shelf. The top had a series of vertical pencil sized bars. Hubby added some punch metal pieces to the top & very bottom that he scored from work for a few dollars. This Summer I'll scrub off the rust caused by wet boots & spray paint the whole stand black.
Not a bad hack huh?

~~ pelenaka ~~

Pee'd off Pussy

This is a my red headed stepson Hunter.
He's mad.
The sleep with one eye open mad 'cause it's just a matter of time when payback is a ... mad. The only other time when I've seen him this mad was when I started sleeping with his Dad. Then he'd sit on my night stand staring at me in the dim glow of a street light planning his revenge. I won't mention what he use to do in my pantie drawer under our antique cast iron bed.
Besides the dirty looks he demonstrates his extreme displeasure of a cold stove by series of short pitiful yelps as he stares into the window of the stove. As of this week he has also taken to a slow walk around the stove stopping to inspect each leg. Problem solving no doubt. He's a smart kitty. Thought about popping in a few votive candles to give the impression of fire but he'd realize that I was just ranking his tail so to speak. Then I'd have to sleep in tub with the clothes hamper pushed up against the bathroom door. He's found a way to turn the knob & push open the door.
Breaks my heart almost as much as my cold toes.
Reason for not firing up the stove is that we are down to just a fourth of a face cord of wood which we're saving in case of a power outage. Waiting on federal tax return to buy enough to get us though til spring. Mean while DH has been cultivating bartering deals for firewood which will work for next Winter. If by July we don't have a good supply laid in then we'll buy the rest. Firewood in the off season is usually half the cost.

We burn though the almost 5 face words of firewood that took us 3 years to collect. Wish we had been more aggressive with our gathering. Last big score was by DH who bartered labor for almost a face cord of seasoned Apple wood. After burning Maple & Walnut it was a nice change to have wood that throws off decent heat.
Plans are to continue collecting lesser grade wood to burn in the early Fall & late Spring when it's not as cold, save the good wood for deep Winter. And as always work toward what's free.


Here's the low down on the cost of the stove which includes the stove, all piping/chimney, damper, hearth & labor/permits - $1700. Hate to think what it would have been if we hadn't bought items on sale.


Started heating with wood in November so free heat for 3 months has made a dent with both the electric & gas bill. On average for these past 3 months the electric bill has been under $50. Normally it's over $80 so it has been a $120 savings. This January we used 172 kWh less than in 2009. Blower fan on the furnace is a real power hog.

Important to note is that we didn't heat 100% with wood. I don't like to leave a fire burning when I'm not home. Furnace set to kick on @ 50 degrees. That occurred about twice a week for on average 4 hours.


Here's the comparison broken down between this Winter's natural gas bill & last year's.

Both November 2009 & 2008 were under $75. Rule of thumb for us is the heat comes on when the thermometer its the freezing mark & my toes are cold. This year we fired up the wood stove in the evenings until the end of November when it was 24/7.

December 2009 was an adjusted $50.54 after all was said & done with the new gas meter. For 2008 it was $217.14 a savings of $166.60.
Gas bill for January 2010 was $68.57. It’s been a colder than norm Dec/Jan so we did splurge & tee up the water heater a bit . Down side is that one tends to linger in a hot shower which drives up the water bill.
January 2009 gas bill was $242.14.
Total utility savings for January were $161.54.
Overall total savings worked out to $448.14 or the value of the free firewood. About 1/4 of the cost of the stove has been recouped. Not bad but I had hoped @ least half the cost.

On a positive note much like the concept of family meals we have had a real family bonding experience over our wood stove. It's a natural meeting place. Hence the old adage home is where the hearth is.


~~ pelenaka ~~

2010 Urban Pantry Challenge

1/27/10 I've edited the following post to include all of my purchases hopefully in a more concise order.

For the 2010 - 2011 UPC it occurred to me that I should give more details, show my work = tips, tricks, trades, & blessings for food that we don't grow or harvest. LSS show the grocery store receipts.

Hence the shopping cart full of chicken. In theory this is enough chicken to last us until May. At that time the salad bed and early garden produce such as peas will be in harvest. I can sub veggies for meat entrees if not at dinner then for lunch. Husband is more inclined to accept a meatless meal mid day than for dinner.
One chicken roaster every other week.
Perdue Chicken Roasters were a loss leader last week selling for 89 cents a pound, up 10 cents from last year. Took me until the final day of the sale to make a decision. Buy now or wait for a better/worse price.

