500+ Money Saving & Frugal Living Tips (HUGE Resource)

This is a money saving and frugal living ’round-up’ post. I have gone through all our shorter posts on frugal living etc and consolidated them into this one huge resource on money saving. There may well be some overlap on some tips, but overall I am fairly certain there is around 500 money saving tips and tricks here.

5 Things You Can Do Today To Save Money And Be More Self-Sufficient

For millions, the notion of living a more financially self-sufficient life is nothing more than just that – a notion. Existing free from the bounds of debt and comfort knowing you aren’t relying on anything other than yourself is a concept many desire, but few achieve. While the road of being financially self-sufficient is different for every person, achieving financial security and sufficiency begins at the same point for all adults.

The following five tips are geared to increase your savings account while simultaneously boosting your financial self-sufficiency in the modern world. Use these topics as the foundation for your personalized plan to reach financial stability and personal reliability.

Switch to a Better Bank

There’s a disturbing trend in the modern financial industry – fees. Whether it’s debit card fees, minimum account balance fees or the always mysterious, maintenance fees, banking institutions love to charge its customers for simply existing. While this may be true for many banks, there are a select few who offer stellar financial services without charging a fee for every action.

Research and switch to a bank that is fee-free and one that offers a decent interest on checking and savings accounts. Take your time researching the best bank for you. Much like your financial life, banks are unique and cater to specific financial situations. You can also research and switch insurance companies and energy suppliers. We saved $800 a year switching to a better energy tariff…

Create a Daily Budget (In Cash)

For many, the word ‘budget’ is nothing more than a fancy way of setting unachievable goals. The art form of budgeting is not easily acquired, yet it’s necessary to truly save money and become self-sufficient. Take an afternoon and review your monthly bills and expenses on all items (including food, drinks, entertainment activities, etc.). From here, subtract this total from your monthly income. Subtract a little extra for unexpected expenses.

The remaining balance is your expendable income. To ensure you actually spend within this limit, create a daily ”petty’ cash envelope. In an envelope for each day of the week, place the amount of cash you’re able to spend for that day. This method is a relative thought-free way of staying within your daily spending budget.

Fatten Your Piggy (Don’t Be Quick To Dismiss)

Now that you’re conducting your daily spending with cash instead of debit or credit, you’re bound to end up with a fair amount of loose change. Focus on placing this change into your piggy bank. Did you know that by placing aside fifty cents per day for a year, you’ll be at almost 40% of the recommended $500 emergency savings account? Become diligent in saving loose change and leftover bills, and you’ll soon be sitting on a significant amount of cash.

Keep Your Car in Top-Notch Shape

It’s no secret that a well-maintained car lasts substantially longer than a neglected vehicle. However, did you know that by keeping your car tuned-up results in saving money and making you more self-sufficient? By keeping tires properly inflated and the engine maintained, it’s possible to save hundreds in gas purchases each year.

Not only does a properly maintained vehicle save you money on required maintenance and expenditures, but a reliable mode of transportation is among best ways to solidify your self-sufficiency. Take care of your vehicle and watch it care for your livelihood.

Weatherproof Your Home

Regardless of where you live, the weather has a tendency to become extreme. Whether it’s blistering heat or bone-chilling cold, you likely spend hundreds on annual heating and cooling costs. Reduce your monthly utility bills by weatherproofing your home. Because all homes are unique, the exact process to make your residence efficient can vary. Spend time researching various weatherproofing techniques and adopt a system to save you money and sustain the comfort and viability of your home.

46 Penny-Pinching Ways To Save A Lot Of Money This Year

The little things really add up. Admit it, there’s a small part of you that relates to the ladies on Extreme Couponing. I read a great blog on how to save money by doing simple DIY projects, tips on how to reuse old things and awesome ways of saving money by doing simple things to items you already have.

Also, remember, times will only get harder and items only cost more, so save money now to have more money for later down the road. This way of saving money will help you if an emergency were to happen and you had to cut back on spending or even if SHTF.

More here: 46 Penny-Pinching Ways To Save A Lot Of Money This Year

100 Painless Ways To Save Money And Live More Frugally

Times are hard, goods and services are expensive but money is short. The rich are still getting richer, and the poor are still treading water, trying to keep their head in the air…

The things is, you don’t have to be living right on the bread-line to be concerned with saving money and living more frugally. It makes perfect economic sense for everyone, no matter what their wealth, to not waste their money. To be honest, I believe that living a more frugal life is also better for the soul, it is a more satisfying way to live. If you’d like to save some money and live a little more frugally, check out the post below.

See: 100 Painless Ways To Save Money And Live More Frugally

(Photo from: Tax Credits)

50 Nifty DIY Tricks To Save Loads Of Money

Some of these ideas cost nothing, but they result in improved performance and reduced costs. Shortening your dryer hose for example – it costs nothing but will save around $25 a year and make your clothes dry 20% quicker. That said, if the weather is good, you should hang your clothes outdoor to dry for even bigger savings!

My point is – there are loads of free/low-costDIY things you can do that can save you big money. The link below contains 50 DIY money saving tricks in categories of how much money they will save you, $50, $150, $250 and $500 a year. Check out the list below.

Find out more: 50 Nifty DIY Tricks To Save Loads Of Money

(Image from: Alan Cleaver)

100 Great Tips For Saving Money

There are so many ways we can save money, but often we are so stuck in our old ways and routines, that we miss the most obvious ways to save money… For example – we have saved $1000s a year by sitting down once a year and reviewing things like loans, utility bills, and insurance. We get the paperwork out, check the numbers and then go online and use one of those comparison websites which help find the best deal. A few hours doing this once a year can save $1000s.

