1. (No) spending: I didn't go grocery shopping this week. We are about $10.00 over budget this month, and there is plenty of food in the pantry/freezer (as always).

2. Picked ups cans. I've been trying to walk at least a mile per day, and picked up at least $1.00 in cans last week. Hopefully in April the roads won't be so muddy, and I can get back to biking!

3. Processed three roosters and one spent hen! This has been on my list for MONTHS. It's just one of those things I really dislike doing. Not only will it lower the grocery bill, but it will also lower my hobby farm spending. There are still some more roosters and spent hens I would like to put in the freezer, but I consider four a decent accomplishment; a $20.00 savings in food, and another $5.00/month savings in animal feed. It's pointless to keep feeding birds that don't lay any eggs!!

4. Sold an item on Ebay. Yay! Another $10.00 in my pocket and one less piece of junk in storage.

5. Worked on the draft for my vegetable book. Right now it's at about 15,000 words. I think most of the content is finished up, except I want to put a few recipes in the back and maybe expand the section on reducing waste.

6. Line dried two loads of laundry.

7. My African violet plant rebloomed! That was really exciting for me, because it hasn't bloomed since I got it several years ago. Our house doesn't have a lot of natural light, which makes it challenging for me to grow houseplants.

That's about it. I was short on frugal accomplishments this week, but we are tying up a lot of loose ends around here and I hope to get "back in the groove" during the month of April. 

What were some of your frugal accomplishments?

Hi everyone! As I was doing research for a book on buying produce, I decided to see how my state, Michigan, ranked in terms of grocery costs. This excellent study shoes the 2016 cost of living in each state- not only overall, but also in terms of groceries, housing, utilities, health, and miscellaneous costs. If you get a chance to look, I would encourage you to check it out!

Using the information from that study, I made a spreadsheet of estimated grocery costs for each state. You can see the state in the left column. "Percentage of Average Grocery Cost" beside each state shows how that state ranks according to average (not in terms of spending, but cost of living in the food department). I was surprised to see that Michigan (highlighted yellow) came in fourth place as the cheapest state for groceries! South Dakota (highlighted orange) is about average. 

$10.00 Per Week: Is It Enough?

The next two columns had to do with my own $10.00/wk grocery budget. It's unfair to hold Hawaiians and Alaskans to my $10.00 per week standard, but what SHOULD their grocery budget goal be, if not $10.00 per week?

Even though Michigan is the fourth cheapest state to grocery shop in, it is only 10% below average. I set my average budget, then, at $11.00 and punched in that formula for all of the other states. The cheapest state, Idaho, came out at only $9.39 per week. The most expensive state, Hawaii, came out to $17.05 per week. So technically, Frugal Food should have a different subtitle for each state. "How to Eat for $9.85 per Week in Texas" or "How to Eat for $15.08 per Week In Alaska".

The sad news (something I didn't realize when I published the book) is that $10.00 per week is probably a touch too low for 95% of the states, according to cost of living alone. "How to Eat for $13.00 per Week" would have been more accurate, and covered all states except Connecticut, Alaska, and Hawaii. Those states would still need their own book. :)

The GOOD NEWS is that most while most people might not make it on $10.00 per week, they could make it on a few dollars more using the same principles and techniques I talk about in my book. If I can do it, I know that others can as well.


Produce for the Non-Gardeners

My last column, "Additional Produce" had to do with a new book project; how to buy produce for $5.00 per week. This is a little booklet I'm working on for all of the non-gardeners* out there. Again I plugged in the numbers according to each state's ranking. Again, my Michigan standard was a bit below most of the other states. A more accurate estimation would be $6.00 per week for a majority of the states. $7.00 would cover all states except the three I mentioned before.
​

Where are you from? Do you think the chart and/or study is accurate?

*The word "garden" does not imply 100% free produce. Even though I do have a garden, my $10.00 per person spending still includes carrots, potatoes, and onions. It also includes the occasional purchase of other produce items I don't grow. Just wanted to clarify that! Some people seem to think that $10.00 per week does not include any produce, which isn't the case. However, my new book project is for people who must purchase ALL of their produce and aren't interested in gardening or foraging in order to lower food spending.