8 oven roaster chickens average weight was 5.8 pounds
1 bottle of Soy sauce - $1.69 for 10 oz on sale.
5 jars of Store brand Spaghetti sauce - $1 per jar on sale.
1 package of Italian sausage on sale for $1.88 per pound. 2 1/2 lbs. package will give us 5 meals.
1 package of 90% lean ground beef discounted, almost 3 lbs.
Total = $70.86

One bird gave us 2 dinner meals, enough chicken salad for 3 lunches, & once the chicken carcass was boiled enough chicken stock for soup later on. On the menu for last night's dinner was sliced cukes & roma toms in ranch dressing, shredded chicken in homemade gravy with garlic, sage, & rosemary (herbs were either grown or bartered for), broccoli (freezer last years garden), sauteed sweet potatoes (aldis), mashed potatoes ( 50 lbs./$10 farmers stand). Cooked on wood stove but that's for another blog post.
Soy sauce used for a veggie dinner. This dinner meal which was basically everything vegetables left in the fridge was sauteed. Also added in re hydrated vegetables such as green bell peppers put up last Summer. Side dish was white rice.
About one pound of the ground beef used for a nacho salads. Rest in freezer.
Sauce went to restocking the pantry. Hopefully next Summer I won't have to deal with tomato blight and will be able to can homemade spaghetti sauce instead of buying it.
Italian sausage was for DD#3 & I since we don't care for the Italian venison/pork sausage husband & DD#2 made. Yes we have issues with game meat. Would be cheaper if we didn't but we do.

Husband ran to Aldis for me a few days before and bought the following items; gallon of 2% milk, package of sliced ham, Italian dressing, roma tomatoes, romaine hearts, coffee creamer (original item that I asked for), sour cream, can of black olives. If I had gone I wouldn't have bought the ham (Husbands lunches) or the sour cream. Doubtful on the salad dressing. Total = $13.68

Cost cutting changes - make salad dressings.
Consider planting patio tomatoes for houseplants. Would entail threatening my red head step child (husband's cat Hunter a red tabby) with harm to keep him from digging in the soil.

Grocery update for the month of January -
1/06/10 - $22.19 bought 16 cans of Progresso soup, 19 oz size & canned tomatoes 28 oz size. 3 cans to
added to the cellar pantry. Normally I don’t buy canned toms but since last years harvest was non existent
there wasn’t any to can. These were an advertised special a.k.a. loss leader @ a dollar each. Normally I
don’t buy canned toms but since last years harvest was non existent there wasn’t any to can. Dawn dish
soap 24 oz. used a 20¢ off coupon that was doubled and Colgate toothpaste used $1 off coupon that was
doubled. These should have been acquired though bartering . Canned soup is a fav with husband to keep
in his locker @ work for those times when he has no packed lunch.
1/16/10 Adis $19.02 - 2 bags of white corn tortilla chips 99¢ each, 2 tubs of quick oats $1.79 each, jar of peanut butter $1.39, bag of brown sugar $1.19, TP for $5.29, fresh bell pepper (used in a veggie dip for church coffee hour) . Also bought a dozen eggs because my usual source was down 79¢. While shopping I realized that Adis sells ground corn flour or Mesa for tortilla making. Eventually then we can make tortilla chips that we use for nacho salad a family dinner favorite.
1/27/10 Tops Market $36.80 - loss leaders that I bought today @ Tops were; eggs 69¢ bought 3 dozen, butter $1.49 pound cheaper than the dairy’s employee discount deal I was included in last October bought
2 pounds, & Carnation evaporated milk a $ a can stocked up & bought 10 for the pantry.
Soda pop is also on sale 2 liter bottles for a buck bought 2. Nice to have on pizza night .
Unable to barter for a gallon of bleach so I purchased a gallon of no name for $1.49. Also bought a small box of powder milk for $4.99. Been without for a few weeks. For me it is a hardships not having it on hand. Tonight I am planning on making cream of Broccoli Soup. Frozen
broccoli from last year’s garden, chicken stock from the bird I roasted last week, & powdered milk. Can't get any easier than that. Grilled
Swiss cheese made with mustard rye bread baked yesterday.
2 cans for tuna packed in h2o @ 99¢ & a pound of deli German bologna both for school lunches.
If I had the extra money I’d have also bought a large family sized package of split chicken breasts @ 99¢ a pound. Nice to have on hand when I don’t have any chicken leftovers. 2 nice sized breast can fill out a pot of soup.

$5.90 spent @ restaurant supply store for 2 lbs of Fleishman’s yeast for baking. I won’t go into how
many teaspoons are in a pound (anyone out there a math whiz?) but single yeast packets which hold 2
teaspoons retail for 79¢ each. If you don’t have someone to split the package/cost divide it up in sections & freeze for later use.
Total - $163.26.