It’s not just the big things, though – a friend of mine was telling me how much debt he was in etc, but then later in the conversation he mentioned that he buys his lunch from a local deli each day on the way to work. I asked why he doesn’t pack a lunch at home to save money and he said he couldn’t be bothered and it wouldn’t save that much money anyway. This kind of thinking is crazy though as $10 a day is $50 a week (5 day week) and that’s over $2500 a year. Little things add up!

If you save some money, check out the post below which lists 100 genuinely useful tips, to help you cut your cloth to fit.

Read: 100 Great Tips For Saving Money

41 Green Ways To Save Money ($1000s Each Year!)

It seems quite obvious to me that we are screwing our planet up at a rate far greater than previous generations. Lots of people also seem to be struggling and a lot less well off now too. Therefore if there are things you can do that save you money AND save the environment, surely that’s a no-brainer? It’s a win, win.

The post below contains 41 little things you can do that will save you big money and enable you to do your little bit to help safeguard the planet. I am a parent and I believe it is especially important for our children to see us doing these little ethical things that help us and the environment. Just like if you get them to eat healthily at a young age sets lifelong habits, so can this. Set a good example now and they will carry it on in the future.

Read: 41 Green Ways To Save Money ($1000s Each Year!)

(Image from: Greatist)

27 Ways To Save Some Money

Money is tight for most people, and there’s no buts about it, times are getting tough…

If you are feeling the pinch (especially after Christmas), head over to One Good Thing By Jillee and read her excellent article detailing 27 (do-able) ways to save a bit of money this year. Great advice, make sure you check it out!

Find out more: 27 Ways To Save Some Money

(Image from One Good Thing By Jillee)

High-Deductible Health Plan: How To Cut Costs & Save Money

Ok so this is a break from the norm on Knowledge Weighs Nothing, but I saw this and I thought that with the 30,000 daily visitors to K.W.N, this can really help a lot of folks struggling with their high-deductible health plans. In fact, I guess unless you have an HDHP, you probably wouldn’t be here reading this. Anyway, we’ll see how popular this post is…

Anyway, the link below contains post written by Insure.com that includes lots of help, advice, and tips on how to cut costs and save money on your health care if you have an HDHP. If you just ignore the Insure.com advertising and free quote boxes, there is some great free information to be had here.

(Image from: Wikipedia)

Home DIY: How To Do Home Repairs Yourself To Save Money

So often when something at home breaks and needs repairing, we just phone a tradesman (or woman) and pay them to do the work for us… You shouldn’t be afraid to do a little home DIY, as many tasks are pretty simple and straightforward, especially with Google as your friend. A quick Google and you can often diagnose the issue, and a lot of the time someone has created a DIY tutorial for you to follow.

In the last year, with the help of Google, the home DIY tasks that I have done myself include: replacing a toilet, replacing a power-shower pump, laying a wood floor, building decking in the garden and fixing my computer and my wife’s laptop several time. My point is – you don’t always have to pay someone else to do the work, with the internet, lots of these tasks are easy to do yourself.

Here’s what I do –

If it is a broken appliance (washing machine, dishwasher, computer etc), I get the make and model and Google the specific issue. For example – ‘Sony Vaio S1 laptop not booting up’. When you do this you will usually find loads of posts and forum threads where people have had the same issue. They often also include the DIY repair and how to do it. A little research is all that is required.

If it is a home DIY task (fitting a new toilet, laying a floor etc), I simply Google how to do the task. For example – ‘DIY guide to laying laminate wood flooring’. Again you will usually find loads of guides and tutorials showing how to do the task you need to get done.

All that is up to you is deciding whether your level of DIY skill is up to the task of following the instructions you have found online. If it is, do the work yourself and save loads of money. If it’s not, bite the bullet and pay a professional to do the work for you…

(Image from: Wikipedia)

200 Tips & Ideas For Living More Frugally & Saving Money

Everyone likes saving a bit of money, but these days, most of us HAVE to save money each month, just to get by… Times are hard and the ability to be able to cut costs and live more frugally is becoming more important than ever. Living frugally doesn’t necessarily mean going without, often it can mean having more for less, gardening for example – you can grow and have more food for less.

There are so many things you can do to live more frugally and cut costs. In fact, almost every single thing you do each day can be evaluated to see if there is a cheaper, better way of doing it. Below are two posts from ‘The Parsimonious Princess’ that list 200 ways to live a more frugal life.

See: 100 Painless Ways To Live More Frugally & 100 MORE Painless Ways To Live More Frugally

(Image from: StockMonkeys.com)

9 Frugal Living Tips From The Great Depression

I read somewhere the other day the frugal living was going to be the new ‘in’ trendy thing for 2014. It’s nice for some to be able to play at having to live frugally, but for many of us, it is simply a way of life, not a trendy lifestyle choice…

Anyway, regardless of whether it’s a trendy choice or a necessity for you, below is a post listing 9 frugal living tips that folks had to rely on during the Great Depression. Actually, when I go through the list, I am starting to think that maybe choosing to live this way as a lifestyle choice (rather than having too!), isn’t such a bad thing after all. I think the world might be a better place if we took on some of these values.

(Image from: Wikipedia)

The Fine (and Frugal) Art of Repurposing Leftovers

Have you ever been really poor? I don’t mean “I can’t afford Starbucks until my next paycheck” poor. I mean “Should I buy food or pay the electric bill before the power gets shut off” poor. If so, this is a great article to read to make leftovers stretch your food budget. There are even some recipes on there so you can make leftovers even more “yummy”

Times get hard sometimes but if you are doing well with money, this is a great way to start preparing for an emergency situation because money will have no value or there will be no food to buy.