**Another note: most of the time, higher cost of living comes with a higher average income. This should cover the few extra dollars required for higher cost of living states.

We also stopped at Kroger after church to pick up a few things I need for the week. It ended up being a bigger trip than I planned. We spent $6.76 on routine grocery items (sour cream, yogurt starter, milk, onions, frozen corn), $6.90 on items I needed for a special recipe, and $3.28 on impulse purchases. Lastly, the cheese was still on sale for $2.50 a pound, so I bought five more pounds of pre-shredded cheese for the freezer (total cost $12.50).

In the end, we spend just under $29.44 (after two rebates) at Kroger. Yikes! Considering the fact that I keep a $20.00/person/week budget, and the fact that I already spent $18.00 at the bent 'n' dent, $30.00 is way to high. While looking over my receipt, I noticed a few things.

A) No plan. I walked into the store wanting to buy onions and sour cream. To that list I also thought I needed more milk and yogurt starter, although those purchases probably could have waited another week.

B) Shopping while hungry. So, that $3.28 of impulse purchases were completely unneccesary. Even though I knew we wouldn't eat those things right away, the hunger after church made it really tempting anyway.

C) Buying ingredients for special recipes. I do my best to buy ingredients BEFORE I need them (that way I can get them when they are on sale), but this time it didn't work out. I love meal planning as much as anybody, but a major problem with many meal plans is that you have to buy "special" ingredients each week (that is, anything that's not on sale). One of my "special" ingredients was cream cheese. Four packages at $1.50 each is $6.00. I could have got the cream cheese cheaper on sale (often there have been sales for $1.00 per package) or I could have spent less by getting a large chunk at the restaurant supply store. By purchasing the cream cheese ahead of time, I could have saved a dollar or two, easily. But I needed it this week and didn't have time to shop around. Another way to reduce this cost entirely would be to not make the special recipe.

Total spent on groceries this week was $48.29.

2. Cancelled my Audible membership. Boy, have I had a time with Audible! After my first paid month in February, I decided that membership wasn't for me, due to the price as well as the fact that most of my "to read" list is not on Audible. My exit strategy was to save up one unused credit (to keep in case I found any interesting books later) and then cancel. Well, after recieving my credit on Wednesday, I went to cancel on Friday. I saw that they were running a sale- 3 credits for $32.00- so I bought them. That was a good deal, since I've been paying $15.00 per credit for the last two months.

Well, I went to cancel my membership with four unused credits, and I got a message that said, "Are you sure you want to cancel? You will lose all of your unused credits."

What?!?! Boy, was I mad! I guess it was my oversight and failure to read the rules that caused my angst, but don't you think that's a little decieving? Selling extra credits to me and then telling me I have to stay a member or lose the credits I JUST bought? So, I had an emergency book-buying session where I picked some interesting books on my list and spent all four credits. Then I canceled my membership.

So now I have enough audio books to last a long time. And I am done with Audible for a long time, because the library is free. And because there are too many free podcasts and very cheap ebooks to be paying $15.00 each for books that are not on my reading list.

3. Ordered a free (actually $8.00 with shipping/etc., but still cheap!) photo book while Shutterfly was running a promotion.

4. Spent a few hours "fixing" my serger. It's still not perfect, but at least the needles are moving now (they weren't before). For those of you who don't know, a serger is a sewing machine that sews around the edges of fabric so it doesn't unravel in the washer. If you look at the hem of your T-shirt, it probably has a serged edge. My hope is that having a working serger will encourage me to do more sewing.

5. Sold a used book on Amazon. Unfortunately, after fees I only made $0.03. I had listed the book long before Amazon changed their fee structure and never update the price. For those who are wondering, it's pointless to sell any book for less than $2.34 because that is their minimum fee for any sellers who are not "members" (part of the special book selling club). On top of that, Amazon charges 15% of the listing price. I had my book listed for $2.50, so you can see where I went wrong. The only profit I made was because the book was thin and didn't cost a whole lot to ship.