~~ pelenaka ~~

G/ESCOs/GC

A belated Felix Natividad et Próspero Año y Felicidad.
I ushered on Christmas Eve, daughter's worked the church nursery, and husband was able to join us @ the last minute for a very well attended service. Once home we had snacks & opened a present @ midnight.
For New Year's we stayed home huddled around the wood stove snacking, watching DVDs, & napping. Promised daughters that next year we would go watch the ball drop in downtown Buffalo and perhaps attend a few First Night Activities. I'm sure that they will make me keep my word since banging pot lids & beating on stock pots no longer holds a deep fascination for them as it once did.
Besides the usual weight loss/self improvement resolutions my goals for the New Year is to go more solar but in MacGyver style. Solar panels from recycled parts or just hack'ng an existing application into solar I'm not sure. Diffacult due to our cloudy climate and disrupted sunshine due to buildings & trees. The 2nd (ongoing) major goal is to increase/document our garden harvest.


After an afternoon of studying charts, reading NYS Public Service Commission website twice, and one very long drawn out phone call to National Grid ( the customer service # published on my bill has been disconnected freaky huh?) I was able to make an informed decision with regards to switching my electric & gas suppliers.
Stay put for now & monitor the ESCOs (energy service companies) for a better rate than what both my eclectic & natural gas companies are charging then make the switch.
The kww rate the ESCO I was considering is currently @ 6.5 ¢ per kww hour, gas is .65 ¢ per ccf. Both higher than what I currently pay. True only by a few cents but here a penny there a penny.
Pity as the ESCO I decided on was offering a $75 Visa gift card to switch.
Plan was to use the Visa to get a subscription to Netfix which would help curb the pro cable voices in the family. And fill my need to view alternative documentaries on sustainable subjects & episodes of Leave it to Beaver.
For us the new digital t.v. revolution has been bogus.
Reception is still defined by buildings, weather, and flight patterns. Upside is that my 15 year old tele has outstanding picture quality when we do get reception. Oh foil wrapped around digital antenni makes no mind.

Speaking of gift cards I received two this year both to Wally World = $100. One was in September from a fellow Presbyterian as a reward for working the church garden. After consulting with my pastor I decided to keep the card. The second was a Christmas gift.
So after much thought & discussion we decided to use the cards on items that would give us the most value from a homesteader's point of view;

• Coleman Portable Camp Oven - $39
• Rechargeable solar batteries for garden lights
• Vinegar - white
• Outdoor/Hunting clothing for daughter #2
• Canning lids, pectin
• Garden Seeds ?
• Hand Cranked Radio
• Special needs that can't be gotten elsewhere

The stove top oven is my 1st priority since I bake about every other day - bread, cakes, & pies. Hope to be able to barter bake goods for toiletries & other items that I can't manufacture like canned tuna.

Solar batteries for our hacked garden lights. I have plans to hang these lights in the bathroom, stairwell, & front room near the wood stove for low lighting. Also the garden lights outside are due for replacements.

Now that I clean green (I'll let you all think I'm this big environmentalist but those who know me well know that I'm just cheap) I go though allot of white vinegar so if it's not too much more than Save-a-Lots price/can coupon then I'll stock up. Vinegar is a hard to barter for item. Much like powdered milk.

DD#2 needs a good two piece hunting ensemble now that we know she enjoys hunting. Hopefully we can score a great deal now that deer season is over. Will check WW's website.

Canning lids & pectin if I can snag some for a better price than my usual sources. 3 or 4 years ago I bought pectin @ Save -a-lot for 69¢ a box. Best price on lids is anything under 99¢ per 12 count box. This purchase will be delayed until Sept./Oct. when canning supplies are generally clearance.

Garden seeds if I can score them on deep discount yeah that's what I'm telling myself now. But wait til oh February when the garden displays start showing up and I absolutely need that package of black eyed peas.

Hand cranked radio so I can listen to NPR as I do the wash.

Special needs ... yeah what exactly is that? It's items like photos that I promised to DB#4's gf, of him as a baby for example. They are expecting their 1st in February. Also under that column is really anything that is a must have that can't be bartered or bought second hand. Pantyhose come to mind. DD#3 plays bass & violin in school orchestra, I usher @ church, an occasionally DD#2 wears a dress so pantyhose can be a need.

Even though our local mega mart has a grocery section IMHO my savings have always come from my alternative methods so as a last resort food items. And only if I have a coupon. Shame Aldi doesn't sell gift cards. Is it wrong to suggest stores that we would perfer gift cards to?