Find out more: The Fine (and Frugal) Art of Repurposing Leftovers

Picture Credit: Muffet

11 Couponing Tips That Will Save You Thousands

If you are not couponing, you are throwing money away each and every week. The mistake many people make is thinking that a coupon here and a coupon there, isn’t going to make much of a difference and therefore couponing is not worth the effort. The thing is – if you actively seek out coupons and shop wisely, you can easily save around $200 each month… A $2400 a year saving for a bit of couponing seems a no-brainer to me.

If you want to switch from cashing the odd coupon here and there, to being a couponing pro who saves big each month, I highly recommend heading over to ‘Live Like You Are Rich’ and checking out their couponing guide. I guarantee it will save you money!

(Image from: Live Like You Are Rich)

Feed A Family Of 6 For Less Than $400 A Month (Including Diapers!)

There are two lots of people reading this – one is going ‘blah feeding a family of 6 for $400 is easy’, and the others are going ‘how on earth do you feed a family of six for just $400 a month?’

The things is, if you eat low-quality food it is easy to feed a family on very little money, but the post below from ‘Womanhood With Purpose’ explains how Bernadette eats healthily, with lots of fruit, meats, and vegetables. The amazing thing is that her $400 a month budget also includes diapers and cleaning supplies. Find out how she does it below. I would also add that you could eat healthier and cheaper by also growing some of your own fruit and vegetables too!

Find our more: Feed A Family Of 6 For Less Than $400 A Month (Including Diapers!)

(Image from: Bernadette Veenstra via Womanhood With Purpose)

(Top Image from: 401(K) 2012)

Preserve/Store Eggs For UpTo 2 Years Without Refrigeration

Many people think that once you have some chickens, you then have a constant and predictable supply of eggs. Once you have had some chickens for a while, you soon realise this is not always the case. Well not in our experience anyway…

Chickens can be temperamental creatures and many things such as stress, the weather, age and hormones can all put a temporary stop on egg production. We often have periods of a month or so when egg production drops right off. There’s nothing worse than having to buy eggs when you have your own chickens! Conversely, when conditions are right, you can end up with more eggs than you know what to do with! It is not dissimilar to growing seasons when we end up with a glute of fruit and vegetables during the summer and fall, but very little during the winter and spring.

Similar to how we preserve fruit and vegetables during the summer months in preparation for the winter months, we can also preserve our eggs (without freezing or refrigeration) when they are coming thick and fast. Pioneers and homesteaders have been preserving eggs in this manner for well over 100 years. This and similar methods have probably been used much longer in other traditions.

The method for preserving the eggs requires the eggs to be stored in a container filled with lime water (a mixture of calcium hydroxide, hydrated lime, slaked lime or pickling lime and water). Rather than me detailing the method step by step, I decided to share this excellent video tutorial from the amazing YouTube channel PREPSTEADERS, which is just too good not to feature for the purpose of demonstrating this egg preserving method. Be sure to check out the video which is down below.

If you are interested in learning how to store and preserve eggs for up to two years or so, this twenty-minute video tutorial will be twenty minutes extremely well spent!

Homemade Bushcraft/Frontier Knife Made From A File/Rasp — No Forge Required – Simple Tools Only

Mora Knives aside, it can be difficult to find an affordable, quality bushcraft type survival knife. Mora knives are very cheap and very highly regarded, but they are not full-tang knives, which means the blade steel does not travel through to the end of the handle. A full-tang knife is always preferable as it is much stronger, and even if the handle breaks, the remaining steel shaft can be wound with paracord or replaced. If the knife is not full-tang and the handle breaks, the knife is all but useless.

So what’s the answer? Well, you can try your luck with cheap full-tang knives, or you can easily make your own bespoke full-tang bushcraft knife from a metal file. The excellent video tutorial below from Outdoor Boys YouTube channel (I highly recommend subscribing! They put out some amazing video tutorials) shows how to make a homemade full-tang, high-quality knife from an old file/rasp. The best thing about this knife making tutorial is the minimum tools/equipment required — literally all you need is a bench vice, a hand grinder, a drill, and a belt-sander. You can even do away with the belt-sander if you don’t have one! There are a couple of clamps used to fit the handle, but at a push, you could easily just use the bench vice for this.

Tools aside, the other great thing about this knife/tutorial is that you do not need a forge to make this knife! That’s right, no forge, you heard me right. If you do a bit of DIY, you likely have everything you need already! This would make an awesome weekend project, check out the tutorial below. The tutorial also covers making the sheath.

One thing that came to mind when watching this tutorial – you could easily skip making the beautiful, but the time-consuming wood handle. Instead, you could make a simple paracord-wrap handle. This would save time and also allow you to always carry a length of paracord with you.

The Ultimate Tomato Growing Post — A Round-Up Of Experts’ Growing Tips

This post is a round-up of smaller posts that were previously featured on Knowledge Weighs Nothing. (I am slowly going back through KWN and tidying things up and removing lots of old/dead posts etc). I have compiled several older tomato growing/preserving posts here in one place to make it simpler to find these excellent tomato growing and preserving tips and tricks. Take your tomato growing to the next level!

DIY Self Watering Alaska Grow Buckets

The Alaska Grow Bucket is the easiest self-watering container system that anyone can use to grow their own food. Alaska Grow Buckets use capillary action of a soil-less grow-medium to draw water from below up to the plant roots. The good thing about this design is there is no pumps, no electricity and best of all, you grow your own food. Become more self-reliant and build one this summer. Find out more here.

