* Made about 150 - 200 sausages rolls for a couple of future family events. I lost track of how many I made.
* Bought Shapes biscuits on sale for $1.49 a box. We don't eat much in the way of ready made food. This is one of the few exceptions.
* Sold a dozen eggs.
* Gratefully received a card making parcel from my friend Annabel. Her blog The Bluebirds Are Nesting is a wonderful source of inspiration for making beautiful things on a budget.
* Picked about 10 - 12 raspberries every second day.
* Made about 150 mini quiches for future family events. Of course we all had to sample them and I got the thumbs up from Darren and the girls. The rest of the quiches are in the freezer.
* Gratefully received some breakfast quiches and pumpkin soup from a friend.
* Bought some " new " cushions from the op shop for $3.80 each. They are jst the right color for my bed.
* Made about a dozen more cards with supplies given to me. At this stage they are blank on the inside. I'll stamp them when the occasion arises.
* Went through some old magazines I have at home and ripped out pages I can use to make more cards.
* Made a double batch of pizza dough. Each batch makes four pizza bases. We had pizza for tea on Sunday so the remaining six dough balls are in the freezer.
* Saved lots of warm up water from the shower and poured it into the washing machine. We also saved lots of washing water for the next load.
* Diluted and refilled the dishwashing liquid bottle.
* Megan picked up some Easter twine and noodle boxes at 75% off for 60 cents each.
* Made a double batch of peanut butter choc chip biscuits. I baked some and froze the rest of the dough.
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| Grown from a cutting. |
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| Mini quiches |
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| Peanut butter choc chip biscuits |
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| Megan's 60 cent Easter bargains |
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| Card making |
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| Found growing in the veggie garden |
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| Our first small feijoa fruit |
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| Silverbeet almost ready to pick |
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| Beautiful |
What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?
Hi Wendy
ReplyDeleteThis week I
- Made Anzac biscuits, cranberry hootycreek biscuits, gozleme, lasagne (always make my own pasta as well) and mango jam.
- Made all meals from scratch.
- Started a money tin for christmas with all of our spare change.
- Went shopping at Aldi with a list and spent $142 for the month, this included some meat as well.
- Redeemed two $75 gift card from Woolworths. We closed down 2 old credit cards with nothing on them but had enough points for 2 x $75 gift cards so will use these to stock up when we get some good specials or meat markdowns.
- Was checking through some old emails and found that we had overpaid an account last year !!!! I don't know how I missed this but we got an extra $160 added back into our bank account.
Hope the workshop goes well. Have a great week.
Deb
Money tins are great. I did one a couple of years ago for $2 coins. There was enough in the tin for Darren to buy a fancy bbq.
DeleteWhen I burgled, my money jar was taken. Never again. Also at the bank where I once worked, we HATED counting money tins.
DeleteMost banks now have coin counting machines.
DeleteDear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteMy eyes filled up with tears when I saw the photos of your cards! How beautiful do they look!
Making bulk sausage rolls and mini quiches is a lot of yummy food. I need to look to see if these recipes are already on your blog as they are very good basics for everything from school lunches to home meals as well.
Next week sausage rolls are on my list to make. Last week I made bulk pasties. My husband is not a big fan of soup (which I love) but if I serve soup and a sausage roll then its a winner!
You had a very productive week as always!
My week..
I made lots of pasties for meals and freezing,
I divided parsley seedlings and spread them in the garden.
My Mum gave me tow beef roasts. I am planning what to make with them.
I beat the rain and got my washing done and dry one day before the rain was meant to hit.
And it did arrive which is wonderful for the garden and it has continued since too.
I had a use it up meal which turned out really good!
Finished a scarf I made for myself to go with winter things.
Did lots of cleaning and tidying up using Miracle cleaner.
Got some great craft ideas from visiting baby stores with my daughter.
It was a pretty good week.
Have a wonderful weekend! Love Annabel.xxx
Annabel, I will be eternally grateful to you for inspiring me to get started on card making.
DeleteThe recipes are not on the blog yet but they will be soon. xoxo
Hi Wendy, we enjoyed a very cheap school holidays here in W.A.. As my son is very socialable and has alot of friends we stayed home and had a steady stream of kids visit.They lit campfires, went marroning in our dams, played cricket, made movies using the Go Pro camera, rode motorbikes and even put a stunt show on complete with autographs! I cooked all meals and snacks from scratch and made 5 loaves of bread throughout the week in the breadmaker. I cleared a sluggish drain in the shower using vinegar, bi carb and salt, really does work! We also cleaned the fire flue ourselves. I cleaned out the chooks nesting boxes and composted the old hay and manure. We have had 7 money free days this week and didnt even use our car as my husband has a work car provided and he took all his lunches to work. I was well stocked up from last weeks monthly shop! Enjoy your week Wendy, regards Liz
ReplyDeleteLiz, it sounds like the kids had an awesome school holiday.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDelete200 sausage rolls phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are one busy woman and here I was thinking I'd done ok this week. I will never get that good.
