Here's my list of frugal tasks for this week -
* Continued to save the warm up water from the showers and poured it into the washing machine.
* Picked lettuce from the garden for two meals.
* We had homemade take away hamburgers and wedges for tea one night. The rolls, hamburger patties and wedges were made from scratch. The lettuce was from the garden.
* My husband ran two charity bbqs last weekend. He bought home all the empty bread bags for me to recycle. I turned them inside out, brushed off the crumbs and hung them on clothes horses to dry out. I use them for many things like storing my homemade bread in, for rubbish bin liners and to scoop out the kitty litter.
* Stewed some old apples from the fridge. There was enough to make apple crumble for dessert that night and another portion for the freezer.
* Bought 3 boxes of 24 icecreams from NQR for $1.99 a box. Some will be eaten now and hopefully some will be left for Summer.
* My daughter baked lots of biscuits ( cookies ) and filled up the biscuit jar.
* Sewed some lovely strips of material onto hand towels to give as presents. Photos to come in the next week or so.
* Picked a big bowl of lemons from our lemon tree. I juiced half of them and froze the juice into ice cube trays. This will be used in future to make lemon butter, lemon slice, lemon biscuits and lemon chicken as well as pouring over cooked fish.
* Baked three loaves of wholemeal bread.for the freezer.
* Froze left overs from a tuna casserole.
* Bought pita bread from the Dandenong Market. They are sold as 4 bags for $3. Much cheaper than any brand in the supermarket. They will be made into pita chips.
* Bought tinned soup for $1 a can. I now have enough stock until they come on sale again next Winter.
* Made chocolate choc chip muffins. Some will be eaten fresh, the others will be frozen for lunch box treats.
What did you do this week to save time, money or energy ?
Oh I wish I had a lemon tree Wendy.
ReplyDeleteToday my son and I made orange cupcakes and jam drops. They are now his favourite biscuit. I froze half the dough for next week.
Wouldn't it be great if every backyard had a lemon tree ? They are so pretty and the blossoms smell divine.
ReplyDeleteI must try baking jam drops this year.
I remember when most yards had a lemon tree, I grew up in the 6o's in brisbane
DeleteHello Wendy
ReplyDeleteyour lemons looks good.I wish I had a lemon tree,
I bake a plum cake and made homemade mayonaise for a potatoe salad.
wish you a wonderful week,
regina
Inspired by your list, I stewed a 2 kg bag of apples that were $1 for the bag and made apple crumble and muffins. The teenagers got to take apple crumble and custard in their school lunches as well as a couple of desserts.
ReplyDeleteUsed the crock pot to cook chick peas and kidney beans. Made nachos from the kidney beans and soup from the chick peas.
Made more yoghurt.
Used old margarine and dip containers to send school snacks in such as the apple crumble, as have lost too many containers.
Made a fortnights worth of husbands lunches for freezer with left over meat loaf and roast pork. He thinks that's great.
Made fire lighters with egg cartons - cut into single cups with a cotton ball in each and drizzle with about 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. They really do work.
Used the one sunny windy day (today - Thursday) to line dry all sheets/towels/any washing as tomorrow it is forecast to be 10 degrees!
Bought shampoo and tried your idea of diluting into a pump bottle with success. Finding teenagers go through oodles of it.
Attempting to meal plan. Certainly does make life easier when you're working, I just find it hard to sit down and think of all the meals at one time.
Enjoying your blog.
Anonymous, keep a list of meals you can cook on the fridge. When you think of another meal just add it to the list. You'll find it easier to write your menu plan when you have a list to refer to.
ReplyDeleteHi a Wendy. As well as cashing in credit card points for Coles vouchers and Fly Buy points for real dollars, I also bought ingredients to make my own pre-wash stain remover, handed in two uniforms to be sold at school as they no longer fit my youngest and am trying to keep to your 'two lights on at one time' rule. I will also be writing book reviews for Koorong as you get $2.50 per review and can save these up for purchases. I gives Coles feedback to increase my points. I keep a bag of coffees, teas and travel mug in my car so when I'm watching my children's sporting events, I have refreshments covered (I will also be putting some cup of noodles in the bag). Thanks for your amazing inspiration! Bless you! Liz.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, I am enjoying your blog. I saw the segment featuring you and your family on ACA, which I thought was FANTASTIC, and this inspired me to do more! I've even planted up a vegetable garden after not having had one for 18 months (due to water shortages - no municipal water here).
ReplyDeleteCan you please tell me if you use a bread machine for your homemade bread or do you do all the kneading/shaping by hand? Also, do you use the pre-mixes (e.g. Lauke, Kitchen Craft, Defiance) or, again, all from scratch? I wish you well in your frugal endeavours!
Regards, Kerry
I make the bread with a mixer and by hand and only use no name flour. I'll post a recipe shortly. Don't forget to watch ACA tomorrow night Aug 4th.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is also Wendy married with two children. I am absolutely loving your story and you have inspired me in so many ways - THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteI am currently menu planning with the family's input of course. It is challenging but we are working on it.
The first time I saw you on ACA I went and purchased half price shampoo and conditioner the next day, although our main shop is at Aldi, I still wanted to take up the offer. The checkout girl said to me 'you saw that lady on ACA didn't you?' I said yes! I recently went through our bathroom and have discovered that we have enough shampoo and conditioner to last months perhaps even years hahaha! I am now going to set up pump bottles in the shower for my children so hopefully they will economise too. I also discovered that I have enough hand soap to last for months so will certainly use your method.
I am excited in case you didn't know, to utilise these cost saving methods to bring the grocery bill down which currently is approx $300 per week (this includes alcohol and meat). THANK YOU once again!! PS I'm trying to understand the use of a blog so please excuse any errors.
Don't worry, I'm new to blogging too Good on you for trying some new savings tips.
DeleteThat's so funny about the checkout girl. I was in the Savers op shop a week after my family's story went to air. A worker there was telling me about this family she saw on tv. She almost had a heart attack when I told her that was me.