How To Grow 50-80 lbs Of Tomatoes Per Plant

That’s right – 50 – 80 pounds of tomatoes PER PLANT! That’s amazing, you could grow a huge amount of tomatoes in a really small space. This is useful for everyone regardless of how much space they have for growing food, but it is especially useful for people with limited growing space. Watch the video above and see how it’s done.

One Man’s Genius Idea For Growing A Huge Tomato Crop

James over at hometalk.com has come up with an awesome way of growing bumper crops of tomatoes with very little effort. James came up with an innovative way to water and feed the tomatoes using a garbage bin. Not only does it result in huge tomato crops, but it is also a much easier way to grow tomatoes as you only have to water them every 2-3 days.

You could use this method to grow tomatoes outdoors or in a greenhouse (if you plant into the ground in your greenhouse). This method is genius in its simplicity, so head over to Home Talk on the link below and find out more… You could probably grow cucumbers and peppers using the same method too! Read James’s post here.

Combat Tomato Blight With Copper Coins

I refuse to use pesticide, insecticide and anti-fungal spray on my fruit and vegetables. If I want to eat foods containing these, I’ll just get them from the supermarket…

The problem is – my reluctance to use chemicals has cost me my entire tomato crop for the last two years! I also lost most of my potatoes last year as well. I lost both crops due to blight. Most people don’t realize, but potato blight and tomato blight are exactly the same. The blight is the same fungus called: Phytophthora infestans.

Many people think that the coin/blight trick is a myth; I can tell you it is not. It works, but only if you use coins produced before 1982 as these have more copper in them and it is the copper that stops the blight. The copper/coin tip might not completely stop the blight, but it may slow it down long enough for your affected tomatoes to ripen. Read the post in full here.

Homemade Monster Tomato Fertilizer Recipe

Do you want to use natural fertilizer on your plants and vegetables? I know I do. I found a great article showing you the recipe for “monster tomato fertilizer” I know I will be trying this. It’s really simple to make and all-natural.I’m thinking about using this recipe on my flowers too, see if I can win any competitions. Find out more here.

How To Correctly Plant Tomato Plants To Get 8 Foot Plants

I think it is fair to say that if you garden and grow your own food, you grow tomatoes. Problem is – if you’re like me, your tomatoes don’t always do as well as expected. Some years we have amazing crops of tomatoes and don’t know what to do with them all but last year, for example, we got hit badly by tomato/potato blight and we lost 90% of our crop.

Now whilst there isn’t a great deal you can do if it is a bad year for blight, there are things you can do when planting your tomato plants which will all but guarantee huge healthy plants with an abundance of fruit. Also, if you follow this method of planting, your tomato plants will be so much stronger and healthier, they may be able to resist the tomato blight fungus that little bit longer that could enable you to harvest the crop before it fails. Check out this link for this awesome tomato planting tutorial from ‘Love Apple Farms’.

How To Build The Ultimate Tomato Or Pepper Cage For Under $2….The Stake-A-Cage

The support of a 4′ long wooden stake – attached to an open-faced wire mesh grid. Strong and durable and cheap! It combines the durability of staking tomatoes with the ease of a cage.

Better yet, by keeping the wire grid flat and not making a true cage – you can tie your tomatoes easily to the grid – and when it comes time to pick – you won’t have to reach through the cages to get to the goods. Click here to see the full article and see how you can make your own ” Stake A Cage”

Very Quick & Easy Way To Make Homemade Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes are delicious and they really do bring dishes and snacks alive. I am sure more of us would eat more sun-dried tomatoes if it wasn’t for the fact they cost a fortune at the store. Sure, some of you live in climates where you can actually sundry your tomatoes outdoors in the traditional way, but this method takes quite a bit of effort and takes days to completely dry out the tomatoes.

There is an easier way! You can make sun-dried tomatoes in a food dehydrator or an oven. Wait I hear several people shouting that these aren’t sun-dried tomatoes… Interestingly around 90% of sun-dried tomatoes from the store are not actually dried in the sun! I guarantee you that if you follow this tutorial, you’ll end up with the most delicious sun-dried tomatoes you have ever tried, AND you’ll save an absolute fortune over buying them from the store.

Dehydrating Tomatoes 101

Dehydrated tomatoes taste amazing! The problem is when you grow your own tomatoes the year usually goes like this – nothing, nothing, nothing and then loads of tomatoes in one go!

Tomatoes are so healthy, tasty and versatile it is a crime to ever waste them. Sure you can make sauces etc but I think one of the best ways to preserve tomatoes is to dehydrate them. If you don’t have a dehydrator because you think they are too expensive, then get one of these at just $35. For the price it has amazing reviews…

Here is an awesome tutorial on how to dehydrate tomatoes from Bev Cooks, check it out and the next time you have a glut of tomatoes or they are on offer at the store, get dehydrating!

(Original Images –Bev Cooks, Wikipedia, Love Apple Farms, Muffet, TheWalden Effect, Home Talk, LDSPrepper, oldworldgardenfarms.com, chateau-listeur.blogspot.ca)

How To Make Your Own Charcoal At Home — So Easy & Simple!

For most of us, charcoal means one thing – summer barbecues! However, charcoal can also be used for cooking outdoors year-round. It is also a great option to store for cooking during emergency, SHTF scenarios. Additionally, good quality homemade charcoal can also be used to make effective DIY water filters. Charcoal can also be used to treat poisoning when consumed in small quantities (make sure you know what you are doing!).

