I've spent the week pottering around the house doing a bit of this and that as well as my usual housework chores and my cleaning work ( my paying job ). Here's my frugal list for the week -
* Bought lots of strawberries at 2 punnets of 250 grams each for $1. I'll be freezing lots to make fruit icecream in Summer.
* Diluted some laundry detergent by 50%. I bought it years ago for 99 cents a bottle. It's way too thick to use as it is so I dilute it making it super cheap. This laundry liquid is not made any more so I ration it out for when my washing needs a spruce up as it smells so nice.
* Made two batches of chocolate brownies at the same time. Half was made with crushed cashews for added flavour. I froze some, took some to church for a lunch and kept some fresh for us to eat.
* I dried some rosemary a few weeks ago. Now its been pulled off the dry stems, crushed a bit to make it small enough to be shaken out of it's jar and stored ready for use. I've also picked some more and that's drying too.
* Made a fresh batch of vanilla yoghurt from scratch.
* Saved the shower water to water our vegetable seedlings.
* Picked lots of silverbeet to eat with our meals. While I was away last week I wasn't able to eat as well as I usually do. My body was craving normal food and the silverbeet helped me feel better.
* Refilled my shampoo and conditioner bottles in my toiletry bag ready for the next trip away. I like to check everything over and put in new things like soap and toothpaste so that I'll never run out. It's one less thing to worry about when I'm packing for a holiday.
* Mended a fitted bed sheet. It's a tight fit when I put it on my bed and the corner seams ripped apart recently. Now they are fixed and strong again. I've saved myself from buying new $70 sheets.
* Saved the crumbs from the bottom of the wheat bix packet. I've added them to the dried bread crumbs I made. Shortly I'll make it into seasoned bread crumbs for coating salmon patties and chicken drumsticks.
* Dried the washing on clothes horses under the pergola when it was raining. It was dry within 5 hours. Much cheaper than the dryer.
* Made french onion dip from scratch using drained yoghurt and french onion soup mix.
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| Chocolate brownies with cashew bits |
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| Diluted laundry liquid |
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| Super cheap strawberries 2 punnets for $1 |
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| Darren's cherry tree in full bloom |
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| Pita chips and french onion dip |
What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?
Hi Wendy and may I wish you a belated birthday. I haven't much to comment on as this fortnight I've been away for school holidays to both Ballarat and just recently to Swan Hill. I would like to say that as our hubbies were working the second week, my girlfriend and I with our two children each, ventured to Swan Hill by V-Line for $72 each family return, which included the train trip to Southern Cross station. We saved not only with petrol but wear and tear on our cars and enjoyed community along the way. We even ended up on the local Win Tv news as they came to the hotel we were staying at to report on the rise in tourism in the Swan Hill area. I felt like you Wendy! Also there is a pioneer settlement village which is similar to Sovereign Hill but smaller and not as fancy but much cheaper. A family pass for the pioneer village is $155 which includes two day entrance, a paddle steamer ride on the Murray and a light and sound show, which is great value for two parents and up to four children. If you are looking for a Ballarat type of holiday on the cheap, then Swan Hill is a ideal option. Hope you have a great week. Regards, Liz.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that they featured yourself and your friends on tv. Well done. It's been many many years since I've been to Swan Hill. I have fond memories of visiting the Pioneer Settlement and Sound and Light show when I was 13. I'll keep it in mind when we are looking at holiday destinations. Thankyou for reminding me
DeleteHow amazing is that Wendy! If you do go to Swan Hill and are in need of accomodation we stayed at the Comfort Inn Lady Augusta. The staff were so friendly and went the extra mile for us, even to the point of driving to the train station to find me to return my phone recharger that I had accidentally left in the room after check out. Wow! Regards, Liz.
DeleteHi Wendy
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday and congrat's on another great story for ACA.
This week I,
- made crumpets from scrath - they weren't perfect but for a first attempt not too bad. I think I'll end up taking them for morning tea with some honey I ended up buying in bulk, much cheaper.
- made more laundry detergent.
- made laundry stain remover soap.
- made dog food for our little dog, she loves it :)
- made more miracle spray.
- DD had a friend over for lunch one day and instead of buying takeaway they had homemade chicken burgers and chips.
- saved the water from the laundry tap that every one uses and don't turn off properly and used it for the garden.
- made home made pasta.
- made protein balls for DD which are much cheaper and nicer than the ones in that well known juice bar.
- Bought $150 worth of meat from Woolies for $70, will last me for 2 months.
Hope you have a great week.
Cheers
Deb
Hi everyone :) I havnt been on much the last fortnight as our internet has been playing up - finally sorted now yay! Well this week has been busy with school holidays but all for free which is awesome. This weeks frugalness was: baking a lemon coconut cake, honey joys and pita chips, sticking to our menu plan, hubby and I sat down and planned out how we are going to get debt free, make an emergency fund and a savings fund so we have worked out in 3 years we will be debt free with savings! Which we never have had before :) I also launched my facebook page for my childrens clothing to try and make a little extra income before baby comes. Also to practice my designs I have made my girls a dress each so don't need to buy more clothes and they double as my models hehe. I also only spent $100 for a weeks groceries!!!!!!!! NEVER been that low before so bit excited. Filled up for $134 p/L, our watermelon, silverbeet and cucmber seeds have sprouted, but my broccoli has gone straight to seed :( must have been old seeds I used or something?? Never grown it before but I don't think its normal lol. Also cut 5 minutes off my showers, I have managed to cut a lot off my electricity bill! It went from normally $170 per month to just $95!!!! I guess its from the light rule and not using the dryer and turning tvs off :) Anyway I think that it for the week. Hope everyone is having a good day. Kayla :)
ReplyDeleteKayla, from memory you need to plant broccoli seeds in Autumn and Winter. We've had seeds go to flower before we got a head on it.