6. I used a $15.00 Ebay coupon. While reviewing my listings, I noticed that I had a coupon available. I'm not sure WHY I had the coupon, but the code worked and I was able to buy some orchid pots that had been sitting in my cart for a long time. Total cost for the pots was $0.50, shipping included.

7. Made granola. I tried using Truvia and honey to sweeten instead of sugar, and the result was less than tasty. I might try making granola bars with it, or just force myself to eat it anyway.

8. Made bone broth and soup from a rooster carcass.

9. Listened to a free audiobook on Amazon Prime's "channels". It is called No Excuses by Brian Tracy. Enjoying it. 

So, those were some frugal things that I did this week.

What were some of our frugal accomplishments?

​1. Grocery shopping: I spent $16.92 this week on groceries. See my haul on Youtube!

As mentioned in the video, we found a bunch of candy in the clearance section by the bottle return. I picked out a few bars for the pantry, and then... Hubs started digging through the candy. I didn't see a point in buying that much candy for the two of us, so Hubs decided to buy it with the business card* for break time at his office. I mean, how do you pass up a ginormous bag of sour gummy worms for just $2.49? He and I will still be eating it either way, though I will be eating less of it. 


2. Line-dried two loads of laundry. I am really getting my indoor laundry drying down PAT! It only takes 10 minutes or so to hang up a load of clothes. First I get out the collapsible drying rack, and then set up the clothesline. That involves tying one end of my line to the first hook. Then I run the line zig zag across the room, threading it through two more hooks, pulling the line very tight and then tying the remaining end onto the fourth and final hook.

Time Saving Tips for Indoor Line Drying

Sort clothes while they are still wet. To save time in actually hanging up the clothes, I sort out the socks and underwear (for the drying rack), and then separate my clothes from Hubs' clothes in different piles BEFORE hanging them up. This only takes a few seconds, but hanging them up in order will make folding and putting away MUCH faster. Then sort out the pants and hang those up first, because they take longest to dry. If I can, I put the jeans on my "overflow rack" in the shower. That way it doesn't put as much stress on my line (jeans are the heaviest) and also leaves more room for the shirts.

Put thicker, heavier clothes close to the fan. When I do hang up the shirts on my line, I do Hubs' pile first and then mine.  I also put his larger shirts close to the fan, and my smaller, lighter shirts on the far end of the line, because I know they will dry faster. Before I leave, I turn on the ceiling fan to help with air flow, and turn off the lights. Then it is usually 24 hours before everything is dry.

Keep your line close to your closet(s). Putting away the laundry is a breeze. First I go to the bathroom to collect the jeans and any other items in "overflow"- towels or sweatshirts. Then I return to the bedroom with clothes in hand. Jeans can be immediately put away. Then I take down all of Hubs' shirts and fold them, and put away. Then I take my shirts down, fold them, and put them away. Lastly I fold the underwear and pair all of the socks hanging on the drying rack. It is so nice because the line is in our bedroom and all of our clothing storage is right there. No half-folded piles on the couch anymore.

Make tear-down simple. My final step in the laundry process is taking down the line. I have a modified milk jug clothespin holder that I can hang right on the line. Then I can take the clothespins off and put them in the jug, just pushing the jug along as I go. When the pins are all collected, I untie both ends of the line and wrap the cord up around my hand. Then the cord goes into the jug/holder with the clothespins. And my line is completely cleaned up! After that I just have to put away the collapsible drying rack, which is stored in my craft room just around the corner. I love how fast this system is. Even though the clothes take longer to dry, my hands-on time is less than with a traditional outdoor system. That's because all of the drying, folding, and putting away takes place in one area.

******

3. Made jello with my $0.12 per serving apple juice. This was not actually frugal. I figured that with the cost of Knox gelatin powder, each serving of juice costs a whopping $0.36 per serving. Plus, the jello turned out grainy. Right now I am mixing it into my tea instead of snacking on it. So, that was kind of a frugal fail. I think popsicles would be a better frugal use for cheap fruit juice. If anyone has a source of bulk gelatin powder for less than $1.00 per oz. please let me know.