Charcoal isn’t all that expensive to purchase, but if you have some hardwood, you can easily make your own charcoal for free. It could be especially useful to make and store for an SHTF, grid-down scenario, where charcoal could be used for cooking, heating and bartering etc. If nothing else though it is actually very, very satisfying to make your own charcoal.

Watch the video below by Mike Pepler to see just how easy it is to make your own charcoal in your backyard. Mike covers making charcoal using a small steel drum placed inside a larger oil drum, to create a kiln to cook the wood and make charcoal. This method could be scaled up or down depending on your requirements or the size of drums you have available.

11 Home Remedies For Dry Cough That Really Work!

The onset of dry cough can be a sign of many different ailments. While a dry cough may be due to a previous cold, it’s not uncommon to experience a dry cough after breathing dry, hot air. For example, many people begin to develop a dry cough after turning on their furnace for the first time in the fall, which is primarily due to the dust and irritants that were collected over the spring and summer months. Chronic dry coughing is typically a result of persistent irritation, such as smoking cigarettes, allergies, asthma and environmental irritants.

Regardless of the cause, when you have a dry cough finding relief is of utmost importance. The longer a dry cough continues, the greater the likelihood of developing painful throat irritation and inflammation. Although there are many over-the-counter and prescription medications designed to reduce the urge to cough, home remedies for dry coughs accomplish the same goal without introducing synthetic chemicals or medications into your system. If you’re searching for immediate relief, continue reading to uncover the most effective dry cough remedies.

Effective Home Remedies For A Dry Cough

The following home remedies for dry coughs were selected for effectiveness in relieving acute or chronic dry coughing. Although each of these dry cough remedies are generally considered safe, if your coughing is not alleviated or becomes worse, you may need to visit a physician as chronic coughing can be a sign of a more serious underlying condition.

#1 | Turmeric and Black Pepper Tea Dry Cough Remedy

Turmeric is an excellent herb to help reduce not only the severity of a dry cough but also the inflammation that occurs due to persistent coughing. Along with the soothing and anti-inflammatory qualities of turmeric, black pepper is known to help soothe throat irritation and help protect against viruses and bacteria which may be causing your dry cough to worsen. To utilize this home remedy for dry cough, bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Allow the ingredients to boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a mug. Add 1 tablespoon of raw honey or agave nectar (for flavour) and drink this dry cough remedy once a day.

#2 | Lemon and Honey Cough Syrup

If you’re searching for a natural alternative to the synthetic cough syrups found at your local drug store, then you’ll be very interested in this home remedy for dry cough. Both lemon and honey feature soothing and healing properties capable of reducing cough severity while treating the underlying causes of a cough. Lemons feature potent anti-inflammatory properties while honey features natural antioxidant capabilities. To utilize this dry cough remedy, simply add 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice into 1 tablespoon of raw honey. Drink the entire mixture at least three times per day until the cough has subsided.

#3 | Garlic and Honey Tea Remedy For Dry Coughs

Garlic is perhaps one of the most effective home remedies for dry cough as its unique medicinal compounds are known to have powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Although its flavour is quite strong, its healing capabilities are even stronger. When combined with the soothing effects of honey, many people experience immediate relief of their coughing and instant inflammation reduction. To utilize this remedy, slightly crush three garlic cloves and add them to 1 cup of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Allow the garlic to boil for 2 minutes before removing from heat. Strain the garlic cloves out of the water and pour into a mug. Add 1 tablespoon of honey and drink. For an added healing boost, eat the three garlic cloves.

#4 | Homemade Onion and Honey Cough Syrup

Although this may not seem as if it’s the most flavorful dry cough home remedy, the healing and soothing power of onions makes it one of the most effective options for near-instant relief. To utilize this remedy, add 1/2 teaspoon of fresh onion juice with 1 teaspoon of raw honey. Consume up to two times per day for a potent healing syrup and instant cough suppression.

#5 | Homemade Cayenne Cough Suppressant

The healing power of cayenne pepper makes it one of the most effective spices for home remedies. When combined with fresh ginger, honey and apple cider vinegar, you can experience instant relief from your coughing symptoms. In fact, this home remedy for dry cough can be used as an immediate relief should you need to make a presentation or go to class. To utilize, simply add 1/4 teaspoon of fresh cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground ginger, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of raw honey into 2 tablespoons of pure water. Drink this healing elixir at least two times per day until your coughing has subsided.

#6 | Fresh Carrot Juice Dry Cough Remedy

This home remedy for dry cough can banish even the most persistent cough as fresh carrot juice is filled with a myriad of vitamins and nutrients capable of soothing an irritating cough and treating the underlying causes of a cough. Simply juice five carrots and add 2 tablespoons of water. Drink this dry cough remedy four times per day until your cough has officially subsided.

#7 | Licorice Root Tea Cough Remedy

Liquorice root is among the most potent home remedies for dry cough as it treats the underlying causes. Whether the cough is due to a cold or irritants, the powerful healing properties found in the compound glycyrrhizin eases the urge to cough while simultaneously acting as an anti-inflammatory. Because throat inflammation is a common cause of a dry cough, liquorice root tea can be an effective home remedy. Bring 8 ounces of water to a rolling boil. Place 2 tablespoons of dried liquorice root in a mug. Pour the boiling water over the liquorice root. Cover and allow the tea to steep for 15 minutes. Strain the liquorice root out of the tea and consume two times per day until your cough has subsided.

5 Moonshine Recipes You’ll Be Over-The-Moon About!

So you’re looking for some moonshine recipes? That’s quite understandable as there are few things as enjoyable as creating the perfect moonshine, particularly when you’ve waited for the mash to ripen into something truly delicious. What’s more, with so many moonshine recipes out there, you can be spoilt for choice as to what to create next. With this in mind, we’ve collated some of our favourite recipes. Happy mashing people!