Well, we went shopping at the markets again. We got lots and lots of cheap fruit and some rice. Sunrice medium grain, 12 kilos of rice for $10.
The rice was stored in old (clean) oil bottles, after a stint in the freezer. I always wash out and save the bulk oil bottles as they are great for storage containers.
I have been busy using the 9 kilos of fruit I got at the markets making jam, stewed fruit and preparing and freezing fruit for later jam making episodes.
I restitched the sleeve of one of my favorite cardigans after the sleeve seam came undone.
I have made jam tarts, muesli bars, and yoghurt. I am going to make a few batches of banana muffins tomorrow as well.
Gratefully received jam jars to be used in future jam making episodes.
I have been enjoying walking everywhere and reaping the benefits. I have three kilos left to lose to reach my goal weight.
I cut my hair a few days before Easter. It was quite a dramatic cut and I was a little concerned about the quality of the cut. I also changed the colour...once again it was dramatic so you can see why I was a little concerned that I had done the right thing. Yesterday a hairdresser came up to me and asked where I had had it cut as it was such a good cut. She was stunned when I told her I had done it myself. She checked it all out and told me it was great and how well I'd done. So for all those people too scared to do their own hair I can testify it can be done and done well. I started with cutting fringes etc and now I cut style and colour my own when ever the urge takes me. It costs me only the price of the hair dye when I find it on special.
My husband and I are headed north for our holidays in a few months time. We spent time researching accommodation and chose a caravan park. When we phoned up they had raised their prices higher than their website had said. We thanked them and looked further. We are so glad we did. We got the week for $500 in a hotel, the room has cooking facilities (so we can make all our own meals) free WiFi, huge TV (great for old people for evening entertainment after walking everywhere during the day lol), balcony to eat breakfast and our evening meal on, we don't have to pay extra for linen as we would have in a caravan park, it has a swimming pool (not sure if they are ready for me in bathers though), is 3 minutes from the largest shopping center (we can buy all our own food cheaply) and right next to the beaches and is $200 less than the caravan park. For Tweed Heads we thought this was pretty good.
I am not sure if it was our perseverance or our dumb luck but we are very grateful. :-) We are within walking distance of Queensland and as I have never been there before I am determined to walk across the border a few times just so I can say I have. I have told Hubby I want a photo of me doing so.
Look forward to your next post...oh and I love seeing photos of your garden. It is inspirational.
Linda
Linda, you have an amazingly fugal week each week. I was glad to see the end of the sausage rolls and mini quiches cooking. I am glad that I did them ahead of time.
DeleteWe don't usually stay in caravan parks any more. They charge too much for each child per night plus linen. We've found B & B's to be better priced. You've done well to get a great price on your accom.
Hi Wendy
ReplyDeleteWhat a busy week you had the sausage rolls and quiches are a great idea This week we have
Saved the water from the washing machine for watering our big Backyard
Only did full loads of washing
Went to the op shop and bought some great picture books for my son and a few other books that we will use for presents
Went through my freezer to see how much meat we had left so nothing gets wasted or forgotten
Sold some of my unused craft supplies which will go towards our Christmas Holiday
Have an amazing week - Laine :)
Hi Wendy, so much baking and crafting you have been so busy! It's been busy at our place too. Lots was achieved but I’ll just give you my favourite highlights. I have baked but not nearly as much as you Wendy lol! Baked 2 banana cakes and froze one (this is the first time I have frozen a cake- it turned out great when we defrosted it, no-one in the family noticed, they just thought I'd made another cake). Did the fortnightly shop it was $100 under what I normally spend so yahoo! I don't do the $300 challenge like yourself but we have our limit and it's been very achievable and we have cut it down gradually so yeah for us. I bought some cheap netting to stop those pesky possums from decimating my vegie seedlings. Everything is starting to recover now, thanks heavens. My parents came for dinner and instead of taking them out we ate in and the whole meal including wine and soft drink came to a grand total of $27.86 for 6 people, that's $4.64 per person. I was gobsmacked when I did the breakdown. My husband and son went out for an athletics breakup party at a fancy burger place last weekend and it cost them $28 each and that was just for a burger with the lot, a small serve of fries and a drink. I replicated this meal for my parents and what the boys had paid for one person was what it cost for 6 so a massive saving. Our burgers were homemade with homemade fries, just scrumptious. My parents loved it and they said they’d come to our “burger joint” any time lol It was a great evening and as my husband and I were chatting around the dinner table with my parents my gorgeous kids quietly got up did the dishes and cleaned up everything. I was so proud of them and their grandparents were delighted. My folks live interstate so we don’t see them often. Cheers Donna Z :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are having light bulb moments Donna. Good on you !! My family just loves homemade hamburgers. We rarely eat at the well known takeaway places and I personally avoid them at all costs. They taste like plastic.