4. Used a $10.00 off coupon at Bulk Apothecary. I bought a new soap mold (yay!), some phthalate-free fragrance (like the pomegranate one I mentioned last week), and some lanolin.

5. Remember the Materia Medica free herbal course I signed up for in January? After a bit of slacking, I read through all of the lessons and made a binder with all of the printables in it. I believe the course was only free in January, but I have access to it until April. I will be growing several new herbs in my garden this year, so I would like to study a little more in order to get the best use out of them.

6. My mother-in-law gave me a brand new stainless steel cooking pot! I am super excited because it has a "waterless thermal control" system that I can't wait to try. It's also big enough to hold two+ gallons of milk, and will probably become my yogurt/cheese pot. With milk as cheap as it is (and with my goat about to give birth), I should really be making more cheese and yogurt.

So, that is about all for the week! We have a family wedding, travel, car shopping and the birth of some goat kids coming up, so I have been a little distracted as of late. I'm praying that my goat has her kids soon so we can at least get that out of the way!

Til next time,
-Bethany

*This is not a literal paper business card. Hubs is self-employed, so we separate "business costs" from "personal costs" for tax purposes. I use our debit card for household purchases, and we use the business credit card for pre-tax business purchases.

So, I have a confession to make. 

I went to an MLM party. I know, I know- bad frugal move. But it was with you- my readers- in mind! I thought I would buy a real MLM product, and then compare it with a similar (half the price) Walmart product and share my findings.


Which Company to Chose?

Wow. Did I want candles, or essential oils, or handbags, or lotions, or nutritional supplements or cleaning products? Memberships or recurring monthly purchases were out of the question, so I decided to go to a friend's Lemongrass Spa party. Lemongrass Spa offers natural personal care products like lotions, shampoos, makeup, etc. 

The party was fun, of course, because a lot of my friends were there. Plus there were nice snacks. Also, I had chosen to buy a product before I went, so that decision was already made. We all enjoyed ourselves, sniffing and trying all that Lemongrass had to offer.

I decided to buy a jar of sugar scrub because I really liked the pomegranate scent. I'd never used sugar scrubs before, so I thought it would be a great product to compare. Total cost for the 8 oz. jar, with $4.00 shipping, was about $22.00.


Buying the Competition

For the competing product, I had to chose something all-natural otherwise it wouldn't be a fair comparison. So I found the natural beauty section at Walmart and looked for some sugar scrubs. Burt's Bees had an 8 oz. container, and it was even labeled "Cranberry & Pomegranate". That would be perfect, because I could compare the scent as well as ingredients and feel, etc.

As soon as we got home, I opened the Burt's Bees scrub. It smelled so wonderful. At $13.00, it was a steal compared to the Lemongrass stuff. I loved how it made my face feel fresh after a shower, and the oil rehydrated my skin so it didn't flake off after so much hot water. 

​
The Final Comparison

It took several weeks, but finally I got my Lemongrass scrub. It came in a little green bag that I thought was so cute. Somehow, though, a bit of oil had leaked through the seal and got on the inside of the bag. But at least it smelled good.

The moment of truth had come. I opened the jar and took a big whiff. Oh my- it was just as lovely as I had remembered! I splashed some water on my face to try it out. This scrub was a little more oily than Burt's Bees, but it made my face feel all satiny smooth. Like a baby's butt, but it smelled a whole lot better. ;)

Then I got out the Burt's Bees and put the two products side by side. I sniffed each one. First the Lemongrass, then the Burt's. I had my heart set on proclaiming Burt's the winner (because it was cheaper), but my heart sank a little when I realized that I liked the Lemongrass scent better. They were both nice-smelling, but I preferred the Lemongrass. Then I had Hubs close his eyes, and then waved both jars under his nose.

"Which one do you like better?" I asked. He sniffed. Then he asked to smell each one again. I was getting a little nervous.

"It's hard to decide," he said, "because they both smell good. But I think I like the second one better." So, Lemongrass had won in the scent department.

But what about functionality?

