Power Outage and Frugality

**joyofsix** · 12-19-2008, 06:09 PM

We had an ice storm last night, and while it was nothing like the one that hit the east coast, it was still a pain. The power was out for 12 hours. How does being frugal play into this? We had plenty to eat in house which was good because the whole town had no power so the gas station couldn't even sell milk. I got out some stuff from the emergency pack-pop tarts, jerky, crackers, cheese in a can. My kids thought that all this stuff was great since we don't eat processed things very much. We had our generator to run the sump pump and gas for it. My ds helped me move and start it (who said kids weren't frugal?) A generator isn't frugal unless it save you the clean up of a flooded basement, LOL. We bundled up in blankets(we're used to it cold) , played cards and listened to our crank up/battery radio. I wouldn't want to do it long term but it was ok for one day.

**FrugalMomof3** · 12-19-2008, 06:14 PM

Yeah we got it today, that nasty weather and while it was cold DH and I went out side and shoveled and actually had a good time, then we came in he had a beer and I had some diet pepsi and we watched a movie.... it's icy rain now but tomorrow I hope will be better.

Stay Warm!

**homesteadmamma** · 12-19-2008, 09:03 PM

It's good to hear your power is back on.

**LuvMyHubby** · 12-19-2008, 09:13 PM

We haven't had any bad power outages (knock wood) since the ice storm of 1998 Our gas grill saved us in terms of eating so that our food wouldn't spoil. We cooked anything and everything possible on that thing. That is the most frugal thing I can think of.

Glad you have your power back.

**madhen** · 12-19-2008, 09:14 PM

My power went out for several days last year, and having that stockpile made all the difference. I didn't even have a "real" stockpile at the time, but I had a holding tank of water, a wood stove, a huge supply of wood, and a lot of coffee and canned food! This year, I'm even more prepared, although the one thing I don't have yet is a generator. It gets pretty close to freezing here in the winter, so I'm not hugely concerned, and a lot of my stuff is canned (v. frozen), but it would be nice to have a generator around just in case.

**fixer** · 12-19-2008, 11:13 PM

I think being prepared and being frugal go hand in hand. When you take advantage of good deals, you naturally stockpile. I also think it is something deeper. Frugal people, by nature, are more responsible and don't want to depend on someone else. They are independent and want to be the ones to take care of their family.

**forHISglory** · 12-19-2008, 11:53 PM

Fixer said it very well. Last year about this time, we had an ice storm that knocked our power out for 3 1/2 days. But we had our food stockpile and our fire wood. We kept warm with the wood stove and could cook on it. We had a crank radio and a crank lantern. And the phone still worked. We had hot water the first day (electric heater), and it was warm the second day, and cool but not cold the third day. We still could flush the toilets, and we had plenty of drinking water. I am so grateful for our lifestyle that allowed us to be comfortable during that time. We did lose some food in the freezer, but it wasn't too bad.

**lgw** · 12-20-2008, 08:18 AM

DH and I lost power for six days in the recent Northeast ice storm. We are frugal and resourceful planners. We have a generator, which kept us warm and our water pump running. We had plenty of food. And we had lots of ways to keep ourselves busy. DH even hooked my sewing machine up to the generator circuit so I could quilt!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 12-20-2008, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by joyofsix

We had an ice storm last night, and while it was nothing like the one that hit the east coast, it was still a pain. The power was out for 12 hours. How does being frugal play into this? We had plenty to eat in house which was good because the whole town had no power so the gas station couldn't even sell milk. I got out some stuff from the emergency pack-pop tarts, jerky, crackers, cheese in a can. My kids thought that all this stuff was great since we don't eat processed things very much. We had our generator to run the sump pump and gas for it. My ds helped me move and start it (who said kids weren't frugal?) A generator isn't frugal unless it save you the clean up of a flooded basement, LOL. We bundled up in blankets(we're used to it cold) , played cards and listened to our crank up/battery radio. I wouldn't want to do it long term but it was ok for one day.

Frugality played a large part in your ability to continue to function when the conditions outside of your home prohibited you from normal activities.

Stockpile = The generator, the gas for the generator, the emergency pack, etc that were purchased beforehand kept you from having both a hungry family and a flooded basement.

You basically used what you had that didn't cost you anything for the time being. Sure, you used gas to help keep the generator going and will need to re-fill what you used. You used up some of your emergency pack that you're going to end up replenishing. However, planning ahead of time and acting accordingly helped keep your family safe. You used as few additional resources and got by on very little. That's the true definition of frugal.

**RetiredVeryEarly** · 12-20-2008, 11:33 PM

We heat our house with wood, so we have told several friends that if we are without power very long they can come over and keep warm here. We have a LOT of wood. We have a couple hundred jars of home canned goods in the basement including pasta sauce, salsa, jam, fruit, pickled asparagus, tomato juice, and pickled peppers. Hubby doesn't like well water, so we have many cases of 2 liter bottles he fills up with water at his family's house in the city. Then we have a stockpile of canned beans and so on.

It works out well that about the only time power goes out is in the winter with ice storms. So if the power was out long enough to worry about stuff in the freezer, we could put it outside in the snow. Just have to protect it from animals (once when we were defrosting that way some animal ate part of a frozen pizza!) We cook with gas, that would work fine without power, too. We have a couple "real" phones that work without power, just from the power in the phone line. We have a flashlight that runs by shaking it, and lots of candles. So we are set!

**hestlauss** · 12-21-2008, 12:06 AM

We finally broke down and bought a generator after we had 3 power outages in one winter where power was out 2 weeks at a time. We also installed a hand pump on our well. The first generator we purchased with our next door neighbors and split the cost. We were able to keep the freezers going and only ran one pump (used a garden hose to contect one house to the other) and that worked for about 5 years and we finally purchased a generator on our own this year so we could run lights, refrigerator and other luxuries. Prior to the purchasing the generator we used Aladdin kerosene lamps for lighting (equal to about 60 watt bulb). Many happy memories of power outages parties - playing Uno and Scrabble with the neighbors.