The Scottish Frugality Thread

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by roger

I just had to go purchase 4 big maretts and that was like .80 c each.
just painful...but gladly went for coffee right after...
Recently built a pole shed 32x48 with 12' wall cold storage.
I ordered the roof, wall and various length tin in 8 separate orders over a two week period..reason. was that every order that arrives often have a cover sheet the exact same colour and length. Plus the packing pallets are made out of 2x4's the same length so once dissaembled I had enough to almost build a colour coordinated woodshed for virtually nothing.
I used some stupid philips head screws that had been kicking around for years.
I hate philips (and blade screws too) so it was refreshing to see them all used.
...when my African taxidermy returned to Canada in a 4x8x4 foot plywood crate. Stamped with African symbols and flight inspection insignia. The four soft wood sheets have a unique open looking grain and almost intrigues me more than the critters...I hope use it one day for something neat but I'm scared to cut a piece if wood worth $35k!!!
Could be canadian spruce for all I know and exported to them and sold back to us.

It's funny about that tin and the cover sheets. Last time I ordered some for a roof ,the lenghts were 15 ft 6 inches they mistakenly sent me 3 extras and two 14 ft cover sheets lol enough for a nice shed.

[Fisherpeak]

I watched my mom cut a chiclet in half because she only had one left and my 2 brothers wanted it.

[drhu22]

[Fox red lab]

I use the plastic liners in cereal boxes to pack sandwiches and other items instead of using ziplocks.

[pikergolf]

I sit down every Thursday and go through the online grocery flyers. I send an email to friends and family with all the weeks buys that the grocery stores have. Between this and my food saver, I save a ton on groceries, meats especially. My friends and family appreciate the gesture as well.

[raab]

It might have been said but I haven't seen it browsing through the thread. One of the biggest ways to save money is downsize your vehicle. I went from a truck to a small commuter car and cut my gas mileage from 13L/100km to around 7L/100km. Using a calculator like this you can figure out how much you'd save downsizing. http://www.calculator.net/fuel-cost-calculator.html

I save a couple grand a year driving around 30,000 km's

Edit: Also forgot, I use an electric shaver everyday. It's saved me hundreds over using regular disposables.

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by bsmitty27

Safety razor very cheap and a great shave.
Burn wood, fire starts in October and goes out in May. (local wood cut at home)
Buy good leather boots and shoes and look after them (if it needs a gortex liner its ****)
I eat wild meat on the cheap ducks and deer (Very local)
Drive older reliable vehicles
Cook from scratch
Plan your meal by what's in your fridge ( dont let food go bad)
Get a big cast iron pan it will be the last pan you buy
Kijiji
Put up a clothes line
Leave the truck at home. Drive a small car for daily driver.
Buy quality tools get them used if you can.
Dont buy junk toys for kids
Make your home a destination so you don't want to go to town.
Grow what you can
Fix what you can
Make what you can
Don't use MDF for anything
You dont ALWAYS get what you pay for. there is usually a sweet spot and after that the returne on investment is very small.
Look for the Value it every purchase.
Marketing is the Devil.
Dont wear logos unless someone pays you.
Here's a start
Brad

Wow ,advice to live by.

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by Bulldog Edm

Well should start an alberta outdoorsmen Barter section in the buysell. Trade goods and services.

T and T markets?can you give more information. Thanks

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by kmacisaac

My old man used to make my brother and I take big steps so we wouldn't wear our shoes out so quick.

Yessir that's being frugal for sure lol

[FCLightning]

Originally Posted by ceadog

We're big fans of making our own bread - $0.25-0.50/loaf!

Where are you buying your flour?

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by densa44

Caber & I had the same Grandmother! Grand dad caught the salmon and Granny could cook anything, never with a recipe. Wonderful woman!

My reply is late but hey, I'm giving one . Did your grandmother also carefully remove the aptly-named Scotch tape when unwrapping gifts so that she could carefully fold and re-use the gift wrap? (ironing might have been part of the process, I'll never know)

[Fish along]

Surprised to see nobody using a needle and thread ,something I learned to do 60 yrs ago,many people could save big money by just learning how to apply the herring bone stitch.

[Tom Pullings]

Originally Posted by Fish along

Surprised to see nobody using a needle and thread ,something I learned to do 60 yrs ago,many people could save big money by just learning how to apply the herring bone stitch.

I sew buttons and make minor repairs but my technique is horrible. I just throw tons of thread at the problem and pray it holds lol.

[thumper]

Get a velcro wallet. It screams every time you open it.

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by thumper

Get a velcro wallet. It screams every time you open it.