Important note: Distilling alcohol is illegal in the US unless you have a fuel alcohol or a distilled spirit plant permit. Be sure to review your state/country laws on distilling alcohol.

Moonshine Recipes

Southern Whiskey Moonshine Recipe

This special moonshine has the distinct taste of the south and makes for a real kicker for those looking for something more potent.

Ingredients that you’ll need

¼ of Corn syrup (per 1 1/2 gallons of water)
Water
One cup of honey (per every ten gallon batch)
1 – 3 ozs yeast (per ten gallons of mash)

Equipment that you’ll need

Sauce pan
Hydrometer
Food safe fermentation bucket

Southern Whiskey moonshine: Step by step

Step One – Add between 1 and 3 ounces of yeast for every ten gallon batch

Step Two – Heat up around a quarter of your water and then stir in the corn syrup, followed by the honey

You’re aiming for heat of between 120 and 130 degrees (a temperature which will melt your corn syrup).

Step Three – Pour the mixture into the fermenter and finish with cool water, until it reaches 80 degrees.

Step Four – Take a hydrometer reading

To give you an idea about this, you should have had a reading of about 60 to 65, and you shouldn’t exceed a reading of 70.

Step Five – Add in your yeast (being sure to read the instructions on the packet)

Step Six – Leave for between 6 and 14 days for fermentation to take place – then you’re ready to serve.

How To Make Apple Pie Moonshine Recipe Infographic

How To Make Apple Pie Moonshine Recipe

This recipe has to be one of the most popular around and there are all sorts of variations on it; however, this seems to be one of the most common moonshine recipes (although you’re free to experiment as you wish with the various flavours).

Oh, and did we mention that this particular recipe is ready within 1 hour and 10 minutes? Making it perfect for those who get a little impatient awaiting fruit fermentation.

Ingredients that you’ll need

2 Cups of white sugar
2 Cups of brown sugar
1 Gallon of apple juice
4 Cinnamon sticks, or more to taste
1 Pinch apple pie spice
1 (750 ml) bottle 190 proof grain alcohol
1 Gallon apple cider
1 (750 ml) bottle vodka

Equipment that you’ll need

Large pot for the stove
Glass jars

Apple Pie moonshine: Step by step

Step One – Mix together the apple juice, apple cider, white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon sticks, placing them all into a large pot upon the stove. You should bring this almost to boiling point.

Then, cover the pot with a lid and allow the mixture to simmer for approximately 1 hour before removing it from the stove and leaving it to cooling completely down.

Step Two – Add the grain alcohol and vodka syrup to the mix and stir. At this point you can also remove the cinnamon sticks.

Step Three- Serve up!

That’s all there is to it, you can now serve this up into glass jars or bottles and enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to drink it. I think apple pie is the king of all moonshine recipes, but that’s my personal preference!

The best image I could find to represent the Black Beard’s moonshine recipe…

How To Make Black Beard’s Rum Moonshine Recipe

This is one of the best moonshine recipes for the rum lovers, although you do need to be a little patient with it as it can take up to 14 days to ferment.

Ingredients that you’ll need

2 Pounds of brown sugar (for each gallon of water)
1 Cup of honey (for every ten gallon batch of the mixture)
Water
1 – 3 ozs yeast (per ten gallons of match)

Equipment that you’ll need

Sauce pan
Hydrometer
Food safe fermentation bucket

Black Beard’s Rum moonshine: Step by step

Step One – Begin by heating up a quarter of your water to around 120 degrees

At this point it will be hot enough to melt the sugar, so add this in and stir. After the sugar, you can add the honey.

Step Two – Pour the mix into your fermenter

Add cool water, according to the measurements above, to cool the mixture to 80 degrees.

Step Three – Take a hydrometer reading and adjust if necessary

To give you an idea about this you should have had a reading of about 90, and you shouldn’t exceed a reading of 100.

Step Four – Add your yeast into the mix as per the packet instructions

Step Five – Leave for between 6 and 14 days to ferment, then serve.

Watermelon-peach moonshine brandy – oh yeah!

How To Make Watermelon-Peach Moonshine Brandy Recipe

Coming in at a five week fermentation time, this moonshine recipe is the longest of the moonshine recipes listed here. However, with the sweetness of a watermelon, the bitterness of the lime, and an alcohol punch to finish, this is one moonshine recipe that is well worth waiting for.

Ingredients that you’ll need

1 ¼ of a large watermelon
1 ¼ Cup chopped golden raisins
15 limes (you’ll need these to be juiced as we aren’t using the pulp or the zest)
25 Cups of sugar
Water (to make 5 gallons)
Either wine or distillers yeast
10 peaches

Equipment that you’ll need

Sauce pan
Hydrometer
Food safe fermentation bucket
Large bowl

Watermelon-peach moonshine brandy: Step by step

Step One – Juice the watermelons and peaches

You should save the leftover pulp in a sauce pan.

Step Two – Boil up the pulp with five quarts of water for around 30 minutes

Once boiled, strain off the pulp and then add water to the extracted juice.

Step Three – Cool your mixture down to around lukewarm temperature

You should then add in the water to make up a five gallon mix in total.

Step Four – Add in the remaining ingredients, asides from the yeast, to the fermentation bucket

Cover over the mix with a cloth and leave to stand for 24 hours.

Step Five – After 24 hours add in the yeast

Step Six – Stir the mixture daily over the course of a week and strain off the raisins

Step Seven – Add a fermenting trap and leave to rest for 4 weeks before serving.

