Getting by on Trash

Sun. 28 January 07

It has been a cold and snowy day . Loaded another lode of firewood on the porch . Although my firewood is not free ( $10 a truckload ) it is recycled waste from a nearby lumber mill . When they cut the sides of a log off , the waste is called a Slab . The hardwood slabs are then cut into 26 inch peices and split to fit into my stove .
I use a large two wheeled cart which I bought slightly used at 1/3 it's cost , to get the wood ( weighing about 300 lbs . ) from the woodshed to the porch . Once the wood is stored on the porch another small steel two wheeled cart is used to bring the wood into the house . That cart I bought a few years back for $2 at a yard sale.
I know I spend money ocasionaly on things needed but I try to recycle whenever possible . There are also ( irregular ) thick and thin oak boards that I buy for $50 . Those are usually a half truck full and 8 ft to 16 ft in length . The thick and thins were used to build a large woodshed , an emergency generator shed , and to rebuild my work shop / storage shed .
We now have a new chicken coop built from palletts , thick and thin boards , and a used fiberglass truck cap with screens and windows .
When living on a fixed income you save where and when you can . What I spend each year on firewood is less than what it would cost to heat this house with gas for a month . I compost everything in an area fenced in with oak palletts . The soil I use in the garden and around the yard .
Timothy T