Ha Ha... Good one!

"Marketing is the devil" from bsmitty27's list has to be one of the best pieces of advice, and guarding against that one thing alone will save you a fortune.

Heres a good source for frugal ideas...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/

[wolf308]

I buy mainly used guns and feed my kids hotdogs and KD

Generally look after all my material items really well so they last a long long long time


( lol actually it's what they prefer , and shun the good meals mom makes, I don't know what's wrong with them, they don't even like spaghetti sauce cause an older boy we used to baby sit didn't eat it )

[Fisherpeak]

All my stuff is second hand and well looked after, Trucks, Rhino, rifles and rods.
Paid off my mortgage a while back so that`s one less thing. Got a Foodsaver sucky machine on sale 50% off. Love that thing. Now I buy meat on sale and it lasts a lot longer. Shoot a couple deer a year, do my own butchering and sausage making. Old dog got sick so I ground her up and fed her to the young dog. Used to have 5 kids at one time. Down to 3 now and one of them has a cough................

[wolf308]

Gooder ^ lmbo

[Tom Pullings]

Check your various cards/memberships to see what discounts you get on things. It’s really amazing how many different discounts are out there. I just learned that my AMA membership gets me 25 percent off WHL games. I had no idea. Already made use of it.

[Unregistered user]

Wanna save money? Don't vote liberal/ndp.

[357Maximum]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

My reply is late but hey, I'm giving one . Did your grandmother also carefully remove the aptly-named Scotch tape when unwrapping gifts so that she could carefully fold and re-use the gift wrap? (ironing might have been part of the process, I'll never know)

We regularly reuse Christmas gift bags

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by Fisherpeak

All my stuff is second hand and well looked after, Trucks, Rhino, rifles and rods.
Paid off my mortgage a while back so that`s one less thing. Got a Foodsaver sucky machine on sale 50% off. Love that thing. Now I buy meat on sale and it lasts a lot longer. Shoot a couple deer a year, do my own butchering and sausage making. Old dog got sick so I ground her up and fed her to the young dog. Used to have 5 kids at one time. Down to 3 now and one of them has a cough................

Yessir I believe you should get the door prize ,lol

[ak-71]

I am no Scott, but this thread and a bowl of Mac Baren's Scottish Mixture gave me an idea of a make shift pipe rack. For the next week it's still work in progress as I don't want to waste a perfectly good roll of TP on that, but here is a proof of concept (thank you guys):

[CaberTosser]

I've been cleaning up my inventory and storage and in doing so I finally assembled my copper graveyard all into one location . The tubing is new, but its old stock and short pieces that have become tarnished from being stored in unheated environments for so long. I take pride in the appearance of my boiler installations so I've been avoiding using it based on it looking so old. Being all type L copper the stuff is pricey so I decided to refurbish it. I took a 5 foot piece of 4" ABS and glued a cap to one end. I filled it to within 5" of the top with hot water and poured in 2/3 of a container of Lemi Shine (citric acid power sold as a dishwasher booster, good for anything you'd use vinegar for, but you can make it stronger). I cleaned any dirt off the pipe and then dipped them, some are longer than the 5' tank so they'd get inverted to clean the other end. There's more than what's stacked in the photo but it's been worthwhile to clean up over $500 worth of copper using $4 worth of citric acid. There's some 2.5" and 3" tube among it, that stuff is not cheap.

[gunluvr]

I shave right after I shower. Haven't bought shaving cream in 40 years. Don't shave on weekends, either. But that's just me being lazy.

[gunluvr]

If they're close together, I try to line up two gophers so I can kill them both with one shot.

[Red Bullets]

I'm so frugal I eat my cereal with a fork so I can save milk.


I dig the worms and collect the minnows I need for fishing bait. I used to carry a big tackle box but now only carry a couple of basic productive hooks. My hunting gear is a gun, bullets, a block and tackle, a knife and saw, good boots and lots of gumption.

No debt. No credit cards. I have never bought something I couldn't pay for. No dining out, no coffee, no booze, no wife and mostly no shopping for products I don't really need. I don't travel or holiday far. Kids are grown up so no expense there. I'm getting off easier than most.

The most I've ever spent on a vehicle is 7K and I got 8 years out of the vehicle. Sold it for 2K. The rest of the vehicles I have owned I have only spent between 2 or 3K and gotten several years use from each of them.

[Red Bullets]

I always liked how the Scottish were so frugal in the way they transport their logs, compared to other cultures.

[mattthegorby]

I collect my buddies 9mm cartridges from the range just in case I ever need to reload 9mm, even though I have no plans to buy anything in 9mm.