DeleteThat must have been what went wrong! Planted them too late :( do you just chop the flower head off or rip all the plants out and do a different plant?
DeleteI rip the plant out. By then it's too late to plant again.
DeleteHi Wendy, and everyone! my "Frugal" week was pretty good. I managed to build up the courage after watching ACA on a story about people working from home, and because I have had an unwell daughter I decided to ask my boss if I could work from home, this will really take the pressure off us. And he said yes! So now my week this week was working from home, so big saving on petrol, wear and tear on my car and less stress all round. So we will be back on track with regular income from myself once again. I start work around 10am in my dining room and stop at around 1pm for a break and I've been prepping dinner then work again from 2pm and finish and 4pm. So my 5 hour day works around the family perfectly, honestly that is about it from me, other than cooking from scratch but my food bill was up this week again to $166.00 really need help with this one. And I'm not sure how to work my washing machine by pouring in water, I will need to do some investigating. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Warmest Simone x
ReplyDeleteSimone, I have a two year old Simpson washing machine and I use to have a Hoover 1079 model before that. I just put the clothes in, poured the saved water in , turned the machine on and it made it's own adjustment for the water already in there. I didn't have to do anything else.
DeleteHi Wendy, I was away last week for part of the week helping to clean out my parents house so I didn't get to do much baking this week but being away from our home, I did save on Water, Gas and Electricity. I used our water tank for the first time to fill the washing machine, yeah! I has meals in the freezer for when we arrived home from Ballarat so no takeaway.
ReplyDeleteMy shopping was a very small amount this week, which was great as I managed for the first time to buy some things in bulk. I accepted some homemade bread, plants for the garden, springs onions, and plants for my sons fish tank from lovely friends. We gave in return celery and snow peas from our garden.
I did some sewing and mended school uniforms instead of getting them professionally done. I was very lucky to be invited last night(sat) to the opening night of the musical "Once". I did my own nails, makeup and hair and wore my best dress and didn't fall into the trap of buying the program or drinks and nibbles, I BYOed.
This week I got serious about our finances. Dh and I did a monthly spending plan, and worked out our travel budget for our holiday to NSW in January. I also did my Christmas list both presents and food and a budget for these. And I will now start saving for next school holidays. I feel at peace knowing where our finances are and where we are heading, thanks Wendy for all the encouragement to live an abundant life, blessings to all for next week, Maureen
Thank you Wendy, I just wasn't sure how it all worked, I thought that if I poured my saved water in that the machine would double up on water and overflow. Lucky I just recently replaced my old front loader and I bought the top loader phew! So how many buckets would you keep in your shower at one time, also my laundry is downstairs so I would have to carry each bucket down, could be a good workout for the abs! Simone x
ReplyDeleteI have one wide bucket in each shower. They are like hand washing buckets. On wash day I use both of them in my shower. I stand in one until it's full then pop it out of the shower then stand in the next one. I save about 20 -30 litres by doing this. No one else in my house stands in them. The family uses the buckets to collect the warm up water.
DeleteThis isn't exactly a frugal task for me, but I thought you might be interested Wendy, I started my own blog :) I've had a few over the years about different things, but this is primarily about saving money for my family and learning to do things a bit more frugally as a Stay at home mum with 2 kids. I've added a link to your blog and also Rhonda's (from Down to Earth), because you two are my biggest resources so far :) http://singleincomefrugalfamily.blogspot.com.au/ There's a link to mine, I haven't posted many entries yet (just did my third!), but I have a list of ideas, so hopefully they will accumulate soon :)
ReplyDeleteGood on you Larissa. I'll check it out shortly.
DeleteHi Wendy
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and read all the archives. Thank you for a wonderful site. I am a big 3AW fan (well, Breakfast and Denis mainly) so excited to see that you met Denis, went on his show, and to hear that he is as nice in person as he seems on air!
I wanted to share with you a frugal recipe that I cooked tonight for my family (hungry husband, teenage daughter and myself).
I don’t do quantities so I hope it makes sense.
Cook 3 potatoes in the microwave or pot until cooked, then slice.
Whilst potatoes are cooking, make a basic quantity of white sauce with the usual butter, flour, milk combo – enough to make 1.5 or 2 cups I’m thinking.
Stir in a 440g tin of tuna or salmon – I just use home brand, oil or brine based, doesn’t matter, into the white sauce.
Layer the potatoes and tuna mix like a lasagne, I do 3 layers of potatoes and 2 layers of tuna in between. Top the top potato layer with some mayo, grated cheese and herbs and bake in mod oven for about 20 mins, ½ hour till brown. Goes a long way.
That is it!
Thank you again for your lovely blog.
God bless! (I attend Christ Church Anglican Church in Hawthorn.)
Tania
What a great recipe Tania and welcome to my blog. I hope to hear from you often. I have a friend that goes to your church. If you'd like to email me wendy.gower@hotmail.com we can talk about it further.
DeleteHi All
ReplyDeleteThis weeks frugal tasks for me
*make homemade strawberry jam
*make homemade puffy paints for DD4
*make homemade banana muffins
*hang all my washing on the line or clothes horses
*make a greek egg plant bake that also became 2 other meals of jacket potato filling
*buy pantene shampoo and conditioner on sale at Coles
Still loving this blog, just need to find more time to be able to read it and catch up with what everyone else is doing and their tips
Al