Still determined to declare Burt's the winner, I compared the consistency and feel of each scrub. Again, Lemongrass was superior. Burt's Bees felt more sticky than smooth. This prompted me to check the ingredients on the back of each jar. I had expected to see almost identical ingredients, but the Burt's jar contained more cheap oils like soybean (first ingredient after sugar), olive and sunflower oils. The Lemongrass jar, on the other hand, listed finer oils like sweet almond oil (second ingredient after sugar), apricot kernel oil, and mango butter.

So despite my initial hypothesis, I had to declare Lemongrass Spa the winner, and Burt's Bees the lower priced (but lower quality) honorable mention.


Does This Mean Bethany Will Start Buying MLM Products?

No. Unless maybe you give me a steep discount!! All kidding aside, I still think MLMs are not a good idea for most people trying to save money. It's important to realize that network marketing products- like subscription boxes, new name brand clothing, and organic food- are very much luxuries. My sister receives a subscription box every month, and she calls it "a present to herself". That is what luxury items are. They are NOT needs.*

Let's be clear- I love my Lemongrass Spa sugar scrub. I think it is wonderful and I will enjoy every last dab of it. It was rather costly, but it was a one-time purchase. If the jar lasts five years, I might buy it again from Lemongrass. If it lasts one year, I will probably just make my own sugar scrub.

It's very important to distinguish between long-term MLM habits and short-term splurges. For nutritional supplements, it is easy to pay $100.00 per month or MORE for daily nutrition bars, shakes, and pills- and that is just for one person. That is $1200.00 per year for ONE ITEM on your budget. It's so important to evaluate purchases like these before signing up. There is a huge, huge difference between $1200.00 for a subscription "daily use" item and $22.00 for a single luxury item.


Does This Mean Bethany Will Start Selling MLM Products?

"But Bethany," someone says, "You can get X product for just $50.00 per month if you become a consultant! Plus the commission you make can offset the cost of X product. That would be frugal!" Never say never, but I don't see network marketing in my future. I still think the "sell to all of your friends" model is a little scammy and weird. I still think network marketing products are overpriced. 

One thing I would consider doing, however, is affiliate marketing. It is kind of like network marketing because you get a percentage of the sales. Unlike network marketing, though, you are selling stuff to people who are actually interested. There are no pushy person-to-person "appointments" or constant Facebook parties. Oftentimes affiliate marketing can be as simple as an ad on your blog sidebar, or links to Amazon products. I don't think there is anything scammy about that. If people are going to buy a product anyway, why not make a few pennies from the company (not from your friend!) by recommending that product?


Conflicts of Interest in Network (and Affiliate) Marketing


Several months ago, I looked into taking an online course about herbs. The class cost about $200.00 at full price. I'm frugal, so I started looking around for discounts and realized that they had an affiliate program for bloggers. Affiliates not only received a 50% commission for every class sold through their link, but they'd also receive a 35% discount on any classes they chose to take personally. On top of that, all students were eligible for a discount on herbs purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs. How could I say no to that? As an affiliate, my $200.00 course would only cost $130.00, and if I sold two classes through an affiliate link, my whole class would be paid for. Plus, as a student, I would be saving money on herbs that I *might* have bought anyway.

Here is where the conflict of interest comes in: even though it would be frugal for me, a $200.00 course (without the affiliate discount) would not be frugal for many of my readers; especially those paying off debt or just trying to make ends meet. I think that distinction is not made clear enough in a world where "frugal" bloggers are peddling all sorts of luxury MLM products and other subscription services.

I'm not 100% against affiliate marketing or selling stuff. I sell books on Amazon.

But as a consumer and blog reader, sometimes it can be difficult for me to untangle which products (DoTerra, Young Living, HelloFresh, Grove Collaborative, Dollar Shave Club) featured on my favorite frugal blogs are actually frugal. I've determined that most of them aren't. Not for me, anyway.


Conclusion

So, that was Burt's Bees (Walmart) vs. an MLM company (Lemongrass Spa). The MLM company won, but let's not forget that almost every MLM or subscription service is a luxury purchase; not an need, and certainly not a frugal choice.