DeleteWendy, your cards are beautiful and all that cooking! Oh my ... you are inspiring me!
ReplyDeletePatsi, I don't usually cook that much in one week but it needed to be done.
DeleteHi Wendy you've had a great week.
ReplyDeleteI haven't posted for a couple weeks now but I have been sticking to my meal plan as best I could I think next months meal plans are going to change a little to make it baby friendly as well although my son does eat what we eat I just feel something's he can't quite have yet till he's a little older
Made majority of my dinner meals from scratch I think I only bought takeaway twice in the last two weeks just because we weren't near home and I couldn't bring anything that needed heating up.
I've vac sealed some pre preped meals and left overs and froze them
Trying to de clutter as much as I can
Can be very over whelming at times
Haven't had the to in much for the last 2 weeks it's only been turned on after 5 pm
Bought some books and display books from Kmart to start sorting out payments bills and spendings etc also had to buy a few things for the baby bag for when I go into labour
Made some kitchen bench rags out of an old towel gee they really come in handy!
That's all I think
Hope you have a great week next week
I'll be very busy at work, finally received a decent roster.
Anne, it sounds like you are getting things in order. I bet it makes you feel good.
DeleteIt definitely makes me feel good Wendy
DeleteI have had to change and swap a few meals on my plan here and there due to parties work and mum leaving for overseas but other wise things have been slowly coming together and I have noticed that I actually have a lot more money on hand if need be. Which is absolutely fab!!!
Mums going to come over this Saturday to give me a hand with de cluttering and will releive me of some of the kids clothes that are a bit uncontrollable at the moment can't wait to share my frugal tasks have a lovely week
Hello Wendy, I would love your recipe for sausage rolls. They sound yummy! Thank you for sharing with us. You are an inspiration!
ReplyDeletecoming soon.
DeleteWendy that all looks fantastic! The quiches, sausage rolls and biscuits alone would save your family so much money. The cards look gorgeous and your dahlias...oh gosh...they're beautiful! As you might already know, I get a lot of satisfaction out of also putting a price on my weekly achievements. Let's face it, if I wasn't around, even for a week due to accident or illness, my family would have to outsource all this stuff. So with no further ado, I'll add that this week I prepped at least a weeks worth of bargain fruit and veges and stored them in the crisper in ziplock bags. This saved not only on buying ready prepared salad and vegetables for the week, but also made staying on track with our clean eating weight loss plan, very easy and smooth, and prevented any random shopping. My savings at the fruit shop were already substantial on similar buys at the supermarket, so I'm going to say I saved a bare minimum of $50 by doing this. I made 5 gathered ball cushions, the same as the one I saw in a very posh homewares store priced at $59. Actually I think mine are nicer due to the fabric and embellishments I've used. Total spend including embellishments was $54. Total spend if I'd bought five similar cushions, $295!! So on a potential $295 spend, and a $54 actual spend.... my saving was (theoretically) $241. My daughter and I are sewing a tulle skirt refashioned from a bustle on a vintage wedding dress bought some months ago for under $50. We bought the dress as it has the potential to be a semi formal dress next year, and the bustle had so much fabric, we just knew we'd get one, if not two tulle skirts out of it. Saving of $100 on two similar bought tulle skirts and gosh....lets conservatively say $150 on the semi formal dress. Value generated $250, from a $50 spend. I cleaned, decluttered and ironed, saving $200 on a cleaning lady and an ironing lady (or man!). And I rejuvenated the herb garden, and sowed some seeds to generate a new crop of coriander, rocket, and lemongrass, saving up to $100 in bought herbs over the next three months. So not a bad week when you consider all that I saved my family in employing a gardener, cleaner, ironing lady, seamstress, fashion designer, and interior decorator...hehehe! Mimi xxx
ReplyDeleteYes we can certainly save a lot of money by doing things ourselves. Time I do have, money I don't so it makes so much sense to make as much as I can. Well done on the cushions too Mimi. They look great.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your recipes for the sausage rolls and mini quiches. Your cards look gorgeous and the flowers are beautiful. Is one a daisy and the other a chrysanthemum.
This week i made:
Lasagna, meat pie, hamburgers, all Wendys recipes. Also ANZAC bickies, quiche, chocolate cake and a double batch of red pasta sauce.