Any other ideas for sustainable homesteading items that can be bought main stream ?

~~ pelenaka ~~

groceries for under $200/month

The first year of our Urban Pantry Challenge has ended. Personally it was very enlightening. Like being struck with lightening and coming to the realization that I was living in a cloud, firmly believing that I spent on average $100 a month for groceries. Yeah, I know some peeps are delusional about their dress size I'm whacked about our grocery bill. Overall we did good.
I do have one point to get across when you live a challenge like this - it is a constant there is never any down time to NOT think about any opportunity to gather food.


In reviewing my posts I realized I neglected to account for the 1/4 side of beef that I bought in July. Here's da deal - the hanging weight of the cow was 530 lbs. at $1.30 per pound. My portion was $303.30 which includes all the butchering fees ect. for 132 lbs. of beef. The cow was 1/2 Pinzgaver and 1/2 Angus locally raised in near Arcade, New York. Mostly pasture raised on a small family farm. Hormone free although not organically certified.
My butchering list ranged from chuck, rump & shoulder roasts, to t-bone & sirloin steaks, porter house, and beef stew cuts. 50 lbs. of ground beef filled out the order. I asked for two large roasts 7 lbs. or more. One for bartering & one for a holiday family meal.
Next time I won't order ground beef since it is more advantageous to pay $1.30 per pound for a roast than hamburger cut. Locally roasts go for $3.99 per pound. Will scout out a bulk package deal on ground beef since it is by far our most used cut of beef.
Chicken & pork was bought when on sale & repackaged into meal sized portions.
This year we haven't had rabbit since I suspended breeding for the time being.
Venison was obtained last month. While this game meat isn't a fav amoung two of us it is a nice add on. Also venison jerky has a great barter value.
No fish which has a deeper meaning in that we didn't do enough fishing this past year. Sad. Very Very Sad.
Still working on the 100 plus pounds of Winter wheat that a bb brought over in '08. Same for the Rye bought in bulk in 2007. Salt, free from the butcher (sells BBQ lunches leftover from salt potatoes), baking powder bought in bulk. Spices/herbs either grown or bartered for or bought on sale. We generally bake & cook from scratch.
Locally milk has dropped to under $2 a gallon so we have stopped buying milk directly from the farmer @ a savings 50¢. Also by way of a church friend I am able to buy eggs for $3 a flat from time to time. Butter is bought through a co-op as an employee benefit. Kinda a friend has a friend who has a ... this supply is fragile.
As I've blogged about before the biggest return on our gardening effort has been the cold frame planted with salad greens saving us several hundred dollars a year. Now that it is deep Winter and the craving level for fresh greens is high the cold frame is sorely missed. Salad Fixings are back on the grocery list. Should be able to plant the frame in late February early March.
Big changes other than what I wrote about is that we have a veggie meal twice a week now & when I do cook meat it is smaller portions. Also we now have two vegetables for dinner instead of one.

Methods of obtaining & preserving groceries are;

• bartering- toiletries, paper products, tuna
• bulk, clearance, co-ops & loss leader sales, no frills stores such as Aldi, Restaurant Supply Stores, co-op with friends, employee only buying ops.
• canning either free or low cost produce
• freezing
• foraging both in urban & rural settings
• dehydrating
• gardening
• gleaning
• hunting.

Total for 2008-2009 UPC was $1925.19 which averaged out to $160.43 per month.

Hmm, gotta be a way to trim this ?

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. a comment lead me to clarify a few points - we don't have small children so there is no speciality foods like chicken nuggets. To tell you the truth though I never really had that problem with my children. While I didn't let them starve I also wasn't their enabler. Green beans got eaten. Momma doesn't run a Dinner.
Other than cooking low fat (no frying) the only other dietary choices we follow are low carb/low sugar. Potatoes are no longer a staple.
There's no issue with gluten or nuts. Don't know what I'd do if there was.
On average everyone only eats 2 meals a day weekdays & Sunday (fellowship coffee after service is considered a lite brunch & Sunday dinner is @ 5 p.m. instead of our usual 6:30). Daughter's generally don't eat breakfast but will grab a glass a milk on the way out the door. Girls are in charge of packing their own lunch with leftovers. I usually have 4 cups of coffee & a slice of bread or small bowl of homemade yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast, 2 cups of coffee for midday & a snack, & then dinner. DH same.
Dinner is our big meal of the day.
Also should note that we eat several times a , month @ church for free. KP duty has it's perks!

http://onfoodstamps.blogspot.com/ interesting blog - challenges of living on a food stamp buget without the benefit of bartering, foraging, or gleaning.