-Bethany

*I know there are exceptions to the rule. But I'm talking about MLM products in general.

**For those of you DIY types, I did find the wonderful phthalate-free pomegranate fragrance for sale at several online retailers. I can't guarantee it is what Lemongrass uses, but it's out there for under $10.00 with shipping. :)

Wow- spring is just around the corner! I've got little seedlings and things growing all over the place, and it makes me so happy. There's just something exciting about new growth after cold, dull winters. Here are some frugal things I did last week:​

1. Line dried two loads of laundry.

2. Shopping: we went to Kroger this week and spent $11.83. You can watch my grocery haul on Youtube!!

We also went to Walmart and did a non-frugal trip (I promise it just started out with carrots and mayo) that included brand-name barbeque sauce, gelatin powder (which is like $1.00 per oz... what?!) and chipotle pepper powder. The only chipotle pepper they had, by the way, for $5.00. It was for a recipe. And I was hungry for cookies, so we bought some $2.50 cookies. At the checkout, I had forgotten to put something in my cart. So I ran back and got it. By the time I got back up to the checkout counter, Hubs had scanned a candy bar for himself. LOL! I can't blame him, though, because my cookies were more expensive. So that trip was another $20.00+.

3. Used a 10% off coupon at TSC to buy goat feed, a flower bulb, and something that Hubs wanted. I got three bags of feed, which will last at least 6 months. I decided to buy it all at once, since I had the coupon anyway. 

I also found a narcissus bulb-forcing kit (after Christmas sale!) for $2.70. It came with the pot, dirt, and bulb. I planted the bulb in its pot right away. Even if the bulb does not bloom this spring, I'm hopeful that it will flower next year. I am always looking for flowers to grow indoors during the winter months.

​4. Started herb seeds. I used little pot-pellets that we got at Menards; I think each pot cost between $0.10-$0.20. I was just curious to see if they worked. Anyhow, one of the herb seeds is already beginning to sprout!! I also transferred some lavender seedlings into an egg carton to grow in individual cells.

​6. Listed some stuff on Ebay. I am hoping to have sales to report next week!

7. Made sugar-free no bake cookies. They were SOOOO good. Even Hubs thought they were decent. The recipe was basically identical to the sugar one, except instead of butter it used coconut oil, and instead of sugar I used honey and Truvia (stevia). I think it would be cheaper and just as healthy to use butter, so I am going to try that before posting a recipe. I thought the honey/Truvia blend worked well. There was only a slight hint of stevia aftertaste that I noticed. I don't think Hubs would have noticed either, had I not told him. 

8. Uploaded some Youtube videos. One of my blog goals this year was to do some "real" Youtube videos in order to get my message to a new audience. I have uploaded videos before, but mostly just so I could have video clips on my blog.

I spent one day this week, therefore, learning how to edit videos from my phone to make them 'tube worthy. First I tried downloading an editing app (that didn't work), then I tried editing them on my phone before uploading. Finally, I found that the easiest thing to do is take the video on your phone, and then do the editing on the computer (Youtube Editor) after the clip has uploaded to Youtube. I found which fonts I like the best for titles and also figured out how to add music, links, and stuff like that. It was a long day, but time well spent.

Right now I have this week's haul on my channel, plus a clip on pantry shopping vs. grocery list shopping, and a clip on how I use my grocery store comparison chart. If you're interested, subscribe to my channel! If all goes well, I will be uploading at least one video every week.

And that's all, folks! Til next time,
-Bethany

February was an interesting month here. Things are starting to pick up a little bit.

Chickens

During the thaw, my chickens (actually, half I was just chicken-sitting for) really started to lay eggs. I got big eggs, small eggs, blue eggs, and even duck eggs again! This made me very happy. At one point I was getting 15 eggs per day. At this point I am watching to see how much egg production goes down. Depending on how many eggs I get from my own chickens, I may begin selling eggs to out-the-door customers soon.

