Saving Money Care Package

Things are so expensive right now! Gas prices are more shockingly high every time I’m at the pump. And I’m no economist, but I hear inflation is going up as well. I have a friend who was already struggling before all of this. Now it’s even harder to make ends meet. Now, if what people need is money, I normally try to give them that. But I thought this might also be a nice gift to receive. Sometimes to get the things you need to save money, there is an upfront cost – like buying a chest freezer so you can buy bulk food at a discount. But once you’re struggling for money, the upfront cost isn’t always manageable. My hope with this care package was that it would allow my friend to save money in some little ways and have some fun, without the up-front costs that would usually be incurred.

Ingredients

• Cooking with Scraps Cookbook – There are a lot of parts of food we usually throw away that are actually edible. A lot of this information can be found on the internet, but I already had this book and thought this might be a nice introduction to open up a world of less waste.
• Babushka’s Beauty Secrets Recipe Book – This book is about how to make your own natural beauty products. I have a lot of natural beauty books. After reading about five of them I realized that you can take almost any real food, rub it on your face, and have a youthful, healthy glow! And you can also find many recipes on the internet, so you could probably just find and print out a bunch for a friend in need (and maybe throw in some samples you made yourself!).
• Sprouting Kit – Sprouting is a cheap, local way to get healthy vegetables, even in the winter. I figured this might not be too labour-intensive even for someone who feels sick or stressed.
• Enjo Face Cloths – I have not purchased face soap in years thanks to these cloths. They have both a cleansing side and an exfoliating side. And you don’t need a toner afterward because you didn’t ruin the pH balance of your skin by using soap. You can even use the little round ones (eye pads) to remove eye make-up – although I’ve found good old coconut oil does the job every time.
• Carrot and Pea Seeds – The people I have known who have struggled for money also tend to be very stressed or have health issues, which is why I picked peas and carrots, which are quite low maintenance. I used to plant these when I was a kid, then forget about them and come back later to find my own little stash of sweet, crunchy veges.
• Fruit and Vegetable Bags – I find one of the biggest wastes in our house is just not using up our produce quickly enough. Especially if we get sick for a week. These bags take away the gases that fruits and vegetables give off as they age, preserving them for longer.
• Information on Edible Back Yard Weeds – Last year I got into foraging . I even got an app on my phone that tells me about plants I see (called Picture This). The print-out in this package is a copy of a presentation I made about how to save money on your grocery budget. It included a section on back yard weeks that I eat! I haven’t sprayed my yard in years and now my lawn is a useful and healthy addition to my salads! You probably can’t see what’s there so I will list the edible weeds for you:
  • Dandelion
  • Spiny Sow Thistle (looks like a dandelion by has spiker leaves)
  • Lamb’s Quarter (found a lot in disturbed soil around farms and construction areas)
  • Common Self-Heal
  • Broadleaf Plantain (found in the cracks in your driveway)
  • Sweet Violets (currently found on my front lawn and all over the forest)

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Whether my friend even has the energy to use this stuff much right now or not, it’s there when she feels up to it and hopefully it will make her feel loved and know that she’s not alone.