We were given 3 loaves of bread and DS2 went to a party on Sunday and i had lots of gifts bought on special throughout the year, so the present was within budget.
Saved water and used tank water as it finally rained enough to use this in the washing machine.
Received Gas bill and paid with credits from solar panels.
Finally pulled out the last of the Tomatoes and got the bed ready for the winter vegies. Still picking strawberries and silverbeet. Lots of gardening done this week, although lots of green tomatoes leftover, oh what to do with these?
Have a great week, xxx
Maureen
Yes, you are right about the flowers. I just love looking out my kitchen window at all the changes in the garden.
DeleteYou had a great week.
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYour blog always brings a smile to my face and joy to the heart. That was especially so when I saw that Megan had bought the exact same items I had for the same price. How wonderful to see how frugality crosses all generations and all states/territories!
Running out of gas Thursday evening (cylinder to be replaced Monday) and the street without power all day Friday I haven't done the cooking I usually do in advance. There's always next weekend.
Have been decluttering. Took a couple of bags to the op shop. Came back with a beautiful book on English roses, $2. Pictures will be used to make cards as I've been inspired to do by yourself, and Annabel on Bluebirds Are Nesting.
Enjoy a lovely week.
Wendy (Yes, from one Wendy to another :) )
How exciting about the rose book. I'm now on a constant hunt for a rose book myself. Do you have a blog ? If so, I'd love to see a picture of the cards you make.
DeleteIf you are going to cut the book up for crafting ask if they are throwing any books into the bin. I am an op volunteer and I have to throw out books that are too far gone in condition to be saleable.
DeleteApologies for not replying to the question sooner however that Monday afternoon we were hit by an incredible storm, wind, rain that went for several days and equalled no power, fallen trees, etc. Re a blog.... I've often thought of having one but being on the recovery journey from a brain injury I know I haven't reached that point of being able to create one. One day I'll reach that point :)
DeleteEnjoy a wonderful week.
Wendy
I hope you survived the storm ok.
DeletePlease let me know when you start a blog. I'll be one of your readers.
For the 4th month in a row I've succeeded in achieving my $300 grocery/food budget, so I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteThis week I gratefully accepted a free loaf of bread.
Made soup for weekend lunches, using the lamb bone from a roast.
Used clothes horses even when it was tempting to use the dryer-such wet cold weather in Melbourne.
Replaced 2 watch batteries with batteries we had on hand.
Made a get well card for a friend.
Made rock cakes for school/work lunch snacks.
We had biscuits leftover from our trip that I'd made so we used those too.
On our trip home we stayed overnight in a caravan park cabin and we had some pasta, jar of sauce and cheese we had on hand for our evening meal.
Picnicked our way up to Qld from Melbourne and back with a thermos and esky. Ate very well and no time wasted looking for food to buy.
Used the driver/reviver stops when available for cup of tea/coffee.
Took jars of homemade relish as gifts for people we visited on our trip.
Also shopped from present shelf prior to leaving and wrapped families birthday gifts that are due in the next couple of months and left them with them to save postage costs.
Made chow mein from scratch from the few ingredients I had left at home on our return and it fed us for 2 nights.
Had a win at WW on Saturday with some marked down bags of apples and pears bought for less than $1.30 kg bag. I find fruit a large expense in our house.
Also picked up Birds Eye frozen bags of peas/corn 500g for $1.25 at Coles on my big shop this morning which will be very handy.
Planning to do some bulk cooking this week when I can.
Sue.
Sue, it sounds like you made your holiday work for you with all those savings.
DeleteWow Wendy so much has been happening at your place.
ReplyDeleteThose cards are so pretty, you certainly have the crafty touch. I too have been saving and cutting from magazines etc to make cards. Annabel has inspired us all!
Your cooking always looks so nice and delicious! That is a lot of sausage rolls to make in one hit.
Lots of lovelies in your garden too...
My frugal tasks were;
Preparing my veggie garden for Winter. I purchased some more kale and some strawberry plants. Also some oregano as mine died recently. I planted garlic and picked celery, kale and pumpkins.
Using velvet soap and a sud saver to wash my dishes. Nicer on my hands and the environment.
Making liquid laundry soap tomorrow.
Baked bread and started a sour dough starter for the first time.
Baked chocolate cake and date loaf.
Sold eggs.
Dyed my own hair.
Went to local farmers market and bought some organic produce like, cucumbers, peaches, figs, dried sultanas and apricots, olive oil.
I mended hubby's jeans and a top of mine.
Five no spend days.
Hope you have a beautiful week Wendy,
xTania
Tania, I think you had a well rounded frugal week.
Delete