One problem I ran into this month was leg infections. The chickens I was babysitting had been marked with spiral leg bands. Toward the end of the month, I noticed one of the roosters limping. Upon further inspection, the leg band was somehow causing infection in that leg. It was almost like the leg had grown over the band! I removed the band (which was pretty well lodged) and then fed the roo some garlic for a few days to help with the infection. After about two days, he was walking fine again.

About a week later, I noticed one of the hens limping. Sure enough, the leg with the band was hot and a little swelled up. This band had not lodged into the leg as much, so it came out easier and I just let the hen go. I decided to look for any more limping chickens, and sure enough I found another rooster hopping around on one leg.

The second rooster's swollen leg was HUGE, and a big black scab had formed OVER the back of his leg where the spiral band was. I didn't feel prepared to tackle this one on my own, so I took it up to the shop and Hubs helped me with it. He used some pliers to pry part of the band away from the leg, and then he used wire cutters to cut a piece of the band off. Then, pulling on one end with the pliers, he was able to pull the remaining band through the scab to get it off. We were both surprised at how well the rooster handled such a procedure.

I think the spiral bands worked okay for the smaller-legged chickens, but for the older hens and in particular the roosters, perhaps they were just too tight or constricting. I don't know.


Goats

Adi is fast approaching her due date, so I'm keeping an eye on her. On the last day of February I noticed a bit of mucus/discharge coming out the back. In 2016, this happened a couple weeks before the kidding. Her udder is starting to fill up, but it's nowhere near the size it needs to be. So I am going to sit tight for a couple more weeks and see what happens.


Profit & Loss

Note here: I've decided to count any farm-related book sales/royalties as hobby farm income. This is part of my transition away from farmers markets and toward easier streams of income such as online sales. I still plan on going to markets this year, but only once a month. In future years, I'm hoping that book sales will give a year-round income (however small). It is one more thing I can use to pay for the hobby farm.

Income:
Books- $3.32

Expenses:
Layer mash: $66.00
Corn: $30.00
Total expenses: $96.00

Net profit: $(92.68)
Year-to-date net profit: $(121.68)

Note: In January I just tacked on my (negative) net profit to 2016's positive net profit. However, after looking over my records, I think it would be more informative to start the year at $0.00 and see how everything progresses from there. Otherwise I might get to the end of the year and think, "Wow, I made $200.00!" when that money was actually made in 2016, and 2017 was a negative year.

So far, then, my hobby farm is $121.68 in the hole. $35.00 of that went toward goat hay, and the rest was spent solely on chicken feed. In January and February, the chickens were eating $1.70 worth of feed every day. And toward the end of February that wasn't terrible, considering the fact that they were laying over a dozen eggs every day (bringing the price per dozen to $1.57). But it's still not that great of a deal. When the weather warms up, I'll be able to sell some eggs to offset the cost of feed.


Improving My Flock

One of my hens had some kind of ailment (I think it was an injury) that made her sick. She hardly ate, didn't walk right and just didn't move a whole lot. After a month of nursing in her own separate dog kennel/cage, she is back up on her feet and eating. One thing I haven't seen, though, is any eggs. So I have fed this chicken for the last month, and got nothing in return. I did the math, and for that one month it cost about $1.20 to feed her. That doesn't sound like much, but multiply it by eight or 10, and it's a lot to pay for the privilege of having a bunch of non-productive pets. 

One of my ideas to try in March (or whenever most of the chickens are laying) is to isolate one older chicken every week and see if she lays eggs or not. One egg and she is allowed to stay- no eggs and we might have chicken dinner. Who knows, I might be able to do a rooster every time I process a chicken, and then we can have twice as many chicken dinners and cut even more non-productive animals out of the flock. 

Chicken-sitting helped me realize how many more eggs are laid by a young bird than an old bird. I only bothered to get three or four new (young) birds last year, and the rest of my flock is older hens and roosters. Apart from processing the roosters (a task I love to put off until later), one way to have a more efficient flock would be to cull the older hens and then replace them with young hens. My brother has an incubator, so it would be very possible to selectively breed, and then incubate my own eggs in order to save money on new birds. That being said, I am currently doing a little research on what breeds would make the best dual-purpose meat birds and egg layers.

Til next time,
Bethany