How To Make Rye Whiskey Moonshine Recipe

Ingredients that you’ll need

7 pounds of Rye
2 Pounds of Barley
1 Pound of Malt
6 Gallons of water
1 oz of Yeast
1 gram of ammonium-floride

Equipment that you’ll need

Sauce pan
Food safe fermentation device
Large bowl
Pillowcase

Rye Whiskey moonshine: Step by step

Step One – Heat the water to 70 degrees, then mix in the malt and the grain

Step Two – Stir the mixture, slowly raising the temperature by approximately 5 degrees every 2 minutes, until it reaches 160 degrees

Step Three –Keeping the mixture at 160 degrees, stir it constantly for 2 to 3 hours. This will convert the starch into fermentable sugar and dextrin

Step Four – Filter off the liquid, place it into your fermentation device, and allow it to cool to between 70 and 80 degrees

Step Five – Once the mixture has cooled, add 3 grams of yeast followed by 1 gram of ammonium-floride to prevent secondary fermentation. Stir the liquid for 1 minute, then cover and seal with an airlock.

Step Six – Leave for 5 – 7 days to ferment, then pour in to a container, filtering through a pillowcase to remove any remaining solids.

You’re going to need lots of strawberries to make this strawberry moonshine recipe!

How To Make Strawberry Moonshine Recipe

Strawberries are one of the first fruits to ripen during the summer months, so it only seems right that there should be plenty of moonshine recipes made from them. So, here’s a quick and easy moonshine recipe that is deliciously sweet (you’ll need to pay attention to the instructions however, as otherwise you could just end up with one large mushy strawberry mess on your hands!).

Ingredients that you’ll need

1 to 3 pounds of Cane sugar
2 Packets of bread yeast
20 pounds of Strawberries
1.5 pounds of Raisins

Equipment that you’ll need

1 Airlock
Cutting Board and knife
Blender
Funnel
Large auto-siphon (this really needs to be a minimum 1/2″ tube)
Copper immersion chiller
Hotplate
Large stock pot
Large spoon or paddle
2 Fermentation buckets (obviously these need to be food safe)
Mesh strainer
Refractometer
Thermometer

Strawberry moonshine: Step by step

Step One – Rinse off all of your strawberries.

It’s advisable that you use a high pressure hose for this, as it can knock away wild yeast and bacteria which can otherwise taint the taste of the moonshine.

Step Two – Cut all of the tops off the strawberries and throw them away.

Be careful not to miss any of the leaves as these will make the moonshine taste bitter.

Step Three – Check your strawberry batches carefully for any mouldy or rotten fruit. If you find any, discard them straight away as they could contaminate the mash

Step Four – Use only the strawberries that are ripe and un-ruined.

Place them into a blender and create a puree by lightly blending them together. You should take care not to blend them too much however as you don’t want a consistency that is too thin and difficult to separate.

Step Five – Add in your raisins and blend them until they are within the mixture.

Step Six – Pour your mixture into a sanitized bucket (it makes things a lot easier if you use one with a scale on the side)

Step Seven – Once you’ve mixed all of your strawberries and have a total of 2.5 gallons of puree, you can transfer it over to a stainless steel boil kettle.

Step Eight – Mix in 3 gallons of water, making the mixture up to a total of 5.5 gallons.

Step Nine – Use your brix refractometer

To determine the alcohol content of the mixture, you should take a brix reading. To do this, use a small pipette to suck up some of the mixture, this is then placed on a glass plate on the Brix refractometer. You finally view the reading by looking into the contraption’s sight.

Step Ten – Knowing your ideal alcohol measurements

You should really look towards an 8% reading, going any higher than this can result in moonshine that tastes too yeasty. However as this leads to a relatively low gravity reading (where low is considered as less than 15 brix / 1.061 Gravity) cane sugar will need to be added to sweeten the mix.

Step Eleven – If necessary add the cane sugar

For this amount of mixture a measures of 4 pounds of cane sugar should sweeten the moonshine up.

Step Twelve – Stir the mixture once more and take a brix reading to ensure that the gravity has come down

You should now be aiming for a Brix reading of 14 and a gravity reading of 1.055.

Step Thirteen – Cover over and heat to 160 degrees Fahrenheit

Step Fourteen – Cool the mixture down in an immersion chiller

Step Fifteen – When waiting for the mixture to cool you can begin to make the yeast

Use the instructions on your yeast packet for guidance

Step Sixteen – Once cooled to 70 degree Fahrenheit move the mix to your fermentation bucket and add the yeast

Step Seventeen – Cover over and add an air lock.

The temperature where your bucket is stored should be around 70 degrees, leaving it for around a week.

Step Eighteen – Siphon off your mix and run it through a strainer

In doing so you can separate the pulp out and throw it away. You should then add only the strained juice to the still, ignoring any settled yeast that may have formed at the bottom of the barrel.

Step Nineteen – Undertake a spirit run

Distil the product from the stripping run, you should use a low heat for this and run the distiller at a slow rate (this should result in the mixture dripping rather flowing). To ensure this goes as it should you should create at minimum 200 ml fore shots cut, and healthy heads and tails cuts, being sure to save only the best part of the middle of the run for the hearts.

Step Twenty – Serve up!

Serve up your moonshine in glasses filled with fresh, chopped strawberries!

(Images from: Dominic Lockyer, Adam Barhan, Harsha K R & Pixabay)

How To Make Mountain Pies: Perfect For Campfires & Backyard Firepits!

If you don’t know what a mountain pie is, it is basically a grilled sandwich that is cooked on a campfire, in a small device called a mountain pie maker. Mountain pies are also sometimes known as ‘hobo pies’.

A mountain pie maker is like a small cast iron skillet with a lid and a long handle. Mountain pie makers can be purchased for between $15 and $50. The one we use and highly recommend is the Rome 1705 cast iron mountain pie maker. It can be purchased from Amazon for around $20. If you purchase one, I can all but guarantee you that it will become one of your favourite things ever. In fact, you’ll probably go on to buy several… We did.

How To Make Mountain Pies

You prepare your mountain pie, the same as if you were using a grilled sandwich (toastie) maker at home. We like to butter the outside of the bread (so it crisps and doesn’t stick) and then add our fillings in the sandwich. Our favourites are cheese, cheese and onion, and cheese and ham.

Once assembled, place your sandwich in the mountain pie maker, close it, and hold it in the campfire to cook (think roasting marshmallows but bigger). Cooking time can vary depending on the size and heat of the campfire so check often until your sandwich is cooked to your preference. Once you have made a few mountain pies you will get the hang of it.

When ready, very carefully remove your sandwich from the mountain pie maker. Please be very careful when doing this as the cast iron mountain pie maker is obviously extremely hot.

Now enjoy! Mountain pies are truly one of the most delicious and satisfying things you can cook outdoors on a campfire or firepit. We make them on the firepit in the back yard all the time. The kids absolutely love making them.

If you are considering getting a mountain pie maker, we have several of the Rome 1705 mountain pie makers and we can highly recommend them.

Very Simple Homemade Pine Needle Cough Syrup Recipe

Whether you’re suffering from a common cold, seasonal allergies or a more serious illness, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, the need for immediate and long-lasting cough suppression is immense. Unfortunately, many over-the-counter cough syrup medications are filled with a myriad of synthetic chemicals, which makes it an unappealing option for those wishing to minimize their exposure to these harsh compounds. However, what if you were to discover one of the most potent cough suppressant and anti-inflammatory compounds is found in your backyard?

Pine needle cough syrup has quickly moved from the underbelly of natural remedies into the mainstream spotlight due to its potency in alleviating symptoms associated with post nasal drip and respiratory illnesses. The most impressive part? This medicine utilizes 100% natural and cheap and/or free ingredients, which makes it an ideal choice for those seeking to minimize their exposure to synthetic chemicals or when access to pharmaceuticals is unavailable, such as during a natural disaster or camping trip.

The Ingredients

The potency of pine needle cough syrup is only matched by its simplicity. To make this homemade medicine, all you need is:

¼ cup of chopped and washed pine needles (specifically from the Eastern White Pine)
½ cup of filtered water
½ cup of raw honey (preferably from a local source)

Directions

Step One – Pour the water and pine needles into a pot and bring the water to a gentle boil. Allow the ingredients to boil for 10 minutes, or until the needles have turned brown and water has adopted a greenish-yellowish hue.

Step Two – Strain the needles out of the water, and replace the water back into the pot.

Step Three – Add the honey into the pot, and bring the water to a boil. Continue to boil the ingredients until the liquid transforms into a syrup-like consistency.

Step Four – Once the liquid has thickened, pour into a resealable glass jar and allow it to cool.

Step Five – Consume 1 to 2 teaspoons as needed to control your cough and soothe throat and lung irritation. Refrigerate between uses.

This Charger CAN Recharge Disposable Batteries. Learn More. Save Money

From an early age, I knew it was kind of possible to reuse disposable, single-use batteries; as a kid, we used to leave dead alkaline batteries out in the sunshine for a few hours, and this seemed to recharge them a little bit, so we could get a bit more use out of them… What I didn’t realize is that you can now actually purchase specific battery chargers which are designed to recharge dead single-use alkaline batteries. Now maybe everyone else knew this already, but I certainly didn’t… Either way, I am sure Duracell and Energiser don’t want you to know this.

This means that once you have purchased one of these specific battery chargers, such as the: Maximal Alkaline FC999 Universal Rapid Charger, you then effectively have free batteries for life. Follow the tips below, and you don’t even need to purchase the disposable batteries, to begin with…

FREE Batteries For Life? How?

Our local authority recycles dead batteries, they pick them up with the garbage once a month. If I went out into the neighbourhood that day, I could literally collect 1000s of free alkaline batteries which could then be recharged and reused. Even if your local authority doesn’t provide this service, you could still get all the free batteries you need, by asking friends and family to save their batteries for you. You could also ask local stores and commercial premises if they could save their batteries for you.

Now I am sure there is a lifespan for recharging disposable batteries, so one set isn’t going to last forever. With this in mind, you’ll need to replace the free dead batteries you collect, from time to time. This shouldn’t be an issue, as simply ask friends etc to save all their used, dead batteries for you, and you should effortlessly have a constant supply of used, dead batteries to recharge.

Just to note – the Maximal Alkaline FC999 Universal Rapid Charger doesn’t just charge alkaline batteries, it also charges RAM, Ni-MH, Ni-CD, AA, AAA, C, D, N, and 9V batteries, so it’s got you covered for everything. Additionally, you might also want to purchase a cheap battery tester, to check batteries are dead and check how well they have recharged.

Anyway, as said, this might not be news to some of you, but hopefully, it is useful information and saves some money for people that didn’t know. All our flashlights, remotes and radios etc take batteries; not to mention, if you have young kids, you get through a huge amount of batteries with all their toys and games. If nothing else, it is for more eco-friendly to reuse old batteries, rather than just throwing them in the trash…

NOTE: Obviously exercise caution and use common sense when choosing spent disposable batteries to recharge. Do not attempt to recharge old looking, damaged or leaking batteries.